Hope Unguarded

Priceless

Priceless - for King and Country

Ethan

He was standing in the kitchen of the beast wondering what the heck he had been thinking. It had been eighteen months since the last time he had set foot inside the place. The memories he had there were not ones he cherished, or even cared to think of at all. But somehow he had wound up back in its clutches.

The frat house.

His darkest days had been spent in that place, wallowing in misery at the loss of his best friend. At the time he had also felt that Hope was a distant dream, one that he would never see become his reality. Thankfully that hadn't been the case, she was real and she was his. She was also somewhere in that God forsaken house, but he had no idea where.

Ethan had been all over the house looking for her, twice. But she was no where to be found. He had tried calling her phone but then remembered that she had left it charging at his place. After realizing that she wasn't inside the house, Ethan ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

"Hey man, lighten up. It's a party!" His buddy, Steve, who was part of the fraternity and on the baseball team, punched him in the shoulder.

"I would but I can't find my girlfriend. I walked away for a few minutes to say hi to some buddies and I haven't been able to find her since." He realized going to this party had been a bad idea, but he wanted Hope to have a good time now that she was living so close. She had been hesitant but willing when he brought it up the other day. Now he was pissed at himself for even suggesting it.

Didn't he learn anything from that horrible bonfire?

"Aww man, that sucks. I'm sure she's here someplace. What's she look like?" Steve was just trying to help, but Ethan felt his irritation rise. This place had a curse and he always knew that something bad would happen here. It already had, so many times at so many parties.

He figured the more eyes looking, the better. So he went ahead and showed Steve her picture on his phone.

"She's hot, you picked a winner there, Ethan." Ethan found himself grinding his teeth. He hadn't experienced jealousy before and he didn't like it one bit.

"Yeah, thanks" he deadpanned. "Just keep your eyes open for her. Let me know if you see her, alright?"

"Sure, man. You got it."

Ethan walked away and kept searching the house, for the third time. When he got to the living room, he scanned the area for her long brown locks. He stopped when he saw a familiar profile, and his blood ran cold. This had to be some alternate reality, she couldn't possibly be who he thought it was. Not here, not tonight. Then she turned and faced him fully. They made eye contact and she smiled her cheshire cat smile.

Melanie.

Damn, not the girl I wanted to see. Before he could turn and run as fast as he could in the opposite direction, Melanie made her way over to him, smirking the entire time. It was as if his feet were made of concrete, he was stuck in place waiting for her evil spell to be broken.

"Ethan, I wondered if I'd see you tonight!" she said with an air of false excitement.

"Yup, here I am." He would not get sucked in by her witching ways. And yet, here he stood talking to her.

"Its been so long, how are you?" Melanie cooed and put her hand on his arm. Ethan immediately shrugged away from her touch as if he had been stung. Well, he had.

"Listen, Melanie, I wish I could say its nice to see you but... well you know its not. I need to go. I'm looking for someone." Ethan was proud of his firmness in the face of what he considered a toxic personality. But his resolve faded as he turned away and heard her utter words that unnerved him.