Page 144 of When Darkness Calls

“Why?” I cross my arms.

“We’re working. You never know if something will go wrong.”

I huff. “Fine. I’m going to go look around. Maybe I’ll find some clues.” I wiggled my fingers dramatically, rolling my eyes.

“Dan—” He calls out, but I can’t hear him as I move further away, the loud music drowning out his voice.

All the chaos in the room is pretty disorienting. My ears ring, my heart pounds. The rush is enthralling. I feel drunk. High. Like I’m invincible.

I make my way towards the ring, watching the fight. One guy is pretty banged up, blood pouring from his nose, a cut on his chin. The other’s eye is almost swollen shut. They’re both panting heavily but aren’t backing down. The bell chimes and they each take their corners.

“Dani!” A voice yells over the crowd. I turn in the direction I hear my name, and I’m a little shocked.

“Issac?” I say squinting in confusion. “What the hell?”

“What’re you doing here?” He laughs, his hair falling slightly out of place from its usually perfect style.

He’s still wearing khakis though. Weirdo.

“I—” I pause, not really sure what to say. “What are you doing here? This isn’t really your scene.” I chuckle gesturing to the room.

He smiles wide. “I’m here with Ethan! There are usually a few pretty good fights during these things, and the beer’s cheap, so,” he shrugs. “Why not?”

In the room of constant movement, dancing, fighting, drunken bodies, and blaring music, I somehow find myself blanketed in ice. The cold seeps beneath my skin, the hairs on my neck rising.

“Ethan? He—You’re here with him?”

“Yeah! I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks. I went to the last one and it was great. He’s supposed to fight tonight. Have you been here before? Who’s with you? Or are you alone?” He looks me over, eying my chest in the cut-up band tee I’m wearing.

I cross my arms. “Um, yeah. I—uh, I have. I’m here with my brother and Grayson—”

“Grayson? Seriously?” He spits.

“Yeah. He’s fighting too. Cade and the guys wanted me to come with to watch.”

He snorts. “Yeah, I’d guess he would, wouldn’t he? It’s getting pretty dangerous staying at home by yourself, isn’t it?”

I cock my head, “Yeah, I guess. Where’s Liz tonight?”

He looks away, taking a deep drink from the flask he pulls from his pocket. I’m a little taken aback because it usually takes a lot of coaxing and promises of a hand job from Liz to get Issac to drink anything other than beer. “Work. Always at work.” He sniffs, rubbing his nose.

“Well, yeah. She’s pretty much supporting herself so it’s not really that weird she’s been working a lot lately.”

“Yeah, but it’s like I never see her. I think I saw her more when she was avoiding me than I do now.” His cheeks are red, and his eyes are bloodshot.

“You okay, Issac?” I step forward to place my hand on his arm, but he jerks away, laughing mirthlessly.

“Oh, I’m fucking dandy, Dee. I’ll be even better when I watch Ethan win this fight tonight.”

What is going on with him?

“Okay. Um, well I think I’m gonna go find, Cay. Uh, maybe I’ll see you in a little while?”

“Yeah. I’ll see you later.”

I turn, moving quickly through the maze of bodies, feeling his eyes glued to my back, or should I say my ass, the whole time.

I have no fucking idea what just happened, but I don’t like it. At all. Not Issac hanging out with Ethan like they’ve known each other for years and they’re besties, or how he was acting toward me, and what he was saying about Liz.