The Catalyst

Tangled Strings (Ten Years Ago)

He looked like he was really having a great time.

Axel grinned. "Thanks!"

The guy handed him another shot of alcohol, which Axel reluctantly took. He knew he had to stop drinking if he wanted to stay awake until the end of the party, but he didn't want to disappoint his new friend.

"Bottoms up, yeah?" the guy said.

Axel nodded.

"Alright, man!" the guy yelled as he raised his cup. "Cheers!"

Axel's throat burned as he drank it all in one go. The pounding in his head got louder. He tried to shake it off, but the heat on his face made it difficult for him to think straight. Before he could recover, the guy gave him another shot.

He honestly didn't want to drink any more, so he made an excuse.

"Sorry, gotta piss."

Just as he was about to leave, the guy put his arm around him and stopped him from taking another step.

"Hey, we're just getting started, man," he drawled. "Don't run away!"

"Dude, I really need to go," Axel said.

"Nah, you can't say no to me."

Axel sighed. The guy was too persistent and he didn't want to offend him, afraid that it would turn into a fight and ruin the party. So, even though he already felt like puking, he took the cup and lifted it to his mouth. That was when he saw his sister coming down the stairs.

"Brother!" Amber yelled.

Axel began to panic. There was a couple making out in the sofa and things were escalating pretty fast. He didn't want Amber to see them. His sister was still too innocent for that.

In a rush, he gave the cup back to his new friend and made his way to his sister who looked pretty shocked at how chaotic the party was.

"I told you to stay in your room!" Axel yelled.

Amber frowned. "But I'm thirsty!"

"Fine, fine, go back up, I'll give you a glass of juice or something."

He gave his sister a push and once he was sure she was back in her room, he went to the kitchen to grab a carton of orange juice. He also snatched a bag of her favorite chips. The more food she had, the better.

Up the stairs he went. He knocked twice before entering his sister's room, expecting her to be alone in there, but only to find someone else was with her. It was the same guy who forced him to keep drinking.

"What are you doing?" Axel asked.

"Shaking hands with your sister," the guy said coolly.

"You're not supposed to be here," Axel replied. "Please leave."

"But your sister's lonely. You left her all by herself here. I wouldn't do that if I were you. Right, princess?"

Amber looked extremely uncomfortable. She wasn't good with strangers and that was why Axel asked her to stay in her room until the party was done. Seeing a drunk--and possibly high--guy touching her sister didn't sit well with Axel, so he dropped everything he was holding and grabbed the guy's arm instead.

"Let's go back downstairs," he said.

The guy yanked his arm back. "Tch, fine. There's no need to drag me out." Before he walked out the door though, he muttered, "Too bad."

Axel didn't know what he meant by that, but he decided to let it go. At the time, it didn't seem like a big deal. He picked up the carton of juice and the bag of chips off the floor and gave them to his sister. He patted her head.

"Were you scared?" he asked in a gentle voice.

"A little," Amber mumbled.

"Don't worry, I'm here to protect you, okay?"

Amber nodded. "I know."

"I should go back and entertain my friends. You okay here? You need anything else?"

Amber shook her head and smiled. "Go have fun, brother."

"Thanks," he said, grinning. "I'll check on you later. Lock the door."

The party was still going in full blast. Although some were already lying on the floor, completely wasted, there were still quite a lot of people dancing, drinking, and doing whatever the hell they wanted. Axel just let them be so long as nothing else in the house got broken.

Among the guests who were still raging was the persistent guy who approached his sister. He was now pestering other people which suit Axel best since he could no longer drink. He was at his limit.

Unfortunately, when the crowd thinned, the guy found him again and asked him to drink together with a group of guys he had never seen at school before. With each shot, his eyesight blurred and his tongue felt numb. His body became heavier. He couldn't understand what was happening around him.

Then the party finally came to an end. He was barely awake, but he managed to make the guests leave and switch everything off. It was only the next day that he realized his house key was missing, but the joy of finding new friends and not getting found out by his mother buried the mystery of the missing key deep in his mind.

After all, considering the success of the party, an old, battered key was a small price to pay.