Dead by Morning (Rituals of the Night Book One)

by Kayla Krantz

  She sighed, feeling drained with her continual lack of sleep. She forced herself to stand up and turn away from the phone. She was too tired to think straight. She padded her feet against the carpet on the way to her room to lie down, confident—and overly hopeful—that once she woke in the morning, her guilt would be gone.

  ***

  SUSAN RAN THE final brushstrokes of blush over her sister’s cheeks.

  “You’re beautiful, doll,” she said as Sarah smiled at her appreciatively.

  Sarah got up from the chair to look at her face in the mirror. Susan peeked around her sister to see her own hair and makeup. Despite the thought being conceited, Susan loved the way she looked. She had always been a pretty girl, but obviously Chance didn’t think the same. That thought caused a slight frown at the corners of her lips.

  “Are you really going to work on Luna?” Maddie asked from her spot in the room, folding her arms over her chest as she spoke.

  Susan sighed and glanced at her. She winced a bit at Maddie’s makeup as she noticed a clump of mascara under her eye. Maddie had been insistent on getting herself ready for the dance against Susan’s better judgment.

  “I don’t think Luna’s so bad when you give her the chance, really,” she admitted. “She’s just quiet. That’s not so bad. I mean, you like Sarah, right?”

  Maddie nodded with a glimpse at Susan’s sister. “Of course. Your sister’s sweet, quiet or not.”

  “Luna’s the same way. Just give her a chance. You might like her too.”

  “I doubt it, but I won’t be mean to her,” Maddie grumbled. “Are you sure you’re really okay with this?”

  “Chance wants me to help him because this means a lot. So what that he isn’t taking me? I found a date. So, yeah, I am gonna do it. That’s enough complaining, Maddie.” Susan tried to keep her tone light but the more she spoke on the subject, the harder it became.

  “Just wondering.”

  “Well, gather up the makeup so we can get going,” Susan commanded. “It’s almost time for Chance to pick up Luna, and we still got a lot of work to do. I have a feeling Luna won’t make things any easier with this stuff.”

  ***

  LUNA SAT ON the couch alone, watching the television while her father slept in his room. It was Saturday—specifically, the evening of the dance. A knock sounded on the door, and Luna glanced toward it, surprised, before she got up hesitantly to make her way over to it.

  She pulled it open and on the porch stood Susan, with Maddie and Sarah behind her. They all wore the dresses they had picked out, and their hair and makeup were already done.

  “Um…hi?” Luna said.

  “Hey, Luna,” Susan greeted cheerfully.

  “What are you guys doing here?” Luna asked, wondering how Susan even knew where she lived.

  “We’ve come to get you ready for the dance.” Susan held up a bag. Luna realized it was full of makeup, and she stared at it, horrified—she wasn’t looking forward to being a human Barbie doll. “We’re gonna make you absolutely beautiful for the dance,” Susan gushed. “Now, where did you put that dress?”

  “It’s in my closet,” Luna replied, pointing to her room.

  Susan rushed toward it, with Maddie and Sarah following silently behind her. Luna closed the door after they stepped inside. What was happening to her? Was she going to let them give her a makeover so she could be presentable to Chance of all people?

  “Okay, Luna, I found it,” Susan called. Luna turned to see her approaching with the yellow dress clutched in her hand.

  She tossed the dress at her and handed the makeup bag to the quiet girl. “Sarah, can you set the stuff up in the bathroom? I’ll be in there in a minute.”

  Sarah nodded and took the bag before she disappeared down the hall that led to the bathroom. Susan’s gaze flicked between Luna and the dress expectantly. Luna sighed and went into her room; she closed the door behind her and stared down at the dress in her hands. She winced as once again she thought about the fact she’d be wearing it for Chance.

  She pulled off her clothes, throwing them onto the bed and sliding the dress into place. After smoothing out the wrinkles and casting one longing glance at her clothes, she opened the door and walked over to Susan, who sat on the couch, waiting.

  She stood to examine Luna. “Oh, you look great. Come on, so Sarah and I can do your makeup.” She guided her toward the bathroom.

  A chair from the kitchen had been set inside, and Susan pushed Luna to sit down. She sighed and obeyed. Luna tilted back her head and closed her eyes as she felt the light tickling of makeup brushes running across her skin. At the same time, she felt pulling on her hair as one of them began to fix it. Inwardly, she groaned, wondering how long she’d be stuck in the chair. The time seemed to pass painfully slow.

  “All finished,” came Susan’s voice finally.

  Luna opened her eyes and sat up. She winced at the pain in her neck before surveying her reflection. Her jet-black hair flowed in thick waves past her shoulders. The light eye shadow made her green eyes glitter, and the blush brought out her cheekbones. For the first time in her life, she wasn’t completely disgusted with her reflection.

  “Wow, that’s amazing, Susan,” she said.

  Susan smiled. “I should hope so. I really want to do this for a living.”

  Luna stood up, shifting her attention between her dress and her reflection again. She could hardly believe it. Susan walked past her and down the hall back to the living room. Luna watched Susan curiously as the girl peeked into the room and came back.

  “Okay, Chance is here. Luna get out there, I want to see his reaction.” She laughed.

  Susan seemed happy, and for some reason, Luna couldn’t bring herself to say no to her. Did she actually feel a friendly bond toward one of the girls who had been her enemy a few days ago?

  Luna looked up at Susan’s green eyes as they stared at her expectantly. She couldn’t believe her enemy made her feel so guilty. Luna swallowed away all her thoughts and began to walk down the dark hall. She would be going with Chance; there was no denying it anymore.

  The night had come.

  When Luna emerged at the end of the hall, she stared at Chance, waiting for his mean comments. He had been sitting on the couch next to Maddie, but at the sight of Luna, he stood up. His lips parted slightly as he kept his eyes on her. Behind her, she heard light footsteps and glanced back to see Susan peeking over her shoulder.

  Susan giggled and whispered, “I knew he’d be pleased.”

  “Nice job, Susan,” he said, and her attention snapped back to him.

  He stepped forward, blinking to clear his expression. “Hi, Luna. Are you ready to go?”

  She pushed past him as she replied, “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  Susan laughed. “She’s not too eager to go.”

  Chance laughed with her. “Yeah, I know.”

  “We’re gonna get going now”—Susan said, laughter gone—“and give you two some time alone.”

  With that, Susan, Maddie, and Sarah all crossed the room to the door and left. Luna turned to Chance, knowing that since they were alone, his true personality would come out.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “WELL, GO AHEAD and make your jokes,” Luna said.

  “I wasn’t thinking of jokes. I wanted to say you look beautiful. Susan did a good job,” Chance admired.

  “Why did you have her kidnap me?” She pulled her lips down into an irritated frown.

  “Because if you were to be my date for the dance then I wanted you to look good,” he replied. “Everyone in the school is wondering why I’m bringing you.”

  “Me too,” she snorted.

  “I’ll show them why,” he remarked, gesturing to her.

  “But Susan wants so badly to go with you…why not take her instead of me? I mean, she’s gorgeous, she doesn’t even need makeup.”

  Chance shrugged, uninterested. “If you say so. She’s my friend.”

  “So, t
hat means you can’t take her?” she asked, looking up at him.

  “It’s complicated.”

  “How so?”

  He sighed and pulled a beautiful long-stemmed rose out of the back of his jacket. He straightened out the petals and handed it to her. “This is for you. I know you hate this stuff, but I think it really completes you.”

  She took it slowly, careful of the pricks of the thorns. She stared at it for a moment then looked back at him. “What am I supposed to do with it?”

  He shrugged again. “I just thought you might like it.”

  Luna didn’t want to admit it, but she did like it. She examined it, wanting to smell the gentle maroon petals, but she didn’t want Chance to see that she liked it.

  “We have to go, the dance will be starting soon.” He grasped her arm.

  “Ouch, let go of me,” Luna snapped, eyes still on the rose as she tried to pull her arm free.

  He didn’t listen as they walked toward the door. He opened it and pulled her onto the porch step. He closed it behind them, and they walked to the truck.

  As he turned on the engine, Luna blew her hair out of her face and pulled the seatbelt across her lap. She noticed Chance wore a tuxedo and his hair had been carefully combed as if he had actually prepared himself for the dance. She glanced down at the rose again, brushing her hand across the petals.

  “So, how long do you plan on keeping me trapped there?” she wondered.

  He smiled. “Don’t think of it like that, you’ll stress yourself out.”

  “That wasn’t an answer.”

  He yawned. “It was to me.”

  Luna chewed her bottom lip and stared down at her hand as it clutched the stem. Her nails were polished a deep blue.

  “Don’t look so down. I’ll take good care of you,” he said.

  She had nothing to say to that.

  They drove in silence. When he finally reached the school, he stopped the car, and they sat there quietly before he turned to look at her, and she met his gaze.

  “What?”

  “You’re gonna be my date in front of the whole school, don’t you have some kind of remark about that?” He raised an eyebrow.

  “No, I just want to get tonight over with.”

  He sighed and opened his door. “All right.”

  She watched him for a moment. He wasn’t acting like himself again. He was being that strange boy she had had dinner with a few nights ago. What was it that made him act like that when no one else was around?

  “You coming or what?”

  She nodded and opened the door to join him outside. She left the rose on the seat before closing the door. He stepped ahead of her and led the way to the gym entrance. Chance looked at the ground and took a deep breath of air before he pushed open the double doors.

  Luna followed behind him, eyes darting around the gym. The lights were dulled, balloons lined the walls, and streamers hung across the ceiling. At the other end of the gym, a stage had been set up with a microphone, a drum set, and a guitar. Someone would be playing live music.

  She frowned at the decorations, thinking of how cheesy they were.

  Chance walked across the floor toward the people who had gathered to dance. The second somebody noticed him, he wrapped his arm around her.

  “Make room for us,” he said.

  “Oh, my God, is that Chance Welfrey with Luna Ketz?” Luna heard someone mutter from the crowd.

  She averted her eyes away from their gazes, blushing at the attention. There was no way she could avoid it. Luna pushed Chance away from her and made her way over to a table covered in food, where the crowd was sparser.

  Chance stayed where he was, studying the nearby people. At the sight of him alone, a couple girls ran up to him and Luna guessed they were asking him for a dance. She smiled a bit to herself…maybe if he got distracted with the other girls he would forget she was there. As she watched, he shooed the girls away with a simple movement of his arm, and Luna’s hope turned to disappointment. He walked over to her, searching her eyes with his.

  “What’s wrong? Don’t like the paparazzi?” He laughed.

  “You should dance with those other girls.”

  “Why?” he asked, scrunching up his face.

  “Because I want to go home.”

  He shook his head. “No way, you’re not going home without at least giving me one dance.”

  Luna slumped her shoulders. “Do we really have to?”

  “Do I have to tell David that you didn’t follow his orders?” he asked, tipping his head to the side.

  Luna closed her eyes for a long moment to hold back the building anger. He’d keep his promise. “Fine, you win.”

  He smiled and held out his hand to her. “Of course I did.”

  Reluctantly, she set her hand in his. His skin felt clammy beneath her fingers, like he had been sweating. Luna wanted to pull her hand back, but she forced herself to keep it there. He closed his fingers around hers and pulled her onto the dance floor. The music turned to a slow, sappy song, forcing them to slow dance. He forced her arms up onto his shoulders and set his hands on her waist.

  As he stepped to the music, she searched his expression for any sign of compassion. “Why do you do this to me?”

  “Do what?”

  “Make me go to things like this. I mean, I know you don’t like me. What could you possibly want from me?”

  He looked back at her, and for a minute, he didn’t speak, as if he had been caught off-guard by her question. “I can’t tell you.”

  “You can blackmail me into going on dates with you, and you can have your friends kidnap me, but you can’t tell me why you do it?” she asked in disbelief.

  “Look, you’ll find out eventually, and you won’t like it, I know. I try hard to get you to feel something toward me so that when you find that out, you won’t fight me,” he whispered in her ear.

  “Find what out? What could be so bad? Do Susan and Kate and all of them know what it is?” She pulled back to watch his face carefully.

  “No, they don’t. No one does. Just keep quiet, okay?”

  “Does this have to do with the thing you hide in your pocket?” Luna asked him a bit louder. “Do you have it on you now?” She reached her hand forward to try to touch the side of his pants.

  A couple people around them turned to look as she raised her voice to him. Chance caught her wrist easily in his hand, returned their stares, and smiled nervously before looking back at Luna. He had to resist the urge to shake her into silence as he let go of her arm.

  “I don’t hide anything in my pocket okay?” he snarled. “That’s all just your imagination, Luna. Now drop it.”

  Part of her was frightened by his sudden anger. He was hiding something from her…and from everyone else as well.

  “Okay, we’re setting up to play,” a voice called from the stage. “We need a volunteer singer to help us out.”

  “How about Chance does it?” Luna heard a nearby girl suggest.

  The anger dissolved from Chance’s face as he turned to the girl who had spoken. Luna realized all of his rage had been solely directed at her, and she felt oddly cold at the thought.

  “Yeah, I’ll do it. Why not?” she barely heard him say.

  He let go of her and moved through the cheering crowd toward the stage. The band took its place, and Chance stood at the microphone. He looked completely comfortable up there, normal, as if he weren’t the center of attention. The band began to play “Every Breath You Take” by The Police, and Luna studied Chance. He began to sing the words gently, and his voice surprised her.

  It sounded beautiful.

  As Luna watched him, she knew he looked like any other teenage boy. The girls around Luna cheered him on, but she stayed silent. His eyes flicked to her as he reached the chorus of the song, flashing in the lights. There was something bad about him. Something that separated him from all the other teenage boys and made him a danger to the people who called him ‘friend.’ />
  Chapter Fourteen

  AS THE SONG continued, Luna scanned the room for the exit. It might be her only chance to leave. At her height, seeing over the other kids proved difficult as she pushed through them. No one paid her any attention as they cheered Chance on. Luna breathed the cool night air in relief. She looked up at the twinkling stars above as she walked toward the parking lot. She heard the doors behind her open and turned to see Chance coming outside.

  “You’re not leaving without me,” he panted. “It was a good try though.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Luna replied as she searched for his black truck in the parking lot.

  “Why didn’t you want to stay longer? You might make some friends being seen with me,” he boasted.

  She rolled her eyes at his over-confidence. “I’m not interested in any of that, okay?”

  “Is something bothering you?”

  She looked at him and realized he looked back at her through narrowed eyes.

  “No,” she replied, confused by the expression. “I’m fine. I just want to go home.”

  He sighed when they reached his car. He opened the door, undid the locks, and Luna climbed into the passenger seat as he started the engine. She watched the road pass by as the truck moved along. Suddenly, Chance took a turn that led away from her house.

  “Um, Chance this isn’t the way,” Luna pointed out as her eyebrows scrunched together in concern.

  “I know. I’m not taking you home,” he replied.

  “Why? Where are we going?”

  “We’re going back to my house.”

  “But…why?” Luna asked, feeling her heart sink in her chest.

  “I can tell you’re upset over something. David wouldn’t be pleased with me if you came home like that.”

  He was being evasive. Luna could tell he had an underlying reason to his motives, but she would most likely be unable to figure it out.

  ***

  BEING ALONE WITH Luna in his truck, in the same place as all of his victims, made Chance feel like he would slip into that mind at a moment’s notice. He barely managed to keep himself steady though he didn’t know how it was possible. If he slipped completely, she’d be gone for sure. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye.