Interior

The party had been going on for as long as everyone there remembered. They couldn't tell whether that was an hour or a hundred years ago. Nor could they tell where it was. People came and went - where to or from, no one could recall, let alone say. It was a party and they were there. That was all that mattered.

It was a party of ever-changing constants. Some people had been there the whole time (for lack of a better expression). Some had just "arrived." But the party stayed the same. You could get anything you wanted.

Elise wanted everything. James wanted Elise. Katherine wanted both James and Elise at once. Brian wanted to get high and forget his troubles. Simon wanted to beat the shit out of Brian. Jennifer wanted to watch him. And then afterwards she would fuck Brian. Ad infinitum.

No one knew how big the building the party was in was. There was a main room with dance floor and alcoves. There were side rooms, hallways, stairwells... places for secret trysts, sessions, orgies... the inevitable tears. Anything the mind could think of doing, someone could find a space for it. But everyone gravitated around the party itself. Where else was there to go? There was no exit, no outside - and no one cared.

It was as if no one ate or slept. The building and all the people in it were alive with a permanent buzz of substances and sweat. Emotions ran continually at peak amplitude- things were usually consistent -and sometimes into the red. but occasionally something snapped

Jane had been dancing with Rick for a while. He wasn't a great conversationalist, but she could live with that - at least until she grew tired of him. He was a good dancer, though, and besides that he was fun. What more could anyone expect, really?

After coming back from the washroom, where she'd done a couple of lines with Jasmine, Jane went over to the bar to get a Rum & Coke. By the time she finished it and got back to the floor, Rick wasn't where she'd left him. Turning to a side exit, she caught a glimpse of him being led by the hand out the door into the dark hallway beyond by Jasmine.

Following at a discreet distance, Jane caught their excited whispers and hushed laughs down the hall ahead of her. They turned aside at a numbered door, and she waited a couple of minutes before pushing it open and proceeding warily inside.

The door opened on a small lounge, with Jasmine and Rick's clothes already strewn about. Murmurs and laughs came from the hall beyond the brightly lit kitchenette. Jane paused next to the counter as footsteps approached.

Jasmine rounded the corner, nude, and her eyes widened as she came face-to-face with Jane, who immediately closed the distance between them. With her left hand, Jane brought Jasmine's head towards hers and kissed her full on the lips. With her right, she grabbed a steak knife out of its rack on the counter and plunged it into Jasmine's side, between her ribs, and into her heart. What little noise escaped the union of hers and Jasmine's lips was little more than a gasp.

When she entered the bedroom, she found Rick lying naked on the bed. She ran up and straddled him, bringing the knife to his neck.

"If you move," she panted as his eyes snapped wide open, "I'll fucking kill you."

She proceeded to get into position, preparing him and adjusting her dress and undergarments with her left hand while her right never budged. After several minutes, when she was about to come, she sliced as deep as she could. She remained mounted for a few seconds more before disengaging, dropping the knife and shedding her bloodstained clothes on the way to the bathroom.

Jane remained in the shower until it was so foggy she could hardly breathe.

When she emerged the bedroom was spotless, without a trace of blood or violence. No body, no clothes, no knife. She found a clean dress that fit her in the walk-in closet. She took the care to turn out all the lights as she left.

When she returned to the party, it didn't matter how long she'd been away. Nothing had really changed.

Jane realized that no one would even remember them, anyway.