Three games of beer pong later and Penny and Brody are completely and utterly drunk. They skipped the tipsy phase, instead, going straight into the uncontrollable one where you speak before you think, and your confidence is tripled.

Brody beat Penny at beer pong less than five minutes ago. Let's just say, she wasn't happy about it. She threw a tantrum and sprawled out on the table, claiming that if she has to lose then everyone does. It didn't take long for him to join her in his drunken state.

"Please get down," I beg but all I get in response is laughter. Their eyes crease at the corners in amusement as I huff. Am I seriously going to have to deal with them like this for the rest of the night?

People shoot us angered looks as they pass. I mutter apologies left, right, and centre. They're having fun chuckling at something that never happened, and I'm left to deal with the damage. Great. Penny was right, this is so much fun.

I wrap my hand around hers and attempt to pull her down. She sticks her tongue out at me, knowing that I don't have enough strength to move her. I roll my eyes at her childish behaviour.

"Come on..." I beg. She raises her chin in confidence, a smirk tugging at her lips. Archer's signature smirk flashes before my eyes. The last thing I need is another version of him to deal with. They may be twins, but I'd prefer if she didn't turn into his sarcastic self when she's drunk.

Brody's voice steals my attention away. "I agreed to stay with my dad." He announces. My grip on her hand loosens as my eyes widen. She snatches it away from me as soon as she gets the chance.

I search for any sign of pain, emotional, not physical, on his face but all I see is amusement. I see what they mean when they say alcohol makes you numb.

Penny pokes him in the cheek. "Your dad's an asshole!" She shouts. No one here pays attention though, they're too busy taking endless shots to notice.

All of the colours drain from my face. I watch him, silently waiting for him to blow. But he doesn't. In fact, he does the opposite. "I second you on that!" He hollers. They both high five as if they just passed an algebra test. I wasn't expecting that reaction.

"Do you know what's funny?"

"Dogs aren't suing us for eating corn dogs?"

"Woah! I've never thought of it like that." Penny gasps. She places her hands on either side of his face and stares into his eyes. "Don't worry, Brody. I'll stand up for the little fluffballs. I'm never eating another corn dog in my life!"

"Cheers to that!" They pick up their drinks which were resting dangerously on the edge of the table and smash them together. The impact causes fruit punch to spill on their faces. Penny's tongue darts out to lick it off as Brody furiously wipes at his face.

"Okay, that's enough." I take the alcohol away from them.

"I haven't even told you yet," Penny whines.

"Fine, say what you've got to say and then you're both getting down."

She salutes. "Aye, aye, Captain!" I roll my eyes.

I'm not the captain, if anything I'm the traitor walking the plank. I feel like I'm getting closer and closer to falling overboard and no one will be there to save me. In their drunken state, they would probably cheer and jump in after me. At least I'd know I could still count on them.

"Are you ready to hear it?" Brody props himself up on his elbows, nodding eagerly. "You," she pokes the tip of his nose, "are spending Halloween with Satan himself." She throws her head back in laughter. He joins her.

I take this as my chance, catching them off guard and dragging them off the table. I manage to get them back on their feet. A triumphant smile takes over my features, but it's wiped off seconds later when Brody stumbles forward, almost falling flat on his face. He grips my arms before it's too late.

"Don't take me yet, pretty angel. I'm too young to die!"

"What are you talking about?" I start but decide against trying to make sense of his words. "I'm not going to take you." He relaxes as I reassure him. I muster up enough strength to drag him into one of the empty rooms.

I made sure to knock twice before entering just in case people were getting up to any funny business behind the door. Luckily, Penny follows willingly and dives onto the bed, tangling herself up in the sheets.

"Stay here," I demand, not bothering to explain. They're both too preoccupied with the softness of the sheets to notice me anyway. That should keep them entertained until I get back.

I manage to find two unopened bottles of water and hand them one each. "Drink it."

"You're very bossy, boss." Penny snorts. I wait for them to do as I say but Brody chooses to throw the contents of it over Penny's head instead. Her jaw hangs open as she narrows her eyes at him. Oh boy.

"Oh God, you two need-"

"Water fight!" She screams before attacking Brody. He covers his face with a pillow, but it doesn't work. She yanks it out of his grasp and tips her water on him, letting out an evil laugh. He pouts in annoyance.

"Guys." I groan, ignoring the urge to bang my head against the wall. Brody has a lopsided grin on his face as he reaches his arm out, pointing at me. "I guess I'll have to go find some more. You better drink it this time." I declare sternly.

As I leave the room, I close the door behind me. Hopefully, if they try and leave, they'll forget how to open it. I wouldn't put it past them to do that.

But I don't make it to the kitchen this time. I hear the people before I see them. They're all chanting "fight! fight! fight!" and I know that's bad news. I round the corner and come face to face with a crowd. The people at the back have pulled chairs over so they can stand on them and get a better look and a girl, likely intoxicated, shouts "punch him again!" I can't stop my feet from moving towards them.

I fight my way through the crowd, shoving people out of the way and then apologising after. I squeeze through them until I'm stood at the front, seeing first-hand what everyone was shouting over. My face pales.

The boy who I met earlier, the host of the party, is laying on the floor. His arms are raised above his head, trying to block each hit that comes his way. Luckily, there doesn't appear to be many bruises on his face. They can't have been fighting for long.

The person delivering the blows has their back to me, straddling the boy. I move to another spot to get a better look at who he is. I rub my eyes once I see their face, not believing that it's him.

"Archer." The words fall out of my mouth with disbelief.

"Okay, okay. Stop, man, you win." The boy protests but Archer doesn't look like he's going to listen anytime soon. This is all it takes for me to snap out of my thoughts.

I act before I think, knowing that if I don't do something soon, the boy could get seriously hurt. I throw myself into the centre of the crowd and place my hands on Archer's shoulders, trying to rip him off. He keeps delivering blow after blow, leaving me feeling helpless.

"Archer, please stop!" I plead in desperation.

His eyes meet mine as he registers my voice. Suddenly, he's no longer the violent boy beating up some guy, he's now the same old Archer that I got lost with. His gaze drops to his fists. His jaw tenses. He turns to me and then back to his hands, lost for words.

"Archer," I say.

He doesn't look at me this time. Instead, he stands up before rushing back into the house, the crowd parting for him. I know that wasn't him in that fight. That wasn't Archer, that was some void shell made to look like him. With this in mind, I will my legs to move as I follow after him, forgetting all about Penny and Brody.

"Archer, wait!" I call after him. I see him dip into an alleyway across the street and immediately forget about my fear of the dark, about my fear of the unknown and step into the darkness.

It feels like it goes on for ages. My eyes play tricks on me. The sound of cars passing by on the road becomes a distant memory. Eventually, I make it to the end. My eyes zone in on Archer, sitting with his back against the wall.

I don't say anything at first. I just lower myself next to him and pull my legs up towards my chest. His head is in his hands. I can't help but notice that they're shaking. "Are you okay?" I ask him, not knowing what else to say.

He doesn't react but I know he heard me.

His hands make their way into his hair, the blood from the cuts on his knuckles matting itself into his brown locks. I gulp as I rest my hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. Touching him feels so foreign yet natural at the same time.

He turns his head. I notice the gash on his left eyebrow. I pull my hand away from him, my mouth ajar. "You're hurt." I peer closer, trying to get a better look, but he turns away from me.

He stares at the wall in front of us blankly. "You shouldn't be here."