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. “What? 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?”
He laughed a little. “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 pressing down on my heart.
“Well obviously I wanted to be, or I wouldn’t be here now, would I?” he said, his tone humorless.
“Oh gee, thanks.” I hugged myself. “That sounded sincere.”
He laughed. It had a harsh edge to it. “You’re an ungrateful little bitch.”
“What did you just say to me?” I balled my hands into fists, suddenly wanting to punch his gorgeous face repeatedly.
“I said you’re an ungrateful bitch.”
“You can’t be serious.” What was happening?
“Hell yeah, I’m serious. Serious as a heart attack,” he snapped. “Let me tell you something little girl…” He gave me a scathing look. “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 turned and stormed out of the mansion.
“Asshole!”
REVAW
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.
GNINRAEY
“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.
NOITARAPERP
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 loo
k.
“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 sheepishly. “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
TESNO
“You know…” I took another step up the crumbling stairs that were disintegrating from time and neglect. “Briarcliff Manor is way creepier up close than it is far away.”
“Tell me about it.” Moriah stepped up to the door. “Eww, gross,” Moriah gasped.
“What?” I shrank back afraid to look.
Moriah moved out of the way and I could see the door.
“Gross, is right.” A large blackened gargoyle head was mounted to the massive front door. The mouth was open and revealed a set of nasty sharp teeth. It looked like it was waiting to be fed and whoever walked inside the door, was just that—the meal.
Moriah pulled a bottle out of her bag. “Here, take this.”
“What is it?” I took the bottle.
“Liquid courage,” Moriah said. “It’s a gift from M&M.”
“Who is M&M?”
“Duh, Evie, Barnaby, the Master Mixer,” Moriah said and gave me a look like I was slow on the uptake.
“Geez, Moriah.” I rolled my eyes. “Excuse me.” Bitch. “M&M is a freaking candy, not a person. Ditch the & next time.”
“Ahh…No.”
“Whatever.” I flicked the condensation off the side of the bottle and twisted off the cap.
“You better wait to drink that though.”
“Why?” The bottle was halfway to my mouth.
“It will probably make you pass out before this thing even gets started.” Moriah pulled keys out of her bag and turned towards the door.
“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Well, what’d you expect?” Moriah said. “The last time you drank with me, I had to hold your hair out of the toilet while you puked all night…remember?”
Of course, I remembered but I didn’t need to hear about it again. “Fine, I’ll wait.” I put the cap back on the bottle. Unlike me, ‘the lightweight,’ Moriah could drink a lot. I always reasoned that it must be from her giant boobs—they were like a camel’s hump, storing all the alcohol she drank until she needed it. “So…” I kicked a pebble back and forth. “What’s my big surprise?”
“Evie,” she sighed audibly. “It’s a surprise.”
“Can’t you give me a little hint?” I wheedled.
“No. I can’t.”
“Whatever.” I crossed my arms and acted like I didn’t care even though my curiosity was getting the better of me.
“Listen…” Moriah gave me a pointed look. “Don’t be mad. I just don’t want to ruin the surprise.”
“Oh come on…tell me, pleeeze…”
“Not gonna happen,” she said. “You’ll love it though. I promise.”
“Whatever,” I mumbled dejectedly. The wind shook the trees and a scratchy sound came from my left. I flinched and looked over my shoulder. It was just a leaf. “This place sure is creepy.”
Moriah spun around and laughed maniacally.
I jumped backward with my hand over my racing heart.
Moriah laughed harder.
“God! You’re such a bitch.”
“Sorry.” She bumped her shoulder against mine, trying to lighten the mood. “I was just playing.” She lifted her arms up. “Come on, admit it. This place is awesome for a party, right?”
“Not seeing it.”
“Come on, seriously, take another look.” Moriah swept her arm in the air to encompass the crumbling façade of Briarcliff Manor. “What is there not to love? This place is huge and tomorrow it will be filled with hotties, booze and wicked good bands. It will be totally cool.” She reached out and wrapped her arm over my shoulder.
“When you say it like that, I guess it could be cool.”
Moriah dropped her arm and stepped back up to the door.
I looked back at the ugly gargoyle knocker. “If you’re a freaking monster,” I muttered.
“What was that?” Moriah turned around.
“Nothing.” I smashed a leaf under my shoe.
Moriah sighed. “Don’t look so down. It will be great, maybe even…epic.” She pushed her hair over her shoulder.
“Okay, fine.” I wasn’t too sure about this whole epic thing. I took a deep breath, and twisted my ring around my finger, feeling nervous. “You know, last night, after you left… I heard something really weird.”
“So, that’s what’s wrong with you,” Moriah said sounding relieved. She turned back around and looked at me. “Well…” She gave me a questioning look. “What did you hear?”
“I don’t know,” I told her. “It kind of sounded like someone was screaming.”
“Like a person?”
“Well, yeah,” I said. “What else would scream?”
“Animals…maybe…” Moriah shrugged.
“Yeah, I guess it could have been an animal.” I hadn’t thought about that. “It sounded like a person, though.”
Moriah gave me one of her staple eye rolls she used when she thought I was acting crazy. “You sure it wasn’t the movie we were watching?”
“Oh, right.” I hadn’t thought about that. I forgot we were watching a movie. That made complete sense, although it didn’t sound like it was coming from inside. It sounded like it was coming from something outside, like maybe… it had come from here. “I saw something weird, too.”
“Oh-kay,” Moriah said slowly. “What?” She dropped her hand from the door and turned back around towards me.
“I could have sworn the lights were on up here.”
“Were they?”
“Well…I’m not sure.” I shoved my hands into my pockets.
“How can you not be sure?” Moriah asked.
“Well…” I swallowed hard. “I ran inside but when I peeked back out the door, the lights were out.”
“Evie…” Moriah gave me a sympathetic look. “Maybe you were seeing things.”
“I don’t just see things, you know,” I snapped, instantly irritated. “I’m not a freak.”
“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?”
Elyograg (Briarcliff Series, Book 1) Page 8
