Chapter 2

Good morning everyone!! Hope you all are enjoying the story so far! Chapter 2 was a ball to write! Researching the steampunk sub-culture for this part of the story was a blast! The costumes and the characters people come up with, along with the party atmosphere that goes with it are incredibly intricate and I'm amazed at the level of ingenuity that goes into every aspect of it. The idea for Indoor Fog Croquet really stuck in my brain. I also thought it would be a great way to re-introduce our mystery lady. The idea of the mysterious creature emerging from the mist sends a chill down my spine! I was going to go a bit longer with this chapter but once I wrote that last sentence I knew I had to stop there. Stay tuned for Chapter 3 to find out why Aloysius cant seem to get away from his new friend...

2.

             Exhausted after a too-long day of training Mary, Aloysius wanted nothing more than to kick back and have a good time with his friends. He loaded up his bright red Vespa with his party gear and zoomed off toward Xander’s house. Of course, since nothing was easy that day, he hit snarls of traffic on every route he tried. Normally, his little scooter enabled him to maneuver through the other cars on the road with ease, but it seemed at this particular hour everyone was headed in the same direction he was with no means of escaping it!  Aloysius only lived two towns over from Xander’s new condo in Cambridge, but at this rate he thought he wouldn’t make it there before midnight.

            By the time he arrived, he could tell the party was already in full swing. He pulled up in the driveway and hurriedly began gathering up his gear. He flipped up the seat of the scooter to reveal a compartment chock full of gears and goggles. He didn’t bother fixing the mess that was his hair after taking off his helmet. In fact he tousled it even more before strapping his clunky goggles to his head. He took off his riding jacket and pulled a white lab coat on over his work clothes and strapped two leather wristlets equipped with bronze “weaponry” on each arm. He tied on his belt decorated with plastic beakers and lenses of various shapes and sizes. Lastly, he pulled out a simple jar of soot. He poured the soot in his hand and smeared it all over the front of his jacket and even put a swipe or two on his cheeks. He put his riding accessories and helmet away and secured his scooter before heading up the few stone steps to Xander’s front door.

            After he rang the door bell, he stood on the tiny porch and stared at the driveway for a few minutes. He was in such a rush that he hardly noticed the line of scooters he inadvertently parked next to. Almost every party attendee drove the same scooter as he did, just in a different color. He wondered why he had never noticed it before. The quick opening of the door snapped him out of his trance and he was greeted by a gentleman smoking a pipe and wearing a top hat, tuxedo, and monocle. “Oh! Aloysius, old boy! Come in, come in!” Xander said as he cleared the doorway for his guest.

            “Xander, no one I know get’s into character better than you do.” He walked in and shook the white-gloved hand of his host.

            “My Good Sir, since you’ve just arrived, allow me to inform you what has transpired, unbeknownst to you a murder most foul!” Xander nearly knocked his top hat off with excitement.

            “Ah, so we’re going with a murder mystery theme tonight? Are you sure it wasn’t you with this…laser thing you have here?” He said examining the ornate gauntlet on Xander’s arm.

            “This is no laser! This is merely a sophisticated watch, sir!”

            “Can you just tell me what’s going on out of character so I can play too?”

            “No time! We must figure out who did the nefarious deed before he or she strikes again! To the parlor!” Just like that, Aloysius was left standing alone in the alcove of the condo. As he walked further inside, he was greeted by his fellow party guests who were playing parlor games. The lights in the condo were turned down low and little tea light candle’s were lit everywhere creating a romantic and almost old-world atmosphere. He said his hello’s and was almost immediately bowled over by a small pixie-haired woman wearing a tiny top hat. “Yay!! You finally made it!” she said sweetly.

            “Hello Hannah!” he said hugging her back “You look fabulous. And then I got soot all over you. Sorry about that.” He brushed some of the soot off her bare shoulder. Hannah, who was Xander’s wife, wore a brown leather corset over a heavy corduroy skirt and petticoat with big clunky brown leather boots to match. “The place looks great, by the way.”

            “Thanks! You’ve seen Xan already, obviously.” They moved from the parlor into the dining room where a selection of various tiny sandwiches, pastries and different teas and drinks lined the main table. Al was famished and grabbed a few treats.

            “Oh, I have. He seems to have been hitting the libations fairly early. Mind telling me what’s going on so I can play in the game?”

            “There’s not much to tell really. You are the Professor Lawrence Hobart Clibborn. “

            “Y’know my character doesn’t have to have three names just because I do.”

            “I know, but Xander does it on purpose to watch you squirm.”

            “Damn him to hell, then. So who’s our murder victim?”

            “Edith Darney. She was found in the alley behind your laboratory.”

            “God, I hate when that happens.”

            “I know, isn’t that horrible? How do these things keep happening to you? Anyway, you’ve been cleared as a suspect.”

            “How, I haven’t been here to deliver my alibi?”

            “You were seen leaving your lab long before the body was discovered. We think she was planted there by a doctor trying to steal your secrets.”

            “Oh, well that makes total sense.”

            “Doesn’t it? I thought so. OK, now that you’re caught up, grab something to eat and come down to the basement. We have a new game to play…and a new girl for you to meet.” Hannah said with a wink and quickly turned and headed off towards the basement.

            “I will be down there once I re-fuel!” Al picked at a few more sandwiches and pastries and grabbed a drink before he headed downstairs. When he opened the basement door, he noticed a bit of fog hanging out at the bottom of the staircase. He made his way down slowly and his jaw dropped. Not only was the basement filled with artificial fog but it was set up like a maze separated by pieces of cardboard spray-painted grey. He joined his friends on the stoop and waited for Hannah to explain the rules of the new game. “OK! Professor Lawrence has arrived, we can start!  Now, this game is something I came across on the internet trying to come up with fun new party ideas.  I couldn’t find any set rules of course, but I figure it shouldn’t be any harder than the original game.”

            “What are we playing? ‘Escape the Minotaur’?” A bespectacled fellow partygoer asked. The group let out a collective chuckle.

            “Haha. No Caleb, I’m afraid not.  What we are playing, though, is called Indoor Fog Croquet.” Hannah said swinging her mahogany croquet mallet in the air and resting it on her shoulder. “As you can see we’ve set up our own little obstacle course here plus you have to play through the fog. Now everyone grab a mallet, and we’ll get started.” Aloysius smiled and picked up his own mallet from the stand. He was completely shocked by Hannah and Xander’s creativity when it came to throwing parties like these. “Hey Hannah, are we playing as teams or individually?” he asked.

            “We will be playing in teams, my good sir. Actually your teammate is floating around here somewhere. I think she was checking out the course.”

            “Oh, so your mystery lady is my teammate? You know I need to approve these things in advance.”

            “I don’t think you’ll object at all, dear. Here she is now, actually!” Hannah and Aloysius turned and he couldn’t believe his eyes. Coming around the corner and veiled in fog was none other than his table thief from earlier that day. 


Even though the story is still lacking in it's Lovecrafty-ness, don't worry it's getting there! Chapter 3 has a lot of strange surprises in store. I can only hope the man would approve!