Initiated

by Steffanie Holmes

  “Gush much?” I lifted my head long enough to see Trey settling into a seat on the other side of the auditorium next to Ayaz. He caught my eye with his intense expression, and a fresh wave of heat rolled up my neck. “If you like him so much, you should ask him out.”

  “I don’t think he’s got eyes for anyone else,” Greg winked. “I can see why you won’t agree to go out with Quinn. Why choose one when you’ve got all three wrapped around your pinkie finger?”

  The next scene started, so I wasn’t able to tell Greg that real life didn’t work like that. No one got to have three boyfriends, especially not someone like me. None of those guys would settle for being one of the many, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted any of them after the things they’d done.

  Instead, I spent the rest of rehearsal dreaming about all three of them kissing me, touching me. Lips and hands fought for dominance as they lay me down in Ayaz’s big bed and…

  Dr. Halsey announced that rehearsal was over, jolting me out of my fantasy. I rubbed my warm cheeks as I went down to my room and changed into jeans, Dante’s basketball tank, and my leather jacket. Stop thinking about them. You’ve got revenge to enjoy.

  I laced up my boots, slid the glass shard and the skeleton key into my pocket, and picked up my bag of tricks.

  It’s showtime.

  I locked my door behind me and sat down on the metal stairs, just out of view of anyone in the dormitory above. Doors slammed, students laughed and joked with each other, and footsteps clattered back and forth over the marble floor. “You coming, Courts?” I heard Tillie yell.

  A door slammed. “Right here. I couldn’t get my hair extensions to behave.”

  “Lucky you had your mom send you those last year. You look fierce.” That was Amber. “I’m going to have to keep wearing this hat until it grows out.”

  “The gutter bitch is going to pay,” Tillie swore. “I can’t believe the way the boys are fawning over her, like her gaping pussy is fucking magical or something. Come on. If we get there early, we can grab the best seats.”

  Their heels clapped against the marble floor, growing fainter as they headed over to the dining hall. A few minutes later, the corridor was mostly silent. Anyone who was anyone at this school would be at the movie night.

  I bolted out of my hiding place. Upstairs, I walked quickly through the empty dormitory, scanning the corridor for stragglers. I knew I looked hella guilty, but there was no one here to see me. I made my way to Courtney’s door and slid the key into the lock. I let out the breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding as the lock clicked and the door swung open.

  I slipped inside and shut the door behind me. Courtney had left all the lights on – rich girls never had to worry about how to pay the power bill – and the place blazed like a Fourth of July show. Her room was everything I’d imagined – an enormous four-poster bed hung with gauzy drapes, a closet that was larger than my entire Philly apartment, a kitchenette filled with wine bottles and mason jars filled with weird health foods. Everything in shades of white and lilac – it could have been a magazine photo shoot if not for the tornado of makeup and clothing and candy wrappers strewn across the room.

  I resisted the urge to riffle through Courtney’s things and headed straight for the bathroom. A line of bath products lined her shower caddy. All the students used the same fancy bath products – I guessed the school ordered them in bulk or something. That made my job easier. I swiped Courtney’s shampoo, conditioner, and body wash into my tote and replaced them with three I’d brought along, making sure to tip a little from each down the sink so she didn’t notice a change.

  As I shut Courtney’s door behind me, my gaze fell to her notice-board. Each room in the dormitory had a notice-board beside it so students could pin photos and knick-knacks and notes to each other. Courtney’s was mostly covered with old valentines and pictures of her mother’s collections cut from fashion magazines. My finger traced the edge of a note in Quinn’s handwriting, feeling a blush creep over my cheeks as I read the contents.

  My stomach did an awful clenching thing that had nothing to do with jealousy. Nothing whatsoever. Never forget that Quinn slept with Courtney.

  Behind the note was a photograph. I recognized a young Courtney, probably about twelve years old, grinning madly at the camera as she showed off a shimmering gown in a lilac color that perfectly accentuated her feline features. I couldn’t even imagine Courtney smiling like that now.

  I flipped the picture over. A handwritten note on the back read, “My beautiful Courts. You’re going to be a star one day, just like your mother. Love, Dad.”

  Hmmmmm. I wondered if I was holding in my hands the key to undoing Courtney. This picture was her weakness. I just didn’t know why. Before I could change my mind, I unpegged it and shoved it into my tote.

  Tillie’s room next. Her room was pink – pink walls, pink sofa, pink bed, even some kind of weird pink stone for the kitchen countertop. I replaced her toiletries and got out as quick as I could, before the pink seeped into my pores.

  Amber was last. Her room was mostly navy blue, and smaller than the others. I swapped out her toiletries as well, and quickly locked her door. That hadn’t taken long at all. If I hurried, I might not even miss the opening credits.

  I paused in front of the last door – Loretta’s room. I never intended to make her part of this prank – she didn’t deserve any punishment. But maybe there was something I could do for her, if I could just understand.

  She had been through whatever horrors the god inflicted when it took her soul. I knew she wouldn’t talk to me about it, but she used to keep that diary. Perhaps she wrote something down.

  I stared at the key in my hand, then at the door. The notice-board beside Loretta’s door was empty, apart from a nondescript wooden cross hanging from a single nail.

  My heart hammered in my chest. I shoved the key into Loretta’s door and pushed it open. The room was dark. Of course, Loretta had grown up poor like me. She’d never leave lights on.

  I stepped inside and clicked on the light, illuminating a beautiful room decorated in a soft cream and cream and lilac furnishings. It looked like a junior version of Courtney’s room, which was both comforting (that Loretta wasn’t chained to a wall) and disturbing.

  Courtney was clearly supporting Loretta to live here as a Queen. But why? She wouldn’t be doing it out of the goodness of her heart. So what was Loretta’s end of the bargain?

  I shuffled through her bookbag and the stack of things on the desk, hunting for the battered journal Loretta carried everywhere. She used to hide it in the gap between our desk and the wall. It might’ve rankled another roommate, but we both knew that when you were poor you hid your precious things. She’s probably still hiding it. Old habits die hard. Maybe under the mattress or—

  “Hello, Hazel.”

  I whirled around, banging my head on the overhead shelves. Loretta sat in the middle of the bed, the blanket pulled up to her chin so she looked like a ghost rising out of the mattress. She fixed me with a vacant gaze that sent a chill down my spine. I swear she wasn’t there a moment ago.

  “Loretta, hi.” I rubbed the top of my head. “You scared me.”

  Above Loretta’s head, a rat scritch-scritched behind the wall.

  “Why are you scared?” Loretta asked in a flat, uninterested voice. “You’re the one sneaking around my room.”

  “Yes. So, about that… I was…” I searched around for a suitable story, but Loretta’s blank stare unnerved me. I shrugged. “Yeah, I got nothing.”

  Loretta didn’t reply. She kept staring at me with dead eyes.

  Dead eyes…

  “So…” I said, shoving my hands into my pockets and taking a step toward the bed. “We haven’t really talked since this quarter started. How do you like your new room?”

  “It’s fine.”

  “I saw that you aced the English test the other day. Congrats! I messed up all the Shakespeare questions. I can never make sense of his t
hees and thous.”

  Loretta’s blank expression was starting to creep me out.

  I sighed. “You know you could hang out with us if you wanted to, right? We miss you, especially Greg.”

  Loretta’s eyebrow twitched. That got a reaction. Interesting. I pressed on. “I can’t pretend to understand everything that’s going on with you right now, but I want you to know that I’m here if you ever need a friend.”

  “We’re not friends,” she said in her flat voice.

  “Yes, fine, we’re not friends,” I snapped. “But I still won’t let the Queens get away with what they did to you.”

  “They gave me all this.” Loretta gestured to the room.

  “Yeah, but they took so much more from you.”

  “If you say so. A word of advice,” Loretta’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t mess with Courtney.”

  I smiled innocently. “Who, me?”

  “You had your fun with the superglue, but don’t try anything else. It won’t end well for you.”

  “Thanks for the creepy warning,” I shrugged. “But I can handle Courtney.”

  “No, you can’t. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re invincible just because you came from the hood. They’ve got power over you that you can’t even…” She shook her head. “Forget it. Just get out and leave me alone. Go join your boyfriends.”

  She spat out the word with such venom, a surge of anger rose inside me. Fine, I won’t try to help you. I turned away from the bed and stalked toward the door. Rats scritched overhead. My hand closed around the handle and a rush of regret hit me. I was the queen of lashing out at people when I was scared. I should have learned to recognize it in others.

  “I know what happened to you,” I said, still facing the door. “I know about the deity beneath the school, and what it demands of its loyal servants. But it’s not invincible. Something about me hurts it. I’ve felt it cry out in pain, and it’s a terrible thing to behold. That means there’s still hope. We’re hunting for a way to fix things, to give you and everyone else back what was stolen. Loretta, I’ll b—” I turned around.

  A scream caught in my throat.

  Loretta had vanished. The bedsheets were pulled tight and straight, as if she’d never been there at all.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Took you long enough,” Quinn complained as I grabbed the edge of his blanket and slid down beside him. He had a great spot in the middle of the screen, near the back of the room. Greg and Ayaz sat in front of him, sharing a pizza with Nancy, Paul, and some of the other monarchs. Greg was laughing and chatting with Paul. It made me so happy. “You just missed the best fight scene.”

  The movie was Gladiator, which was such a weird choice – about a slave who defied his station to become a champion. Also, it had been made before I was born, and it showed in the special effects and actors. Sometimes, I couldn’t believe it took meeting a Great Old God in a subterranean cavern to make me realize this school was stuck in a time warp.

  All around us, kids crunched popcorn, unscrewed the caps on hidden hip flasks, and talked in low voices. There were quite a few kissing sounds and rustling of blankets. Mr. Dexter slumped in a chair in the corner, ostensibly here to supervise us. His head nodded against his chest, and occasionally he let out a loud snore.

  As I leaned across Quinn to grab a handful of popcorn, he held the bucket just out of reach, his face an inch from mine. “It’ll cost you a kiss,” he grinned.

  Feeling emboldened from my successful revenge mission, I leaned forward and pecked him on the lips.

  “I know you can do better than that.” Quinn’s hand snaked around the back of my head, his fingers pushing through my short hair as he locked his lips with mine, teasing my mouth open with his tongue.

  My body responded immediately, tightened with this hot, warm feeling that happened every time I was near one of the monarchs. Quinn’s coconut and sugarcane scent sent my head spinning. If all of the Kings used the same fancy bath products, how come they each smelled so different, so intoxicating?

  A low growl escaped from Quinn’s throat as I traced my fingers through his hair. I didn’t want the kiss to ever end.

  Someone behind us made a gagging noise. Quinn tipped his head back, tearing his lips from mine. The air between us had become heavy, hot, sticking to my skin.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Courtney glaring at us. John had one arm around her, the other hand under the blanket they were sharing. He slobbered along her neck and tried to tip her head toward him, but she gave a growl of frustration and pushed him away.

  “Courtney’s watching us,” I whispered to Quinn.

  “Good.” He kissed my earlobe. “Do you want to give her a real show?”

  My heart hammered against my chest. Who was this person, and what had she done with Hazel Waite? Before I’d come to Derleth, the only thing I’d done was try to kiss a guy, and he hadn’t even liked it. That was why it was so hilarious they all called me a whore – I’d lived with one for long enough that I knew all I ever wanted to know about sex. It was just another weapon that could be wielded against a woman, used to control and dominate, to keep her in chains. No, thank you.

  And yet, put me in the hands of a Miskatonic King and I melted like butter. Probably it had something to do with the hunger of a Great Old God lurking over my head. In desperate situations, people did all sorts of crazy things. The Donner party ate each other. I made out with bad boys who were no good for me but tasted so damn fine.

  Trey shuffled over and grabbed the box of popcorn from Quinn’s hands. “Quit hogging the snacks,” he growled.

  Quinn hugged me to his chest. “Keep the popcorn. I’ve got the best treat right here.”

  “You don’t get to keep everything to yourself.”

  My eyes widened as Trey lifted the corner of the blanket and slid in beside us. Quinn poked his tongue out at his friend, but he also shuffled me over to make room… shuffled me right into his lap, in fact. Between his legs.

  Something hard rubbed against the crack of my ass. It took me a moment to realize what it was. Quinn. He’s hard.

  I jerked forward. Quinn tightened his grip around my torso.

  “Feel what you do to me, Hazy,” he whispered against my ear, sending a lick of fire down my spine. “You can’t just leave me like this. That would be mean.”

  “Have you met me? I’m pretty mean,” I whispered back, my throat tight. He was right. I wasn’t going anywhere.

  “Nope, you talk a big game, but you’re a kitten.” Quinn shifted, pulling the blanket tight around us. His hand slid up my thigh. “Let’s make the kitten purr.”

  I kept my eyes facing forward, but I didn’t take in a single frame of the movie. Quinn moved his hand along my thigh, sliding it slowly, achingly slowly, toward the source of the ache inside me, the point from which all fires blazed and sparked. He kissed a trail of fire along my neck, his teeth scraping against my skin.

  Not to be outdone, Trey shuffled closer, pressing his body against me. “You like him touching you?” he asked. “If you’re not into it, just say the word, and we can get out of here.”

  I opened my mouth, but I couldn’t force sound from my throat. Not when Quinn drew circles on my inner thigh and Trey Bloomberg’s breath danced on my ear as he asked me.

  “I think our Hazy really wants to see how this movie ends,” Quinn murmured, his lips pressing against my hair.

  “Very well.” Trey’s hand dropped to my other thigh, his fingers walking a path of fire up to meet Quinn’s. “I expect it’ll end in fireworks.”

  Their fingers met in the middle as they battled with the button on my fly. Quinn’s lips trailed down my neck. “Hazy, Hazy, Hazy,” he murmured. “You naughty girl.”

  “You want this, Hazel?” Trey’s voice was hard, tight. He hooked a finger over the edge of my panties. Not daring to speak, I nodded.

  “Good. Because I’ve been wanting to touch you like this for so fucking long.” Trey turned my head
toward him and crushed my mouth with his. He kissed me long and deep and slow, as if he possessed me, as if I was his.

  This is such a bad idea, but I can’t say no… not when they…

  Fingers plunged between my legs, pushing aside my panties, resting softly on my mound. My breath hitched. I can’t believe we’re doing this in here, where everyone can see.

  But no one was watching. Quinn had the blanket pulled up high, and no one cared, anyway. Everyone was distracted with their own blanket fumblings. This event was a wholesome veneer for a teenage Bacchanalian.

  I gasped as a finger teased my entrance before slipping inside me. A second finger joined the first, pumping in and out with slow, measured strokes. Another finger pressed against my clit, rubbing me in my own juices in a languid circle, as if we had all the time in the world.

  Heat rose through my body, starting in my core and radiating out, touching the tips of my fingers and toes. I was fraying at the edges, my whole body slowly falling apart under their touch.

  A faint whimper escaped my throat. In front of me, Ayaz turned around, his eyes blazing as they flicked to my face, to Quinn and Trey kissing me, to their hands under the blanket…

  He scowled and turned away. My heart thudded, but then the finger on my clit circled faster, and I forgot all about Ayaz.

  I don’t know how they coordinated, but it was as if they had a natural rhythm together. As they moved, they took turns kissing me. Quinn’s tongue darted into my mouth while Trey trailed sparks along my collarbone.

  The fire inside me built into a ball of heat, hotter and hotter until it pressed against my skin, demanding freedom. I bent my head back against Quinn’s shoulder, my muscles tensing. Another gasp escaped my throat.

  Trey moved closer, his eyes half-lidded as he came at me. He pressed his hand lightly over my mouth. “Bite me,” he whispered, holding a finger across my lips. “Make me bleed.”