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    Music blared from the house as he walked up the steps, invitation in hand. He looked the invitation over once more, then he eyed the address of the house, “Yup, this is the place.”



         He knocked on the door and waited. After a few more knocks and zero response, he began rounding the house, headed to the back. The music began to grow louder as he approached the backyard; he turned the corner of the house to see a crowded yard. It was jam packed with people, all dancing to the upbeat music.



         “Alex! Over here!” Alex saw Emily pushing her way through the crowd, clumsily. “You made it!”



         Alex nodded, “Yeah, my parents were out of town, so I decided to drop by. Where’s David?”



         “Oh, he’s around here somewhere, but never mind him. How was your summer?” She asked, while sipping her drink.



         “As busy as always. We’ve been out of town a lot since school got out, visiting relatives and stuff.” He paused and changed subjects, “So, how’s Sam and David doing? I haven’t exactly heard much from them, or you this summer.”



         “Well, we’ve been doing fine. Sam’s grand-mother died a few weeks ago, so he’s away at her funeral. I haven’t seen much of David, except for tonight, he’s been spending a lot of time at the lake near the outskirts of Birmingham.”



         Alex nods, taking the information in, he turns from Emily and eyes the crowd. A tall young man, about Alex’s age pushed through the crowd in Alex and Emily’s direction. He walks towards them with a smile on his face and two drinks in his hands, “Hey Emily!”



         Emily turned towards the man and gasped, “Ben!” She wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug and smiled, “How have you been? I haven’t seen you for a couple of years!”



         Ben nodded, “Yeah, I’ve been pretty busy since a couple summers ago.” He paused and eyed Alex, “Who’s your friend?”



         Emily smiled and touched Alex’s arm, “This is Alex Patel. He’s a friend of mine; we’ve known each other for a long time.”

         Ben smiled and nodded, “Pleasure to meet you, Alex.” He handed one of the drinks to him, “Have a drink!”



         Alex smiled at Ben, “Thanks, and it’s a pleasure to meet you too.” He sipped his drink slowly. He frowned and his throat began to burn. Alex dropped the cup and coughed loudly, leaning against the side of the house. His arms began to go numb and his tongue swelled.



         Emily blinked at Alex, “Uhm, are you okay?”



         Alex’s vision started to blur and he lost feeling in his legs, he slumped against the house and slid to the ground. Emily screamed, “Alex!”



         Ben stood expressionless and nodded, “I’ll get help.” And with that, he slid past the partygoers and out of sight.



         Emily sat next to Alex and stoked his head, “Everything will be okay, Alex.” And he passed out.





         Alex woke with someone shaking him, “Alex! Get up man!”



         Alex opened his eyes and blinked a few times until his eyes were adjusted to the afternoon sun. A young man was sitting next to him. The man was dressed in a black leather cloak that extended down to his ankles. His pants were made of the same leather material. He smiled at Alex, “Mornin’ sleepy head! I thought you’d never wake up!”



         Alex groaned and rubbed his eyes, he looked up at the man sitting next to him, “David? What are you doing here?” He eyed David’s clothes, “And, what are you wearing?”



         David sighed, “It’s a long story, Alex. I’ll explain it later. First, we have to get you back to your house.”



         Alex glanced around. They were sitting in the backyard he passed out in. Streamers, cups and plates covered the grass, from the party the night before, “Wait, did Ben find you last night?”



         David raised an eyebrow, “I found you last night, basically dieing on my lawn. Who’s Ben?”



         “One of Emily’s friends, I met him last night. He gave me a drink and we started talking. The next thing I know, I’m unconscious. Ben said he’d go get help. I thought he would have gotten the police though.” Alex rubbed his head.

         

“Ben didn’t get me, Alex. He probably took off. Did you say he gave you a drink?”



“Yeah. I took a drink and my throat started burning and everything started going numb.” Alex motioned to a half empty cup near where he was sitting, “I think that’s the drink right there.”



Ben stood and picked the cup up. He looked it over and sniffed the contents of it, “It looks like that guy poisoned you, Alex, or tried to. You probably just didn’t drink enough of it to take the full effect. What was his name again?”



Alex stood on wobbly legs and rubbed his aching head, “Ben. Now, can you just get me home? I’m tired and everything’s as sore as can be.”



David nodded and they began the long trek home. David, Emily and Alex live in the same small community, close to Birmingham, England. David’s house is near the outskirts of this community, closer to Birmingham than anyone else, so the walk to Alex’s home took awhile. Alex lives at the top of a hill in the center of the community, close to Emily’s house.



When they arrived at Alex’s house, his parents stormed out of the house and down the driveway to meet them, “Where were you? We were worried sick!” Alex’s mother yelled. She eyed David and smiled, “Thank you for bringing him home, David.”



“No problem, Mrs. Patel. He had a rough night, so make sure he gets some rest.” David said, before heading back down the driveway, waving to Alex, “I’ll see you later, Alex!”



“See ya, David.” Alex waved back.



“Alex, you’re in deep trouble.” Mr. Patel crossed his arms and glared at Alex, “Why didn’t you call to tell us you were staying at David’s? But, no! Instead you left us in the dark, worrying about you all night. You’re grounded, Alex, Starting immediately.”



“Fine, whatever.” Alex walked up the stairs to his house and walked inside. His house is slightly smaller than David’s. Alex reached down and patted his dog, Bandit, who was barking at him as he entered the home. Bandit is a small, yappy Papillion, with long hair.

Alex opened the door to his room and sighed, closing it behind him and lying down on his bed. So many questions were in his head. Why did Ben try to poison him? Why would Emily befriend a killer? Why me? His cell phone rang and Alex jumped, startled. He picked it up and answered it.



“Hello?”



“Hey Alex, its Ben.”



Alex paused, thinking of what to say next. Ben continued.



“How are you? I heard you hit your head pretty hard last night.”



“My head?” Alex answered, confused.



“Yeah, you fell and hit your head on a rock. I tried to get help, man. I really did.”



“It’s…okay, Ben. David helped me.”



“Say. Why don’t I come up there? We can hang out for awhile.”



Alex paused again, “Uhm, I’ll ask my parents, hold on.” Alex set his phone down and ran out to his parent’s room and began searching their clothes for their cell phone. Finally, he found it in his Dad’s jeans pocket.  He dialed David’s number.



“Hello?”



“David! Ben called! He wants to know if I want to hang out with him!”



David gasped a bit, “Say yes, I’m on my way.”



“You’ll have to leave now to make it. We’re a long ways away and I have no idea when Ben’s going to be here.”



David hung up.



Alex dropped his parent’s phone on their bed and raced back into his room, he picked up his phone, “Um, my parents said it was okay if you came here.”



“Great, I’ll be there soon.” Ben hung up the phone.

Alex waited in his living room, he turned on his TV, but paid more attention to the street. He looked out the window every few minutes, looking for any sign of David, or Ben. Finally, a knock came at the door. Alex got out of his chair and walked to the front door; he paused before opening it and took a deep breath. He opened it, and Ben walked in.



“Hey Alex! You’re looking better!”



“Oh, um, thanks.”



Alex closed the door behind Ben and led him to the living room. Alex took a seat in a chair and Ben took a couch.



“So...” Alex started, “How’s everything?”



“Fine,” Ben answered.



There was a silence and Ben stood up, “Alex, what do you know about the Order?”



Alex raised an eyebrow, “The what?”



Ben sighed and reached into his back pocket. Alex eyed Ben up and down slowly. Ben smiled and pulled out a long, elaborate looking knife. Jewels covered its hilt, embedded into the shiny golden surface. Ben twirled the knife around in his hand a bit and then gripped it tightly.



“Alex, I think you’re lying.”



Alex got out of his chair slowly and raised his hands slightly, “Ben…what are you--“



Before Alex could finish his sentence, Ben lashed out with the knife, swiping at Alex’s face. Alex jumped out of the way of the blade and backed up to the wall.



“Ben! Stop this!” Alex yelped.



Ben charged Alex, knife at the ready. He swung at Alex’s face again, but Alex slid down the wall, barely catching the tip of the blade to his chin. Alex thrust his foot at Ben’s legs and watched as Ben yelped in surprise and tumbled over. Ben rolled into a crouching position and jumped at Alex again. Alex leaned to the side, the blade just missing his ear, digging into the wall next to it. Alex sent a quick punch to Ben’s jaw and dived away from the wall quickly. Ben let out a grunt of pain and rubbed his jaw.  He glared at Alex and ripped his knife from the wall.



“Hold still!” Ben grunted.



Alex backed up slowly, fists up and ready to throw a punch. Then, the door opened. Alex’s gaze wandered over to the door and saw David jogging in, gasping for breath.



In between gasps, David says, “Sorry I’m late. I ran into--” He eyed Alex’s cut chin and his expression and looked over at Ben, who was now running at David, knife out. David stood and waited until Ben got closer, as he ran up to David; David jumped to the side and sent a kick to Ben’s ribcage. Ben gasped and fell to his knees, gasping for breath and clutching his side. David sent another kick at Ben’s face. Ben fell backward, clutching his broken, bleeding nose, his knife clattering to the ground. Alex leaned down and picked it up, examining it closely as David sent punch after punch to Ben’s face and stomach. David finally stopped and stood up, dusting himself off and eyeing the now unconscious Ben.



Alex stood there, shocked, “How…” He paused, “Thanks.”



David nodded, “Help me get him out of here.”



Alex and David lifted the unconscious Ben out the door and dumped him on the neighbor’s lawn. Alex and David left Ben and went back to his house. Shortly after, Alex’s parents pulled into the driveway. They got out of the car and started unloading the groceries.



“Alex! Could you give us a hand with--” Mr. Patel stopped and stood, wide eyed at the hole in the wall and the blood across the floor, “What happened?!” He yelled, dropping the bags of groceries and rushing over to Alex, examining his chin.



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Ace's comment:



Hey everyone! I hope you liked this story! It's FAR from finished. Anyone have any ideas for a Title?