For the Heart of the Sun.

The winter air was refreshing and welcome on her heated skin. It was getting way too cramped back in Emery's house. Vero held her arms and stepped out onto the frosted sidewalk, letting out a sigh of relief as she took in the chilly night air.

“Beautiful night, innit?” She heard Emery sigh, holding his arms out as he welcomed in the winter cold. She nodded lightly, giving him a small smile as she watched him look up at the night sky.

“So many stars,”

“Y-You know, twinkling stars are caused by atmospheric air movement,” She remarked, her eyes avoiding his as he looked at her, “Th-That's why they seem to sparkle during the winter...”
His smile widened as her cheeks started to turn a rosy shade, her doll-like eyes glued to her boots in nervousness.

“You're just full of facts in that funny head of yours, aren't you?”

She looked over at him and gave him an awkward smile, her heart leaping up in her throat as he chuckled and shook his head. It felt like she was in a dream, the way Emery was looking at her right now. He was really looking at her, and talking to her like a normal person. He smiled, and laughed, she couldn't believe this was happening. It was finally happening. She felt so warm inside, so warm and full like she would burst into a million stars.

“God, I am just out of my mind right now,” She heard him sigh, watching as he lifted his arms and spun around, “I feel like I could just fly away.”

She chuckled lightly, muttering “I wish.” under her breath. Emery continued to spin around, staring up at the night sky and watching as the stars left behind silvery trails of light. He stumbled around a little before grabbing for Vero, taking her tiny wrists and pulling her into the fun. The two of them laughed as they spun each other around, the two of them tripping over their own feet before plopping over into the snow. The pale girl didn't mind one bit, the act seeming all too funny to her as Emery rolled over to her side. He got up to his elbows and looked down at her, his smile falling as he brushed a few stray violet hairs from her face. His fingertips slowly brushed over the apple of her rosy cheek, his eyes falling down to her lips. Vero stared up at him, her round eyes growing wide as her heart raced behind her ribcage. His breath was warm on her face, his nose only centimeters from her own. He was getting closer, her lips starting to tremble as the magnetic pull between them grew stronger.

“E...Emery...” Her voice peeped, her eyes fluttering down to the boy's white, toothy smile as he hummed a small 'hm?'.

“Could you...um...s-sit up, please?” Her voice came out in a whisper so hoarse and quiet, he almost couldn't hear her. He was just about to respond when he heard the sound of tires screeching and the muffled sound of the bass thumping in someone's speakers. A car pulled up along the sidewalk, several voices hollering and laughing inside before the vehicle turned off and they all got out. Vero shifted to look, her insides twisting when she noticed it was the school's prized players on the basketball and lacrosse teams. A lot of them came staggering out with beer cans already at hand, their lidded eyes going over to the couple currently in the snow together. A few of them whistled while the others held up their cans in a toast.

“Hey hey!” One of them called, “Emery! Hooking up in the snow?! Kinkyyy!”

The English boy hurried and got them both up off the ground. He helped Vero dust the snow off her coat before going to his own.

“That's not Gretchen, is it?!” Another boy from the lacrosse team asked. He squinted his eyes as he looked over at Vero, the pale girl looking down at her boots.

“Course it isn't!” A player from the basketball team whooped, “She'd be on her knees by now if it was!”

“Well who is it then?”

“Who gives a shit!” The basketball guy bit as he walked up to Vero, “She's cute, anyhow...'Sup, I'm Kyle. I like your hair.”

The small girl struggled to make eye contact with him. Instead, she kept looking at her boots, peeping a small “hi.” Kyle smiled.

“You are so fucking cute,” He stepped up beside her and slung a heavy arm over her shoulder, the girl stumbling a little before regaining her footing. “How about we get you inside and I'll grab you a drink?”

The small girl shook her head, tensing up as the basketball star pulled her in close and almost kissed the side of her head.

“C'mon guys, leave her alone,” Emery warned.

“Whaaat! If you're not gonna show her a good time, I might as well,” Kyle turned his attention back to the girl. “So what do you say, huh, cutie?”

She shook her head, her violet hair bouncing as her wide eyes stayed glued to her boots.

“N-No than―”

“Let's get out of here, hm?” He pressed his lips to the side of her head. “You and me.”

Her stomach was twisting in knots, and not in the good way. She attempted to nudge him away, the guy purposefully staying in place as she did so.

“N...No, I-I...I gotta go,” She stammered.

“Aw, what? Why?” He pulled her in closer as she attempted to pull away, wrapping both his arms around her. “Come on...”

“No! Please, I―!”

“Vero!”

The girl whipped around, staring wide-eyed at a familiar boy wearing all black and a stern expression on his pretty face. Her heart skipped a beat and sung to high heaven when saw just who it was, his intense blue eyes flashing to an even brighter color as a car drove by.
“Andy,” She breathed out, wriggling out of the guy's grasp and running straight into his lanky frame. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his chest, relishing in the scent of smoke mixed with spiced cologne. She felt his arms hold her possessively, keeping her close as he eyed the group of drunk men currently sizing him up.

“They bothering you?” He asked, the pale girl looked up at him, the anxiousness clear on her pretty face.

“Oh! U-Um, no, not reall―”

“Some girl named Gretchen's looking for you,” He said over to Emery. The boy perked up. “She's drunk, and she's picking a fight with everyone thinking they're hiding you somewhere.”
Vero watched as the brunette ran a hand through his shaggy hair and sighed, shaking his head before shoving his hands into his pockets and smiling.

“Thanks, man.” He turned to the crowd of athletes. “C'mon guys, I got that whiskey you lot seem to like so much.” The group all cheered and whooped as they started making their way towards the house. Emery followed close behind them, smiling over at the pale girl as he walked past.

“See you at school,”

She gave a small nod and smiled weakly at him, watching as his eyes went up to Andy's. His smile fell, and his eyebrows knitted together for a second before going back to normal. He looked like he'd just seen something strange. Vero lifted her head to look at him, and he just looked down at her and smiled―the same boyish, crooked smile that made her cheeks burn and her heart flutter. He leaned down and gently pecked her on the forehead,

“Are you okay?”

“I'm fine,” She mumbled, shifting to nuzzle into his chest, “You smell good.”

“And you smell like kush, and sweat,” He remarked, taking a small wiff of her hair, “Did you smoke?”
She held up her thumb and her index finger. “Only a teensy bit.”

“I didn't peg you for a smoker,”

She shook her head. “mm mm. It was my first time.” Her stomach started twisting more and more, the sensation making her wince. “I don't feel so good...”

She felt her world starting to sway and spin, the queasy, sickly feeling getting worse and worse. Before she knew it was knelt over in the snow, Andy gripping her shoulder and her hair as she started throwing up.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself in a bathtub. A pillow had been placed in the tub with her, along with a warm blanket and a cold, wet rag. The thing was folded over and placed on her forehead, the water slowly dripping down her ears and onto her sleeves. She took it off and sat up slowly, her stomach still aching, but feeling a lot better than it did only moments ago. She looked around to see nobody in the bathroom. The door was shut, but the music was still thumping through the floor. She could hear people laughing and shouting and making a ruckus through the house. The party was still raging on.

She slowly made her way out of the tub, gently touching her forehead as she tried to shake off the dizziness and confusion that still lingered in her brain. She opened up the bathroom door and was about to enter the sea of partiers when something blocked her. She gently bumped into a body and stepped back in surprise. It was Ricky.

“Oh!” She yelped, putting a hand to her tiny chest, “S-Sorry.”

Ricky shook his head and smiled. “It's fine. You okay?”

She nodded lightly, tensing for a second when Ricky reached into his back pocket and pulled something out. It was her phone. He handed it over to her and she took with a sigh of relief. She opened it up and saw she had 5 new messages.

One from her mother.

Heading to bed now.
Hope you're having fun, sweets. Get home safely!
Mum xx

The next two were from Hyun Ki.

- No luck on finding out who A. Davenport is so far. I hate google!! (ಠ╭╮ಠ)
- You still doing okay?

The next one was from Gretchen.

- WHER HTE F CUK S eMRY???

The girl frowned and couldn't help but snicker. She was so drunk.She scrolled down to the last message, her heart fluttering when she saw Andy's name.

Downstairs looking for some meds for you. Ricky's taking watch for the moment.
I'll be up soon, babydoll. Just rest.
- A6

Ricky watched as the girl struggled to keep from smiling, failing horribly in the end. She tapped her thumbs on the keyboard a few times before shutting her phone, holding it to her chest.

“Good news?” He asked. She shook her head and shrugged.

“I think Andy's downstairs looking for meds,” She remarked, perking up when he suddenly held his hand out to her. Two tablets rested in his palm.

“He told me to give these to you,” He explained. “He's downstairs getting something to eat.”

“O-Oh,” She peeped, slowly taking the pills and popping them into her mouth. She went over to the sink and turned on the water, dipping her head down to take a few sips from the faucet. She turned the water off and wiped her mouth, smiling over at Ricky as he held out his hand.

“C'mon, let's go find him,”

She nodded with a small, “okay.” and took his hand, following him into the sea of partiers.
Things felt a lot more fun now that she was with someone she knew. She didn't feel so awkward or out of place. She followed closely behind him as they went down the stairs, weaved around through the crowd, and walked into the kitchen. She looked around as they walked through, but couldn't find Andy anywhere in sight.

Before she knew it, she was out in the yard, still holding Ricky's hand as they walked through a sea of fluttering lights. Someone had gotten out the sparklers, everyone in the backyard lighting theirs and dancing around. The smile on her face grew bigger as everyone danced and waved theirs around, creating long stringy trails of sparkles.

Beautiful yellow ribbons twirled and breathed all around her. She let out a laugh as Ricky grabbed her hand and twirled her around. The lights were dancing around them, leaving trails and shapes like little snowflakes.

She looked up at the sky as they continued to spin. Her scope of vision seemed gigantic as the stars in the sky began to switch places with one another. The sky seemed to ripple and breathe, everything looked so close, like she could practically reach out and touch it. She briefly closed her eyes, amazed at the intense visualizations she was seeing. She could still see the stars imprinted behind her eyelids, little dots switching colors and becoming bigger. She opened them to see Gretchen and Emery in front of her, laughing and swirling their sparklers from side to side. Ricky stood in front of her and held his sparkler above his head, the lights swishing into a blindfold of white light over his eyes.

"You look like an angel!" She laughed out, the boy smiling as they continued walking around the yard. The lawn felt like cold, bumpy water beneath her feet, the ripples in the grass moving and breathing like the waves in the ocean.

She saw Chris over by Matt with a cigarette in his mouth. He took a small hit and handed it over to her neighbor. The tall boy took a long hit and exhaled a cloud of whispy smoke that swirled and twisted in the air. Vero's eyes widened she noticed Chris rush by her with his sparklers, shouting something that came off like an echo to her. He pointed over to the woods, his mouth stretching into a coy smile as others in the yard started running for the trees. He looked over at Ricky, and the boy smiled, briefly gripping Vero's hand before letting go.

“Stay here,” His hollow voice rumbled in her eardrums. The sound tickled, making her chuckle as she brought her shoulder up to her ear. She nodded lightly and watched as he slipped off with his friend, but not before telling Matt something she couldn't make out. The guy nodded in response, and before she knew it both Ricky and Chris were gone.

Her feet started to move on their own towards her original objective. She walked up to Matt and smiled as she swayed back and forth, dancing lightly in place as he took a hit from his cigarette. He took the stick out of his mouth and opened, a white silky cloud escaping past his lips and entering through his nostrils. She audibly gasped in awe. He looked like a dragon, his blue irises looking brighter and more piercing then before. His pupils were the size of saucers at this point, and to her they looked like they were stretching slightly to a point like a snake's eye. For some unknown reason, she threw her head back and let out a laugh, and right then two random partygoers came up to them swirling their newly lit sparklers. They hooted and whistled and cheered as the pale girl buried her face into her hands in embarrassment. They suddenly grabbed her arms with a laugh and twirled her around, guiding her away from Matt and back to where all the fun was. She danced and laughed the whole way there before realizing that she herself was being spirited away towards the woods.

"This is amazing!!" She heard someone exclaim.

"I've never felt this good before!!" She heard someone else yell. "WOOOO!"

A whole group of them ran through the dark woods like a pack of wild wolves. She could see everyone's sparklers flickering and dancing around her through the trees. Everyone was everywhere, howling and laughing and going wild. She couldn't pinpoint who was where, but she didn't care. She felt amazing right now. She felt warm and alive and carefree. She wished she could feel like this all the time.

“Oh my twitchy witchy girl, I think you are so nice,” She sung to herself, “I give you bowls of porridge and I give you bowls of ice...”

She frowned when the laughter around her started to fade, the voices drawing further and further away from each other. She turned around every which way, realizing that she was now, in fact, alone...

“....Creeaaam,” She sang meekly, shivering as a cold winter wind blew by. That happy feeling she felt only moments ago was starting to fade. Fear was beginning to take it's place. She turned around, holding her bony arms as she followed her footprints back to hopefully where safety was. The trees looked a lot more menacing in the dark, along with the shadows that danced across the frosted floor.

“I give you lots of kisses, and I give you lots of hugs,” She sang, “But I never gave you sandwiches, with grease and worms and mung―”

She suddenly heard a bloodcurdling scream and it made her jump and scream in response. Several voices started screaming and crying, shouting things that she couldn't make out over the sound of her own frantic cries. She cowered as several sets of footsteps drew closer and closer to her, a few familiar people from the party running right past her, looking like they had just seen the devil in the woods.

“Run!” They all screamed, “Run! It's got him!”
Vero's eyes widened as her heart and stomach leapt up in her throat. She didn't understand what was happening. Was this a joke? A silly prank? It seemed all too real. The way everyone ran and screamed. How a few girls were crying their eyes out in hysterics as they bolted for safety.

“Holy fucking shit! Holy shit! Run!” A man screamed, his booming voice bringing the girl out of her thoughts and back to what was happening. She looked back at the darkness with wide eyes as more students and partygoers were fleeing for their lives. Some were screaming for help, begging someone to call 9-1-1, others yelled that there was an animal in the woods.

And that animal had apparently caught another victim.

Vero had no choice but to run with the crowd, there was evil in the woods, and thought of it still out there, thirsty and hunting for blood, it made her stomach drop and her fearful voice raise as she screamed out of instinct.

Her mind immediately went to Andy, and to Ricky. She'd hoped to God that they weren't out in the woods. But what if they were? What if the creature had gotten one of them?! Panic was starting to overwhelm her. She couldn't think straight. Her heart was racing. She felt light headed. She needed to get home. She needed Andy. She needed―

“Out of my way, ZERO!!” A voice screeched, a pair of bony hands suddenly shoving her forward. The pale girl's feet failed to catch up, and she ended up tripping and toppling over into the snow. She face planted hard against an upturned root, her vision flashing hot white before being riddled with black and red dots. She looked forward in a daze, Gretchen's sparkly dress glimmering in the natural moonlight as she kept running with Emery at hand. Neither of them bothered to look back. They just kept running for safety.

She slowly got up off the ground and staggered in the direction where everyone was running.

At least, she thought she was.

She was still pretty dizzy after her fall, her world spinning and swaying in a confusing manner. Hot tears stung her eyes from the pain that still ached on her poor head. She sniffled, trying to keep from making too much noise in case the creature was in fact still hunting. She hoped Andy was okay. She hoped everyone was okay.

Everyone except Gretchen and Emery.

If the creature were to get anyone, she thought bitterly as she walked back, she'd hoped it'd be them.



He was all alone in the woods now.

His team had left him out here, the whole lot of them yelling and running for their lives for some reason he failed to catch.

“H-Hello?!” He shouted out. “Anybody!....HELP!”

No answer. He was all alone in the woods, everyone's screams and laughs and howl's faded away. There was nothing but the wind now. The wind and the sound of trees creaking and twigs snapping and falling.

He turned around every which way, trying to figure out just what direction Emery's home was in. He tried following footprints in the snow to the best of his ability, calling for the other guys on his team along the way.

“Sean!” He called out, “Bradley!...Tom!...Anybody?!....HELP!”

Still no answer. He cupped his hand around his mouth and turned the other direction.

“HEL―” He jumped back and let out a swear when he saw someone in front of him. He was tall and skinny, wearing all black, which made his skin almost visually match the snow beneath their feet. He put a hand to his broad chest and sighed.

“Christ, man! You scared the shit out of me,” He huffed in relief.

“You lost?” The man in black asked. The guy nodded lightly, gesturing to his surroundings.

“Can't see a fuckin' thing around here, man,” He scoffed, “I get all sorts of turned around in here.”
He looked over and saw the stranger smirk and nod in agreement. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket and got one out for himself. He casually put it to his lips and got out a match, lighting it placing it on the end of the stick. The athlete watched as he cooly took a hit and let it out in a smoke-filled sigh.

“I know the way back,” He answered, his voice sounding lower and muddled from the smoke, “I was on my way there. C'mon.”

“Oh my god, thanks so much, man!” The player breathed, following the guy along as they started walking, “Jesus, I thought I was a goner for sure.”

The stranger frowned in confusion. “Why?”

“W-Well, some people were yelling out here that some animal got someone,”

He watched as the guy scoffed, taking another hit.

“Oh right, that.” He remarked, “That was just some stunt one of my friends pulled.”

The lacrosse player furrowed. “Wh...really?”

“Yeah,” He mused, scratching the back of his head, “They started screaming and it kind of created this, like, fucked up domino effect. Everyone started bugging out.”

He let out an airy chuckle and smiled, the athelete tilting his head slightly now that he got a good look at his face.

“Hey, I saw you earlier,” He mentioned. The stranger quirked an eyebrow at him. “You were outside, with that purple haired chick. Totally cock blocked me. Your name's A―”

“Andy,” The guy finished, “And the girl I cockblocked you from is Veronica.”

“Veronica,” The athlete mused, “That's a cute name. Cute girl too...”
Andy stayed silent, taking a long drag from his cigarette as they continued to stalk along in the snow.

“She's freaking tiny though,” The guy went on, letting out a chuckle, “But man, I bet she bangs like a fairy on acid.”

Andy's brows raised momentarily. “Okay, interesting word choice...”

“C'mon man, you gotta admit she's kinda banging, in a wierd way,” He shoved his hands in his pockets, briefly lifting his head up to look at the night sky, “I'm surprised Emery hasn't hit that yet. He usually goes for the wierd ones.”

“He has Gretchen,” He heard Andy say. He nodded with a small laugh and nudged the guy in the shoulder, clearly getting more excited as their conversation went on.

“Aw yeah, true! She's pretty banging too, but she's a fucking nut case.” He let out a small laugh before going quiet again, shaking his head, “Man, if Emery doesn't hook up with that Veronica chick, I might seriously try and get with that when I get back.”

“What makes you think she'll want to be with you?”

The lacross player turned to look at him. “Wha?”

“Why do you wanna hook up with her?” He asked, the air suddenly seeming colder around the athelete, “Are you genuinely interested? Or are you just looking for a quick fuck?”
Their footsteps were slowly coming to a stop. The player's brows knitted into a small frown.

“Dude―”

“She's not some little fucktoy,” He bit lowly, taking a step towards him, “She's not some trophy to be won, or some virgin that needs to be 'broken in' as you put it.”

“I...” The guy had to keep his jaw from dropping. “I-I didn't say anyth―”

“No, you didn't. But your thoughts are as loud as you are,” He asserted, taking a step forward as the guy took a step back. “You're not going to get with that when you get back...”

The man was at a loss for words. “Wh...Wh...”

“You're not even going back,” He said with an amused grin, “You realize that, right?”

The athlete looked around and did in fact notice that this part of the woods was looking extremely unfamiliar. There were no more tracks, and they had gone to a darker part of the woods. His heart leaped up into his throat, his eyes widening as he looked around every which way. How could that have happened? They were going back! He could've sworn they were going back!

“Wh...Wha...” He breathed, taking a step back as the alarms started blaring in his head. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. He looked over at Andy, and the growing smirk on his face.

“Who―Wh-Who are you?!” He asked out, his stomach dropping and twisting as the guy's piercing blue eyes flashed to an even brighter color. The athlete stumbled back and fell over, screaming as the guy let out a fierce growl and flashed his fangs. He lunged right for his neck and clamped down hard on the flesh, gnawing and taking off a chunk before diving back in and gulping down the liquid that came gushing out. He kept drinking and drinking, feeling the warm liquid trickle down his throat and splashing down his chin and neck. The body violently twitched under him, his voice gurgling and gasping in what could only be excruciating pain. The very thought made Andy smile even wider on the inside, a warm, satiating wave washing over him in the process. He felt full, in every sense of the word. One less day of going hungry, and one less asshole in the world.

He finally let go of the athlete's body and took a much needed breath, letting it out in a hefty sigh. He didn't bother to wipe his mouth as he looked back down at the body. His head tilted from side to side like a curious anime, blood dripping off his chin and landing on his victim's horrified expression. The guy's breathing was garbled and ragged, the sound getting louder as Andy's bony hands made their way to the top of hs head and underneath his chin. Just as he was about to move, his silver eyes looked over to the body standing across from him. Chris and Ricky watched with little smirks plastered on their bloodied mouths.

“You done, yet? Police are gonna show any minute,” Ricky mentioned.

“You're supposed to be with Veronica,” Andy remarked, staring down at the fearful body that continued to gasp and cling on to life.

“Ah, she's fine,” Ricky assured, a knowing smirk stretching across his pierced lips.“Nothing a little ecstacy couldn't fix.”

“You what?!” He looked back at Ricky and suddenly jerked the athlete's head all the way to the right, a loud snap sounding off. The guy only flinched once before going limp, and that's when Andy got up off the ground and right into Ricky's face. His eyes were wide and menacing and Ricky held his hand's up in defense, an impish grin still clear on his face.

“Kidding! Kidding!” He let out honestly, chuckling as Andy slowly backed off, “Jesus, mellow out man. Maybe you need to eat more.”

Andy's eyes narrowed at the both of them before he turned away, muttering a low “I'm full.” before rushing back.