“Four, door!” he shouted, throwing the card on the table and jumping to his feet.
There was a clatter behind him, but he was already leaping over the couch. Feet pounding on the worn timber floor, he bee-lined it for the small bathroom door set into the stone wall. Out of the corner of his eye someone else was heading for the same door. There was no fucking way he was drinking again. He ran faster.
With a crash he collided with the door. His stomach dropped as he realised he wasn’t stopping. Toppling forward he landed hard on the black and white tiled floor. Pain seared through his tongue as he tasted blood. Laughter burst from someone behind him. Groaning he rolled over. “Ooo the ‘ell didn close da door propaee?” he grumbled, around his swollen tongue.
“What… was… that… Ki?” a male voice gasped through a renewed fit of laughter.
Ki lifted his head from the floor, peering up at the stocky figure bent double just beyond the doorway. “Fu’ off B’aze,” he said thickly, failing to suppress the grin that spread across his face at the sight of his best friend laughing his head off.
Blaze pushed his brown hair from his red-orange eyes, the piercings lining his pointed ears glittering as he shook his head. Grinning, he held out a hand to Ki, hauling him to his feet. Clapping him on the back, they made their way back to the couches.
The others were laughing as they retook their seats around a low coffee table. A large cup was in the centre surrounded by cards. Half of the cards were wet, an empty glass lying next to the puddle. Picking up his empty glass, Ki made his way to the kitchen to pour himself another whiskey and cola.
“Didn’t want to drink again huh?” chuckled a female with emerald-green hair and matching eyes.
“Shut up Laurel,” he said, shooting her what he hoped was a withering look from the island counter. He obviously failed since she just poked her tongue out at him before turning back to the table.
“Blaze, you didn’t make it to a door, you drink. Ember, it’s your turn to pick up,” Laurel said. She’d become head of their group ever since Forrest had finally let his little sister tag along to the Water Festival hosted near their hometown in the south of the Cerulean Kingdom. Ki was eternally grateful for her, taking the burden off him to keep their rag-tag group together over the decades. He had enough responsibility at home.
“Five, guys! Forrest, Kiran, Blaze, Ki, you’re up!” The shout of the tall female with short red hair and flame-tattooed pointed ears snapped Ki back.
“Damn it,” Ki muttered, frustrated at himself for zoning-out. He’d promised himself he wouldn’t think about home while he was here. He finished pouring his drink and immediately took a swing.
“Thanks for the drink, babe,” Forrest said, pulling Ember in for a kiss. His emerald-green mohawk, the same colour as his sister’s hair, bobbing as he moved. Forrest had styled his hair into a mohawk ever since Ki had done it as a joke when they’d met ninety years ago at Ki’s first Forbidden Festival.
“Ew, you taste like beer,” Ember squealed, flicking a splatter of bright red sparks at him. Laughing he spread his fingers, shooting florescent green tendrils from his fingers to catch the embers before they singed his shirt. Ember had joined their group only five summers’ ago, when she’d met Forrest at the Sun Festival hosted in a remote desert in the Amber Kingdom.
“Ugh quit being so gross,” a tiny platinum blonde female with piercing pale blue eyes covered in shining rhinestones groaned, taking a swing from her beer.
“Aw does Vetra feel left out. Don’t worry, you can give me a smooch,” Blaze said, his lips puckered like a fish as he moved toward her. She barely blinked as a fork of lightning shot down from the ceiling, hitting Blaze and making his hair stand on end. Laughter erupted in the group.
Ki grinned. He still couldn’t figure out how she could wield lightning, and she refused to share her secret since Fulgur Fae were so rare. To be fair he knew very little about Vetra even though he’d known her just as long as Blaze. Ki had met them both seventy years ago at the Thunder Festival in the Amber Kingdom. He also couldn’t figure out what the deal was between them. He’d once asked Blaze who’d only said, “Life’s too short for worrying,” before promptly doing a keg stand.
“Kiran, your turn,” Laurel laughed.
The dark and quiet Kiran was the opposite of the bright and bubbly Laurel, but somehow they’d hit it off and were still together all these years later. It had only taken Forrest a decade to get over his best friend and sister shacking up.
Kiran picked up the card. “Jack. Never have I ever… kissed someone from the Violet Kingdom.” With a sigh Blaze, Vetra and Forrest downed their drinks. Ki hesitated.
“Why are you hesitating?” Blaze called, his glass hitting the table with a clunk.
Ki’s cheeks burned. “Does… kissing their hand count?”
Forrest burst out laughing. “What the hell are you doing kissing the hands of Ultraviolets?” he asked as Vetra, Blaze, and Laurel snickered.
He didn’t answer as the image of an elegant woman in sparkling black gown and shawl popped into his mind. Her choppy black hair had framed her perfect heart-shaped face, bringing out her deep purple eyes which had made his mind go blank. She’d been surrounded by guards standing in his entry hall when-
“Yeah, I guess that counts,” Kiran said, pulling Ki from his memory.
“Com’on man, you gotta tell us the story behind this one,” Forrest said.
Ki’s stomach twisted. “Uh, just a friend of my mothers,” he hedged.
Forrest opened his mouth again, but Laurel cut across them. “Blaze you’re up.”
Blaze snatched up the next card. “King!” He poured some of his bourbon into the centre cup. “Vetra you’re next.”
“Na-ah, that was the last king,” she said with a smirk.
Blaze’s eyes immediately went to Laurel. “She’s right. You’re gonna have to drink the gin-sky bour-beer,” Laurel laughed.
“Fuck it,” Blaze said, but smiled as he grabbed the cup and chugged. The others’ expressions ranged from delight to disgust as they watched. Forrest shouted encouragement as Blaze tipped his head back, throat bobbing with each swallow.
A pang of regret shot through Ki’s chest as he realised he’d wasted the last of the game standing in the kitchen contemplating his miserable life. The Forbidden Festivals were the only time he truly felt like himself, but it was always too long between them. There really should be more than one a year. In a few days he’d have to go back home, back to the formality, back to the strictness, back to his mother… The cup hit the table with a clunk, again pulling him from his musing with a muttered curse.
“Get down here idiot, I’m calling it. Let’s have some nose beers and hit the Waterfall Stage,” Blaze called to him, dangling a bag of white powder in front of him. Blaze pushed the cards out of the way, lining up seven equal white lines. They were hoovered up, drinks were thrown back, and they made their way to the door.
Ki pulled on his boots and quickly checked his reflection in the mirror hanging by the front door. His deep blue eyes were framed by dark lashes and strong cheek bones. His pointed ears peeked through his midnight blue hair which was slightly longer than usual. He decided he liked it this way as he ran his fingers through it to tousle it up. Mostly because his mother would hate it.
No. He wasn’t going to think about her.
“Stop smooching at yourself in the mirror,” Blaze laughed, dragging him out the door.
They emerged on to a long stone walkway, a warm night breeze carrying the faint sound of bass from the far-off stages. Music, that’s what he needed to distract himself. The walkway was crowded with brightly coloured fae, most of them with combinations of blue and green hair and eyes, typical colouring of the Bioluminescent Fae that belonged to the Cerulean Kingdom.
At the end of the walkway was a sheer drop with a staircase and a bridge. Across the bridge was an oversized stone house perched on a finger of grey rock thrusting up from the dense forest below, a mirror of the house they were staying in. There were four houses full of apartments for the fae from each of the four kingdoms.
With Laurel in the lead, they rushed down the long flight of worn stone stairs. Fae passed them in various states of sobriety. The bottom of the stairs finished abruptly in a mossy covered forest. They wound their way through the tree trunks.
Ki could feel the rush building in him, urging him to move faster toward the music. His eyes darted around the forest, watching the orange lights of the Beach Stage shining through the trees, then the blue lights of the Lake Stage. His body tingled as he followed the others along the river, the bass growing louder with each step. A wave of voices rolled over him and he could just make out the words to the chorus of a popular song. Hundreds of little yellow lights appeared, dancing between the trees. Nose beers weren’t supposed to make him hallucinate, were they?
“Ooo! Are those fireflies?” Ember asked in an excited rush. “Why are they even called fireflies? They’re not even made of fire like our salamanders or phoenixes in the Amber Kingdom. If they’re going to be called fireflies, they should look like this” she babbled, sending tiny balls of fire into the air.
Ki smirked as he caught Vetra rolling her eyes. Before Ember could continue the forest gave way to a riverbank. It was crowded with a sea of colourful fae, who exploded into movement as the beat dropped. Flashing lights from the stage beyond them went berserk, and even the fireflies seemed to bob and dip to the music.
The sound reached into his chest. Ki couldn’t stop himself as he launched himself into the crowd, Blaze on his heels. Bodies rubbed up against his, hot and sweaty. He barely noticed as the music took him. The rush that had been building in him since they’d left the apartment was finally released. He was barely aware of anything other than the music.
Every now and then he caught a glimpse of the others around him. Forrest’s green mohawk bent and flexed as he head banged, Ember waved her arms overhead with her eyes closed next to him. Laurel and Kiran were somehow making out in the mess of the crowd. Vetra was shouting the words to the song, arm whipping back and forth to the beat as lightning skittering over her body causing the crowd to give her a wide berth. Blaze had somehow found a drink and was chugging it back.
Just beyond Blaze a flash of purple caught Ki’s eye. He peered past Blaze, locking eyes with a female with long purple and blue hair, one side shaved short showing off a line of piercings down her pointed ear. Her pale purple eyes, set in a heart-shaped face, glimmered with amusement as she raised her eyebrows at him. His stomach did a flip. Holy shit, she had to be the most beautiful female he’d ever seen.
He felt an overwhelming pull toward her. He glanced at the others, but they were preoccupied. He nudged Blaze, who’d thrown his empty cup on the ground and was now lighting a cigarette with a flame at the tip of his index finger. Blaze raised an eyebrow at Ki who nodded to the purple eyed female. Blaze glanced over, and as he turned back a shit-eating grin spread across his face. Ki rolled his eyes, but Blaze’s grin grew wider. Holding the cigarette between his lips, he pushed Ki toward the female.
Ki stumbled forward. The female touched her friend on the shoulder, nodded to Ki, and detached herself from their group. As he approached, he realised she was oddly familiar. He bent down to her ear, getting a whiff of lavender. “Do I know you from somewhere?”
She pulled back. Something flashed in her eyes as she scrutinised his face. Her purple lined lips pulled into a frown as she shook her head. An electric heat tingled through his body as her eyes met his. She stopped shaking her head abruptly, as if she’d felt the electric heat too. She blinked up at him, seeming to consider for a moment, before placing a black nailed hand on his chest and reaching up to his ear on her toes.
“My favourite band’s playing at the Beach Stage soon, wanna come?”
He nodded, hardly believing his luck. He glanced over at his friends, a pang of guilt mixed with regret flitting through his chest as he saw them dancing together, but the girl was already pulling him away.
***
Read Neon Fae Part Two - Light out now!