As Dead as They Come

"No! Get your butt back down here, and go mingle with Vinnie. I'll grab your cold medicine." Cara dragged me from off the steps on my way up to my room, where I had every intention of lying down.
"Cara, this suuuuucks. Why am I so siiiiick?" My last dose was wearing off, and because of that, all of my energy was sapped. My headache turned skull-splitting unless I was lying down, and these symptoms ruined my desire to experience the revelry.

"Hold on and stop whining, you can thank me later!" Cara disappeared around the corner at the top of the stairs, and I groaned as I shuffled over to the dining room where we had left Vince. The table was laden with all sorts of party food, and every available space around it was filled with laughing, healthy, stupid fun-having people. I sneered at whoever paused in their conversation to get a kick out of my costume. At least I was in character.
"Vinnie."

"Yes, Jayden Jo?" He said as I approached him where he stood in the kitchen. I swore, I was going to rip that stupid accent right out of his throat.

"Vinceeeent."

"What do you want? Get off me, you look terrible." He stiff-armed me right in the face as I tried to lean against him.

"Just hold me so I can fall asleep standing up."

"You're ridiculous."

"You're ridiculous." I mocked his dumb accent. British people annoyed me, for some reason. At least, their accents did.

Vinnie flicked a pack of tissues at me from his pocket, having been making a face every time I wiped my runny nose off on my sleeve.

Cara joined us shortly, and I took another dose of the medication. We stayed in the kitchen to chat, the farthest place away from the pounding music in the living room.

"JJ, I think someone's got a crush on you..." Cara interjected during a ruthless play of words between Vinnie and I.

"Are you kidding me? She's a brat!" Vincent forgot all about his accent. I also spit up some of the water I was sipping. I love the pretentious nerd, but count me out.

"Not you, stupid. Him." Vinnie and I followed her finger, over to a guy leaning against the doorway between the dining room and the kitchen. Vince straightened his bow tie while muttering, and I gave a guffaw.

"What? Why would you say that?"

"Cause he keeps staring at you whenever you're not looking. I don't recognize him as anyone from around here," Cara giggled, elbowing me in the ribs. "Get it."

"Ew, no. He's probably gay for young boys, that's what I look like. Some crack-head crazies from out of town already thought I was actually a guy earlier." Cara burst out laughing, and Vinnie cracked a smug smile.

"Now you have to go talk to him."

"JJ, you gotta, that's so hilarious!"

I cringed as I sighted the creepy-looking dude from across the room, my friends snickering and snorting in my ear. He was tall, and looked like a visiting college student rather than a guy in high school. He had thin facial-features, but broad shoulders, and he was covered head to toe in black. I think his skin was painted white. I caught a flicker of his strange-colored eyes from behind unkempt black hair.

He gave off the creeper vibe more than a flirtatious one.

"He gives me the heebie-jeebies."

"It's halloween."

"Yeah, I guess he has a thing for creatures of the night, Jay, ooooo! But yeah, the staring thing is kind of weird."

"Lost your big chance anyway, brat. Your lover's gone." Cara and I looked up toward the doorway, to find what Vince said was accurate. Well, the gone part.

"Huh... Anyway, are you feeling well enough to go into the living room yet, Jay? I want to dance." Cara poked at my arm imploringly.

"Yeah, sure..."

We made our way back through the house, into the wall of loud party music and bodies. Cara grabbed Vinnie and I to pull us into the mass. I joined in minimally with them, my headache dulled but still existent. Cara was having a ball.

A really fast, energetic song came on, which caused the room to go crazy. I backed away with a laugh, trying to remove myself from the jumping, moshing, frantic cluster of bodies. It was way too hot in here, even with the patio doors wide open. I headed for them. Halfway through the crowd, a hand clamped down on my shoulder, and whoever had a firm hold of me guided me toward the door. I tried to turn and see who it was, probably Alex, but I couldn't see past the bill of my hat.

I breathed a gulp of fresh air once I was on the patio, and I started to turn towards whoever led me out. Instead, both vice-like hands dug into my shoulders and led me straight around the house, taking me behind it and away from the groups of people in the yard. Alarm sparked in my stomach. Was this the start of some terrible rape-victim story?

We rounded the corner, and I was shoved smack into a hard body. Arms roughly handled me, and I lost my balance as I was being dragged further behind the house, in the thin alley created by the side of the building and our tall fence. I was flung against the panels of the structure, my back smacking painfully against it as a hand gripped my throat.

"Which Court do you belong to?" a menacing voice demanded, their milky face inches from mine. I sputtered, clawing for air. Their grip loosened slightly. "Speak."

"What do you want?" I managed to say, making out a guy and a girl in the blackness behind the figure that had me pinned. His grip turned painful. Every scenario spun through my foggy mind as the grip once again loosened, and my assailant repeated the question.

"What are you doing in rogue territory?" A woman's voice added from behind him, “You’re in clear violation of the agreement.” The second guy stayed silent. I could see bright red eyes in front of mine.

"What are you guys doing?" I wheezed, "Tell Alex he's retarded for putting you up to this..."
"Don't play stupid!" My captor roared, cutting me off. I raked at the clammy hand on my neck, the arm hard and cold as stone.

"What are you low-life snots up to tonight? Ruining the ambiance for everyone else looking for some fun?" All heads turned toward the direction of the new voice that bounced down the alley from the corner of the house. My captor hissed.

"Veratian scum-"

"Go!"

In a rush of cold wind, I suddenly wasn't smashed against the side of the house. Falling to my knees, I sputtered and coughed as I rubbed my neck, my head pounding and throbbing. The dark world spun.

“Easy.” Yet another unfamiliar voice, low in timbre, floated across my foggy plane of consciousness while its owner gripped my shoulders to steady me. The same figure who called my assailants off spoke after.

“Uh... Not sure why the rogues didn’t recognize this one. Doesn’t belong to us. Regan, get your ass over here and do your job.” A woman’s face came into view alongside the man’s who supported me. Both their faces looked like sheets of paper.

“I’ll ignore your polite attitude...” She also ignored my personal space. “She doesn’t belong to any Courts near us. I’d say she’s a rogue, but she obviously doesn’t belong to them, either.”

“You think she’s newly-turned?” My eyes darted from the woman to the bass-voiced man who still held me.

“Only one way to find out.”

She sunk her teeth into my neck.