6

The lights and sounds were everywhere, in a word. The hypnotic feel of the arena with people everywhere caught up in it.

 

We were the puppets, the music was the master.

 

Then, a scream, a shout, then blood, everywhere. Pools of blood, streaming, filling up, drowning. 

 

Dying. Everyone. Slowly. Then laughter, evil laughter, chilling laughter.

 

Then sharp pain on the back.

 

Alex woke up from his nap to find himself on the floor, awakened from his dream, or nightmare, or vision.

 

Whatever it was, Alex shook the thoughts and scenes from his head, disregarding them and what they are, and started concentrating on where he was now.

 

The clock displayed 3:00 PM

 

That meant there was only 4 hours untill the rave would begin, and 5 hours untill the group would meet up at the front gates. Mark and Joeseph had managed to attain the tickets without any problems, and had also noted the unclear emotions of the women in red.

 

For some reason Alex felt nervous about the event, the type of nervous that occupies a person's mind upon doing something that required difficulty, like taking a test, or running a race. 

 

Alex tried calming down, he had been performing as a competition dancer for the grater part of his life, so he was accustomed to the anxiety, and knew how to deal with it. He took his usual deep breaths and pre-dance stretches. It didn't work as efficiently as it did before competitions, but it eased him more than anything else. After he had gone through every stretch he could have remembered, the clock now read 4:30, only two and a half hours now till the rave opened and three and a half till he would be standing in front of the main gate.

 

He was mostly dresses and ready to leave to meet up with the others before going to the gates, but before he left, something on his dresser caught his eye. A small simple camping knife saw there, gleaming. He knew it wasn't really necessary to bring it, but for some reason, a ray of comfort would come if he took it. 

 

So right before he walked out his room, he took it, folded it in, and stashed it alongside the gap inside his shoe, and left to join the others.

 

*****

 

Alex, Chris, Eve, and Clark all met up at Chris's house, everyone in some partial costume. 

 

Chris had on her skirt she had boughten, with a chain belt around the waist line, a series of overlapping shirts, and a jacket that only came down mid chest. Apparently she felt adventurous with the makeup, as he nearly had her face covered in shades of blue and purple. 

 

Clark had his shirt and backpack, with athletic shorts and running shoes. If anything, he looked like he was going to go to a marathon, rather than a rave. Has his hair not been gold, matching the splatter spots on his shirt, his outfit would have done nothing for the rave. 

 

Eve, as conservative as she is, wore a fairly society-acceptable skirt, with biker's shorts underneath, and regular shoes, except that the rubber near the heels was twice as big. She wore a white shirt that had gray sleeves coming out from underneath. Her hair was set in a ponytail, with streaks of silver in it, and sunglasses sitting on top, also with gray rims.

 

Apparently no one was showing any forms of anxiety that Alex had, but rather calm or just plain eager to leave. The rave scene was not far from town, just a few miles into the hills on the outer edge of the city. 

 

Anticipation was more than Chris could muster, as she kept repeating "Can we go NOW?!" the way a child does when told by their parents that they're going to an amusement park. Alex kept trying to argue with "If we leave now it'll be too early!" But it wasn't enough, so he had to give in and give the word they were leaving now.

 

So within two minutes everyone was loaded into Eve's jeep and eager to go. So the engine was started, and they were on their way.

 

As they reached the mid point of the street, a car on behind them started up. A woman was sitting inside, watching. A young man sat in the passenger seat, equally silent. As the jeep the group was in turned the corner, the car with the man and the woman started, and followed.