Red Death

Red Death's masque.

Taking a seat at a nearby couch, I feel the beat of the music vibrating everything I touch. It felt like the music would make my ears bleed, not to mention this room was so crowded that it was difficult just getting to this couch. The house was hot, nearly everybody dancing and almost every room filled with people. And this was just how I liked it, since it'd been like this since we got here.

The small city I lived in is practically a ghost town, nearly deserted. The people left there weren't bound to stay anyway. When I say that, I'm not referring to them moving away or anything. One by one people were getting infected by... something. Not sure. They called this sickness the Red Death. Red was honestly the lightest way to put it, since one of the symptoms were bleeding. Especially from the eyes. The only other symptom was hallucinations. About three or four days after you started seeing the actual "Red Death" then... You died.

Oh, allow me to introduce myself, it's Alex. Alexander Prospero, the only son of The Prospero company. My parents were away on some business meeting when all of this happened, those lucky bastards. Not that I'm complaining, because they happily sent me to a far off mansion we had two cities over. Yeah, I'm a little rich boy. Anyways. Upon hearing these news, I went ahead and told my college friends something along the lines of, 'screw the Red Death, party at my new place!'

That's how I've ended up here, in my crowded mansion that was filled with nearly everyone that went to my college. Last thing I remember was someone mentioning a costume party and then me heading for a keg stand. It's amazing how many people are here, too. We have seven main rooms here, party rooms you could say. Each are color coded, too. Starting from the end of the East wing, we have a blue room. Completely blue, ceiling to floor, curtains furniture and all. Next to it is the purple room, that contained only purple, just as how blue had only blue. All the rooms were like this, consisting of one color. Next to the purple was green, afterwards was orange, Then white, and violet. The lights in the room even corresponded with the matching color. All of these rooms were filled with people dancing or drinking, sometimes just talking.

The last room, though, on the very end of the West wing, was completely black. Black curtains, furniture, floor, but the only thing that wasn't black were the lights. Blood red, the color soaking the room in a dark, uncomfortable feeling. No one entered that room for some reason, Not even when the party got out of hand and there was barely space to stand.

Just as I get up to go find a cup and get back to the party, the clock in the middle of the mansion rang loudly to announce midnight. Everyone went into silence, even the DJ stopped the music. This happened every hour, since that old clock had such a loud, distorted sound that it could stop anyone in it's tracks. Merely a second later everyone was back to laughing and dancing, the music back up. I struggled to go through a group of girls dressed in barely anything and called it 'costumes'. A few of them grind onto me, saying something like, "Why don't you play with me, Prince Alex?" And I just smiled and shook my head, walking away. My costume was basically one of the few appropriate ones. I was dressed as a prince from the 1800s. I know, I'm one for classics. There's a reason why I'm the heir, you know? It's not just blood line.

With a cup in hand, I look around the blue room. Just a bunch of drunk college kids in disgusting costumes that exposed way too much. And then I see something in the corner of the room, I figure that was completely different compared to everyone else here. It looked like a man in dark clothing, the zipped black jacket had a hood that covered his head. He was tall and sturdy, not someone you'd want to get into a fight with. Now that I look closer, his jacket had small specks of blood on the sleeves and the torso. Is that his costume? Another thing, he just kind of stood in the corner. I'm surprised no one has noticed. I stare at him, when suddenly he lifts his head. I can't see his face, its just a mask. The mask resembled a skeleton, but not quite right. More like a human, a human that was on the brink of death. The dark spots that were where eyes should've been had dark red blood trailing out of it and down the masks cheeks. I suck in a breath from the shock, taking a step back. I don't really know what it was he was trying to dress up as, but it's damn scary. As I take a step forward, thinking about confronting him and questioning the costume, he begins walking out. I stand there confused until he's nearly out of sight, then I begin walking again, picking up the pace. 

As I began to catch up, he walks into the purple room, disappearing into the crowd. Lost, I push through people, desperately searching for the man. I don't know why, I'm not even that interested in whatever he's trying to be, I just have the urge to follow him. Finally catching a glimpse at his hood, I begin chasing after it. He's walking quickly, the room is full and it's hard to catch up. It's like this as I follow him into the green room, orange room, white room- my footsteps gradually going from walking to running. In the violet room I'm so close, so near him it's scary.

I reach my hand out, my fingers spread, nearly able to touch in, and then I step into the black room. 

The red lights cover everything, including me. Maybe it's because of these dark colors that I'm seeing things, or maybe I'm just a little drunk, but the man in the mask is gone. Right when I was so close to stopping him. Yeah, I've probably had too much to drink. I turn on my heel, ready to head back to the party which I've abandoned. But I freeze. I stand in the middle of the black room, staring at the open door that lead to the violet room. Everyone is so unaware of the red substance on their face, coming out through their eyes, staining their cheeks. I stare at them in horror as my own shaky left hand slowly rises and touches the skin under my eye. I look down to my fingertips- red. So it was Red Death after all.

My body -weak from the running- collapses, and as I keep my eyes open while I fall, the thing I saw before I hit the floor was a man in front of me, clad in black with a mask, eyes bleeding scarlet.

and red.