Soul Lines (Completed)

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine
Elle's POV

I tilted my face towards the fire, my eyes drooping, a kaleidoscope of yellow and orange dancing behind my eyelids. An REO Speedwagon song warmed the glade, the notes rising from the speakers in a slow crescendo. Warbled voices climbed with the music as drunkards danced off-beat, dipping and swaying with no inhibition.

The sting of glass shattering into a thousand pieces broke through me like a sudden chill, and I glanced over my shoulder. Most of the party-goers were crushed together, shoulder to shoulder, as they swayed, as though they were one entity at the unmerciful whims of the music.

Embers of the fire winked in and out of existence like fireflies. They were like whispers, spreading through the air, the embers curled, swirling above the party, until each speck darkened into ash and rained upon our hair. Smoke hung thick in the air, clinging to our clothes, the fire feeding greedily on broken branches.

I was the only sober one left at the party, or so it felt. Bodies of partiers swelled as people joined the crush of dancers. The body rippled out, inching to where I watched them, beckoning with laughter and drunken cries of joy.

The alcohol licked their bodies with sweat, as one or two wasted souls stuck out like ghosts in the night. Their pale faces glistened like the watery moon on the lake, their eyes glazed over, zombies walking through the night.

Ulyana and Fallyn caught me by the wrists as a new song swept even more of the crowd into the thrum of the party. The bass leached into the soil, shaking my bones as I threw my head back with a laugh. They wouldn't take no for an answer, not that I fought much, allowing them to pull me into the thick swell of bodies.

We belted an Ed Sheeran song into the night sky, throwing our hands into the air as we twirled with the music.

After a few songs, the crowd pressed against me until I burst out on the other side, an unwanted seed spat out from the mouth of the party. My body was kissed with fresh sweat, and it felt like I'd been doused with hair spray, a tackiness to my skin. I could taste the smoke in the air, the inside of my mouth gritty, like I'd swished a mouthful of sand, thirst scratching at my throat.

It was well after midnight now, and the party was just catching its swing. I'd lost count of how much beer Jacobi had downed, rounding up ten cans before stopping my count. Once the beer was gone, he wandered off, running down partiers to pursue more alcohol.

He was drunk, which was strange to me because I'd never seen him drunk outside of the safety of our own houses. Usually, he stayed sober at parties, clucking around Kendra and me like a mother hen, but now, utterly intoxicated, he didn't mind that I wasn't by his side. He deserved the celebration, and I wasn't about to ruin his night by reminding him of this.

Finding him in the thrum of bodies was almost impossible, but then a cluster shifted, and I spied him by the curve of his smile. It was only for a second, as the bodies crushed back together, but it was enough to attract my feet in his direction.

Slipping between bodies of blissfully unaware werewolves, I kept my eyes on him.

He had a bottle of amber liquid grasped between his hands and brought it to his lips, swigging the alcohol. He staggered, looking like a toddler sucking at the teat of his milk bottle. He'd probably found the bottle in one of the coolers by his feet or in the hands of his friends. It didn't matter how he'd got it, but rather that he had, and now only a quarter of whiskey sloshed at the bottom of the bottle.

I smiled, saying hello to people as I passed, ensuring Jacobi never left my sight. His hair fell into his eyes, the sticky raggedy ends like the head of a mop, and his eyes lit up as he found me in the crowd. I grinned back.