Chapter 6

Six

"I can't believe you convinced me to do this," I say, pulling down the hem of the borrowed skirt I'm wearing. If it's this short on me, it has to barely cover Ensley's butt. I wrap my arms around myself, trying to ignore how chilly the early spring night is. It would be unusual for this time of year, but I wouldn't be overly surprised to see a flake or two of snow hovering in the air. At least the off-the-shoulder white shirt I'm wearing, also borrowed, covers my arms and stomach. It's probably a crop top on Ensley.

Parking on the edge of Woodwinds Forest, we head into the woods and start tromping around trees and through soggy leaves to get to Deepseat Caverns. After ten minutes of walking, we still aren't there. My foot sinks into the mud and makes a suction sound when I pull it free. Yuck . Thank the Creator Ensley let me wear my sturdy black combat boots. She said it made my outfit look edgy, but really I was just glad they were comfortable, made for walking, and laced up my calves.

Using her flashlight app, Ensley holds her phone up in front of her to light the way for us. We aren't the only students sludging through the forest in search of a good time. Whispers and the occasional laugh ring out all around us as students converge on the party destination.

Ensley flashes me a toothy smile. "You'll thank me someday. I'm sure of it."

"Don't count on it," I grumble.

Ensley isn't just a sneaky she-devil, she's a manipulative little witch as well. She somehow talked me into coming to this party when I was dead set against it. I don't even really know how she did it. I said no about a million times yet still found myself at her house getting ready for the event of the year I wanted nothing to do with. Maybe she's part-vampire and used compulsion on me?

Okay, that couldn't actually happen. Fae can't use compulsion, but still, the way she mind-tricked me into coming still makes me wonder.

Deepseat Caverns is a network of underground caves and tunnels just outside Everton that's filled with stalactites and stalagmites, mirror pools, columns, and flowstone. It's a tourist attraction during the day but closes after dark. I came here once with my parents when I was ten, and I remember being entranced by the eerie beauty of the caverns.

Fellow partygoers, familiar and unfamiliar alike, materialize from the dense forest the closer we get to the cavern's entrance.

"Yo, Ens, you made it," someone calls to our left, and when I look over, Konan, one of Ensley's bandmates, is jogging toward us.

Ensley and I are close, but just like Becks she has interests outside our friendship. I don't have much interaction with her bandmates, but when it happens they're never overly friendly, but always polite.

The news of this party has really spread like wildfire if Konan is here. He plays bass in Ensley's punk rock band and is two years older than us and attends Everton Community College. When he reaches us he loops an arm over Ensley's shoulder and tugs her into his side. Ensley punches him lightly in the stomach but doesn't move out of his embrace.

Konan is tall with light brown skin and a trendy fro-hawk. Ensley looks equally edgy with the purple and blue strips weaved into the rows of braids on the side of her head. Both of them dressed in black biker jackets and chunky boots, they look good together, but according to her it will never happen between them. She said she views him like a brother, but from the fire in his eyes as he smiles down at her I'm not sure he's on the same page. I don't blame him though. Ensley is gorgeous, with an amazing personality and talented to boot. She's a catch, and he won't be the first to find her irresistible.

"So, what do you think?" he asks. "Just a regular rager, or is this really the start of Chaos?"

I scoff and Konan looks over at me for the first time.

"Seems like you have an opinion," he says good-naturedly.

I shrug. "I just think the idea that Chaos is even real at all is a little far-fetched."

"You're probably right, but wouldn't it be sweet if it was?"

I make a noncommittal sound. The truth is I don't really care either way. I'm only here because Ensley worked some fae voodoo on me.

"Where's the rest of the group?" Ensley asks, meaning her fellow bandmates.

"Inside already," Konan answers. "At least I think. I was running late. I got a message from them when they arrived but haven't heard from them since. Must be having too much fun to stop and check their phones."

Almost to the entrance of the caverns, the crowd around us has grown. I recognize some of the teens as we're all bottlenecked through a narrow ravine, but not all. There must be more than just Nightlark Academy students invited to this party. I look for Becks, but don't see him anywhere. I was surprised I didn't see him back at his house before we left, but Ensley said he was headed to the party straight after practice.

Anxiety starts to churn in my gut. I don't love big groups. Some might think there's safety in numbers, but I don't. More creatures just means more opportunities for chaos to ensue. And if something goes down tonight, I'll only have my fists and feet to protect myself.

When we come around the corner, the entrance to Deepseat Caverns yawns before us. At least thirty feet high and wide, the stalactites that hang down from the ceiling and stalagmites that jut up from the ground make it look like a macabre open mouth, waiting to swallow us whole.

Apprehension slides down my spine like an ice cube. There's no light coming from the caverns, and the moment someone passes through the barrier it looks like they disappear. As we come closer I make out a barely discernible transparent barrier covering the opening. It's just a slight iridescent shimmer. Some sort of magic I'm not familiar with, probably to block out the noise and sights of the party raging from within the cavern's belly, but it only makes my unease grow. I like to know what I'm getting myself into before I leap.

Ensley notices my steps slowing. "You okay?"

I glance over at her and Konan, both their faces completely free of worry and filled with anticipation for a fun night out. It makes me sad how different I am from even my best friend.

How did I get this way? I don't want to be like this, scared of my own shadow. I want to be fearless and bold, to take life with both hands and direct it rather than let it drag me around. I want to change, but to do that I have to start somewhere. This feels like as good of a time to start as any.

I straighten my spine. "Yeah, I'm good."

Ensley's face splits into a huge grin. "You're going to have a great time, just wait."

I force a smile as I nod my agreement. Even so, I squeeze my eyes shut as we pass through the barrier, my body tense as if preparing for a blow, which in a sense is exactly what happens, because when we step into the cavern my eardrums are immediately assaulted with blaring dance music. I crack open my eyelids to find the world painted in red strobe lights and bodies flashing in and out of view all around us. Under the macabre lighting the cavern has become even more sinister—a veritable hellscape.

I'm not the only one shocked. "Wow!" Ensley shouts, her eyes wide and mouth open as she takes everything in. "This is wicked," she says, a grin replacing her gaping mouth.

I do my best not to stumble as we walk down a wide tunnel that will open up into a larger cavern. At least that's what I remember from the last time I visited here as a child. When we reach the open space, the sound has a little more room to disperse so the music isn't as deafening. The red strobe lights also seem to be contained to the tunnel. Although the scene in front of us is different, it's no less intimidating.

There must be several hundred bodies crammed into a circular cavern only a bit larger than our school gymnasium. The light is still dim, and colors flash intermittently, making it hard to identify anyone. The domed ceiling of the space is a solid eighty feet in the air, another random tidbit I remembered from our visit, but some of the stalactites almost reach the floor on the sides. The ground in this cavern is smooth, if not level, from years and years of feet trampling over it, and there's a large rock with a flat top jutting up in the middle of the space.

Konan, Ensley, and I start to skirt the crowd. Half of the attendees are dancing in the middle of the cavern; the rest are dispersed in smaller groups, drinking and talking. There's a fair number of couples making out as well, but I avert my gaze quickly, feeling like a voyeur if I stare for too long. We almost reach the other side of the space before stopping next to a thick cluster of stalagmites.

"I'll see where the others are," Konan says as he pulls out his phone. His brow furrows as his fingers slide over the screen, and a moment later he sighs. "Well, at least now I know why I haven't heard from anyone."

"What do you mean?" Ensley asks.

He jerks his head toward the entrance. "That barrier back there isn't just dampening the noise and lights. It shut off our electronics as well."

"What? No way." Ensley yanks her phone out of her back pocket, checking it. I can tell from the look on her face that Konan was right, but I don't bother reaching for my phone. I left it in Ensley's car because it would have been bulky in my skirt pocket.

"That's sketch," Ensley says with a frown and my heart drops. How are we going to find Becks in this crowd?

Konan shrugs. "If Chaos is going down, it makes sense they don't want any digital information leaking. The trials are supposed to be dangerous. The authorities would shut it down in an instant."

He has a point, and for the first time I actually consider whether this whole Chaos thing could be real, but then I shake off the thought a moment later. No way. It's just too unbelievable. But the lack of communication with the outside or even the ability to take photos or record the party fills me with unease. Someone went to a lot of trouble to make sure we were cut off and wouldn't have any physical proof of what goes down this evening.

"Hey, there you are!" someone calls, and then a moment later the rest of Ensley's bandmates, Canin, Holland, and Sol, descend on us.

"We would have called you—" Holland, a black-haired cheetah shifter starts.

"But your phones aren't working," Konan finishes for her.

"This is wild, isn't it?" Sol asks. He's a short fae a year younger than Ensley and me, with green spiky hair that sticks up all around his head like a porcupine. According to her, he plays the drums like he has a vendetta against them, which I guess is a good thing.

I press back into the shadows as Ensley laughs and catches up with her bandmates. Crossing my arms, I lean against a large stalagmite that connected with a stalactite to form a pillar, wishing I'd stuck to my guns and avoided this whole event altogether. Becks is nowhere to be seen and the flashing lights are starting to give me a headache.

As I wait in the shadows, a strange awareness brushes over me, pebbling my skin, and when I glance to the side I realize I'm not the only person taking refuge in the darkness.

Slowly, a figure steps forward, his body shape and features becoming recognizable in the darkness.

"Freckles," he says, his familiar tone washing over me. "I didn't expect to see you here."