• Prologue

    Tai, you know it will be fun, my friend told me. I should have never listened to her. Me? Going to a party? Ugh. I would have never been so humiliated in my life. But somehow, she always persuaded me into doing things.
    So here I was, at some retarded party. I sat on the bottom stair, leaning against the wall. Yeah, I might have had a drink or two, but this was Luu's party. I could stay here as long as I liked.
    People were always walking by, trying not to step on me as they moved upstairs. One accidentally placed his foot on mine. I looked up to see who it was, but the kid had already dashed upstairs. I wasn’t going to scream or yell; I just wanted an apology.
    “Smile for the camera!”
    I stared at Luu in disgust.
    “Oh, c’mon! It’s a party, be happy!” she rose the camera to snap the picture. I gripped my hood tightly as I threw it over my face.
    “If you take that picture you’ll die.” She didn’t feel threatened at all, more of a dare. She snapped the picture anyways, blinding my eyes.
    “C’mon, you look awesome in pictures!” she sat beside me on the wooden floor. “How about another?”
    I didn’t answer. A few seconds later I heard the rustling of a jacket, then steps. Good, she was gone.
    The music began to play; it was a mix of techno and rock, how pleasant. More people were wandering around now, the smell of alcohol everywhere. What was Luu thinking? If the neighbors just happen to be curious…
    A group of boys walked inside. They were loud and obnoxious, trying to hook up with every girl they passed. Their leader, Brian, ran ahead towards Luu. You see, they had just begun dating yesterday. I hate newlywed couples; always happy to see each other.
    Before I knew it, they were snuggled on a loveseat, Brians’ crew sitting around them. The other party goers were standing along the walls or at a table chatting about them. They were going to be the main dish of the rumors tomorrow.
    Since I didn’t want to be bothered by her or Brians’ obnoxious self, I walked over into the kitchen. There were dozens of paper cups, all full and scattered around the counters. I grabbed one, not paying attention to what it was. I gulped it all down, but was disgusted by the taste.
    “Wow, I didn’t know a girl like you could drink it all down in one gulp.” It was one of Brians’ minions. This voice, he was the womanizer of the group.
    “Look, I have no intention of dating, more or less befriending you. If you kindly just-” I felt his warm hands on my shoulders.
    “Now now, don’t be like that.” I felt like I was being violated; his hot breath moved from my neck to my ears, his hands sliding from my shoulders to my waist…
    I closed my eyes. If I was going to escape his grasp, I had to be patient. But he never did release that grip. He constantly held me tightly, nudging his head against mine every few minutes.
    “Tell me you like this.” He whispered into my ear.
    “Tell me you’ll die.” I remarked.
    “Adam!” it was Brians’ voice. “We have enough girls to come with us. C’mon and enjoy the party with the gang.” Adam released me and slowly walked out with Brian.
    A few minutes later, I was racing up the staircase. I didn’t feel well at all. I knew I wasn’t going to throw up; I just needed to lie down.
    The only bedroom unlocked was the guest rooms. I walked inside the dark room, closing the door behind me. I crashed on the bed, snatched a pillow from its coordinated pile, and smashed my head into it.
    The music was muffled in this room, and the darkness relaxing me even more. I closed my eyes, preparing for a long nap. Right before I drifted to sleep, the music bursted into the room. I heard two whispering voices before the music was muffled again.
    “Good,” a voice whispered, “She’s in here.”
    I heard a chair being dragged, then a slight nudge on the shoulder.
    “Hey, you alright?” it was the talkative one.
    I didn’t feel like actually getting up, so I just turned my head towards the voice. He had horrible posture. He slouched forward on the chair, managing not to fall off it. His head was only a few feet away from mine. Then, he slowly leaned back into the chair, staring at me intently.
    “Hi, I’m Roy. The boy over there is Christian.” He motioned his head towards’ the boy leaning against the wall. I couldn’t see the boy’s face, but he was tall and slender.
    “I’m Tai.” I rose from my back and stood off the bed. I began walking to the light switch.
    “Hey, wait. You goin’ somewhere?” Roy stood up and ran ahead of me, blocking my path.
    “No, I’m just turning on a light.” I pushed him aside to click on the switch beside the door. The silent one-Christian, turned on the light.
    “Wow, this room is nicer than I thought.” Roy sat on the bed, “And this bed is comfortable.”
    I should have never said anything about the lights. These two boys were... too much to bear. They both were slim and tall. And they both wore something black. Color coordinating I guess. Roy’s hair was very messy and brown, but at the same time very straight. I couldn’t tell about Christian, he had his hood on.
    “Please, I didn’t want to come. I feel sick, can I just leave?”
    “If you drove here, uh…no. No drinking, no driving. You know the rules.” Roy had his arms crossed with a superior expression.
    “Fine then,” I sat on the bed beside him. “Why were you two coming in here anyways?”
    Roy smiled, “You.”
    I turned to Christian. He didn’t even look up. Too busy staring at the palms of his hands. I turned to Roy, replying to his answer. “May I ask why?”
    Roy glanced up at me.
    I immediately turned away; the forest green eyes were too much.
    “We overheard Adam trying to…well, harass you. I was worried that something might have happened to you. You did drink a whole cup of that alcohol.”
    “Thanks for worrying. But if I had known it was something strong like that, I wouldn’t have drunk it.”
    “So…” Roy looked up at the ceiling, lying back into the bad.
    “So…what?” I asked, confused.
    Roy reached for the remote across the bed. “So where’s the T.V.?”
    “It could be inside the wall.” Christian finally spoke. His voice was almost a whisper, calm and soothing.
    “That’s a good guess!” Roy rose and began pushing buttons. The lights flickered out first, and then the fireplace lit. Finally, after another minute of things going off and on, the television revealed itself. It was directly in front of the bed, hidden behind a picture. What a coincidence.
    “So Christian, why did you come to this party? You don’t really seem like a party person.”
    “Neither do you.” He spoke bluntly.
    “You know, he’s got a point. You aren’t out there dancing like a lunatic and getting drunk. I don’t see why you don’t ask yourself that question.”
    I changed the subject, not wanting to start an argument. “How old are you?”
    “Seventeen” they both said simultaneously, their voices together enthralling me.
    “So am I, how nice.”I murmured, still captivated by their voices.

    The muffled music abruptly stopped, silencing filling the whole room. Roy quickly turned the television off, scrambling to the door.
    “Wait,” I grabbed his hand, “you can’t just go out there, something bad could’ve happened!”
    “Tai let him go.” Christian’s voice was barely audible.
    I ignored his plea, and Roy didn’t attempt to escape. I turned the lights back on and walked over to Christian.
    “Why? There may have been a fight and someone got injured, someone stole something, or worse, death.”
    He shook his head slowly, “You don’t understand.”
    Now that I was close to him I could see all his features, especially his eyes. They were icy blue, bright with fear. His eyes confused me, but I held my anger as I snatched off his hood, revealing his messy black hair.
    “Now, do we really need to have a fight right here, of all places and times?”
    I ignored Roy’s attempt to calm me down, “So you want your best friend to be the suspect of a crime?”
    “Actually-“
    “Shut up, Roy.” I said abruptly.
    “Roy, tell her.” His breathing was uneven, he looked miserable.
    I backed away as I let Roy go.
    He immediately pressed up against the door, listening intently. “Tai, you’ll come looking for us won’t you?” he was smiling at me, chuckling.
    After that argument with Christian, I couldn’t think straight. I felt like I was drugged; my vision was blurred, my breathing was hesitant, and I nearly fell when I stepped toward Roy.
    “I…but, what do you mean by-“
    “Tell you later, now we have to go.”He motioned his head towards the balcony to Christian. Before I knew it, they both were gone, and I probably would never see them again.

    The door was bashed opened seconds later, some type of special police rummaging through everything that Roy and Christian had touched. One of the men-I’m guessing he was a nurse-helped me to the chair.
    “She’s been diagnosed with some type of drug…morphine?”The ‘supposedly’ medic said.
    “Numbers three thirty-six and three thirty-seven have escaped, they were here though.” This one scanned the walls, furniture, and floor with some type of enhanced DNA scanner.
    The medic checked my eyes, and mumbled something while the other officers investigated the balcony. After minutes of repeated mumbles and scans, they soon left, the medic leaving a small note behind.