Hedgesville, West Virginia

Caspian Residence

Friday, August 30, 1996

6:34 PM

A panicked look was on her face as Jennie sat cross-legged in a circle of her friends. A game of ‘Truth or Dare’ was going to be played and all the most horrific scenarios were rushing through her head. She grasped tightly as the bottom of her shirt, trying her best to control her dread.

“Who should go first?” Amanda asked, leaning forward and glancing around the room.

“Rock-paper-scissors?” Kasei asked while laughing, “Big game!”

Her heart shuddered in her chest. It was pretty clear the youngest member was just as sloshed as his brother who was still drinking the orange soda with no apparent conviction to stop.

“How would that work?” Megs questioned, but then her eyes lit up. “I know. Everyone look to the person to your right! Pick your weapon, shoot, and winner scoots forward to the center of the circle. Keep going until we have only one person left. That person gets to go first!”

“Seems like a plan to me,” Nahele responded, whipping out his hand abruptly and hammering Janiston on the top of the head. “Rock!”

“Wait!” Megs screamed, grabbing a hold of Nahele’s hand. “At the count of three, you throw out.”

“Scissors!” Janiston shouted back quickly, ramming his two fingers into Nahele’s eyes.

“Wait!” Megs shouted until it was realized that the boys in the group were too far gone to handle the simplest tasks. “What’s wrong with them?”

“No…idea,” Jennie laughed out, rubbing at the back of her neck.

“They get stupid around girls,” Rem said as Jennie glanced in his direction. He was the only one who wasn’t red in the face, acting wildly, or appearing remotely drunk in any way. “Just ignore their stupidity. How about I go first to make things easier…?”

“Yeah,” Jennie announced, “Rem can go first.”

She paused for a moment then looked across the room to Amanda and Megs. “Uh, how do you play truth or dare?”

“Simple,” Erin said, finally joining into the conversation while desperately trying to keep Ashlee from playing with her hair. “Watch Rem’s round and you should get an idea of how it works. Is there something wrong with her?“

“No,” Jennie said quickly, “she just likes to play with hair.”

“Let’s get this going,” Rem remarked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Fine, fine,” Erin called out. Thrusting out her finger while pointing directly at the green haired demon, she smiled devilishly. “Truth or dare?”

Rem eyed the girl for a mere second then looked away. “Truth.”

“Ooo,” Megs said with a laugh, “ask him something good.”

“How about,” Erin said. She paused for a moment before her eyes lit up. “Are you a virgin?”

Rem gazed at her for a moment then sighed. “No.”

“Seriously?” Erin questioned with wide eyes. “Who with?”

“I already answered my question,” Rem remarked, “so it’s someone else’s turn.”

“Damn,” Amanda mumbled.

“Truth or dare,” Rem mouthed out in an annoyed manner. He looked directly into Amanda’s face as she stilled. “Hurry up! We don’t have all night.”

“Fine,” Amanda replied, “truth.”

“Like I know what to ask,” Rem stated flatly with his arms still crossed. “Anybody got a question?”

“I do!” Megs shouted, leaning forward. “How many guys have you kissed?”

“Oh my God,” Amanda whispered, staring horrified at her friend. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope,” Megs said in a singsong voice, “How many?”

Amanda shifted where she sat then looked to her right at Mirage who was staring back at her with interest. Both Megs and Erin had sinister smiles.

“Well, there was that one guy last month and the guy from Christmas,” Amanda whispered, counting them on her fingers as she went. Another two fingers popped up before the thumb. A frown was visible on her face. “And then there’s the guy in the bowling alley.”

“Good grief,” Jennie mumbled.

“So,” Amanda replied, losing count after a while, “in total, I think about nineteen.”

“Whoa,” Mirage called out, “that’s more than me.”

“You kiss dudes?” Rem asked as his lips curled ever-so-slightly.

“No way!” Mirage yelled, trying to smack at Rem from across Amanda.

“Your turn,” Amanda said, poking Mirage in the arm. “Truth or dare?”

“Give me a dare!” Mirage shouted as he stood up abruptly, staggering a bit. He grinned as he peered down at Amanda. “How about you dare me to make out with you? We could go upstairs.”

“No!” Jennie said, “You can’t do that!”

“Why?!” Mirage said through gnashing teeth.

“Geez,” Jennie whispered under her breath. “Mean drunk.”

“Let me handle this,” Rem said as he dropped his hands to the ground and leaned forward in order to stare Mirage in the eyes. “I dare you to go upstairs to my room and clean it. The old fashion way.”

“What?!” Mirage cried out, “but I’ll miss most the game.”

“I know,” Rem remarked as the lime-headed demon stood up and sauntered off with a dismal look on his face.

From where she sat, she mouthed out a ‘thank you’ to Rem who only looked away. She could see the light pink of his cheeks at her gratitude.

“My turn!” Kasei exclaimed, jumping up and grinning wildly. “I want a dare, too.”

“For you,” Amanda chimed in, smiling wickedly, “I dare you to wear Jennie’s girliest outfit along with panties and makeup.”

Kasei’s jaw dropped open as he stared across the room at his brother who held a smile that only proved he was thoroughly enjoying the dare. Whipping around, Kasei shook his head.

“I rather clean Rem’s room!” he shouted.

“You heard the lady,” Nahele called out. “Go get some panties and a dress.”

“I can do his makeup!” Ashlee squealed. “I do Rhos’ from time-to-time.”

“Wait!” Kasei screamed as he found himself being dragged out of the room by both Nahele and Ashlee. “I don’t want to be a girl!”

“Jennie’s turn,” Erin said, clapping her hands. “Truth or dare?”

A cold chill made her shiver as all eyes were on her. Jennie blinked then tried to swallow a lump in her throat. Either choice was going to be difficult to handle. She already knew that.

“Truth,” she choked out.

“Aww,” Megs said with a pout of her lip. “I had a good dare for her.”

“Oh well,” Amanda remarked, “I have a good question instead.”

“Which one of us guys would you want to fuck?”

Everyone turned to look to Reiyl who was sitting with a dark look on his face. It was obvious he was serious. And Jennie could only gaze back at him with hesitation.

“That’s better than my question,” Amanda said in awe.

“Fuu-ck?” Jennie repeated in a stagger. “As in…”

“Who do you want to sleep with? Lose your virginity to. Pop your cherry. Who?” Reiyl asked as Jennie’s face went blood red.

“I…” Jennie looked around the room at the guys. It was clear what Reiyl was asking. The only remaining boys were Rem, Janiston, and himself. And she surely couldn’t pick Janiston being that he was her cousin.

“What kind of fucked up question is that?!” Rem abruptly shouted, slamming his fist into the floor.

“It’s legit,” Reiyl replied with a smug smirk, “Come on, Jennie. Which one of us?”

The hairs on her arms stood as she winced from the coldness rushing through her body. Her eyes scanned the room again when her eyes were on Janiston. They don’t know he’s my cousin. Right?

Shifting her attention to the girls, she could sense their intense stares then focused on the cat demon who still had the smirk. Without hesitation, she whipped up her hand and threw up a finger at Janiston whose face went bright red.

“What?!” Janiston shrieked in horror, scooting back on the carpeting. He abruptly began waving his hands in front of his body wildly while looking exasperated. “We can’t do that. You and I are cousins! That’s just wrong, Jennie.”

The room fell silent. Jennie felt as if her chest was ready to explode. Her idea had gone horribly wrong. A drunken Janiston was in no way rational enough to realize her intentions.

“Cousins?” Erin questioned, looking between the two. Her face twisted up in a look of disbelief.

“I don’t see it,” Amanda remarked, “but maybe it’s just because of the blue hair.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Megs shouted, standing up abruptly. She shook her head while clenching her fists. “You said your own cousin?! I know we’re from West Virginia and all, but that’s just insane and all.”

“No!” Jennie said, whipping up her own hands while trying to calm down the feral girl, “That’s not the reason. I just…don’t want to pick between Reiyl and Rem…”

She glanced over to the other two demons in the room and found them eyeing her suspiciously. A frown formed on her face. Trouble was brewing, but it always had been. Only now, it was more obvious. And an escape was in order.

Standing up quickly as she dodged Megs’ swiping hand that reached out for her, Jennie turned to leave the room. In the doorway, she crashed headlong into the hurrying and yelling group that consisted of Ashlee, Nahele, and a red-faced Kasei.

Eye-to-eye, Jennie found herself gazing at the amazingly beautiful face of Kasei who was staring back reluctantly. With all the makeup on, one would truthful think he was a young girl.

“Shut up!” he screamed loudly, slamming his hands upward and connecting with Jennie’s jaw.

All she saw was the ceiling as she sailed backward. Blood oozed from her lip that she had abruptly bitten from the attack as she crashed forcefully against the floor. Her breath was curtly knocked out of her chest as her eyes widened in alarm.

“This is my fate,” she choked out with a weak laugh. But her laugh was quickly silence when she heard Erin let out a horrific scream.

“Oh my God!” Amanda cried out loudly, scooting across the floor with her eyes huge with fear.

“What the hell are those things?!” Megs screamed while her flailing arms just dropped to the sides of her arms. Her body weakened as she crashed to her knees. “They just…flicked up.”

Pausing for a moment while catching her breath, Jennie followed their gazes to Kasei who stood frozen in place. A pair of quivering cat ears sat on top of his head while his cat tail seemed to hang limply from underneath the skirt of the dress he wore.

“Shit,” Jennie cursed.