Lukas's POV

Alright, I've been noticing something crazy lately, and I hope I'm not the only one. In those insane nightmares we keep having from the curse- I'm seeing a pattern. There's this girl who keeps showing up. She shows up in all of our dreams and sings a really creepy song. It's new every time. With each nightmare, she reveals more of herself to us. Like, last night, for example, I saw that her eyes were purple. I definitely know she's inhuman, but I can tell that it's a girl. It's almost like I want to have more nightmares so I can discover who she is, but at the same time, I never want to sleep again. It's just... complicated, I guess. 

Right now, though, I had to focus on the problem at hand.

"Hey, crybaby, you gonna run? Or are you going to cry?" I heard a voice say from behind the school as Jesse, Petra, Aiden, and I (Maya was with her new cheerleader friends) left the school building.

"Leave me alone!" squeaked another voice.

"Sounds like trouble," said Petra.

"Come on!" said Jesse as she ran in the direction of the sound. We followed.

The voices were coming from behind the school building near the dumpsters. In front of the brick wall was a tall boy with black hair covering his face and baggy, grungy clothes that looked like they were the only things he owned. He was holding a rock above his head ready to pound it into a kid's face.

"Hey, you!" exclaimed Jesse, grabbing his attention. He halted and turned around to face us.

"Leave him alone!" Jesse yelled as she sternly looked at him and placed her fists on her hips.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" he asked.

"Who do you think you are?!" began Jesse, "Dude, you can't just pound people with rocks! You might kill someone!"

First, he looked confused, then an ugly smirk spread across his face.

"I'm guessing you don't know who I work for," he said with a chuckle.

"No, but it doesn't matter! If you don't leave the kid alone," Jesse began. She pulled a diamond sword out of her inventory, "I will use this."

He suddenly looked surprised.

"Alright, chick, I'll let you off the hook. For now. But don't start to think that this is over. Pickaxe will be very excited to meet you."

He shoved her out of the way as he walked off. She scoffed as she watched him leave.

We rushed over to the kid who had gotten beaten up a minute ago. He had a black eye, a bruise on his cheek, and a little bit of blood was dripping from his nose. His eyes were also red as if he had been crying.

"What's your name?" asked Jesse as she kneeled in front of him.

"M-my name? It's S-Soren," he said as his voice cracked a little.

"Soren?! It... it's really you! I can't believe it!" Jesse exclaimed.

"Y-yes, but... must I be?"

"Haha! Yes! It really is you!"

"Jesse," I said as I tapped her shoulder, "he doesn't know. And he's hurt."

"What don't I know?" he asked.

"Well, when you grow up, you come up with the O-"

I quickly tapped Jesse again and slashed my hand across my neck signaling for her to not tell him.

"O...rr... or, you know what? You'll find out. Need help?" she extended her hand to help him up. He took it and stood.

"W-why thank y-you," he stuttered, "and what is your name?"

"My name is Jesse, this is Petra, that's Lukas, and he's Aiden."

We waved, then Jesse asked,

"Do you need to go to the nurse? You've got some pretty nasty bruises and your nose is bleeding."

"No," he said as he wiped his nose and sniffed, "I'm used to this. I already had the black eye before he attacked me."

"Why would anyone do this? I mean, he would have to have a reason, right?" I asked.

Soren sighed and said,

"My voice."

"What about it?" asked Petra.

"Pickaxe and his friends beat me up because of the way it squeaks. They say it's annoying."

"That's so... stupid!" Aiden exclaimed, "And I know a thing or two about stupid reasons to pick on people."

"Who's 'Pickaxe?'" asked Petra making air quotes.

"He's the most messed up kid at this school. He has a gang that follows him around, but it's more like a cult. They just chose someone who annoys them and ruin their life. There used to be a girl here," Soren explained as his voice started getting softer, "well, I'll just say I haven't seen her in a long time." His voice shook a little.

Jesse said nothing, just reached in and gave him a hug. I couldn't help but feel sorry for poor Soren. He did nothing to deserve this. He sure has been through a lot. Maybe he's not such a coward after all.

"Hey, I've got an idea," Jesse began as she pulled out of the hug, "We're going to a party tonight, and maybe you could come with us!"

"A-a party?" asked Soren, astonished, "Well, I've never been invited to a party before. I'd really like to go... will the host not want me there? I was n-never actually invited..."

"I'm sure he'd be happy to have another person coming. Come on, it'll be fun," Petra coaxed.

"I guess I can come if I come with you, right? O-okay, I'll go."

"Great! The more the merrier! You still have that address, right Petra?"

"Right here," she said as she pulled a slip of paper from her pocket.

"Let's get out of here, then!"

Petra's POV

That evening, we arrived at the front yard of Brian's house. It was almost nighttime by now. Soren then asked,

"Are you still sure I'm wanted here?"

I seriously still can't get over how adorable that high, squeaky voice is. You'd agree if you heard it for yourself.

"Of course they'd want you here! You're awesome!" said Jesse.

"Th-thank you, Jesse. Nobody's ever called me awesome before," he said.

That's so freaking depressing.

"No problem-o!" said Jesse, "ready to have fun?"

"Yes, I think so," he replied.

As we neared the door, I could already hear the bass pumping. This should be interesting. Didn't that kid who said I was a 'hot chick' say something about getting stoned?

Yep, this should be interesting.

Jesse knocked on the door with a smile on her face, totally unaware of the fact that this was a house with no adults in it, just teenagers, probably getting into some ultra-crazy stuff. She's been to her fair share of birthday parties, but she's never been exposed to something like this before.

A boy answered the door with a glassy look in his eye and a bottle in his hand.

"Hey ther'. Come on in. Watch yer step when ya walk through th' door," he said in a dry voice. Ohh... boy.

We nervously walked in and were greeted with colorful lights, ear-wrecking music, dancing, and screaming teenagers.

"Well," Jesse yelled over the noise while holding her hands over her ears, "it's really loud in here!"

"Yes! Indeed!" yelled Soren.

"What?!" yelled Lukas.

"Alright, Soren," began Jesse, "why don't you go out and enjoy yourself?! Make some friends!"

"I-I don't, um, really kn-know if I should!" yelled Soren, "Um, what if they don't like me?!"

"You won't know if you won't try! Go on and have fun!"

"Okay, my friend... w-we are friends, right?!"

"Yeah!"

"Thank you! I'll go now! Thank you!"

After that, he disappeared in the crowd. I was a little worried for him; nothing personal or anything, but you've gotta admit that little Soren is kind of a shrimp. I'm not sure how long he'll be able to survive in here.

"I don't know about you guys," began Lukas, "but I've already got a headache and it's only been, like, a minute!"

"Are you kidding? This is going to be so awesome!" I exclaimed, "You've just got to learn to enjoy it!"

"Sure..."

"I'm gonna go dance! Come and join if you want to!" Jesse yelled as she disappeared into the crowd. Maybe I should stop her just for her own good. Her dancing gives me second-hand embarrassment. 

Eh, at this rate she'll get puked on by some drunk person before I can do anything to stop her.

"Hey, I'm gonna look around this guy's house!" I said to Lukas and Aiden.

"Hey! Petra! Wait!" yelled Lukas, "You can't just wander around people's houses without them knowing! Stop!"

I just pretended not to hear him like I always do when he tries to stop me from doing anything crazy or illegal. Don't ask.

Jesse's POV

"Maya?!" I yelled to see if she was anywhere to be found, "Maa-ya?!"

"Jesse?! Is that you?!" I heard someone yell.

"Maya?!" I called.

"Yep! Right here!! Behind you!"

I felt a tap on my shoulder to find Maya. She cheeks were flushed, her eyes were bright, and sweat dripped from her brow. I could tell she was having fun.

"Hi!" I exclaimed.

"Hey, Jesse! There's someone I want you to meet!"

"Who?"

"You'll see! Come over here!"

Maya and I pushed through the crowd to find her friend.

"Her name is Cherry! You're going to love her!" she exclaimed.

Maya led me to the middle of the dance floor. (aka Brian's living room.)

"Cherry!" said Maya as she grabbed the shoulder of a girl who was jumping up and down to the music. She turned around to face me. She had shining blue-green eyes, pink cheeks, fusha lips, and gorgeous ginger curly locks of hair.

"Hi, Maya!" she exclaimed, "Is that Petra or Olivia?!"

"No! This is Jesse!" said Maya.

"Oh! Hello, Jesse! I'm Cherry!" She grabbed me and gave me a hug.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, "Ha! Hi, Cherry!"

"Oh my gosh, Maya! Tesse is so huggable! I love her!" Cherry exclaimed as she hugged tighter.

"It's... Jesse... can't... breathe! Please... let... go!"

"Oh, my gosh! I'm sorry, Jesse!" she exclaimed as she let go.

"Ha... so, you guys wanna dance?" I asked.

"You know it!" Maya said, "Come on!"

Petra's POV

I had been looking around some, and I had enough kindness in me to not go upstairs. It might cross a line.

"Petra!" Lukas exclaimed. I turned around to find him frantically rushing over to me, "I've been looking all over for you! Look, there's something wrong!"

"What, did you learn what happens to someone when they have too much to drink?" I asked with a smirk.

"What? No, no, no, it's Aiden! I can't find him anywhere! He seemed to have just... disappeared!"

"Well, let's find him! Come on!" I said. I grabbed his hand and pulled him with me as our search began.