Love Lines

36: Prophecy Down

Chapter Thirty-Six

"When you said there'd be a lot of people..."

Cecil, Andrzej, and I were standing against a wall in what I would consider to be the main room. The party was in a house again but this time it was a really big one. There were tons of people, barely any walking room, and depending on who passed me I felt like my skin was about to crawl off in the corner and die. Not to mention I was getting a major headache from all the possible futures I wasn't seeing.

"They all want to meet the Future Time Particular." Andrzej took a swig of his drink. How he'd managed to make his way to the drink table was beyond me. I couldn't even see where they had the drinks set up. "And someone spiked the punch."

I glanced up at him and tried not to laugh. His face was screwed up as he glared down at his plastic red solo cup. Both boys were fixed on either side of me, keeping a look out for any indicator that Chris was here.

We weren't the only ones lounging on the fringe. On Cecil's other side, a guy was facing away from us as he chatted up a short blond chick. I had the urge to reach over, tap him on the shoulder, and tell him to give up. There was no way she was giving up the goods before she was married but I didn't want to cause a scene. So I kept all those random urges to myself.

And there were quite a few of them. There was one girl I wanted to tell to put her hair up because she'd be praying to the porcelain god and warn a boy who was going to get his nose broken.

"I'm hoping for the orgy but that's just me."

I elbowed Andrzej in the stomach and he almost spit punch all over the place. Why he was drinking it after saying it was spiked was beyond me. Maybe he wanted to get drunk. Could he get drunk?

"Any sign of him?"

"No," Cecil said coldly. He was keeping to his word, not letting me out of his sight for anything. He even had one of his arms wrapped around my waist, his fingers splayed out on my hip. I had my own hand tucked in the back left pocket of his jeans. Having him this close was the only reason I wasn't bolting and changing my mind. "And you should stop drinking."

"Believe it or not, Cyrus, but the low quality crap someone poured into the horrendously made fruit punch wouldn't get anyone drunk. It's just the kicker and you know it. The heavy shit doesn't come out until later."

"Don't start," I whispered. "He's here."

That got both of their attentions. Andrzej handed his cup off to some random person that passed by and turned his body a little to face mine.

Cecil gripped my hip a little tighter, pulling me closer in the process. It wasn't because of what Andrzej did, he was just really worried about what I said. They both were. "How do you know?" he whispered.

"I can feel it. It's like a tick or a void. I can feel the future for everyone in this house but him. His future is a big vat of nothing." I looked over at Andrzej. "Are you the reason my head feels like it's about to explode?"

He raised an eyebrow. "If you're asking if I'm neutralizing your Particular the answer is no. They have something else doing that. Quite well, actually. This is the most human I've felt in a long time. They must've hired someone really powerful because of the larger crowd."

"Really?"

"The house is neutral territory," Cecil whispered. "No one can use their Particular on the premises. That's why it always breaks out in a fight or a love fest. The tensions get so high that they have to release them somehow. It's best we leave before then whether Chris has shown his hand or not."