Dinner Party

Uncertain of what the Jersey Devil was capable of, we let him lead the way. He slinks into the open doorway and we follow closely behind. There on the other side we see an elegant candle chandelier that is suspended from nothing at all. It drips wax on the large rectangular table beneath. The octopus sits at the head of the table. He springs from his seat at the sight of the Jersey Devil. "What is this scoundrel doing here?" Jersey Devil nonchalantly seats himself. "Relax, you can't have a party without me."  The octopus rolls his eyes. Jersey Devil puts his paw that has razer sharp claws out. " Let's bury the hatchet."
  The Octopus sighs and reluctantly puts out his tentacle. Half a second after they shake paw/tentacles the octopus feels a buzzzzzzz. Jersey Devil laughs hysterically and reveals a joy buzzer. " Very mature, Mr. Devil."  " It's a classic."  The octopus ignores the Jersey Devil and continues to pull out chairs for his guests. " No, allow me " The Jersey Devil insists. The Octopus shakes his head and goes back to his seat. He pulls my seat. I sit down , and all the sudden I hear a loud farting noise. Jersey Devil snickers to himself. I'm sitting on a whoopee cushion. The octopus buries his head in his tentacles. "Is this what I can expect this evening?" asks the octopus. "You know me, mischief maker extraordinare right here." He says.  Olivia interrupts. "Is there any whine?" " Why yes there is, and I think now would be a perfect time to start drinking it." The Octopus gets up and starts to wobble away. I casually look around. "Where is everybody?"  "They won't be here till later. It's in bad form to come to a dinner party to early." "Then why are you here now?" asks Olivia.  The Jersey grins to himself. "Because I don't give a shit about good form."  The Octopus wobbles back into the dinner party holding a bottle of red whine. " This is good stuff. It's aged seven years." He carefully uncorkes the bottle and pours four glasses. We clink our glasses together and drink the sweet whine. The Octopus looks very pleased with himself as he notes that everybody is drinking the whine. " It's expensive that's how you know it's good." He states.  Olivia tries to bite her tongue, but the Octopus instantly notices her disagreement. " You don't think so?"
"No, I don't." She says.  The Octopus leans in. " Have you ever heard of a decent cheap whine.?" Olivia mimics the Octopus's lean. "No, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist." The Octopus smiles and attempts to clap without getting his suction cups stuck together. "Well done, now you know why you are here." I raise my eyebrow.  "No I don't actually." I say. "Well," The Octopus starts. I interrupt him. " Could you hold that thought, I have to pee?" The Octopus sighs."Could you wait?"  "No I don't think I can."   "Very well then ."  The Octopus shouts out. "Cerberus!"  A three headed rottweiler playfully rushes into the room wagging all three tongues. It sits down by the Octopus. The Octopus points to me. "Could you please escort my guest to the lavatory?" Cerberus rushes over to me and licks my face with all three tongues. I stand up and try to wipe off the slobber. " Let's go"  I tell it. Cerberus guides me out of the room into a narrow hallway . There is still a powder blue background. But now it feels more like a cartoon. It feels like an endless hallway and every now and then we pass a doorway, a flower vase, and a bust of Beethoven. "Shouldn't you be guarding hell?" I ask him. "Hell is a concept." It quips.  " Did you just go Socrates on me?"  "Yeah, I did." Cerberus smiles three big smiles.  Eventually we stop at a doorway. With a vase and bust of Beethoven.  " Here you are" It says. I open up the door. It's nothing special. Just a regular bathroom with barely enough space for one person. But I look in the mirror and I see that my face is horribly scarred and ripped up. I touch my face. It feels fine. I decide  to touch the mirror. My hand goes straight through and touches the reflection on the other side. My reflection makes a startled face and I pull back immediately. The light in the bathroom explodes. Leaving me in the dark. All alone, until I get a call from Olivia. " Where are you?" " I'm in the bathroom" "Still?" "I can't find the door." I can hear her trying not to laugh on the other side. " I'll come and get you" She says.  " Are you sure? It's a really confusing hallway." "I'll find you." She tells me reassuringly. We hang up our phones. Now I sit and I wait patiently.