5. Tasting Blood

Six Months Later - Summer

Aside from the breathtaking views in the fall, The Patriots, and wicked funny accents, Massachusetts is also known for its humidity. And this summer is already off to a rousing start.

When I go to the beach, I usually unwind by lying in the sun. While sweltering in the scorching sun, I've been tossing and turning for the past hour. Nantasket is one of my favorite beaches, and I've always come here to relax and get away from it all. I don't know if it's because River and I broke up, but I think that's the reason this trip feels different. The stress of what happened to Shawn became too much for us to bear, and it got in our way. We promised to remain friends, and we have. But dating isn"t an option anymore.

I turn around to face the sun and notice a group of guys peering over the seawall. Something about them draws my attention, sucking me in so that I can't look away even if I wanted to. They all smile at me, their lashes flashing in flirtatious winks that make the heat between my thighs swelter hotter than the humidity. Flashbacks of that night in the cemetery hit me out of nowhere, and random tidbits of recent, horrifying encounters began to invade my mind, frightening me to my core.

"What are you zoned out about now?" Melanie tugs at my bikini string, trying to pull my attention back to her, and it works.

Unwillingly, I tear my focus off of the fully tattooed works of art and roll my eyes at her, slightly annoyed at her for disrupting my naughty fantasy.

"Huh?" Is all I can manage to utter.

"What are you daydreaming about now? I swear, ever since you and River broke up, you"ve been lost in your own little world."

"Nothing, Mel. Just thinking." I lie, but I don"t feel like going into depth with her about the truth right now. She wouldn"t understand how I feel like I"ve seen those guys before. I look over my shoulder, hoping to catch another glimpse of them, but they"re gone.

"Are you nervous about the new job?" She smiles, reminding me about the position at the prison I start on Monday; that couldn"t be further from my mind.

"Actually, no. I"m not nervous at all. I"m excited, and I"m ready. You know that," I reply with confidence, more than ready to start working, putting the degree I worked my ass off for to good use.

"I think you"re the only person I know who doesn"t get first-day jitters, Scarlett. I wish I was you, girl," She laughs, and all I can do is smile and think to myself, No, you don"t.

The feens have already gathered outside when we return to our tiny, run-down apartment in Salem, which is located on the top floor of what is now a well-known dope house, drawing unwanted attention to our formerly quiet street.

Melanie and I pass by a slew of characters as we climb the narrow stairwell, clutching our purses close to our chests to avoid being snatched like before. I can hear her muttering under her breath the entire walk, but I keep quiet, ignoring the dark, dangerous eyes that follow us.

"Ugh, I hate living here now." She throws her stuff on the couch as I lock the door.

"I know. A lot has changed. I"m surprised the landlord is putting up with it. They threatened to have us evicted for having our music up too loud past nine that one Christmas, remember?" I shout, opening a bottle of wine, as she puts the TV on and sinks into the couch as if she"s had a long day or something.

"Yeah, how could I forget?" She laughs mockingly, and then she gasps, grabbing my attention immediately. "No shit…"

"What now?"

"They"re doing a segment on TV about the graduates from the college who went missing last year, and Carli and Shawn are all over the news."

I swallow hard and timidly walk into the living room to watch it, scared to see their faces after all this time. Sure enough, Shawn and Carli, along with ten other missing student"s pictures flash on the TV screen with a short explanation about what happened to them, which is, of course, only speculation. I collapse on the couch and stare blankly, zoning off again. Moments later, my phone goes off, and when I check it, I"m shocked to see a message from River.

Hey, are you watching the news?

Yeah, I"m assuming you saw Shawn and Carli on it too?

Yeah, shit is crazy, isn"t it? I can"t believe they still haven"t found him yet.

Hopefully, they still will.

I wait for a response, but it never comes. I have a gut feeling Shawn's gone. There were too many things going on for him to simply give up on life. But the question of where his body is if he is dead and what happened to him remains unanswered.

As I sit here, staring blankly at the screen, I get a very deep chill that racks my body wildly as my mind drifts back to one of the many nights that I still have nightmares about.

* * *

Last December

Deciding to call it an early night, I crawl into bed and tuck myself under the covers, curling into the fetal position to ease the brutal cramps contracting inside my stomach. After eating more Midol than I should"ve and running out of all the hot water in my baths, I"ve given up on trying to get rid of the pain radiating throughout my body. With River working, trying to take his mind off Shawn still being missing, and Melanie probably at the club, I once again have the apartment to myself.

I"ve never been one who likes being alone, even though that"s how I grew up. I adjust the volume on the TV, drowning out the sound of the city"s traffic below, and close my eyes, trying to fall asleep, ignoring the pain from these killer cramps.

I feel my legs being spread open, and a little tickle on my clit jolts my body out of a dead sleep. With my eyes closed and my mind still locked in half of a dream, I reach my hands down and feel a head full of soft, curly hair between my legs. I"m not sure if I"m dreaming or not, but I can still feel a small smile spread across my lips as I tug the tousled strands through my fingers, parting my legs wider as long, thick fingers dig into my achy thighs. Teeth nip at my oversensitive clit, making my head shake from side to side, but exhaustion prevents my eyes from opening. Pleasure rushes through me, and my back lifts off the bed as a tongue dips into my opening, toying with the string of my tampon, before a set of teeth give it a little tug. My eyes fling open when I feel it being pulled out of me, but all I can see is a silhouette as I glance toward the end of the bed at the man between my thighs, still thinking it"s River.

"River…what are you doing? I have my period."

"So?" Is all he says, which comes out in a whisper, and then his head is back between my legs, his tongue licking from my opening to my clit in one long, slow lick, setting every nerve in my body on fire. I let my head fall against the pillow, allowing myself to enjoy the feeling of his tongue down there while I"m "on the rag", which is something we"ve never done before. He uses his teeth on my clit, tugging it roughly, while mercilessly driving his tongue in and out of my pussy, making me feel things I"ve only felt one other time—in the cemetery.The memory hits me hard, almost as hard as the orgasm that rips through me, soaking his mouth as he sucks my release out of my pussy.

He drops my quivering legs from his shoulders onto my bed and sits on his knees, silently looking at me in the dark. I reach over and go to turn the light on, but his voice stops me, making me shake more than my orgasm.

"I wouldn"t do that,Trouble."

Remembering that name from the cemetery, I freeze, my heart hammering in my ears. I turn the light on anyway and gasp when I see the sight in front of me. I notice the silver mask placed beside him on the bed and know right away that it"s the same one that used the severed fingers on me that night.

He"s now sitting in front of me, his eyes covered by sunglasses, and his mouth, nose, and chin stained with my blood and glistening with my come. I snatch my blanket and cover my lower body from his hungry, sadistic eyes, trying to scoot back against the headboard to get away from him.

"What are you doing here? Get out!" I scream, but he doesn"t budge.

"That"s not what you were saying a second ago." He smirks, licking my blood off his lips, sighing in satisfaction.

"You"re disgusting."

"It"s blood. What"s so gross about it?"

"Everything, it"s blood! What"s so appealing about it?" I argue, not knowing why.

"The blood's red color is alluring, don"t you think, Trouble? Red is associated with love and lust, and it evokes feelings of passion and desire. Did you know that?"

"No, I didn't."

I look at him in shock. He grabs his mask, turns around to take his sunglasses off, and then slides the silver mask over his face, never wiping the blood off. He gets off my bed and heads toward the window, which I assume is the same way he came in.

"Wait… why do you keep showing up? What do you want from me?"

Keeping his back to me, he puts his hand on the window and hangs his head as he speaks.

"I told you what we wanted." Anger drips from his voice as he speaks.

"Yeah, but why do you want me?"

"Payback, Trouble. Carli was Red"s family, and you and your friends killed her." After his admission, he sneaks out my window, leaving me more shocked than I was when I found out River wasn"t the one with his head between my legs.

* * *