Maria would never have believed how large the crowd was. She’d heard of raves before and seen them on television, but she never expected them to be quite like this. People just kept pouring in, and none of them appeared to be locals. Questions spun through her mind. Where were all these people coming from? How were they getting here unnoticed? How did they know to come here?

Jacky claimed to know a lot about the place, though Maria wasn’t certain how much of it she believed. According to Jacky, the building had once been a factory. Judging by the layout and mostly wide open floors, it seemed plausible to her. When all the major industry left the area, the factory had shut down and been abandoned. That was until some eccentric had bought the building and slowly transformed it into an underground rave arena. All of that sounded far-fetched to Maria. Dry Well wasn’t exactly a big town to begin with, and there weren’t big enough cities nearby to find anywhere near this many weirdos. Yet, here she was in the middle of a crowd large enough to fill a regional fandom convention.

The layout of the building was straightforward enough. There were three stories altogether. Jacky said they weren’t allowed on the second story, though she didn’t seem to know why. The ground floor, where they currently stood, consisted of a few small offices, open space, and some break rooms where even now people were handing out drinks to sweat drenched individuals. Jacky kept a tight grip on Maria’s hand as she dragged her past all of that until they got to a stairwell leading down to the dance floor.

Jacky turned to Maria and gave her a once over. “You know it will be hot down there with you dressed like that.”

“You’re one to talk. What little you are wearing is all black. Won’t that cause you to bake?”

Jack rolled her eyes. “We’re not in the sun, you adorable dumb-dumb.” She licked her lips. “Anyway the sweat sliding off my body will keep my temp down.” She tsked. “No. Just look at this.” She pulled at Maria’s blouse. “You’ll sweat through this in a heartbeat if we dance. And white, too? If anyone spills anything one you it’s bye, bye pretty white shirt.”

Maria blanched. She hadn’t thought about that. A dozen terror filled thoughts passed through her head like a windstorm. What if Jacky asked her to take it off and walk around like those topless girls at the entrance? She shivered at the thought. That would be so embarrassing. There’s no way she could do that.

Jacky broke her out of her panicked thoughts by hugging her around the waist and pushing her against a wall. Some people milled up the stairway they’d been blocking and thanked her for moving. Maria looked from them to her and blushed.

“Sorry,” Maria muttered. “I’m not used to this.”

Jacky booped her nose against Maria’s. “You know we can leave if you’re uncomfortable. Right?”

Maria’s heart skipped a beat and the shock must have shown on her face because Jacky frowned at her. “We?”

Jacky nodded. “Yeah, we. You and me.” She smiled and winked. “You stick out like a sore thumb here. It’s obvious you don’t belong here. I wonder just how you stumbled in…” Her voice trailed off as she cradled her head on Maria’s shoulder and nibbled softly at her neck.

Maria shivered again. “I guess I do stick out, don’t I?” She laughed. “Don’t answer that. It’s rhetorical.”

“Why are you even here?” Jacky’s voice was a soft whisper, barely audible above the blaring music.

“That’s the question of the night, isn’t it? I’m not even sure myself anymore.” She raised her arms to hug Jacky, who showed no sign she would stop nuzzling her anytime soon. “You ever see someone and just get the feeling you have to follow them? You’re not sure why. Maybe you’re just lonely, or feel rejected, but for whatever reason a primal, almost instinct driven part of you says you’ve got to do it. This is your chance.”

“Like a guy you want to bed on the first date?” Jack stifled a giggle with Maria’s neck.

Maria scrunched her nose and made a noise like she was spitting something gross out, and Jacky came back up to watch her expressions. “No. I’m not like that.” Then the joke dawned on her and she laughed, then stuck out her tongue to make a bleh face. “It has to at least be the second date.” Jacky nipped playfully close to Maria’s lip, and for a second Maria thought she saw small fangs protruding from her mouth. “Hey, stop that she chided.”

Jacky curled her bottom lip into a pout. “You should be more careful with your tongue then. Or else I might end up sucking it out of your mouth.”

Maria flicked her tongue back out for a second and laughed. She should have expected a response like that, but it didn’t quite surprise her. Whether Jacky were on drugs or just really into her in ways she didn’t want to process at the moment Maria didn’t care. Her heart raced at the attention. This was what she had been missing. The rush, the exhilaration, the sheer intensity of it all. It was intoxicating. Empowering. But guilt nagged at her. She didn’t want to lead this girl on. She shook the dumb smile off of her face. “I’m not like that either, sadly.” She winked, trying to play it off. “Even if I were, my parents would never approve.”

Jacky tsked. “You can’t let your parents decide everything for you.” She leaned in, attempting to kiss Maria, but she turned her head away in soft rebuke. “You wouldn’t be here if you felt different. That I can tell you for sure.”

That grabbed Maria’s attention. “What do you mean?” Her mind raced with confusion. What did she know about her, anyway?

Jacky sighed and pulled away to gesture at the scene surrounding them. “You can’t be that oblivious to yourself. Can you?” An expression of mixed confusion and distress spread over her face. “You’re surrounded by nothing but punks and goths. There’s a literal rave raging beneath your feet. You’ve walked through orgies to get here and had, in my opinion the second sexiest lady in attendance, hanging off your arm or nestled into that supple neck of yours all night. If all of that doesn’t scream rebellion then I’m not sure what does.”

Maria thought about it. Jacky had a point. She had been fed up with blind obedience for a long while now. Her family expected her to tend to the church, help her mother with the wifely duties, be silent, and only go where her father wanted her to when he wanted her to. She’d never had personal freedom and wouldn’t have known it existed if it weren’t for school. They’d sheltered everything from her, and her first bite into rebellion left a sweet apple-like taste in her mouth.

It could explain everything neatly. Perhaps it was the main driver for her following the kids into Punk Narnia. Perhaps it was why she so readily accepted the pleasant touch of Jacky. But something nagged at her. There had been something different about the wild-man. She’d felt some subtle vibe from him when their eyes met. And that odd flame vision? It couldn’t be an accident that it had led her here. Looking into Jacky’s soft brown eyes gave her a different impression though. The confusion melted as she felt herself melting into them. Maybe they weren’t important. Maybe he wasn’t important.

Jacky broke the silence with a sudden clap and a twirl of her fingers. “Come on. Turn around and take off your blouse. We don’t have all night.”

Maria blushed and sputtered, “What?”

Jacky rolled her eyes at her. “I’m going to fold it up into a makeshift wrap for you. It won’t be comfortable, but it’s better than sweating to death.”

Maria looked around wide eyed. “But there are so many people around.” She didn’t want to expose herself in front of strangers. That was just too much.

With an imperious step forward that made her heels clack loudly against the cement floor, Jacky stepped forward, ran her fingers through Maria’s hair, and pulled her close until their noses touched and their eyes locked. “Don’t worry. They all know you’re mine tonight.”

A strange numbness flowed over Maria. Jitters of excitement coursed through her like electric currents. Shaky hands she was hardly aware were her own rose and began unbuttoning her clothes.