You could hear the music from the backyard, it was so loud. It could probably even be heard from down the street. Inside the house you could feel it thumping under your feet and through your bones. The sound of voices blended in with the music, so that you couldn't tell which was which. Not that it mattered, as half the people inside the house were too drunk to conduct any form of actual conversation beyond half heard remarks shouted over the music. If you wanted to, and were sober enough to have any type of proper conversation, you had to go out to the backyard, where the light spilled out through the glass doors over the perfectly manicured lawn. The light only reached about half way down the backyard, but it spread across the unpainted wooden fences that bordered the lawn on both sides, as well as illuminating the small, but elegant water feature that sat in the middle of the yard, not far from the back door, and the tables and chairs that were scattered across the front of the lawn.

Robert sat on one of these benches, which was to the left of the door, taking a drag on his cigarette, and talking to a guy he'd met about half an hour ago. Robert couldn't remember what the guy said his name was and he couldn't be bothered trying because he doubted he'd ever see the guy again. Apparently he was from Western Australia or something like that. He wasn't really sure what they were talking about; something to do with high school, or finishing high school, or something along those lines. Being twenty-one, and probably one of the oldest people at this party, Robert had finished high school three years ago and didn't really have much to add to the conversation; the kid seemed like a nice guy though and Robert didn't want to offend him by telling him. He was actually enjoying talking to him anyway – the light shining from the house and Robert's shadow were cast over the guys face in an odd way, and the effect was caught between being creepy and humorous.

Over the guys shoulder Robert could see Dylan on a park like seat with a pretty girl with straight, bleach blonde hair. He could tell they'd both had a bit to drink; the girl more so than Dylan. Robert drew his attention back to the conversation at hand to agree with something the guy had said and became involved in the conversation again. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Dylan and the black haired girl start making out on the seat.

Robert would have preferred to have gone out clubbing with his mates than to go to a teenagers party with his best mates little brother; and he was sure Dylan would have preferred to have come with some of his mates, but as it turned out, everyone had something on tonight. Dylan's brother, Tom, who was Robert's usual clubbing buddy, had to finish a major assignment for TAFE, and wasn't going anywhere till he got it done. Robert highly doubted him sticking to that plan for long. Apparently all of Dylan's friends had major year eleven exams coming up and were studying for them. Dylan had dropped out of school at the start of year eleven and started an apprenticeship. Robert wasn't sure what it was for; but it left them with a night with nothing else to do but go to a high schoolers 'my parents are out of town' party, and no one else to go with but each other. Robert had told Tom he'd keep an eye on his little brother for him. Robert didn't really mind much, he liked Dylan. For a sixteen year old he was pretty cool. He wasn't the immature nuisance that other kids his age were – Robert supposed that had something to do with the fact that he didn't go to school – and he had the charming chicks' thing down pact by miles; all he had to do was smile, and they came running. Robert supposed his looks had a lot to do with it, Dylan was aware that he was good looking and was accustomed to using it to his advantage. 'Pretty' would be the best way to describe him, but you wouldn't say that to his face – not unless you wanted to get pummeled. Robert had seen the other end of those...Misunderstandings and it's easy to say that not one of those people ever called him a pretty boy again.

At the sound of giggling Robert turned to look behind him to where two people, a girl and a boy who looked about 16, were coming out the back door. They were giggling and stumbling, and obviously more than a little drunk. They got to the fountain just past the door and the girl collapsed to the ground laughing. The boy put his hands out to help pull her back up, but as she stood up, he fell down, and the girl collapsed on top of him, laughing again. Then they started making out. Robert averted his eyes and looked back to the guy next to him, who was still watching the giggling couple on the ground. He grinned and looked back to Robert.

"See, this is what I like about the suburbs." He said, gesturing vaguely to the fountain, his Western Australian accent drawling from the alcohol.

Robert raised his eyebrows, "what, watching random drunk strangers making out on the ground?"

"Yes! No. I mean no. I mean like, no one cares what they do, or with who, cause there's so many damn people in this fricken town, that they're never gonna see them again. So you can just do anything. And just not care!"

"Buddy, I think they're too drunk to care." Robert told him, taking a swig from his beer. He didn't think the guy heard him though, because he kept on rambling.

"Like, where I'm at, you gotta be careful what you're doing, you know? Cos like, everyone knows everything that anyone one is doing. All the TIME! There's no such thing as privacy." He paused and took the bottle out of Robert's hand, tipping it back and finishing it off. He thought about complaining, but decided it wasn't worth it. He doubted the guy would notice him anyway – he was on a roll.

"And like, you'd think there would be privacy, because of the amount of distance between where everyone is living, but there isn't." He went to take another swig of beer, but there was none left in the bottle so he gave it back to Robert. "Distance." He said, shaking his head, "seriously man there's like, ten girls my age, within, like, a one hour radius. It sucks!"

"Man, it sounds like it sucks. I don't think I'd be able to survive if I was stuck out there."

"Tell me about it." He said taking the bottle off Robert and once again finding there was nothing in it. "Man, we need more alcohol." He said holding the bottle up to the light, as though expecting there to be some hiding in it. As he was studying it, the door to the house slid open and a boy, who looked about sixteen with short brown hair that tucked around his ears, and was carrying two unopened bottles of beer in one hand, and an open one in the other. He stood by the door and waited as two more boys of about the same age came out, also carrying bottles of beer, before closing the door behind them. The brown haired boy headed straight for the couple that were still making out on the ground by the fountain and shoved them with his foot. "Yo; move."

The guy on the ground pushed his foot away, "Dude, chill!"

The brown haired boy cupped water in his hand from the fountain and splashed their faces with it. "You chill"

The girl squealed at the same time the guy said "Jesus Christ!" and they both stood up quickly, swaying slightly from their intoxication.

"I don't care where you go, as long as I don't have to watch you suck each others face off." He said, shaking the excess water off his hand onto them before wiping his hand dry on his pants. The guy cussed again before turning and heading further down the backyard, with the girl scurrying crookedly along behind him.

The browned haired boy and his two friends then started walking towards Robert and the guy he still couldn't remember the name of. Robert was glad that Dylan was too far in the shadows to see unless you knew they were there – not because he was worried about him being told off, but because he knew Dylan would pummel the guy if he did. Not that that bothered him either, it was just that, if Dylan had a go at this guy, Robert knew Tom would have a go at him for letting him. And that did bother him.

"Hey" the brown haired guy said.

"Hey" Replied Robert and the nameless guy, who had both said nothing since the three boys had walked out the door.

The friend closest behind the brown haired boy nodded to them in greeting. He had short blonde curly hair and was reasonably good looking, but didn't come across as very outgoing. The friend behind him seemed to be too lost in his own world to even acknowledge their presence. Robert suspected that he was stoned.

"Are you enjoying my party?" he asked them.

Robert was about to reply that he didn't know this was his party, but western guy started talking before he could. "That depends. Who's that beer for?" he asked, his eyes on the unopened bottles in the guys hand.

"Oh, they were just extras, but you can have them if you want them." He said, giving it to him. He offered the other one to Robert who took it gratefully. The Western Australia dude had already taken the lid off and started chugging it. When he'd drunk about a quarter of the bottle, he stopped and sighed, "dude, I love this party." All of them – except stoner boy – laughed.

"I'm Jake, by the way." The brown haired guy told them.

"Richard," Western Australia guy told him, holding up his drink as though making a toast, "pleased to meet you."

Robert thought he sort of remembered him telling him that now; it sounded kind of familiar. "Name's Robert." He told them.

"I know," Jake said. "You went to my school. I was in, like, year eight when you left though. I remember you came to school once drunk, in year eleven or something."

"Yeah, that was a good day... I think I remember you. You had woodwork same period as me. Jake-Jacob Turner, right?"

"Yeah that's right."

Robert looked at the blonde haired boy behind him. "I think I recognise you too. What was your name again?"

The boy gave a half smile, "Nick."

"Yeah, I do remember you. You made some pretty sick stuff with wood."

Nick gave a short embarrassed laugh, "thanks."

Robert looked behind him to the third member of their trio. He pulled his eyebrows together in concentration. "Him I don't remember."

"Yeah, that's Chris." Jake told him, "He didn't come to our school till the very end of year eight. After you'd left I think."

"Ok..," Robert said, still looking at Chris, who was still staring into space absently, apparently unaware that they were talking about him. Suddenly Robert's curiosity got the better of him. "Dude, is he stoned?"

Nick laughed. "We think so. We have no idea what he's taken though, or where he got it."

Jake snorted, "It was probably Patrick, I saw him here earlier. He's always got drugs."

Richard looked up, "Hey, umm…"

Just as Richard said this, they heard a loud, sickening scream, that was cut off just as quickly as it begun, come from down the back of the yard. It startled all of them, and Richard dropped his beer bottle, which shattered on the ground, making them all jump again. Robert saw Dylan stand up suddenly; looking in the direction the scream had come from. The girl who had been on the seat next to him a second ago was now getting quickly off the ground and staring in the same direction. Robert went back to looking in the same direction the other five people in the yard were; staring into the darkness as though they thought if they stared hard enough, they'd suddenly be able to see.

Robert felt sick in the stomach. He was pretty sure that scream had belonged to the girl who had been up here making out under the fountain. With the boy she'd just gone down there alone with. He hoped she was alright.

Robert wondered why no one had come out of the house, running to see who had screamed. He looked towards the house to see if anyone had and then suddenly seemed to remember how loud the music was. He doubted anyone had even heard it.

Nick, Jake and Richard all began to exchange nervous, questioning glances. Dylan started walking towards them, the girl practically clinging to him, darting worried glances every few seconds into the darkness.

"Did you hear that?" he asked to nobody in particular.

"Who didn't?" Richard asked in answer.

"Every single person inside that house apparently." Nick replied.

"Right, Nicky, you stay here," Dylan said to the girl, prying her fingers off his arm. "I'm going to go see what's going on" he started walking.

"My name is Mickey, and I'm going with you." She said, following him. "That's Cassie down there and there's no way I'm staying here while she's down there, dead for all we know."

"Aren't you being a bit over dramatic?" Jake called out to them. "How do you know she hasn't just seen a spider or something?"

"Cassie's not afraid of spiders." She shouted back over her shoulder.

"Right then," Jake said, handing his beer to Nick. "You stay here with him," he gestured to Chris, "if he passes out, remember to take him down the street a bit before calling triple 0. I'll be back." And he turned and jogged to catch up with the other two.

Robert considered his options. He could go down there and potentially help a random person who already had three other people helping her, and for all they knew, was perfectly fine; or he could stay here and help Nick keep an eye on Chris. He went for the latter option, but to compensate a bit, he stood up.

"Dude, that was some freaking scream." Nick said, staring at where Jake had disappeared into the dark.

"Tell me about it," Richard said, reaching behind him and picking up a hat that Robert hadn't even known was there. It was one of those cowboy hats that people always wore in movies when they were in the outback. It had never occurred to Robert that they actually wore them. Richard stated twirling it nervously in his hands. "The last time I heard a scream like that was when some bloke got kicked in the head by a horse. He got taken away to some hospital somewhere on a helicopter. I ain't seen him since."

Every one of them went silent in their own thoughts, waiting. And suddenly the silence became thicker as they tried to determine if what they heard was correct, or if their ears, or maybe the darkness, was playing tricks on them. But what they heard was true. They heard nothing. The music was still thumping and there was still the sound of laughter and shouting coming from inside the house, but outside, down in the darkness, where Robert knew Dylan at least would be yelling abuse by now, there was nothing.

"They been a while now, haven't they." Nick said, his voice shaking a bit at the end.

"They'll be alright. This is Jake's place right? He'll know it off by heart. Nothing does gonna happen to him in his own home."

Suddenly from the darkness they heard someone yelling. At first they couldn't make out what was being said for the loudness of the music, but as the person drew nearer, the words became clearer, as did the urgency of them.

A girl who looked about nineteen or twenty stumbled into the light. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were darting to every corner in a worried panic. She spotted Robert and the others and stumbled quickly towards them. At her approach, Richard decided it was finally time to make the effort to get up, and fell straight back down. Robert bent down and pulled back upright by the arm, not taking his eyes off the panicked girl for more than a few seconds.

She came towards them, constantly looking behind her. "Please you have to help me." She said in a strangled voice, sounding close to tears.

"What happened?" Robert asked her at the same time that Nick said, "Are you alright?"

She kept moving till she had put the boys between her and the darkness, which left her standing next to Chris, who seemed to notice her vaguely.

Her eyes were wide and fixed in terror on the darkness she had just run from. "There's something down there."

Robert, Nick and Richard turned and followed her gaze. They could see nothing but darkness.

Robert begun to turn back towards her, "what sort of someth-." He stopped mid-sentence, "Where'd she go!"

Both Nick and Richard swung back around. "Where's Chris?" Nick demanded.

"I don't know!" Robert snapped back. Both Chris and the terrified girl were nowhere to be seen.

"Where are they?" Nick started turning in circles, looking around him.

"I don't know, maybe they made a run for it or something." Robert replied, annoyed.

"Maybe. Doubtful." Nick called back, starting to circle the yard.

"Extremely doubtful. That guy couldn't even walk straight, let alone run. Even if he could, there's no way that they could move that quickly, and without us noticing." Richard commented.

"I know; it's like they just disappeared." Robert said in confusion, glancing at Richard. "I doubt you're going to find them hiding under a rock," he said turning back to where Nick had been studying the ground intently. Nick wasn't there. Robert looked to see where he'd gone to, but he couldn't see him anywhere.

He looked back to Richard, "Dude, where'd he go?"

Richard shook his head, stepping back "that's really tripped out."

Robert started walking to where Nick had been. "I swear, he was right here." He said turning back to Richard. Who wasn't there.

"Dude, where are you?" he got no response. "Dude this isn't funny." He said taking a step forward, but he thought he saw someone behind him, so he spun around quickly. And then everything went black.