Philip Westmont woke groggily to the sound of his roommates running up the steps to their second-floor flat. As usual, when he awoke on All Saint’s Day, his body was covered in sweat and who knows what else. He pulled the sheet tightly up to his armpits and waited for them to burst into his room.

The three of them were still more than slightly drunk. William – known to everyone as Billie – was dressed in what had been a Spiderman costume. The gloves and head covering were gone and there were tears in both the tight-fitting top and bottom. The boot covers were also gone and his black boots looked out of place with the blue legs. He pulled the desk chair over to the bed and turned it around so he could sit with his arms crossed on the top of the back. “I assume,” he began “that our resident samhainophobic spent Halloween night cowering in your room again this year.” He paused and then continued, “You really have to get over your fear. You missed the greatest Halloween party ever.”

Philip never went out on Halloween. On Halloween night, he wouldn’t come to the door if someone called on him. He wouldn’t even look out his windows. Instead, he stayed in his room with the shades drawn, apparently too frightened to even get out of bed. When pressed, he would say, “There is something within me that won’t let me do anything on Halloween.”

Since it was his only peculiarity and he was otherwise a great flatmate, Billie, Juan, and John tolerated it. But each of the four years that they had shared a flat together, they had pestered him to go out with them to one Halloween party or the other. When he refused, they would go without him and then come back to regale him with tales of debauchery. This year was no exception.

Billie’s round face was flushed slightly red and he had that continuous silly grin he got when he had too much to drink. Juan and John, with their darker skin, didn’t flush with drink, but you could tell when they had gone over their limit because they started sounding more and more like their mother. They were twins. Their father, John, was Anglo. Their mother, Juanita, was Hispanic and had a slight Spanish overlay to her speech. John and Juanita had agreed to name their first boy John, but when twins were unexpectedly born, the doctor asked what to name them. John said, “John,” and Juanita said, “Juan” – also meaning John. The doctor replied “John and Juan it is,” and that is what they were named.

Their costumes consisted of red sweatshirts, red pants, and red running shoes. On the front of John’s sweatshirt was a large white circle. In the center of the circle, it said, “Thing 1.” In the center of Juan’s circle, it said, “Cosa 2"

“You would not believe this party,” John said.

Juan continued John’s thought as he often did, “It was the third party we stopped at and we almost left.”

“Then SHE arrived,” John said, letting out a deep sigh.

“She was dressed as a Gypsy in gauzy harem pants and a bunch of scarves that were wound loosely around her upper body,” Juan continued. “I don’t know if she arrived barefoot, but she was barefoot as she glided around the room dancing and swaying to the music.”

“I have never seen anyone so... so... sexual,” Billie said. “It was like a cloud of perfume that followed her into the room and enveloped everyone there. She walked around the room kissing everyone – boy or girl – and by the time she had made one round of the room, the party totally changed.”

“Before she arrived, I had pretty much struck out,” John said, “but right after she arrived, one of the girls who had brushed me off grabbed me by the hand and pulled me into one of the bedrooms. She practically tore my clothes off and then stripped off her own and lay back on the bed and yelled, ‘Fuck me! Fuck me hard!’”

He smiled broadly and said, “And you know I never turn down a lady’s request.”

“I think the ladies knew they were wasting their time with me,” Juan said. “I was holding back  because it normally takes a little while to scope out who is safe to come on to, but this gorgeous hunk of a man tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Do you want to go someplace and fuck?’”

His smile was wider than his brother’s as he said, “I thought we were going to melt the condoms, he was pumping so hard into my ass. I often have to use my hands to take me over the top while someone is fucking me, but I spurted all over the bed at the same time he erupted inside me.”

“And that was just the beginning,” Billie said. “The Gypsy girl had brought some of her own music, and when she started dancing to it, several of the girls joined her. There were six of them, plus her, and they formed sort of a circle as they danced. She loosened the scarves so that her boobs were a little more visible. Then the six girls started stripping in time to the music.”

“One of them was Darlene from the shop downstairs,” John said. “I couldn’t believe it. She is usually such an uptight little prude, but she was swaying with the music and shedding her clothes like she was possessed.”

“I tried to take her back into one of the bedrooms,” Billie said, “but we only got as far as the hallway when she knelt down in front of me and opened the zipper on the front of my costume.” His eyes got wide as he said, “She practically sucked my balls up through my prick. I’ve never felt anything like that before. And then when she was done, she stood up, smiled at me, wiped off her mouth with the back of her hand and said, ‘You taste like you could use another drink. So could I.’ She pulled me over to the bar and stood there naked while we talked.” He shook his head, “It was as if she didn’t even notice that she was naked.”

“I noticed,” John said. “She has a perfect body with those dark brown nipples and a thick black bush.” He paused and then said, “I wish she wouldn’t keep it all so covered up most of the time.”

“After we finished our drink,” Billie continued, “Darlene said, ‘Why don’t we show them how it’s done?’ and started pulling the shirt to my costume up over my head. She stripped me bare and then pulled me over to where a bunch of pillows were piled up next to the couch. She pushed the pillows around with her foot so they formed sort of a bed and then lay faced down on it. ‘If we go doggy style,’ she said, ‘you can play with my tits while you fuck me.’”

Juan interrupted. “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing when we came back out of the bedroom,” he said. “Billie and Darlene weren’t the only ones fucking in the living room. That guy from down the block had one of the Fisher sisters bent over an overstuffed chair and was ass-fucking her. He was shaking like mad as he moved slowly in and out of her ass. She was almost singing a keening wail that got shriller as he pushed in and deeper as he pulled out. I couldn’t believe it, but they were doing that for over a half-hour.”

“And all the while,” John said, “the Gypsy was dancing and swaying to her music.”

“The scarves would slip and slide around while she danced,” Juan said. “The harem pants didn’t really hide anything, but she ditched them and wound some of the scarves a little lower on her body. All of the scarves were moving around as if they had a life of their own. If you stared at her, you could see just about everything, a piece at a time.”

“There was this really strange tattoo on her abdomen,” Billie said. “Two snakes came out of her belly button. They went up and then back down so they formed two points of a star. Then it looked like there were two more snakes coming out of their mouths... or maybe they were supposed to be eating the second pair of snakes. The new pair of snakes formed two more points on the star and then ate another pair of snakes. That pair of snakes formed two more points leaving just the area right above her slit bare. The snake on the left side of her abdomen ate another snake while the one on the right kept going as they merged together to form a single mouth that was tattooed right over her cunt. There was some form of weird writing with one letter in each point of the star.”

“That’s a form of an ouroboros,” Philip said calmly. “Normally it’s a circle. It’s a very powerful occult symbol.” He sat up against his pillows, being careful to keep the sheet over his body.

“When the seven snakes are combined with the seven-pointed star,” he continued, “the ouroboros becomes the symbol of Babalon, also known as the Scarlet Woman or the Mother of Abominations. It is spelled similar to the city of Babylon, but it is pronounced totally different. Both a’s are sounded as long, and the o is just a little bit different. He then sounded out the name as “Bay, bay, long.” He smiled and said, “Drop the g, but that’s how it is supposed to be pronounced. The letters in the points of the star spell out her name. The star of the Scarlet Woman is one of the most powerful symbols of the occult, and Babalon, herself, is one of the more powerful spirits or deities.”

“I don’t know about that,” John said, “but this girl was the mother of all sluts... and she turned those six girls into...”

“Fucking machines!” Juan said loudly. “Just before Midnight she yells out, ‘Clear the floor,’ and a bunch of guys start moving all of the furniture to the edges of the living room.”

“Then,” John took back up, “she calls the six girls back and says, ‘Time to form the star.’ They lay on their backs in a circle with their heads to the middle and their legs spread out until their feet are touching the next girl’s. The Gypsy girl stands so that her feet are touching the feet of two of the girls so it completes the circle or star or whatever it was. Then she starts dancing and swaying again.”

Billie continued, “All of the girls on the ground started moaning and humping up into the air. They were groaning and calling out, ‘Fuck me... fuck me... fuck me... fuck me...’ It was unbelievable.”

“Pretty soon,” Juan said, “all of the guys at the party were naked and standing in line. I prefer men, but somehow I just had to fuck one of these girls. Every guy there– including the hunk who had gone to the bedroom with me– was lining up for a shot at the girls in the star.”

“The other girls at the party were standing in line, too,” John said. “It was like it had turned into some kind of orgy.”

Billie shook his head and said, “I’ve never done anything like that before. I mean, I usually want some privacy when a girl and I are going to go at it. But for some reason, I just couldn’t help myself.”

“Neither could I,” Juan said.

“Nor me,” John added. “And for some reason, I had more... staying power... than normal. I think I fucked that one chick for like an hour before I finally shot my wad into her. ... and she was still yelling for more.”

“And one thing really weird,” Juan said.

“Like the rest of it wasn’t?” Billie interrupted.

“Every time one of the guys got finished and stood up,” Juan said rapidly, “the Gypsy girl would reach down and scoop all of the cum out of the girl’s cunt and smear it on her body. You could see her skin glistening with cum through the scarves.”

“We all sort of lost track of time,” John said.

“That’s easy to do when you are fucking one girl after another,” Juan added.

“A couple times,” Billie said, “one of the other girls would kneel down between one of the six girls’ legs and start eating them out. They would wiggle their ass in the air and one of the guys would kneel behind them and take them doggy style.”

“When they got done,” John continued, “they would stand up and walk over to the Gypsy girl and spit the cum they had sucked up from the girl on the floor out onto the Gypsy’s skin. Then they would stand with their legs wide apart and let the Gypsy girl scoop the cum out of their own cunts.”

“It was crazy,” Juan said.

“It must have been around six or seven in the morning,” Billie said, “at least it wasn’t really dark out anymore, when the music suddenly got louder and louder and louder.”

“The Gypsy girl started taking off her scarves, one at a time,” John said.

“And throwing them out to one of the boys,” Juan added.

“For some reason,” Billie continued, “the guys started counting as soon as she threw the first scarf.”

“With each scarf,” John said, holding his hands like he was catching something, “the count got louder.”

“The guys were practically screaming by the time it got to six,” Juan added.

“There was only one scarf left,” Billie said, “and when she threw that, she would be totally naked.”

“She had it wound up around her so it covered her tits and the front of her crotch,” John said.

“So, we were all really waiting for that seventh scarf,” Juan added with a deep laugh.

“But just then,” Billie said slowly, holding his hands out in front of himself like he was trying to protect himself from something, “the snakes started moving.”

“We all stepped back and stared,” John said excitedly. “Those snakes were twisting and wriggling their way around the star. It looked like one by one they went into the Gypsy’s cunt which was still hidden behind the seventh scarf.

“And then it got even weirder,” Juan said. “She disappeared in a puff of smoke.”

“No,” Billie said, “she became a puff of smoke. Her whole body shimmered for a moment, then there was just smoke in the shape of her body.”

“That seventh scarf sort of hovered in the air for a moment,” John said, moving his arms to indicate something in the air in front of himself. “Then it dropped to the ground.” His arms dropped flat against his body.

“As soon as that scarf touched the floor all hell broke loose,” Billie said rising from the chair. “Darlene jumped to her feet and started screaming.”

“The other five girls in the star,” John said, “were also on their feet, but they looked more confused than anything else.”

“At least they didn’t scream,” Juan said.

“One of them yelled, ‘Somebody drugged us,’” Billie said. “That’s when Winston, whose flat the party was in, yelled loudly, ‘There’s nothing in the food... or drinks. It was that woman.’”

“‘What woman?!’ Darlene yelled back. ‘The Gypsy woman,’ Winston said firmly, ‘the one with the seven scarves and the weird tattoo.’”

“That’s when,” John said, “someone threw one of the scarves to the girls. Pretty soon, everyone who had caught a scarf threw it to one of the girls. I picked up the one that had fallen to the floor – the seventh one – and threw it to Darlene.”

“The girls stood around talking to each other for a few minutes,” Juan said. “They kept shaking their heads and pulling the scarves through their hands. ‘It felt like a dream,’ Darlene finally said. ‘But it was real.’”

“Winston walked to the middle of the room and said softly,” Billie continued, “‘I think it is time for all of you to leave.’”

“So...” John said, holding out his arms, “here we are.”

Billie suddenly looked a lot more sober as he said, “Philip, you seem to know a lot about this. You’re the one working on a degree in the occult arts. Can you tell us what happened?”

“My degree,” Philip replied, “is in Ancient Mythology and Rituals, and I think somebody gave you all some magic mushrooms.”

“But you knew about the star and the snakes,” John said firmly. “You KNOW what happened, don’t you?”

“Yes, I know about the star... and the snakes,” Philip answered, “and about Babalon, the Mother of Abominations.”

“Then tell us what you know,” Juan insisted.

Philip grimaced and looked out at his three flatmates. “Okay,” he finally said. “The snakes... the ouroboros is a symbol of rebirth or perhaps eternal life. The seven-pointed star is the symbol of Babalon. According to the myths, when the symbols are combined the resulting symbol is more than a symbol, it is Babalon, herself.”

Billie raised his eyebrows and said, “Meaning?..”

“It means that Babalon lives in the symbol,” Philip said. “And the symbol itself is alive. If necessary, it can survive on the walls of a tomb for hundreds, if not thousands, of years and then transfer itself to a suitable living host looking sort of like a tattoo. The snake star of Babalon was supposedly found in an Egyptian tomb when it was opened on October 31, 1927, but all traces of it disappeared before any photographs could be taken. The diggers said that it must have transferred itself to one of the scientists, or perhaps one of their helpers, but no one knows because all of the scientists died before they could publish any of their findings. Many of the diggers also died. Only one helper – you would call them interns today – survived, but no one knows what happened to him.”

“Wow,” Juan said using his hand like a claw to clamp over his face. “It’s a giant parasite eating away at you like in those Mummy movies.”

“No,” Philip said, “according to the legends, it actually benefits the host. In exchange for keeping and protecting the symbol, the host is given eternal youth... essentially eternal life. It doesn’t kill anyone. Those scientists all died from inhaling a toxic fungus that had been sealed up in the tomb. If they had taken rudimentary precautions, they would all have survived.”

“So where did the Gypsy girl come from?” John asked.

“That was Babalon,” Philip said. “On nights like Halloween, she can materialize a corporeal form so that she can absorb the energies of life.”

“That’s why she was smearing the cum all over herself,” Juan said excitedly.

“Yes,” Philip answered, “but when the sun rose, she had to return to her wall or host or wherever.”

“Weird,” Billie said.

“And she is not the weirdest or most dangerous spirit that roams on Halloween,” Philip said. “There are many much more dangerous entities that could have crashed your Halloween party.”

“You believe all that shit, don’t you?” John said.

“No wonder you hide on Halloween,” Juan added.

“Yes,” Philip said flatly, “I believe it. I have reason to. And, yes, that’s why I hide on Halloween.”

He paused and then said, “And now, if you don’t mind, I would like to get up and go take a shower.”

He made a motion with his hands shooing the three out of his room and they left. Then Philip slowly pulled the sheet back and looked down at his body. The cum was dried and caked, forming a thick coating on his stomach and legs.

He ran his fingers down his abdomen, tracing the star that was just beginning to sink further into his skin and disappear. “I hope you fed well,” he said. Then he watched as the symbol, with its writhing snakes, slowly faded.

Rising to his feet, he said, “I think we can stay here one more year before too many people begin talking about a Gypsy girl who crashes their Halloween parties.” He shrugged. “Or perhaps they will begin noticing that I don’t age.” He opened his closet and pulled a robe tightly around his body. “In any case,” he said, “I will soon have to find a new university to attend... someplace where I can study the ancient myths... and someplace where you can find enough life essence to sustain you from Halloween to Halloween.”

He opened his door and walked down to the bathroom at the end of the hall. As he walked, he was quietly humming a tune. If any of his flatmates had been able to hear it, they would have recognized it as the tune that was playing as the Gypsy girl disappeared.