A/N: So this chapter is a bit short...I hope that's okay. It's meant to be kind of short and dramatic. Not sure if I pulled that off or not, but I guess we'll see!

Well...he guessed this wasn't so bad...

It had taken Tavros several minutes to navigate his way up to the actual house, forced to weave between absurdly parked cars in a device that wasn't exactly fond of grass, but well the little paved path was not accessible so it was the only way to go.

When he was finally craning his neck to look up at the house, the music was so loud in his ears that he thought his ear drums might actually break. The front door was open, and inside where he thought he might find packed bodies, red solo cups full of god knows what, and lots of grinding and dancing and laughing there were very few actual people. Carefully, he moved through the doorway into what appeared to be a living room, only to find no one present. Except for the few people he'd seen outside, this place was deserted...

The next room he tried was the kitchen and it was equally deserted, bottles and food and all manner of things spread out across shitty, fake marble counters. Behind what he assumed was the back door, Tavros caught sight of movement. He headed towards it, not unlike a bug to a zapper he thought, and his palms were slick. Upon opening the door he suddenly found exactly where everyone was, all gathered in this ginormous backyard, people in the pool, in the trees, on the grass, standing and dancing and laying down, the music quieter here because of all the space it had to bleed through but still loud enough to give anyone a dull, thumping headache. Beside him, pressed against the side of the house, there were two bodies, one male pale blonde, the other dark haired, making out heatedly. He studiously ignored them.

There was a flash of cherry red in the corner of the young man's eye and he turned just in time to watch Vriska dive gracefully into the pool, dress and wings forgotten. Huh...so not a thong and bra. A swimsuit. At least...he hoped it was because his eyes certainly weren't the only ones on her as she back stroked across the water, legs lazy under the water and back arched, pressing her chest into the air. There were others in there too, and even as Tavros watched some girl wrapped thin arms around his girlfriend and murmured something directly into her ear, pulling her towards a small group of similarly clad (aka, hardly clad at all) teens.

Chewing his bottom lip rather nervously (it was a habit, leaving his lips constantly chapped) he wheeled a few feet towards the pool. Not that he was too worried about Vriska, this was usual behavior for her, but because if she looked up now and saw him, sitting here awkwardly and not talking to anyone, she'd tease him for it endlessly. He was just thinking about maybe possibly somewhat being able to strike up a conversation with a drunken stranger when a heavy hand suddenly fell on his shoulder. Tavros let out a very manly sounding squeak and there came a heavy laugh from behind him.

"You must be Taurus," came a smooth voice, pompous and haughty.

The teen swallowed and craned his head around to try and see whoever it was, but he only caught a glimpse of hard eyes and dark hair.

"Uh, yeah, that's u-um, me. But it's actually, uh, T-Tavros."

"Wwhatevver." The hand slid from his shoulder and the owner of the voice slipped into Tavros' vision, fluid movements and lean body. He was tall, very tall, with sharp features and a gaze that was as cold as flint. A mauve scarf wrapped around his neck, the same color as the streak in his hair, stylish and modern. He was dressed in some kind of uniform.

"The name's Eridan." Was he looking at his nails like a girl? He was. And look at that his other hand was on his hip. "This is my party."

"Oh! W-well it's um, very nice." At least he'd managed to find someone to talk to. Maybe now Vriska would leave him in peace for a while...he doubted it, but a man could hope, right?

Pale eyes flashed suddenly and there was an audible hiss, making Tavros freeze up.

"Are you makin' fun of my accent, cripple?" The words were harsh and far too close for the teen's liking. When had Eridan leaned down over him? He wasn't sure, but there was that sharp face, pale skin, features hard and angry and oh shit what was going on?

"I-I-I-I w-wasn't I sw-swear!"

Just like that Eridan pulled back with a disdainful sniff, face narrowed in a kind of disgust that made Tavros' stomach twist. He hated people like this. Absolutely hated them. But his sudden bubbling anger was as useless as the rest of him and so he just bowed his head.

"Anywways," he continued, picking up before his little outburst. "Like I said this is my party. I rent this house out to a couple of druggies most of the time, but my house is gettin' renovvations right noww so I figured it wwould servve."

A little confused by Eridan's flippant behavior, Tavros just mutely nodded his head.

"I throww these at least once a month. Only the hottest people are invvited."

Wait, what?

"And frankly, Taurus, I don't remember invvitin' you."

Umm...

"Sorry kid."

Before Tavros even had time to let that sink in their were hands on his wheelchair, pushing, pushing, and somewhere the music was still beating but everyone was going silent were turning to face the duo. Yellow-brown eyes widened when he realized what was happening and oh no, oh god no, this couldn't be happening and he was trying to put the breaks on his chair but Eridan had pulled out a knife and shit he could feel it against his skin and where was Vriska, where was she? He scanned the gathering crowd desperately but saw hide nor hair and his breath grew quick and panicky why weren't they doing anything? They just stood there, staring, staring, and smiling and laughing and why weren't they doing anything!?

Tavros didn't realize they'd stopped until Eridan's voice was right above him, loud and clear and silencing everyone around them.

"Wwhat do you say wwe teach this cripple a lesson? Teach him not to showw up wwhere he's not wwanted." There came a small roar from the crowd and Eridan laughed nastily, leaning in close to Tavros' ear.

"Of course, you're not wwanted anywwhere so just die, okay?" Too quiet for anyone else to hear, but then Eridan had pushed and that's all that was needed and Tavros was falling, falling into the pool, water closing in over his head as he tried to withhold a scream. Bubbles of oxygen escaped him as he sank, the weight of his chair pulling him down, down, all the way to the bottom and he couldn't help opening his eyes, blurry and dark as it was but if he looked up he could see shadows and shapes, people, just above the surface, and he could hear their muffled shouts.

Desperation was in his movements as he pushed away from his chair, now an awful death trap and used his arms to try and propel himself through the water. With the deadweight of his lower half it was difficult, but the air in his lungs made him buoyant and he swam for the surface, awkward and graceless. He shoved his face up first, mouth opening almost instantly as he tried to gasp in a breath, but suddenly there were hands on him and he was gasping in water instead of air and they were pushing him back down, down, his arms flailing, the strength in them doing nothing to save him as his body convulsed, desperately trying to rid him of the water in his airways but unable to do so, his panic making him twitch, making him ineffective and unable to think and oh god oh god he was going to die die die die die

Where was Vriska?

His back arched, mouth open as his chest quivered, still trying to pull air in but he stilled, adrenaline in his veins but exhaustion and lack of oxygen making his limbs still. For a brief second, thou it was cloudy and foggy and black around the edges his mind was calm and he allowed himself to sink away from the surface of the water, away from those hands and face and shouts and screams. His eyes were just fluttering closed when movement caught his attention. The shadows were moving, moving away from his vision leaving only light in their place. They were leaving? No. One came back. It was large, unruly, smudged around the edges as if someone had licked their thumb and run it over the image. It reached out one hand to Tavros and dear lord...where those horns?

He was going to hell, wasn't he?

I understand cliffhangers aren't nice so if you ask nicely I'll finish the next chapter quickly!

~Xen