“Damn it, damn it, damn it!” I was gonna be late. It was my own fault for taking so long to get ready. But Halloween is only once a year and I had the greatest idea for a joke. This year, I was gonna prank my friend Rachel by dressing up as a sexy witch. I had wanted to do it for a while, but every year something came up. I definitely didn’t chicken out every time. But this year was gonna be different! I ordered the costume and makeup online so no one would know what I was up to. Turns out, shaving your whole body takes a lot of time, like hours. Then making sure my makeup was just as good as the youtube tutorials. Which was why I was running late. 

“Turn left in one quarter mile.” 

I was so lucky to have a GPS signal. Service had been spotty recently due to a local group trying to shut down the cell towers due to, “5G waves poisoning our water supply” or whatever people were reading online. But I also had no idea where I was going. Rachel invited me to her friend’s Halloween party and had given me the address over the phone, while I was in the middle of doing my makeup. So I wasn’t entirely prepared for the night, much less the drive. 

I noticed some slight static on my phone before I heard, “Recalculating route. Turn right in two miles.”

That was odd, but I was in too big a rush to care. I had to get to the party and show off how cute I looked to Rachel...as a joke. Cause you know, Halloween is the one day a year guys like me can get away with dressing up like cute girls in public. It took me longer than I expected to get there. Though I did miss a couple of turns because I kept catching glimpses of myself in the rearview mirror and launched into a giggling fit. But I finally reached my destination, I thought. There were a bunch of cars outside the house so I must’ve been in the right place.

My insides felt like that game as a kid where you had to put all the pieces in before they pop back out at you, giving you a literal and figurative minor heart attack. Why was I so nervous? This was just gonna be a funny little haha and then I get to spend the night looking cute and taking selfies. But, what if no one laughed? Or worse, what if people didn’t stop laughing? What if I got made fun of and no one wanted to talk to me anymore? The front door of the house seemed like the scariest thing in the world at that moment, not even counting the fake blood and spider holding a severed foot. 

I silenced my wandering thoughts as I walked up the steps to the porch, expertly I might add, considering all the practice I put in with these high heels. The 4-inch stilettos were the piece that pulled everything together. The dress, green and black striped thigh highs, and big pointy hat were amazing. But I had been waiting for years to wear these out. It was totally, absolutely normal for guys to have high heels hidden under their bed...right? Anyways, it was time to make my debut.

My heart stopped as I worked up the nerve, and knocked on the door. Time stood still, everything seemed to turn into a bit of a blur as I waited for someone to answer. It was almost like an out of body experience, like I was floating above myself, watching a pretty girl standing in front of a door. Wait...why was I actually floating above myself? Everything was still blurry, but I was not in my body! It felt weightless, I drifted through the air while my mind was trying to comprehend what was happening. Worst of all, I could’ve sworn I saw the spider on the door move and take a bite of the foot. What was going on?

The front door opened and I saw a werewolf looming over my body. They looked at my body, then what appeared like over to me. Like they saw me, or, my soul? Whatever I was in that state. The werewolf waved their hand and I was suddenly back in my normal state, standing a few inches above a gorgeous girl wearing grey wolf ears, and paws, with a painted on nose and whiskers. 

“Hi, welcome!” Her voice was so bright and bubbly.

I was stunned for a moment, did I just die? Was that real? Maybe there were 5G waves messing with my brain. Fuck I’m standing here like a weirdo. Say something, stupid. 

“Um.” Shit, I need to do it like I had practiced. I coughed and cleared my throat, raising my pitch as best I could. “Hi, sorry I’m late, I got a little lost.”

She smiled, “Oh it’s fine, everyone’s here just having fun. Come on in.” She motioned for me to come inside.

I stepped in, still unsure of what to think about my interaction with the door. But all thoughts escaped my brain once she started talking again.

“I love your costume. It’s so cute. Very on brand. I’m Wendy, what’s your name?”

“Oh, uh thanks. Your costume is super cute too. I’m Miiiii...ya, Maya, yeah, that’s it.” Shit, why did I say that? Why lie? It’s not like most of the people here would know me anyways, but, something about being dressed up like this and a beautiful girl calling me cute must have broken my brain.

“And a cute name to match.” She giggled, “Make yourself at home. Party’s just getting started.”  Then she did the cutest fucking thing I had ever seen in my life. She growled pawing towards me and skipped away. What kind of night was I in for?

I looked around, I never got to go to too many house parties. Most of my friends could barely afford apartments, and that’s with roommates. Capitalistic hellscapes aside, this place was amazing. There were string lights across the railings of the stairs, a tapestry over the couch, furniture and little knick knacks so carefully placed around, plus all kinds of standard Halloween decorations. It felt so welcoming, my place could never look anything like this, unless I actually figured out some sort of style that I liked. What really threw me was all the girls at the party. I mean, there were always a few girls, but gosh, there wasn’t a guy in sight, they all must have been in the garage, or back yard or something. These girls were so beautiful. Oh no, what will they say when I reveal my “joke” to Rachel? Is it mean? Was I an asshole for doing this? Damnit, I should’ve just gone as the joker again. 

Shit, I probably looked like a creep standing there like I was scoping out the joint or something. I needed to find Rachel and get this over with so I could get into my classic party mode, standing in the corner alone waiting for the one person I know to loop around and talk to me. I made my way through the living room, everyone seemed to be having a really fun time, they were all dressed in various costumes and listening to music. A couple of girls waved at me as I walked towards the kitchen and I tried my best to wave back, but the sheer act of being perceived had me in such an awkward state. My heart might as well have been in another plane of existence; it was so high in my chest. 

Finally in the kitchen, out of one internal crisis and onto another entirely when everyone seemed to be huddled around the table whispering stopped talking and turned to me. Well fuckle, this was awkward. 

Wendy perked up, breaking away from the group. “Hey, Maya!” She walked over to me, while the rest of the girls dispersed and went about acting not so casual. “You want something to drink? We’ve got Manic Pixie Dream Punch, Who’s Your Mummy Spritzer, Gender FluidiTea, and just regular coke products.” 

It was an obvious subversion tactic to make me not question what they had been talking about. But the outlandish drink names, how genuinely sweet Wendy seemed to be, topped off with my own internal panic of her calling me Maya, I decided not to pry. 

“Uh, sure! I could try the mummy spritzer.” 

“Awesome! I’ll get you a cup, feel free to grab snacks and food too.” 

I made my way to the table where there was an array of usual Halloween finger foods. Chips and dip, little pigs in a blanket with ketchup to make them look like severed fingers, deviled eggs that looked like brains. Then there was a disturbing hunk of meat in the shape of a foot with onion pieces for toenails with a tiny sign in front of it that read “Feetloaf”. It was, not so shockingly, untouched. I made a small plate and pulled my phone out of my bra, I had forgotten to bring a bag or purse so I made do with what I had, plus it helped with filling it out. I checked my messages and Rachel had messaged me asking where I was. I quickly responded saying I was at the party in the kitchen, but I hadn’t seen her or any of the guys yet. 

“Here you go Maya, hope you like it. Willow always goes overboard with her holiday concoctions, so like, it’s no big deal if you get a regular soda or anything.” My heart leaped at her calling me by that name again.

Why was this girl being so nice to me? I get being a good host and all but, people never usually took much interest in me at these kinds of things.

“Oh, I meant to ask, where did you get your costume? It’s so cute and I absolutely love those heels.” 

Oh no, how do I say, I got these heels special ordered years ago when I couldn’t find anything in my size outside of an adult store or playing hope this fits roulette with random online shops. 

“Um--I, you know…” Damnit, might as well call me a mermaid’s best friend, cause I was floundering.

“Hey Wendy, can you come in here and help me with the music, it keeps trying to play clean versions of songs and I have no clue what playlist it’s on.” Luckily a girl dressed as a nurse with a toolbelt interrupted us.

“Ugh, I hate that damn thing. I’ll be right back Maya.” She followed the other girl into the living room.

Relieved I was safe for another few minutes to plan out my story, I checked my phone again. Rachel texted back saying that she was at the party...standing in the kitchen...which was full of guys. That’s when it dawned on me, like the final day in an old video game about wearing masks. I was at the wrong party.

RavenKane

I hope you enjoyed the first part of my Halloween special. The second will be up by the end of the month. If you enjoy my stories and want access to early looks at works in progress as well and a discord, check out my patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Raven_Kane Thank you for reading!