Chapter 7
Fucking mood swings.
I was fine just a couple of hours ago. I was better than fine, in fact—I was thriving. I loved my new hair and my new nails and my makeup. I looked like a me I’d never dared to want to be since I could remember myself.
But then doubt crept in a little while later, when everyone left to let me rest for a bit.
Doubt was bad. A proper killer—it had paralyzed me, had sucked the joy out of everything since I knew to recognize it.
Then a while later yet, uncertainty and guilt had settled in, too, getting comfortable on my shoulders until my body got too heavy to bear. My hair no longer looked as perfect and bouncy and happy. My makeup no longer made any sense. My eyes looked way too big for my face with the smokey green eyeshadow Adam had put on me—and what was up with that shimmer on my cheeks?!
The dress I wore got too much, too, so I took it off, and again, I left it right there on the floor. But since the only other item of clothing I had was the gorgeous dress Mama Si had brought me, I had no other choice but to wear the fluffy white robe from the bathroom. With it, I sat at my spot again in the corner, and I hugged my legs and I closed my eyes and I tried to breathe. Tried to think. Tried to have faith in myself for once.
It was impossible.
When I was little, Brandon’s older sister Barbara had told me something that had stuck with me. I’d been pissed off because Brandon had been my best friend and he’d decided to go play baseball with his guy friends that day, so I’d hung out at the park all by myself. I’d sat there and I’d felt miserable about myself, and I’d cried my little eyes out until she found me and came to sit with me on the bench. She said that it was okay to be pissed off sometimes. That it was okay to be hurt and to feel all kinds of emotions, that all of it ended eventually.
I asked her how long heart pain lasted. She said, I don’t know, but not forever. The trick was, according to her, to separate the feeling from ourselves.
“Imagine the feeling is a little pool you’re swimming in. It’s okay to swim in it for as long as you want,” she told me. “Just don’t let it drown you. Swim until you’ve felt all of the water, but make sure your head is over the surface and you’re not being pulled down.”
Since that day, that was the best way I knew how to process my emotions—except today.
Too much had happened. I was too hurt, too heartbroken, too disappointed, too scared—way, way too angry. But this time even the anger couldn’t pull me out of this pool I was swimming in. I was drowning, I couldn’t keep afloat. I was drowning and nobody was there to pull me out.
A knock on the door.
I raised my head, disoriented, face swollen from keeping it lowered on my lap for so long. The sky was already dark outside, and some light slipped in from the bathroom. I must have left the door open when I got the robe without realizing it.
Knock, knock, knock, went the door again.
I was no longer swimming in that pool for the moment. Maybe that’s why I stood up and went to see who it was.
Adam’s smiling face filled my vision as soon as I pulled the door open.
My fake smile was automatic. “Hi, Adam.”
“Hello, baby girl. Your face is swollen. Were you sleeping?” He was analyzing my face like that again, like it was a thing of wonder, and I already felt the heat radiating from my cheeks as my blood rushed.
“Just resting,” I said, keeping that smile on still. “What are you doing here?” He left my room a long time ago, and I was sure I wouldn’t see him again until tomorrow.
“Good, good, you need the rest,” he told me. “I was just passing by and thought I’d check to see if you’ve maybe changed your mind about the party tonight and want me to do your hair and makeup.” He blinked his eyes at me innocently.
“I was actually about—” to get in bed, I wanted to lie, but before I could finish speaking, two doors opened in the hallway at the same time, and three women came out running, calling— “Adam! You’re here!”
I was shocked out of words to realize who they were—three of the women who’d been lounging by the heart-shaped pool two days ago, who’d been glowing as they relaxed and sipped their pretty drinks and talked to one another. They’d been wearing bikinis then, but now they had thin satin robes on that could very well be considered dresses with the gorgeous patterns on them. None of them wore makeup but their skins were shiny and glossy and smooth, and their hair was perfectly done, too. They hardly turned their eyes at me as they came to kiss Adam’s cheeks and smile up at him like he held the sun in his very hands.
“Hello, dolls,” Adam said, as cheerful as ever. “Eva, you’re flawless, baby girl.” He grabbed the chin of the blonde woman and raised her head. She really was flawless—deep brown eyes that looked almost black, her skin a bit tanned, her hair a blonde almost as light as the highlights Adam had put on my hair.
And Eva giggled, both hands to her chest. “Always!”
“What about me?” said the other girl with hair so black it shone violet under the lights, her eyes a gorgeous light blue. She was so striking she could scare you with her unusual beauty, those full lips and the thick eyebrows that suited her hooded eyes perfectly.
“You know what I say to those eyes,” said Adam, tilting her head up next. “Icy, baby. Icy.”
“Aw, you’re so sweet,” the girl said, cheeks flushing a petal pink that suited her so well it wasn’t fair. Like she was suddenly wearing blush.
“As sugar,” Adam said, turning to the third girl, with honey-colored hair and eyes a cornflower blue you couldn’t miss from miles away. “Hannah, let me look at you, sweet-cakes.”
The way he said her name, Hannaaah—it was almost like he was both praising and reproaching her of something at the same time.
Hannah was the only one who didn’t basically melt at Adam’s attention, and when he reached out his hand to touch her chin, she moved away and put her hand on his instead. Adam laughed like he’d expected it.
“Hello, Adam,” she said, and her voice was deep and rich, like a caress against my skin. She looked at Adam from under her lashes while he leaned his head down and planted a kiss on her knuckles.
“Oh, you devilish little thing,” Adam said, and it was obvious that he loved to have this woman’s hand in his. Couldn’t blame him. She was breathtaking, the kind of beauty you couldn’t look away from. The kind of beauty you didn’t want to lose from your sight at all.
And her eyes turned to me for just one quick glance, so blue the ocean outside was probably envious. “Who’s this?” she asked him, nodding her head to the side just slightly.
Adam shook his head at her, his smile painfully huge. “This,” he said, waving both his hands at me, “is Fall Hayes, the newest doll in the Paradise.”
I forgot to breathe as the women looked at me. It felt like I was too ordinary to be in their presence, let alone the focus of their attention.
But then… “The ball starts in two hours. Come—do me first,” said Eva, like I wasn’t worth a single comment, grabbing him by the arm, trying to pull him down the hallway, but Adam wouldn’t budge.
“He did you first the last time—it’s my turn,” said the brunette with the blue eyes, while Hannah pushed her hair behind her shoulder and folded her arms in front of her chest, pulling her beautiful robe down the sides of her neck a bit.
I saw the way the fabric slid down her smooth skin. Impossible not to notice—so that’s why I saw the small puncture marks on the side of her neck right away. Bite marks, like someone had bitten her right there where her neck connected with her shoulder—someone with a really big mouth.
“Now, now, dolls, don’t get greedy. You know how to do your own makeup just fine,” Adam said, pushing their hands away.
The question was at the tip of my tongue—who bit you? Surely it was an animal. How?! But before I spit it out, I found Hannah’s eyes on me. She must have seen me staring at her neck because suddenly she was pulling at her robe, raising it higher up again, and I could have sworn the color of her eyes turned slightly darker as she looked down at me. She didn’t smile, didn’t frown, didn’t say a single word, but that look said more than enough. I decided I wasn’t that curious to ask about that bite mark after all.
When the other two women started telling Adam all about the colors they would be wearing tonight, and Hannah no longer seemed interested—or aware—of my existence again, it was impossible not to be in awe of them. The way they spoke, the way they moved their hands, the way they smiled.
Once more, I wanted to be them so badly it actually took me a bit off guard. I’d never once dreamed of fitting in or being like someone else, so what the hell was happening to me now?
“…but you do it so much better. Come on, pumpkin. Come over!” Eva was saying, but Adam wasn’t having it.
Instead, he turned to me. “I’m here for Fall.” And he smiled at me again. “I was actually hoping she’d join us tonight. Won’t you, baby girl?” He reached out and put my hair behind my ear so casually, you’d think we had known each other for years.
“I…I…” I couldn’t say it. I couldn’t say no. “Yes,” I said instead—a complete shock to myself how easily the word slipped out. “Yes, why not? I’ll go.”
Since when? said the ugly voice in my head, and I actually had an answer. Since these girls were obviously going to the party, and now I wanted to be at the damn party, too.
I must have lost my damn mind.
“Oh, that’s good news. Very good news, baby girl.” Adam was really happy. The other girls were looking at me like they were slightly disgusted—except Hannah. She just seemed…curious about me now.
“Do us first. There’s time,” said the brunette, and she was no longer smiling as she looked at Adam expectantly.
“I can’t, Melahni. Go on—do your own! You glow no matter what you put on that gorgeous face,” said Adam and kissed both her cheeks.
“Why not?” Eva said with her hips in her hands, while Hannah’s attention suffocated me a little.
“Because Mama Si said so, sweet-cakes. If Fall wants to go, I’ll be working only on her,” Adam said, making Eva flinch.
Fuck.
Now they hated me, all three of them. They wanted to skin me alive.
“Go on, now. Go get ready. I’ll see you downstairs,” Adam said, completely unbothered by the murderous looks I was getting, but then he moved in front of me and took the girls out of my view, pushed me back inside the room and closed the door behind him.
“You really shouldn’t have said that,” I whispered, feeling like I might throw up any second.
“Of course, I should have, baby girl,” Adam said, looking down at me like he actually felt sorry for me.
“You saw how they now hate me, Adam!” And I’d wanted to hang out with them so badly…
“They don’t hate you, but they don’t respect you yet. Without respect, fear is the only thing that’ll keep these girls well behaved toward you—and the only person they fear is Mama Si.” He winked at me. “Now, let’s get started. Carrie’s on the way. Let me see that dress…” And he went for the closet door.
“Wait—fear? Adam, why would they fear Mama Si? What’s she gonna do—punishthem or something?” I asked, already convinced that I’d made a terrible, terrible mistake by agreeing to go to that party.
Adam didn’t answer.
“Breathe,”Adam reminded me, his hand around my elbow, his presence the only anchor to reality I had as I took in the view in front of me. “You’re doing great, baby girl. Just breathe in.”
I was breathing in, but it wasn’t making any difference because I was already here. I was at the fucking party. And I wanted to run back and hide in my room so badly I was shaking.
“Keep moving,” Adam said, pushing me forward just slightly, and I did. My body was on autopilot, and I was moving, walking deeper into the large, round room full of people dressed like they were from another planet, most wearing masks on their faces, just like me, some with wings on their backs and horns on their heads. So many gemstones sparkling under the dim lights. So many sequins. So many masks.
Thankfully I was hiding behind one, too.
“That’s right—chin up, eyes ahead,” Adam whispered under his breath. The music coming from the band at the center of the room wasn’t loud, so I heard him clearly. “You got this. Just keep moving.”
“What—”
Adam let me go.
Moving swiftly to the right, he disappeared like the beautiful carpet on the floor had swallowed him whole, and I lost my anchor. I was fucking floating in the room, and for a second there I genuinely thought I was going to fall down.
And that pissed me off.
I could walk, damn it. I’d made a decision to come to this party. It was a party—with people in it, not wild animals. I could handle a fucking party.
No more being terrified of fancy dresses and sparkly gemstones. No more. They were just people.
I breathed again, and this time, my heart actually slowed down the beating. I no longer searched for Adam, just put one foot in front of the other, and I kept moving deeper into the crowd, focused on my surroundings.
The more of the room I saw, the more in awe I was, the easier it got to forget that I’d been about to pass out just now.
Statues made out of ice were close to the walls, most depicting naked women. Flowers so big they looked fake but were very real. Glass cases full of masks in all sizes and shapes were put on display atop golden stands with small limelights focused on them from the corners of the ceiling. The people were all dressed impeccably, but when my eyes landed on Mama Si at the other end of the room, surrounded by a small crowd mingling around the gorgeous cocktail tables, I stopped in my tracks.
She wore red from head to toe—a red mask, a red sequin dress, red gloves that reached over her elbows, and red shoes, too. Her red lips looked drawn, her hair done in big waves that seemed wet as they fell around her shoulders. Perfect—that’s the word that came to mind. She was absolutely perfect.
And she saw me, too.
Her smile was like watching petals open up on a flower. She brought her gloved hands to her chest and took a step toward me, a single step.
You made it, Fall Doll.
I read the words on her lips, and it felt like I was hearing her voice whispering in my ear.
And then everyone turned to me.
They must have seen Mama Si watching me because suddenly every person who’d been around her was looking at me—and they were smiling. She raised her hands toward me as if beckoning me to go to her, and I was feeling so out of place in this room, so desperate to not be alone, that I started walking again. I knew Mama Si. I could talk to Mama Si. I wouldn’t feel like I was a stranger in my own skin when she spoke to me—so to her I went.
She looked at me like I was the love of her life, but that wasn’t what got to me. Her friends, at least fifty people who were standing around her near those cocktail tables were all looking at me the same way—like they knew me, they knew everything about me, and they all suddenly loved me to death.
It was like spiders crawling all over my skin, their attention, and it took ages just to get to Mama Si and take her gloved hands in mine.
“You look like a dream, Fall Doll,” she said, pulling me back toward one of the cocktail tables. “Let me look at you. Raise your head.”
I did. “So many people,” I breathed. “I didn’t realize it was this big a party.” Though I hadn’t really given it much thought, to be honest. I’d just wanted to hang out with those girls.
How silly of me, now that I thought about it. How utterly silly of me to want to belong in a place like this.
“Oh, nonsense! It’s not too big. Barely two hundred people are attending,” Mama Si said with a short laugh, waving me off. Her eyes startled me—they looked more red than any other color right now, surrounded by that red mask full of rhinestones and feathers. “This dress was the right choice. And those lips, too. My, my, Fall Doll. You steal my breathaway.”
Heat crawled up my cheeks instantly. “I-I-I…thank you,” I stuttered, turning to avoid her eyes for a moment, only to realize that the people were still looking at me as they sipped their drinks. Still smiling.
“You’re very welcome,” Mama Si said, then turned back to look at someone—Assa, wearing a pink suit with a crisp white shirt underneath. A gorgeous white mask with pink feathers covered the right side of her face. “Assa, we need a drink here. Something sour, not very sweet.”
“Coming right up,” Assa said, and Mama Si laced her arm to mine, pulling me to face the room with her. “I’ve hosted these masquerades once a month for about three years now. It’s become a tradition. Nothing I love more than people with masks.”
“They…uh, everything looks beautiful,” I muttered, trying to keep my focus on the walls, the chandeliers, the paintings, the decor—not the people. Not all of them were staring at me, though, just the ones closest to Mama Si around the cocktail tables. The rest seemed to be having the time of their lives with each other—and I found the girls, too. Melahni with a gorgeous purple and pink dress, and Eva in a silvery white one—and Hannah.
Hannah, who was looking right at me as she sipped her drink.
I couldn’t see her eyes from the mask with blue rhinestones on it that covered most of her face, but I felt her attention just fine. Her dress rose around the shoulders in sharp spikes, and it made her look like she was wearing ice. I literally couldn’t look away, until Mama Si said, “Here, Fall Doll. I think you’re going to like the taste of this.”
She put a beautiful glass in my hand with a small piece of dragon fruit at the top of the slightly foamy, orange-colored drink.
“Thank you.”
“Tell me, how do you feel? Have you rested enough?”
“I did, yes. I did. Everyone’s staring at me.” The words slipped from my lips almost involuntarily.
Mama Si laughed. “Of course, they are—look at you, Fall Doll. You shine.” And she squeezed my forearm just a bit. “Drink and observe—and don’t be afraid. You never have to fear people when they’re wearing masks.”
I turned to her. “I don’t?”
“Oscar Wilde once said, a man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth. I happen to believe it. I’ve confirmed it myself many times over the years.” Again, she laughed like she really was having the time of her life right now.
A man and a woman who were standing by the closest cocktail table started walking toward us. I could see it in the way they looked at me, the way they smiled—both wearing black and silver, their masks two parts of a whole each wore on one side of their face. I knew they were going to come talk to us, to me, and I’d never wanted to disappear into thin air so badly in my life.
But when they looked at Mama Si, they stopped.
They turned.
They walked away.
“Cheer up, Fall Doll. Have fun,” she said, stepping in front of me. “Drink your drink. Make small talk if you want. Hang out with the girls.”
“They actually hate me,” I said and felt pathetic about it a second later. I didn’t need them to like me, damn it. So why did I even bring it up?
“Oh, I’m sure they’ll come around very soon,” Mama Si said, and I could have sworn she winked at me.
“Thank you for having me,” I forced myself to say. “It’s…it’s all so beautiful.” And it really was, except I didn’t belong in this place. I didn’t belong in this room or among these people or in this mansion. Which was no surprise because I didn’t really belong anywhere at all.
“It’s only the beginning,” Mama Si said. “I promised you wonder, and I will show it to you. You just have to open those beautiful eyes wide and see it. Now go! Go mingle. Walk around. I have guests to attend to.” And she turned toward the same couple who’d been about to come greet us a moment ago.
I was thankful for it. I didn’t want to talk, anyway. I just wanted to get the hell out of here and hide behind closed doors. Too much, too much, too much…
My knees were shaking again as I made my way to the middle of the room, searching with my eyes for a familiar face—Adam or Marissa or even the girls I’d seen just minutes ago among the crowd of people standing everywhere else in the round room. It seemed they were slightly separate from the cocktail tables where Mama Si had been standing, and in those moments, I was too overwhelmed to even wonder why or to find it odd. As it was, I just kept walking, and the band was right there,a man with a violin in his hands, eyes closed as he played, another with a clarinet, pouring his heart out with each breath and each perfect note—and a woman wearing a gorgeous white dress sitting in front of a piano.
It was a grand piano, the surface of it black and glossy, the keys moving so beautifully under her fingers as she swung to the sides slightly and played with a smile on her face.
The entire room disappeared as I watched her, and I moved closer to the band without really being aware of it. I just knew that I wanted to see more of that woman. More of that piano. Hear every note coming out of it better. I just knew that I wanted to be in her place so badly I’d trade the whole world for it. The whole damn world.
I reached out and touched the glossy black wood of the back of the piano as the woman played the beautiful, slow melody. I touched it and it was like I was brought back to life. Ever since I could remember myself, ever since I found the toy piano in the trash two blocks down from the trailer park where I lived, I’d wanted nothing more than to play it. I had been twelve years old. That piano had awakened something in me, something I could never quite put into words. I could only play it or paint it with Missy’s tools when she had so much to drink she passed out for days. Colors understood it, too. It’s why I’d created this absurd dream of one day owning a home big enough to be able to do all of it—play the piano, play all kinds of instruments, and paint, and even make my own clothes sometimes, too. My kingdom, I called it. My home.
Before I knew it, I was smiling. Before I knew it, I brought the cocktail to my lips and took a small sip—it tasted wonderful. It had alcohol in it, too, though Mama Si knew I wasn’t twenty-one yet. Guess she didn’t care about it anymore than I did.
“There she is,” someone said from behind me, and it was a miracle the glass didn’t slip from my hands. I turned, completely disoriented, to find five girls standing around me, among them Melahni and Eva.
“The new girl,” said a brunette I’d seen by the pool yesterday, and I only recognized her because of her wavy hair that reached all the way down to her hips.
“Fresh blood. What was her name again?” said another, this one blonde, but I couldn’t see much of her face through the green mask she wore.
“Fall Hayes,” said Eva, arms crossed in front of her as she looked at me and smiled—not a pleasant smile.
“Hello,” I made myself say, trying my best to hide the nervousness that was making my hands shake.
“Fall? Who calls themselves Fall?” said the other brunette, and her mask only covered her right eye, so I saw plenty of her beautiful face, all sharp angles smoothed out by her perfectly round cheeks.
“My name is actually Autumn. My nickname’s Fall,” I muttered. “I saw you guys yesterday by the pool.”
The girls looked at one another for a moment, like they were exchanging some secret message.
“Yes, we saw you, too,” said the blonde with the green mask. “You’re pretty. I like your hair.”
“Thank you, I?—”
“So, you’re here to stay,” she cut me off.
“She’s here, isn’t she?” asked Melahni, rolling her eyes slowly. She looked absolutely flawless with the purple dress and mask she had on. It gave even more color to her eyes.
“Oh, she’s staying,” said the brunette with the Rapunzel hair, grinning ear to ear. “She’s definitely staying. You should come hang out at the pool tomorrow.”
“Yes, we want to hear all about you,” said the blonde, but the way her voice was pitched high I was willing to bet anything that she didn’t.
“We’ll be friends,” said Eva, batting her lashes at me. “We like fresh blood.”
“We like everyone,” said Melahni. It was painfully obvious that she was making herself say those words, and it beat me why.
“I’ll do my best,” I ended up saying because the way they were looking at me said they were expecting an actual answer.
“Who designed your dress?” asked the blonde.
“Oh, uh…” I looked down at the dress on my body, having forgotten just how gorgeous—and sparkly—it was. “No idea. Mama Si brought it to me.”
Again, they exchanged a quick look. “I like it,” she said. “Can I wear it next time?”
“Oh—of course. Yes, sure.” It was just a dress. She could keep it for all I cared.
And that changed the way the girls were smiling at me within a second.
“Good. I’m Amber. Nice to meet you, Fall.”
“You, too,” I muttered, caught a bit off guard, and very confused still.
“I’m Mia,” said the brunette with the long hair. “And that’s Coco.” She nodded at the other standing next to her.
“You’ve already met us,” Eva told me, and other than Melahni, who refused to smile yet, they all seemed…friendly enough just now.
Huh.
Why—because I’d told Amber I’d give her the dress to wear? A dress I didn’t even buy myself?
It made no sense whatsoever, but I wasn’t about to complain.
“Eva and Melahni, yes,” I said with a nod. “It’s nice to meet all of you. You’re all so beautiful.” So beautiful that I’d wanted to be like them desperately enough to come to this place dressed in a sparkly dress and with a mask on my face.
“Aw!” they all said at the same time.
“She’s cute,” the brunette named Coco decided, and the others seemed to agree.
“How did you end up here, Fall? I didn’t know we were looking for more dolls,” said Amber, her brown eyes scrolling down the length of me, and not in a bad way.
“We weren’t,” said Melahni. “So, how did you manage to get in?”
“I, uh…” I cleared my throat. “Well, I actually came to apply for a job in housekeeping. Mama Si happened to pass by, and she saw me and then she, um…she offered me a different job.”
Their job, whatever it was. I’d be these very girls, lounging by the pool, so beautiful and peaceful I couldn’t have said no if I’d tried. They represented easy. They represented free. They represented everything I’d never dared to let myself even imagine.
“Why, though?” Eva asked me, shaking her head as she looked at the floor. “I don’t get it. Why?”
“Because look at her,” said Amber, giving me an approving nod. “She’s flawless.”
“Way too pretty to be a maid,” said Mia with a wink.
“Yeah, I don’t buy it,” Melahni said, shaking her head, squinting her eyes at me. “There must be something about her.”
“Ignore them,” Amber said to me with a wave of her hand. “Let’s hang out tomorrow, okay?”
“Uh, yeah. Yes, sure.”
They walked away from me with smiles on their faces, and some even waved. I turned around to look at the piano once more, taking a sip of my drink, stifling a smile.
That went well, didn’t it? Not in the beginning, but it ended well.
And now here I was, actually looking forward to tomorrow. Yeah, definitely time to call it a night.
Moving as casually as I could, I put my unfinished drink on the tray of a masked waiter passing by, eager to leave already. Something about that ballroom and those people who were watching my every move despite how casually I walked. Something about the air, the scent of it, the feel of it…
Nobody stopped me, though. Nobody told me to get back inside when I slipped out the doors. And the magic that had been hanging inside that room faded into nothing as soon as I pulled the doors closed behind me.
I released a long breath, eyes closed tightly. What a place. What a feeling—neither good nor bad. Just intense. Just more than I’d ever felt before. Even more so than the heartbreak I’d had to go through yesterday. The heartbreak I was still going through.
Maybe that’s why I was smiling as I walked down the hallway again, vaguely remembering the way Adam had brought me here. The farther away from the doors I went, the more my footsteps echoed in my head, and the more I was starting to feel my feet throbbing from the high heels. A miracle I’d even known how to walk on them, but I was contemplating taking them off so I could walk up the stairs faster to get to my room.
The mask was itchy as hell on my nose and cheeks, and I was already starting to sweat from it, so I focused on reaching behind my head to take it off.
Maybe that’s why I saw nothing and heard nothing when I turned the corner. Maybe that’s why my heart about leapt from my chest when I was grabbed by the arm and spun around and slammed against the wall face first.
“You think you’re smart, don’t you?” someone whispered in my ear from behind, her body pressed tightly against my back, her hands wrapped around my wrists.
It was Hannah—I recognized her voice. I’d just had no idea she was that fucking strong.
“Let go of me,” I spit, trying not to panic. She was half a head shorter than me, her shoulders narrower. I could take her easily if I put my back to it. I could push her off me and run if need be, but…
“If you were, you’d run, little rabbit,” she said, tightening her grip around my wrists, pressing herself harder against my back.
“Let. Go!” I hissed, pushing myself back, and I did move her, but she gained the upper hand again the next second and slammed me against the wall again.
“You have no idea what you’re up against. You’re nothing but easy prey for the world’s deadliest predators,” she spit, and her every word rang true. That alone held me in place for a short second—what the hell did that mean?
But then Hannah stepped away from me and let go at the same time. I turned around, ready to claw her fucking eyes out if she tried to attack me again, but she didn’t. Instead, she calmly put her blue mask on her face once more, never breaking eye contact.
“Run, little rabbit,” she told me, smiling slowly as she pushed her hair behind her shoulder. Then she ran the tips of her gloved fingers down the side of her neck, as if she wanted me to look.
I looked—and I saw the bite mark again, right there, just like it had been earlier in the evening.
She leaned closer and whispered, “Run—and don’t look back.”
I couldn’t say a single word if I tried.
She moved fast, almost too fast to be normal, turned the corner of the hallway and disappeared before I could blink.