Divine Vices

by Parkin, Melissa

  “So she’s just a tiger that needs to get stroked right?” laughed Luke.

  “I like the sound of that,” added Nate. “Though I wouldn’t mind Meyer either. Bit of an easier prey if you ask me.”

  “Too easy,” said Jack. “Girls like that are the ones you can never shake. They cling to you like cellophane.”

  I didn’t even bother to wait for Coach Whitmore. I exited through the side doors of the gym even before the bell dismissed us. Suddenly with a complete loss of appetite, I ditched the thought of lunch and just grabbed a snack from the vending machine before heading to the library.

  Chapter 3

  Tornado

  When I closed my locker door, Jack’s frame appeared directly beside me.

  “Hey, stranger.” He had the perfect smile, which made it all the more tempting for me to want to drive my fist into his mouth.

  “Hey.”

  “I just wanted to thank you for your advice. I really appreciate it.”

  “No problem,” I replied with a tone far from cordial. I might as well have cussed at him, because everything else about my demeanor implied that I wanted to.

  “So, there are some people who are heading to Deer Park’s shopping district after school. You in?”

  “I’ve already got plans.”

  “Come on, are you really gonna leave me to fend for myself in a pack of wolves?” It was easy to see why every other girl in school saw Jack as New Haven’s George Clooney, because he radiated so much natural charm and appeal that he could sell ice to a penguin if presented with the challenge.

  “I saw you with Stacy. Seems you can handle yourself just fine.”

  “What? You don’t like a little friendly competition?” he cracked.

  My level of tolerance just dropped down passed E, and with that last remark in hand, I left him at the lockers. Unfortunately, I could hear his steps coming up after me.

  “Hey, relax. I was just teasing,” he called out from behind.

  That was it.

  “Funny, because I thought that was supposed to be my roll,” I said, cocking my head over my shoulder to gage his expression as I continued down the hall.

  His eyes gave way when he connected the dots.

  “Another helpful hint, voices tend to carry in the locker rooms, so my advice would be to keep it down,” I said, still not bothering to even so much as slow down on his account.

  “Oh, come on, it was just guy-talk. You actually think I meant those things?” he said, having to speed up to a jogging pace to keep up with me.

  “I wouldn’t know, because I don’t know you,” I said. “But thank you for that incredible insight. It really has given me clarity about your character.”

  “Which is?”

  “You’re gorgeous-” I began.

  “I like where this seems to be going,” he said grinningly.

  “-Which means that along with your charisma and flirtatious nature, you pretty much know how to get everything you want. So to continue feeding your narcissistic tendencies, you aim your sights on the type of females that most would deem as ‘unattainable’ for one degree or another, just so you can maintain the delusion that the world and all its inhabitants can be wrapped around your perfect little finger.”

  When I heard his footsteps come to a halt from behind, curiosity urged me to stop as well. Jack looked equal parts dumbfounded and amused.

  “Well, aren’t you a piece of work?” he said, slowly walking towards me.

  I kept my ground and stood square with him, looking up into his eyes with a callously controlled gaze. “Are you honestly going to tell me that I’m wrong?”

  “No, not if you tell me that I wasn’t wrong about you.”

  “Yeah, not gonna happen.”

  “You saying you’ve honestly convinced yourself that you’re not a tease?”

  My eyes felt like they were about to pop out of their sockets. “I beg your pardon?”

  “Apparently you haven’t crossed paths with a mirror lately, because if you had, you’d see all the signs for yourself,” he remarked with evident condescension.

  “So much for that being just ‘guy-talk,’” I cracked. “Well, Obi-Wan Kenobi, please educate me with your higher powers of intellect.”

  Apparently, my unwillingness to back down was a new sight for Jack, because his mouth curled with admiration as I stood with my hands hooked on my hips.

  “For starters, your clothes,” he said, looking me over from head to toe.

  I glanced down in amusement. “Last time I checked, I wasn’t parading around in sleazy streetwalker-apparel to imply anything of a falsely promiscuous nature.”

  “No, but you’re still wearing fitted clothing, with a fair amount of skin on display around the neckline just shy of provocative,” he pointed out as his eyes trailed down. “Not to mention you’re wearing fashionable heeled boots, despite the fact that you’re tall enough to not need them out of insecurity over your height. You also wear make-up, and not in the way that half the cheerleading squad does that requires paint thinner to remove the gallon of concealer and foundation they’ve caked onto their faces.”

  “Maybe I’m just better at applying my make-up that you can’t tell,” I commented.

  “You’re really going to play this with me?” he said, knowing that I was going to make him work for every ounce of his argument. “All right, it’s all over your face.”

  “Make-up?”

  “Freckles. Subtle signs of freckles across your cheeks and over the bridge of your nose. I wouldn’t be able to see that if you were painting your face, which means that the make-up you bother to apply isn’t about trying to cover up flaws in your complexion. It’s all about the eyes, your best feature. Smoky makeup, cat eyeliner, and a few coats of mascara on a woman implies that she wants the attention. She wouldn’t go through the trouble of applying it if she didn’t need to, unless she wanted people to notice.”

  Son of a...!

  “So what you’re saying is that a woman isn’t allowed to look her best without an agenda?”

  Jack’s condescension had taken full control as he laxly leaned against the wall beside us with a smirk that made me want to slap it clean off his face. “No, but when you’re naturally attractive, it’s a logical assumption for others to believe the extra effort has to be for some purpose. It’s not because you’re trying to compete with your red-headed friend back there, since it’s obvious you two don’t share the same taste in men. It is in that fact I considered the possibility that you and Callaghan were an item, but when that notion was eliminated, it was clear that there was only one assumption left. And I was right. You’re a tease, in one form or another.”

  “Just so I’m clear on all of this, how exactly does that theory work? You don’t know the first thing about me, or my temperament,” I said rather patronizingly.

  “Take it from me; girls aren’t the only ones to gossip. My inquiries into you were supported by the help of our fellow male classmates. And word around town is that you seem to be relatively easygoing with your friends, but outside of that close-knit circle, you’re perceived as being rather passive and possibly evasive toward guys in general.”

  I couldn’t help but to laugh. “That’s what they said, huh? ‘Passive’ and ‘evasive’?”

  “No, not exactly verbatim, but you get the gist of it.”

  “And may I ask as to why you’re so curious as to inquire about me in the first place?”

  “Just trying to figure you out.”

  “Well, I’d be more than happy to oblige you,” I said, moving in closer to him puckishly. “I’m an Aquarius. I like art, classic rock, muscle cars, and long walks on the beach. And I don’t like you.”

  “Why?”

  “Would you like me to list my reasons chronologically?”

  His cockiness didn’t subside. “You think you’re better than me?”

  “I know I am.”

  “Remind me again, who is the arrogant one here?” he a
sked in jest.

  “You may physically be New Haven’s hot new commodity, but I don’t judge a book by its cover. And as you ever so eloquently pointed out before, Gwen and I don’t share the same taste in men. So despite the fact she’s wasting her time with entertaining any ideas about you, you should consider it a waste of your time waiting for me to come around.”

  He couldn’t help but to move in nearer as I continued to stare at him bewitchingly. “Is that a fact?”

  “Yes, it is,” I said, closing the gap between us, “because, Mr. Matthews, I’m not impressed by your perfectly sculpted façade. I care to judge a person by their substance. And there is one thing for certain in this world that I’ve learned about any type of bad boy.”

  “And that is?”

  “Despite their lavishly decorated wrapping paper, the only thing a girl’s going to find inside is a massive heap of coal.”

  “Well, there’s always a price to pay for being naughty,” he smirked.

  “A beautiful disappointment? Thanks, but no thanks. You’re not worth the price for Hell’s admission,” I said leeringly as I pulled away, proceeding to my next class.

  I started making my way down to Study Hall for the final class in my day, when Ian came up behind me with a gigantic hug.

  “Hey, beautiful,” he said, kissing me on the cheek. “I’m off to work. Gwen giving you a ride after school?”

  “Yeah, we’ll meet up with you,” I said. “Gwen’s going to the mall anyway. Jeff’s gonna be there.”

  “So he’s the object of her affection this week?” he joked.

  “He showed his interest first, so it seems rather mutual, actually,” I affirmed.

  “Speaking of objects of affection, you talk to Gwen’s new recommendation for your future husband?”

  “You mean Jack?” I asked, a guilty smile creeping up on my face. “I wouldn’t call it a ‘talk’ per se, more like a scolding.”

  “Uh-oh, what happened?”

  “Other than the fact that he referred to me as a snobbish tease, not to mention other things said in reference to other people I care about, he was still begging for a sound lashing.”

  “And you gave it to him?”

  “Hey, I’m more than capable of taking care of myself,” I said, giving him a gentle shove as he released his embrace around me.

  “You go all Chuck Norris on him?”

  “No, I used my oratorical powers and beat him with his own words,” I stated proudly.

  “That’s my girl.”

  Gwen pushed her way through the crowds with determination the moment she saw us coming down the opposite end of the hallway. “You guys are not going to believe what I just found out!”

  “If this is about Jack, I really don’t want to hear anything about that jerk,” I said sharply.

  “No...” said Gwen, “but may I ask, what’s with your prickly demeanor?”

  “He made some derogatory comments about Cassie,” Ian confirmed.

  “Are you kidding?” scoffed Gwen. “Well, we’ll deal with him later. We’ve got bigger news. A girl was found in the woods early this morning, or should I say her body was.”

  “What?!” Ian and I exclaimed in unison.

  “Yeah, fifteen years old. Can you believe it?”

  “Around here?” I asked.

  “No, down near Lancaster. She had been missing for four days and officials originally thought she was a runaway. And trust me, there’s nothing natural about her death.”

  I still breathed a sigh of relief.

  “That’s not exactly the reaction I was expecting,” said Gwen.

  “Don’t get me wrong. I know it’s tragic, but as indecent as this sounds, I’m still kind of thankful that there’s a safe distance between this and us. Lancaster’s gotta be what, twenty miles or so from us? After living in the city and constantly being on high alert for the latest psychopath to be splashed across the nightly news, it’s still nice to know I don’t need to keep looking over my shoulder everywhere I go,” I said.

  “Not so fast. Her death might be what’s making headlines, but it’s the details yet to be disclosed to the public that should be scaring you.”

  “Come again?”

  “Turns out the circumstances of this girl’s case happens to match another missing person’s, from right here in town,” said Gwen. “Twenty-one-year-old bartender, Veronica Hyatt. Missing since last Thursday.”

  “I heard about that case from Officer Benson,” I said.

  “Not like this you haven’t. You know what’s got the police so rattled about Veronica?” she asked, receiving no response. “This.”

  Gwen pulled out a full sheet of printing paper from her binder. She flipped it over and handed it to me, the image on its backside searing forever in my mind.

  “What the-”

  Ian quickly snatched the paper and buried it inside his jacket. “Meyer, where the hell did you get this?”

  “A... confidential source...” she replied sheepishly.

  “Gwen, this is serious,” said Ian. “How did you get this?”

  “Let’s just say my source doesn’t exactly play by the books.”

  “You’ve gotta be kidding,” growled Ian. “You haven’t shared this with anyone else, have you?!”

  “No.”

  “Well, keep it that way. There’s a reason why the cops aren’t mentioning this,” Ian whispered. “If word gets out about some kind of cultish killer, all the freaks are gonna come out of the woodwork.”

  “You don’t think I’ve already thought about that?” said Gwen.

  “Let’s not forget your reporter-mindset. There’s not much that you don’t make into a headline these days.”

  “Fine, I pinky swear to not print a word,” she cracked.

  “Seriously, Nancy Drew, leave it alone,” said Ian. “I’ve gotta get going.”

  “Drive safe,” I said.

  “I will,” he replied. “Keep an eye on Sherlock here.”

  “Will do.”

  Ian walked away hesitantly, and it was left up to me now to ensure that Gwen would keep mum about this. I hooked my arm around hers and took her to Study Hall. No more than a half hour into class, our teacher, Mr. Randall, was already sawing logs with his relentless snoring.

  “How can you not be more curious about this?” said Gwen, who had parked a seat beside me in the massive, mostly vacant classroom. “Where’s your inner journalist?”

  “Occupied on writing articles about the football team and how overpaid our district’s superintendent is,” I said, not so much as breaking concentration from my workbook.

  “You know how epic it would be if we were to solve this?”

  “Solve what? Are you going to break into crime scenes and do your best CSI impersonation? Because, Scooby Doo, there are laws against interfering with official investigations. You get caught in the middle of one of your half-baked schemes, you’re gonna find your head on a chopping block. Please, for once in your life, listen to Ian and let this go.”

  “Sounds fine now, but when a Charles Manson groupie comes knocking on your door, don’t say I didn’t tell you so.”

  I gave her a sharp glare. “Also, would you mind keeping it down? I don’t think the biology department heard you. We may not be surrounded by the brightest minds this generation has to offer, but it won’t take much common sense to connect the dots back to you if news of this finally comes out when all the long while you were flapping your gums about cults. They’re gonna know the information was leaked to you.”

  A big part of me prayed that the information would never see the light of day, because it still felt unreal. I knew though that the moment this became public knowledge, everyone’s constant yammering about it would only devastate the falsehood I had built up to be ignorant safety. Unfortunately, I couldn’t erase the image Gwen had shown me no matter how hard I tried. Despite the cultish freakiness of the star encrusted pyramid symbol formed by rocks and sticks in the muck, it was the girl who
haunted me most. A fair skinned brunette, younger than I was, laying in the mud of Maine’s woodlands. Her limbs contorted about in the most unnatural positions. Scarlet splotched across her dirtied white halter. Her dark brown eyes vacantly staring up at the sky with what I could only imagine in her last moments to be filled with dread, terror, and pain.

  “Fine, I’ll put this baby to rest, for the time being,” said Gwen. “In the mean time, why don’t you tell me about what happened between you and the devilish dreamboat?”

  “Nothing worth mentioning.”

  The truth was that I didn’t know how much I wanted to share with Gwen. If I told her everything, including what he had said about her, I could get her off my back and put a stop to her pestering. Yet, I couldn’t bring myself to go through with hammering full disclosure on her. Despite Gwen’s seemingly impervious exterior, I still saw firsthand just how much Stacy’s constant remarks really did upset her. They used to be best friends, and now Stacy was her primary tormentor. Last thing either one of us needed was for Gwen to wage another war, no matter how much Jack may have deserved her wrath. I settled for simply telling her about what he had said in reference to me and left that at that.

  When I concluded, she looked at me frustratingly.

  “He tried apologizing?”

  “If you could call it that,” I scoffed.

  “His initial intension was to apologize though?”

  I almost laughed as I reconsidered my partial-disclosure policy. “You’re not seriously taking his side on this, are you?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “Well, you’re certainly taking your time in deciding,” I said.

  “Sorry, it’s just hard to believe that he’d say those things.”

  “Why? Because you know him so well?”

  “No, it is, because you could tell that he liked you.”

  “No, he liked the disturbed idea of conquering a prudish conquest.”

  Chapter 4

  People Are Strange

  After the Saturn set an all-time record, taking sharp turns and deep swoops down New Haven’s forested hilly back roads, Gwen pulled into the local mall at 3:16. We had left the school parking lot at three after three, for what was supposed to be a twenty-five minute drive for anybody who abided by speed limits. Releasing my death grip from the passenger door and dash, I climbed out of the car with immediate relief that I was still intact and at my favorite place in the area.