My hand shook as I grasped the door handle. I took in a deep breath and turned. “You can do this, Henry,” I said aloud.
The door swung open with creepy creaking noise. My eyes immediately focused on the worn-out floor that must've been at least a hundred years old. I didn't even know if it was safe to walk on it without breaking through to the basement below.
My first step inside was iffy at best. The house settled, moaning and begging me to leave. I wanted turn around and run back outside. I knew that this was going to be a bad idea.
I took a few more steps further and noticed the staircase with a white banister. Another freshly painted item courtesy of my father. But the rickety stairs were missing a few steps.
The place was silent. I had hoped to hear my mom cooking in the kitchen or my dad yelling at the football game in the living room.
But there was nothing.
I explored the house more, doing my best to avoid nails sticking out of the ground and random tools laid about. I made it through the kitchen and to the door that led to the backyard. I opened it to discover the reason my parents picked this place.
The green paradise was something out of a fairy wonderland. A field of grass led to a white gazebo covered in vines. A gigantic oak tree shadowed the entire yard with a swing hanging from one of its many thick branches.
I took off my shoes and walked through the grass barefoot. I had always liked the feel of the blades between my toes since I was little. I walked over to the tree and sat down on the wooden swing. My fingers gripped the coarse rope on both sides as I pushed off.
I tried to fight back the tears. I still hadn't cried since I heard the news.
–
I had stayed up until four in the morning cramming for a college algebra test that I had at ten in the morning. I lay down in bed, knowing that I would only be able to get a few hours of sleep. My phone rang before I could even shut my eyes.
I didn't usually answer unknown numbers but I got a weird feeling when I saw my phone screen. I answered and listened to the man on the other end.
The blood drained from my face. The phone dropped from my hands before the man was finished talking.
My parents were in a car accident.
The doctor said they tried everything in their power to save them. I didn't need him to finish before I knew the rest.
They were gone.
Gone forever.
My mind snapped back to the present. Tears streamed down my face. I fell off the swing and onto my knees. My parent's house was all mine now.
But I didn't want it.
I wanted my parents back.
Chapter Two
Spencer
The bass thumped in my chest. Sweat dripped off the half-naked bodies around me as they jumped up and down on the dance floor. The club was busy for a Thursday night.
Just the way I liked it.
The Titan Club was my favorite out of the rotation. Not too much security, plenty of men who were all too eager to go home with me, and most importantly cheap drinks.
I couldn't go the same club too many times in a row for the risk of being recognized. It was one of the many ways to protect myself.
I stood by the bar with my cold glass of whiskey on the rocks. I stirred the drink with the small straw and took a sip. Even though the alcohol never affected me like it did other people, it still tasted good and made me feel at ease.
I scanned the dance floor, searching through the bodies of men. I had to find the perfect one. I could have anyone I wanted but I didn't want to waste my time with trash. Each man had to be memorable. Each one had to leave their mark on me.
The music swelled. The crowd raised their hands into the air. The strobe lights made it hard to get a good look at any one guy.
My eyes landed on a guy with short brown hair. He wore a tight black shirt that showed off his well-built body. I didn't care for the skinny men with no meat on their bones. They looked like the undead.
But this guy was everything I always wanted. He danced among a few friends. His smile was contagious. I knew he would be mine by the end of the night.
The hunt was on.
I took a few more sips of my drink and set it back on the bar. I dragged my fingers through my short black hair and waded through the sea of bodies.
Everyone moved in slow motion. My eyes blurred everything else out except for the my prey. The dancers made a path without me having to push my way through.
I could feel the hunger deep in the pit of my stomach. I needed to taste him.
His friends noticed me first. Their eyes went big and they blushed. It was a normal reaction to my appearance. I singled out my prey and he finally noticed me. He stopped dancing right there and time stopped.
We stared at each other for eternity. Neither one of us said a word.
I leaned in and whispered in his ear, “Care to have a drink with me?”
I didn't need to see his face to know the answer. It was always the same with every guy. I grabbed his hand and felt lightning go straight through me. Something I'd never felt before. But I ignored it and pulled him through the crowd and to the bar.
We both sat down on stools and I motioned for the bartender. A chick in a white t-shirt with a low v-neck came over. The music was too loud so I showed her my old drink and gave her two fingers. She understood immediately and went to work.
My man twiddled his thumbs next to me. Another normal reaction to me. Men got so nervous when I was around. It made it easy to manipulate them.
He leaned over and yelled, “What's your name?”
I never gave out my name to anyone. Even the name on my driver's license was fake. And I didn't need to know the name every man I met at clubs.
I gave him a smile that said things wouldn't be so easy with me. He almost melted to the floor right in front of me.
The bartender returned with our two drinks. It didn't matter if he liked whiskey or not. He would drink it because I ordered it for him.
He took a sip and winced. “What's your name?” he asked again.
A devilish grin spread across my face. He wasn't going to get any information out of me. And I didn't need to know anything about him. This night would be the last time we'd meet.
But there was something different about him. I watched him as he drank his whiskey through the tiny black straw. His eyes held secrets.
A hidden pain.
“Do you want to go somewhere quieter?” I asked. We always went back to a hotel room after a drink. That's how every night went.
He looked deep into my eyes, smiling. He was going to be all mine tonight. My prey shook his head, taking another sip and setting the glass down on the bar.
“I have to get back to my friends now. Thank you for the drink.” The gorgeous man got off the bar stool and ran back onto the dance floor.
I sat there with the most dumbfounded face. What the fuck was that?
That had never happened to me before. Men couldn't resist me. It just wasn't possible.
But he did it with ease. I thought I had him under my spell but he had me fooled.
Was something wrong with me? I must've been off my game. There wasn't a good explanation.
I could've brushed it off and hunted my next target but I couldn't let him get away with rejecting me like that. He was going to be mine no matter what.
I knocked back the rest of the whiskey, wiped my mouth, and walked back onto the dance floor.
The night was far from over...
Chapter Three
Henry
I had spent the next few days in a daze, wandering through my parent's empty house. I kept expecting to see them every time I opened one of the bedroom doors. But nobody was there. They weren't coming back and there was nothing I could do about it.
I don't know how it started but one morning I woke up and knew what I needed to do. And I wouldn't stop until it was complete.
I was going to finish the house myself.
The only p
roblem was I knew nothing about renovating a house. In fact, the only thing I knew about house repair was calling the landlord to get it fixed.
But I didn't want help. I needed to do it all myself.
I went to the hardware store and walked aimlessly through the aisles. I didn't even know what I needed. I was sure my father had plenty of tools in the garage but I didn't even check what he had before I left for the store.
A clerk found me staring at different types of wrenches. “Can I help you with something?”
He was younger, probably a sophomore in college. His eyes scanned my body up and down. I was used to men doing that all the time. Sometimes I liked it and sometimes I didn't. It had to do with what type of guy was doing it.
I smiled and shrugged. “I'm not sure what I'm looking for.”
The clerk returned the smile. “What type of project are you working on?”
“House stuff. To be honest, I don't even know where to start. The whole place is a disaster.”
“Want some advice?”
I nodded. I definitely needed some or else I'd be haunting the halls of this store forever.
The clerk took a step closer to me and I didn't move away. “Start small and go from there. Pick the room with the least amount of work.”
“I think they all need an equal amount of work,” I replied.
The cute guy laughed. “Okay then, start with a bedroom. You really only have to deal with the flooring, walls, and ceiling. No appliances, toilets, tubs or sinks.”
The thought of having to renovate the kitchen or bathroom made me shiver. “Yeah the guest room might be the easiest.”
The clerk led me to another aisle. “Then I recommend some paint. It's hard to mess up painting a wall.”
“Trust me, I can mess up anything.”
The guy took a second to write on a scrap of paper and handed it to me. “Call me if you have any questions or need help. My name's John.”
I took the piece of paper with his number on it. “I'm Henry. Thanks again.” We shook hands and he left me to pick a color for the wall.
Twenty minutes later and I had narrowed down the color between three shades of white. I don't know why it mattered to me so much but I needed it to be perfect.
And eggshell was the perfect color.
I left the store with paint, some brushes and a mission to complete. It also helped that a cute guy gave me his number. I thought of calling him when I was all done and showing him the progress I made on the house.
But first things first.
–
I never could imagine that painting just one bedroom could take so long. I had started in the early morning and it was hours after the sun set when I finally finished. But without sunlight it was hard to tell if I had done a good enough job. Only tomorrow would tell.
I was all ready to just pass out when my phone rang. A name I hadn't heard from in an eternity flashed across my screen. I was so exhausted that I didn't even want to deal with it.
I hit the answer button. “Hi, Fiona!”
“It's been a long time, Henry! Why didn't you tell me you were back home?” She sounded as bubbly as ever. Nothing had changed since we graduated from high school.
Fiona was one of the “popular” girls and that in turn made me semi-popular in high school. I had too many friends and so many commitments that I couldn't keep track of everything. It was a stark contrast to my college experience with almost zero friends unless you counted my roommate who barely spoke a word to me. For some reason my high school was more accepting of me than college. Go figure.
“Sorry but I only recently got back,” I replied. “How did you find out I was home?”
“Oh you know, someone saw you walking around and word got back to me.”
I rolled my eyes. Word always got back to Fiona. I shouldn't have been surprised. Fiona always had her finger on the pulse of this town.
An awkward moment of silence passed. I didn't know what to say to her. We hadn't really talked in four years.
Fiona finally spoke up, “What are you doing back home?”
I contemplated telling her the truth. But I didn't want any pity. Especially from Fiona. “I moved back after graduating.”
“That's terrific! What are you doing tonight? We should go dancing!”
The last thing I wanted to do after a long day of painting was standing on my feet all night. “I actually have plans tonight, Fiona. Maybe some other time?”
“Then tomorrow night,” she replied.
I shook my head through the phone but she didn't let me get a word in.
“I won't take no for an answer. We have to go out and celebrate.”
A sigh escaped my lips. “Fine. We can go out tomorrow.”
“Perfect! We'll go to Club Titan.”
I hung up the phone and wandered into my parents' bedroom. I collapsed onto a sleeping bag next to their king-sized bed. It didn't feel right sleeping in their bed. The ground wasn't the most comfy but my tired body didn't care.
I could fall asleep on a bed of spikes if I had to.
Chapter Four
Henry
“Oh my God! Is that Henry?” Fiona stood outside the club with her arms stretched wide open. She wore a red dress that barely covered her legs. Her short blonde hair showed off giant hoop earrings.
“Yes Fiona, it's me.” I could barely handle her bubbly attitude through the phone and now I had to deal with it in person.
She grabbed my hand and made me do a little twirl. “Let me get a good look at you. That black shirt looks fantastic on you.”
I blushed. That black shirt was about the only thing I owned that would be acceptable at a club. I hadn't worn it in a couple years and it was too tight. But it was better than wearing t-shirt.
Fiona didn't even bother introducing me to her friends. And I honestly didn't care. I was probably never going to see them ever again after this night. That's how Fiona was. She rarely held onto relationships. That included men.
But I was different for some reason. She never threw me away like the rest of them. And I have no idea why.
She pulled me into the club and I showed my I.D. to the bouncer with way too many muscles. I cut my way through the red drapes and set foot in Club Titan.
From the name, I expected a club like all the others I'd been to. A nice mix of men and women. And that's exactly what I got.
Club Titan had the typical dark lighting with strobe effects. The bar was a little bigger than what I used to. Different color lights stood behind the bottles of liquor to give off a cool effect. The dance music was so loud the ground rumbled beneath me.
I went straight to the bar ignoring whatever Fiona was trying to yell at me. A mass of people stood between me and the bartender. The girl seemed overwhelmed with the amount of orders.
I let out a loud sigh. There was no way I was going to get a drink any time soon.
Fiona and her friends were dancing on the floor and she motioned for me to come over. I didn't know if I could really let loose unless I had a bit of alcohol first. I put my finger up to Fiona to tell her I needed a minute first.
I waited by the bar, hoping that a guy would get the idea to buy me a drink. It had worked so many times before. But the club was too busy and there were too many good-looking men.
Or at least that's what I told myself to keep from crying.
A guy sitting at the bar left his seat, leaving behind a half-empty glass of whiskey. I looked around to see if anyone was watching me. This would be one of the most embarrassing moments if I was caught. I grabbed the small glass and knocked back the alcohol.
The whiskey I expected was actually Jager: my most hated drink. My face scrunched up and I did my best to keep from throwing up. I wiped my mouth and learned my lesson. Drinking from a stranger's glass doesn't always pay off.
But at least I had some alcohol in me. Even if it tasted like black licorice.
I joined Fiona and her friends on the dance floor. Fiona was all
over the place, knocking into people and flinging her arms in the air. I hadn't seen her drink anything since we entered the club. She must've taken some drugs before I arrived.
That was exactly how Fiona was back in high school. She would show up to class high and barely coherent. She knew I was never into that junk so she never offered it to me. If Fiona had given me something that night, I might've actually taken it.
Royal Blood Complete Series Box Set Page 42
