A Wild Night Part 1

Emelia’s house was nestled at the end of a cul de sac in Boothe Heights, not too far from Moira’s house. It was a modern two story house with whitewashed walls and large windows on the second floor equipped with motorised shutters. The front lawn was well-kept, with trimmed hedges and a flowerbed that evidently had a lot of love and hard work put into it.

It was 9:43, making them over half an hour late. Despite this John was surprised to see other party-goers that were likewise just arriving. A few of them cast sidelong glances their way and chatted quietly amongst themselves. No doubt this new item of gossip would have spread like wildfire around the school by the time Monday rolled around. Hopefully in the long run it would kill some of the interest surrounding him.

“Your ears are crooked, darling,” Red pointed out, as if to say that was the cause of the gossip, before reaching out to fix it for him.

Red had decided it would be funny if they dressed him up as the Big Bad Wolf while she went as Little Red Riding Hood, saving her the effort of even needing to dress up. It took all of a few seconds to find a decent wolf costume on the Abyss Auction at a quarter of the cost you’d find it on the mundane market. After all that was sorted, they’d bid farewell to Saccha and rushed back to Springfield.

“Yeah, I somehow doubt my costume is what the fuss is about,” John replied wryly, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend’s slender waist and pulling her close.

“Are you doubting my keen senses,” Red poked him in reply. “I swear up and down that fella over there just said to his mate: ‘That dork John’s ears are crooked’.”

“I’ll take your word on it then,” John laughed as they stepped on the cobbled path that led to Emelia’s front door.

The slight hum of music and thump of bass could be heard even from there. “Oh… is the music going to bother you?” John asked as an afterthought.

“Don’t worry, darling,” Red replied. “So long as they don’t start playing metal, I should be fine with my human ears — and if need be I also brought a pair of plugs.”

“Alright then,” John nodded. “Just let me know if you’re too uncomfortable, yeah?”

“Darling,” Red pouted, “you fuss far too much; just let loose and have a bit of fun.”

“Eh, you love it when I fuss over you,” John teased back before knocking on the front door.

Emelia must have posted herself by the front door to greet guests as they arrived, because the door swung open almost as soon as his knuckles left the wood. She was dressed up as a succubus, completely with a cute pair of red horns and black devil wings. John couldn’t help but admire how the black corset dress she wore as part of her costume emphasised Emelia’s modest curves.

John’s mouth almost dropped at that absurdly high libido, but he managed to keep his composure as she started speaking.

“Oh, h-hi John, I’m glad you could make it!” she blushed in greeting, before her eyes warily turned to Red.

“Hullo, I’m Charlie,” Red smiled. “But you can call me Red.”

“Oh, that’s cute,” Emelia chuckled lightly as she looked between their costumes. “Wow, the material on your cloak seems really well made!”

“Thank you, my gran made it,” Red replied, grabbing the hem of the cloak and offering it to Emelia to touch.

“It really is fantastic…” Emelia commented. “By the way, your accent… are you British?”

“It’s complicated but pretty much,” Red affirmed. “Anyway, happy birthday!”

“Yeah, happy birthday,” John added. “Sorry I couldn’t get you a proper present in time, but we brought some home grown apples,” he said, gesturing to the basket of fruit in Red’s hand. One could be forgiven for thinking it was part of her costume but they at least dressed it with a pretty red ribbon.

“Uhm, thank you,” the brunette replied with clear surprise as she accepted the gift from Red. “You really didn’t have to though…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Red assured her. “Though I’ll share no small amount of pride in saying they’re delicious.”

“I’ll have to try one later. Thanks again,” Emelia smiled, before gesturing inside. “But please come in! Drinks are found in the fridge near the pool outside; just pay $15 to my brother, Jayden, and you can take whatever you’d like from there. Kitchen fridge and pantry are off limits, though. Also, the bathroom is the first door on your left down the hall, and there are two ensuites upstairs — but if you’re up there, please try not to vomit on the carpet!”

“Alright, noted,” John laughed as they stepped inside. “I guess we’ll talk again later.”

“Sure, I’d like that,” she smiled back before turning to greet the next group of guests.

John led the way down the tiled hallway with Red at his arms as the music grew increasingly louder. “Damn, I wouldn’t have come if I’d known I’d get in the way of you getting your dick wet,” Red grinned, speaking just loud enough for him to hear over the combined volume of music and crowd echoing from down the hall.

“You’re not in my way, you’re exactly where I want you,” John replied.

“Mmm, well I’ll have to be four sheets to the wind to dare try taking you on tonight,” Red sighed, shifting her legs uncomfortably. “After the pounding Ma gave me, I’m a tad bit tender down there.”

“Well, I’ll do my best to be gentle, then,” John grinned and gave her a peck on the lips.

Fitting with the horror theme, Emelia seemed to have pulled out the halloween decorations, dressing up the living room with an assortment of plastic jack-o-lanterns and cobwebs. But cheap decorations aside, it was clear she did not lack for comfort in this household.

“So…” John began, looking awkwardly over the crowd of about 20 heads milling around in the living room, drinks in hand.

“Are you planning on drinking, tonight?” Red asked him.

“I guess so?” John replied with uncertainty. “But I’ve never drunk **** before.”

Red laughed at his nervousness. “Don’t worry. You survived Saccha’s faery dust so a few drinks is nothing.”

“If you say so,” John rubbed the nape of his neck nervously.

“Come on,” Red tugged on his arm and began to cleave their way through the crowd. “Emelia said we could get some outside right?”

They passed all manner of costumes along the way, from zombies and vampires to several dozen ghosts or ‘sexy succubi’. The only costumes that really stood out to John were a pair dressed as Bowsette and Wedding Mario, the sight of the two catching him entirely off guard. The costumes weren’t at all shabby either.

“Drinks,” Red interrupted his stare with an elbow to the ribs. “Then you can go start flirting with all the girls.”

“I wasn’t going to!” he insisted unhappily. “I was just amused.”

“Mhm,” Red chuckled. “Drinks. Then flirting.”

“Whatever you say, darling,” John relented before they continued on their way through the crowd to step onto the backyard porch.

He was surprised to find just as many people mingling outside as there were in. The bulk of the porch was taken up by a large outdoor dining area that overlooked the pool. On the right, several guests played on a cemented area around what looked to be the back of the garage, either playing beer pong on a table tennis table or shooting for the basketball hoop which had been installed into the wall.

To their left, an older boy sat lazily by a pair of fridges with a bucket of cash at his side, idly petting a dog dressed up as a spider. Jayden, John presumed. “Hey there,” he greeted, walking up to him with Red in tow.

“Yo,” the boy greeted gruffly, looking up from the dog. His eyes flickered between them before falling approvingly on Red. “Name’s Jayden… I’d stand up to greet ya but Monty here will bite my ankles off,” he explained, gesturing to the Maltese in his lap. “If you need anything, let me know right away, yeah?”

“Charlie… and this is my boyfriend, John,” Red replied.

“Oh?” Jayden’s eyes turned to John with renewed interest. “You wouldn’t happen to be the infamous John Newman that I’ve heard so much about at school, would you?”

“Probably,” John shrugged. “What of it?”

“Well, just try not to kill anyone tonight, yeah?” the older boy grinned.

“I’ll try my best,” John replied dryly.

“Anyway, you wanted drinks?” Jayden asked. “That’ll be 30 bucks for the both of you. Pay that and you can get as smashed as you like.” John quickly thumbed the exact change from his wallet and handed it to Jayden. “Thanks, buddy,” Emelia’s brother said as he tossed the cash in the bucket. “Oh, and I’ll be bringing out some hard stuff later. So if you’re game for the good stuff, pace yourself now.”

“Good to know,” John replied with a brief nod of thanks before opening the left fridge. He didn’t know what he expected. It was stacked with as much **** as could possibly fit, all the glass bottles giving the fridge interior an unearthly glow. John gulped uncomfortably, not knowing where to begin, so he sought out Red’s assistance with his eyes. The world of ****, after all, was completely foreign to him.

Red chuckled lightly and picked out two bottles filled with a brightly coloured liquid more akin to soda than ****. The labels read ‘Lemon-lime Vodka Cruiser’. “Best start light, darling,” she chuckled, handing John one of the bottles and walking him to the edge of the balcony where she propped herself up against the railing.

“Well… cheers to my first drink, I guess?” John said, twisting open the cap and raising the bottle towards his girlfriend.

“Ha, cruisers hardly count,” Red smirked but raised her own bottle anyway.

John put the glass to his mouth and took his first sip of ****… and as the bright liquid promised, it just tasted like soda. “Uh… yeah, I can see why,” John agreed dryly.

“Don’t worry. We’ll work our way up the pyramid,” Red promised him as she leaned to affectionately nip him on the lips. “Anyway, I think it’s time we mingle. I’d like to meet a few of your school friends.”

“Hah, friends?” John laughed in the face of that idea. “You do realise you’re dating a nerd who had zero social skills until he met you, right?”

“Well,” Red hummed and seized him by the wrist. “We’ll just have to make some new ones, then.”

“Do we have to?” John sighed, already resigned to the answer but holding onto a thin thread of hope otherwise.

“Stigma is just gonna hang around you like a plague if you don’t bloody talk with people!” Red scolded back. “Whatever happened to those 60 points in Charisma you’re so proud of? You ought to be right in your element with a bunch of drunk teenagers.”