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We were in the process of lighting the candles as fast we could when Marcus ambled into the kitchen. His face brightened when he saw the cake.
"Cake time!" he exclaimed.
"Can you go and turn the music and lights off?" Sarah asked as she lighted the last candle.
"You got it," Marcus answered, striding back into the living room. A few seconds later we heard the music stop and saw the living room go dark. Sarah and I carried the cake into the living room, each of us holding a side.
"Happy Birthday to you!" we started singing. The crowd joined in and I heard Jenny's squeal of delight as she walked up to the cake. She was grinning from ear to ear as we all sang Happy Birthday to her, her face illuminated by the candles on the cake.
Help me.
I blinked at the strained voice. The cake with tiny flames of fire, Jenny's happy face, the enthusiastic singing of the crowd - they all became a blur as I concentrated on the voice that was full of pain and pleading.
Help me.
I frantically looked around the room. People's faces were illuminated eerily by the glow of the candles, their mouths open as they sang. They resembled ghouls with the exaggerated grins on their faces as their mouths gaped open and closed in unison as if they were a frightening synchronized lynch mob, pressing close to me.
I glanced over at Sarah and she was smiling widely, oblivious. Didn't she feel the danger? I felt myself starting to get frantic.
I could barely hear the birthday song in my panicked state, so I was taken by surprise when Jenny leaned down when it ended and blew out the candles, throwing us in almost complete darkness. The only faint light was coming from the kitchen behind us. Everyone started yelling and clapping, but instead of jubilation in their voices, I heard threatening jeers.
I was about to lose it. I was going to drop the cake and run like a banshee screaming. I loosened my hold on the cake, not caring about the aftermath. All I could concentrate on was getting the hell out of there.
Suddenly, the lights flicked on. I looked around and my fear dissipated as the faces that had looked threatening just moments before were now smiling and laughing, with no hint of malice. I saw Jenny smiling, thanking us for the cake and the happy chatter of the crowd around us.
What was I thinking? Why was I letting my imagination run wild? I stared stupidly at Jenny when Sarah's voice entered the fog of my thoughts.
"Caitlin?" she asked with a frown.
"What?" I answered, breathless.
"I said let's take the cake into the kitchen and start cutting it." Sarah looked concerned. "Didn't you hear me? I said it to you twice but you were just spaced out."
I shook my head to clear out the remaining fog. "Sorry. Maybe I had a few too many drinks." Sarah didn't need to know I had only drank two cups of punch. Thankfully she didn't question me any further and we walked back into the kitchen. We were cutting the cake and placing portions onto paper plates when Simon walked in. I glanced up and then looked back down, concentrating on slicing the cake into equal portions.
"Are you okay?" he asked me, standing close.
"Yeah, why?" I didn't look up, keeping my eyes on the cake. I felt Sarah look up.
"You seemed kind of panicked when we were singing Happy Birthday. Like you were scared something was about to happen."
"You did seem kind of weird," Sarah added. Great, I didn't need her to jump on the bandwagon. "I kept saying that we should take the cake back into the kitchen to cut but you just stood there like you couldn't hear me."
I shot out a breath of impatience, still not looking up from the cake. "I'm fine, guys. Really. It's just hot out there with all those people and I think I was getting overheated."
Sarah shrugged, seeming to accept my explanation, and went back to plating the pieces of cake but Simon continued to stand next to me. I could see his jeans and black boots in my peripheral as I kept my neck bent, concentrating on the task before me.
I finally looked up and saw Simon watching me, his blue eyes seeming troubled.
"Simon, I'm really okay," I reassured him. It was disconcerting that he wouldn't readily accept my excuse. Sarah had, and she knew way more about me than he did.
"If you say so," he replied, not sounding convinced. I forced a smile, trying to mask my anxiety. I couldn't think about what had just happened. I would think about it later, when I was alone with my thoughts. If I started considering that I was truly going crazy now, I would burst into tea
rs.
"I think that's enough pieces of cake for now," I said, turning my attention back to Sarah. "Let's go put them out on the table."
Simon helped us bring out the plates of cake and place them on the table in the living room, but I felt his eyes on me as if he was trying to figure me out. The last thing I needed was for Simon to size me up.
