Prologue

All Hallows' Eve

"Y ou're not afraid of the dark, are you, Bailey?" My very sloppy drunk friend Maureen asked.

I laughed and threw back another lime green jello shot, tilting my head back so it could jiggle down my throat. "Hell no I'm not. That's where all the fun stuff happens."

Maureen hopped up on the center island next to me, her tits nearly falling out of her halter top in the process. "So you'll go then? Into the old Wickford place, by yourself with no flashlight?"

I rolled my eyes. "Are you still mad that I didn't want to dress up as a slutty witch with you? Is that why you are trying to ruin my Halloween Eve?"

Maureen laughed. "Oh, come on, Bailey. You know you want to. Besides, if the rumors are true, then you'll be getting fucked sideways just like you've always wanted. And your burlesque costume is just as slutty by the way."

I glanced down at my bustier right as Maureen made a grab for one of my breasts. I squealed and swatted her hand away playfully. "No more jello shots for you, missy," I teased.

"Seriously, though, Bailey. The party isn't until midnight, and I'm bored as fuck."

"Remind me again why Billy decided to throw a party so fucking late?"

" Because it's officially Halloween at midnight," Maureen whined as if that was the most ridiculous question I'd ever asked. "Now, let's go check out that creepy mansion and see what all the fuss is about."

I did love a good dare.

The old Wickford mansion had been the subject of superstition our whole lives. Last summer, after graduation, a bunch of kids got busted for throwing a party there and almost burning it down. The cops have since taped it off and it's scheduled to be demolished later this year.

Legend has it that every year on Halloween Eve, when the veil between the dead and the living fell down, three angry spirits demanded to be set free. They were locked away in one of the rooms there. Whoever let them out would be stuck with them until they gave them what they wanted. It was probably started by a bunch of horny frat boys who were just trying to lure unsuspecting drunk girls into the dark.

It sounded like a bunch of bullshit to me.

"Fine. Why not? It's not like any of that stuff is real. But you have to promise that you won't tell anyone about this later." Partying there with other people was one thing, roaming around by yourself like a weirdo was grounds to get labeled as such.

Maureen dipped one of her long pointy fingernails into another jello shot, scooping it out and sucking it off. "Shit, like I'm going to tell anyone. It will be our little secret, slut."

I shoved her a little too hard, and she toppled over. I reached out to catch her, and we both went tumbling to the floor, laughing. "Oh, fuck. Are we that drunk already?" I spurt out between hysterical bouts of laughter.

She pulled me on top of her and pretended to dry hump me. "Fuck yeah, bitch. You gonna set some spirits free tonight."

I pulled her up and steadied myself against the counter. "Alright, fuck. Let's go before I change my mind. Grab the rest of those shots for the walk over. I'm not doing this sober."

"Yay!" Maureen stumbled in front of me, trying not to drop the tray of shots as we left her house.

I fluffed my blonde hair as we walked, annoyed that the mist was starting to deflate my curls. I wanted to look hot tonight. To find some beautiful man at the party to make out with. Lord knows it had been way too long. But now I was traipsing through the streets in stiletto heels and fishnets, freezing my ass off. Hopefully we could go back to Maureen's house after and freshen up before the party.

The old Wickford house was a crumbling heap of decay. Just a hollow frame with barely anything left holding it together. I glanced up at the roof just in time to dodge a squirt of bird shit. It splattered on the cobblestones inches away from me.

Maureen howled with laughter. "Fuck, that almost landed on you."

There must have been a half a dozen birds' nests up there. "So gross," I groaned.

The rickety shutters banged against the house, creaking in the unforgiving wind. A shudder trickled up my spine. This place was creepy as fuck. "So what do I get for doing this stupid dare of yours?"

Maureen tapped a finger on her chin. "Hmm.. Let me think. Okay, if you go in there by yourself and manage to get that door unlocked, I'll let you call dibs on anyone you want at Billy's party tonight."

I rolled my eyes. "As if I need your permission on who I choose to make out with later."

She hissed. "Well, good luck trying with me pussy-blocking you all night."

Fuck. She would do it too. "Seriously, Maureen?"

She shrugged. "Fine. I'll let you borrow my red Balenciaga bag for a week."

A smirk pulled at my lips. That bag cost more than most people's rent. Her parents gave it to her for graduation. "All right. Deal. I go in alone and get the door open. Then I get dibs at the party and the Balenciaga bag."

"Both?" Maureen pouted.

I nodded. "And if I'm not out in fifteen minutes, you better come and get me, bitch. Psychos could be squatting in there."

A gust of wind rushed past us, blowing one of the shutters hard against the house. We both lurched back. Goosebumps prickled my arms. We should have brought coats, but no, we just had to be more concerned about how hot we looked.

An eerie sensation pulled at me. "I'm going to get you back good for this one, Maur," I called back to her as I moved toward the decaying porch. The wind picked up again, drowning out her response. All I could hear was the faint sound of giggling.

The floorboards creaked under my pointy high-heels. I was half-expecting to drive a hole straight through one of them. "I swear to god if I get my shoe caught in one of these things…" I cursed under my breath .

The house was empty, devoid of any furnishings or decorations. A little burst of adrenaline tingled through my veins. Ever since I was a kid, I'd been obsessed with horror movies and the occult. Walking around this spooky old house was so fucking dangerous, it almost turned me on.

I tested the railing as I started up the staircase, jiggling it to make sure it would hold. Using caution, I crept up the stairs, my heart pounding the closer I got to the top. Thanks to the busted-out windows, it was freezing inside. The wind howled through the house without anything to hinder it. It roamed wild and free. As if it lived here.

There were all sorts of sounds that would make a sane person jump. Make them run out as fast as they could. Aside from the shutters banging against the house, there was the unsettling sound of rodents scratching the wood as they scurried up and down the walls. They never bothered me much, but Maureen, on the other hand, would have shrieked and leaped onto my back.

She never had the stomach for creepy things. Not like me. While I pretended to be annoyed or bored with her dares, I secretly relished them. The thrill of getting caught doing something dangerous was worth every second. I dreamed of things that would make grown men keel over. Dark and depraved things. Regular stuff bored me. I could only fuck missionary so many times before I'd die of boredom. Only so many of the same monotonous blow jobs I could give without wanting to scratch my own eyes out. I didn't want a normal guy. I wanted a monster. A deviant. Someone who could make me feel fucking alive for once.

But my type only existed in books and in my dreams. Hence why I was traipsing through a creepy condemned house without even a can of mace. For the thrill. The rush. It was the closest I could get to whatever it was I was looking for. That thing that I just couldn't grasp or name. Fuck, I wish I could bottle this feeling.

I paused at the top of the stairs and looked back over my shoulder. These abandoned houses tended to harbor less than savory characters. Despite my adrenaline addiction, having a run in with a crack-head or a serial killer was not what I had in mind.

Confident that no one was stalking me, I continued down the hall. The first two rooms I passed were empty just like the rest of the house. The doors torn off their hinges. Empty paper cups rolled around the floor, most likely remnants from that party a few weeks back. The doorframes were charred yet still looked sturdy enough to withstand a hurricane. That was the thing about these old houses—good bones.

The hall dead-ended with one last room. The only room that had a door still attached to it. I stood in front of it, and a chill snaked down my back. It was as if the temperature dropped another ten degrees in this spot. I've heard some people say that ghosts can make a room colder. The adrenaline junkie in me got off on that, but my inner skeptic was convinced it was just a wind tunnel, pulling the chill farther down.

I gasped as I wrapped my hand around the doorknob. It was ice cold. I tried to turn it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Come on," I groaned.

I jiggled it some more and leaned against the door but still nothing. I pulled out one of my hair pins and stuck it in the keyhole like they do in the movies, but I had no fucking clue what I was doing. How the fuck is there still a locked door in an abandoned house?

This is why that stupid superstition got started to begin with.

Fuck it.

I backed up a few steps and charged forward, slamming my body into the door. "Fuck," I cried out as I bounced off it. That was going to leave a fucking bruise. I really needed to stop thinking I was some kind of cat burglar.

I rubbed my shoulder, already feeling a lump forming. This was pissing me off. It wasn't about the Balenciaga bag or first dibs on some vapid frat guy. No. I wanted that rush. Needed it . And I was just a tad bit curious to know if the legend was true. What if there really was three spirits in that room, ready to pounce on whoever let them out?

Waiting to do dark and dirty things. A tingling began between my thighs. Only someone as fucked up as me would get aroused by that.

I grabbed the doorknob again and jiggled it with all my might. "What the fuck?" I hissed. "Fucking open already." I slammed my hands on the door and sighed in defeat.

As I pulled out my phone to text Maureen that it wasn't happening, I started to turn when I felt a warm breath blow against the back of my neck. I whipped around, my heart racing, only to find no one there.

Fuck.

It felt like a man's breath. Footsteps thudded behind me. I spun around again just as a force rammed into me, knocking me backward. I crashed into the door like a wrecking ball. The wood splintered and gave way as I barreled through it.

"Oh, shit," I yelled.

I tumbled face forward and smacked my palms against the floorboards as I broke my own fall.

Okay, this was a bit more than adrenaline. Someone was fucking with me. I scrambled to my feet and glanced around only to find myself completely alone. There was no fucking way.

"Maureen?" I called out. "You better not be fucking with me, bitch."

My heart thudded in my chest. I ran to the open window and looked down. Maureen sat on a tree stump filing her nails. There was no way she could have run up here, pushed me, and then run back down in that amount of time.

I whirled around, the hairs on my neck standing straight up. It was dark. The wind had calmed to a whispering murmur, but the air was still freezing. Crisp and chill like a meat locker.

I snapped a quick picture of the broken door and darted back down the hall. The floor creaked behind me as if someone was following. I didn't bother to turn around this time. I flew down the steps, taking them two at a time. I ran as fast as one could in four-inch-high heels. But it was my adrenaline that carried me.

While I raced through the doorless entryway and down the front porch, I could barely catch my breath, my teeth chattering. Maureen leaped up from her stump to meet me, but I walked past her.

"Hey," she called out. "Did you do it?"

I didn't stop until we were a block away from the house, Maureen whining over the wind the whole time.

"Bailey, what the fuck happened?"

My hands trembled as I held up my phone. "It's done. I got in."

She nodded, arching an eyebrow at me. "Why do you look like you just saw a ghost?"

I didn't know what I saw or felt. But I wasn't alone up there. That was for fucking sure. "I don't want to talk about it. I just want to get really fucking drunk."

Maureen grinned and handed me a jello shot from the tray that I'd completely forgotten we'd brought. "Bottoms up."

I slammed three shots in a row on the walk back to Maureen's house. It wasn't enough to shake the eerie feeling of being watched. "Can we just stay here at your house tonight? I'm not in the mood to party with those assholes anymore."

Maureen stuck out her lower lip in a fake pout. "Don't be a downer, Bales. There will be plenty of drugs, alcohol, and chiseled abs to get you in the mood."

I shook my head. "Nah. I'm good. I think I'm coming down with something actually. I don't feel like being around a bunch of people."

She sighed and tipped back another jello shot. "Well, I'm going. I've been looking forward to this party all year."

I knew that if I told her what really happened she would stay. If I told her how freaked out I was, she wouldn't go. But I did have a bunch of shots before I stepped into that house, and my mind was probably just playing tricks on me. I didn't want to ruin her night just because I was coming down off a rush.

I nodded. "Okay, have fun, be safe, and use condoms. Call me tomorrow and tell me all the sordid details?"

Maureen planted a kiss on my cheek. "You know I will. Text me if you change your mind, bitch."

Lingering at her front gate, I watched her strut down the block toward Billy's house. A part of me was tempted to follow. But I just couldn't shake this feeling that had crept into my skin. I wanted a hot shower, a stiff drink, and to forget this night ever happened.