My heart tugged as I missed her and decided to write her a letter. Mila was still in the shower so I moved to my nightstand, pulling open the drawer and taking out a pen and the premium parchment I used for this purpose only.
I sat on my bed, resting my back against the wall and placing a textbook on my legs. I positioned the paper on top of it, poising the pen to write the words I needed to spill from my heart.
Dear Jessica,
So, I’m here at Everlake prep. Dad didn’t give in to my begging to stay with him, go figure, right?
I guess I’m getting the ‘real life teenage experience’ at last. I got really close to avoiding it, dammit. But it’s not so bad. I’ve even made a friend or two already. You’d love my roommate. She’s a dancer like you. And it may even be possible that she has a filthier mouth than you too.
You should see the guys here. There’s these three assholes who think they own the world. It would be funny if everyone in the school didn’t take it so seriously.
I’m off to be ‘initiated’ into their little club tonight. I know, I know…I don’t jump through hoops for anyone. I can practically hear you rolling your eyes, Jess. But I’m here for good this time. A full year (thanks again Dad). So I’ve gotta make an effort, haven’t I? And apparently this is a right of passage or something. So don’t judge me too hard, okay? You know me. Whatever they get me to do, I’ll come out swinging.
I miss you.
Love Tatty x
I folded the letter up and tucked it into my drawer just as Mila walked back into the room in a towel. It was almost seven already and from the looks of her, we were gonna be an hour late to the party.
“Tatuuum…” She sang like she wanted something.
“What’s up?” I swung my legs off the bed and she eyed my dress appreciatively.
“Firstly, you look hellfire hot. And secondly…” She bit into her lower lip. “Would you hate me forever if I met you at the party? Danny’s coming over and I haven’t gotten laid in like forever.”
I laughed, standing and pushing my feet into my black stilettos. “Fine, but you owe me one.” I smirked and she bounced up and down on her toes.
“I owe you ten!” She ran forward, throwing her arms around me so her wet, shea and coconut scented hair slapped against my cheek. “Do you know how to get there? You just follow the path to the other side of the lake and keep walking until you see the sign for the Oak Common House. It’ll lead you to the water’s edge and then you can’t miss it, okay?”
“Okay,” I agreed, stepping back. Her towel came loose and dropped straight to her feet. A laugh exploded from her lips and one tumbled from mine too.
“Woops. Guess you’ve seen it all now, huh?” She snatched up the towel, but didn’t bother to wrap it back around herself as she headed to her chest of drawers and fished out some lacy red underwear.
“Just don’t screw him on my bed,” I warned her.
“Promise!” she cried. “I do not break girl code ever.”
I laughed as I snagged my leather jacket from the back of the door, slipping it on before exiting the room. I made my way downstairs and out into the woods, eyeing a group of girls up ahead of me in cute outfits, all of their arms linked as they walked along the path. They must have been heading to the party so I just fell into step behind them, trying to ignore the thrashing of my heart at going it alone.
This making an effort bullshit wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t known I was going to be put through some test tonight. The Night Keepers didn’t seem like the type of boys who would teach me a secret handshake and be done with it. Whatever their initiation was, it wasn’t going to be pretty. But I was going to face it without blinking. Because that was the only way I was gonna get their attention off of me. I’d soon stop being the new girl. I just had to ride out the storm until that happened.
Once tonight was done, I was gonna do as Mila said and stay off of their radar. Which was all well and good apart from the fact that I’d spent my shower thinking about the way Blake’s hands had brushed over me in P.E., how Saint’s eyes had scored lines across my flesh like he’d rather be using his tongue, and how Kyan had surveyed me with an animal kind of hunger that had almost made me fear for my life. They were just…gah. Addictive was the only word for it. And I’d had the smallest of tastes. I had to be strong enough not to take a little more. And a little more after that…
I could see why they were practically royalty around here. But with girls no doubt regularly dropping to their knees and opening their mouths for them, they didn’t need a girl like me. I was too much effort for rich boys who had everything. They were used to girls begging for it. Ones they could offer out breadcrumbs to as little or as often as they liked. And when they realised I was of a different variety, they’d race away faster than Road Runner in roller skates. The problem was, inside me was a reckless girl who was just as horny as all of those other girls, hornier probably. So I was gonna have to fight to keep her on a short leash.
I rounded the lake, slowing my pace as the group of girls pulled ahead of me. The sky was a deep purple as the last of the light trickled from the world and the sound of roosting birds sang in the dusk. The air was cold enough to send a shiver through me, but it made me feel entirely awake too. This place was a dream world, its beauty almost haunting. The trees reached up far above me as the path curved into the woodland, following the line of the lakeshore. Every hundred meters or so was a lantern hanging from a tall wooden post. Moths and fireflies gathered around them, throwing themselves against their blinding heat.
The path twisted off into the trees ahead of me so I lost sight of the girls, but it was pretty simple to find your way around this place when everything was centred around the lake. Through the trees, Tahoma Mountain was looming, its peak draped in the final glimmer of sunlight before the world tumbled into darkness.
My heart skipped and bounced as I found myself alone in the forest. A prickle of energy ran along my limbs and made my breathing quicken. I liked the taste of danger in the air. The sense that a wolf could be watching from the trees. I’d always been drawn to the darkness. Even as a little girl, Dad said I’d never needed a night light or the door cracked open. The natural fear of it lived in me, but there was a thrill in it too that I craved.
A light to my right caught my attention and I paused, my eyes following the line of a path that led out to the incredible old church I’d seen from the far side of the lake. The entrance was dark, but the arching stained glass window to the left of it cast a hazy red and amber pattern on the ground in the shape of a crucifix. I didn’t imagine many people were worshipping at this time of night, but it was clearly left open for students and faculty to come and go as they liked.
Classical music called to me from inside. I didn’t know much about music like that, but that particular tune was famous. The most spine-tingling song I’d ever heard, used in countless movies to invoke shivers down the spine. Mozart’s Lacrimosa rolled over me like a cold wind and set my pulse pounding.
I wasn’t in any rush so I headed down the path with my pulse thumping in my throat. Something about this place called to me in the pit of my soul. It screamed my name and lured me in with dark promises. I didn’t understand why because a church should have been a place of comfort, but this one wasn’t. This one felt threatening and equally alluring. Like the devil hid between its walls and had forced God out from its depths.