I enter the grand party again with the man of the hour behind me. He forced me in first in case I 'got swept up' the thought of being whisked away now seems vulgar. The thought of them basically using a drunk freshman at a frat party makes my skin crawl. But I remind myself that I am not here for that, I am here to learn; that is all.
I hear him hum from behind me and a strong hand over my shoulder forcing me to stop.
"What," I say turning my head towards him. I see him look down at me with a pleased expression.
"Nothing. Just, your thoughts are a lot dimmer now. Meaning that no one else can hear them," He says with a side smirk breathing in and straightening his back, and turning his chin up. I look at him with a quizzical look. Why can he still hear them? No one else can? So if I say...
You look like you have a stick up your ass. Can you hear that
" Stick..ass...hear... well. I know what you mean warm one. Just know that I can't hear everything," he says leaning down towards my ear, "but I am not an idiot."
"Noted," I say with a gulp, "now where to?"
"I am going to show you to one of my other friends while I do some business. Don't worry, he is a gentleman. I was only showing you Frank as a baby step for you around others. Frank is my friend and knows how to listen. So you witnessing his compulsion and knowing how vervain works will save you from others. My other friend here," Gerard says pointing to a man sipping a wine glass with his pinkie out, "will be your saving grace for the time being."
"AAnd who is," I say looking up at him and feeling a rush of wind towards me making me whip my head around. I see the man that was across the room suddenly in front of me, his hair even bigger up close.
"Raymond," Gerard says tilting his head down towards him. The taller man does the same with a small chuckle.
"I go by Ray now of fearful one," Ray says.
"I know...I just prefer calling you the name that I met you with," the man behind me says with a pat on the afro man's shoulder. He seems more comfortable with Ray, and more fun-loving. Something that I haven't seen yet, and is....weird.
"Sorry for being rude. My name is Ray," Ray says looking down at me with a warm smile and extending his hand. I don't feel uncomfortable with him. I feel like I am meeting another human at a normal party. Like a best friend's older brother that is going to protect me, and I know it has nothing to do with compulsion since the vervain is in my system.
Even so, I look up at the man behind me unsure if I should say my name.
"You are learning...good," He says petting the back of my hair. I feel a tingle send down my spine, weird...I thought that the vervain would stop that.
"I gotcha brother. I will watch over our guests. You deal with what you have to," Ray says making me blink and look to the men patting each other on the back. I watch as the black-haired man vanishes within a blink leaving me confused.
"Don't worry you will get used to it. So, let's get you a drink," Ray says extending his hand toward me. I just nod and allow him to maneuver through the crowd.
I look around as many are talking, the women fanning themselves and looking like the ones that you saw in magazines. Each one is more beautiful than the last. The men were different. Some fit the prince bill, some fit the politician roles, and some....just looked like the 80s vampire movies.
"So what do you think of our get-together? A little different than the jungle juice and keg stand huh," Ray says handing made a drink. I look up at him with a shocked expression and a laugh.
