Initiation: A Novella (Initiation Trilogy Book 1) (3 page)

Chapter 3

“Collin! Have you seen my black heels?” I hear Leanne call for me from her bedroom.

              “Now what would I be doing with those?” I shout back at her with a scoff as I'm busy folding my clothes and putting them away.

              “I don't know. Just asking, but I found them,” she calls, her voice sounding much closer than before. I turn around and she's standing by my door frame, one hand on the wall in a hot pink mini dress and her heels in hand. I look her over and my facial expression changes from a small smile to a disapproving frown. She must be out her mind if she thinks she's going to wear that shit.

              “I don't know where the fuck you think you're going in that dress,” I bluntly blurt out, my eyes narrowed at her.

              “To the party...” she hesitates in a soft tone and her head tilts to one side.

              “Not in that you aren't. Go change,” I order as I motion my index finger in a circle, indicating for her to turn around.

              “Collin! Why not?” she whines and stomps her feet.

              “Cause I said so. Go change into a pair of jeans. No dresses and no skirts,” I demand.

              “Ugh!” I can hear as she huffs and marches off to her room.

              I shake my head and go back to putting my clothes away, thinking about how mom use to get on my ass for not doing this
.
I rub my eye as I set my last T-shirt in the drawer.

              “Okay how bout this?” Leanne questions in a flat, annoyed tone of voice that was like nails on a chalkboard. She walks in my room with her arms folded to her chest, wearing a pair of black boot-cut jeans and a purple V-necked shirt that has horizontal black bold stripes going across it.

              “Much better. I see your wearing purple heels instead,” I say with a smile.

              “Yeah well, I like my purple heels with this outfit. Anything else I need to
change?
” she asks sarcastically.

              “Nope.”

              “Good,” she says with a mix of delight and annoyance.

              Moments later we hear the doorbell ring a few times from downstairs.

              “I got it!” Leanne says in a singsong tone and rushes out of my room. I close the drawer quickly and follow out behind her.

              She swings the door open and her friends Brandon and Jessie walk in.

              “Hey! You all ready?” Jessie asks.

              Jessie is one of Leanne's annoying but perky friends who has brown hair with a blonde highlight in the front and hazel eyes. Brandon is probably the closest to Leanne. He's the only guy I'll ever trust for her to be around. He doesn't talk much, but I find him as a pretty good guy.

              “Yes! Let's go before he changes his mind,” Leanne says quickly and is ready to walk out the door.

              “Hold it!” I say, stopping her and grabbing her by her arm back in the house. “I need the address to the place first,” I say as I hold out my hand, waiting for a piece of paper to appear.

              She mumbles under her breath and walks over to the coffee table, bringing me back a piece of folded paper. “Here. Can I go now?” she says as she slaps the note in my hand and rolling her eyes.

              I read it over a few times before giving an answer.

              “Yeah, have fun. Remember, I'll be there at eleven to bring you home, okay? And keep your phone on,” I say as I stuff the note in my back pocket.

              “Yes, big brother of mine,” she says sarcastically and sighs.

              “Don't start,” I say sternly, my eyes narrowed at her. “I can still change my mind, you know.”

              She mouths the words 'sorry' and leaves me a kiss on the cheek.

              “See you later!” she says with excitement after confirming that I have yet to change my mind and walks out the door, rushing to the blue Honda parked in front of the house.

              “Jessie, keep an eye on her for me?” I ask in a taunt tone.

              “Sure,” she says and runs out to the car and gets in.

              I watch them pull off to the street and I close the door, locking it.

              God, I hope she doesn't do anything stupid at that party
.
I find myself shaking my head and eagerly waiting for the clock to strike eleven.

Chapter 4

Glancing over the address as I drive around trying to find the party, I drive into a somewhat decent neighborhood, and I turn a few corners before finally arriving to the street court where the house is at.

              Pulling up in my black 2001 Ford Mustang to this small, but modern built house. Looking at the clock on the radio, I think back to the day I got this car. It was my 17
th
Birthday when my mom gave it to me. She once told me that our Aunt had been wanting to give it to me. I remember when it was a burgundy color and kind of banged up from her car accident. Mom told me it was the same car but with a nice paint job and fully restored interior. Hell it looked like new to me the day I got it, been taking care of it since. My phone alarm goes off reminding me Leanne's party time is almost up, snapping me out of my flashback, I look across the street at the house in front of me. The outside is a light yellow or white. I can't really tell from it being dark. There are three windows in the front and a white fenced porch with a few white steps to enter. Kids are surrounding the outside of it, standing on the lawn drinking and laughing. I can hear the music from the inside all the way out here. I'm surprised no one has called to complain about it to the police. Switching off my engine, I get out of my car, shutting the door behind me. I glace down at my phone for the time and the digital clock hits eleven.
Right on time.
I walk through the grass badly in need of maintenance, searching through the crowd of people. I hope to pick out Leanne, and after a few moments of doing so, it's clear she isn't out here and so I decide to head inside the house to have a look.

              When I walk in, the music is blaring much louder than from being outside. Red and blue lights are flashing like it is some kind of dance club. The room is so heavily filled with smoke that I can barely make out any faces. It's like walking into a thick misty fog in here.
I walk around the passed out bodies on the couch and floor, stepping over the broken bottles, picture frames, and empty cans of beer scattered all over the room. Turning to the left, I spot Leanne's friend Jessie and I head over to her after kicking a can out of my way.

              “Jessie!” I say as I tap on her shoulder, trying to talk over the loud music.

              “Hey!” she replies as she spins around in her seat to face me. She looks fucked up drunk. Damn, how many drinks did she have?

              “Where's Leanne?” I ask.

              “I don't know. I think she might have left already.” Her words are slurred as she starts to lean a little, drink in her hand tipping over and spilling onto the floor.

              “I told you to keep and eye on her. And she couldn't have left. I'm here to pick her up, Jessie.” I say as my eyes narrow at her and my voice low and rough.
She doesn't even fucking notice how annoyed I am with her.

              “Well... Maybe she's still around,” she says with a shrug and goes back to sipping on her drink.

              “I sure fucking hope so.” I am fuming, hands and jaw clenched and my brows furrowed, not that Jessie even notices. Damn! I knew I shouldn't have asked her to watch Leanne. She can't even take care of her damn self, I scold myself, feeling regretful.

              I walk around the rest of what I think is the living room slowly then head down the dimly lit hallway, knocking on doors and taking a peek inside them. When I finally reach the last door in the hallway, I tap on it gently with my knuckle and leaning my ear to the door. I faintly hear some moaning sounds and, scrunching my eyebrows with confusion, I reach for the knob slowly and open it. Peeking inside, the room is fully lit with soft music playing in the background. That is when I see a girl in a purple shirt laid up underneath a guy.

             
What. The. Fuck.

              I immediately storm inside in a fit of rage, grabbing the guy’s shirt and throwing him off the bed, onto the floor.

              “Get off my fucking sister!” I roar as I stand over him, ready to beat him down.

              “Oh my god!” the girl says as she crawls off the bed and backs up to the corner of the room, pulling her shirt down to cover up her panties. It was then that I realized I made a mistake.

              I run my hands through my buzz cut hair and realize that it is not Leanne.
Fuck!
I step back at the doorway and the guy I pulled off is sitting on the floor, groaning in pain as he glances up at me.

              “I'm so sorry.... I- I thought-” I begin in a breathy tone and leave the room feeling embarrassed.

              I begin to feel a little agitated as I pull out my cell phone and dial Leanne's number. It rings several times before going to voice mail, which only makes me annoyed and more agitated than before, but still I leave a message for her.

              “Leanne, I'm here to pick you up at the party. If you were going somewhere else, you should have fucking told me. Call me when you get this.”

              I click the end button on my phone and sigh to myself. I continue to look around the room for a few more moments before finally taking a seat at a vacant bar stool. I take a deep breath and exhale as I stare down at my phone, hoping for a call back from her.

              “Collin!” I hear someone say my name from behind me. I turn around and Brandon is running towards me. I thought he would be happy to see me and will give me information on Leanne, but as he gets closer, I can read the worry and fear written on his face. His eyes are wide and he keeps looking back over his shoulder as if someone is following him. For a moment, my heart beats quickly as I wonder if it has anything to do with Leanne.
              “What's up?” I ask, my heart jumping in my chest as I wait in anticipation for him to spit out his words...

              “Someone just smashed the side windows on your car, Collin!” With this, he leans over, resting his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

              “What?! You're lying.” I look over him in disbelief, shaking my head.

              “N-No, no I'm not. Go look,” he stutters, but he lifts his hand and uses his index finger to point towards the door.

              “The fuck?” I say under my breath and immediately get up from my seat, pushing Brandon out of the way to head outside.

              A crowd has formed around my Mustang, murmuring to themselves about my car. I push them out of the way to get through. “What the hell!” I yell out as I grab the top of my head with both hands in frustration. “Which one of you mother fuckers did this?” I demand as I spin around.

              Nobody answers me and it only pisses me off even more, so much more that I'm ready to knock someone the hell out. I gather myself and open the car door to look inside, quickly searching inside, but nothing seems to be missing or tampered with. Who the fuck smashes in windows and not take anything? I lean down to check my tires and they all seem fine, no holes and no slashes. I shake my head, feeling a little relived that it is only my side windows.

              “Hey, are you okay?” Brandon asks as he pats my back gently, knowing my pain.

              I stand back up. “Ye- Yeah, I'm fine. You didn't see anything?” I ask him, confused.
              “No, I just saw your car busted up,” he shrugs, looking away. He can’t quite meet my eyes as he takes in the damage.

              “Damn... Okay.” I say with disappointment. I look in my car a little more and spot a folded yellow piece of paper on the passenger seat. I tilt my head to one side wondering why I didn't see that before, but still, I pick it up to read it:

We got what you want. Come and get it.

              Who the hell wrote this? I can't think of anyone who would hate me or have a problem with me. Was it that guy I tossed on the ground? But wasn't he in the room with that chick when I left? I think back and realize he was, everything getting lost, jumbled, and shaken up in my mind. Shaking my head, I fold up the note and put it in my pocket, hoping it was just a prank that no one wants to own up to. With a sigh, I swipe all the broken glass off the seat as I climb in.

              “What's that you found?” Brandon asks me as he places a hand on the door, stopping me from closing it.
              “Nothing.” My answers are short and I know it sounds like I am cross, but I start up the engine

              “You going home?” he asks me with his eyebrow raised.

              “No, I'm going to try to find Leanne,” I plainly state as I jerk the door out of his hand and slam it shut.

              “With your windows busted up?”

              I roll my eyes.

              “Yes, right now. I don't give a crap about my windows. I just need to find my damn baby sister. I swear to God if this is one of her jokes I'd-” I pause, sigh, and then close my eyes as I try to gather my thoughts.
              “Where do you think could she be?” he questions.

              “I have no idea. I asked Jessie to keep an eye on her, but I guess she was too busy getting drunk.”
              “Yeah, that's Jessie for ya,” he smirks as he looks back at the house.

              “I just need to find Leanne. Will you let me know if you ever hear from her?” I ask, my voice flat, but I know he realizes I am in a panic just by the look in my eyes.

              “Yeah, no problem,” he nods.
              “And let her know that I'm looking for her and tell her to give me a call and get her ass home as soon as possible?” I add.

              “You got it.” He steps in front of my car and pats the hood, letting me know that he understood and would comply.

              “Thank you,” I nod and pull off onto the street, turning a dark sharp corner.

God, I hope she goes home, and she's not out fooling around with some boy that she does not want me to know about.