Trading Heartbeats
Chapter 15 - Ring-Rat
With each hour that passed, the crowd within the room had seemed to grow bigger and bigger and bigger. Apparently, once being told by Justin about the party and getting the 'ok' from the rest of the party-goers, Heath had taken it upon himself to invite a couple more friends … who, like any other party-goer, invited their friends, and so the chain continued. The room had been so packed that furniture was carried into the kitchen to allow room for dancing. As crowd had gotten bigger, however, the original party-goers had still stuck together … with their significant other, that is.
Kofi and Sonelle as well as Justin and Brittany had been dancing on the dance floor with each other along with the remainder of the party-goers. Amelia had stayed in the kitchen sipping on the bit of punch that the girls had made once realizing that 4 bottles of wine wouldn't fill their … guests. Suddenly a pair of arms locked themselves around her from behind. Turning around in an instant and nearly spilling the punch onto the person, Amelia expressed a small smile realizing it had been Cody. He chuckled a bit at her expression. "Didn't mean to frighten you," he whispered to her. Amelia's cheeks felt as if they'd gone extremely warm. "Would you like to dance," he asked her. Just as Amelia had opened her mouth to give her answer, something rang distinctly from Cody's pocket.
Cody looked from his pocket to Amelia giving her an apologetic look. Amelia merely shrugged it off and kissed his cheek lightly before whispering to him, "You gotta do what you gotta do." Cody gave a slight chuckle as he stepped outside of the suite to answer his cell phone. Amelia sighed as she watched him go. His phone had been ringing non-stop that night. With one of her hands tucked away into the pockets of her jeans, Amelia thought it nice to wander around the partying suite. As she made her way out of the kitchen and slid herself out of the crowded hallway and into another room, she'd notice a group of guys and girls having a party of their own in there.
In an instant, she quickly left that room and proceeded back into the kitchen. The party-goers had been everywhere. Devouring the food, chugging down drinks, dancing on the dance floor, sitting on counters, they had been doing every and anything. Amelia looked around for one couple she hadn't seen together since the rush of the crowd had started. Craning her neck and even moving closer to the bumping and grinding crowds, Amelia still hadn't caught sight of Punk and Khaila. Taking out her phone, she thought long and hard about texting Khaila.
Suppose both she and Punk had been … doing something. She definitely wouldn't want to interrupt that. She sighed and placed her phone in her pocket once more. Giving another quick glance at the crowded dance floor, she'd finally spotted something. There from within the crowd was a petite girl fighting her way desperately out of it and rushing down the hallway. Amelia looked at her confused. Rushing on after her, she'd caught Khaila's arm. Khaila turned around startled. "What's wrong," she asked Khaila immediately.
"N-Nothing," she told Amelia playing her best smile. "I just needed some fresh air," she relayed. Amelia raised one eyebrow.
"In the bathroom," she asked as her arms folded themselves across her chest. Khaila gave a nervous laugh before departing down the hallway. Amelia sighed and shook her head. Everything's fine, she assured herself subliminally, don't work yourself up … this is a party. You should be having fun, she thought to herself once more. Finally accepting the advice she'd given to herself, Amelia made her way back into the kitchen and poured herself a fresh new glass of punch.
Amelia giggled occasionally at the amount of hilarity that had been brought on by the party-goers dancing. Whether they had intended it to be funny or not, it had definitely amused those watching. Amelia watched as Sonelle and Kofi broke away from the crowd and proceeded into the kitchen - gathering up a plate of food. Sonelle, with Kofi's arm around her, gave Amelia a smile as she asked, "Alright, Amelia?" Amelia nodded once before taking a sip of her punch and giving her a smile in return.
Amelia watched as the couple proceeded back into the crowd only to lead themselves outside to the veranda. Justin and Brittany on the other hand had kept up with their dancing and they were quite good as Amelia noted. Looking over at the suite door, waiting for Cody to reappear at any second, Amelia sighed. She wanted to ask him who had been calling him, but … she felt that it might not be her place. Not yet anyways. Amelia stared down into the drink that she'd had in her hand.
Suddenly a hand had touched her arm from behind, Amelia's face lit up thinking that Cody had returned; however, as she turned around, she had been slightly disappointed to see that it was just another party-goer asking for a napkin. Amelia gave a quick smile and handed him a napkin. He departed muttering a small thanks' at Amelia. Cody's phone calls had seemed to be getting in the way of their special party. Amelia shook her head a bit. She mustn't think that way. His calls are probably all business … she shouldn't get in the way of that.
Still, the thought had bothered her. Was Cody willing to take business over her? Amelia sighed and pushed the thought away refocusing on having fun at this once small party. Finally, sipping her last bit of punch from out of the cup, she felt it best to quickly check on Khaila in the bathroom as she hadn't seen her emerge from the hallway. Taking another glance at the suite door, hoping maybe Cody would come in at any time now she stopped; however, after a couple minutes had passed, she sighed and proceeded down the hallway. Making her way through the bit of people that crowded the narrow hallway, she'd nearly reached until a door had swung open nearly knocking her backwards off of her feet.
A hand had caught hers just as she had been about to fall. "Thank you," she breathed breathlessly before looking up at the stranger. As she looked up, however, she realized it to be a smiling CM Punk. He chuckled a bit.
"I'm so sorry," he apologized. Amelia shook her head now giving him a bit of a smile before opening her mouth to ask what she had previously set out for. Although she had remembered coming down the hall for something, her mind hadn't seemed … or been willing to, at any rate, reveal it to her. It was almost as if this collision with Punk had brought on a sense of amnesia. Punk returned her bit of a smile. As the two tried to step past each other, they'd met up again face-to-face. Trying once more, they had failed. Amelia let out a slight giggle.
Punk placed his hands on Amelia's arms holding her still while he stepped around her. "Sorry," it was Amelia's turn to apologize. Punk merely smiled and shrugged.
"It's no problem-" in an instant, he was cut off mid-sentence, for the already narrow hallway had received an insane rush of people. Punk had been knocked into Amelia and both had been pressed against the wall just like many others who had harboured around this area. The music seemed to increase as did the temperature. Amelia had taken a glance up and down at Punk's lips and his hazel brown eyes - her mind now numb and mute. She hadn't known whether it had been the pushing of the crowd or Punk himself, but she had distinctly noticed his lips moving closer, and with this she could feel her chest and his heave in synchronization.
Then … it happened.
Sonelle and Kofi had made it back inside the suite with an empty plate of food in Kofi's hands. Agreeing that four chicken fingers hadn't been enough, they decided to head back to the kitchen to look for more. While Kofi rounded up some more chicken fingers onto their plate, Sonelle poured him a glass of wine and herself a glass of punch. Suddenly, a hand had placed itself on her shoulder. Spinning around on her heel nearly spilling the drinks, she stood in front of a worried Cody.
"Hey, have you seen Amelia," he asked concernedly looking over Sonelle's shoulder from time to time in case he'd spotted her. Sonelle shook her head.
"No, sorry, the last time I saw her she was here behind the counter," she relayed as Kofi had come to his side. Cody's face seemed to grow with more worry than before. Still, he thanked the couple and continued on into the crowd of people in the living room asking those who'd known of Amelia about her whereabouts. Sonelle and Kofi stood near the counter angling just how they'd enter through the crowd without spilling both their drinks and food.
Just then, another couple had joined them - Brittany and Justin. Panting from exhaustion of dancing and making their way through the crowd, they stood beside Sonelle and Kofi. Sonelle laughed. "Tired," she asked Brittany nonchalantly.
"More like exhausted," Brittany relayed while tying her hair back into a ponytail. Justin smiled as his arm worked itself around her and onto her waist. Kofi and Sonelle chuckled a bit at the panting couple. "Are you guys enjoying your party," she asked looking from Justin to Kofi. Kofi laughed a bit.
"It's not as intimate as I would've imagined, but yes, it's fun," he said as he looked down at Sonelle. Sonelle gave a bright smile before receiving a kiss on her lips from Kofi. Justin, in the meanwhile, smiled down at Brittany and whispered in her ear.
"Everything's just perfect," he relayed allowing every strand on Brittany's body to stand up and a smooth chill to run through her. Then, suddenly, everything had gone dark. The music had been shut off and the A.C. had stopped. The room suddenly grew quieter with slight murmurs as to what had been happening. Justin had held onto Brittany tighter, whereas Kofi and Sonelle had been passionately kissing the entire while. Once breaking their kiss, Sonelle gave a sudden jump at the darkness of the room.
"What happened," she asked Kofi in a whisper. Although she could barely see him, she felt him shrug a bit.
"I suppose it's a blackout," he told her. Sonelle let out a slight laugh.
"I thought the hotels were supposed to have a generator," she replied. Kofi chuckled a bit. Suddenly, there came a scream from down the corridor. People piled out of the corridor as many merely stared down the black corridor. Then, in an instant, all the lights and music had been back up. Pressing pause on the stereo, Cody had stood up on speaker box surveying the crowd.
"Is everyone alright," he asked looking at those whose faces had bore worry-struck and down-right frightened expressions. The party-goers looked around at each other muttering and murmuring a 'yes'. "Is everyone … here," Cody asked once more still surveying the crowd. Again, everyone muttered and murmured a 'yes'. Then suddenly from out of the crowd, a petite girl shoved through looking terrified.
"I can't find Punk," she expressed to Cody. Cody raised one eyebrow scoping around at the many party-goers for any sign of him. From the corridor, once more came a scream - this time followed by a rather loud moan after which many of people in the room had reached for the doorknob to the suite's door. Some of them muttered 'ghosts' before leaving while the others looked much too terrified to move. Cody hopped off the speaker and flicked the lights on to their highest setting. Many of the party-goers watched as Cody started down the 'haunted hallway'; however, he hadn't seemed to be alone. Just behind him followed Kofi, Sonelle, Brittany, Justin and Khaila. The six moved down the hall listening keenly to every door.
Suddenly, they'd stopped at one near the back. There hadn't been another scream since they'd last heard it. Cody pressed his ear to the door listening carefully to what may have been inside. What Cody heard, however, had made his blood boil and his skin crawl like one's would as if talked about behind one's back; however, what Cody heard had not been an insult to him, but it had been worse … much worse.
"Punk," a woman's voice sounding very much like Amelia's moaned. Cody's hand gripped the door handle with such strength that it looked as if it were about to be pulled straight out. Ripping his ear from the door, he twisted the doorknob … however, it had been locked. Cody pushed his followers behind him as he too stepped back and sent a kick to the door, kicking it wide open. What the six had seen next, left everyone awestruck.