Aghast of Honor

- THE RULES -
All stories to be between 1000 and 2000 words in length.
Number of Words to be included on the story.
Only one Story per writer.
New stories only please - this is just to give your muses a workout.
All stories to be posted on the message board in any of the Item formats.
All stories to be in before the closing date.

- THE PROMPT -
You guessed it "HALLOWEEN."

- THE CLOSING DATE -
15th November 2010 - Midnight (WdC Time).

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Aghast of Honor

By Indelibleink

"Walt? Walter Hastings?" Eddie stopped to closely watch as the figure - swathed head-to-toe in bandages - walked from the living room into the kitchen. "Yes...Of course it is! So happy you could make it, Wally. And, nice job with the Boris Karloff Mummy. Awesome make-up! The only problem is...You still walk like Wally Hastings! Next year, you might want to disguise your walk just a little, my friend!"

The Mummy shrugged his shoulders and threw his hands up in the air. "I should have known better, Eddie. I was so hell-bent on fooling you with my costume that I forgot all about my tell-tale walk. I swear, Eddie, I swear I'm gonna win that contest of yours one of these years!"

And so it went at the company party that Eddie Billings and his wife, Connie, hosted about a week or so before Halloween each year. The annual highlight was to try and fool the judge - who would be Eddie, of course - long enough to be the last person in costume to be unidentified. Eddie was the president of a very successful software company, and his prizes were nothing to sneeze at. Last year, the Grand Prize was an all-expenses-paid, ten-day trip for two to St. Maarten; the year before it was ten-thousand dollars cash-on-the-spot. Of course, the Grand Prize was always a secret until someone had succeeded in stumping Eddie; some years he had guessed the identity of every employee and therefore the prize was never revealed.

Typically, the number of employees who attended the catered function at the Billings mansion numbered in the hundreds, and, as with most mid-sized companies, there were always a small percentage of new employees who were attending for the first time. Regardless, Eddie - he insisted he be addressed as 'Judge Eddie' rather than 'Mr. Billings' - took a lot of pride in being able to identify each guest who arrived in costume. In fact, he always dressed the part - in full judge's robe along with the traditional gavel - the only demand he made of employees for this party was that they must arrive in costume. Spouses or companions of employees who attended the party were also encouraged to wear costumes, but were not allowed to participate in the Grand Prize competition, since it would be quite impossible for Eddie to identify those who he may have encountered only briefly, or perhaps not at all, prior to the contest. In order to distinguish between employees and non-contestants at the party, everyone who indicated on their mandatory RSVP they were bringing a guest was mailed a rather large, self-adhering reddish sticker that was to be placed upon the guest's right arm and worn until the contest was completed.

Eddie was having a chat with Phil Evans and his wife, Marie, close to the foyer of the front entrance to the Billings home. He always positioned himself close to the front door during the "arrival period" - folks needed to arrive between 6 and 8PM - to qualify for the contest. Eddie required the guest be there a minimum of one hour prior to the close of the contest to afford him a fair chance at identifying the guest, and he considered himself a master at noting all of relatively obscure traits people had. As they passed through the front door and greeted others, guests would tend to let their guard down and act as they did at work, and it was there Eddie usually ID'd the employee. A diminutive, portly man himself, Eddie didn't want the arrival of a contestant to arrive and enter unnoticed because of an obstructed view.

"I don't know, Phil...It doesn't look like anyone is going to stump me this year."

Before Phil, appearing quite convincing in his Frankenstein costume, could respond, the Bride of Frankenstein did. "Don't worry, Eddie...There's still time. You still have almost fifteen minutes for more guests arrive. You know how some people wait until the last minute so you'll have less time to 'read' them."

Eddie glanced at his watch. 7:42. Indeed, there was still time...eighteen whole minutes, to be precise.

"Thanks, Marie. Maybe I am just becoming too good...for my own good, at this contest. Maybe it's time for a 'change of venue', as it were. I might have gone to the well one too many times with this costume thing."

"Oh, I don't know," interceded Frankenstein. "Since there are new events over the course of every year, there are always new costumes and ideas..."

Whatever Phil had said to finish his thought, Eddie missed. His eyes glued to the large figure which had just traversed his doorway, Eddie was thoroughly taken by whoever it was that had decided to arrive as the Grim Reaper. Complete with the scythe, and the long black hooded robe which successfully hid all of the Reaper's facial characteristics, Eddie watched as the shrouded figure virtually glided across the living room and towards the kitchen.

"Wow! What do you guys think of that?"

Phil and Marie turned to get a look at what had captivated Eddie so, but by the time they turned, the Reaper had already disappeared into the crowded collection of other monsters and costumed guests. However, a look of complete astonishment remained upon Eddie's face.

Phil let out a very un-Frankenstein-ish laugh. "Well, Eddie, based upon your expression, I'd say you may have met your match!"

Eddie feigned a serious frown. "Yeah. Anybody see if 'Grim Gus' there was displaying a red arm patch there? I'm sorta hoping I don't have to guess who that guy really is. But I really do need to see what he looks like again, to get a few more clues. He'll do something that will give him away: voice, walk, general mannerisms...I'll find something."

As if on cue, the Reaper again emerged from one of the kitchen entrances and moved toward the breezeway that led to the indoor pool. Eddie quickly grabbed one of Phil's and one of Marie's arms, and nodded in the direction of the Reaper. "There he is...What do you think of that? He's not wearing an armband, either, so he must work for me. Why in the hell can't I place him?"

Marie and Phil looked in the direction that Eddie had nodded towards, then glanced back at each other and shrugged.

Frankenstein placed his gigantic hand on the host's shoulder. "Eddie, how many ciders have you had tonight? We didn't see any Reaper. Perhaps it's time to sit and rest a moment..."

The Bride of Frankenstein chimed in as well. "Eddie, we know how you love a real challenge, but don't you think that you might be getting carried away just an itsy-bitsy?"

"All right, you two...Enough already with the 'Eddie's-a-head-case' stuff, okay? I'm serious. He was there, but the son-of-a-bitch moves like greased lightning. I swear it!"

Frankenstein removed his mask, and Eddie could see the concern on Phil's face. "Seriously, Eddie, s-l-o-w d-o-w-n. You are running around like an escaped nut-job. It's only a contest! Let's try to keep it in perspective, huh? You look like you're ready to pop a vessel. Relax a moment."

Indeed, Eddie was working himself into a bit of a frenzy. On various medications for high blood pressure, and one who was never much for exercise, he had spent most of his adult life behind a desk. Even though he took great pride in interacting with all of his employees, it was always a given that they would be summoned to his office, and not the other way around.

"Okay, okay...I'm relaxed. See?" Eddie spread his arms apart as if opening himself up for inspection, and in doing so, stuck the gavel out in front of Lou Perkins, who, dressed as Jeffrey Dahmer, playfully knocked the gavel from Eddie's hand.

"I swear I'm innocent, Judge!" Dahmer, holding assorted fake body parts, pretended ignorance. "You don't have any real evidence, Judge." Everyone laughed.

As Eddie reached down to pick up his gavel, he was bumped from behind. He sprawled upon the floor, and as he turned around, he was stunned to see it had been the Reaper who had bumped into him, and was now extending a bluish, bony hand to help Eddie up. Eddie caught a glimpse of the face beneath the hood, but the eyes were so bright - no pupils were visible - most of the other features were obscured. He gasped, as did others in the crowd. Even though the extended hand appeared to Eddie as if it couldn't possibly be real, he accepted the Reaper's assistance, hoping that by doing so he would learn more about his curious guest. The instant Eddie had regained his balance, though, the Reaper turned and moved out through the breezeway.

Eddie wasn't going to let the guy get away this time, and he hurried to keep up the pace with the figure, despite yells from the crowd which included, "On my God, Eddie!" and from his wife, Connie, "Eddie, please don't go!" He simply raised a hand and offered a dismissive wave back, followed by a "thumbs up" sign. The gesture did nothing to quiet the guests - in fact they sounded even more panicked now - but he didn't have time to turn and talk sense into them.

The Reaper was already out by the gazebo when Eddie burst through the back door, and yelled a half-winded "Hey, wait!" as he ran with all he had toward his intriguing guest. Surprisingly, the figure did stop, which caused Eddie to instinctively do the same, about fifteen feet short of his guest.

Now that he had finally caught up with the Reaper, it dawned on Eddie that he wasn't really sure what to say to him. Who are you really? Do you actually work at my company? Did my wife put you up to this?

Almost as if he were reading Eddie's thoughts, the Reaper raised the big bony index finger on his right hand and pointed back at the house. Shocked to see police and ambulance lights, along with people milling around everywhere inside the home, Eddie began to make a hasty retreat to see just what was going on. As he neared the picture window that faced the gazebo in the back yard, he could see that the paramedics were placing someone on a stretcher. He stopped dead in his tracks when he recognized the judge's robe and the sightly rotund figure who wore it on the stretcher, accompanied by a hysterical Connie.

Eddie quickly turned to ask the Reaper a question, although he was starting to think he already knew the answer. As he turned, he suddenly realized that he wasn't moving his feet, he was simply floating to where he willed himself to be. The Reaper was right behind Eddie when he turned, and pointed again to the proceedings in Eddie's living room.

Eddie spoke, but more to himself than anyone else. "Yes, I understand now. When you bumped me in the living room, you were 'calling me home', weren't you? And nobody else could see you because you were only visible to me, right? The screams and yelling that I heard when I was chasing you earlier...They were not about me chasing you; they were reactions to me having a heart attack, weren't they?"

The Reaper again pointed toward the home, and Eddie turned just in time to see the paramedics remove the oxygen mask from Eddie's face, and draw a blanket up over his face. Connie was in hysterics.

Eddie noticed that the Reaper's hands were now becoming more flesh-like, and was further surprised to see him slowly remove his hood, and the skeletal face slowly transformed into the image of a younger, healthier Eddie, and extended his hand.

Eddie took his hand. "My journey's only just beginning, isn't it?"

The Reaper smiled, and the two slowly became one. Seconds later, they were gone...

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Words: 1996