“Yeah, I’ll call you about the homework later Marissa!” Jonie called from her front porch.  Once Marissa was out of sight, Jonie opened the door and tossed her backpack onto the old, tattered, brown couch in her living room.  She wasn’t prepared for the weeks ahead of her because Marissa was leaving tomorrow—Wednesday, November 3rd—for vacation in the Bahamas for two weeks.  Jonie didn’t know how to handle being without Marissa because she didn’t have any other friends at her school.  Being all alone at the house, Jonie wondered what she was going to eat for dinner.  She thought maybe her mom had prepared something for her.  Jonie’s mother worked eight-hour shifts as a waitress at the local diner, and Jonie’s father unfortunately, was not in the family picture. Usually Jonie was used to being alone, especially since she didn’t have any siblings.  But today she felt different—almost as if she was being neglected.  To cheer herself up, she decided to make herself a steaming cup of hot chocolate and quietly read a book.  As she read her book, her eyelids were growing heavy, and it became difficult for her to keep them open.  Within 30 minutes of reading, Jonie was fast asleep. 

            Suddenly, Jonie woke up to a strange buzzing noise.  It was almost as if the entire house was vibrating from the noise.  Her eyelids flew open and she frantically looked around the room.  Everything in the house was asleep and dark, but Jonie noticed her mother’s old, worn, white sneakers by the door.  She glanced at the clock and in bright red flashing numbers, it read 12:23 a.m. 

            “Oh my gosh!  I can’t believe it’s already midnight!” Jonie picked up her book and quietly raced to her bedroom.  

            The buzzing noise was gradually getting louder and louder until it was almost unbearable.  Before Jonie could make it to her bed, she couldn’t handle the noise anymore and collapsed on the floor. 

            “What…is that sound!?” she croaked.  She covered her ears with her hands, trying desperately to block out the sound.  Her head was spinning, and she felt as if she was paralyzed.  The noise grew to be so painful that Jonie passed out unconscious on the hard wood floor of her bedroom. 

            Early the next morning, Jonie woke up and the noise had eerily disappeared.  Throughout the school day it seemed as though she could hear everything more clearly.  She could hear each individual student in her class clicking the tops of their ballpoint pens.  She was able to hear the gentle tapping of her teacher’s fingers on the individual keys of her keyboard.  Her mind was flooded with every single footstep of students moving along through the hallways to their next class.  After a while, Jonie’s mind felt as if it was going to burst, so she decided to make a trip down to the nurse’s office. 

            “What seems to be the problem sweetie?  Do you have a stomach ache?  Should I call your parents?”  The school nurse continuously asked more and more questions.  Jonie suddenly moved to her feet and as soon as she stood up, her body lurched forward, and she threw up into the small, black garbage can next to the door. 

            After an entire week of hearing as clear as a wolf, Jonie was finally used to the change and could handle blocking out the sounds for a short time.  As she returned home from school on Wednesday, November 10th, she opened the mailbox and a colored envelope caught her eye.  Once she walked into the house, she became even more interested, and she scanned the bright blue envelope.  It was abnormal because the only ink used on the entire envelope was for Jonie’s name.  Confused and not sure what to do, Jonie looked through every single window of her kitchen to see if someone was trying to play a stupid prank on her.  Finally realizing that nobody was there, she ripped open the pastel envelope.  After unfolding the cream-colored, tattered, parchment paper, in quick scribbles it read:

            Dear Jonie Andersen,

                        You have been secretly invited to join a small selection of guests tonight for our annual underground mixer including, music, food, drinks, friends, and fun!  Because our guest list is so limited, we will be including a code word in this letter and you must ONLY travel by yourself.  If we catch you with any other non-invited persons, there will be GREAT consequences.  If you decide not to show up, we will never send you another invitation for the rest of your life.  If you do decide to make an appearance, we promise that you will not regret it!  The address of the party is 1455 South St.  under the train tracks.  Our code word is REINDEER.  We hope to see you there!

            After reading the strange letter, Jonie was dumbfounded.  Why would anyone send her this letter?  She wondered.  And who on earth was the person who sent it?  Figuring it was a little eerie, she decided she would not be making an appearance at this “party.”  Although, instead of throwing the letter away, she tucked it into her backpack. 

As the moon rose, and the night crept closer, Jonie started to feel lonely.  Without her mother at home and her only friend Marissa on vacation, she reached into her backpack for the blue envelope.  She read it over once again and glanced over at the clock.  It was 9:30 p.m. on a Wednesday night.  If she was back home by 11:00, she would be in the clear.  She quickly climbed out of bed and put on her favorite pair of jeans and a leather jacket.  Jonie tip-toed out of the front door, making sure that it was open just a crack, so she could later get back in.  With the sky-colored letter in her grasp, she began to adventure down towards the railroad tracks on South Street. 

            She finally reached South Street and searched for the railroad tracks.  She saw a strange little shack sitting about thirty yards away.  She hiked up to the shack, fallen leaves crinkling underneath her sneakers, and rapped her knuckles on the window, but nothing happened.  She then saw a cardboard sign on the old, rickety shack’s door that said “PASSWORD.”  This time, instead of knocking, she spoke the password towards the window. 

            “R…r…reindeer...” she said quietly.  After the word left her mouth, she heard grumbling noises from behind the door.  It almost sounded as though multiple people were whispering to each other.

            “Hello?  Is anyone there?”  Jonie asked.  Suddenly, the ancient door creaked open very slowly, and two bright yellow eyes peeked at her from about three feet high. 

            “Oh, my goodness!” she gasped.  “What ARE you?”

            “Excuse me?  You do NOT get to talk to me that way I’m—” the creature was interrupted by the blue envelope in Jonie’s hand. 

            “Where did you get that?” the beast whispered viciously.

            “It was in the mail for me when I got home from school and it told me to go to the place underneath these tracks…I just don’t quite know how to get down there.” Jonie explained. 

            “Well you’ve come to the right place my friend.  What is your name?” the small creature took out a clipboard that had a piece of paper on the top with what looked to be a list of names.

            “I’m Jonie Andersen…what is that?” she asked, hesitantly.

            “THIS is none of your business.  Ah…yes…your name is here!  Alright, now if you would just follow me…” the troll led Jonie to a door behind a large counter.  The door was decorated with blinking blue lights that read ‘PLEASE ENTER PASSWORD BELOW’.  The creature peered towards Jonie and typed into the number pad below the doorknob. 

            “Alright now enter the password please, Jonie.” He said.  Jonie entered her password and the door softly clicked nine times.  It then swung open, revealing an intimidating, steep, spindling staircase.  Jonie took one step forward and the strange creature slammed the door shut behind her. 

            “Wait!  I don’t want to go anymore!” Jonie banged on the door and frantically tried wiggling the doorknob, but she couldn’t get it to open. 

            “What is happening?  I can’t do this, why did I even come here?  Gosh, I’m so stupid!  I guess I don’t have a choice anymore there’s only one way I can go.” Jonie muttered to herself.  She began to make her way down the stairs and as she got closer to the bottom, she heard muffled, but loud music and voices. 

            “Huh, okay…it sounds like people are having fun I guess.” She said.  At the end of the stairs she reached another door with another keypad next to the doorknob.  Jonie entered ‘REINDEER’ into the keypad and the door buzzed.  She twisted the knob and pushed opened the door presenting her with hundreds of mystical creatures each with a different colored drink in their grasp. 

            “She’s here!” one of them yelled.

            “The guest of honor has arrived!” another cried. 

            “What is all of this?” Jonie asked.

            “Hello Jonie,” a tall man-like beast approached her.  He had broad shoulders and a very distinct jaw line.  His hands were so large that they could’ve easily individually cupped the top of Jonie’s head.  “We’re so glad you could make it.”  He looked her in the eyes, and Jonie felt like he was sucking her soul out of her body.  His irises were dead black and when he opened his mouth his teeth were as yellow as earwax.  He smelled like week-old dirty laundry mixed with the scent of a wet labradoodle.  Jonie started feeling dizzy, almost as if she was going to faint.  Suddenly the annoying buzzing noise was in the back of her head once again.  She placed her hands over her ears, wishing that it would extinguish the nosie.  As she scanned around the room, she realized there was no other human in sight, and every single creature in the room was staring directly towards her. 

            “Wha…what’s going on?  Who are you?” Jonie started stumbling across her words. 

            “We knew you were feeling a little bit lonely Jonie, and this party will be the perfect thing to cheer you up.” He said with a sly smile.  The buzzing noise was gradually increasing in volume as two tall, strong, big-boned figures appeared behind Jonie and took hold of her arms.  They lifted her up and started carrying her across the room to another strange doorway.  Panicking, she looked at the creatures and all of them looked as though they were formed from rotten tree bark.  Everyone had soulless black eyes with bright yellow stained teeth. 

            “We were once like you Jonie, lonely, scared, and neglected, but now…now we are part of something!  We are family!”  A woman-like being crept up to Jonie and covered her mouth and nose with an old, worn-out, and smelly sock.  She had dark, wrinkly skin, and her hair was stringy and pungent.  She could almost pass by as a human, except for her dark black eyes.  They weren’t just black, but she had four of them, and every single one of them seemed to be digging into Jonie’s soul.  The woman had a small frame, but she was incredibly strong.  Jonie wouldn’t have been able to set her mouth free if she tried.  She knew couldn’t handle the smell, and Jonie wasn’t going to stay conscious for much longer.  The buzzing had taken over Jonie’s mind causing her vision to start spotting, and suddenly everything went dark.

            Rrriiiiinnnnnnnngggggggg!  Jonie’s eyes flew open as she was gasping for breath.  She looked around and she was somehow in her bedroom.  It was strange—everything was completely silent.  There were no buzzing noises, and her hearing was back to normal.  Relieved, she laid back on her pillow, noticing that she was completely drenched in her own sweat.  Jonie glanced at her clock and the bright red numbers showed 7:25 a.m.  It was Wednesday, November 3rd.  She had the urge to file through her backpack for the blue letter. Jonie leaned over the edge of her bed and scanned every folder and pocket of her bag three times, but there was no sign of the blue envelope.  She then turned to her phone and noticed a message from Marissa.  It was a picture of her in the airport ready to board the airplane for the Bahamas.  Startling her, Jonie heard a knock on the door and through the wood she heard her mother’s voice.

            “Jonie!  It’s almost time for school to start.  You don’t want to be late!” Jonie took a deep breath and placed her palm on her sweaty forehead.  

            “Whew, it was only a dream…” she said.