Sealed Fates

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

     By the time I finally arrived at the bonfire that night, it was already in full swing.  I’d decided to do the typical thing and be fashionably late, but I wasn’t exactly planning on falling asleep back in my dorm, so here I was now, showing up to the "pack rager" a whole two hours late.  Whoops?  I spotted Liam running around with some other kids his age and the two little girls, Mia and Miri, I’d met earlier.  The two girls giggled as Liam chased them with his hands outstretched into make believe claws as he pretending to be the big bad wolf.  I laughed softly at the irony.

     All the teenagers that were stereotypically “too cool to dance” were gathered around the bonfire laughing, Nate and Hunter among them.  I subconsciously noticed that Lukas was nowhere to be found, but then again, neither was Carrots, so I had no reason to be surprised.  I wish that'd restrained the jealousy from flaring up in the pit of my stomach, but did it?  If you said no, congratulations, you're correct. Jealousy flared up inside of me and I felt my stomach growing tight.  Images of Priscilla with her hands all over Lukas flashed behind my eyes.  My teeth clenched and my hands tightened into fists. 

     I’ll rip her throat out!  I thought darkly, my hands fisting as an image of Priscilla pawing Lukas flashed in my mind.  I dare her to lay one little finger on him. I'd shatter every single bone in her itty bitty hand before she could even blink.

     A threatening growl erupted from my throat and I stopped myself short.  I looked around in a panic wondering if anyone had heard me.  Where the hell had that come from?  I wasn’t here to stir up any trouble, I was here to get answers and form an alliance with these people.

     I shook off the remainder of my anger and watched admiringly as the older couples of the pack danced to a slow song that was playing softly in the background.  I noticed Isa sitting at a table alone watching the couples with a sadness in her eyes that made my heart squeeze.  As she wrung her wrists in her lap, trying and failing to keep her eyes from the dance floor, I wondered what that particular story was about.  Her grief rolled off of her in waves, beckoning for me to comfort her, although I knew I could do no such thing.  You have to get to Nate first.  You’re his date, remember?  Yeah, some date I was showing up two hours late…

     I made my way towards the plastic chairs surrounding the bonfire that Nate, Hunter, and their friends were sitting in.  My eyes scanned the perimeter for good measure, noting a few couples making out, wasted on the sidelines of the party.  My eyes fell on a girl sitting by herself that couldn’t have been more than 16 years old.  She stared blankly at the raging bonfire, ignorant to the people swerving in the opposite direction of her as soon as they caught sight of her.

     The girl's body tensed as her brown eyes snapped up to meet mine, noticing when my attention did not shift away from her like the others.  She raised her head up high, her eyes flashing, daring me to keep on looking at her, but at the same time goading me to look away.  I kept staring, offering a curt nod of acknowledgement.  Her eyes widened in surprise before a small smirk began to play at the corners of her lips.  Her face dropped when I stopped in front of the guys.

     “Well look who decided to show up after all.”  Nate laughed loudly as he threw his arm around my neck.  He reeked of alcohol and my nose scrunched up in distaste.  No one seemed to notice as Nate held out his open hand to the other men.  “Pay up, boys.  I told ya’ll my little lady wasn’t bailin’ on a pretty face like this.”

     Several swears erupted from the men as reluctant twenty dollar bills were thrown in Nate’s direction.  Nevertheless, the men's bad attitudes didn't lessen Nate's satisfaction in the least.  He beamed ecstatically, looking more like a little boy on his first Christmas than a big bad wolf.