Ascension (43 page)

“That’s right,” Madison said, smiling broadly.  “And now, you’re going to see what a party at Oliver Academy is really like.”

Chapter Nine – A Blue Light

Madison opened a pair of doors on the third level.  Instantly, a blast of noise and lights overwhelmed my senses.  She pulled me in, and closed the doors.

We were inside what looked like a former ballroom – except that it had been totally transformed for the party.  Hanging from the sides of the room were strobe lights, each a different color.  They flashed in time to the music, which was pumping from a sound system that consisted of enormous speakers placed at the sides of the room.  Every now and then, a stream of laser lights showered down across the room, illuminating all the people inside.

While it wasn’t
packed
, the party was busy.  In the middle of the room, a type of dance floor had been carved out.  A bunch of girls and guys were having fun to the music.  Along the sides stood a series of couches and sofas, half of which were already taken – mostly by lip-locked couples.  As soon as I stepped into the room, I immediately noticed the stifling heat.  For some reason, none of the windows were open.  It made for a stuffy, murky type of environment.  I asked Madison about that.

“Oh, that’s so that the neighbors don’t complain about the noise,” she explained quickly.

“Neighbors?”

“Professors, staff members… basically all the adults who work here.  They live in many of the buildings close by.”

“Oh.  I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah, so as long as we don’t make too much noise at one of these parties, they turn a blind eye to the alcohol.”  She flashed a grin.  “Speaking of which, you want a drink?”  Then, before I had a chance to answer, she handed me an empty solo cup.  “Of course you do.  Our bar’s over there.”  She pointed across the room.  “Go get yourself something, and I’ll be right there.”

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“Oh, I have to just check in on something,” she replied quickly.  “Don’t
worry
.  Everyone’s going to be excited to meet you.  I’ll introduce you to a bunch of people in a second.”

“Okay.  But where—”  I stopped.  She had already disappeared into the crowd.  What I wanted to ask her was where the other girls were, so I could go say hi and see what they were doing.  It wasn’t that I was
uncomfortable
by myself at a party.  It’s just that I preferred, obviously, to be with people I knew.

I looked around to see if I could spot them.  Seeing none of the girls, I started making my way across the floor to the bar that Madison mentioned.  While I didn’t usually like to drink liquor, the unbearable heat of the room made me extremely thirsty.  Besides, it’s not like one drink could hurt.  Everybody around me already had their red plastic cups full.

As I got closer to the other side, I had to edge my way around people more forcefully.  The crowd seemed to get denser closer to the bar.  Ten feet away, my progress ground to a halt.  I tried more forcefully pushing myself around people, and to my surprise the technique worked.  Before long, I was standing in front of a long wooden table covered with empty bottles and half-finished drinks.

A guy with brown curly hair flashed me a friendly smile from the other side.  He nodded toward my empty cup, spreading an arm grandly over the table.

“What’ll it be?” he shouted over the noise.

“Whatever you have left,” I told him, eying the empty bottles.  “But don’t make it that strong!”

He laughed, and bent down under the table to scoop some ice into my cup.  Standing back up, he took a nondescript bottle and poured something vibrantly red into my cup.  As he handed it back to me, he winked.

“What is it?” I asked.

“A very girly drink,” he replied.  “Not that strong, just as you asked.”

I took a sip, and nearly gagged.  The drink was sweet –
very
sweet.  So sweet it was almost like drinking pure syrup mix.  And it had only the barest hint of alcohol although I supposed something so sweet could mask a lot of liquor.  I made a face at the guy.

“You might have to wait for the ice to melt a bit,” he laughed.  I started to say something back – the guy was friendly, and good looking.  But, he already turned his attention to the next person in line. 

“Hey, keep moving!” somebody called out from behind.  “Don’t keep the whole line waiting!”

I glanced back, and realized that I
was
in line.  Or rather, I was at the start of the line, and I was keeping everybody else back.  Bringing the cup to my lips for another sip – it was so
hot
! – I moved forward, away from the table.

I decided to see if I could find Madison or any of the others.  I started looking through the crowd, but the ebb and flow of people kept pushing me off my feet.  Near the middle of the room, the music was loud.  It was dark, and nearly everybody was sweaty.  I decided I had a better chance of finding the other girls if I were at the side of the room, instead of square in the middle.

I veered off toward the side wall, where it was noticeably less crowded.  And I was more than halfway there when, suddenly, through the cacophony of the crowd, I heard my name.

“Tracy!”

My heart froze.  The voice was low and strong.  It was powerful.  I gulped.  There was only one person who had a voice like that.  Rob.

Ever so slowly, I turned around, desperately trying to think of what to do.  I had wanted to see Rob before, yes, and had even planned on what I was going to say to him.  But, I wasn’t ready to do it now!  Liz and the others could be anywhere among the people around me.  If they saw me talking to him without their permission… it would end terribly for me.

My eyes found Rob instantly.  Even in the dark, he stood out.  In fact, he did more than stand out.  He dominated.  As he walked toward me, the people in front of him seemed to flow out of the way.  He towered over nearly everyone, and even if someone was taller, they could not match his sheer presence.  Quickly, I scanned the room again, to see if I could spot Liz, or Madison, or any of the others anywhere.  Thankfully, they were nowhere to be seen.  And, even better, nobody that I could see was paying any attention.

Rob smiled as he walked toward me.  All I could do was stare dumbly at him.  I knew I should move, or say something, or do
anything
.  But neither my body nor my mind wanted to respond. 

“I’m happy you’re here,” Rob said in a way that almost made me feel he had been
waiting
for my arrival.  But that couldn’t possibly be the case.  Surely he had other, prettier girls he was interested in – and were interested in him.  Liz came to mind, for one.  Before I knew it, he bent down to pull me in for a hug.

I wanted to resist, at first, lest any of the other girls see.  But, that resolve quickly melted.  His arms wrapped around me made me feel safe; sheltered, even.  It was as if his presence could erase all my simple worries, and shield me from the evil and dangers of the outside world.  Nothing could touch me.  There was nothing to fear.  The moment lasted a precious second, though.  I instantly felt the loss as he straightened.

“I…” I started to say, wanting to tell him that he shouldn’t be talking to me, that Liz was the one he should be around, but couldn’t find the words.  Not with those eyes staring down at me.  In the low light, he looked as good as ever.  He had the same dark sweater on as when I’d met him earlier.  Made of that paper-thin fabric, it clung to his body like a second skin.  He
felt
good, too, as I knew from that split second when he embraced me.

“Yes?” he asked, the corner of his mouth curving up in a knowing smirk.  It’s like he knew of his effect on me, and knew of the trouble it had caused me, but did not care.  I almost felt like he was daring me to tell him to go away, just so he could rebuff me by saying he wouldn’t do that.  I knew that was ridiculous, of course – just a made-up fantasy created by my over-active imagination.  I was just so struck by him, popping up completely out of the blue, that I couldn’t think straight.

And his eyes were back on me.  Even in the dark of the party, they seemed to soak up and reflect what little light there was.  The effect of his strong gaze was strengthened by the fact that he hadn’t looked away once since calling out my name.  He was looking at me expectantly now, waiting for an answer, but I couldn’t even begin to think of the proper thing to say.  I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks, and was glad that in the low light he wouldn’t be able to see me blush.  I opened my mouth… and closed it again.  I was completely frozen.  This
always
happened when I was around a guy I liked, but with Rob the effect was magnified a hundredfold.  I couldn’t look away.  Those beautiful eyes had me mesmerized.

Suddenly, Rob laughed, breaking my trance.  He had a rich, deep laugh that echoed throughout the room.  I only hoped Liz wouldn’t recognize it from wherever she was and come to investigate.

“A ‘hello’ would be nice,” he said, eyes shining with mischief.  “Aren’t you glad to see me?”

“Yes,” I answered without thinking.  Then, realizing what a horrible blunder I’d made, tried to correct myself.  “I mean, it’s quite a surprise to see you here.”  I looked away.

“Is it?”  He reached over to gently turn my head back toward him.  I nearly died.  The feel of his fingers on my chin made me even woozier than before.  Whatever advantage I had recovered by tearing my head away from him was now lost.  I was back at square one. 

He looked at me, and didn’t say anything.  I could feel the seconds ticking by, but couldn’t figure out what to tell him.  This was
not
a normal reaction I was having.  There was no way a single guy could have such a strong effect on me. 
Nobody
should ever be so helpless around a member of the opposite sex.  And yet, no matter how hard I tried to rationalize, my emotions held me at their whim.

“I mean no,” I said after the long pause.  “I would have thought you’d be with Liz tonight, not by yourself.  She
is
here, right?”

“She’s off somewhere in the crowd,” he said dismissively, waving a hand toward the middle of the room. 

“But, uh… why aren’t you with her?”

He chuckled, and took my free hand in his.  Bringing it up so it was chest-high between us, he locked his fingers between mine.  As much as I knew I shouldn’t let him do that, I was completely enthralled.  “Listen,” he began strongly, “I don’t know what Liz told you, but there is nothing between us. 
Nothing
.”  He looked at me with brows furrowed, as if asking me if I understand.  I nodded shyly.  “Besides…” he said, taking a step toward me so that our hands were pressed against our bodies, “…I have my eye on somebody else.”

I couldn’t look away.  My heart was beating wildly in my chest, and I knew my palms were already sweaty.  What was I to do?  The warning Liz had given me seemed insignificant compared to the moment right now.   

 “And,” he continued elegantly, “I was hoping that maybe she—”

In the middle of his sentence, everything just stopped.  Like a paused video.  All the noise of the party was vanished.  An eerie blue light showered the entire room.

The moment lingered… and then fluttered back to normal.  I was jolted into myself again.  It felt as if… as if reality was catching up.  The light was gone.

Rob blinked and looked at me.  “What’s the matter?” he asked.

“Did you see that?”

“See what?”

“The light!”

“What light?”  He looked around uncertainly.  The strobe lights were flashing over the dance floor, but the effects of them weren’t strong enough to reach us.  “What are you talking about?”

I frowned.  Maybe I had imagined it?  “Never mi…” I started to say, but then it happened again.  More strongly this time.

The sounds of the party cut off as if I had turned deaf.  The contrast left a strange ringing in my ears.  But that wasn’t the scariest part.  The neon light was back.  I could see everybody coated in it.  And, at the same time, I realized that everything simply
stopped
.  Rob was in front of me, his mouth open in mid-sentence.  He looked like a statue covered in the blue light. 

My eyes darted to the left.

There, a girl who had jumped up at the moment the light came on was suspended in the air.  Both her feet were frozen in space, her hair in wild disarray above her head.

My eyes moved to the right.

There,  a group of guys stood in a circle.  The one in the middle was holding a funnel above his mouth, and somebody else was pouring a beer into it.  I could see the foamy pale liquid stream out of the can, except that it wasn’t moving.  The beer had stopped in mid-air.

I looked back at Rob standing in front of me.  He hadn’t moved.  That blue light had him completely enveloped.  He was frozen.  Everything was frozen.  Time had stopped.  The blue light covered everything.

Behind Rob, at the far wall, I noticed a single door.  It was closed, but through the cracks around the edges that blue light streamed out with more intensity than anywhere else.  The room was the source of the light.