THE KEY (book one)

|twenty-two|

Eleven thirty pm
Passing Blaze It Luke stops the mobile a couple feet away from the abandoned building.
"It doesn't look like there's a party here." Phoebe says loading up the guns in the passenger seat. A group of people comprised of middle aged men and women laughing and jumping up and down, cross the street into the abandoned building.
"There's definitely a party." Levi mumbles narrowing his eyes.
"Alright get out." Luke says tapping on the wheel and looking at us through the rare view mirror.
"What are you saying? Where walking in together." Phoebe says nudging him on the arm.
"They know who we are. We can't risk walking in all at once." Levi explains unbuckling his seat belt and rubbing his tired eyes.
"Here." Phoebe says passing back two guns. Levi takes it and hands one over to me.
"Thanks." I mumble.
A pit forms in my stomach a pit that I can't seem to shake. Tonight's the night, it has to be.
Wasting no time I quickly unbuckle my seatbelt and step out of the mobile. Tucking my gun in the side pocket of my cargos I make my way to the building without looking back. I can hear Levi trail behind me but he doesn't say anything.
"Hey." He blurts grabbing my wrist.
"I know how much you want this to be over...b-believe me I know, but anger and fear is a dangerous combination." His grip on my wrist gets tighter. His eyes are wide with caution and his lips slightly twitch;he's worried. I stare at him blankly trying to find the words but they don't find its way to the surface.
"Think before you do anything tonight." He releases my wrist and places his hand on my cheek.
"Can't loose you too." He mumbles and my heart slightly aches.
Whatever happens, happens I can't cheat death if it's staring me right in the eyes, nor will I fight it.
I softly press my forehead against his and grab his free hand. A sudden warmth travels from my arm through out my entire being, a safe feeling.
"Okay." The word slips out before I can think of anything else.
I let go of of his hand and follow the music. It leads to a large cement stair case going to a lower floor.
"Underground party." I mumble clasping my hands together to prevent them from shaking. Levi places his hand on the small of my back.
No words are exchanged as I begin to walk down the steps, and into my own personal hell.
Extremely loud techno music fills my ears and the smell of alcohol, drugs and sweat fill the toxic air. I scowl and turn back to make sure Levi is still behind me. Pushing through crowds of people in the confined space, I find my way to the bar and take a seat on one of the red high chairs.
It's so loud I can hardly hear myself think. Levi scans the bar then brings his focus back to me. Green LED lights glow across his face, making him a little unrecognizable.
We both snap our heads as two glass shots slam down in front of us.
"On the house." The bartender shouts so we can hear. The liquor in the shots are colored green. I glance at Levi then at the bartender. I can't risk getting drugged tonight, and I'm still a little tipsy. Shaking my head I push away the drink and turn back to Levi who does the same.
"Do you see him anywhere? Anyone you recognize?" Levi shouts over the music. Scanning the facility I sigh bitting the inside of my lower lip. This man isn't going to show his face.
"Anything?" He asks again and I hesitantly shake my head.
"Hey we're in." Luke blurts through the ear pieces. My body jerks in fear, I take it out and place it on the bar table.
"We should go meet them." I say close to Levi's ear. He nods and we make our way back through the crowd. I turn around remembering I left my ear piece on the chair to find the bartender glaring my way.
Is he looking at me? I think to myself holding onto Levi.
The bartender speaks into his com and slowly walks off.
Something's wrong, I know it.
My grip on Levi's arm gets tighter as we make it to the center of the crowd.
Bodies crash against ours with no remorse. Looking up at Levi's neck I notice something that wasn't there before, a sticker. It's yellow with a happy smile on it.
This can't be good.
How long as it been there?
Is he affected yet?
"Levi!" I yell tugging on his arm. He turns in a panic.
I quickly grab the sticker off of him and show him.
His eyes widen and I can see the panic in his glossy eyes. Throwing the sticker on the ground, I place my hand on his chest that is now beating uncontrollably. He looks down at my hand then at me and back at my hand, with a face like everything's in slow motion.
"Levi!" I yell again. The colors of the strobe lights start to get extremely bright, brighter than before. To think it was impossible everything gets louder. My heart bangs against my chest as if trying to break free. A wash of emotions stain Levi's face as he looks at me. Slowly he lifts his hand to my neck and removes something. The feeling sends a tingling sensation down my spine and I jump. In his hands he holds two happy face stickers and my heart drops. I don't even know what to think. Standing in shock I cover my mouth and shake my head.
This wasn't supposed to happen?
How are we going to get the key? What if we lose each other?
Where's my mom?
How did I get here? My mind explodes with questions as everything begins to intensify. I can feel my sweat breaking through the surface of my skin.
I'm gonna die. Is all I can think digging my fingers through my hair.
I need to escape, get out of here. Looking up in hopes to see Levi I don't, he's gone and it only makes matters worse. Pushing through the crowd I yell for him.
"Levi! Levi!" No answer. My vision begins to blur but not with tears, with colors.
This isn't okay, I'm not okay.
Is all I can think until someone grabs hold of my shoulders.
My stomach sinks and I turn around.
To see a young man with pale skin and short green hair in my face.
"Don't panic! Embrace it and you'll be just fine!" He yells in my ear then walks off. His words replay in my head like an echo. It takes me a moment to digest it, but when I do I close my eyes and count to ten. My skin feels as if it's melting and my head's heavy like a rock.
"Don't fight." I mumble allowing a light chuckle escape my lips. Walking back to the center I feel a light tap on my shoulder. I spin around to see Drew.
Drew my Drew, our Drew, dead Drew.
This can't be he's died. I grab his face and pull at his skin to make sure I'm not really going crazy. It's real all of it.
"Drew?" I mumble still holding onto his face. He frowns and smiles.
"H-how... What Drew?" The words fall out on its own. He laughs and shakes his head.
"Dance... Just dance!" He yells jumping to the beat of the music. His hair is still in corn rows from the night of the auction, but he wears different clothes a more punk look. He's alive? No he died in my hands, he's dead.
"Erra dance!" He yells again and I do.
XXX
I've lost track of time. Drew is still dancing but I can't keep up. If I dance anymore I'm one hundred percent sure my heart will give out.
"Drew." I groan pulling on his shirt.
He stops dancing and looks down at me but only this time it's not him, it's not Drew. I should've known better. Slowly stepping back I don't lose eye contact, then I make a run for it.
My run doesn't last as long as I thought. I run into another person and not just anyone, Levi.
Is it him? Is my mind playing tricks in me again? I push him away but he grabs onto my shoulders.
"Erra! Erra!" He yells but I keep fighting.
"It's me relax it's Levi! It's Levi I swear!" He yells again and I stop and look at him dead in the eyes.
"Where were you!" My words slur as I push him.
"I can ask you the same thing but after we get out of this place. We're not okay, they drugged us!" He explains.
Yea no shit! I yell, but I'm not sure if it was in my head or not. He doesn't look as intoxicated as before.
"Yes Levi I know! Where's Phoebe and Luke?" I question and he looks around and sighs.
"I swear they were right-" He's cut off by the sound of gun shots.
Why does this always happen? I ask still not sure if it's said out loud or not. The whole party goes into a frenzy.
"We need to go now!" He demands and it scares me. People are running every which way but mostly towards the stairs.
"Let's go!" Levi tugs on my arm and I grip onto his. My body still feels horrible and all I want is to feel normal again, but that's not how it works.
I try to keep up but trip over myself and greet the floor. The gun shots multiply and my heart pounds faster.
"Erra!" Levi yells reaching out for me. I try to do the same but end up getting stepped on multiple times. Levi is quickly carried away by the crowd until he's out of sight. Finding my way to my feet I run the opposite way and jump behind the bar.
"Erra Paxton?" I jump to the sound of my name. Turning I see the bartender that attempted to serve us shots sitting next to me.
"How do you know my name?" He shakes his head and rubs his eyes.
"You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't have come." He mumbles but loud enough for me to hear.
"Why? Why!" I demand grabbing on his shirt.
"The Vipers! H-he's looking for you." His words come out horse, he's terrified.
"Ramon?"I question tugging on his shirt again and he nods. My head begins to throb, I'm not in the right state I need to regroup.
Should I stay or go? Either way I need to get out from behind this bar. Closing my eyes I gather myself and prepare run. Before I can even get over the bar my temple is greeted with the butt of a gun, and everything goes pitch black.