Masquerade (23 page)

“
Missing? She isn’t
missing. She probably just wandered off, drunk.”

He nodded, but his eyes
said something else.

“
As much as I hate to
admit it, dude’s got a point.” Cole said.

We both looked over at
him, forgetting that he had even been listening.

“
Fine,” I muttered and
looked at Sam. “Go. I’ll stay up here.”

“
Thank you. I’ll be right
back.” He kissed my forehead then brushed a stray piece of hair out
of my face.

Dammit, how was I supposed
to be mad when he treated me with such tenderness?

“
Hurry back.” I whispered.
He smiled then turned and walked away.

I sat down next to Cole,
watching Sam gracefully forage through the grass
.
Suddenly, I felt as if I was being
watched
.
I turned
my head to see Cole staring at me with a funny look on his
face
.
“What’s the
matter?” I asked.

“
You really like that guy,
huh?” he said, glancing in Sam’s direction.

“
Yea, I do.”

“
I just don’t get it,” he
muttered.

I didn’t have a response to
that, so I turned back to watch Sam
.
He didn’t have to get
it
.
I
did.

“
Hey, Hev.” he said,
touching my arm. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“
It’s ok.”

“
But I
feel it is my duty as your friend to inform you that you will not
be winning any Olympic swimming medals anytime
soon
.
My
two-year-old cousin swims better than you.” He grinned, and I
smacked him playfully on the arm
.

“
You know I can’t swim,” I
said.

“
Maybe I can call up my
cousin and have him give you a few lessons, you can pay him in
goldfish.”

Sam

I tried to appear casual as I looked
through the grass. This entire night had been a great lesson in
control for me. Sometimes it scared me – how good I had become at
lying. I didn’t bother to wish for a normal life because that
wasn’t going to happen. But, I did wish that I could be honest with
Heven about myself and for her to still want to be with me. Was it
really fair of me to ask her to live a life that would be so
chaotic?

I pushed the thoughts aside
and concentrated on my task. I looked back over my shoulder to
where I left Heven. She was still sitting on the deck and Cole was
talking, making faces, and she was smiling. I hated that guy. He
acted like he was so much better than everyone else, like he
was
good.
There
was something about that
goodness
that really ticked me off. But there was one
other thing that really got to me about Cole. He was normal. He
could give her normal. But he would never love her like I
do.

Focus.

Checking once more that
Heven – or anyone else
–
was no longer looking my way I ducked into the
trees. The monster was out here. Waiting. That little stunt earlier
with the truck was just the monster’s way of saying that it was
watching and that it was back. I had a very bad feeling that the
girl who couldn’t be found
–
Andi
–
was dead.

I didn’t bother trying to
be quiet as I went deeper into the trees. I wasn’t trying to hide.
The monster knew I was here and knew that I would come. I took a
deep breath to pinpoint where it was hiding so we could get this
confrontation done with. I needed to get back to Heven. There were
the normal smells of the night and the woods of course, but there
was something else too…something that seemed to latch onto the
inside of my nose and wouldn’t let go
.

I began pushing further
through the trees, hurrying, but half afraid of what I would find.
Seconds later my eyes focused on something lying up ahead. I ran
forward then stopped.

And looked down in
shock.

Pale blond hair, streaked
with blood, covered most of the girl’s face
.
Her arms and legs were bent at
odd, unnatural angles
.
There were deep, bleeding gouges all over what was once
flawless skin. But those sights weren’t the worst
part
.
No, the
worst part was the blood crusted charm bracelet that hung around
the girl’s wrist.

My knees threatened to
buckle, but I refused to let them.

I felt blood, hot and
urgent, rushing through my veins, pumping up my insides and surging
energy through my limbs. I blinked, trying to clear my eyes and
when they cleared my stomach revolted. Deep anguish settled on my
chest.

No.

I just saw her with Cole; I
thought was safe
.
How could he let anything happen to her? The monster better
have killed Cole too because if he is still breathing, I will make
him wish he wasn’t.

I turned to run, to escape
the sight, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave her here alone. How was
I going to live with this? I stared down, swallowing past the lump
in my throat. Then, a sound reached my ears through the
dark.

My head snapped
up.

Again. Please, God,
again.

The sound floated to my
ears once more, and this time I did fall to my knees.

Heven’s laughter filled my
ears, and I bit back a strangled sob.

It isn’t her. She’s alive.

The pressure in my chest
eased, and I forced myself to get it together. I didn’t have time
for this. I looked back again at the crumpled body lying in the
grass. It was easy to see why I thought this girl was
Heven
.
She looked
just like her with long, very light-blond hair and slender
limbs
.
Around one
of her wrists sat Heven’s silver bracelet. Heven’s bracelet with
the skeleton key charms
.
It was bloody
.
I reached down and grasped it
.
It came easily, as if it knew that
this wasn’t where it belonged.

I stuffed it into my
pocket and continued to stare down at the horrible sight, and I
felt terrible knowing she died in Heven’s place. Her skin was
tan…and from here I could see a lot of it. If I had been thinking
straight before, I would have realized that Heven wouldn’t wear
something so revealing. Then I realized that her outfit hadn’t been
revealing, but that her clothing was shredded. Scraps of fabric
littered the forest floor and left her body vulnerable and
invaded.

I reached for my sweatshirt
to try and allow this girl some sort of modesty – some kind of
respect in death – but I wasn’t wearing it. Heven was. Heven
–
who was alive and
breathing.

But for how long?

I jumped up and turned, ready to race
to her side. To reassure myself that she was still safe.

The monster stood yards away, staring
at me…smiling.

“
Take a good long look.”
The voice was taunting and smug. “The way her blond hair hangs
limp, the cuts and scrapes that still leak with blood, the way her
blue eyes stare out, vacant and flat. The next time you see this
sight, it will be her. And there will be nothing that you can do to
save her.”

Disgust, hot and acrid,
speared through me. Before I knew it I was launching myself
straight at the person I hated most in this world. We rolled across
the ground, and when we stopped I was on top. I didn’t even think
twice before I plowed my fist into flesh and bone.

The monster yelled, and I
shoved a hand over a wide-open mouth. The last thing we needed was
for someone to hear and come running. I stared down at the
struggling form beneath me. Teeth cut into my hand but I didn’t
care. There was only one way I could think of that would allow us
to have it out with no one able to see and hear.

I got up, dragging the
monster with me, and ran quickly through the trees. Thankfully, the
walk wasn’t far, and when I got there I delivered another solid
punch before tossing the body in the lake.

Then I jumped in
too.

The water was cold and
dark. In that moment I realized the fear that Heven must have felt
when she was drowning. How overwhelming it would be if I didn’t
know how to swim.

But I did.

And I was very good.

I looked through the dark
water, my eyesight already adjusting to the murkiness. The monster
was there, a body in transition. My body quivered with need, but I
held back. If I transformed now my clothes would be ruined. How
would I explain that?

Fortunately for me, I
wasn’t that worked up. The minute I realized that it wasn’t Heven
lying there mauled and dead, I calmed down. I knew that I should
feel guilty for not mourning that dead girl, and there was a part
of me that was, but Heven was my only priority, and I couldn’t
think beyond her.

Strangely, I felt
calm…almost resigned to this fight, to this battle. I knew what I
had to do and I knew that there was only one acceptable outcome. I
could do this.

I had to.

The monster came at me,
and I was thankful we were underwater. It made it easier to flip
myself around and throw both legs out in a hard kick. My feet
caught the beast and sent it floating back. I cut through the
water, grabbing out but coming up empty. I ducked just as a hit was
about to connect with my face and I swam down, deeper into the
water.

I was grabbed from behind
and slammed into the rocky floor of the lake. I spun and kicked out
again. I sat crouched and ready for the next charge but instead I
watched as the monster swam away.

When I was certain that it
wasn’t coming back, I pushed up to the surface of the water and
took a deep breath. I swam quickly to the shore, making sure I was
still away from the house and walked up onto the shore.

I stuck my hand in my pocket to be
sure the bracelet was still there. It was. Then I rushed to the
edge of the trees and looked through the crowd and up to the deck.
Heven was still sitting there, her eyes scanning the crowd below.
No doubt, she was wondering what was taking me so long.

The DJ turned down the
music and spoke into the microphone. “Will Andi Richards please
come up to the booth? Sean is looking for you.”

My heart sank at the
thought of the body lying in the woods. She wouldn’t be coming back
to the party. She wouldn’t be doing anything ever again.

I couldn’t risk her being found. I
couldn’t risk calling the cops. I shuddered at the thought of
answering their questions and seeing their suspicious
faces.

There was only one thing
to do.

I made my way, quietly
this time, back through the woods. Her body was exactly as it had
been before. I reached down and pulled her around; her body fell
heavily onto her back. Her eyes stared up at me, vacant and
shocked. The last moments of her life had been horrible and no one
should have to die that way.

Her face was mauled and
bloody. Her body was broken and almost naked. Her skin and lips
were already blue, and I closed my eyes to the awful
sight.

Trying to detach myself, I
picked her up and ignored the way her eyes seemed to stare at me. I
went quickly to the lake shore, thankful that there was still the
cover of trees and walked right into the water. For the second time
that night, I threw a body into the lake.

Except this time, this
body wouldn’t be coming back out. I watched the girl float and
realized that I would have to weight her body to make it sink. With
a sick feeling in my stomach I dove to the bottom and grabbed a
heavy rock. Then from beneath the water I grabbed her leg and
pulled her down….then further down still.

At the bottom of the lake,
I held her body and placed several large rocks on top of her. There
was some long vegetation growing, and I wound it around her hands
and arms. I looked down at her face, her eyes still wide open. I
reached out and closed them, hopefully bringing her some
peace.

I’m so sorry. You didn’t
deserve this. But it was you or Heven. I won’t let this happen to
her. So it had to be you.

Then I swam away without
looking back.

Heven

One second he wasn’t there
but the next he was, striding through the crowd, dripping wet and
pushing the hair up off his forehead. He seemed to walk like he was
weighed down, like something was wrong. I took that as a sign he
didn’t find my bracelet. I resolved to myself that it was gone, and
I vowed to not show him how upset that made me.

From across the table Cole
and Kimber were talking, but I wasn’t paying any attention. I was
focused on Sam. He stepped up onto the deck, and I couldn’t help
but notice the way his wet t-shirt was plastered to his broad
chest. When he caught me staring, he smiled, and his face
transformed from torment to peace.