They wouldn’t find the body until late the next morning. Well, that’s not entirely true, everyone saw the body, but nobody saw it as a body. Naturally that’s not entirely true either. Any person has a body, and this person did too, but when you are stumbling through people passed out on the couches littered throughout an abandoned French mansion after a pop-up rave you don’t exactly stop and stare when you see someone lying face down in a corner.

Then again, he didn’t really fit in. Most of the living bodies sprawled and sprinkled liberally on the floor were more of the hypebeast variety; playstation logos and obscure high fashion tees, $700 Nikes, or in some cases a single $350 sneaker on their feet and the other one in a different room or nowhere at all. That was more the feel of the place.

This particular body, the not-alive one, was wearing a tuxedo teeshirt and skinny jeans. Not out of place enough to really draw attention, but certainly not the right decision if you were trying to pick up one of the anime-inspired nonsense-costume-wearing girls lurking around getting high and gaining followers. He wasn’t. His goal was very specific and unbiological.

Someone else at the party had his phone. They’d grabbed it earlier in the night when a scuffle broke out in circumstances that can only be described as very suspicious, especially when you consider how he died. Speaking of which, even though he was lying face down in a corner his arm was twisted awkwardly up and behind him, as if someone had pulled it out from under him after he nosedived off of the couch.

* * *

Theo hopped off the bus, held his bare arms tighter around himself and started walking towards the edge of the grave-quiet town. The house was up away on the hill, mostly hidden by the woods on the edge of the little French town. The moon was out and the spring thaw had turned everything brown and shiny with mud.

The music got louder as he neared the mansion, its windows leaking purple, blue and red light. Lots of flashing, some of it timed to the music and some of it just random strobes. Two kids stood smoking out front. One of them asked him something in Greek but didn’t really wait for an answer. Someone walked around a corner and vomited into a bush, stumbling away from the house before pulling out her phone.

Theo went striding through the halls, asking who had the phone. Nobody did but everyone pointed down a hallway or around a corner or up a flight of stairs. Suddenly one of the anime girls grabbed him and pulled him in for a kiss. There was something sweet on her tongue and he stumbled a little bit, tasting the chemicals in his mouth. He kept walking, but realized he was lightheaded and going in circles. He sat down, then keeled over.

He woke up half an hour later to a pillow being held over his face. He tried to struggle but couldn’t do much. He also couldn’t feel it when his arm was wrestled from underneath him and a phone was pressed to his thumb.