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 laugh and sing. 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
“Hey you.”
I looked over my shoulder and gaped in disbelief. Hot-ass-to-die-for-Colton Hayward was actually talking to me. My heart went into double time. “Uh…hey,” I somehow managed.
He was standing really close and 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 out the window of that very same car as it pulled slowly away up the long weed-infested driveway. “Shouldn’t we be leaving with them?”
“Nah, we’re staying,” he said, eyeing me closely. “Is that okay?”
“You’re going to stay here with me…Alone?” I couldn’t mask the expectancy or the disbelief from my voice.
His lips turned up at the corners and in an uncharacteristic gesture, Colton reached forward and pushed a piece of my hair behind my shoulder. “Yeah, is that all right?” His cinnamon smelling breath wafted over me.
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 event 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 that always got my pulse racing faster.
“No. It’s cool,” I said, wishing my voice didn’t sound so squeaky.
He smiled. “Good.” He held out his hand again.
Reaching forward, I placed my hand into his and followed him up the stairs into the foyer of Briarcliff Manor. Once inside, he pulled me over to the stairs and stopped. Releasing my hand, he leaned over to put his drink down on the one of the stairs. The inside of Briarcliff was getting darker by the moment as the sun was seemingly pulled from the sky and the full moon was put in its place. Reaching forward, he slid his hand under my hair and leaned in. “I’ve been dying to do this all night,” he breathed as his gorgeous face moved closer to mine and then he kissed me.
I was a surreal moment and took me completely by surprise. I tentatively opened my mouth to his as he nudged my lips apart with his tongue. I couldn’t believe it. Hot-ass-to-die-for- Colton Hayward, was actually kissing me! I snaked my hands up his chest and 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 as he ran his hand over the top of my t-shirt and then squeezed my left boob. “You feel nice,” he breathed and squeezed harder.
“Thanks.” I winced and shifted my body away from his.
He leaned back with a frown creasing his 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.
He squeezed my boob again.
“Ow.” I flinched.
“Sorry,” he mumbled and switched tactics. This time he slid his hands around my waist to my butt. “Better?” he asked and playfully dipped his head in and bit the bottom edge of my lip.
“Ah kind-of,” I said lying, still not wanting to ruin the moment. Something turning quickly from warm to hot warm was pressing into my back. I turned slightly, sure, I was leaning against a heater, but instead I saw it was the statue, which couldn’t be right.
The fabric of my leggings ripped wider as one of his hands slid down into one of my strategically placed rips. I glanced down. Now there was a big fat hole in my legging. “Colton…”
“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. If I could die of embarrassment, now would be the time to do it.
He smiled down at me and caressed my face with his hand. “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 the bottom of my skirt back down and took a step back. “Can I have a sip?”
Colton lowered the bottle and gave me an amused look. “Sure you can handle this?” He shook the bottle at me.
“Puh-lease…of course I can.” I lifted my brow, trying to act cool.
He gave me a doubtful look but handed the bottle to me anyway.
Taking the bottle, I lifted it to my mouth. It was almost empty. Apparently, I was getting most of his backwash at this point anyway. I took a hefty swig and immediately coughed. “What is this?” It felt like my throat was on fire.
“I’ll never tell.” He took the bottle back.
Like I cared—it tasted like burning shit-water anyway.
“So where were we?” Colton slanted a knowing look at me.
“Um…what do you mean?” I asked, trying to act oblivious.
“Like you don’t remember,” he said and then reached down to adjust the big bulge in the front of his jeans.
I blinked at him stupidly. This was so not how I envisioned my first make out session with Colton Hayward. Normally, when I thought about hooking up with him it consisted of a good amount of romance that included hand-holding, declarations of love or at the very least deep like.
“Come on,” he exhaled and ran his hand through his hair. “Take your clothes off, so we can get to this.”
“Get to this?” I squeaked.
“You know…” He smiled. “Getting it done.”
Eww. That’s the same thing Barnaby said about Cheryl and the tree in Evil Dead movie. I pushed his hand away and stepped backward. “What are you doing?”
He grabbed me and pulled me forward. “Let me taste that sweet mouth of yours again.” His warm breath rushed against my face as he pressed in closer. I could feel his erection pressing against my leg.
“Come on, baby,” he breathed. “Take off your clothes.”
“What?” I tensed. This was so not how I envisioned my first time.
Colton pressed his forehead against mine. “You know,” he pushed.
“I’m not sure…”
“Don’t worry,” he cut me off. “I’ll show you ho
w it’s done.” He lowered his head and moved in for another kiss.
Instinctively, I turned my head and caught sight of the statue again. The large black eyes sneered unhappily. An uneasy feeling swept over me. I felt like it was watching me—hands-down—the statue was watching me. At least that is what it felt like.
Colton’s hand delved down into the open hole of my leggings again and his fingers kneaded the delicate skin of my inner thigh.
It didn’t feel as nice as I would have thought. “Colton…” I pressed my palms against his chest.
“What?” He looked up but didn’t move his hand.
“Um…” I chewed on my lip. “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
He gave me a look of disbelief. “What’s wrong?” He sounded mad.
“What I mean to say is, look at where we are,” I said.
“I know,” he said. “It’s cool right.”
“Um, that’s not what I’m talking about.”
“You on your period or something?” he asked and jerked his hand out of my legging like I had cooties or something comparable.
“What? No!” My voice came out all screechy.
“Then what’s your problem?” He frowned down at me.
“It’s just…well…I’m not sure this is such a good idea.”
“Virgins,” he muttered and raked his hand through his hair.
“What was that?” Surely I had heard him wrong.
Colton placed his hands on my shoulders, and leaned down to look closely into my eyes. “Listen…” he began.
My heart picked up, I couldn’t help it. He seemed so intense, serious, like he had something really important to tell me. Like maybe, he was finally going to tell me how much he liked me and how he wanted to date me. “Yes…”
“I will teach you.” He grabbed my hand and placed it against his erection.
I almost fell over…or would have, if his hand wasn’t making mine grope his package.
“See,” he said. “It won’t bite. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Colton held my hand under his own and squeezed my fingers. “Just move your hand like this,” he instructed. Grabbing my hand, he pushed it up and down on his erection.
It didn’t feel right.
“Hmm,” he groaned and leaned his head back. “Go faster,” he urged as his breath came out I rushed hitches.
I tried to do what he asked, really I did, but it just felt, for lack of a better word, wrong.
“That’s it…yeah…” He jerked his hips forward.
My hand cramped and I loosened my hold.
Frustrated, he pushed my hand away and stepped back. “Come on.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “Take your clothes off.”
“What?”
“Take your clothes off,” he repeated.
“WH—what?”
“Are you deaf?”
“No! I’m not deaf.”
“Could have fooled me,” he mumbled.
I felt like crying.
Colton shook his head. “Just take your leggings off, then.” He inclined his head toward the stairs.
“Colton, I don’t think this is such a good idea.”
“You’re kidding…right?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’m serious.” I pointed to the stairs. “This isn’t going to happen.”
Colton took a step back and swayed on his feet. “What the hell, Edie…you a DT?” he asked, his deep voice had a hard edge.
“A what?” I pulled at my skirt, suddenly feeling like I wasn’t wearing enough clothes.
“A dick tease,” he nearly shouted. “Like you don’t know,” he said, sounding disgusted. “Dammit!” He reached down and adjusted himself.
I started second-guessing my decision. What was I doing? Now he was mad. Colton was my dream guy…wasn’t he? I had pined for him forever. Maybe I was just nervous. So what if he was a little drunk. Maybe he would like me better, like really like me if I just had sex with him.
“That’s it,” Colton snapped. “I don’t have time for this shit. My ass is outta here.” Colton made a grab for his jacket. He missed the first time, and then scooped it up and flung it over his shoulder.
“Wait…” I called helplessly.
Colton stopped and gave me a mean look.
“You change your mind.” He lifted his brow. “You decide you can’t go without some of this?” He gestured to his body.
Well that answered that. I clenched my teeth together to stop myself from yelling that he was a freaking jerk. “I mean…you can’t just leave me here…can you?” I said sweetly even though I wanted to tell him to go eff himself.
“Why’s that, Edie?”
“Evie,” I mumbled my name.
“What?” He lifted his hand to his ear, being a dick.
“My name is Evie, not Edie,” I corrected him; still not believing this conversation was even happening.
“Whatever.” His lip curled. “Like I give a shit,” he muttered meanly.
Seriously? I felt like someone stuck a knife right in the middle of my chest. “Then why were you hooking up with me?”
“Cuz Moriah told me you wanted me to be your first. That’s why.” He gave me a look like I was stupid.
My face heated. “My first?” I asked stupidly, even though it was true…was being the operative word. So that’s what the condoms were for. Everything suddenly became clear to me.
“Yeah, she told me you wanted me to do the honors.” He shook his head. “Why else would I be here?” he added, as if that could be the only logical answer.
“Oh, I don’t know…maybe because you wanted to be?” I felt like I had a rock lodged in my chest squishing my heart.
“Well obviously I wanted to be, or I wouldn’t be here now, would I?”
I was too stunned to say anything else. What was happening?
“Let me tell you something little girl…” he said, leaning forward. “ You would have been one of the lucky ones. It’s not like everyone gets a piece of this.” He waved his hand down the length of his body again.
“Seriously?” I felt sick. “That’s the only reason you were here?”
He gave me another look like I was stupid. “Yes Edie.”
“My name is EVIE!” I yelled.
“Whatever.” He rolled his eyes. “This conversation is over. I’m leaving.”
“But…but…you’re my only way out of here,” I argued, freaking out.
“Too bad,” he said. “I guess you should have thought of that before you pulled your dick- tease shit.” Without another word, he stormed out of the mansion.
I chased him to the door! “Asshole! I wouldn’t sleep with you…”
His car roared to life cutting off my snappy, (albeit belated) retort. Gravel pinged on the stairs and walls, forcing me back inside Briarcliff.
I hoped his car took a dump on the mountain, stranding him like he did me. Jerk.
14-AWAKENING
“Piece of crap.” I shoved my phone back in my pocket and walked over to the stairs to sit down.
A cloud passed over the moon and cloaked the foyer in darkness.
Patting the stair, I sat down and grabbed up my bottle of Jungle Juice. It was one of Barnaby’s specialties. He was the master mixer of all things alcoholic and dabbler-extraordinaire of every other mind-altering drug. Big surprise—he was a chemistry-major.
Taking off the lid, I reached inside to snag a maraschino cherry—I hoped it wasn’t loaded.
In the past, Barnaby had been known to copy the world famous Hurricane recipe from New Orleans’ Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop by making his own cherry bombs, where he injected the cherries with grain alcohol. I took my chances and ate it anyway. The fiery liquid spurted inside my mouth. It burned and my eyes instantly teared up.
A strange dragging sound came from the corner of the room and then something cold slid against my leg.
I jumped. “Ohmigod!”
I turned to run.
Pain shot up
my neck as my head was jerked backward.
Something had my hair.
“GET OFF ME!” The roots of my hair strained against my scalp. Tears sprang to my eyes. Twisting back and forth, I tried to break free.
Every cult classic horror movie I ever watched came crashing into focus: Michael from Halloween, Jason from Friday the 13th, Freddy from Nightmare on Elm Street or was this assailant worse? …oh God…I just knew it was worse.
My shoes squeaked against the tiles as I kicked my feet outward and connected with something hard.
The air of freedom barely slid down my throat before I slammed into the banister.
Air forced its way out of my lungs.
Gasping for breath, I flipped over the side and crawled crazily up the stairs. The threadbare carpet tore under my gripping fingers. I couldn’t seem to move fast enough. It was as if every scary movie I had ever watched where the victim fell down and couldn’t get away…was happening to me.
I was going to die…just like them.
Cold fingers encircled my ankle and wrenched me backward.
My chin slammed into the edge of the stair, and the acrid taste of copper filled my mouth.
Thump…drag…thump…drag…thump… my face smacked the stairs, following my body. Blood dripped from my mouth and the carpet burned my face.
The tips of my fingers skimmed against one of the banisters as my body jerked backward again.
It was hopeless.
Fear was winning.
I needed to get mad.
I needed to fight back.
If I didn’t…I knew I would never get out of this place alive.
15-ILLUSIONS
Sometimes the light can play tricks with your eyes. At least that’s what I thought as I stared at the boy in front of me now. I had almost taken him out, thinking he was another monster. Turns out, he was just a boy. Well…not just a boy…
“Are you all right?” he asked as he stepped into the light.
“Ah, I guess.” I leaned back to look at him. He had a nice face but so did Christian Bale in American Psycho.
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