Earlier That Night.

Hailie opened her eyes, witnessing how Lucien went to the kitchen. Evening was chilly and pleasant in the garden, but she felt that staying here alone wasn't an option. Lucien might be back soon, but being here alone with him didn't seem like a rational thing to do either. She was drunk, he was handsome and caring. Hailie wasn't sure what stupid idea might come across her mind. She didn't plan to stay and find out how else she might screw up that night. Everything happened not like she imagined it to be. She wanted fun, not trouble. Maybe those two just always go in a pair.

Her nerves calmed down along with her body. The world wasn't spinning anymore, but she had  hell of a headache. She stayed for a minute longer and slowly got up. Going back to the party wasn't a responsible option too. So, upstairs only. The part of the house that was not for use by guests.

Kitchen was still full of people. Hailie felt like throwing up at the thought of alcohol. Right now it was the worst smell of it all. She covered her mouth and nose with hand and she slipped unnoticed to the stairs, which were fenced with long tapes.

It was quieter upstairs, what was a blessing for Hailie's head. She quickly found pills in her sleeping table and drank them down with water. Her room was so nice and comfortable, she just had to lay down on the bed and wait for the pills to start working. It was like a dream coming true, finally having a moment of relaxation. No more dangerous men and loud people. She closed her eyes and must have drifted away for twenty minutes or so. The sound of the vibrating phone woke her up.

"Yes?" she said to the caller without checking who it was.

"Hailie! Are you... asleep?"

She opened her eyes wider at the sound of Shane's voice. Any traces of sleep were gone now.

"No! I mean, it was just a nap. How are you?"

"I feel like I'm the one who should ask that question," he laughed, making her smile. Better if he did not ask about that. "Sorry I kept you waiting for so long, although it's not even midnight. I have one last thing to finish at work and I'll be coming."

She looked at the stained dress she had on herself. Not an option to stay in that thing.

"Great! The party was boring, then it was too crazy, but anyway, I'm just happy, I mean, not because of you coming, but yes, of course I'd like to see you, I just, well, see you in an hour I guess?" She put her hand to the forehead, wondering how stupid that must have sounded.

"Sure, you think I can be dressed up as a policeman?" he asked jokingly and she replied with a loud and nervous laugh. "See you soon, Hailie."

The call has ended, leaving her with confusion. She didn't want to go back to the party, yet neither did she want to go sleep and cancel the meeting with Shane.

Maybe a walk would be the perfect option?

Thanks to that they will even have a chance to talk about what happened.

Yes, perfect!

Hailie searched for something else to wear as the dress needed to be washed. She hasn't planned on coming back to the party so tight jeans and a shiny blouse should be enough.

She sneaked out to the bathroom to get herself cleaned up. She felt the odor of alcohol from her mouth and skin, besides she was sick at the thought of whatever his name was hands on her face and legs. Disgusting! Her body needed to be washed up and the warm water was like a heaven on Earth. She closed her eyes, staying under shower for a longer while, letting the water to wash everything off her.

Finally I'm free to go, Shane texted her just when she finished drying her hair.

Maybe she didn't feel like a new person, but the shower definitely helped her with feeling just a bit better, even though a hangover the next day will be huge. She had some more time before Shane's arrival, so she wore the bracelet that the raven-haired girl gave her and left the bathroom to wait in her room.

"Hailie?" The man's voice didn't seem familiar at all. She slowly turned around, seeing a figure in the dark. "Hailie Millis?"

The man switched the light on, but he still didn't look like somebody she has ever met.

"Party is downstairs. This part of the house is out of use," she carefully said, feeling the cellphone heavy in the pocket of her jeans.

He nodded his head.

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry to be here, but you are Hailie Millis, aren't you?" The silence was an answer as well. "Your friend asked me to give you a message."

She frowned, trying to come up with an idea who that friend might have been. Pride? No, she surely wouldn't ask anybody for that. Debra? That one must have been furious after Lucien's words in the kitchen. Hailie might have been shocked back then, but she heard those clearly.

Then maybe...

"Wh-What friend?" she asked, coming a little bit closer. "Amy? She had long blonde hair? And eyes a bit like almonds maybe? She left already? Or is she still downstairs?"

It seemed impossible, but maybe she didn't have hallucinations in the living room after all. Maybe she has seen Amy!

"That wasn't a girl, Hailie." He stopped in front of her and looked for something in his pocket.  One-hundred-dollar bill. She had no idea what was going on and why he showed her this. "I'm really sorry."

"For what?"

"I was paid to deliver that message."

Before she could retreat, he caught her blouse and swung his fist in Hailie's face. It wasn't a strong punch, but neither was it a weak one so it knocked her down on the floor. The impact itself wasn't painful. Adrenaline and surprise factor were enough to make her shocked and dizzy. She could see dancing dots before her eyes. A moment later sharp pain appeared as well, leaving her full of memories about the past. The man, who hit her, kneeled beside and tilted his head, while looking. There was no way to escape him and it evoked traumatic memories, making her freeze in fright.

"He said it's not over." He laid his eyes on the green bracelet Hailie was wearing. Sudden desire to be in possession of that piece of jewelry blinded him completely. "I'll take that, mind you?" He slowly unbuckled her bracelet and hid it in his pocket. "You should put some ice on this." After those words, he left her alone in the corridor, trembling from pain and terror.

Teardrops trickled down her face onto the floor as she crawled to the wall and wrapped arms around herself. 

There was no escape.

And she wasn't safe anywhere.

For there could be only one man to give such a message.

With a trembling hand, Hailie took the phone out of her pocket. The pain on her face was obnoxious, but it used to be worse. That one she could endure.

She dialed the number and pressed the phone to her ear, trying not to touch sore face.

"Are you so eager to see me, Hailie? I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Shane." Her voice was shaky and full of misery. He knew instantly that something had happened.

"Hailie, what happened?"

She could hear on the cellphone loud noises of searching for something in the car as he talked to her.

"Come quickly, please," she cried.

"Don't hang up, alright?" There was a sound of police sirens at the other end of the phone. "I'll be there soon."

"I think he was here or somewhere close."

The name wasn't needed. Shane knew that there was only one person to make Hailie feel on the edge. The only one that she was afraid of.

"Where are you?"

"Upstairs."

"Alone?"

"Yes."

She doubted that Jayson was about to show up here tonight. Even if he was at this party and saw her, he chose not to betray his presence. By now he must have been gone. He wanted to play a game of fright. But how did he find her?

"You should go downstairs, where there's more people."

By other words, nobody would even hear her screaming upstairs, because conversations and music were both too loud.

"I don't feel safe there either."

"Please, tell me what happened."

She told him everything, starting from leaving the bathroom and stumbling across a stranger and ending at his last words that came out after he stole her bracelet. She had a good memory of how he looked, but she wasn't sure if they would be able to find him.

"Wait a moment." Shane broadcasted the message on police radio, stating who they were looking for and what for. He said nothing about Jayson, because that was only Hailie's assumption that he was responsible for paying off the man, who hurt her.

"Where are you?" she asked, pressing her back harder and harder against the wall.

"Almost there."

Everything felt like too much for her. She just wanted all the pain and fear to end. Her breathing became shallow and fast. With each breath it felt like she was suffocating despite access to air. She was struggling with calming herself down. The world became blurry due to dizziness.

Her phone started to flicker, showing an announcement that there was only one percent of the battery left. 

"I'll meet you outside," she quickly decided, sure that she didn't want to sit here all alone, waiting for him to come.

Besides, she needed fresh air.

"Hailie-" he didn't have a chance to finish as her phone died.

She looked at the black screen.

"Dammit."

A thin black line appeared on the floor. Hailie hasn't seen it before. She followed the line with her eyes, noticing that it climbed up the wall. She had a bad feeling about this, but looked at the ceiling anyway. It made her open the mouth wide and got up from the floor instantly. There was a grand black spot on the ceiling that pulsed and appeared to be alive. Tons of black lines were creating something that for Hailie looked like a portal to another world. Like a creature waiting for its victim.

Hailie was sure that whatever it was, it had to do something with demons living in this house. She didn't want to stay and see what was about to happen, so she ran downstairs, almost bumping into a group of students.

"Sorry," she mumbled, trying to reach the front doors.

The door swung open under the press of her hands. Cold air hit her face like a snowball. Street lamps lights were flickering like in a horror movie, which actually was a good description of her life. She ran down the stairs, stumbling over her legs and nearly falling to the ground just as Shane drove up to the house with loud, incandescent blue and red police lights. He stopped his car almost on the street, not caring about bad parking.

"Hailie!" he yelled and took her in his arms at once. She breathed a sigh of relief. "I was worried crazy. Are you fine?" He put his hand on her cheek, making her feel lost in the worried look of his green eyes filled with solicitude.

"Now I am." She sobbed and cuddled up to him. "I just want all of this to end, please."

He rubbed her back, hugging her tightly.

"It's time to end this party. And don't worry, we'll find the one, who's responsible for..." he touched her gently on the face with a big bruise. Anger filled his whole body. It would be better If he wasn't allowed to come closer to the person, who hurt Hailie, because he wouldn't stop himself from hitting back. "We'll find him. The police are already looking."

He took her by the hand and brought back home. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that the street lights were no longer flickering.

And that the old lady living in the house across the street was staring at them from the window. How long did she stand there? Every time Hailie saw her staring, she thought that it was even more creepy than living with demons.

"You." Shane pointed at the guy, who was standing with a cup of bear next to the door. "Bring some ice from the kitchen."

The guy looked at Hailie and her bruise, then he looked again at Shane.

"Bring it yourself," he scoffed.

Shane let go of Hailie's hand and caught the guy by his T-shirt. He pulled out his police badge.

"Bring it. Now."

The guy nodded his head instantly, not daring to undermine the credibility of Shane's badge.

"Party's over!" Hailie yelled, but her voice was too trembling and weak for anybody to care.

She still had tears in her eyes, shocked and scared from what happened. Seeing how everybody just ignored her, had an immediate effect. She started crying more, losing it all. That was too much for her to handle.

Shane turned off the music, making the group of people standing closest to notice him.

"Go home everybody. Party's over."

"No it's not!" Debra came to them and turned the music back on. "What the hell, Hailie. It's still early. And who is that guy dressed as a policeman?"

"Officer Blackwell." He showed her his badge. "A real policeman. We've got complaints, so get it over now."

Debra looked at Hailie superiorly, like she was somebody much better. She noticed the bruise on her face, but it didn't matter. There was a big grudge and anger in Debra's eyes. She was furious about Lucien choosing Hailie over her.

"Quit the drama, both of you. Want this party over? Good luck with that, officer."

She turned back and flipped her hair, leaving them in surprise.

"So mean," he mumbled and turned the music off again. It was only one of the speakers, so the music hasn't stopped entirely. "Party's over," he yelled, but people generally didn't care.

Hailie was crying and he was getting more irritated and angry. He was ashamed that the youth behaved like animals, but on the other hand maybe it was the effect of this house. Nobody here acted sanely. He hated that house with all his heart. And seeing how everybody was lost in dancing, laughing and not caring about anything that was going around, made him snap. He pulled a gun from its sheath and pointed it at the second speaker, hanging on the wall. Even though anger ran wild in his body, outside he was like an oasis of peace.

He fired from the gun, hitting the target. At once music stopped along with all the conversations. People froze in shock, everybody looking at him.

"Officer Blackwell, now that I have your attention, I'd like to announce that the party is over. Everybody out or I'll arrest you for obstructing the work of a policeman."

There were a lot of complaints, but people started to leave the house at last.

The girl, who was so mean earlier stood with her hands folded and an irritated look on her face. Shane embraced Hailie, who just wanted to hide from all the people walking by.

"What's her name?" He whispered into Hailie's ear, making her shudder a little.

"Debra Aliso, she's my roommate."

He smiled.

"Miss Aliso, now I hope you'll help us and make all the people leave in the next twenty minutes, because otherwise I'll take you for questioning about an assault on Miss Hailie."

"But I don't know anything!" For once she looked a bit scared and uncertain.

"And I seriously don't care. Get everybody out."

Hailie wasn't sure if Shane could even do that, but it didn't seem like Debra wanted to find out.

"Fine," she huffed.

"Now I'm taking you upstairs, okay?" He pushed Hailie's hair away from tearful face. She nodded, feeling so weak on her legs. Without hesitation, she snuggled tightly against him.

He looked over her shoulder, noticing a tall, dark-haired man, who was walking in their direction with both concern and exasperation written on his face.

Although Shane loved to feel Hailie hugging into him, he delicately moved her behind him in a defensive way. He raised his chin, staring right into the dark eyes of a stranger.

It cannot be anything good, he thought to himself.