Heartless

61

We made our way through the maze, it felt like we were in there forever. When we turned a corner there was the scariest thing I have ever seen. It was a man, but he had no face. His body was completely deformed. He looked almost inhuman. I let out a horrible scream and bolted away, leaving Colby's side. "Cora!" He yelled and ran after me. "Cora?!" I heard Sam's voice yell, full of concern. Colby caught up to me and wrapped his arms around my waist as I shakily looked behind me, praying that thing we saw wasn't following us. "Calm down, it's okay, he's not following us." I nodded and stepped away from him, keeping my composure. "I'm okay." I said and grabbed his hand. "She's fine!" Colby called out with a laugh. We continued through the maze, things would show up in mirrors and scare us. Some of the things would even make Colby jump and scream. I had to admit, even though I was scared shitless, this was a lot of fun.

We got all the way through the maze and were led back outside. "Cora!!" Kat yelled and ran to me. She tackled me into a hug. "That was scary!" She whined as Sam laughed. "Glad you survived kiddo" Sam said and ruffled my hair. "Guys!" Jake said and ran to us. "We lost you guys so fast" Tara said and laughed a little, she didn't seem phased by the house at all. "Tara were you even scared?" Devyn said as she and Corey came up. "Yeah it was scary but not that bad." I breathed out a laugh, "yeah, it was nothing." Everyone laughed, "yeah, I'm pretty sure the entire city of Los Angeles heard your screams Cora." Kat said and playfully poked my arm. "Alright!  It was horrifying." I admitted with a laugh as Colby rested his arm over my shoulders.

We eventually made our way back to our cars, "we will meet you guys back at the house! Have fun at the bar Cora! Be safe!" Kat said as her Tara and Jake got in her car.

"Ready, love?" Colby said and opened the car door for me. I nodded and got in the car.

When we got to the bar I could feel my stomach clench with nerves. "You good?" Colby said and reached for my hand, "yeah, just a little jumpy." He smiled sweetly at me. "You're tough ya know." I laughed, "shut up I was such a baby in that haunted house" he smiled and pulled me closer as we started to walk towards the entrance of the bar. "Nah, that was scary. You had every right to scream, I was just trying to be tough, since I was going through it with a pretty girl."

Sam, Mike, Kevin, Devyn, and Corey were waiting at the entrance, they stood with a guy who had a mustache and tattoos. I'm assuming his name was Ariya, since they said he might come. "Hey birthday girl!!" Kevin said and pulled me into a tight hug. "Hi Kevin." I said with a smile as he pulled away. I felt arms tug me in a different direction, "happy birthday Cora!" Mike said and hugged me tight. "Thank you!" I said as he released me. "Cora this is Ariya" Colby said and gestured him. "Hi it's nice to meet you." I smiled, "nice to meet you, happy birthday"

We made our way into the bar, everyone made a big deal of me getting ID'd for the first time causing me to roll my eyes in embarrassment. This place was so crowded and loud causing my anxiety to rise. I felt Colby rest his hand on my hip, rubbing little circles with his thumb. We settled in the corner of a room, at one of the small tables. The group went to go get drinks, leaving Colby and alone for a second. "How you feeling?" He yelled over the loud music. "I'm fine! It's really loud in here." I yelled. He nodded, "yeah it is! Let me know if you need to go outside for a little." I nodded as everyone came back, Sam smiled and handed me a drink, "happy birthday Cora." He smiled, "thanks Sam, what is it?" He shrugged, "it's just a vodka tonic, I didn't know what you liked." I smiled, "it's perfect thank you!" Devyn grabbed my arm, "let's go dance!!"

She pulled me away before I could even respond. I flashed worried eyes at Colby as I was being dragged away. He smiled and patted Sam's back, gesturing for him to follow us. The boys followed us to the middle of the room. Devyn moved freely to the music, twirling me around. I was stiff at first but eventually let the alcohol in my system loosen me up. A pair of hands grabbed my waist causing me to flinch and stiffen, "it's just me." Colby said in my ear, causing me to relax once again. I swayed against him and smiled, turning around to face him. He pulled me close to him and kissed me gently. "You having fun?" He said and I nodded, taking another sip of my drink. "You want another one?" He said pointing to the cup. I nodded happily and he grabbed my hand.

Colby led me through the crowd to the bar, I noticed a lot of girls staring at him, I tried to ignore it since he was mine, and I didn't have to worry about him getting stolen by one of these girls. As he ordered my drink I was observing everyone around us. This couple was a few feet away from us, the girl was drooling over Colby and the guy she was with had noticed and they were now arguing. Colby looked up at them, causing the guy to get in his face, "what are you looking at!?" He said angrily. "Nothing man, sorry." Colby said and turned away, clearly not bothered. "You trying to steal my girl?!" He said and physically pulled Colby's shoulder so he would be looking at him. "Don't touch me." Colby said calmly as the guy got in his face. My heart began to race as the guy pulled Colby by his shirt. "You're trying to steal my girl, you fucking prick." Colby shook his head, trying to keep his anger low. "Guys stop!!" I yelled trying to keep my tears at bay. "I'm not tryi-" Colby started but was interrupted by this guy pushing him into the bar, he pulled his arm back to punch him but Colby blocked it. The guy got furious and started to fight him, Colby now was trying to fight back without actually hitting him.

A crowd of people formed as the guy kept trying to wail on Colby. "Stop!!" I yelled, now letting the tears fall onto my cheeks. I had to do something, none of our friends were around.

"Get away from him!" I yelled and tried to get in between them, I was mildly successful until I felt a familiar pain radiate from my face.