It was the night of Venny's big party. He had been planning it for months, and after his parents had announced that they'd be out of town for a week, he jumped into action. Now was finally his chance to make an impact before high school came to a bittersweet ending.
One by one, his friends and their friends, and their friends’ friends, and then even strangers showed up at his door. It wasn't long before the party escalated, out of Vendaya's, or anybody else's control for that matter! Shortly after the clock struck nine, he grew aggravated. He expected things to get out of hand, but never imagined that it would happen so quickly.
"Venny!" His friend Mikey called to him. He began to jog over. "Venny! How's it going?"
Vendaya struck a fake smile. "It’s going great! Did you see the thing that..."
"Hannah?"
"Did with..."
"Sammy? Oh yeah, it was great!" Mikey laughed, Vendaya joined in nervously... He had zoned out of the party shortly after it began.
"Anyway, did you see where Hannah went off to?" Mikey finally asked.
"No. Not since she uh... Since that thing," answered Vendaya. "Did you check upstairs?"
"Yeah, man, the guys and I raided the entire inside of your house. She's a goner!"
"You know what? I'll go look for her outside..." Vendaya hurried away from the disaster of a party.
"Okay, cool. Thanks man!" Mikey yelled and headed over to another of his buddies.
Vendaya continued out the door and looked around at the cars lining up and down the street, and parked on his mother's freshly mowed lawn. "Manners." he said to himself. "My friends have none."
He glanced around, unsure of where to begin looking. "Hannah!" he called. "Mike is looking for you! Don't keep a boy waiting!" His voice echoed. All remained silent, aside from the music that grew faint as the song ended. He turned to go back into the house.
"Hey, Venny!" a familiar voice sounded from around the side of his house. "Mikey says you came to find Hannah?"
Vendaya nodded. "Yeah, I did."
"Any luck?"
"No, sorry." He started for the door once again.
"Yo, Venny! I was out here looking for Rinnie. You mind taking a look? Thanks, bud!"
"Sure," answered Vendaya trying to remember the familiar person's name. "Must be school."
He shrugged and began to wander acres of backyard. There was no sign of life, anywhere except the inside of his house. The dark began to creep up on him and he began to grow nervous.
Mikey and his friend are just going to have to find the girls on their own time." He ran back to the porch and didn't hesitate re-entering. He picked up a half empty beer can off of the linoleum tiles on the floor. "Pigs," he said, throwing the can as he sat down on his parent's sofa, that was now stained with who-knows-what.
"Hey you!"
Vendaya's uninvited cousin, Leo, sat down next to him.
"Can I not catch a break?" he whispered under his breath.
"Huh?" Leo responded.
"Nothing… Nothing. What's up?"
"Sorry for crashing the party. You wouldn't have known that I showed, except I'm not familiar with the place at all and my girlfriend seems to have just… disappeared.” Leo laughed. "I mean, I know she couldn't have literally just disappeared, but she was standing next to me one second, and the next she was gone."
"And you want me to look for her?"
"Yes, please. Love you, cuz!" Leo smiled.
Vendaya stood up with aggravation. "I would love to." He hurried up the stairway, and one by one he swung open the doors, requesting that the occupants leave. Finally, he neared the last door. He opened it the same as all the others, to find Mikey cradling Isabelle, a friend of Vendaya's since middle school.
"I thought you came with Hannah?" he asked.
"Couldn't find her." Mikey shrugged.
"Get out of here! This floor is off limits!" Vendaya pointed to the door. "Whoa man, okay..." smiled Mikey. "Don't die!"
"Don't die?" Vendaya laughed. "What kind of a thing is that to say to somebody?" He rolled his eyes and quickly ran down the stairs, hoping to find Leo.
"Venny! Please find Amber for me!"
"Hey man, I can't find Lizzie!"
"Isabelle is gone.. She was just with me, but I can't find her anywhere."
Vendaya's head spun as his friends crowded him. He glanced around.
"All of the girls are gone."
He pushed his friends away, still trying to comprehend the night. "They must have left..."
"No. I was Hannah's ride home, Venny!" argued Mikey.
"And Isabelle would have told me."
"Everybody spread out! Instead of crowding me, how about you all start looking?"
His friends scattered like roaches, leaving a few un-phased party-goers playing pool by themselves. He had been exhausted from the noise and wandering his parentss’ gigantic home.
"I let them find the girls. I need to rest for a few minutes." His eyes grew heavy and the digital clock at his bedside blinked twelve o' clock on the dot. Everything fell black...
"Venny!" Mikey's voice invaded his dreaming.
"What is it, Mikey?" He sat up with concern. "Everybody's gone!" Venny stared at the clock. "Good... And before sunrise even! It’s best that their cars are out of here by morning anyway." He laid back down.
"No Venny. I mean… they're gone."
Venny sat back up. "And I said, 'good'!"
"I wandered into the woods, looking for the girls. I don't know. I looked maybe twenty minutes."
Vendaya listened.
"When I came back, all of the cars were still here, but everybody else just vanished, like the girls. Even the guys passed out drunk on the floor were gone, ARE gone." Mikey swallowed.
Vendaya jumped out of bed and pushed Mikey aside.
"Well, where the hell did they go?"
He ran frantically into the empty living room.
"That many people don't just up and vanish!"
He peaked out the window, there were no visible bodies.
"Leo! Isabelle! Hannah! Rinnie! Uh... Tim, that was his name! Where are you guys?"
The morning was dead, with not even a gust of wind. He began to panic, and ran from car to car, looking in the windows. They were all empty. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket to call for help. The screen was blank, just pure white. Just then, the blackness of night was lit… Actually, the whole sky brightened.
Several flashes of light, and as Vendaya stared up to the heavens, it looked as if somebody had turned on an enormous spotlight and pointed it upward. He staggered into the house, feeling light-headed and sick.
"Mikey!" he cried and flipped on the television. Every channel was static.
He tried to log on to his computer, but it remained completely useless.
The power turned out, and the sky began flashing again. Vendaya's living room resembled that of a strobe lit dance floor. Suddenly, he was unable to breathe, as if somebody had just sucked the oxygen from the air. He fell to the floor, praying that Mikey was somewhere near, against the odds. Minute by minute, it grew harder to move, and harder to remember.
"It didn't take this long for the others." was his last voluntary thought.
Hours passed, the sun never rose, and the longer time passed, the more Vendaya disappeared to nothing.
* * *
Chapter 3: Western Holliday