Infinity Academy

Chapter Six

The party was actually kind of fun. Of course, nobody really spoke to me unless they had to, but I was quite enjoying being left alone to drown my feelings in the free booze. I’d lost count of how many drinks I had knocked back, but knew that I was on the edge of being absolutely, one hundred percent, wasted. The music was easy to bop along to, and I found myself dancing along to the upbeat songs. “Another drink good sir!” I yelled in an English accent, to nobody in particular, and began making my way back to the keg that was over by the pool table that someone had managed to get in here. The room looked to have been some sort of communal living area on this floor, but the couches had been pushed back against the walls to allow space for the pool table that now stood in the centre of the room. As I bent down to fill up my cup, someone shoved into my back and making me lose my balance, and sent me toppling towards the keg. I felt my face collide with the metal edge of the barrel, then fell to the floor. Opening my eyes, my sight was blurry and I couldn’t hear what the people were saying- that had formed a circle around me- through the high-pitched ringing in my ears. I groaned and cupped my hand to the side of my head, feeling something slimy and wet spread over my hand as I did. I closed my eyes again, struggling to keep them open. I wasn’t sure if it was from the alcohol, the knock to the head, or both, but I felt awfully sick all of a sudden. 

****

I wished that the swaying sensation would just stop already, it was making my stomach churn more than it needed to. “It’s okay, Princess, I’ve got you,” a male voice whispered. My consciousness was fading in and out, and I was losing track of what was going on. There was no longer the beat of the music or sounds of people trying to talk over the top of it, just a steady beating sound and scuffling footsteps. The sound of a door opening, and then a few voices starting to talk before being shushed by another, then a second door opening and closing. I felt my body sink gently into the soft surface of a bed, before the blankets were pulled up over me. “Who’s that?” I asked, still feeling too groggy to open my eyes. A pair of strong arms curled around my waist as a silky pair of lips kissed my temple softly. “Shh, just get some sleep princess.” 

****

I opened my eyes to a stream of sunlight filtering through a gap in the curtains and winced at the brightness. My whole body was warm, bordering on scorching. My stomach started to lurch and I tried to get out of bed quickly with the hope of making it to the bathroom in time. A muscular arm pulled me closer, pressing firmly on my abdomen. I could feel the vomit slowly making its way up my throat, needing to be released. I grasped the arm tightly, not caring if I hurt them; the only thing on my mind right now was getting to the toilet before the contents of my stomach ended up all over the bed. I shoved the arm off of me and flung myself out of the bed, stumbling a few times before the spinning stopped enough for me to locate the bathroom door. The toilet bowl was now my new best friend and I knew that I wouldn’t be leaving its side any time soon. I had only been drunk once before, when Liam and I were in Ireland a couple years ago and decided to take an offer from a pretty powerful Effigy we met there. That night I had spent a majority of my time curled around the bottom of the toilet, regularly lifting my head to empty my stomach into it. Liam had sat with me the whole time, rubbing my back and letting me know I was going to be okay. 

As I was retching and vomiting into the toilet bowl, a hand came up beside my face and brushed my hair back, gripping it softly to keep it from getting covered in my puke. I would have thanked whoever it was, but was silenced by another wave of nausea forcing even more liquid out of me. Surely I hadn’t drunk that much; I felt like I’d brought up at least a few l****s already. Eventually, the need to vomit subsided enough for me to get up. The hand released my hair and was placed gently on my lower back, rubbing lightly in small circles. I moved to the sink and leant down to rinse my mouth with water, splashing a little over my face to help cool me down. Even when I was drunk in Ireland, I didn’t feel this horrible afterwards. As I looked up into the mirror, the sight that I was met with made me jump. Kaiser was standing behind me, his brushy eyebrows furrowed with concern. The other thing that frightened me was the large clump of blood that was dried on the side of my head. My face had small streaks of blood still stuck to it. I looked down at my hands and saw they also had a slight red coating. “What happened?” I croaked, then cleared my throat with a cough. “You had a little too much to drink,” Kaiser said disapprovingly, “I was told that you fell and hit your head. You were pretty out of it when I brought you home.” I couldn’t help but laugh, “And here I was, saying that nobody had to worry about me. Though if you had just left me there, I’d probably be better off.” My moods were swinging back and forth like a pendulum. One minute I was laughing and then the next, tears were streaming down my face. Kaiser pulled me in to his chest, wrapping his arms around me and holding me close. “Shh, you’re alright,” he assured me, “I would never leave you like that, Princess.” I pulled my head back from his chest, sniffing like a small child, “What are you doing here anyway?” 

“Well, I brought you back but thought it best to stay with you until you woke up. I’m no doctor, but I thought you might have a concussion or something after seeing the gash on your head, and didn’t want to risk you dropping dead in your sleep.” I had to chuckle at that, “I would’ve been fine. But I’m sorry that you didn’t get to sleep in your own bed. I’m sure it would’ve been a lot more comfortable than dealing with me all night.” His hands wandered up my arms until they were cupping my face, “It was extremely comfortable staying with you, Emerald. I can’t think of anything I would’ve rather done.” That comment made me blush. Why was he all of a sudden being so nice to me? First he accused me of being a thief, then pushed the other guys to gang up on me. And last night before we went to the party, he seemed pissed at the fact that I decided to go too. So why the change of heart? 

“I’m sure you have things that you need to get done today, and I think I’m in need of a shower,” I said turning back to the mirror to inspect the wound more closely. When I looked at him through the mirror, his eyes were appraising me. “You can leave now, Kaiser. I don’t think I’m at risk of dying anymore. I’m fine, really,” I continued, staring at him with raised eyebrows. He blinked a few times and the muttered, “Yeah, of course,” before walking briskly out of the room. I waited to hear the bedroom door close and then started to take my clothing off. Kaiser had clearly rid me of my shoes last night when he brought me back here, and I was glad he hadn’t decided to change my blood-stained dress. The hot spray of the shower really helped to loosen my aching muscles and chased away the last feelings of nausea. I still had a throbbing headache but I could guess that it had more to do with the large gash on my head than the after effects of my drinking last night. 

As I walked back into my bedroom, I realised what the time was and cursed under my breath. I hadn’t contacted anyone to say that I wouldn’t be back in class until Monday. I let out a deep sigh and went to my closet, pulling on a pair of grey sweat pants and a white singlet. I couldn’t be bothered with underwear or trying to clasp a bra so decided to go without both. I would just bum around here for the day and then hopefully I’d be able to get some shopping done tomorrow. Hoping that the guys had all gone to class, I left my room, tiptoeing to the kitchen to find something bland to eat. Just as I had put a piece of bread into the toaster, the front door opened and Cerberus walked in, balancing a few books in his arms. “I heard you had an eventful night last night,” he smirked, closing the door and placing his books on the edge of the counter. “Yeah, I guess I went a little over the top on the drinking. But I blame you,” I say smiling back at him. “Oh, and why is that?” 

I chewed the inside of my cheek, mentally crossing my fingers that he wasn’t someone who got angry over people taking his stuff out of the fridge, “Well, I kind of found your bourbon stash in the fridge and had one before the party. Actually, I was planning on just lounging around here until Kaiser and Adryan mentioned that the Scraps were having a party and then thought, why not?” I was babbling, something I always tend to do when I’m feeling nervous. Cerberus’s smirk didn’t falter as he took a step closer, “Are you worried that I’m upset that you took a drink from me?” I lowered my eyes at his intense stare, then nodded. “Well, I’m sure if you’re that bothered by it, you can just make it up to me some other way,” He practically purred. When I looked up into his eyes, their usual Auburn hue had veins of black swirling through them. Before I could answer him, he took another step towards me, then another, until his chest was pressed against me. I tilted my head back, still staring into his eyes. “I would really like to kiss you right now, Emerald,” he whispered, grasping my chin between his large, rough fingers, holding it in place. My brain was currently in a mixture of freak out mode and begging me to let him kiss me. On the one hand, I wondered what his lips would feel like on mine, but on the other I knew that if I let this happen, there would be no going back. While I was internally debating what I should do, Cerberus leaned in, his hot breath fanning over my face, sending electricity coursing through my veins. As his lips collided softly with mine, I let out a breathless moan and forgot all about the problems that this one kiss was going to cause me. 

Hours. It felt like hours had passed with his lips devouring mine with raw want and need. I was sure that my lips were much plumper and pinker than they usually were, but I just couldn’t stop myself, he tasted so damn good. He pulled back, letting me take a few deep breaths, before his lips were on me again, this time leaving a trail of kisses down my neck, to my collarbone. The moans and breathless pants were coming hard and fast now, and my body was demanding more of him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, taking handfuls of his hair as my hips began grinding against him of their own accord. “Cerberus.” His name left my lips so easily, like this wasn’t the first time we were doing this. Without releasing his lips from their place on my neck, he grasped my waist and lifted me on to the counter, pushing my legs open with his hips as he stepped forward. I pulled his face back to mine, bringing one hand from his hair down to the front of his pants, lightly running my hand over his growing manhood. A strangled growl left his throat as I moved to unbuckle the belt that was holding his jeans up. Just as I had the belt loosened, the front door crashed open, making us both jump. Cerberus took a step back and quickly turned towards the living room, adjusting himself. I hopped down from the counter, trying to look as normal as possible. 

“Well, well, would you look what we have here, boys,” Adryan smirked, turning to look at Kaiser and Ansel who were all holding bags of food. ‘Don’t start, Adryan,” Cerberus sneered, stepping in front of me. I was thankful that he did, I probably looked worse than him right now. “I’m not starting anything, just stating the obvious. It’s just lucky that we walked in when we did, now you can’t possibly win the bet,” Adryan laughed. Cerberus took a threatening step forward, “I mean it, that’s enough.” “What bet? What are you talking about?” I asked, stepping around Cerberus and glaring at Adryan. “Nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about, Em. It’s between us boys.” I turned away and stormed to my room. I could guess what their bet was about and if they thought that I was going to let the four of them use me for their little game, then they had another thing coming.