The Masquerade (21 page)

"It's her."

They were wrong. I didn't know them. I don't know who they
thought I was, but I was desperate to prove to them I wasn't
her.
Whoever her was, I was ready to beat the shit out of.

"No, I'm not!" I said quickly. "Please, let me go. You're mistaken."

"Should we taste test?" The tall man snickered behind me.

I noticed the short one roll his eyes. "We know it's her."

It was around the same time the new man shrugged. "Why
not?"

"What?" The short man snapped.

"You heard him," the one holding me shot back. His mouth was on the skin just above my collarbone now. I shook underneath him,
feeling his hands tighten their hold on me.

New voices aroused in the distance and they were moving closer. I tried to focus on them, but I felt a sharp pain jab into my shoulder where the man's mouth was. Teeth, I knew that's what it was. They punctured my
skin acting as sharp knives that dug into my flesh. A scream erupted from my mouth that split into the night sky. I could feel the blood trickle over my shoulder and the rough sandpaper feel of his tongue run over the drops.

More pain shot from the bite, up my neck, and electrocuting the line of my jaw. I cried tasting something foul in my mouth. My jaw ached like I was chewing on aluminum foil. The wound in my shoulder raged with fire and I screamed again writhing against the tall man's firm grip on my shaking
body. Tears brimmed my eyes and my head fell forward, feeling my muscles constrict in response.

"What is this, take out?" I heard a dry voice say.

"Look here comes the asshole!" Someone said. "Ben we found her."

There was a moment where I was the only person making noise. I whimpered feeling my captor's tongue run over my wound, licking the exposed
flesh. Every lick stung worse than the first. My jaw clenched shut, hoping to defer some of the pain and the raw taste in my mouth.

Then I heard his voice, like an angel breaking into the depths of hell.

"Ella!" he shouted.

"Ben," I managed to say, forcing myself to lift my head up.

"Get the fuck off her!"

I was suddenly released and falling quickly. Before I hit
the ground strong arms, a protective strength that I recognized, caught me. I was inches from the grass as Ben held me against his chest, my head tucked under his chin.

"What the hell is your problem?" The tall man
shouted.

I recoiled at the sound of his voice. Ben tightened his arms around me, providing the sense of security I desperately needed. I needed him to touch me. The pain was present but nonetheless forgotten. Ben was here. I
was okay.

"Ella, baby, can you hear me?" Ben's soft voice said, ignoring the monster.

"It hurts so bad," I whimpered, keeping my eyes closed.

I felt Ben's head turn and a low growl left his throat.
"You fucking bit her."

"Hold the fuck up," one of them said. "You know her."

"Of course he knows her, you imbecile." Someone else snarled. There were four voices, maybe more, but they started to blend
together. The only person I wanted to focus on was the one holding me in his arms.

Ben ignored them. He pressed his lips to the top of my head. "I'm so sorry baby," he murmured into my hair.

"
Baby
?" One of them repeated incredulously.

"We've been searching nonstop for this girl and the whole time you've known where she was." One of them shouted, furiously.
"Unbelievable."

"He's been fucking hiding her."

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't set Captain Obvious on fire."

"Down, bitch."

The man from before, who let the tall monster bite me, spoke. "Guys, shut up before Ben loses it."

I had questions. I wanted to know what was going on but I could only focus on Ben's soft touch. He murmured soothing words to me that I
couldn't remember.

"Ben," I whispered. My voice was small and it shook along with the rest of my body. I was losing the feeling of his touch. I could feel myself drifting. I needed to know he was still there, holding me,
protecting me from the monsters.

"I'm right here, baby. You're going to be okay." I heard him murmur, but his voice was distant.

"Stay with me."

"I won't leave you. I'm right here. I'm always right here." I was aware of his lips touching the side of my face before I fell to complete darkness. The pain was left floating above the surface while I was sucked under to oblivion. Ben's words lingered with me as I slept.

Their voices pulled me out of the darkness. My eyelids fluttered open and I found myself staring up at a ceiling for what seemed like hours rather than seconds. I was in a room, but I already knew it wasn't mine
by the absence of the pink silly putty stain. The room was dark, yet I could still make out the features due to the bright light coming from underneath the door. My eyes fell to the closed door where the voices seemed to be coming from.

When I turned my head, a sharp pain flooded from the spot above my collarbone, near my shoulder. I winced when my hand shot up to the source of the pain and found a thick cotton bandage neatly placed over the skin. My fingers gently probed the cover, feeling it stuck to my skin with
straps of surgical tape. I applied a slight pressure to the wound, testing my pain tolerance and was instantly overwhelmed with a burning sensation that throbbed under my touch. I sucked in a deep breath and pressed my lips together
until the pain eventually subsided to a light pulsating sting near my neck.

"You could have any girl in the world and you pick
that
one."

The sound of their angry voices caught my attention. The
memories of the graveyard and the monsters chasing me resurfaced. I remembered the girl. I'd almost forgotten about her. Had she died? What happened to her? I remembered the way the two monsters leaned over her body, eating her and my
hand froze on the wound. One of them bit me. And then there was Ben who came to my rescue. But he knew them. They were angry with him. I was the girl they claimed they were looking for.

I sat up in the bed and quietly pulled the covers off my
body revealing the clothes I had worn to the graveyard. My bare feet gently touched the cold, hardwood floor. I winced at the small creek my steps made but when I paused to listen the loud voices continued to top the other.

"When did you find her? How long have you let us to run
around searching for this girl like morons?"

I was halfway to the door when I heard Ben's voice and I stilled. "Last Thursday, the night before the concert."

I racked my brain for last Thursday and remembered that was the night Shiloh and I closed together. The night the four of us sang obnoxiously in the square. The night I thought someone was watching me. He was the figure standing on the sidewalk. I didn't have to question it, I already
knew. But what did that mean? Why were they looking for me? Above every question that aroused the one protruding in my mind was the obvious.

What were those creatures chasing me?

I moved closer to the door until my hands were lightly touching the frame. I pressed my ear to the wood and tried to hold myself still without shaking. I didn't want to draw attention to myself. I wanted answers and I worried if I didn't pry I was never going to get them.

"What exactly was your plan? Tell those royal flesh eating shit wipes about her to buy us some time and then what? If we don't hand her over we're done."

"I didn't have a plan!" I heard Ben shout. It was
pure silence before he spoke again. His voice was lower. I had to hold my breath to catch his words. "I was going to give her to them. When I found her my phone was already in my hand. But," he made a noise that sounded
like something derived from exhaustion, "I couldn't do it. She was different. She is different."

They were quiet again. My hands began to shake violently. I stepped away from the door to avoid making a sound. Ben was like them. He had
to be. The many allusions to an unknown danger that shadowed him suddenly made sense. What did that mean? Why did he want from me?

The only thing I could grasp was that he used me. Was there
any part of our time together that was real? Was it all a scam to let my guard down? I could feel a weight drop in the pit of my stomach. I swallowed but the lump seemed to harden in my throat. I moved away from the door until my back was against the wall. I trailed, with the heels of my feet against the
baseboards, along the wall until I reached the window closest to me.

I didn't have a plan, but I knew I couldn't stay wherever I was any longer. Everything I knew or everything I thought I knew had changed. I
wasn't sure of the ground I walked on. I didn't want to see Ben. It hurt to picture his face in my mind, to hear his voice, knowing I'd allowed him in. I let him see parts of me I kept hidden from the rest of the world because I
trusted him. I was an idiot.

I tip toed to the window. The lever on the pane was unlocked so all I had to do was give it a shove. I waited until I heard their voices floating into my room again before I made my move. I pushed the bottom part of
the window up. To my surprise, it slid with ease. The cold air rushed into the room. I shivered, feeling the chill against my cheeks when I proceeded to lean out of the window. I peered below and sucked in a deep breath when I realized I
was on the second story. The drop wasn't going to be pleasant but I could make it work. I'd snuck out of my bedroom window plenty of times to know a trick or two, although I wasn't wearing shoes, which would be a setback.

I looked over my shoulder and scanned the dark room for my
shoes and found a pair of large black combat boots instead. I quickly put them on and laced them tight. There was a large space between my toes and the tip of the boots, but it would do. I moved one step at a time to the window and swung
my leg over before I could change my mind. I ducked underneath the pane and swung my other leg over. There wasn't much of an incline. If I was careful I could slide and hang off the gutter before jumping.

Pushing back the fear of falling, I slowly slid down the
tiles of the roof. My hands gripped the windowsill until the last second before I let go. I was able to walk slowly down the roof until I stood before the gutter just above the first story. It was still a drop, but I could make it.

I sat down and pushed myself off the edge. I was airborne for a second before my feet hit the ground, my knees bent, and my hands in front of me. A loud thump followed my drop and I winced immediately, hoping
they hadn't heard. I didn't want to find out if they had.

I shot up to my feet and took off running. My head was dizzy within seconds. A sharp pain settled in my chest that made breathing difficult and an arduous run. My neck ached and screamed in pain and my eyes brimmed with
instant tears. I thought fresh air would have made everything better, but now I was suffocating; the pain, the events of the day, the lies, it all made running back into the depths of the woods horrible. I had no idea where I was going.
What was I running back to?

I heard voices seconds after I entered the woods. Panic struck my chest and I threw a glance over my shoulder to find that the house I'd seen earlier was the same house I was running from. I tried to pick up my
pace, but I could feel myself lagging.

"Ella!"

Ben's voice struck the night air, like one of his many screams. A gasp left my throat and I used my hands, already cut and bruised
from before, to grasp trees for guidance.

"Ella wait!"

He was right behind me. I barely heard his footsteps pounding into the gravel until I felt his breath on my neck. I started to leap
forward, but his large arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me back in mid air. He captured me against his chest and held me in a tight grasp that was impossible to wriggle myself out of.

"Ella," Ben pleaded.

"No," I told him, "Don't."

The first sob ripped out of my chest and I felt my eyes begin to water. I shook my head that was already clouding with contradicted thoughts after hearing his low voice, easing the pain just as quickly as
causing it. I wanted to melt into his embrace while part of me wanted to smack him. I hated him. I loved him.

"Ella, you need to calm down. You're going to faint again." Ben said calmly.

It wasn't until that moment that I became aware of my body's convulsions. I was making desperate attempts to gasp for air. I felt as though the walls of my throat were closing in. My body shook in his. I needed him to
let me go, but there was another part of me that felt I would die if I lost that connection between us.

"Breathe, Ella," he murmured into my hair. "Just breathe."

"Stop." I let out another gasp. "Let me
go," I begged him. My hands tried to pry his arms off my waist, but he didn't budge. A wave of frustration flushed over me, adding to the confusion and suffocation I felt. "Please, just let me go."

"I'm not going to hurt you, Ella." His voice is steady and his grasp on me tightened making me immobile. "I will never hurt you." I tried, but I couldn't force myself away from him. He wouldn't let me go until he was sure I wouldn't try to leave. "You're safe with me.
I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

I thought of the men who chased me, the monsters. He knew them. I was positive I heard their voices arguing with Ben inside the house.
They
hurt me and it was because of Ben. Ben was one of
them
. I didn't understand and the more I tried to think about it the harder the pressure in my head became. What was happening to me?

"What are you?" I said through my teeth.

His voice remained unaffected. "You know."

"Are you like them?" I questioned him. My shaking finally subsided, but my voice still quivered. I'd managed to calm down and I
hoped that would give Ben enough reason to let me go.

"Yes."

I stilled in his arms. "Let me go."

"No."

The next emotion on the list was anger and it infected me
like poison. I flung my right arm back in an attempt to smack him. My bandaged shoulder screamed as I strategically used the same arm to hit him with. My arm didn't swing back very far, before he caught my wrist in his hand.

"Don't do that." He warned me, pulling the arm back down and crossing it over my chest. "You're going to rip your stitches."

I frowned and calmly glanced down to my shoulder.
"Stitches?"

"Your bite was deep. Cam likes to leave marks," he said, his voice hardening.

Cam? It didn't take me much more than a few seconds to realize he was referring to the lead guitarist of The Masquerade. The
outstanding guitar player, famous for his solos, bit me. His face, falling apart in front of my eyes, hours before was unrecognizable. The other man...

As if reading my mind, Ben continued, "Max was the
other one."

I replayed the events in my head. Each time they became more difficult to fathom. The Masquerade band members, the greatest rock stars of all time, were monsters. It all made sense, their shady lifestyle, their
spontaneous concert dates, their unknown backstory. The secret, the missing piece, the darkness Ben alluded to, all fit together now and I wished, I wished more than anything that it didn't. This wasn't the secret I was expecting.

"They were so fast. I couldn't fight them off." I
stated, my voice abnormally calm. "They were eating that girl."

He didn't hesitate. "Yes."

"They're not human," I swallowed feeling the blood
slowly drain from my cheeks, "And neither are you."

"No," he wasn't trying to comfort me anymore. His voice was rough like it had been chipped away from years of tragedy and violence. "I'm not."

"You eat human flesh?"

"Yes."

"Oh," I drew a small shaky breath. My mind registered his answer, but my body seemed frozen in time. I was numb,
unresponsive to his touch. "I suppose you do this because you have to?"

"To appear human, yes I have to, but it's still a choice I make to take another's life."

"You mean if you don't feed, you will look the way Max
and Cam did."

The image of their broken, disoriented faces haunted my memory. It stung every nerve in my body. Any emotion I felt throbbed with an unfathomable pain that was foreign to me. The measures they took to appear
human were morally wrong. They were wrong in every way. Ben was wrong.

"It depends on the amount of time we go without feeding. What you saw earlier was minor."

"What are you?"

I felt him shrug and the crane of his neck when he turned his head. "The movie industry has us labeled as zombies."

"A zombie," I repeated as if the word was spoken
in a dream that I would surely wake up from. "Are you going to kill me?"

His arms suddenly released me. My body jerked as though I was finally awakened from the trance I had fallen under. He was in front of me within a second that my eyes missed completely. His eyes bore into mine, the
topaz overwhelmed by the sapphire blue.

"I will never hurt you." He told me, his voice harsh.

I shook my head. "What is all of this? The things they
said about me. Why were they looking for me?" The questions poured from my mouth as they came to me. "What am I to you, Ben? Was I just some other human being to feed on?" My voice was breaking, but the anger was still
evident. "Why did you come here?" Ben's eyes darkened. He opened his mouth, but I cut him off again. "I want the truth, Ben. No more lies."

His eyes glazed over with torment. They lingered on something behind me. I watched the muscle in the hard line of his jaw lock.
When he spoke, his low voice was distant. "I was going to kill you last year." His eyes, blazing with fire, flashed to mine. "I picked up your scent at the concert. It's hard to distinguish individual smells at shows.
Everyone is stuck together and breathing down each other's necks. They're sweaty and they tend to form one odor, but I singled you out right away."

"I knew I wanted you from the second I looked into your
eyes. There was something different about you. You were whimsical and innocent and angelic and I wanted to destroy it," he paused to gauge my reaction. I kept my face composed as I listened, but my heart was pounding in my chest. His
first few words were stained in my mind.