Chapter 3: Not a Friend in Need

Skylar’s POV

The urge to find a place to hide until this party ends is extreme. I have never been to a club before and I have never drank alcohol either, I am usually claustrophobic for so many reasons and I’m realizing that coming to this party was a horrible idea. So many bodies moving along with the rhythm of the music, the strong smell from the mixture of sweat and alcohol is on another level entirely. I can not even think straight without an odor disorienting my senses.

The last time I saw Lily was when she went to the dance floor, I tried going to look for her and almost drowned in the sea of sweaty smelling bodies.

With no other option I settled on one of the barstools with my hand over my purse on the table. It felt a bit awkward initially but I was able to adjust myself.

“Hey, what’s your name?” The bartender asks, bringing me out of my thoughts.

“Huh? What did you say?” I ask.

“What’s your name?” He asks again.

“Oh sorry. My name is Skylar. You can call me Sky. What’s yours?” I say sticking out my hand, he takes my hand into his surprisingly soft hand.

“Lance, nice to meet you. You want a drink? It’s free.” He replies with a playful smile.

“I know it’s free, I’m just not much of a drinker. What options do you have for me?” I ask with a smile propping my jaw with my palms.

One thing I am glad about is that this is a masquerade party, so hopefully no one will recognize me.

Lance hands me a menu to choose from while saying, “It seems you’re not from around here.”

I look at him with a mixture of surprise and alarm,“Why do you say so?” I ask him while trying to play it cool with a smile.

“I’ve never seen anyone around here with real curly auburn hair. Scratch that I’ve never seen anyone with auburn hair before.” He shrugged.

“Well…I’m not from around here.” I say trying to sound neutral.

“Oh that’s great, it’s nice seeing new faces even if they’re behind masks.” He says with a playful smile and raised eyebrows.

“It’s a masquerade party and you’re wearing one too.” I respond laughing.

“You know what? I can’t choose from this menu because I do not drink so much, why don’t you surprise me. Please nothing sour and it should be relatively sweet.” I say touching my mask, he replies with a nod and turns to get a bottle of rum from the shelf, I can see traces of a tattoo peeking out from his collar.

After about five minutes of adding some things together, he dramatically presents my drink to me with a bow. “It’s a Piña colada, enjoy.” I thank him and tentatively take a sip, it tasted extremely fruity which is perfect, since I’ve never drank before. I’m sure my expression shows that I’m impressed because Lance smiles before using a rag to wipe the counter.

Someone takes the seat right beside me and I look at the person briefly before going back to my drink, it actually tastes good.

“What can I get you?” He asks the man, who responds in a deep voice, “Whiskey on the rocks, please.”

Lance fixes up his drink and places it in front of him. He gulps it down in one go and gestures for a refill. Lance pours some whiskey into his cup again and decides to leave the bottle with him.

Suddenly I hear “Mate!” loudly in my head. It’s obviously my wolf, Freya. She can be quite a nuisance sometimes but she helps me alot even though I have not transformed yet. I always wonder why but I’m still hopeful.

I ignore her because she hasn’t spoken to me in a while and now she suddenly starts talking? Absolutely not.

Since the cocktail tasted great I asked for a refill, I keep wondering why Lily isn’t back from the dance floor yet. I feel eyes on me and I look to the direction the feeling is coming from, which is the VIP section at the other side of the room.

A tall figure is looking at me while sipping from a tumbler, I can’t really make out his face but his hair is blonde almost white, I can’t make out his eyes either. I should be creeped out but I’m not, it may be the alcohol. I decide to ignore him and carry on with my drink.

After my tenth glass I feel the pressure to use the bathroom. I decide not to ask Lance for directions since that would be awkward, ignoring the dizziness from either standing too quickly or the drinking, I move to look for the bathroom.

Walking into a passage, I spot a door with a ladies' sign on it. Opening the door there are six toilet stalls on the left and six sinks on the right. I rushed to the last restroom to relieve myself. The sound of the door opening and the quiet thumping of a boot startles me.

I listen and the person enters one of the toilets. I release a sigh of relief, after peeing I adjust my clothes back into place. By the time I’m washing my hands, I notice through the mirror, a guy in all black watching me from the exit.

“Hey there, Dollie. You’re looking pretty. Let’s be friends, won’t ya like that?” He stalks towards me with a maniacal smile and his words sound slurred.

I take off my shoes holding them to use as a weapon and respond as clearly as I can without my voice shaking, “My name is not Dollie and this is the ladies room sir, please excuse me, I was just leaving.”

“Come on now, you don’t have to be scared, I only want us to be the best of friends.” He rushes towards me, gripping my right hand and left hip firmly and tries holding me against the sink.

Without wasting time I swing my left hand aiming to hit him on the head. It barely hurts him because he sees the attack coming and dodges it. I push him away while trying to run to the door but he drags me back with my hair. I keep struggling against him but he’s obviously stronger.

When I’m about to give up hope, the door suddenly bursts open and someone rushes towards us, dragging the guy away from me and punching him several times before throwing him against the wall. I rush trying to stand up and bolt for the door but gentle hands hold me.

This mystery guy begins to say something or is it a song he’s singing? It’s a lovely tune, I can’t help but lean into his touch. After a while, he suddenly stops humming and pulls me away from him gently—I didn’t want to move away from his warm scent but I also didn’t want to come off as clingy or wierd so I pulled away too.

“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” I just kept looking dazedly at him until I finally realized he was talking to me.

Shaking my head to clear my mind, I respond “Yeah, I’m okay. A little shaken but okay. Are you okay?” I ask.

He looks shocked by my question but he responds with a low chuckle, “Yes, I am. Come on, let's get you out of here.” He holds out his hands to me, after picking up my shoes and my purse. When I look at his hair, I realize that he’s the blonde guy that was staring at me from the VIP section.

When we walk out of the ladies room, he leads me further down the corridor instead of back to the club, which is almost terrifying. “Umm…I thought we were going back to the club?” I say hoping not to sound nervous.

“I felt you could use a little more peace and quiet away from all that ruckus. If you want we can go back—” I interrupted him, saying, “Oh no, it’s just that I came with my friend, I’ve been looking for her, she’s on the dance floor and we need to start going home.”

He responds with, “That’s not a problem I can help you look for her and I can take you both home, what does she look like?”

My eyes widened in horror, “Don’t worry let’s just go back, when I find her, we can get home on our own, thanks for the offer though.” I say hurriedly, already reaching for my things.

I take his confusion as my chance to rush back. I don’t bother looking behind me to see if he’s looking.

By the time I get back to the party, I slip on my shoes and check my watch, it’s already 1:00am. I need to be up by 6:00am, where is Lily? I decided to try looking for her again although the dance floor is still packed.

I decide to rush to the DJ’s booth instead and ask the DJ to help me call out her name into the microphone. It’s rash but she will definitely hear me.

After signaling and batting my eyelashes at him from the corner, he notices me and beckons me over. He looks to be about my age but with a babyish face.

I had to scream for him to hear me which simultaneously went into the mic propped in front of him. The entire crowd stopped dancing and looked towards us, even those in the VIP section, as if that wasn’t enough my hand touched something and the music stopped.

I wanted to crawl into a very tiny hole and pass out while crying from embarrassment but there was no going back now.

I screamed into the microphone instead, “Lily, where the fvck are you? I’m done, meet me outside now or I’m leaving your ass here!” With an apologetic smile and a normal tone, I added, “Please don’t stop on my account, carry on.”

Ignoring the stares of people, I walk to the back with my head held high but on getting there, there is no sign of Lily. Going outside instead, I still didn’t see her and that’s when it hit me, Lily actually left without me. But why? I don’t even know my way back. I can’t believe I listened to her and now I’m stranded.

If dad finds out he will definitely kill me, why did I even go as far as embarrassing myself to look for her. Without even knowing it, tears of humiliation and so many feelings began to roll down my cheeks.

Then suddenly, I feel a presence behind me before I can turn around. A big hand covers my mouth and a tiny prick in my neck, my body begins to heat up, so many emotions flowing through me and the faint sound of voices. I suddenly feel someone carrying me before it all goes dark…