Who: Capri and her friends (npcs) Where: The house of her npc friend, Becky. When: Evening. What: Capri's birthday Warning: Small mention of a violent death.
Capri knocked on her friend Becky's door, and stepped inside as soon as she heard a call to "come in." She blinked as she stepped inside, her eyes adjusting to the lack of light. "Hello?" She called into the darkness. The lights suddenly came on, and her friends jumped out from behind the living room furniture, yelling a loud, semi-unison "Surprise". Capri's eyebrows shot up and a bewildered grin spread across her face. This was far from the quiet night with her friend that she had expected. The room was decorated in balloons, streamers and a 'happy birthday' banner. There was a pile of brightly coloured, wrapped packages on a table, next to finger foods and a bowl of punch. All the signs of a birthday party.
Given that it was her actual birthday, Capri should have seen it coming, but she had already celebrated her birthday the day before with her family and friends. The Saturday had fit better into everyone's schedules. Or so she thought. Judging by the small crowd, Sunday was also a good day to party. Capri's gaze wandered around the room until her eyes settled on Becky. "You...You were behind this."
"And you love it." Becky replied with a a pleased smile. She knew Capri loved her family, but she also knew the party yesterday was limited by the Kerrigan family over-protectiveness. Tonight would be less inhibited and she was determined to get her friend to loosen up.
"I do." Capri admitted and ran to her friend, hugging her tightly. "It's amazing. Thank you." She made her way around the room, greeting and chatting with everyone. She wanted to express her happiness and gratitude to all of them for the wonderful surprise. Her conversations were interrupted by Becky, who was tapping a glass.
"To the birthday girl." Becky said, holding her glass up high and clinking it with those nearby. "Capri, we've got a great night ahead of us. I've got your first present here, a fake id. After we're done here, we're hitting as many clubs as we can tonight." Becky announced, ignoring her friend's eye roll. "But first, the cake and presents." With that, another girl brought out the cake. 'Happy 81st Birthday' was spelled out with frosting instead of '18th birthday' and then were way too many candles sticking out of the cake.
"That isn't funny." Capri declared. "And it's probably a fire hazard."
"Then get over here and blow the candles out." Becky insisted and waited for Capri to comply.
Capri pulled her hair back and leaned over to blow out the candles. As soon as she did, Mary, another friend of hers, walked in. She accompanied by a young man that Capri didn't recognize. "Mary, Mary, it's never fashionable to be late for a surprise party." Capri joked in a mock serious tone. "And who's your friend? A new date?"
"Ah, no...This is my brother, John." Mary replied, just loud enough to be heard.
"Oh." Capri replied, surprised once again. She had heard of John before and knew that he had recently moved back in with his parents in Scarlet Oak. He was suffering from depression since witnessing the death of a friend in a mugging, in another city. Mary had told her that she was trying to get John out and involved in society again. Taking him to this party must have been a part of that. Capri hoped she wouldn't do or say the wrong thing; she didn't want to upset him in some way. She walked over slowly and extended her hand. "Hi. It's nice to meet you." She said politely.
John nodded, somewhat shyly and shook her hand.
The instant their hands touched, Capri knew he must have been dreaming recently. She had a vision from his dream, a vision of another young man. The man in her vision was laughing one second and the next, there was a loud bang and a red blotch was spreading across his chest. He fell to the ground and Capri knew he was dead. Capri pulled her hand away and the vision ended. Her knees felt weak and she drew in a shuddering breath. "Excuse me." She murmured, her voice barely louder than a whisper.
Capri practically ran to the bathroom, locking herself in before the tears began falling down her cheeks. The image of the bloody body from John's nightmare was terrifying, a reminder of her own death. Except his friend would not be resurrected as she had been. It was horrifying to see someone close to her age die, even second hand. She hated it. And she hated being a psychic freak. It wasn't long before knocking started at the door and she heard people asking if she was okay. Capri cleaned her face, forced a smile and rejoined the party. She kept her happy face up for the rest of the night. She couldn't stand it if people even came close to suspecting the truth. Her secret would stay deeply hidden from her friends.