Young Writers Society

Kratzer raised his glass in appreciation of his brother's performance, swaying in his seat but not falling over due to the seatbelt Wilson had put in place. "Ja! Veryh gud Jamesh!"

Schadel let out a snort as Edward ducked his head down, face bright red in embarrassment. He had been thrilled about the impression when James had said he was next, but the excitement was gone - now he was absolutely mortified. He had forgotten what he was like the last time they had met; he had been through so much since then that it was little more than a distant, cringy memory that he tried to ignore. But James had brought it to the forefront of his drunken mind, and all the stupid things he had done and said back were stubbornly staying put.

"It was justified," he replied, so quiet that he was on the verge of muttering. He stared down at the liquid in his glass. "Magic isn't supposed to exist...I was actually being mature back then, even though it seems stupid now that I'm a ghost...And...And witches were burned years ago - you're just from another world..."

Even his ears were red now, and the laughter escaping Schadel in sudden bursts was failing to help.

James couldn’t help but smirk at Schadel’s laughter. He knew it wasn’t very kind, but it was contagious, and he was in a mood. Some... mood he didn’t have words for. He found hinself chuckling as he leaned over the table and pulled the bottle to the center, then spun it loosely in his hands. As it turned around he looked up at Edward.

“I’m fROm a DiFfEReNt wOrLd,” he said mockingly. Then the bottle pointed to Schadel.

Schadel looked down at the bottle, then back up at James. Edward remained mortified beside her, but she doubted that was going to change in the near future. It took her little time to decide; she was still firm on her decision to do truth over dare. But before she could give her response, her phone began to play the Elementary theme.

She pulled it out of her pocket.

Blanx? Why was her brother calling her now? He had known about her plans for the night, though he had strongly objected to the part where Edward would go with a disguise - he wouldn't interrupt her. Frowning - and only mildly concerned, because Blanx could handle himself - she looked at the others in the room.

"I'm sorry to interrupt the game, but I have to step outside for a minute," Schadel sheepishly said. She gestured at her phone screen. "My brother doesn't usually call me when he knows I have plans, so I think he might need some help with something. I'll be right back in."

Schadel hit receive and hurried on outside.


Great. Now he'd have to think about how oblivious and stubborn he'd been as a kid, and listen to James - and likely the others - tease him about a part of his life he really didn't want to think about right now. He was just so embarrassed. He rested his head in his hands and tried to avoid looking at anyone in particular; his cheeks felt warmer than expected, but he could barely focus on that.

His face slid further into his hands. It wasn't even his turn - shouldn't James have been the one getting humiliated-

The bobby pin in his hair was suddenly dislodged by him moving his hand. Eyes widening in horror, Edward stumbled to grab it. But he was too late: the clip had already fallen onto the dark floor, hidden in some crevice he could barely make out. Edward was gone from the views of the others in an instant, and the steady stream of swears that left his lips was unheard by all present.

"Oooooh..." Kratzer murmured, looking where Edward had been and blinking. This was strange. He'd been drunk before - really drunk - but this was a whole new level. People had never disappeared in the past. "Edvard? Broser...?"

"I'm right here!" he shouted, so drunk that he momentarily forgot Engel wouldn't be able to hear what was being said. He continued to crawl and search for his missing bobby pin. Where was it!? He need that pin! As he peered around the surrounding area, he bumped into the chair that Engel was sitting in - knocking both him and the chair to the floor.

"ACH!!" Kratzer let out a shriek of surprise as he went toppling to the ground and everything went cold. Cold, as though the King of Hell had just walked in the room and left again - freezing to his bones. "PLESH TELL ME ZIS ISN'T JUST MIR!" he exclaimed, scrambling out of the seatbelt.

James went from smirking to wide-eyed skock in what should have been a second, but in reality was three seconds delayed. He stared, frozen as the image of Edward disappeared.

“Holy f***n’ godsdambove, he’s a magic.”

Then Engel collapsed to the floor with a chaotic thwack of his chair. James jumped in his seat, barely balanced on his feet as he leaned down to try and pull Kratzer up. As he reached down, a chill ran through his arm like a cool wind. Hm. That was odd. Kratzer couldn’t have... farted, could he? No, it would’ve been warm.

He took a sniff in the air anyways. His mistake. All he smelt was alcohol.

“It’s not jush you,” he said firmly, flinching at Kratzer’s yells as he still held out a hand for Kratzer.

I was caught up laughing over James' impression of Edward, and by the time I had come to, he was gone, before our very eyes. Engel acknowledged it, and James verified it as well, so.

Sweet god. Had his maker come for him, no longer satisfied to let his soul wander the earth unchecked? Was that the last we would ever see of him?

"Where...Shweet Chrisht....have mercy upon him." I muttered fearfully.

I realized that I had been holding tightly onto Damascus.

Kratzer took his hand and the nearest table and managed to scramble to his feet. "Vhat happened to Edvard?! Zis is vierd! Vay too vierd! He'sh a ghosht! Are goshts invishibile? EDVARD VHERE DID YOU GO?"

"I'm right in front of you!" Edward exclaimed, waving a hand in front of Engel's face. He had jumped back to his feet now - he had been trying to escape the feeling of having someone in him. He couldn't remember the last time he had experienced the sensation, but he quickly decided that he had no love for it. "I lost my hair clip so you can't see...or...hear me..."

He groaned, realizing the source of the problem.

He needed to communicate with them that he was somehow alright. James didn't seem to know what was going on, Boris possibly thought he passed on, and Engel was anxious. But he could barely focus on trying to get a voice across - something he might have been able to do when sober - and then he had the unfortunate luck to trip on the chair's back and go tumbling over towards Engel.

He winched and shut his eyes tight, waiting for the pain that would accompany slamming into a table, but it never came.

Edward hesitantly opened one eye.

Wait, where was the table? He wildly looked around in search of it, and was shocked to find that it was behind him. That didn't make any sense! It should have been in front of him, not behind him! And where was Kratzer? He should have just gone through him, but he hadn't even felt the sensation-

...Where was his uniform, and why did the clothes he was now wearing look so familiar? And, now that he thought about it, why did his body feel so wrong?

"What's going on!?" he exclaimed.

Or, at least, that was what he intended to say. But instead of getting that as a response, he got a very panicked "Vhat's going on!?" in Kratzer's voice instead.

Edward gave a startled yelp, hands shooting up to cover his mouth. A finger brushed up against the scar running across his face, and that was when Edward - now possessing Kratzer's body - went stumbling back into the table behind him, falling to the floor in the process.

And, to make matters even worse, he felt hungry. He knew exactly what type of hunger it was - he wanted blood, and he wanted it now. He covered his mouth with his hand, terrified by the feeling. "Vhy do I have to ve a vampire!?" he shouted, his voice muffled by the hand in front of his mouth.

I barked at Engel, tears trickling through the corners of my eyes.
So enraged was I by his lack of respect, I forgot the contents of what he had said. He could have said he was the Empress herself and I would not have addressed it.

"How dare you- you think of your own problemsh at a time like this?! Our brother... Edward... heavens have mercy."

"I'M NOT SAYING ZAT!" Engel exclaimed, reeling back in surprise. "Vhat--?!"

Oh, no, I was not letting him get away with this. I felt a little bad for shouting at him so close to Damascus, (I patted him on the back as an apology) but this insult to Edward was unforgivable.

"What in the blesshed, everloving bowelsh of Hell are you on about?! Don't you disereshpect Edward'sh memory and try to weasel your way out of it, du Sohn von einer Hündin."

"I'm not!" Edward protested, wrestling back control from Engel with a mental apology he wasn't sure his brother could hear. He struggled to get back to his feet; he wasn't used to the differences between his body and Engel's.

When his balance was finally somewhat regained, he fought against Engel's desire to take full control again and walked over to where Boris and Damascus were. But due to the struggles of trying to control a body sharing another soul, what was meant to be a normal walk came across as him stomping. "Boris, I'm still here!"

He stumbled over the same chair and went tumbling towards Boris, only managing to catch himself by resting his hands on Boris's shoulders. "Verdammit!" he shouted, giving an accusatory glare in the fallen piece of furniture. "Vhy do I keep tripping over zat stupid chair!?"