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Excitement, like an invisible electric current, ran through the room. The room was big, tastefully decorated in expensively modern furniture, and crowded with people. The people gathered were men and women. All were smartly dressed and almost all were drinking. The tense murmur of voices sounded above the music that was playing on the stereo.
The excitement mounted as the drapes were drawn shut, shutting out the moonlit night. The music was turned down low and the voices dropped to an anticipating whisper as the guests began arranging the furniture, drawing up chairs and couches so that they could sit comfortably and have a good view. All of the guests faced toward one end of the room where a small stage was set up.
It wasn’t much of a stage, being barely big enough to accommodate a large bed and raised only a few feet off the floor. Black velvet drapes behind it and on the sides acted as backing. Anyone standing on the stage would be outlined sharply by the black, depthless velvet. Pencil-point spotlights suddenly stabbed through the gathering darkness of the room. The guests got themselves comfortable and, well fortified with drinks, they sat back or shifted restlessly, getting a clear view.
The room darkened and a communal thrill ran through the gathered guests for they felt safe—anonymous—in the dark. Unseen, they could behave as they wished without anyone objecting.
Fictional reading for entertainment purposes only.