Bobbing for Apples

The van swerved suddenly, causing a few shrieks as the six passengers were thrown to the side. Deisha shifted, leaning against the window next to her while adjusting her headphones. She glanced back but saw nothing in the utter darkness surrounding them. Crooked branches appeared out of thin air in the limited well of light from the van, their old, bent shapes seemingly reaching for the passing vehicle.

"Jesus, Ben," the girl in the passenger seat said, scolding the anxious driver. "I'll never understand why mom thinks you're the safer driver."

"You broke the fence," the older boy said tersely, his hands locked to the wheel while leaning forward to peer into the darkness. "Twice. With the car. You still have your learner's permit and you're graduating this year. Well, dad has your permit. Besides, there was something on the road."

He turned the wheel but the left tire dipped into a hole and the van bounced. Deisha grabbed the seat in front of her to hold steady but shrank back as the tip of a branch scraped against her window. She shivered with her eyes closed as the sound of it pierced through the music playing over her headphones. The girl shoved her hands into her black jean jacket to pull it close against her body for security.

"Are you sure it's out here?" Benjamin asked. He glanced at the clock on the dashboard but then back to the road, turning the wheel to avoid yet another pothole. "We've been in these stupid woods over ten minutes now."

"Jake said it was," his sister told him, staring at her phone as she double-checked her texts. The screen highlighted the freckles high on her pale cheeks. "Tomasen Drive and the road goes straight to the- look! There it is."

Sharp, wicked shadows lined the narrow path, fading to nothingness as they turned a corner. A gigantic house lay in a clearing, looming over the surrounding forest.

Deisha leaned forward from the cramped rear seat, ducking her head to see what the fuss was about. The house was a full three stories tall with a Mansard roof and jutting quatrefoil windows. A scattered assortment of pinnacles and chimneys lanced through the roof to reach for the endless black night.

"Oh," said a girl from the middle row of seats. "I didn't know the party was at Dee's house."

An auburn-haired girl next to her tittered but then glanced back at Deisha with a wince and a mouthed 'sorry' before turning to the one who spoke.

"That's not funny, Gabriela," the thin girl said from the middle seat. She twisted one of her long pig-tails in her finger as she licked her lips and looked back at her friend.

"At least I have a house," Deisha said, leaning back once more. "Not some little dinky trailer at a trailer park."

Gabriela glared back at her and opened her mouth. The white skeletal paint covering her dark face scowled ominously. For a brief moment, the girl's face vanished in the darkness and the paint writhed, lines connecting and shifting. Deisha blinked as the van's dome lighting came on, leaving an angry girl in amateur face paint rather than a skeletal horror.

The van rocked as more doors opened and everyone filed out, groaning as they stretched their legs. Lyla pushed the middle seat down and then slowly arranged her oversized dress as she maneuvered her way out of the vehicle. She turned, lowering her chest and her left breast popped out of the cheap bodice. The girl squawked and shoved it back while almost stumbling from the side of the van.

Deisha shook her head as she crouch-crawled her way out of the vehicle. She jumped lightly and then stomped her boots in the dirt as she pulled her headphones down over her neck. Sharp, cold air lanced through the holes in her black stockings but she ignored it the best she could while she looked at the cars already parked by the house. The girl settled her short hair back as she went to her tiptoes to look further down the field. Studs lined the thin, delicate brown skin of her ears. The metal spikes and fake gems shined as she scanned the area. High overhead the crescent moon glowed in a perfectly clear skin. It was huge and lay directly above the house.

"Where the hell is Simon?" she asked herself quietly. She grabbed her phone from her jacket as she followed the rest of her group. The screen blinked on and she navigated to her messages but the last she had from the boy was, simply: Yeah, I'll be there.

Where are you? she typed, her nails ticking on the small screen. She'd painted them earlier - Obsidian Abyss and they absorbed the light surrounding them. The message popped into her screen with a red exclamation point and a tiny "No data" beneath it.

"Dammit," she cursed, shoving her phone back into her pocket. She pulled her jacket tight again, hiding all but the "NC" of the bright red spray painted lettering for band "RANCID" covering the front of her tattered shirt. "What the hell am I even doing here, then?"

A strong gust of wind swirled, stirring leaves and shaking branches that groaned as they creaked and rubbed together. Deisha grabbed her hat as it lifted from her head. The wide brim of the bent, conical "witch's hat" fluttered in her hand but she held it tight with her jaw clenched. It was the single concession she gave to her classmates for their ridiculous Halloween party. She already regretted coming and if Simon didn't show, the evening was ruined.

"It's huge," Jasmine said. The short red-head was dressed in an elaborate, expensive outfit from Harry Potter. She'd put it together over several years, hand sewing most of it as a labor of love. A yellow crest lay stitched over her breast with a black badger standing alertly in the middle of it. She smiled widely at the sight of the house as they stepped onto the wide porch, already imaging the mansion as Hogwarts.

The double front doors were cracked open and the light within wavered. Deisha stuck her head through the door and then stepped fully inside to see Jasmine speaking to a young man dressed in a toga with gold foil lightning bolts in a crown around his head.

A giant staircase dominated the entry with paths curving left and right around it. An old school oil lamp hung from a black post at the base of the stairs. The small flame within bent and swayed on the thick wick floating above the amber liquid.

"Everybody else is already here," Jake said. "The house is fucking huge. I set some crap up on the ground floors and other people brought their own shit Just pick a room and hang out. I'll look around to see what's upstairs. Told everyone else we could meet here in about two hours for a big party with everyone together."

"Thanks, Jake," Jasmine beamed. The girl turned to the rest of the group. "Where should we go?"

Deisha pulled her headphones back on, settling the band carefully against the back of her hat. The music drowned out everyone's conversation as she checked her phone's data once more. She pressed on the message she'd tried to send earlier in order to resend it but it once again complained of no Internet connection.

A light tap on the girl's arm made her look up to see Jasmine jerk her thumb to the left. The rest of her group was already moving so she followed them, hunching her shoulders with a frown as she trailed the rest.

Her boots sunk into the plush red carpet to leave dusty footprints behind. Jasmine held an LED lamp aloft to light their way. Despite being long empty, the house was surprisingly clean and in amazing shape. The contoured wood work of the molding and walls themselves were a spotless mahogany that shined in the light. No paintings hung on the wall and only the sounds of distant laughter echoed through the house, sporadic and sudden before falling silent once more.

"Fuckin' creepy place," Deisha muttered to herself.

"Thought you'd be at home, Dee," Gabriela laughed.

"I hate that nickname," Deisha told her, staring up at the girl with barely restrained ferocity. "I've told you that before and I'm getting tired of telling you. So fuck off with that shit before I do something about it."

"Oohhh, scary," the other girl said with a laugh. She turned with a sly smile but her hand opened and closed into a tight fist as a gentle reminder that she wouldn't be cowed. The girl was the star player on the volleyball team as well as the basketball team and the other coaches constantly tried to woo her for their own sports.

"Cunt," Deisha whispered.

The hallway seemed to curve infinitely without branching. Occasionally, Jasmine tried a door knob but found them to be locked. Behind her, Cora twined a finger through one of her two pigtails. She tittered nervously and then hugged her thin body. The normally cheerful girl looked out-of-place in her dull, gray Wednesday Addams costume but the effect was made worse as she grew more anxious.

"Should- should there be this many doors?" the girl asked, looking back the way they came. "I feel like we've been walking forever."

"Maybe we should go back and ask?" Benjamin offered, trying the door after his sister stepped away from it. "No way they went this far or locked the rooms behind them."

"If this place is abandoned," Deisha mused. "How come everything looks okay? Shouldn't it be-"

The door clicked, pulling Benjamin's arm and he stepped forward into the room in surprise.

"I know I tried that door," Jasmine said, looking past her brother into the room. "It was locked."

"Sure," Gabriela said, pushing through the doorway to stand inside the room. "It's huge. What the hell."

The roughly rectangular room was sparsely appointed but well maintained. Plush button tufted sofas lined the walls with an occasional matching armchair and fainting couch interspersed between them. Empty cabinets filled the gaps between the furniture and a long table lay back in the room. Near the door, nestled in the middle of a semi-circular array of couches was a round table with a large wooden tub centered on top.

Bowls of candy covered the long table with round pans for pies and crystal bottles of clear liquid along with an assortment of other foods.

"Wow," Jasmine said, turning slowly. She smoothed the robe she wore as she took stock of the situation. "They brought all of this? And just for one room? Jake isn't messing around."

Deisha stepped up to the tub and wrinkled her nose. The strong scent of alcohol wafted away from it and she spied a chaotic mixture of colors swirling within. Red apples bobbed on the surface and whatever was stirring the alcohol dragged pieces of candy corn in the writhing current.

She crouched to stare beneath the table and then placed her hand against the base of the tub but felt no vibrations from the hidden motor.

"How the hell?" the girl whispered, watching the slow, hypnotic dance of the apples and candy corn amidst the churning liquid. She shivered as she breathed deeply and the alcohol burned her nose. The girl snorted quietly in response and swallowed when she felt drool pool in the corner of her mouth. She licked her lips and then shook her head with a sharp breath while stepping back.

The others roamed the room, looking through the cabinets and the food laid out on the table. Deisha watched them for a moment, looked toward the tub and then shoved her hands into her jacket. As her classmates took their seats on couches and sofas, she found a vacant chair nearby and sat in it with her right leg over the arm. She pulled her phone free again to ignore the conversation started up around her.

Her lone message still hung in the queue, waiting to be sent.

Come on, Simon, she thought to herself. The girl closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her suddenly sore nose

The boy was impervious to her flirting and she hated to admit that she wasn't confident enough in herself to flat-out ask him out. She'd resigned herself to following him and his band until he noticed her awkward attempts at hitting on him.

"-to do?" Jasmine said through the sudden gap between songs on Deisha's playlist.

Deisha pulled her headphones down around her neck to listen. Her stomach gurgled but she pressed her fist against it before bringing her hand up to wipe a spot of drool from the corner of her mouth. Her eyes wandered to the tub but she looked beyond to see Cora walking along the table of food at the back of the enormous room.

"We could play truth or dare," Lyla said. She sat in the corner of a sofa next to Jasmine. The bodice of her 'Slutty Bar Wench' costume was tight enough that Deisha was sure she saw the hint of her pink areola showing.

The punk girl toyed with the inside of her jacket and her thumb brushed her nipple as she lifted her delicate chin. Her soft, black-painted lips parted as she breathed in short bursts. The tip of her nose flexed with each inhalation. Flesh at the back of her throat caught and vibrated in a quiet grunt.

"With this group?" Gabriela laughed. She lounged on a chair opposite Deisha. "No fucking way. That'd be boring as hell."

---

Beyond the group, Cora lay a finger on the table as her other hand pressed against her slim belly. She toyed with the black belt holding her black dress in place but the usual fleeting thought of hating her boyish figure never arose. Her eyes were wide as she slowly walked along the table.

Candied apples lay on a crystal plate with bowls of sweets surrounding them. Other candied fruits surrounded those until she reached the first pie. She could still feel the heat rising from it and she grinded her teeth as she imagined the sweet taste against her tongue. Pecan pie, she was certain. The first of them. Three apple pies were next, each with different shapes cut into the cinnamon-coated crust. Hearts and five-sided stars and crescent moons. Her mouth watered at the sight of them.

Elaborate gingerbread houses covered the next six feet of the table but more pies followed and she stopped to stare. The dark marmalade coloring of a perfect pumpkin pie sat in the exact middle of the table. She placed her hand over it and, again, could feel the warmth of the freshly baked pie. The fresh scent of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves surrounded her and she moaned as she tasted them on the air.

Before she realized what she was doing, she reached out with her finger to swipe a thick dollop of the pie from the center of the pan. Cora brought her finger up to her mouth and her tongue darted out to taste the pie. Her lips surrounded her finger, warm and moist as her eyelids fluttered and she groaned when she swallowed. The warmth trailed down her throat, spreading downward as her tongue licked her finger clean.

She held the edge of the table, lost in the pleasing tickling sensation of her tongue against her skin. Arousal mixed with warmth and she gasped, rubbing her finger against her teeth and around her gums like an addict.

With a gasp, she stood straight and hugged herself, a slow smile spreading on her narrow face. Orange coloring stained her teeth as her cheeks bulged into a wicked grin. The color spread and darkened to match the pie below her. Green streaks lined her tongue as the tip worked around her lips. The green darkened further as it consumed the pink surrounding it until it matched the stem of a decorative pumpkin nearby.

As her classmates argued over what to do, Cora bent to the pumpkin, not caring or noticing that there were no plates or silverware nearby.

---

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Lyla said, gesturing to the table before them. "There's a barrel of apples so we bob for apples."

Yes, Deisha thought excitedly, sitting up while gripping the arms of her chair. She could see the apples in her mind, floating and bumping into each other. Bright and red and crisp. Her stomach rumbled but she held herself back, unwilling to show too much eagerness in front of the group.

"Lame," Gabriela complained.

"Everything's lame to you," Jasmine sighed. "Can't you just relax and enjoy yourself for once? Not everything has to be a challenge or a- a- a- competition. You just have fun. And, anyway, that thing's filled with alcohol. So it's not that lame."

"I'll even go first!" Lyla said brightly, jumping up. Her breasts jiggled within the poorly fitting bodice and she flounced with exaggerated movements over to the tub.

Deisha licked her lips before wiping drool away with her arm. She leaned forward and then squeezed her legs together as she watched. Her music raged from the headphones laying against her shoulders but she ignored it as she focused on the tub. And the apples within.

"What's the rules?" Lyla asked. "I've never played before."

"Hands behind your back," Jasmine directed. "You have to grab as many apples as you can with just your teeth and then drop them on the table."

"Easy," Lyla said, grasping her hands behind her back.

The brown-haired girl leaned forward timidly and her face disappeared behind the high walls of the tub. She moved, her head darting to the side and then she stood straight with a gasp, flinging alcohol away.

"Ahh, it burns!" the girl gasped, wiping her eyes with her arm.

"Keep your eyes closed, dumbass!" Gabriela laughed.

Rather than answer, Lyla bent back down. Deisha licked her lips, worried that the other girl would get all the apples.

I could still eat them from the ground, an alien thought said from the back of her mind. She shook her head but still watched intently.

"Alright, time!" Jasmine said, clapping her hands. "Did you get any at all?"

"No," Lyla wiped her face with her hands and coughed. "Just candy corn. There's so much of it down there. And alcohol. Way too much alcohol. But it tastes good. Sweet, even."

"Man, you suck," Gabriela said.

"I could go again," Lyla said, tugging at the edge of her outfit. She stared at the tub and then coughed once more.

"No, you had your turn," Jasmine said. "Who's next?"

"I'll-" Deisha said quietly.

"Gabriela?" Jasmine asked. "You've been trash-talking this whole time. Why don't you show us how it's done?"

"I'll do it," Deisha said again, louder this time. She stood, pulling her headphones away to set them on the arm of her chair.

"Are there any glasses in here?" Benjamin wondered. "I don't want the apples or any of that but I'll take some of whatever alcohol they mixed together."

White appeared at the roots of Lyla's hair as she sat back on the couch next to Jasmine. Her head swam from the alcohol and she giggled, shocked at how quickly it acted. She tugged at the top of her bodice as the alcohol burned its way through her, warming her body from her ears to the tips of her toes. The white coloring spread, replacing the brown of her long, curly hair. Her fingers slipped into her bodice and she squeezed her nipple with another giggle before pulling her hand free.

"Are you alright?" Jasmine asked, leaning in.

"Ye-" Lyla tried to say before a coughing fit took her. Flecks of sugar sparkled in the air, expelled from the girl's mouth before she laughed and covered her face. "Yeah, I'm good. I'm really good."

"That's strong smelling," Jasmine said, waving a hand in front of her face. Sugar glittered on her cheeks as she sat back on the couch. She rubbed her cheek with her fingers and her hand slid down to her lips. The tip of her tongue slipped out to lick the sugar from her fingers before she turned back to the tub.

Lyla giggled at Jasmine, touching her arm before grabbing her hand back to squeeze her stomach. She smiled dreamily as her thoughts chased each other endlessly in a loop. The world seemed brighter to her eyes. Shinier and softer and funnier.

Yellow coloring crept down from her gums to her teeth. The yellow darkened to bright orange and she giggled once more, leaning her head back as the orange lightened to pure white at the bottom of her teeth. The snow-white coloring continued to creep along her hair as it draped behind her on the back of the couch. She spread her legs beneath her dress, bumping her knee against Jasmine next to her.