Finding Fae

The party in question was already in full swing, since it was nearly midnight. Nando met us there, since he lived on the other side of town. Even he stared at me when I got out of Zane’s truck. As soon as we got through the front door, Ben licked his lips and zeroed in on a girl, laying on the charm thicker than honey.

“He’s going to mess with the wrong girl one of these days and end up with a jealous boyfriend on his heels,” Blaine shook his head, as he helped push me through towards the kitchen area.

Nando handed me a cup and leaned over to warn me to drink slowly over the loud music. One sip and I understood the warning. It was spiked. A lot. After a few solid swallows, I could already feel the warmth and smiled when Blaine snorted.

“You’re already buzzed, Pixie,” he laughed and took the cup away from me.

“Hey! I was drinking that,” I pouted and Zane shook his head and quickly finished my drink. “Killjoy.”

“Come on,” Blaine grinned and dragged me through the house until we found where everyone was dancing.

I only ever danced in the shower and even that was a rare thing, so I wasn’t convinced I was that great at it. But, they don’t call it liquid courage for nothing and I realized I didn’t much care. I was having fun for once and no one was about to take that away from me.

Zane and Blaine stayed close to me, keeping a watchful eye on everyone that got near and Nando, once again, shocked the living crap out of me. He was dancing with some girl who was busy grinding her rear end against him like she was heat or something while another girl had glued herself to his side and was either whispering to him or licking the side of his face. Neither case was something I wanted to find out.

I was laughing, and my cheeks hurt from the smile that I hadn’t lost since coming here. Breaking the rules was the best freaking idea ever!

After a little while, we took a breather and grabbed a few more drinks. Zane only filled mine a third of the way and handed it over, shrugging when I pouted. Someone was being overly protective tonight. I didn’t mind it, though. He was looking out for me but not spoiling my fun either.

We went out back near the pool and I sort of flinched a little bit. I wasn’t a great swimmer and there was a massive pool back here. Okay, I couldn’t swim at all. I sank like a rock every time I tried and it freaked me out, so I just avoided bodies of water bigger than a bathtub.

There were more people out here, though not many, since there was literal frost on the ground. Zane and Blaine sat with me on an outdoor couch set and I sipped on my drink a few times in the silence between us.

“Feeling better, Pixie?” Blaine nudged my side with his elbow.

“Much better,” I smiled. “I think I’m ruined for staying in on the weekends, though.”

“Oh no, we are not doing this every weekend, Fae,” Zane said quickly.

“Why not?” Ben asked as he sidled over and forced his way between me and Blaine, earning an irritated huff and a glare before Blaine got up and moved down. “This could be our new thing.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, the only reason our charming classmates are going easy on her is because they only see her at school,” Zane said over my head as I took a larger drink, looking for the warmth that came from the alcohol. “If this becomes a “thing” it makes Fae more of a target. She’s not like us, Ben. She doesn’t know how to defend herself.”

“Fae is right here,” I said and stifled a small burp. “And I’ll have you know, Sir, that I am more than capable of defending myself. I choose not to.”

“Why would you choose to get beaten up on a daily basis?” Ben asked, tilting his head to the side.

“It’s against the rules,” I whispered and drained my cup and pouted into the emptiness. “I like this. I want more.”

“I think you’ve reached your limit, Pixie,” Blaine laughed and took the cup from me.

“What rules?” Zane asked, totally confused.

“Dad’s,” I shrugged. “He has a lot of them. Did you *hic*, ’scuse me. Did you know that, until I came here and got plancaked by Zane, I’ve only had like, three friends before?”

“Seriously?” Blaine made a face and I nodded.

“Two of them were just evil, though, so they don’t count anymore,” I waved my hand and Ben leaned back to avoid getting smacked on accident. “I dunno what this is, but it feels like I’m a rubber cheeken.”

“A what?” Ben laughed.

I put my hands under my arms and flapped like I had wings, “Bok bok.”

“What the hell is in that punch?” Zane glared as Ben and Blaine both tried to hide their laughter.

“We have a problem!” Nando huffed coming from the house with a cup in his hand and I smiled, reaching for it. “It’s Elixir.”

“It makes me happy,” I grinned and wiggled my fingers at the cup.

Ben laughed so hard, he had to hold his sides and Zane swore quite vividly while Blaine just smacked his forehead.

“This is going to be very interesting,” Ben gasped around his laughter and Nando groaned as he dumped the cup in the grass.

“Hey! I wanted that,” I pouted.

“Trust me, in about two minutes, you won’t want anything to do with it again,” Zane said and pulled me up by the arms. “We should get her somewhere that’s not here.”

“I knew this was going to be fun,” Ben smiled and I gasped.

“What sharp teeth you have!” I blurted and he blinked a few times before he started howling with laughter.

“We need to get out of here,” Zane groaned and looked for a side gate to the backyard.

“Look who we have here,” said an obnoxious voice that sounded rather nasal.

“Who?” I gasped and looked around, making Ben snort as Zane tried to pull me under his arm.

I was snatched away from him and spun around to look at the sneering face of Victoria.

“Oh hi!” I smiled. “Fancy seeing you here, Vickie. How’ve you been?”

“Oh dear gods,” I heard Zane say as the sneer turned to a glare.

“How dare you?” she spat and I felt a sharp impact on the side of my face my head snapped around and I lost my balance and ended up on my knees.

I was officially a nut case as I started laughing and stood up slowly.

“You hit like a total bitch,” I giggled. “Stings a little, but that’s about it.”

I have no recollection as to what exactly happened next, but I ended up in the freezing pool, sucking in water instead of air. Talk about instant sobriety. Panic gripped me as I tried, and failed, to reach the surface again as darkness closed in around me.

My lungs burned and my skin felt like it was about to start peeling off from how cold it was, then there was warmth. Lots of it. And light. Blinding light, like a tiny sun, and I felt like I was wrapped in a soft blanket. The light faded and the warmth left me and I felt pressure on my chest. I wanted it to stop because if it kept going, I was going to-

Yup. I rolled over and coughed up water and a little bit of vomit as my lungs purged themselves. I sucked in much needed air and fell over, landing on my back and looking right at into bright green, soul sucking eyes.

“What were you thinking?” Malachi asked me quietly.

He was dripping wet and looked upset, but not in an angry kind of way, which was out of character as far as I’ve noticed.

“If I didn’t know better,” I croaked as my nose and throat burned. “I would think you almost cared what happened to me.”

Ben pushed Malachi away and dropped a blanket on me before hoisting me up like I weighted nothing at all while Zane and Blaine glared at the crowd that had gathered. Nando, shockingly, had Victoria pinned to the ground by the neck. He was talking quietly, but I knew he was saying something, because his lips moved as she struggled to get up. She froze for a second before she gasped and went a new, and unhealthy, shade of white.

The five of us went out of the side gate that Zane had been so desperate to find earlier and to the truck. The heater blasted and Ben started rubbing my arms and back, trying to warm me up as I started shaking.

“Here,” I heard Nando say. “It’ll knock her out, but it’ll warm her up. Her lips are blue and she’s not far from hypothermia.”

I was lifted a little and I drank a nasty tasting liquid before I was laid back down.

“She’s not human, is she?” Nando asked.

“No. She’s not human,” Zane sighed.

“So, what is she?” Ben asked.

“I’ve never heard of anything that could do what she just did,” Blaine answered as they started to echo and my eyes drooped. “At least not without a lifetime of seriously intense practice. She’s not even eighteen yet.”

I wanted to know what they were talking about, but I lost the struggle with the darkness and gave in to sleep.