The night was well underway by the time the girls had made their way down to the casino floor. The party could be heard from about thirty feet away as they made their way into the nightclub where Kira had a private booth booked. Rose and Ronny were still feeling a little left out and disappointed as the doorman marked a large black X on the backs of their hands before allowing them in, but did so willingly just to get in. It became difficult to focus as the strobe lighting took effect, but they could still just about make out the curtained-off booth at the far end of the hall.
"Great club eh!" Tori commented, clearly enjoying the commotion of the room as they pushed their way through the throng of dancers littering the floor.
"I suppose so." Kira shouted back, barely able to compete with the racket of the electronic dance music. "I could live without the music though."
"I believe this is what all the kids are listening to these days." Kat commented as they arrived at the private seating area. "Anyway, who's going to the bar?"
"I'll go first." Kira offered. "What would everyone like?"
After collecting the drinks order, Kira once again braved the virtual human stampede of the crowded dance floor, being bounced like a pinball through the crowd as she made her way to the bar.
"Vodka and Cranberry, Three colas, one water and two rum and coke." She requested of the barman. Standing waiting on the order, she suddenly noticed a young man move closer down the bar towards her. Turning to face him, he leaned in to speak to her over the volume of the music.
"You're Kira Ford, the singer aren't you?" He asked.
"Yeah." She replied.
"My buddies and I down there are huge fans!" He yelled with excitement. The barman placed the Vodka and cranberry on the counter. Kira picked it up and took a sip. "Would you mind signing an autograph?"
"No problem." She replied, pulling out a pen. It was a nuisance at times, but she had grown used to being asked for autographs. It might not be like it happened all the time, but she found that there was often someone who'd recognise her. Grabbing a napkin, she asked him. "Who should I make it out to?"
"Kevin." He replied as Kira began scribbling. "So what are you doing here?"
"Bachelorette party." Kira answered, holding up her ring finger. "I get married on Monday."
"Well let me buy this for you." He responded as the barman completed the order. "Call it a wedding present. Please, I insist."
"Ok thanks." She answered, picking up the tray an making her way back to the booth. Another man approached Kevin shortly after she left.
"Nice." He commented. "That your pick?"
"It's Kira Ford." He remarked, holding up the napkin. "Here for her bachelorette party."
"That's never stopped us before." The other man replied. "So what do you know?"
"She's the only one at that table drinking Vodka and cranberry."
The guys had been in the suite for a while now, and things were not going as expected. Rocky and Adam had already quit the poker game and had joined Billy in watching as Ethan systematically slaughtered all the other players at the table.
"Fold." Jason groaned, throwing in his cards.
"Fold." Tommy agreed, doing the same.
"Damn, I can't get a break." Conner complained, throwing down his cards. "How are you winning so much Ethan?"
"The first rule of poker, is you don't play the cards, you play the players." He replied, grinning as he presented his hand, a pair of 8's. The others all complained as they realised they'd been bluffed, and all of their own hands could have beaten him. "I'm just really good at reading players." He said, raking in his winnings.
"We'll see." Billy commented, sitting down. "Deal me in."
As the cards were dealt, Billy threw a $50 bill onto the table.
"Uh, Billy, we had a $5 limit?" Jason reminded him.
"I know what I'm doing." He reassured him. "Are you in Ethan?"
Ethan smiled, and threw in a matching stake.
"Billy, watch how you're holding the cards." Tommy stated, noting Billy curling them closely. "You'll damage the cards."
"Well that shouldn't be a problem…NOW!" He snapped, reaching back over his shoulder and seizing the air behind him. "Trent, it's rude to read over a person's shoulder. You should know that."
"OW! Hey Leggo!" Trent whined as he re-appeared from his camouflaged state. "Ow, you've grabbed my hair!"
"Trent! Ethan! Give everyone back their money NOW!" Tommy commanded, giving them a stern look.
"It was just a joke." Ethan grumbled, handing back the money. "We were always going to give it back."
"How did you know?" Jason asked.
"Ethan was winning an abnormally high number of hands, chance alone dictates he should have lost at least some of them." Billy explained. "But I noticed three things. Firstly, I remembered that Ethan did not get dealt in until Trent went to the bathroom. Secondly, I noticed that He began winning shortly after Trent had left, and finally, I noticed Trent had been 'in the bathroom' for over half an hour. So I had myself dealt in, and positioned the cards in such a way I knew Trent would only be able to read them by standing directly over my right shoulder."
"Now I know why you always told us Billy was the smart one." Conner commented. "I can't believe you guys never cut me i…er…I mean…I can't believe you guys did this."
"Well it's earned them the privilege of ordering up the next round of room service." Jason stated. "Wouldn't you agree?"
"Sounds fair to me." Tommy commented.
"Ok, pass me the phone." Trent groaned, fishing out his wallet.
"Where did these come from?" Kat asked as a waiter brought another round of drinks and a bottle of champagne to the table.
"The two gentlemen over by the bar." The waiter commented. Looking over, Kira saw Kevin and another man waving over. She waved back.
"They're fans." Kira answered before they could ask. "The one with the brown hair's called Kevin. He bought the last round as well."
"Maybe we should go dance with them." Chrissy suggested. "They seem to want to join us."
"Maybe in a little while." Kira replied, taking a sip of her vodka and cranberry. "Right now, lets open the champagne."
The guys had given up on playing cards, having long since lost their taste for it after Ethan and Trent's stunt. Instead, they began playing immature drinking games. They were currently on truth or dare.
"Truth." Trent chose.
"Did you and Kira have a relationship?" Ethan asked. The whole room stared at him, wondering how he was going to get out of this predicament.
"Come on Ethan, play fair." Trent complained. "Her fiancé, who's bachelor party we're currently attending, is sitting just across the room."
"Rules of the game man." Jason put down flatly.
"Yeah, it was a long time ago." Tommy reassured him. "I'm not the jealous type."
"Ok." He relented. "There was an attraction between us, and we both thought it could have been something more." He took a sip of beer. "We went on one date about a week after the prom, but things didn't work out. We eventually realised we just saw a lot of ourselves in each other. Kira with her music, and me with my art. We're still pretty close, but that one date left us in no doubt that we were never going to be more than friends."
"Thanks Trent." Tommy commended him. "Not a lot of people would have had the courage to tell me that."
"Anyway Dr O. Truth or dare." He shot out.
"Since you were so brave with me, Truth." He replied.
"You've now dated three Rangers." He began. Tommy instantly regretted his choice, he could see where this was going. "Did you ever…"
"I'm not sure I want to do this, can I change my mind?" Tommy interrupted.
"Come on man, we've all had to play by the rules so far." Jason shot out.
"In case you've forgotten, out of the three Rangers I dated, Kimberly and I were underage, Kat's husband is sitting within striking distance, and if you think I'm going to talk about Kira in front of them…"
"We're ok with it Dr. O." Ethan stated. "You two have been living together for months. We're not six year olds."
"And I'm not the jealous type." Rocky stated. "Me and Kat are together now. I'm comfortable with the fact we've both had relationships before." He finished his beer, placing the bottle on the table. "Besides, Kat's already told me about her past relationships, so I'll know if you lie."
"Ok, one of them." Tommy relented.
"That's cheating. Tommy." Jason laughed. "You have to go through with it."
Tommy groaned, they were not going to let up, and he knew that Rocky would tell them if he lied about Kat.
"Kat and I were over 18 and we were together over a year. What do you think?" He replied. Rocky nodded to confirm what he had said.
"So you…"
"Conner, it's not your turn. Complete that question and I will hurt you!" Tommy snapped. "Now, Adam. Truth or Dare?"
"Dare." He responded, by now terrified of the sorts of questions they would ask.
Tommy got an evil grin on his face. Finishing his bottle of beer, he balanced it on Conner's head.
"Dr.O?" He enquired weakly.
"Kick the bottle off Conner's head." Tommy commanded.
"Don't worry Conner." Adam reassured him. "I've done this hundreds of times…and I'm bound to get it right sooner or later!"
Conner shut his eyes and prayed.
The night wore on, and the party was in full swing as the girls talked.
"So Chrissy, are you dating anyone?" Kira asked, finishing her drink.
"Not at the moment." She replied. "At school the only people I really meet are boring old teachers and students. All the marking and assignments I have to prepare mean I have pretty much zero time for dating anyway."
"So what kind of guys are you into?" Tori asked, throwing back a tequila.
"Oh usually kind of athletic, confident guys." She responded. "But not muscleheads. You know the kind of guy who works out, but doesn't have to check himself out in a mirror for half an hour afterwards. It'd also have to be the kind of guy I could talk to about stuff. You know, not afraid to talk about emotions and stuff." She played absent-mindedly with the stirrer in her drink. "So what about you guys?"
"Bit of a redundant question." Trini laughed. "Jason's the one for me."
"Billy." Cestria pitched in.
"Rocky." Kat replied.
"You have to ask?" Kira asked sarcastically, slumping down a little in her seat.
"Blake would probably pout and stop talking to me if I didn't say him." Tori joked.
"Mack and I are still going strong." Ronny interjected. "So that really just leaves Rose and Chrissy as our token singletons."
"Well…" Rose squealed awkwardly.
"Rose! Who?" Ronny snapped with a look of shock on her face. Kira and Tori leaned in closer with interest. It was true, Rose hadn't said anything to any of her friends in her recent phone calls or e-mails. "Is it anyone we know?"
"Who have I been spending a lot of time with?" She asked, blushing a little.
"No one really." Tori stated. "You always said that you spent a lot of time in Dr Hartford's business developing security systems…"
"No way!" Ronny interrupted, suddenly putting 2 and 2 together. "How long ago?"
"Will and I kinda got a little competitive and started keeping a running score of how often my security systems beat him, and how often he beat them." She reminisced. "One time, there was a bit of a close call as to when the alarm went off and we started arguing about it. I don't know what happened, but we just sort of, ended up kissing."
"You and Will?" Kira quizzed, lifting her head up from the couch. "I would never have seen that one coming. You're both so different."
"For me, at least, that's kinda the attraction." She commented. "Working in the University, all I met were middle-aged to old professors who just wanted to talk about books, or students who either just wanted one thing, or ran a mile when they realised was smarter than them."
"So I'm the third wheel." Chrissy stated. "Great. I suppose you're going to try and set me up now."
Kira tried desperately not to look guilty. "What makes you say that?" She asked, though found herself finding it hard to focus, and beginning to weave on her seat a little.
"Are you OK?" Trini asked.
Kira shook her head and mumbled something. Trying to get up, she stumbled a little, only just managing to regain her feet. Tori immediately leapt to her side to hold her up straight.
"She must be really sick or something." She yelled, struggling to hold Kira's limp body up. "We've had a few drinks, but she's had less than me, she shouldn't be this badly affected."
"Do you know if she's disbetic or something?" Chrissy asked, rummaging through her purse.
"Not as long as I can remember." Hayley answered.
Holding Kira's head up straight, Chrissy took a pen-torch from her purse and shone it into her eyes.
"Her pupils aren't responding." She stated. "She's been spiked! Trini, call an ambulance, Tori, help me get her to the bathroom!"
The guys had been playing Truth or Dare for a while now, but after Tommy's "Kick the bottle off Conner's head" dare, the Truth element had kind of disappeared, and it became more a case of the "stupid drunken stunt show" game.
"Jason. Do a back somersault off the coffee table." Conner suggested.
Complying with the request, Jason stood triumphantly accepting the raucous, drunken applause.
"Tommy, do that, 'off the rail tumble' thing you used to do." Jason dared him.
"What?" Ethan asked.
"Tommy's balance was so good, he used to be able to jump. Put both feet on a railing and do a forward flip from the railing." Jason explained.
"Oh I can still do it." Tommy replied. "But in case you haven't noticed, there's no railings in here, except the one on the balcony, and we ARE on the 10th floor."
"There's one above the stairwell in the hall." Rocky suggested.
"Uh guys, do you really think that's wise?" Billy asked cautiously. Even by this point in the evening, alarm bells were going off in his brain to suggest this was not a good idea.
"This I gotta see." Trent yelled with excitement, barrelling out of the room.
"Come on guys." Tommy responded, moving outside. As they all assembled on the landing, Tommy took a short run up, and leapt, landing both feet on the railing. However, the railing suddenly gave way beneath his weight, causing him to fall into the stairwell.
"SHI…" A loud thud interrupted his scream as the others rushed to the edge.
"Who's job is it to look after the groom again?" Jason asked drunkenly as Billy ran down the stairs to check on Tommy.
"You're the best man." Adam replied dryly, turning to look at him. "That would be your job."
"Oh!" He replied. "Kira's gonna be so pissed at me!"
Dragging Kira into the bathroom, Chrissy hauled her into a cubical. "Tori, get a glass from the bar and fill it with lukewarm water. She'll probably be dehydrated."
As Tori ran from the room, Chrissy began stroking parts of Kira's body.
"What are you doing?" She groaned.
"I'm using acupressure." Chrissy replied. "You aren't going to like this very much, but it's probably for the best."
"What do you huaaarghhhh!" Kira was interrupted in mid sentence as Chrissy pressed a pressure point and thrust her head over the bowl as Kira was suddenly violently sick.
"I've got the water." Tori informed them as she returned.
"Kira honey, drink this. An ambulance is on it's way." She said soothingly as she held Kira close.
"What are…"
"She's cold." Chrissy interrupted. "We need to keep her warm."
"The ambulance has arrived." Ronny shouted as she entered the bathroom.
"Let's get her outside." Tori said, helping Chrissy get Kira off the floor.
As they dragged Kira to the ambulance, The paramedics quickly took over, picking her up and placing her on a guerney.
"She's been spiked with some form of narcotic within the last hour or so." She called out. "Her pupils were unresponsive, her balance was impaired and she had difficulty getting her bearings. She's vomited since then, we gave her some water, but she's probably still dehydrated."
"Thanks for the information ma'am." One of the paramedics replied. "She was lucky she had a good group of friends around. You've all taken good care of her."
As the ambulance left, Trini noticed another one arriving, as Billy, Jason and Adam carried Tommy out of the front door.
"He had a fall of approximately 12'. He appears to have landed on his feet, and his ankle is badly swollen, possibly broken. He doesn't appear to have suffered any spinal injury." Billy informed the paramedics as Jason and Adam helped him into the ambulance.
"Thanks for the information." The paramedic stated, obviously trying not to laugh. "Let me guess, bachelor party!"
"Yes!" All three groaned.
"When's the big day?" The paramedic asked
"Monday." Billy replied.
"Good thing it wasn't tomorrow." He replied. "He might have an outside chance of making it."
Tori and Trini rushed over as the ambulance left.
"What are you guys doing here?" Jason asked.
"Something happened to Kira, she's been taken to hospital." Tori replied. "Was that Tommy?"
Important Author's Note: What happened to Kira in this chapter is based on something that actually happened to a very good friend of mine. Fortunately in that instance she was lucky, and her friends realised what had happened and got her home safely. However, I cannot stress enough the importance of drinking safely.