“Hey, I didn’t call you a freak,” Moriah snapped back. “I just said that maybe you imagined it.”
I puffed out my cheeks and blew out a slow stream of air. “Yeah, I guess.” Maybe Moriah was right. Maybe all the creepy movies I watched, and the candy I ate had made me imagine stuff. I always had gross dreams if I ate too much chocolate, so maybe…. “This place sure is creepy,” I said again, as if saying it would somehow make it less true. Large grayish colored urns sat on the edges of the stairs with dead flowers and weeds spilling over the sides that trailed down to the disintegrating stairs. “How is everyone going to know where to go?”
“It’s kind of hard to miss,” Moriah said with a smart tone.
“I know that.” I rolled my eyes again. “I meant the ones who are coming that don’t live here.”
Moriah shrugged like it was no big deal. “I presume they will get directions.” She whirled around. “Hey, maybe they will fly in on brooms or come creeping out of the woods when it gets dark,” she said ominously and then added a gruesome laugh for effect.
“Stop it, Moriah!” I shivered. It was getting colder by the second. Taking my bag off my shoulder, I leaned back against one of the circular columns. The black lantern hanging above my head rattled eerily in the wind.
The door creaked loudly as Moriah pushed it open and walked through. “Come on.”
Following behind, I stopped partway through the door. “Eww, it stinks in here.” I lifted my shirt and covered my nose. The mustiness still seeped in as I walked further into the gloomy foyer of Briarcliff Manor.
“Tell me about it,” Moriah agreed.
The ceiling was at least twenty feet in the air and had a giant crystal chandelier suspended in the center of a painted dome at the top that had clouds and cherubs floating across the expanse.
“How do you turn the lights on?” The only light to see by was a slightly diffused glow from the sun slanting through the arched windows above the door.
“I don’t know,” Moriah snipped. “Hey, why don’t you ask whoever turned them on last night?”
“Moriah!”
“Calm down,” Moriah sighed. “Geez, I was only kidding around.” Walking over to a closed door on the side of the room, she opened it up to look inside.
“You are so not funny.”
“Yeah, yeah, I hear ya,” I grumbled. “Seriously, where do you think it is?”
Moriah closed the door again. “How do I know?”
“How don’t you know?”
“Hey, I just got here, like you,” Moriah defended. “Why don’t you look for the light switch?”
“I am looking for the switch,” I said. “I can’t see crap in here.” I was reluctant to step out of the light. If I did I was afraid I would get attacked by some nasty monster. “Where do you think it would be?”
“Check behind the door,” Moriah said and slid open another door. This one looked more like a closet than a room.
Taking a breath, I stepped out of the light. The darkness seemed to engulf me, trying to swallow me alive. I jumped back into the light, chickening out. I had one foot out the door…just in case.
“I think I see the switch.” Moriah walked over beside the stairs and flicked the switch. Nothing happened. “It doesn’t work.” She turned towards me. “I guess the power isn’t on yet. So you know what that means…” She lifted her brow.
“Yeah, yeah,” I sighed. “It’s just more proof that I imagined the lights coming on.” I stepped closer to the door feeling very small and insignificant in this place. Over to my left, there was an old gilded, marble-topped table pushed up against the wall with an aged mirror hanging above it with the silvering almost gone. It made my reflection appear faded and distorted. A cloying musty smell hung in the room, making it hard to take a breath even with the door wide open. I grabbed hold of the door and swung it back and forth to get rid of the musty odor. Dead leaves kicked up and skittered across the floor, making an eerie dragging sound.
“Hey, look at me!” Moriah called buoyantly from behind.
I turned around and my mouth dropped open. Moriah was sitting on the back of a life size statue of a gargoyle, bouncing up and down. “You’re crazy,” I laughed.
Moriah whooped loudly and swung her hand around in the air like she was riding a mechanical bull. She was only missing the cowboy hat and, well—the bull.
I pulled out my phone to take a picture. Holding it up, I centered the screen on Moriah. The statue shuddered. I lowered my phone and looked again. Again I saw a freaky ripple—shudder under Moriah. It was faint…subtle and I might have missed it if I hadn’t been staring directly at it. But in that moment, I could swear the expression on the gargoyle changed. It looked suddenly irritated, which couldn’t be right. The light, what there was of it, must be playing tricks with my eyes. I would have blamed alcohol, but didn’t have any yet.
It happened again, the faint ripple-shudder and Moriah’s body pitched sideways.
“Moriah!” I leapt forward and grabbed hold of her before her head cracked open on the banister.
“Wow, trippy,” Moriah laughed hysterically and slid off the back of the statue. Leaning forward, she ran her hands over the stone, and then patted it like it was a horse. “Thanks for the ride.” She pulled her shorty-shorts back down. “Come on. The boys are here,” she said. “We’ve got work to do.” She weaved slightly and walked towards the open door, completely oblivious.
I stared at the statue, listening to cars pull up. I wasn’t real sure why I was even still standing here. A normal person would have already taken their ass straight out of the room and back to their car to get out of this place.
Instead, I waited and watched, thinking that maybe I had been imagining things, but somehow, deep down, I knew I hadn’t been.
10-PREPARATION
I carried another box up the stairs and dropped it on the tiled porch. What the hell? I didn’t sign on to be Kingston’s pack mule. Winded, I took a break and sat down on one of the boxes. The guys who were supposed to be helping were too busy watching Moriah jump up and down. She was Kingston’s cheering squad as he sucked on the hose of a beer bong while Barnaby poured something into the funnel.
Once Kingston finished, Moriah clapped gleefully and jumped up and down, again. Her huge boobs bounced like two giant water balloons under her t-shirt.
I rolled my eyes. No wonder the guys weren’t helping. Self-consciously, I looked down at my own shirt. It was purple and had a group of little wicked creatures lined up across the front. The words “A Cute Fear” scrawled underneath in red. Propping my chin in my hand, I looked at one of the ugly statues flanking the door. “It looks like it’s you and me buddy.” I made a face, changing my mind.
“Nah, sorry, you’re way too ugly.” Standing up, I brushed off the back of my jean skirt and peeked around the corner, back inside the foyer. The huge statue Moriah had ridden earlier sat beside the stairs. The wings jutted up from its back and extended at least six feet in the air. It was imposing, majestic, and damn frightening. The black eyes gazed sightlessly towards me. I shivered and rubbed my arms. “Well…at least you are better than your little buddy out here.”
Moriah jumped up the stairs and stopped. “Who’s better?” She peered inside the dim room and then pulled her head back out. “Were you talking to that statue?”
“No!” I lied.
“Yeah, well, if you say so.” Moriah gave me an odd look.
“So, what’s up?” I shoved my hands in my pockets.
“Um…” She darted her eyes to the side. “Can I snag your keys?”
“I guess.” I narrowed my eyes, noticing Moriah wasn’t looking directly at me. “Why?” I asked warily since she only did that crap when she was about to do something I wouldn’t like.
“Kingston is gonna take my car back to town and get his car,” Moriah explained.
“Why does he need my keys?” I asked suspiciously.
Moriah smiled sheepish
ly. “Ah, cuz, I kind of told Barnaby he could use your car to pick up some stuff he needed…we needed,” she corrected.
“What’s wrong with his car?”
“I don’t know. It’s broke or something.”
“He was just driving it the other day.”
“Ohmigod, Evie! Would you stop giving me the third degree? Can he use it or not?”
“What is your problem?”
“I might ask you the same thing.”
“I don’t have one.”
Moriah hitched her brow up. “You sure about that?”
Irritated, more with myself than her, I pulled my keys out. “Here, take them.”
Moriah grabbed the keys. “You won’t regret it. Promise.” She blew me a kiss and bounced happily back down the stairs.
I exhaled. “I hope you’re right,” I muttered and looked warily back at the statue. This time it looked like it was smiling. An eerie feeling crept over me and I had the distinct feeling it was watching me. I shook my head, feeling stupid. It was just a statue.
11-YEARNING
“Look at them,” Alistair said, obviously irritated.
“Who?” Simon peered over his shoulder down towards the mansion.
“Them!” Anger spiked Alistair’s voice as he pointed down through the clearing in the trees.
“Ah, you’re talking about the humans.” Simon smiled and his dimples appeared.
“They need to leave.” It was a command, not a statement.
Simon cupped his hands and blew on them. Clouds roiled above. Electric currents lit up the sky. The winds were starting to change, the stars slowly aligning. Each phase of the moon brought them closer. A cool breeze lifted his blonde spiked hair and he shivered. “Damn, it’s cold up here.” He stuffed his hands back into his pockets and fingered the material. The stiff fabric on his body was hard to get used to. Alistair paced in front of him. He understood Alistair’s unease. He was anxious as well. “So what are we going to do?”
Alistair frowned and stopped pacing. “Nothing,” he said. “If they are still there when they show…” He lifted his broad shoulders in shrug.
“You can’t mean that?” Simon cut him a look of disbelief.
“Why can’t I?” Alistair snapped. “They aren’t even supposed to be down there.”
“How do you know that?” Simon looked back down at the crowd of people wishing he was down there with the humans instead of with Alistair.
“I just do,” Alistair said with finality.
Simon doubted he did, but didn’t want to make him any angrier by disagreeing with him.
Alistair began pacing once again, reminding Simon of a caged animal, except he wasn’t caged now but he had been for far too long.
Simon felt the need to move as well, but feeling had yet to return fully to his body.
One thing he knew for sure, if the humans were still down there when the others showed…
He shivered again and this time it had nothing to do with the chill in the air.
12-WAVER
The steady thrum of music echoed loudly through the foyer of Briarcliff Manor. The heavy bass vibrated everything in the general vicinity, as more vehicles were unloaded.
Moriah ran over to me and grabbed my hand. “I love this song. Come on.” She dragged me along behind her up the stairs, and stopped at the top.
“This is how it feels when you are bent and broken,” she sang out loudly. “No—were not gonna die tonight—were gonna stand and fight forever…” she sang louder as she moved her hips fluidly to the beat.
I was too embarrassed to dance but her enthusiasm was catching. So I joined in and screamed out the lyrics to the chorus of “Not gonna die tonight” by Skillet. “Don’t you give up on me…you’re everything I need…”
The breeze kicked up even more as Moriah swung her hips in time to the song, “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger…”
Every male stopped what he was doing and watched the two girls dancing and singing. It was quite a sight to behold, one that stirred the very air around them.
All were oblivious to another pair of eyes watching, absorbing every nuance of the provoking scene a millisecond at a time, utterly enraptured. It was not the blonde that held his gaze, loosening the grasp of the stone facade that bound him. It was the one with the bewitching green eyes. His cold heart thumped soundlessly in the confines of his granite sepulcher.
13-TEMPTATION
Everything was finally unloaded for the party. I stood off to the side by one of the big trees surrounding the mansion, waiting to get inside the cars parked out front of Briarcliff to go home. I was tired and hungry. Wind gusted against me, pulling my hair back from my face. Reaching up, I gathered it in one hand and looked upward. Dark fat-bellied rain filled clouds hung low, pressing down from the skies.
“Hey you.”
I lowered my head and my heart stopped. Hot-ass-to-die-for- Colton Hayward was standing in front of me. “Ah…hey….” He was standing super close to me. He smelled like a combination of beer, Abercrombie & Fitch “Fierce” cologne, and cinnamon gum.
“C’mere.” He reached forward and grabbed hold of my hand. His fingers were warm on my own as he pulled me away from the few people left loading into the last car.
“See you later, Evie,” Moriah yelled cheerily out the window of that very same car as it slowly pulled away up the long weed-infested driveway. “Ah…shouldn’t we be leaving with them?”
“Nah, we’re staying,” he said, eyeing me closely. “Is that okay?”
I swallowed hard. “You’re going to stay here… with me…alone?” I couldn’t mask the disbelief from my voice.
His lips titled upward at the corners. “Yeah. Is that okay? In an uncharacteristic gesture, he reached forward and pushed a piece of my hair behind my shoulder.
My heart thumped faster. “Yeah, I guess. I mean, sure.” I didn’t get it. Why was Colton even talking to me? I never rated higher than a flyby hello, and that was usually when I was standing next to Moriah, which meant he probably wasn’t even talking to me. “But where are they going?” I asked, not because I really cared but because I didn’t get why he wanted to stay here with me, alone.
“Does it really matter?” He lifted his brow in the sexy way of his which instantly made my pulse race faster.
“No. It’s cool,” I said, wishing my voice didn’t sound so squeaky…stupid.
“Good.” He smiled warmly at me and my heart melted a little more. “It looks like rain. We should get inside.” Lifting his hand, he held out towards me.
“Oh. Okay.” Reaching forward, I placed my hand into his, hoping my palms weren’t as sweaty as they felt and followed him up the stairs into the foyer of Briarcliff Manor.
Again, the musty odor permeating the air made me want to cover my face. He pulled me over to the bottom of the large sweeping staircase. “Were not going up there are we?”
Colton glanced upward at the big black void above. “Nah. I just needed to set my drink down.” Letting go of my hand, he leaned over and set his drink on the stair.
Quickly, I rubbed my palms on my skirt.
He stood back up. Giving me a heavy lidded look, he stepped closer and slid his hand up under my hair. I could barely breathe, let alone move at this point. “I’ve been dying to do this all night.” His gorgeous face moved closer.
A thousand goosebumps popped up on my skin. “You have?” I squeaked nervously.
“Yeah,” he breathed sexily. Only Colton could make the word “Yeah” sound sexy. “I have.”
It was a surreal moment and took me completely by surprise as his lips pressed against my own. Tentatively, I opened my mouth as his tongue nudged my lips apart. He made some kind of groaning sound, and slid his hand around my back, pulling me closer. My mind was reeling. I couldn’t believe it. Hot-ass-to-die-for Colton Hayward was actually kissing me! I snaked my hands up his hard muscled chest, around his broad shoulders, holding on. If I didn’t
I probably would have fallen over.
Colton dragged his lips down from mine and then across my neck. I squirmed, fighting the urge to laugh. I was ticklish there. His hand started at my shoulder, but moved slowly down over the top of my t-shirt, settling on my left boob. “You feel nice,” he murmured huskily and squeezed.
“Thanks.” I winced and shifted my body away from his.
He leaned back. A frown marred his otherwise perfect brow. “Something wrong?”
I wanted to ask him why he was kneading my boob like a little rubber stress ball but was afraid of ruining my dream-come-true- moment. “Nope, nothing,” I lied through my teeth.
His eyes were alight. Like a kid with a new toy, he reached forward and squeezed my boob again.
“Ow.” I flinched.
“Sorry.” He switched tactics and slid his hands around my waist, and then finally ended up on my butt. “Better?” He kneaded my bottom.
“Ah kind-of,” I said lying, still not wanting to ruin the moment. Something against my back was turning quickly from warm to hot. I turned slightly, sure, I was leaning against a heater, but instead, it was the statue…
Colton made a groaning sound. His hands suddenly seemed to be everywhere at once. As one of his hands tried to squeeze under my skirt, my leggings ripped. “Colton…” I gently pushed his hand down.
“Hmm?” He stumbled forward, and pressed me back up against the hot statue. I pushed my hand against his chest to steady him, but he kept leaning forward, crushing me as he slid his hand back down between my legs and pulled on my leggings again. I pushed him back up. The fabric made a thwapping sound against my skin when he finally let go.
He pulled back and laughed. “Was that your tights?”
“They are leggings,” I clarified, humiliated to my core.
He smiled down at me, like he was biting back another laugh. “Wait a sec.” He staggered sideways and fell into the wall. “Whoa!” he laughed stupidly. “Who moved the wall?” He reached down and grabbed his drink off the stair. Swaying on his feet, he gulped the contents.
Quickly, I jerked my skirt back down. “Can I have a sip?”