Briarcliff

by Lorraine Beaumont

  I caught that too. Kingston and Heather had been together forever. You couldn’t pry them away from each other with a crowbar. Everyone thought they would get married right out of college. They were the quintessential “perfect couple,” at least they were before Moriah came to town. “I guess people change.”

  “Yeah, I guess.” Chance stood up and brushed his backside off. His shirt slid up and gave me an eyeful of his flat, muscular stomach. I inflated my cheeks and let out a breathy sigh. He was like the second hottest guy around this place and apparently he had a thing for Moriah too—it kind of sucked. Chance wasn’t stuck-up either, which was pretty rare around here. He was working his way through school. He rented boats and gave tours on the lake. Everyone wanted to see the Million-Dollar-View. It was pretty spectacular.

  “Hey, Barnaby told me you did another comp of indie bands. You got an extra copy?”

  “Uh yeah, actually I do.” I had made a few for the weekend. “Oh, they’re out in my car.” I waited, debating whether I wanted to risk walking past Heather. She was still standing there.

  “I was on my way out.” Chance leaned over, picked up his book, and shoved it into his back pocket. “I can follow you to your car.”

  “Sure, sure, that would be great.” I looked at back at my phone once more…there was still no word from Moriah. “Okay, let’s go.”

  “Sweet,” he said and held out his arm. “You lead, I’ll follow.”

  I took a breath and made a beeline for the front door, keeping my head down the entire way.

  “Hey Heather, looking pretty hot, sweet cheeks,” Chance called out as he passed.

  I rolled my eyes and made a face. Where was my… “Hey Evie, looking pretty hot?” Nope. All I got was, “Hey, where’s Moriah?” Oh well. That was another one of life’s big fat turds being dumped directly in my path. I took a deep breath—might as well step into it.

  Once I made it safely past Heather, I shoved open the atrium door. A cold chill swept over me as I stepped outside. The afternoon sun, bright and cheery when I walked in, had disappeared under a huge cloud and now cloaked everything in a shroud of darkness. Chance stepped beside me.

  “Check it out.” He motioned his head toward the trees.

  Crisp fall leaves blew across the front lawn, tumbling in a riotous display, then taking flight and twisting in the air. Suddenly I had an urge to run and try to catch them like I did when I was younger.

  “I always feel like chasing the leaves when they’re like that,” Chance said.

  I smiled. “Me too.”

  “We should sometime, you know?” His eyes glittered.

  “Yeah, we should…sometime.” My face flushed as I walked with him to my car. Glancing inside, I saw my bag was still there. Thank goodness. I leaned into the window and pulled out a CD. “Here you go,” I said and handed the CD over to him.

  Chance grabbed my outstretched hand in his… and my pulse quickened once more. He turned my hand over and looked at my bubblegum ring. “Damn, your finger’s green,” he remarked, making it more of a statement than a question. He looked a bit horrified.

  Embarrassed, I pulled my hand back and stuffed it into my pocket. “Yeah, it’s my ring.”

  “Why you wearin’ it if it turns your finger green?” he asked, frowning.

  My face heated. “It’s a long story,” I hedged. Actually, it came out of a bubble gum machine and was the only piece of jewelry I ever got from a boy. I didn’t care though. I loved it more than any of my other jewelry.

  “Huh?” He gave me a weird look and shook his head. “Well, thanks for the CD,” he said. “I gotta jet.” He stuffed the CD in his other back pocket and then took off in a slow jog across the quad.

  “See you this weekend,” I called after him.

  He turned in mid-flight. “Yeah, right…this weekend…should be epic.” He stopped and picked up the football in his path and sent it sailing in a perfect arch over to the group gathered on the hill.

  “Right…epic…” I opened my car door and climbed inside.

  6-DEBATE

  Barnaby poured another bottle of Everclear into the giant igloo cooler. “Tell me again, why we are leaving so early for this thing?”

  Colton walked around the room and grabbed his duffle bag off the floor. “Cuz I got me a cherry to pop tonight, that’s why.”

  “Whose?” Barnaby asked, not really paying too much attention. Colton always said shit like that.

  “That Edie chick,” said Colton.

  “Edie?” asked Barnaby. He set the empty bottle on the table.

  “You know,” Colton said. “The one that’s always following Moriah around like a dog.”

  Barnaby frowned. “If she’s a dog, why do you want to do her?”

  “I didn’t say she was a dog.” Colton sniffed a shirt and stuffed it into his bag. “I said she followed Moriah around like one.”

  “Who?”

  “Damn man,” Colton snapped. “Are you deaf? Maybe you need to stop sampling your own concoctions so much.”

  “I’m not deaf, you keep saying Edie. You mean Evie, the cute one with the wicked green eyes?”

  Colton shrugged. “I guess,” he said. “I couldn’t tell you what color her damn eyes are.”

  Barnaby shook his head and dumped a bag of cut up pineapple into the cooler. “If you could care less about the color of her eyes, why are you in such a hurry to do her?”

  “Cuz she’s a virgin man, and I want another notch on my belt. Why else?” Colton gave him a look like he was stupid.

  Gee asshole, maybe because you actually liked her. “Dude, you are such a dick. She’s a pretty nice girl. Why do you want to mess with her?”

  “Cuz I can,” Colton boasted. “And who am I to deprive her of a piece of this?” He extended his arm down the length of his body.

  Barnaby rolled his eyes…right. He walked over to the counter and grabbed another bottle. “How do you know she wants to do you?”

  “I told you,” Colton said. “Moriah told me. Besides, it’s not as if I didn’t already know. I swear man, her mouth falls open and she starts to salivate as soon as she sees my ass coming across the room. Normally, I would have already sealed the deal, but I thought she was in love with Moriah. She’s always following her everywhere.” He picked a sock off the floor and looked at the bottom. Satisfied it was clean enough, he shoved it in his bag. “Hey, maybe she’s bi. Now that would be sweet if I could get Moriah to join in too.”

  “Right…” Barnaby laughed. “Keep dreaming man. Moriah wouldn’t touch you if you had someone else’s dick. Besides, they’re friends and Evie’s pretty cool. She’s funny too. And all that long, brown hair, she’s got it going on. Did you check out her latest indie compilation? She’s got a good ear man.”

  “What the hell?” Colton gaped at him. “You her pal now?”

  “Pal?” Barnaby frowned.

  “Her personal ass-licker,” Colton snickered. “Get it?” He laughed harder.

  “Up yours man.” Barnaby flipped him off. “I was just sayin’.”

  “Yeah, I see your lips moving but I don’t hear nothin’ but bullshit coming outta your mouth.”

  Barnaby shook his head.

  “What’s the matter?” Colton poked. “You her champion now? Her personal cheerleader? Where’s your skirt, barn boy?”

  “Screw you man.”

  “Take a ticket and stand in line. Apparently, I have a few waiting to do me before you.” Colton laughed and shoved another spare t-shirt into his bag.

  “Whatever man,” Barnaby exhaled. He lifted a syringe and injected another cherry. “Any idea how long this thing is going to last?” He dropped the cherry into the cooler.

  “Who knows?” Colton zipped up his bag. “A couple of days,” he said and lifted his bag on his shoulder.

  “A couple of days,” Barnaby repeated. Shit! He didn’t have enough alcohol to last that long. He would need to stop by the liquor store to pick some up on the way. “What bands are
showing?”

  “I’m not sure. That’s Moriah’s thang.”

  “How is she getting them there?” Barnaby calculated how much alcohol he would need to buy.

  Colton gaped at him. “Dude, have you looked at Moriah? All she has to do is walk towards you and everything on your body gets hard in a matter of seconds. And that’s even before she opens her mouth.” He shook his head. “Speaking of her mouth…Kingston says she gives wicked head, too. Hmm mmm, all that going on and mad skillz in the bedroom too… Damn!” He reached down and adjusted himself. He was getting hard just thinking about her.

  Barnaby chuckled. “Well, you’ll never know. She and Kingston are like Siamese fucking twins. Good luck with that.”

  “Puhleeze,” Colton scoffed. “I don’t need luck. Once her little friend tells her of my mad skillz, Moriah will be standing in my line too.”

  “Yeah right…” Barnaby laughed. “Keep dreaming man.”

  “I don’t need dreams, dude. I make mine a reality. You could too...if you looked like this.” Colton gestured to his six–pack and then pulled his shirt over his head.

  “Yeah right.” Conceited fuck. The worst thing was that on some level Barnaby knew he was right and that irked the shit out of him. Why anyone would want to sleep with that asshole was beyond him. Frustrated, Barnaby picked up another cherry and injected it. Poor Evie. He’d laugh his ass off if she told Colton to go fuck himself.

  Now that would be epic…a normal guy could hope.

  7-AWARE

  Moriah slammed on the brakes and her little car fish-tailed to a halt on the gravel in front of the rusted wrought-iron gates of Briarcliff Manor. She threw her car into park, opened her door, and climbed out.

  “Where are you going?” I peered out the window at the weed-infested gate.

  Moriah turned back around and widened her eyes. “Ah, to open the gates—you know, the big ones right in front of us.”

  “Excuse me,” I muttered, and turned up the volume on the stereo.

  Moriah stuck her head in the window. “Evie,” she shouted over the music.

  I ignored her.

  She reached in and shut off the stereo. “Evie?” she repeated, her voice lower this time.

  “What?” I crossed my arms, irritated.

  “Aren’t you going to help?” Moriah asked.

  “Not when you’re being a bitch.”

  “Oh, come on, I was only kidding. Lighten up.”

  “You lighten up,” I snapped back. I was still kind of pissed at Moriah for leaving me high and dry at the campus for so long. Granted it wasn’t really Moriah’s fault I was in such a crappy mood. No, that was Heather’s doing, as usual. Taking a breath, I opened the door and climbed out. The gravel crunched under my shoes as I made my way to the gate.

  “Dammit!” Moriah raked her hand through her hair. “I forgot the key.”

  “Where’s it at?” I hoped it was back at home so we could leave.

  “Hang tight, I’ll be right back.”

  Shivering, I wrapped my arms around my stomach. The ancient wrought-iron gates were entangled with vines and briars. Tall, mortared columns flanked the sides, covered in overgrowth that twisted around the bases and reached upward towards the winged statues mounted on the top. I swallowed hard. They looked grotesque, crouched atop the columns, sneering down at me. “What are those?” A creeped-out feeling spread through me.

  Moriah glanced up. “Our dates if you don’t get your ass moving,” she said. Lifting the lock, she inserted the key. The heavy chains swung down and made a loud clanking noise when they hit the wrought iron. Moriah grabbed the gate and pushed one side open.

  I pushed on the other side but it didn’t budge. “It’s stuck.”

  “Put your butt into it.”

  “Yours is bigger,” I muttered and pushed up against it. The gate squeaked loudly as it opened.

  “Wait here and shut the gate once I pull through.” Moriah brushed off her hands.

  “Why?”

  “Because we don’t want it to look like anyone is here yet,” Moriah sighed. “That’s why.”

  “I thought Kingston rented this place.” I was starting to have a really bad feeling about this.

  “He did. It’s just better this way, okay.”

  “Whatever.”

  Moriah climbed back into her car, pulled through the gate, and climbed back out of her car.

  “Should I lock it?”

  “Nah, we just want it to look like no one is here.” Moriah rolled up her window.

  I felt like someone was watching me. I looked up at the statue closest to me. The dark eyes, black as onyx, stared down at me. Weren’t they shut a moment ago? I was losing it. Not enough sleep maybe…right. I couldn’t help the uneasy feeling I was getting from the place.

  “Evie, what’s the matter?” Moriah walked up.

  “Can’t you feel it?” I whispered, feeling like I needed to keep my voice low in case someone was listening.

  “What?” Moriah looked behind her back.

  “We’re being watched.”

  “You’re crazy.”

  “Why are we here again?” I shivered.

  “For the party,” Moriah said and widened her eyes. “Remember?” She pulled a bottle out of her bag and took a sip.

  “Yeah, I remember, but you still haven’t told me why we have to be here so early. And how did you manage to have it here of all places? And why do we have to leave the car?” I asked, my breath running out.

  “Damn, Evie,” Moriah exhaled. “Did you suck on a laxative or something?”

  “What?”

  “Get it?” Moriah hit my arm. “Diarrhea of the mouth”

  “Oh yeah, I got it. You’re freaking hilarious.” I made a face at her back. Even though, on some level, Moriah was right. I did have diarrhea of the mouth and I had no idea what my problem was but I was sure it had something to do with the freaky statues on the gates.

  Moriah sighed. “Sorry, Evie,” she said. “And to answer one of your million questions, can’t you see the road is covered in briars?” She waved her arm. “See, I don’t want to mess up my paint job.”

  “Why didn’t I drive then?”

  “Cuz your car is a piece of shit and smells like it too.”

  “Hey, it is not my fault a cat pissed in my car,” I defended.

  “Ah, maybe you shouldn’t have left your window open.”

  “You broke my window, remember?”

  “Right…” Moriah made a face. “I kind of forgot about that.” She laughed and made a snorting sound. “Oops, my bag!”

  “It’s bad, not bag,” I corrected her.

  “Who cares?”

  “How are we going to get all of our stuff up to the place?” The wind whipped my hair forward and I gathered it in one hand.

  “I guess one of the guys will get them.” Moriah screwed the cap back on her bottle and shoved it back into her bag.

  I frowned. Perfect. That meant one of Moriah’s followers would get her bags but what about my own? “Great.” I walked over to the car. Reaching inside, I grabbed out my monster tote and pulled it over my shoulder.

  Moriah turned around and walked backwards. “Don’t look so irritated, Evie. It’s going to be epic,” she promised, and turned back around. Her long hair swished back and forth while she happily walked up the drive.

  “Right…epic...” I kept hearing that word, but I wasn’t so sure it meant the same thing to me as it did to Moriah.

  8-ENTRANCE

  The rusted wrought-iron gates swung open and hit the mortared-stone columns. The winged statues perched on top wobbled briefly. Barnaby slammed his door, the car rumbled back to life as the glasspack muffler made everything vibrate. Massive trees flanked the road and cast the car in an unnatural darkness. A high-pitched sound cut through the quiet as briars scratched against the sides of the car.

  “Sonofabitch!” Colton hit the steering wheel. “Did you hear that? I knew you should have taken your piece of
shit car out here instead, but nooo, we had to take my car and now I’m never going to be able to match this paint job.”

  Barnaby rolled up his window to keep the briars at bay. “Sorry man, I didn’t know it was going to be this bad.”

  “This better be worth it,” Colton snapped.

  “Kingston says it will be epic.”

  Colton gave him a look of disbelief. “Yeah, it looks real promising,” he deadpanned and looked up. “Damn. What happened to the sun?”

  Barnaby peered up through the windshield. “I think the big-ass trees are blocking it.”

  Colton scrubbed his hands over his face. “This shit is worse than walking down Wall Street. The high-rises there make you feel like you’re living in Gotham City.”

  “Hey,” Barnaby said. “That’s where they filmed one of the Batman movies. That is Gotham,” he laughed and pulled a metal flask from his backpack.

  “Seriously?” Colton turned the wheel slightly.

  “Yeah, I’m serious.” Barnaby nodded and his dark curls bounced around his face.

  “Damn, I’m good.”

  “Yeah, you are.” Barnaby took the cap off the flask and handed it over to Colton.

  Colton took a swig and wiped his mouth. “Turn it up, dude.”

  Barnaby reached forward and turned up the stereo. The bass thudded loudly.

  They both sang out, “I wish there was another way out…”

  ♦

  In unison, they jumped down from the mortared columns onto the gravel as their naked bodies straightened slowly. Gasping for air, they struggled to force oxygen back to their slumbering hearts.

  Thump…thump…thump… blood pumped through their veins…feeding their heavily muscled limbs.

  The wind glided over their flesh and stirred the leaves above. Birds took flight. Catching the sound, they whipped their heads upward and stared sightlessly up at the sky.

  Chests heaving, they desperately fought to drag more air into their lungs. In and out, they breathed until the black glaze that coated their eyes finally faded away, giving them back their sight.