13: Right right, whatever you say oh mighty cupid

-???-

The howl and cold breeze of wind were what woke Melody from her sleep. She slowly rose from the bed of… leaves?

"What the fu.." She trailed off as she asserted her surroundings.

Clearly, she was no longer in her room, given the large expansion of trees and dirt ground. She stood slowly, her arms coming around herself as she realized not only was she lost in a forest, she was in her pajamas. At first, she was confused however it quickly morphed to anger as she thought of the possibilities of how she could have been put out here.

"I swear if this is some stupid fucking prank by Sam, I'm going to kill him." She mutters darkly as she looks around herself.

Her foot then suddenly steps on something that wasn't left by the metallic and icy cold feeling. She looks down to see her phone, slightly covered by leaves and dirt. And thankfully, not cracked or damaged.

"Oh thank god!" She worships as she quickly picks up her phone.

"Please don't be dead, please don't dead." She mutters in prayer as she touches it.

Her prayers are answered as her phone lights up, however, the battery is half dead and she has no service or wifi even as she twirls around in the hope of catching a signal.

"Of-fucking-course." She hissed, her body letting off an involuntary shiver in protest.

She tried raising her phone upwards to get some services but nothing. She let out a frustrated huff after a few minutes. Turning around she sees nothing that could help identify where she is.

"Great, no service, no wifi and I'm stuck out in the middle of nowhere." She vents loudly, accidentally stepping on a twig.

She lets out a wound cry as she crouches down to cradle her foot. Curses spewed from her mouth as she sat on the ground, getting her clean pajamas dirty. Suddenly she heard something that sounded similar to footsteps. She quickly turned, her foot screaming in pain but the fear made her ignore it. The footsteps continued, and from the sound of it, they were coming towards her.

"H-hello!?" She called out, arms wrapping around her.

No answer, to which she steps back a bit. Fear was crawling all over her, something was wrong. She wanted to run but something was stopping her.

"Hello!? Can you hear me?"

The footsteps are much clearer now, one set, a bit clunky sound. Boots perhaps?

"Hello!? Um, I could really use some help!" She called again.

Suddenly from the darkness of the tree, a familiar face popped out.

"Sam?" She said even more confused than before.

Sam, however, didn't respond and continued to walk towards her.

"Sam, what the hell is going?! Is this another stupid prank of yours!?" She said now completely furious.

Sam continued to walk forward, however, he was mumbling something. She moved a bit closer to him, however, stop dead at hearing a voice.

'Run'

The voice wasn't Sam's and definitely wasn't her. It sounded disembodied and far off, like a whisper on the wind. Sam now was only a few feet from her and that was when she noticed what was wrong. Sam was bleeding, and not just a light cut but profusely bleeding from the large cut of flesh missing from his side. It was then that she understood what he was mumbling.

"R-run!"

He then immediately fell forward to the ground flat. She instantly ran to him, yelling out his name. He didn't respond to her calls or when she shook him. She then checked his pulse, however, there was none.

"Oh shit, oh god oh shit." She panicked, her hands slightly slick with blood from his shirt.

Then she heard a growl that didn't sound right from the direction Sam came stumbling from. She rose slowly and started backpedaling. Her heart was pounding in her ears as she hissed out a breath in the cold. She slowly turned and went to start running however she accidentally stepped on a fallen branch. It was small and weak enough that it cracked under her foot, quite loudly in fact.

"Really?" She hissed out, looking down at the branch.

It was at that moment she noticed how quiet it had gotten. No growl or rustling of bushes, and then the loud sound of thudding footsteps. Whatever it was coming at her was big and fast. She immediately started running, ignoring the pain of her bare feet hitting the ground with gritted teeth. Her heart was thumping in a quick, uneven burst. Fear crawled up and down her spine and stole what little breath got. She ran aimlessly, not sure of where to go but knew she had to get away. Whatever was following her was both extremely persistent and gaining on her fast.

The forest seemed endless and her stamina was running out fast. Soon she stumbled to a stop, completely out of breath and barely standing. There was no sound coming from behind her, no footsteps, no rustling, not even the sound of a cricket. Melody's head darted around her frantically wondering where the creature could have gone. However just as she had turned fully, something leaped from the tree in front of her.

"Oh fu-" She screamed, biting her tongue in fear.

This creature was an inky black, kind of like tar from its slow dripping and in the shape of a very large dog. Its teeth gleamed outwards as it let out a loud growl. It then ran at her, giving her very little time to turn to run. It caught her almost instantly and began to tear into her. The pain that followed after was unlike any other as claws sunk into flesh and bone, it tore through her stomach first then into her throat. She screamed silently, as her eyes clouded over. She was dying, and that was a fact. As she stared lifelessly into the beast's eyes, she could hear a faraway call over her name.

"MELODY WAKE UP!"

Melody's eyes snapped open, her scream ringing in her ears as she shot up from her bed. She looked like a frightened rabbit as she looked back at her mother, unrecognizable. Her body shook like a leaf on a windy day.

"Sweetie are you alright?!" Melody's mother Sarah said, placing a gentle hand on her cheek.

Melody was still in fight or flight mode and flinched away after first before relaxing. Her ears were ringing as her heart started to slow back to a normal pace. She was back in her room, in her same pajamas. A thin layer of cold sweat clung to her body as she let out ragged breaths.

"Melody please baby look at me." Sarah says, still trying to get a response from her daughter.

"M-mom?" Melody's voice sounds so lost and small, like a child who just needs a hug.

Sarah hugs her tightly, letting out a deep sigh.

"Jesus, you almost gave me a heart attack sweetheart. You were screaming, I didn't know what to do!"

Melody sighed, and she relaxed in her mother's arms.

"S-sorry mom, I-I had a nightmare. I was lost in some forest! S-sam was there..and… and.." Melody trailed off as her mind thought back to her dream.

Her mother tenses a bit for a few seconds before pulling back slightly to look at Melody. A strange look on her face before she smiles.

"Oh, I'm so sorry sweetheart. But it was just a dream.. okay?" Sarah says gently, giving a smile to her.

Melody smiled and nodded at her mother. Sarah then stood up, giving Melody a small kiss on the forehead.

"You still wanna have your party tonight?" Sarah asked a bit concerned.

"Y-yeah it was just a dream. I'll be fine mom." Melody said forcing a smile.

"Get dressed okay? I'll make your favorite okay?" She said as she walked out of the room.

Melody hummed in agreement, her dream already drifting to the back of her mind. If only she had checked her sheets before her mother had left otherwise she would have noticed a dried leaf sitting between the ruffles of her sheets.

-

"How about now?"

Alex walked out from his closet for the fourth time, dressed in a rather ridiculously cheesy werewolf costume.

"Yes/No!" Were the mixed responses he got from Katherine and Kristen simultaneously.

Katherine's face was crinkled in disgust at the costume, she was clad in a pirate outfit, simple but still a classic as she would say. While Kristen who was looking like she was on the edge of bursting out into laughter was dressed in a policewoman costume which both Katherine and Alex mumbled 'Typical' to her when she walked in. Alex let out a whine as he took off the crappy werewolf mask. And the last addition to the group was Nathan who was trying his best to be as kind as possible which proved difficult with Alex's costume getting progressively more and more painfully ridiculous.

"Sorry to break it to you Alex, but these costumes are not working at all for you." Nathan says with a sheepish smile, hoping not to offend.

"Yeah, Alex where did you get this stuff? It's all… a bit um" Katherine trailed.

"Ugh, I got it from that party store over by Claire's." Alex whined as he disappeared into his closet once more.

"I heard that business had gone down for them… I see why now." Kristen said in a mumble, an amused smirk on her face.

Alex then once again appeared back however this time the costume wasn't bad. It actually fits him nicely. A thick black cloak with a low-hanging hood. In his hand was a wooden staff with a fake jewel at the top.

"A witch!" Kristen said almost immediately to which Alex threw her a glare.

"Warlock." He hissed out with a grunt.

Kristen just smirked, she knew the difference but didn't correct herself.

"Nope- no!" Alex said as he was about to start taking the costume off.

"Alex come on we don't have time for you to keep changing. It's fine, trust me!" Katherine said as she looked at her watch.

Alex just huffed and nodded, resigning to his costume choice. And so all four of them packed into Nathan's car, and were off to Melody's house. After about half an hour's drive they arrived, her front was also filled with cars, and the pump of music pulsed from her house. Fortunately, Melody's family was very well off and had a very large yard like many of the houses on her street. As they entered there were countless upon countless people there; dancing, eating, or simply just chatting around. They all soon separated, Nathan and Katherine going to the dance floor, Alex disappearing into the crowd around the food while Kristen seemed more focused on her phone.

She seemed a bit distracted as she looked down, her phone displaying a text conversation she had with Kyle previous to getting to the party. The last thing he texted was that he would be on his way there soon. So she waited, mingling here and there, but after about an hour, she began to worry that he wouldn't come after all. She didn't blame him, he never was one for gatherings, especially ones with people from the school. However, before he thought could proceed much further her phone started buzzing. The words, "I'm here." were texted onto her screen. Kristen then walked towards the door, looking around to try and see Kyle. She soon spots him at the entryway, looking a bit lost. He was dressed up as a zombie which honestly was a bit surprising but his costume was really well done. His face lights up a bit at seeing her approach him.

"Nice costume." She says, raising her voice so she can be heard over the booming music.

"Thanks." He said a bit shyly with smile. "You too."

She returned his smile, a slight blush on her face. They chatted as they navigated through the mass of dancing bodies, Kristen eventually bringing her hand back to grasp Kyle so they wouldn't get separated. They soon arrived in the kitchen area where they reunited with Alex, Katherine, and Nathan. Alex was animatedly telling them something that must have been funny based on the smiles on their faces. He stopped however as soon as he saw Kristen and Kyle.

"Yo, hey you two!"

Kristen gently pulls Kyle to some open chairs near their group. He sits down, looking a tad bit nervous.

"So Melody does throw a good party." Katherine admits sitting back in her chair.

"Told you guys! And the best part." Alex said motioning his head to the side.

Melody's mother was smiling at a few of the other kids and handing out some ice.

"Parents can't get mad!" Alex finished with a devious smile.

"Yeah, but that doesn't give you the okay to start anything Alex!" Kristen said rather sternly to him.

"Oh relax! I'm not going to start anything I swear. Miss. S is cool." Alex says taking a sip of his drink.

"Right, and that has nothing to do with the giant crush you have in her daughter? " Kristen said smugly with a smirk on her face.

Alex just grumbled under his breath. The group chuckled even Kyle who seemed to open up more as time passed. By the time an hour had passed, Kyle had opened up enough to openly laugh and was currently in a rather animated conversation with Katherine about art. She was quite surprised and amazed by Kyle's style of drawing and his skill.

"You're sooo good! You gotta teach me how you color like that! My coloring ability is mediocre at best." Katherine said, her nose crinkling at remembering her last drawing.

"O-oh um I'd be happy to help you, Katherine. I'm not that great, to be honest, I still need more practice." Kyle responded in his modest manner, a faint smile on his face.

"Oh quit it. You're good, trust me, and called me Kat. Everyone else does anyway." Katherine said.

He nodded and seemed fully at peace in their group. Another half-hour passes and the party is in full swing, Kyle gets up to go to the bathroom and disappears into the crowd. While he's gone, Alex snakes his way up close to Kristen, an impish smile on his face.

"Told you he likes you~!" He teased.

"Whatever Alex, we just… taking things one step at a time okay?" Kristen huffs out, her face burning a bit in embarrassment.

"Oh come on its fine~! You guys are cute. It just proves how good a matchmaker I am." Alex said with a smug look on his face, clearly pleased with the two couples he "matched" together.

"Uh huh, then what about you, cupid? Where's your lady luck?" Kristen said, throwing Melody a quick look.

Melody was with Sam Aiden and a few other party guests. Melody was dressed as an angel, her strawberry blonde hair tossed up in a messy bun and dressed in a form-fitting white cascading dress. Sam was a werewolf to which Alex made numerous dog jokes, however, unlike Alex's poor costume, Sam's actually looked quite well done. Fanged teeth with tattered clothes and fake dog ears and tail. Lastly, was Aiden who was dressed as a demon of some kind? Dressed in tight black leather with red horns and tail. Alex just grumbled under his breath for a bit and look away.

"She's end game, need to get my cupid powers stronger.." Alex said with a grunt and waved Kristen off.

"Right right, whatever you say oh mighty cupid." Kristen said, chuckling to herself.

The group continued to make small talk however after about 10 minutes, Kristen suddenly stopped mid-sentence and frowned.

"Kyle's been gone a while..?" She said with a concerned crinkle in her brows.

"Huh? Oh yeah, he has been gone for a while now that you mention it..?" Alex said trying to look around the crowd to see if Kyle had just gotten lost in the mass of bodies however to no avail.

"I'll go check on him, maybe he got lost or something." Kristen said standing up from her chair.

"When you find him, tell we gotta discuss favorite anime's and stuff!!" Katherine called after her, her voice slightly muffled at Kristen walked closer to the den where the music was coming from.

Kristen just waved back in confirmation and continued to navigate through the house. She had a rough idea of the house's layout from her freshman year in high school when she was placed with Melody for a group project. It was her second year living in Cascade Hills however her first year in public school, and Melody wasn't someone she ever associated with. It was also during a time where she mistook Melody for your normal, ditsy popular girl, heh she was very happy to be proven wrong there.

"Well well, hello Officer~!"

A disgusted shiver ran down her spine as she turned to the smirking face of Sam. He was leaning on the wall just a few feet behind her, giving her a once over before stopping at her face.

"Your voice physically pains me, Sam, so please move along." Kristen said in a sneering tone, her nose crinkled and eyes narrowed.

Sam placed a hand over his heart as a fake hurt expression came to his face.

"I'm hurt, honestly Kris. We used to so close!" Sam taunted, his smirk growing a bit.

A dark look passed over her face as she glared at Sam. The truth to his words only made it worst. There was a time where Kristen, against her better judgment, liked Sam. This was before she became close to Katherine and Alex and while she was still a relativity fresh face. She saw the warning signs all around, however, Sam was handsome and confident, and she had yet to really be around many guys her own age. This got ugly however when Sam not only rejected her but mocked her for it in front of his friends. It was actually around that time that she met Alex who punched Sam in the face in her defense. Now however no one would dare bring it up or face her wraith.

"I don't have time for this." She said as she turned on her heels to walk off however was stopped by a hand wrapping around her wrist.

"Hey look, I get it! I rejected you but you can't honestly be going to that runt right?" Sam said before giving Kristen another look over, pausing over her chest and waist. "Look, ah you've grown a lot, so I wouldn't mind dating you, though you really gotta cut out the bitchy attitude, it's a real turn-off."

Rage boiled at the back of her throat as she quickly brought her other hand up to deck him in the face however, she was stopped by another hand grabbing hers however this one wasn't Sam. Kyle was standing at the side of them, a relatively dark look on his face and his eyes burning holes in Sam.

"The hell are you loo-"

"Let go of her."

Sam's hand instantly dropped confusing both him and Kristen. However before she could further question it, Kyle was pulling her back towards their group.

"Son of a-"

Sam stormed after them, raising his fist to punch however Kyle shot around, the look on his face must have been deadly from the way Sam's face just drained of all color. He turned back once it was apparent Sam wasn't going to do anything and continued his way back, pulling Kristen along. Kristen tried to get his attention, the grip he had on her hands was painful.

"Kyle! Kyle will you just- Hold on a sec!"

After her final protest, she finally broke through to him and he turned and looked back at her, the dark expression on his face was notably less terrifying.

"You're hurting me…" She said slowly, trying to calm him down.

His grip was tight, and with more strength behind it than she honestly was expecting from someone like him. He seemed a bit lost a first before slowly coming back to himself as the dark look completely faded to guilt. He instantly dropped her hand, his fingers slightly clenching at that loss.

"I-I'm so sorry. I just- He was-!" He stumbled over his words, clearly frustrated and still very much angry over what had happened.

"Hey, hey it's okay!" She said grabbing his hand with her other hand. "Thank you…It's a little awkward for me since I'm usually the one standing up to Sam but.. thank you."

Kyle turned away from her, his face flushed with pink even up the tips of his ears.

"You-you're welcome."

The pair then returned to their group and the party continued uneventfully. By this time everyone was ready to leave, it was about half-past 10, and the cool October air was blowing a bit harsher than before.

"Kyle you sure you don't a ride back?" Alex asked from the driver's seat.

Nathan and Katherine had already pulled off, leaving Alex, Kristen, and Kyle. Kristen was on the passenger side, giving worried looks to Kyle. Kyle shook his head with a small smile at the two of them.

"Nah it's okay Alex, my dad will be picking me up soon."

"Well do you want us to at least wait for you?" Kristen asked, clearly nervous about leaving Kyle outside.

"He should be here soon, don't worry okay?" Kyle reassured her.

"…Well see you at school?" She replied with a shy smile.

"Yeah, see you then.."

And with that said Alex pulled off. Kyle grew farther away, and something unpleasant sunk into Kristen's stomach. It wasn't until she was at home and getting ready for bed that she fully understood the feeling. Danger, her hunter sense was practically crying out to her, but the danger from what? Or whom? Her thoughts plagued her even as she fell into a restless slumber.