Chapter VIII

I kept busy after school preparing for the party. I had a lot to do, and I wanted to have enough time to get dressed. Mom, Dad, and Daman were a great help, though. Dad even showed me a fuse box out in the woods where I could hook up my stereo and lights. I had plenty of time to shower, dry my hair, and dress. I was hot stuff that night, I've gotta say. I wore a ruby red Posy skirt, matching Crystal cami top, and ink-black Crow corset belt, all by Amy Brown. In addition I wore black leggings and short black boots. I decided to go with a little makeup too, and of course jewelry. A Coeur Noir choker by Alchemy Gothic, an onyx pentacle slave bracelet, small silver filigree hoops in my second ear holes, and dangling silver hearts in the first holes. I thought about letting my hair hang loose, but put it in a low braid instead. By that time mine and Caitlin's other best friend Courtney and her boyfriend Nick had arrived with Hana, and Caitlin and Brad were just pulling in the driveway. As they came up to the door I saw that Joe was with them.

'Good. The gang's all here,' I thought, smiling. Fenrir was as excited as a puppy with all the people arriving, especially since he knew Caitlin and Courtney well and loved them both. He may give the appearance of a stern watchdog but he loved attention.

"Hey, happy birthday Soul," said Joe as he came in with Caitlin and Brad. Fenrir bounded over to him promptly, inspecting this newcomer. "Whoa, wolf!" cried Joe, very clearly startled. I laughed.

"Sorry, I forgot to warn you about Fenrir," I said. "Don't worry about him. He won't attack until I tell him to."

"Very comforting," said Joe as Fenrir sniffed him.

"Fenrir," I said firmly. Fenrir looked back at me, head cocked to the side, listening. "It's OK, Fen. Friend," I said, pointing at Joe. At that, Fenrir turned back to Joe and jumped up on his hind legs, resting his front paws on Joe's front, licking his hands. Joe laughed and petted him. He looked up again at me. "So where's the party at?"

I smiled. "Follow me. They're waiting for us," I said mysteriously. I can be most mysterious when I wish. It really creeps some people out. I led everyone, including Fenrir, outside and around to the back of the house.

"Out in the woods?" guessed Nick.

"Right in one," I replied. "At Hangman's Falls."

"Isn't that kinda far back in the woods?" asked Courtney. I nodded. "We're walking all the way out there?"

"No," I said coolly. I stopped and turned to face them. "Do you ride?" I asked them as a whole. I received slow nods and sounds of assent. I smiled. "Good."

"Why?" asked Hana. In response, I pointed off in the distant to the stables. "Oh." She grinned. I grinned back and led everyone to the stables where five of my horses stood tacked and ready.

"Only five?" asked Caitlin, frowning. "There's seven of us."

"Well, you only count as half a person, really," I teased her. She laughed and poked me in the ribs. "I figured you and Brad can ride together and Courtney can ride with Nick. The rest of us can ride separate, unless anyone has any objections?" No one answered, just looked at each other and nodded in agreement. "Goody. Then let us away." With that I mounted my beautiful Arabian stallion, Nytemare. Nytemare was the pride of my stables, black as Fenrir with a mane and tail of pure white. I wasn't sure why, but it was beautiful. Caitlin and Courtney had ridden with me before, so they knew which horses were for them. Cait and Brad mounted Ragnarok, Courtney and Nick took Raumo (Elvish for "noise of storm"). Hana and Joe were left looking up at me for direction.

"OK, Hana, you take Mydnight, and Joe take Nuuruhuine (Elvish for "death shadow")," I said, pointing to each horse in turn. My friends nodded and mounted. When we were all set, I whistled to Fenrir and directed Nytemare towards the woods. The other horses fell into step behind me. I noticed Caitlin, who was in front of Brad, holding Ragnarok back a little so Joe could go in front of them behind me. I smiled, watching as she took up the rear.

"Thanks," I mouthed. She just smiled and nodded. I turned back around to face forwards. I didn't want to ride into a low-hanging tree branch or something and look stupid in front of Joe.

"This is kinda creepy," said Joe appreciatively. "Where are we going?"

"Into the Dark Black Forest," I said mysteriously, grinning back at him. He laughed.

"Well, it's getting kinda dark," he pointed out.

"Don't worry. Even if we can't see, the horses know the way. Besides, it shouldn't be long…ah, there we go." There were softly coloured lights burning off in the distance. I directed Nytemare towards them and the others followed suit. I glanced back to see my friends looking all around. The forest was dark, making it all the more…enchanting, I think is the word, to see coloured lights seemingly hanging in midair like faeries or drops of magick. It was beautiful. It really was.

We finally came upon the falls and my family members. Dad had food on the grill, Daman was loading my stereo, and Mom was putting the finishing touches on the snack table. They all looked up when they heard the horses.

"Welcome, all!" cried Mom amiably. "Welcome to the heart of Stryker's Woods, where dreams are made real and spirits haunt the air." I laughed and slid off Nytemare's back, leading him to the river's edge.

"Mother, dear, you do not want my dreams to be made real while you're still around," I said coolly. "They would turn your head around." Mom just laughed as my friends led their horses to join Nytemare. That done, I slipped into the trees for a moment, returning to drape my leggings, which I had removed to reveal spiderweb tights, over a tree branch. Grinning, I turned to face the group.

"Let's party!" On cue, Daman hit the music, turning the volume up way loud. We were far back in the deep woods and we didn't have neighbors, so the odds of someone calling the police to report the noise were slim. We all started to dance, spinning, jumping, pumping our fists in the air wildly, shrieking and laughing crazily. Daman joined in, and by and by Mom and Dad did the same. They couldn't really dance to our music, but you have to give them points for trying. We danced to a bunch of fast, hard rock songs before a slow song finally came up. Brad and Caitlin slipped into each other's arms, revolving slowly to the music. Courtney and Nick did the same, as did, to my mild surprise, Mom and Dad. Daman started dancing with Hana, leaving me and Joe to pair up. I knew I was blushing furiously as he approached. I liked him a lot, there's no question of that. I knew he liked me too, but it was still awkward for me, having never been in a relationship before. Not in this life, anyway. Joe slowly put his hands on my waist, and I put my hands on his shoulders. More than anything I wanted to be close to him, pressed against him like Caitlin and Brad, and Courtney and Nick. But I didn't. We had never been that close before, physically, though we were close emotionally. My eyes met his, then quickly dropped to the ground. I heard him make an amused sound in his throat, and the pressure of his hands on my waist increased as he pulled me closer. I was surprised, but didn't pull away. I leaned into him, sliding my arms around his neck, resting my head against his shoulder. He smelled nice. I wondered if he was wearing cologne, or Axe or something. He leaned his head against mine and I smiled.

"Soul," he breathed into my ear. "I really like you."

"Is that so?" I asked. "Well I really like you too." He laughed softly, and I closed my eyes, enjoying the feeling. I had never slow-danced with anyone before, and I like it. I saw a flash behind my eyelids and opened my eyes. Mom had taken a picture of me and Joe. I saw my other friends all smiling at me. I just laughed deep in my throat and closed my eyes again. All too soon, the song ended, but by that time we were all tired and hungry. Dad served charbroiled hamburgers and hot dogs and barbecued chicken and we all sat down on a blanket by the water's edge and ate.

"So what now?" asked Hana when everyone had finished.

"Karaoke?" suggested Courtney. Surprisingly, everyone agreed.

"I vote the birthday girl goes first!" piped up Caitlin. I protested, but I was grossly outnumbered by those who agreed with Caitlin. Laughing, I raised my hands in gesture of surrender and rose. Daman had had the foresight to bring my karaoke machine out with him, so I hooked that up and selected one of my special karaoke CDs. I wasn't sure of what to sing, considering I was a soprano one and pop music wasn't really my best material. But I was afraid I would get laughed at if I sang Broadway or something.

'Ah, screw it,' I thought. 'If they laugh, they suck.' I selected a CD and popped it in the player. "Holding Out For A Hero" played and I sang, closing my eyes so I wouldn't have to see Joe looking at me. I could feel the forest melt around me as the music took me somewhere else, somewhere I went whenever I sang. As the song came to an end, I slowly returned to the woods, opening my eyes and gazing off in the distance in a strange sort of reverie. I noticed a flash of bright blue off in the trees, but unfortunately I blinked just as I saw it and it was gone. Strange, though, it had a humanoid shape. I could swear I had seen it before…

"Wow, you're really good."

"Huh?" I looked back at my friends. "Oh. Thanks." Joe had spoken, and I blushed again, putting down the mike and going back to the picnic blanket. Courtney sang after me, then insisted we sing "Angel of Music" together. Afterwards she made me sing "Think of Me" solo, but I didn't mind. I hoped that maybe I'd see that blue figure again, but I didn't. I was startled to find myself feeling bereft, but I suppressed it. Mom suggested that I open my presents then, bringing me back from my dream-world. I nodded and sat down again. I got some really great stuff from everyone, not the least of which being a mad expensive Modus Quintus chalice from Daman. Gothic jewelry and clothes, video games, CDs, DVDs, a kickass leather jacket with zippers and chains on the front…so many wonderful, generous gifts. Finally the substantial pile was whittled away. I was about to suggest more dancing when Joe spoke.

"There's one more." He held out a box wrapped in glittery black paper with a blood red ribbon tied around it. I hadn't expected a present from Joe, so I took it quietly, untying the ribbon with great care and trying not to tear the pretty paper. I gasped when I saw what lay within the box I had opened: a beautiful silver circlet with moonstones and silver filigree scrollwork, with one large scrollwork at the front and several smaller ones dangling from silver chains. I didn't – couldn't – speak for a time. I just stared at the beautiful gift in my hands. Finally I looked up at Joe again. He smiled at my open-mouthed reaction.

"Here, let me," he said, gently taking the circlet from my hands and placing it on my head. "Oh, that's beautiful. It looks even better on you than I hoped."

"Joe…" I said softly. "Thank you. Thank you so much. It's beautiful." Joe just smiled. After a slightly awkward moment of silence, Daman took the liberty of turning the music back on. We all rose, one by one, and started dancing again. We danced most of the night away, taking a break to have cake. Needless to say we were all exhausted by the end of it, and I was very glad to have Nytemare and my other horses to carry us home. More so, I was glad that Nytemare knew the way as well as I did so I wouldn't have to direct him. After replacing my leggings, I lay across his neck the whole ride back, starting slightly when he shook his head to get my attention. Tiredly I slid off Nytemare's back, turning to see my friends doing the same. I smiled when I saw Brad lifting Caitlin down into his arms. There were cars and parents waiting in the driveway, so we made our way there. I waved good-bye to my friends, thanking them for coming and for the great gifts they had given me. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked to see Joe standing next to me.

"Happy birthday Soul," he said softly. Then, without warning, he leaned forward and kissed my cheek, hurrying away with a bright red face afterwards. I stood watching after him a long time after he left. Then I started laughing. I don't know why I laughed, but I was just so happy. Forgetting the weakness in my legs and the general fatigue from so much dancing and excitement, I started dancing again, jumping and spinning, laughing wildly. Mom, Dad, and Daman all smiled when they saw me like that. At least they're last memory of me would be a good one.