Chapter 78

Ruby

Nancy parks the car along the side of the road and we start to make our way to the warehouse.

“You okay?” she says as she walks alongside me. She’s wearing a tight, pink mini dress with a fluffy pink coat and a pair of heels. “You look like you just saw a ghost.”

There’s a line of students waiting to be let in by the security guards. Nancy and I get our places in line before I turn toward her and tell her the truth about the location.

“Remember the vision I told you about Beck and Earl?” I whisper so that others can’t hear. Nancy nods, concern and recognition flashing across her face as she starts to realize what I’m about to say. “This is the place.”

Her eyes widen. “Are you sure?” she says. I can only nod solemnly.

As much as I would like to enjoy the party, I know that I have to keep an eye on Beck and Earl. Maybe I can stop the events from happening, just like with some of my other visions. I’m just not sure how I’m supposed to do that when Beck just refuses to listen to me.

The line quickly makes its way forward as more students are let into the party. Soon enough, it’s Nancy’s and my turn.

The large, muscular security guard looks at his list and looks us up and down.

“Names?” he says, slowly chewing a piece of gum.

“Nancy Greene and Ruby Jones,” Nancy says, her cheeks blushing a bit from the security guard’s handsome face and muscular body. His biceps are so large that they look as though they might just pop out of his uniform at any moment.

The security guard scans his list.

“You can go on in, Miss Greene,” he says. Nancy skips past him excitedly. I go to follow her, but the security guard holds his arm out to stop me.

“Just a moment there, Miss Jones,” he says sternly. “I don’t see your name on the list.”

Nancy turns around, looking confused, and comes back to stand with me.

“Her name has to be on the list!” she says.

The security guard simply shrugs. “Nope,” he says. “Next!” He unceremoniously shoves me out of the way, nearly knocking me over in the process, to deal with the next person in line.

Nancy stamps her foot angrily. Her face is red now from anger rather than attraction, and her hands are balled up into fists at her sides.

“C’mon, Nancy, it’s okay,” I say. “I should probably just go home anyway.”

“Absolutely not!” she says. “This is our last year of high school, and you’re getting into this party, goddammit!” Her sudden anger surprises me. It’s a far cry from her usual bubbly demeanor, but something about it only makes me love her more as a friend. It’s cute, too, to see her round, freckled cheeks so red with anger.

While the security guard is distracted, Nancy suddenly grabs my hand and yanks me into the warehouse.

“Hey!” I hear the security guard calling behind us. Nancy quickly pulls me around a corner to evade another security guard, who chases after us as we sprint, giggling, down the hallway toward the stairs.

We shove our way through the people on the stairs. I accidentally step on a girl’s foot, who yelps and hops on her other foot.

“Sorry!” I shout as Nancy pulls me down the stairs behind her. Above us, the security guard who was chasing us curses and throws his hands up in defeat as the crowd on the stairs forms again and cuts him off from getting to us.

Before I know it, we’re lost in the throng of dancing people in the basement.

With a devious grin, Nancy pulls us further into the crowd. The music is so loud that the bass rattles my chest, and the strobe lights make it so that everyone seems to be moving in flashes to the music. We make our way to the middle of the dance floor, where the security guard surely won’t see us, and begin to dance.

All around me, sweaty, drunk students dance and grind on one another. Girls and guys who I’ve never even considered to be attracted to each other at school dance closely, some of them even making out in corners as they slosh their drinks all over each other. Nancy disappears for a few moments, then returns with two drinks in red plastic cups.

She shoves one of the drinks in my hand and clinks her cup with mine, then we both drink. I’ve never had such strong liquor before and it burns my throat, but soon enough I’m dancing and giggling along with Nancy on the dance floor as the alcohol warms my insides.

At one point, I’m not sure exactly when, Nancy’s boyfriend appears and dances along with us. I’ll admit I feel a little jealous as I watch them grind on one another; I wish that Atwood was here to dance with me like that, but I know that this is no place for a king. It’s not exactly a place for a princess, either, but at least I’m not a princess just yet.

I motion to Nancy with my empty cup to indicate that I’m going to get another drink, then squeeze my way through the crowd toward the bar.

“Vodka cran?” the bartender shouts over the music. I don’t know what that means, so I just nod and wait for my drink as I try not to stare at the two students who are making out and groping each other on a barstool.

I look out at the dancing crowd as I wait, scanning for Beck and Earl. I don’t see either of them. Part of me hopes that maybe neither of them came and that I can just enjoy a party for once, but I know that they’re here somewhere. It’s not like either of them to miss a party.

As I scan the crowd, my heart nearly jumps out of my throat when I lock eyes with someone who looks all too familiar.

It’s Cayden.

He’s standing still amongst the throbbing mass of dancers, staring directly at me. His face is covered in blood, and his eyes are so wide they look like they’ll pop out of his skull. His mouth hangs open in a grotesque yawn, as though his lower jaw has simply unhinged and flopped open as blood gushes from the massive punctures in his throat.

I want to scream, but I can’t. My body feels frozen in place, as though if I move, he’ll simply fly over the crowd and wrap his cold fingers around my throat. I can feel the hatred emanating from him.

“You should’ve been there,” I can almost hear him say. “We needed you, and you abandoned us for your King.”

“No,” I say out loud. “Cayden would never think that.”

Just then, a finger taps my shoulder. I whip around to see the bartender staring at me and my drink on the counter. He gestures toward it impatiently as though to say “get your drink and get out of the way”. With an embarrassed smile, I take my drink.

When I turn back toward the crowd, the horrifying visage of Cayden is gone.

There’s still no sign of Beck and Earl anywhere, and right now, all I care about is drinking and burning the image of my dead childhood friend out of my mind. With a big swig of my drink, I start to make my way back to Nancy.

However, I’m stopped in my tracks when I finally see Beck and Earl.