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The party was in full swing. The music got louder and louder with the second until the walls were vibrating. At least nobody would lose sleep over it, the entire dorm was here, cramped in my room.
I staggered through the crowd, dancing and swaying to the beat of the drums. The alcohol had taken the sharp edge off and the haze was a very welcome guest. It made me forget why I’d made such a fuss in the first place.
“I don’t give a flying F. Not a flying, not a flying, not a flying F,” I sang, dancing and bobbing to the rhythm of the beat. I could feel the flow of the song, the tug of music on my heart. It was like it played inside me, drumming through my veins the same way like the wind magic did.
I was one with the song and the song was in all of us. Everyone around me was moving with the melody, unified by the flow. That was what music did to us. It made us move and come together in peace, strengthening the bonds between all of us. Just like it was meant to.
“Great party!” I shouted at Stina.
“I know!” she hollered back.
She was swaying, although that could’ve been me. Maybe it was both of us. Whichever it was, we were having a good time. It’d been too long since we all danced together, drowning and disappearing in the clutches of music.
It was almost like old times...
“I don’t give a.... I don’t give a... I don’t give a...”
The music built and built, sweeping us away in the waves of the melody. My feet couldn’t stay still and as the song reached its peak, the Valkyrie dormitory shook from the collective jumping and stomping. We were all taken, captured, hypnotised by the gaze of alcohol and the beautiful music.
Maybe the east wind dancers were onto something.
Our bodies were telling the same story as the lyrics, translating invisible notes into visible, tangible motions. A visualisation of music, like sign language was a visualisation of words. Only the latter wasn’t acceptable in the life I would lead.
I had to forget about signing, about Thea, about all the things I wanted. I had a duty that I couldn’t escape from.
“Stinaaaaa!” I waved my empty glass at her, my resolve to not let her near it long gone. “More rum!”
She peeled herself away from the guy she was dancing and flirting with and stumbled across the living room. “Coming up!”
The song changed and a new melody caught me in its claws. It was catchy and familiar, but I couldn’t place it. It didn’t matter.
I swayed to the new beat, forcing my mind to abandon all my wandering thoughts. I was having fun and that was all that mattered.
This was not so bad.
A cold glass was pressed in my hands, but instead of Stina, I stared at a set of dark eyes underneath a head of wild hair. He smiled, his teeth blindingly white. “Hey.”
“Hey!” I shouted, dancing around him. “I like your hair!”
He bopped along with the music, his eyes never leaving me. “I like your smile. What’s your name?”
“Bryn!” I shouted. “That’s me.”
“Arne. I’m honoured to meet you.”
“No business talk!” I grabbed his hands, encouraging him to do more than just bop his head. “Dance! Enjoy the party!”
Somehow, his hands travelled down my body and landed on my hips. “I’d rather enjoy you.”
Despite the drunken haze, alarm bells went off in my head. Hell no.
I pushed Arne’s hands away, the magic in my veins crackling. “Don’t touch me.”
“Come on, be nice to me.”
“Be nice to me? Do you know who I am?”
“Do you know who I am? I’m a commodity, Bryn. There are lots of girls and only a couple of men. You should be flattered,” he flirted, his head dipping closer to mine. “Very flattered.”
That was enough.
I shoved his chest with more force than necessary. He stumbled back and thudded to the ground, disrupting the flow of the dancing. Girls jolted out of the way and just like with everything I did, all eyes turned to me.
Someone switched the music off and whispers filled the room.
The guy got back up, his smile long gone. “She pushed me!”
More hushed voices sounded around me, but everyone stayed put. They’d be fools to interrupt.
It didn’t look like Arne was great at reading the room.
He turned to other guys, his cheeks red from alcohol and anger. “Well? Is anyone going to make this bitch leave?”
His friends put their heads together and one bravely broke away from the pack. He hurried over to Arne and whispered something in his ear. From the look on his face, I could guess the new piece of information he just acquired. He just learned who I was.
His already pale face turned even paler, his eyes widening so I could see the white of them. “I... I...”
His sudden change only made me angrier. If I wasn’t someone important, he wouldn’t have shown any remorse.
I stared at his face, the magic sizzling in my veins.
No, this wasn’t remorse. It was fear. Self-preservation.
He wouldn’t have given a flying fuck if I wasn’t who I was.
My hands balled into fists but I was putting them in my pockets or hiding them behind my back. The coals of suppressed anger flared up into a roaring blaze that couldn’t be put out.
Enough was enough. I’d put up with people walking over me for long enough. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was just the last straw, but I was done.
The anger rolled through my veins, mixing with the wind magic until there was a tornado raging in my heart. My wings exploded from my back and filled the room with a powerful gust of wind. Napkins flew away and girls had to grab hold of their skirts.
“Forgive me, I didn’t know—“ Arne whimpered, but I didn’t let him speak. He would learn a lesson today, whether he wanted to or not. One that would hopefully stay with him until the day he died.
I grabbed him by the shirt and with the clap of my wings, I sent him flying through the window. He screamed as he broke through the glass and plummetted down.
Male Wind Children had no wings and my room was on the third floor.
He thudded to the ground, no longer screaming or harassing anyone.
The room was completely silent and nobody seemed sure what to do next. Some seemed shocked, others were zoned out, some looked curious.
I glared at them, daring anyone to speak up and defend him. I almost wanted someone to challenge me, so I had a place to channel my anger.
Nobody did, just as I thought. They’d be fools to defy me.
“Somebody alert Doctor Wagner that he has a new patient,” I announced. “Party is over.”