Witchery

Chapter 19

I brought my new party dress that I bought while shopping with Sera Tuesday. It is bright red and very tight and short. We are chilling at Tinka’s small place, a one room apartment, located close to what they call “The Hall”. The Hall is an old gym hall, which has been turned into an underground party place in the Latin district and it hosts events like the one we are attending today. I was unsure whether I should’ve brought my sports clothes as well, but Ari told me over the phone earlier today that the event was mostly a cover-up for one big party.

Tinka is hoisting clothes from her closet unto her bed. Her apartment is small and not too central, but she still has to, except for working as a waitress in a café almost every day, have her parents help her with money. 

“It is just not sustainable. I really need a grown-up job.” She tells me while working through her closet. 

“Arh I can’t find anything to wear.” She exclaims exhausted.

“Good thing I brought an extra dress.” Ari walks in through the door in the same moment, an old shopping bag in her hand. 

“Here.” She opens up the bag and throws a dark blue dress at Tinka who barely catches it. 

“Thank you!” She tries it on immediately. 

“Oh, you welcome.” Ari blinks, before pulling a tight black dress up for herself. 

“Put on some music, Tinks and then tell me what’s not sustainable?” She says while already caring on undoing her dark blue jeans. 

I am standing in front of Tinka’s mirror, trying to decide whether my hair should be up or down. The red dress has a low back, and I would kind of like to have it exposed, but I give off a bit too much of “sexy secretary”-vibes if I pull it up. 

“Maybe take it to the side.” Ari suggest while Tinka fiddles with the Bluetooth speaker. She has found one of those “powerful women” playlists, and Beyoncé’s ‘Crazy In Love’ is now banging out so loudly I fear for the glasses in the windows. 

“So, what is this job you where talking about?” Ari asks again, pulling the tight dress over her head. I am busy trying my hair to the side and I have to admit Ari has a good eye with these things. 

“Can I borrow your curling iron, Tinka?” I ask, turning around, trying to see my back in the reflection. Except for the scars, it looks really rather good, I have to admit. And even though the scars make me rather self-conscious, I have decided that I won’t have any of that tonight. I will dress and act like I want to. This I my girls’ night, my free night, and nothing shall ruin my mood.

“Yes, it is in the bathroom. And yeah, I was just telling Esme how my parents have to lend me money every month to sustain myself. I need a real job that isn’t just waitressing. Or I have to go to university, but I really don’t want to.” She explains Ariana.

“Yes, you mentioned university to me the other week.” I point out from the open bathroom door. 

“But you just had me realizing that I really do not want to. I want to dance.”  

“Hmm, maybe my big bro could give you a nice little job.” Ari suggests.

“No, please, I do not want to work for the Boss more than pack duties. The rest of my family does, and I do not want to go there.” 

“Okay, fair enough. It was just a suggestion.” Ari laughs. “Speaking off, how are things between you and Adriel, Luna?” 

“Don’t mention him to me right now, I am in a good mood.” I pout from the bathroom. 

Honestly, he has been really nice ever since yesterday evening when he let me attend the party. But this is an Adriel-free evening, and I still feel an underlying irritation with him. 

“Oh, come on girl, what happened yesterday since you were late for you and Ari’s usual dinner?” Tinka asks me. 

I feel annoyed to have to explain the situation in detail to them, but I bite it in and explain how Sera had had a bad day and when Adriel was fifteen minutes delayed without telling me, I had panicked. 

“But it is not just that. He also won’t allow me to go grocery shopping. Yesterday, we had nothing in the fridge basically and, as I said, Sera was in no condition to go. It would have made sense that I went, but no ‘I don’t want it. Anything could happen to you in those minutes.’” I sneer my voice, rolling my eyes.

“Well it is security matters, I guess.” 

“Yeah, but then he could explain the situation to me like I was an equal adult, but no, he is afraid of how I will react.” 

“But you do kinda react in a bad manner.” Tinka almost whispers. 

“Tinka, you aren’t helping me! You are supposed to be on my side of things, okay?” 

“Yeah of course, and I am, I am just telling you that I might be following his train of thoughts. Just to understand, not to agree of course.” She hastily adds when she sees my murderous eyes. 

“I don’t know, nothing bad has happened so far and Esme has been with us for a month now. I don’t really see what he is fussing about. I think he should be a bit more careful on this matter actually. You two may be mates, but in the end, it won’t save your relationship, if he keeps holding you back you are bond to end up somewhere bad.” Ariana points out, and I send her a smile, thankful that someone finally gets me. 

“Speaking of relationship, how is Elise?” I ask, knowing that that wasn’t the nicest move to get them to talk about something else. But I do not want to talk about Adriel or the nagging thought in the back of my mind, telling me how it is definitely not certain we will work as a couple, just because some Moon Goddess decides that we should. 

“Please don’t bring her up.” It is Ari’s turn to roll her eyes. 

“Love sucks.” Tinka chimes in. 

“Listen girls,” I say, coming back out from the bathroom, my hair nicely curled and falling on my right shoulder, “Tonight is about having fun and not giving a f**k about all our problems, okay? We are going to dance on the tables and get drunk.” 

“Wow girl, who are you and what did you do to our innocent Luna?” Tinka laughs. 

“I am just sick of waiting around and never knowing what is going to happen. But tonight, I have some control and I want to use it the best way possible: by getting drunk as f**k so that I lose control again, thank you.” 

Both Tinka and Ari are laughing now, but Tinka soon gets herself together, saying, 

“Don’t worry girl, I have just the thing for you.” And she makes it to her kitchen, which is located in the other end, opposite of the bed, in the rectangular room. She heads for the fridge and when she opens it I hear the sound of bottles ringing. She takes out one of them, a white wine, showing it triumphantly to us. 

“Look at this bad boy.” She heads for the cabinet hosting glasses, finding three.

Ari and I walk to the kitchen table where she pours the wine. We each grab a glass, cheering before I lift it to my lips. 

This is the first time I get alcohol ever since Adriel found me and I am prepared for the bad taste. However, Tinka has found a sweet wine, and even though I still taste a bit of the sour alcohol it isn’t as bad as what I had thought. 

“Wow, it is sweet.” Ariana frowns. 

“Well, I thought we had to break our girl in nicely.” Tinka laughs. 

“I appreciate the thought, but girl, we need something stronger to get us going.” Ari smirks. 

I don’t say anything, deciding that I definitely appreciate Tinka’s concern, but I won’t be complaining if she finds something stronger either. 

We easily drink the first glass while they start discussing the newest couple in the pack, two people I don’t know and therefor I have little to add to the conversation. The only ‘could-be’-couple I can gossip about would be Charlot and Lucas, and I am not even sure how much the other two know about them. 

When Tinka pours a second round, I decide I have to finish my look, before drinking any more. The wine has already left me with a tinkling sensation. I head to Tinka’s mirror, singing along to the Dua Lipa song that is banging from Tinka’s speaker. I already learned quite a few song texts, and I am pretty please with myself about it.

Reaching for the eyeliner, I finish off my cat eyes, and put on earrings and a necklace. The last touch is red lipstick. I look at myself in the mirror, admiring everything. 

It is a stunning dress, even though it is simple, it sits perfectly tight around my waist, and you can actually get a hint of the soft curves I have started to form after eating healthy for the last month. My hazel eyes are matched with earth tones and the bright, red lips matches the dress. I also found elegant black heels which ties around my ankle and I have brought my leather jacket to match them. My hair looks great with my fresh cut and the loose curls I managed to make in my own hair. I make a turn on the spot, noticing that the girls stopped talking at the table. 

“Damn girl, you look amazing.” Both of them tell me. 

“Oh, thank you, girls.” I happily smile, “you do too.” 

“You are way too kind; we don’t even reach your socks right now.” Ari laughs.

“Speak for yourself, woman.” Grins Tinka, “I think this dress of yours is made for me.” 

“Well both of you outshine me, then.” Ari takes up her hands, defeated. 

“No girl, you are so pretty, did you ever take a look in the mirror?” I ask, joining them at the table again, picking up my second glass of wine. 

“All this love, it makes me confused. You are way too kind.” 

We all laugh before cheering again. 

“Let’s put on some dance music to get in the mood.” Ariana suggests. 

Tinka finds a reggaeton playlist and the first song on shuffle has us all getting up from the table, dancing around Tinka’s small apartment. 

I am filled with joy and the alcohol sends sparkles and frizzle through my body, it soon lets me lose control. We dance and sing around, opening the second bottle of wine, before Tinka notices the time. 

“s**t girls, we have to be there in five minutes.” She exclaims. 

“But… the wine.” Ariana hiccups. 

“We just bring it.” I suggest. 

“But well of course.” 

We all search around for our purses and jackets, before hurrying down the staircase. Tinka’s apartment is situated on the second floor in a smaller apartment complex. I really like it here, it is chill and a bit father out the city, but still with a nice vibe to it like where Ariana and Elise lives. I am reminded, that I still haven’t even seen where Adriel lives, and disappointment hits me. it doesn’t last for long though, because Tinka hands me the open wine bottle and they both cheer me to drink directly from the bottle. 

I take a gigantic mouthful and almost spit it out again; it is much sourer than the last bottle. But I manage to swallow it, and the tinkling sensation soon amplifies. 

We are walking down the street, arm in arm, singing and talking about the event we are going to. The cozy spring evening sends cold brezzes, playing with our hair. It is golden hour, the sun low behind the city. I can hear cars honking and people talking. Everyone is in a good mood, it is Friday after all.  

“I just really hope we won’t meet Benja there.” Ariana says a bit too loudly compared to the fact that he could be very near us. We can already see the line in front of the big, old hall, and people hanging outside, smoking and drinking their own alcohol before heading inside. 

“No, did you tell him we are going?” I ask. 

“No of course not, I don’t want to see him if I can avoid him.” 

“Yeah he is really disgusting.” Tinka agrees. 

“Like what is his deal, he keeps staring at you like you are a piece of meat he is just waiting to consume. It is really creepy.” I roll my eyes. 

“Yes, I know right? He has tried to get into my pants ever since Elise and I started dating. It is like I wasn’t really interesting before, but now that I am taken, and even by a girl instead of a boy, it is a challenge and then it’s exciting.” 

“Disgusting.” I repeat Tinka’s word. 

“Yes, and he has slept with so many girls, or so rumor says at least. Broken a couple of hearts too, he’s a real f**k boy.” 

“Why would anyone want to sleep with him? He doesn’t even look that nice.” This I can’t for the life of me understand. But perhaps I just got a really bad first impression of him?

“Well, he can be rather charming if he wants to. And reputation precedes him. Also, he has Alpha potential. That can sweep a lot of girls of their feet.” Ariana puts an elbow in my side and giggles. 

“Oh, shut up, Adriel is technically only because of some Moon Goddess s**t that I can’t care about tonight.” 

“Almost sounds like you are going to be unfaithful to my big bro tonight.” Ari sounds a bit more uptight saying this. 

“Come on, you know I would never do that.” I want to cross my arms in protest, but since I am walking in the middle, none of my arms are free. 

“Also, he is quite a catch, even if you hadn’t been fated mates. You would be insane to let something like that go.” Tinka points out. 

“Yes, you are right. Although technically, we aren’t even a thing. We never talked about it. So, I wouldn’t be cheating if I did something with someone else tonight.” 

But just the thought of doing ‘something’ with someone else has my heart stinging. And it only gets worse if I imagine him being with someone else. 

“But I promise both of you, right now, that no matter how mad I get at him, I could never do such thing.” 

“Of course not, you are fated. You just have to stick out your differences and accept that he knows more about security than you do for now.” 

I roll my eyes again, but eventually agreeing with her. 

We have made it to the line, and there has been no sight of Benjamin and his friends so far. However, we have only managed to empty half a bottle of wine, and I already feel how I can’t fully control my legs and arms any more. My sentences also get longer than they should’ve, and I feel a growing desire to go crazy like no one is watching. 

Tinka and Ari can tell that I am already affected, and they make sure to drink most of the half empty bottle themselves, but I do get a few mouth fulls to keep my buzz going. 

Easily clearing security, we enter the wardrobe, where we get rid of our jackets. The bass is hammering in the background, and there is a smell of smoke and alcohol.

Leaving the entre, we make it to the main hall. There are already a lot of people in here, dancing around. Disco lights are filling up the spacious room with loud reggaeton music coming from the big speakers stationed next to a small stage in the very end of the room. Somewhere in front of the stage to our right, people has formed a circle, taking change with showing off dance moves in the middle of the circle. Everywhere else is chaos, but I like it, I feel swallowed by the crowd and before I know, I am moving along with the tunes, Ari and Tinka joining me. 

I don’t know for how long we have been dancing before the music is turned rapidly down and a woman and a man step to the scene. 

“How are y’all doing tonight?” The woman yells in the microphone she has in hand. 

The crowd, me and the girls included, are loudly screaming and cheering in response, however the woman, once again, goes, 

“I said: how are y’all doing tonight?” 

The crowd answers even louder, though I thought it to be impossible. Everyone has gathered closer to the stage and I all of a sudden feel a bit claustrophobic with standing this near to people I don’t know. But soon enough, the man tells us to spread out and they start teaching a variation of Cuban Salsa. 

It is so much fun. First, they teach it ladystyle/menstyle, which means that you do the moves solo, or without a partner. After, they have us team up two and two. Ari and I partner up, her being the man, and Tinka finds a handsome guy to be her partner. His name is Tobias Stern, and it soon turns out he is one of Benjamin’s friends. As soon as the event ends, he almost drags Tinka towards a group of young men, where I easily spot Benjamin among them. Ariana and I hesitantly trails behind Tinka and Tobias, soon joining the group of boys.

“Ah, there you are.” Benjamin says when he sees us. 

“I tried to text you, Ari, about whether you were going or not.” 

“It was a last-minute decision.” Ariana lies, shrugging. 

“Well, I am glad you all made it. We won’t be staying here much longer, we were thinking of heading for the city. Do you want to join?” I can feel his irritation when he says, ‘glad you made it’. He is definitely not fine with us not telling him we were here. 

Adriel had told me earlier today, when he drove me to Tinka’s place, that he would rather not have that I went to the city after the event. But ‘rather not’ isn’t the same as ‘you shouldn’t go’ my drunk brain reason with me. Also, I can feel my buzz wearing off, I need more alcohol soon, and although you can buy beer in the Hall, I would rather want to try a drink or get more wine, and you can definitely get something like that in the city. 

Ariana has been hesitant about answering Benjamin, catching my eyes. But when I nod, she gives a sly smile, before turning back to Benjamin. 

“Sure, let’s do it.” 

All of us soon head through the thick crowd, back to the entre, getting our jackets back. Outside, we decide to walk because of the short distance and the nice weather. 

I check my phone for the first time since we started drinking, walking a bit slower to have Ari and Tinka trailing behind as well. 

Adriel has sent me a few texts, all of them asking how I am doing. I take my time to answer him, because I need to make sure my spelling is flawless so that he won’t think I am drunk. 

“Is it Adriel?” Ariana asks me and I just nod in reply. 

“I wish Elise would text me like that.” She sighs. 

“Do you even know where she is right now?” I ask, trying to sound concerned. 

“No, I don’t.” Admits Ariana. 

“I am so sorry it is like this.” I whisper, giving her a hug. “I have tried to call her and text her, but she never picks up or answers.”

“Yeah it is almost the same with me. I only ever hear from her when she comes home, either really late in the afternoon or really early in the morning. I think the only reason why she hasn’t been sacked from her job is because of her father owning the place. I don’t know what is going on with her, I mean I get it is hard to lose a parent, but then talk to me. I know how it feels.” Her voice is shaky, but she keeps talking, and I am not sure she has ever talked this much about the subject before. At least not about her own feelings. I guess alcohol helps on those things as well. 

“It is really weird.” Tinka agrees. However, she is busy looking after the guy she danced with earlier. Out in the light of the moon and streetlamps, I can tell he has the same blonde hair as Benjamin. 

“Are Benjamin and Tobias brothers?” I ask, changing the subject without thinking about it. 

“No, they are cousins, how did you guess that?” Tinka frowns. 

“They have the same hair and their bodies are similar.” I solemnly point out. “I hope he is nicer than his cousin though, else we might have to beat him up.” 

“We? I think you mean me.” Ari laughs.

“Just because I didn’t take any warrior training, doesn’t mean I don’t know where to hit a guy to hurt him.” I defend myself and we all burst out in laughter. 

We have made it to the streets hosting a lot of the city’s clubs and we follow Benjamin and the company inside one of them called ‘The Pink Flamingo’.

It has a fusturistic design with poles to dance around and sofas located seemingly at random. There is also a rather large dancefloor and a DJ area placed in the middle of the floor. The club isn’t too crowded yet, but the boys inform us that there will soon be more guests before stirring us towards a table. Some of them immediately head to the bar, coming back with a big bucket filled with ice and different alcoholics like vodka and rum. They start making different drinks. I get a Gin and Tonic, which tastes way too much of alcohol for my taste. The boys are all very politely chatting, but I feel like my good buzz is slowly dying, replaced with a boring sensation, topped up with me still getting more and more drunk from my strong drink. 

At one point I excuse myself to the bathroom, and no one stops me or follows me, Tinka in deep conversation with Tobias, and Ari in some competition on who can drink most shots within a time limit. 

The lady’s room is deserted, and I spent a bit too much time just sitting in one of the stalls, trying to make my head stop spinning. 

All of a sudden though, I hear one of the other stall doors goes up, and a few seconds after, someone is throwing up in the sink. I hastily get up, opening my own stall door to the sight of Elise throwing up in the sink.