WARNING – This story contains scenes of a sexual nature, including sexual violence. Please do not read if this may offend.

Chapter One – Death and Darkness

Night approached in a steady stream over the purple horizon.

"It's almost time" Cass Anderson whispered dramatically.

Kerry Northman sighed from the passenger seat, Cass was always dragging her into this kind of stuff. The weirder the better as far as Cass was concerned. She had promised to come though, hey what were best friends for?

"Let's just get this over with, they'll be here any minute anyway" she sighed

Cass flashed a wicked smile at her friend, revealing a set of perfect pearly teeth glinting in the weak light that remained. Her translucent skin shone, showing off her perfect features, the dark dramatic make up she favoured made her seem mysterious, almost mythical in appearance.

The girls got out of the old powder blue Fiesta. Cass didn't bother to lock it, she'd often joked that anyone desperate enough to steal the old rust bucket was welcome to it. They both made their way up the winding, tree lined, gravel drive towards the towering house above them. Mason Manor. It had been abandoned for years, hardly anyone alive today could remember a family living there in the last few decades. The once beautiful Manor house now needed some desperate repairs, cracks criss crossed the face of the building, window frames held just shards of dirty grey glass and the once grand oak front doors now hung limp and wide, chipped and dented from various intruders kicking or ramming them to get them open.

"Do you know which room we're supposed to go to?" Kerry asked quietly, realising a moment too late that she sounded scared.

Cass chuckled and shrugged "Guess we'll have to check them all...hope there are no dead bodies or ghosts hanging around"

Kerry knew she was just trying to scare her but she still couldn't repress the shudder that ripped through her slight body. This was a very bad idea, she could feel it. She scolded herself mentally, it was just a bit of fun, a dare to spend one night in the old house, she could do this...she hoped.

The front steps creaked as they wandered to the main entrance, the hall beyond was gloomy, full of dark corners and cobwebs. There was no furniture here at all, only a ruined wooden floor remained. The wide staircase straight ahead rose to a once beautiful stained glass window, depicting a beautiful lady wrapped in delicate cloth, which didn't quite cover her more intimate parts. The stairs branched off both left and right from here and ran around the edge of the walls above their heads, creating a balcony. Cass swept her waist length mahogany hair back off her face and smiled, this was her kind of place. She tugged Kerry's hand eagerly and dragged the girl up towards the semi naked lady.

"This is cool" she exclaimed excitedly as she began towards the nearest door on her left.

All in all they checked six rooms, all leading off the grand staircase. A few of the rooms had dust covered beds or old wooden chests, some had indecipherable objects covered in dirty sheets, some were as empty as the hall downstairs. Cass hissed impatiently, where were those stupid boys, it was their idea to begin with and now they were late. She turned, counting the doors again, five, six, seven. Then she clapped happily

"We missed one Kerry, they must be in there"

The two girls approached the small door, Cass could see how she'd missed it the first time, it was barely wide enough for her to squeeze through and she was very slender. They both edged through the gap and up a rickety wooden staircase. They opened the second door at the top and tiptoed into the vast space before them. It was the attic, and it seemed to run the full length of the house. The ceilings in here were very low, sloping up to the centre of the room allowing the girls to stand at full height there. Piles and piles of boxes lay scattered around their feet, they created a sort of corridor towards the back of the room. Cass could see a flickering light up ahead, a candle flame

"they're here, come on" she whispered eagerly

"You're only excited because Seth said he'd be here" Kerry hissed back.

"Well duh it was his idea" Cass retorted, she couldn't help but smile, mm mm Seth was yummy after all.

The candle Cass had seen turned out to be several candles dotted around, some on top of boxes, others stuck to the floor with melted wax. Sat around in an informal circle were the rest of the group, Seth of course was there smiling wickedly at Cass, his black eyes full of desire and his ebony hair spiked to perfection around his milky face, Jason slouched next to him, light to Seth's dark, blond waves fell lazily over his ears, framing piercing blue eyes. They were both a year older than Cass and Kerry, which just made them more desirable. Colin had come too, this surprised Cass, he was usually such a stick in the mud, never wanting to break the rules. He was also a few years younger than anyone else in the room, add a pair of wire rimmed glasses, a couple of whopping spots and a dodgy haircut to his age and what you got was a boy not usually 'cool' enough to hang with anyone. Cass was pleased though, she had known Colin since they were little, growing up on the same street had made them friends for a while. She liked the kid, although she would never admit it out loud, and she was glad he had been accepted by someone at last. The only other person in the room was Kevin. Again he was the same age as Seth, not quite as beautiful though and not a usual companion of the boys'. Kevin was a footballer, handsome enough with his broad nose and freckle flecked cheek bones, his head shaved severely, leaving a blueish tint on his scalp. But he usually stuck to his own crowd.

"Hey" Cass announced "We thought we'd never find you" she smiled confidently at Seth and lowered herself to a sitting position opposite him. Kerry copied her movement and sat as close as she could to Cass, noticing as she did several discarded beer cans lying around, and several more still full in the centre of the circle

"Well girls we're glad you're here, it would be no fun without you" Seth breathed in his deep sexy voice "I'm glad you were brave enough to join us. Grab a beer and let the party begin"

Cass beamed, this was going to be a night to remember.