Finley Haleton stood out in the open air, basked by the night shadows and drizzle of rain that hit the pavement she stood on and trailed down, into the gutters beneath the town.
She craned her head up, eyes meeting red brick, the hard exterior was starting to decay, and she spotted rubble crumbling down the edges, creating a pile at the very edge of the structure.
She didn't know why she had agreed to come. She never came to these things, they were more to Sadie's taste. But today she was feeling daring, she longed to get out of her house and seek adventure, or something just a little out of the ordinary. She constantly complained that nothing happened in her town, not like in the books she'd read or the movies she'd see, but truth be told she never seeked out adventure. Little did she know tonight was an important night, that marked the start of hers.
-
Heavy music blasted from the small derelict house. I cocked my head to a side, believing if I could block out the noise then it seemed almost peaceful. The old house loomed above me, in a sinister light. It was Hollowgrove's very own party house, a decaying structure in the middle of the woods, isolated and away from the rest of the world, it was the perfect place to loose your senses.
A couple stumbled past me, bottles in hand and I didn't miss the confused glance I received. Why was I still standing there? Something in my mind was causing me to be hesitant, fear? No it didn't seem like it. Finally I gave myself one last pep talk before straightening my spine and walking towards the house.
Inside was exactly as I had expected; claustrophobic. People crowded together just inside the door, clutching onto bottles of alcohol as they laughed too loud at jokes I don't think they even heard over the music. I wasn't acknowledged right away and when I finally was, I shied away from it.
"Never seen you here before." Came a slur from behind me as I smoothed down my black shirt, turning to match the face with the voice.
"Get lost junkhead." By the time I had turned, Sadie had barreled her way through the crowd, pushing the guy to a side as she grabbed my hand and began to maneuver back through the throngs of people.
"Colby and Nat are down in the basement." She yelled over the music, and I merely nodded my head as the swarms Of people moved around us. Sadie moved past them in a huff, elbowing them out of the way, and they'd turn in time just to make eye contact with yours truly. I averted my gaze, looking to the roof, pieces were chipping out at the sides, and I quickly found something else to focus on, otherwise I'd drive myself crazy over whether or not the roof was going to fall in on us tonight.
I saw people from school, some who spared me a nod and others who looked straight past me, as if I didn't exist. But the majority seemed to be a stranger to me. But I'm sure people from school were lurking around. But, I was slightly surprised, I thought more people came to this place, like everyone. But it didn't seem like it, maybe they had better things to do, god knows I did.
Finally we made it to the stairs of the basement. There was a guy smoking something in the entry, and his eyes skimmed over me briefly.
"New friend Sade?"
My eyes shot up, as he released a huff of smoke into the air. It swirled around before disappearing into itself behind my head. I was almost tempted to turn and watch it dance behind me, but I kept my eyes trained of the person in front of me, who was currently looking me up and down, sizing me up.
"She's cool, Trev."
I lifted a single eyebrow at that. Trev. 'You guys seem close.' I wanted to say, but I didn't, I merely looked at him with a look that I thought was demeaning but probably came out indifferent. Or scared. I hope it wasn't the latter.
"A school friend?"
Finally I had enough of Trev and gingerly tapped my friend on the shoulder. "Are you gonna go or what?"
She turned around slowly, eyeing me conspicuously, as if trying to get across a message. I knew what she was trying to say but at that stage, I didn't care.
He laughed, waving his hands about in an odd way.
"I'm only kidding, kiddos. Down you go."
Sadie didn't waste a second descending the stairs. I couldn't see anything from the top, but I could hear different music from the bottom, a softer one.
"Be careful not to fall on your way down, ladies." He said the last statement with a tone that made me resist turning to glare at him. I followed Sadie down the steps, into the darkness that led us to a beaded entryway. She swung it to a side, stepping into the room.
"Hey guys."
There were a couple of people I didn't recognize, but Colby was there, alongside Natalia, who looked up meekly to see up walk into the crowded space. She shot up, moving across the space in a speed I didn't think possible.
"Oh my god, Finley you Came."
I didn't miss the curious looks I received from the other people in the room as I laughed awkwardly and hugged her. She looked down at us.
"You hadn't gotten anything to drink?" She looked over at Sadie who shrugged.
"Cmon, I'll take you."
I turned to protest but she held up a hand. "No party is fun sober, especially not your first."
I heard someone snicker and turned to see a guy in the corner, a glass of neon blue alcohol in his hands. I tossed him a bored look before following Nat back up the stairs.
"You look pretty." She commented, without turning to look at me.
"You too." I responded automatically, hating the idle chit chat that accompanies the first half of the night. Finally we reached the kitchen area, there was a small countertop that someone had placed a wooden board atop to hide the decay underneath. In the corner, lay a small fridge which Nat swung open, grabbing two bottles.
"You can take one for Sadie too." She said, tossing me one. I took the two coolers in my hands, looking at them in mock interest before taking a gulp of the cold liquid.
She grabbed one more for herself before she turned towards me, her eyes flashing dangerously behind me as they singled in in something behind me. She sighed deeply, something between annoyance and panic overtaking her features as she slacked her jaw.
"Shit."
This time I did turn around, curiosity had gotten the best of me and I swung around to see the start of a fight. I didn't have the best view, as people had started to crowd around it. I stepped forward timidly, my eyes catching the side of a guy's face. Dark brown curls is all I saw as he moved fast, driving his fist into the other guy who was currently on the ground.
It was like something was holding me there, watching on in fascination as he grabbed the guy on the ground, picking him up before bashing him down to the ground again. I heard the sound of his head bouncing off the ground and it ran through me, making my blood run cold. In the midst of all the chaos, someone started yelling and I almost didn't hear the gunshot echo throughout the small house.
That's when the screaming started.
All the hype from the fight died out pretty quickly as people began to realize that a shot had been fired. The guy standing went slack, his hands going to his abdomen in shock, and then people were pushing me back in a frenzy, shrieking and in a chaotic panic to get out.
"Finely, we have to get out of here." Nat hissed from behind me, and I snapped back into reality.
"Sadie and Colby, they're still down in the basement."
She clenched her teeth, her eyes glazed over and as both came to a realization.
"We need to worry about ourselves," Natalia shot me another cold glance before disappearing into the crowd. My throat ran dry as I staggered back, almost loosing my footing. I was completely overwhelmed, everything was becoming overbearing. The only thing that kept me upright and focused was the thought of making sure my friends were okay.
People were beginning to disperse, but it was still difficult to maneuver through the crowds.
Finally I got down the stairs and I ran down in a panic, looking left and right as I took in the empty space.
I heard Sirens outside, shouting followed that I knew belonged to the police force of our little town. I wasted no time as I ran back up to stairs in a frenzy, taking them two at a time. My ears were beginning to ring with all the noise. People still were pushing each other and elbowing their way through the crowd to get out. I could see blue and red lights flashing outside the windows and it sent a heavy panic through me.
I turned looking for a familiar face but came up empty, all I could see were strangers as they hurried past me. I froze momentarily before rushing towards the side door in hopes of getting to my car.
"Not that way." Someone yelled, grabbing my hand and yanking me towards towards the back of the house. The smell of smoke hit me hard as I stared at the back of Trev's head, the guy who stood at the top of the stairs earlier.
Why is he helping me? I wondered but kept my mouth shut as he finally reached the back door, with his arm linked with mine.
Suddenly we weren't in the house, but in the forest rushing through branches that scraped against my skin. I held one hand up to protect myself as Trev dragged me along with the other. I stumbled blindly through the dark forest as I heard people shrieking and running either side of me.
We ran for maybe a minute or two before reaching a clearing where cars were parked and I knew why he stopped me from going out the front, I would of ran straight into the cops, or something much, much worse. He looked around blindly, his eyes settling on a black Sedan in the back and he ran towards it, swinging open the door and pushing me into the back seat as he jumped into the front.
"Jesus man. Go!" He yelled as cars were reversing left and right, speeding out of the small opening. I saw the lights flash in between the trees and panic crawled up my throat.
The guy in the front stepped on the pedal and a screeching sound echoed through the car as he pulled out and swerved, barely missing another car.
"Shit." The driver hissed through his teeth, which reminded my that I hadn't even seen him yet.
Trev pulled out his phone before letting out a string of curses.
"They're going to have checkpoints all the way back into town, man."
The guy beside him let out a cool breath before replying.
"I've a place we can stay low for the night."
This sentence sent a panic through me as I realized I wouldn't be returning back to my grandmother, or sleeping in my bed. They had no intention of going back into Hollowgrove.
I knew by these alleged checkpoints that if I were to get caught then I'd be questioned, and maybe done for underage drinking and breaking into someone else's property, as I remembered seeing all the 'no trespassing' signs on the way in, to which I overlooked.
But I contemplated it and decided that getting questioned by the police and taking my chances with the consequences were a better option than going out of town for the night with two strangers I didn't know, even though Sadie seemed to know Trev, his character came across as a tad bit sketchy.
"Uhmmm, I don't think I'd feel comfortable going with you two though. I don't know you, or where you're going."
The driver directed his gaze at me, a steely look in his eyes. Something told me that he wasn't happy that I voiced my opinion. I offered a sheepish smile.
He didn't slow down, or stop.
"Look, kid. There's a line of cars right behind us also doing about a hundred. And if you didn't notice, about six have already passed us out. This isn't the best place to stop right now, unless you want to get run over. And I'm not chancing someone smashing the back of my Sedan. Also, how do you suppose you'd get back to Hollowgrove, by going through the checkpoints ? That would mean I'd be giving myself up, as well as Trev and that's not happening. But I'm also not letting you out halfway to the next city, at almost 3am when you have no way home, and cars aren't exactly going to be driving by slowly. I understand this might be overwhelming for you, but this is our best option." He said, while managing to keep his attention focused on the road.
My mind was all over the place. I wanted to go to the police, to feel some sense of safety. But I could barely move, barely form sentences. Everything happened so fast and I just found myself going along with it.
"Who's she?" He finally asked, his eyes catching the mirror and glinting towards me.
"A friend." Trev said, looking back at me with a look I read easily. Don't say anything.
"She's cool."
The guy shrugged and I finally saw the dark brown curls that fell around his ears. I gulped, as he turned onto the Main Street and made a left, which would lead us into the next town instead of back to Hollowgrove.
"Where are we going?" I piped up, nerves skyrocketing.
His dark eyes flashed dangerously. "I told you. I have a place."
I stayed quiet after that.