Time To Dance

         Her head ached.
         ‘Where am I..?’ She thought, letting her head fall to the side she forced her eyes open. Everything was white, it made her headache worse…and what was that beeping?!
         What had happened?
         
         “It was a lie when they smiled…” The CD droned on, though she wasn’t really listening to it. Once she made the wrong turn all chances of enjoying the drive were gone.  Of course, she could always turn around, but that would take too long, best to just keep going…she knew another route anyway.

         The beeping was getting annoying…and why was she strapped down? She could hear an intercom…but she couldn’t make out what it said.

         “…And said, ‘you won't feel a thing’…” The clock was ticking. Only 15 minutes to make it somewhere 30 minutes away. She pressed her foot down on the gas, barely hearing the engine roar over the music.

         She opened her eyes again, the white of the room almost blinding. Squinting her eyes she looked around, her gaze falling on the equipment in the corner. The obnoxious beeping was coming from that machine. Tubes and wires were linking her to the device. The beeping grew faster.

         “…And as we ran from the cops…” Flip the turn signal, hit the brakes, and prepare to turn. She remembered to do everything, but she didn’t see it before she pulled out.
         “…We laughed so hard it would sting…” The headlights were the only warning, and then all sound stopped. The car was moving on its own, forced in a direction cars don’t move on their own. She saw the windshield shatter, and the sound came back. She tried to breathe, but no air entered into her lungs, she grabbed the door handle but it wouldn’t budge. Then the world went black.
         “Someone call an ambulance!”

         “NO!” She tried to sit up, the straps holding her down. She remembered struggling earlier,
         Hands gripped her wrists, “Miss calm down!”
         The gurney swayed, the force of her movement throwing it off balance.  She hit the floor hard, the sound of the metal crashing to the ground almost deafening…
         She cried out in frustration, tears streaming down her cheeks as pain immobilized her. A few nurses ran in, trying to calm her down.
         “We’re going to have to sedate her.” She heard on of them say.  She felt a needle enter her arm, and in a few seconds she was numb, the world vanishing…


         It was dark when she opened her eyes again, the clock in the room reading 12:30.  The hospital was closed to the public.  Again the girl struggled with her restraints, the clock ticking away. As the arms closed in on 1:00 she gave up, her face wet with tears.  She couldn’t even tell why she was here. Sure, she wrecked, but she felt fine, so why were they making her stay here?!
         A sound in the hallway made her freeze, she didn’t want any attention from doctors or nurses. She heard a cart being pushed into her room and she feigned sleep.  Then silence. All she could hear was the clock ticking. Had she imagined the sound? Maybe there was no one there at all.
         But she was wrong.  He sat on the cart, on leg up on the cold metal, a clipboard in his hand, obscuring his face from view.
         “McAlister, Alyss.  Car Accident, patient had lost consciousness and suffers from sever burns,” He put her chart down on the cart.
         Alyss stared at him. He was wearing a mask.  Now normally this wouldn’t be so strange, but this wasn’t a doctors’ mask…it was a masquerade mask. He wasn’t dressed like a hospital worker either, unless at this hospital orderlies wore Tuxedos.
         “…Who…who are you?” She was surprised by the sound of her own voice, harsh and foreign to her ears.  Her body jolted when he suddenly moved from the cart.  The boy stepped up to the bed, undoing the straps that held her to the bed, then stepped back.
         Alyss sat up hesitantly, staring at the boy as she pulled the cords off her body, casting the machine into silence.
         “Who are you?” Her voiced echoed off the walls of the room.  As her voice faded there was silence. She opened her mouth to ask again, but he cut her off, making her jump when he suddenly moved to sit on the bed.
         “Avery,” He extended a hand, and hesitantly she took it, a quick hand shake and he was back on his feet, walking out the door “Well come on then, we haven’t got all night.”
         She sat there, confused, and was about to stand up again when he was back in the doorway, “Come on!”
         Alyss whined in complaint, standing up slowly and walking shakily towards the exit.
         “Good good, now we’re making some progress,” Avery clapped his hands together and took her by the arm, leading her out the door at a much faster pace than she wanted to go.
         As he rushed her down the empty hallway she tried to look around. Where were all the night attendants? The nurses’ stand was empty, and so was every room they passed.  Something wasn’t right.
         Avery stopped at a corner, removing something from his pocket, whatever it was casting gold reflections on the wall.  She craned her neck in order to see the object he held.  He snapped the pocket watch closed, muttering something under his breath, “We’re late.”
         “Late…? For what-?” Before she could finish her question Avery was pulling her down the hallway again, not hearing her inquiry.
The automatic doors whooshed open as they exited the building and Avery released her arm, coming to a stop.  Alyss stumbled forward, nearly falling, unprepared from the sudden stop.
         Strange hues of deep red, dark blue, and dark violet accented the sky, in which, regardless of the streetlamps, still showed the stars. A large full moon was low in the sky, still an orange yellow shade.  Orange light cast by street lamps on twisted poles illuminated the streets, and the inhabitants.
         Under street signs reading 4th and Fremont St, two women stood, taking long drags on cigarettes while flirting with anyone who passed.  Both of their faces were hidden behind masks, brightly painted with spirals and stripes, feathers and ribbons hanging from the sides.  The light glinted off rosaries hang around their necks, intermingling with countless necklaces adorning them.  One of them laughed, exposing smoke-stained teeth and multiple tongue piercings.  Skirts hiked up and shirts pulled down they went about their business, hardly noticing the 2 in front of the hospital.
         All of this seemed so familiar. Like something from a dream… The memory was there, right at the back of her mind, just out of her reach.
         “Don’t give them too much attention, or they might feel the need to come over here.” Avery stated, casting a sideways glance at Alyss. “Come on… We’re already late, we just need to keep moving now.”
         “What exactly are we late to?” She questioned, following him down the street, trying hard not to look back at the two ladies who laughed loudly behind them.
“The party of course!” Avery turned around, stopping her by grabbing her shoulders. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already?”
         “What? I never knew about- What are you talking about?! I’ve never seen you before in my life!” Alyss grabbed at her hair, gritting her teeth.
         Avery looked her over, ignoring her exasperated cry, “...Pfft…You’re not even dressed properly…”
         Alyss looked down; a plain white hospital gown looked back up at her. She grimaced, looking back up at Avery, “Well what do you expect? You dragged me out of a hospital!”
         “..Is that what that place was?” Avery turned away from her for a moment, hand to his chin. “Regardless. We don’t have time…” and started walking again.
         “Wait a second!” Alyss whined, running a bit to catch up with him, “Where are we even going?”
         All Avery did was point.
         At the end of the street a church stood illuminated. Lights through stain glass windows painting the side walk with every color imaginable.
         Without another word he kept walking, Alyss following behind him, still staring at the building.  Something was so familiar about this… She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she knew it was something.  Alyss was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t even notice when they reached the building.
         Avery opened the door just a crack and peered in, then closed the door quietly, “Good, the ceremony’s still underway.”
         “…Ceremony..?” Alyss mumbled.
         “You go on in, I’ll meet up with you in a little bit.” Avery stated, opening the door and pushing her in.
         The door closed with a slam, and everyone turned and looked.  She felt the eyes of everyone looking at her behind the masks.  All the blood rushed to her face as she blushed, ‘I must be a sight to see…’ she thought. Knowing full well she was still wearing the hospital gown.  The preacher cleared his throat, and the attention went back to the front of the room.
         Alyss took a seat in the back, her knees pressed together, hands in her lap and she stared at the floor. ‘Damn you Avery…Pushing me into a wedding!’
         The sound of applause made her look up again, just in time to see the bride and groom meet in a lip lock. Everyone stood as the bride and groom turned to face the room, and all at once the band struck up. People pushed pews to the side of the room and the room became a whirlwind of masks, music and color.
         Alyss stood in the corner, her arms wrapped tightly around herself, watching the merriment.  She wanted out of there, but she had to wait for Avery. Not sure why he wanted her there at all.  Alyss wandered to the other side of the room, keeping to the wall, for she felt she would surely be sucked into the mass of dancing.
         There was a door, maybe she could leave. She gripped the handle and opened it, only to have a pile of top hats and canes fall out of the coat closet. “Great…”
         She pushed the items back into the closet, and started to close the door again, but a case blocked the doors path. Trying to move it with her foot, it wouldn’t budge. Suddenly curious, she dropped to the floor, opening the case. It was empty, but the shape pressed into the velvet lining was a queer one… almost looked like the shape of a shotgun…
         The laughter and the music merged together all building up to one great crescendo. A shot gun blast. Screams replaced laughter as blood stained the floor.
         Alyss stared at the case.  A dream coming back to her. She turned and looked at the people, her stomach tying itself into knots.  Something horrible was going to happen.
         Then she saw him, pushing through the crowd. “Avery! Avery! Over here-!” What was that in his hand?  There was a gleam of black metal.  Without thinking she pushed through the crowd toward him, as he made his way to the bride and groom.  As the music grew faster, so did the dancing, it was becoming hard for her to move through them. And hopefully, harder for Avery.  She pushed past people, ignoring angry remarks people gave her as she interrupted the dancing. All at once she came upon them, the bride and groom, lost in conversation. He emerged from the ground, raising the gun.
         “I have to do it.  He’s marring a whore, he’ll ruin the whole thing.” He snapped, throwing the clipboard to the ground. She stared up at him, the sedative making her vision hazy. “And you’re gonna be with me.”
         “NO!”
         The shot had a silencing effect.  The entire room went still, the only sound the clink of shells hitting the floor.  She stared at him in shock. What had he done?  She brought her hand away from her stomach. Red. Everything was red.
         “WHY DID YOU GET IN THE WAY?” He screamed, dropping the shot gun and stepping back as Alyss took a step forward, then collapsed.
         The world was getting hazy, there was a scream as the shock wore off. Blood covered the floor around her, soaking through the hospital gown.  Weakly, she tried to stand again, but couldn’t even push herself up. Collapsing back to the floor, she felt her world stop.
         The sun rose, light streaming through the windows of the church, the dawns rays showing the decay on the walls, water damage causing the ceiling to sag, broken and paled stain glass windows decorating the church and the thick coat of dust on the floor only disturbed by two pairs of foot prints led into the room, both stopping at the body of the girl.