He looked distracted. “Don’t worry about it.” He turned to leave.
I touched his shoulder. “I am,” I said.
He continued onward back through the alley in that strut that turned me on, but he looked over his shoulder and responded, “It’s not like I can leave you for long.” Then he jogged away, but not without jumping in the air and tagging an overhead sign with his hand as he went.
CHAPTER SIX
Novelty is the storehouse of pleasure. –Ninon De L’Enclos
When I got back to the restaurant, I ate a lot of succulent French foods that reminded me of Mom. The memories and tastes were so emotionally charged that they helped keep my mind off my hunger a little. As much as it hurt, I tried to imagine that I was with my parents eating out on the town. That pulled at my heart strings, but at least it was a distraction from more eminent threats. At least I wasn’t tearing someone to shreds.
To my relief, the guy at the music store was gone, but other passer byers smelled more appetizing than what I was eating. Wren kept pushing dishes at me. She must have sensed my struggles or more likely she poisoned the food. Being new at this, I didn’t have the self-control she and the others possessed.
The chicken cordon bleu preoccupied me as I held to the edge of the table and the chocolate ganache that I licked off my fingers brought back memories of childhood birthdays. The French baguette smelled of my parent’s kitchen, warm and toasty. Everything was surprisingly delicious for human cuisine, but there was this hole inside of me that felt like it could never be filled.
Though nobody seemed to care that Dylan hadn’t returned with me, I was worried about him. I wondered where he went. I kept expecting him to show up any minute, but he never did. He said sirens couldn’t be away from each other at any considerable distance for more than a half hour at a time. That meant that he must be somewhere nearby.
I kept looking to see if he was watching us from across the way at the coffee house or from the roof of the closed cocktail bar. I even kept glancing over at the guitar players on the promenade who collected money in a can. Possibly he would join them for fun. He was talented with instruments as were all the sirens. Maybe he was at the hotel. That would be close enough to stay connected.
“Let’s shop,” Gia said as the food server took away our last dishes.
“First off, I need a new shirt,” Wren scowled as she looked down at her wine splattered blouse.
“We’re going to the arcade,” Travis mumbled to the sirens as he pulled Blake up and out of his chair by his shirt sleeve.
“Okay,” Lyra said. “We’ll pick you up...”
“No,” Wren interjected. “Shop with us. We want to get you some clothes too.”
Travis frowned and Blake didn’t say anything as they followed behind us. In a way, I felt sorry for them. I couldn’t imagine being a boy and having to shop all day. But they seemed to make the best of it, trying to hit on girls who lost interest whenever Travis opened his inappropriate mouth. I wondered if an idiot like him could ever learn.
I had never been on a shopping spree before. Most girls would have been in heaven, but I wasn’t. My mind was too distracted with my hungers and even more so with Dylan.
“Try this perfume,” Lyra said as she spritzed me with the sexy scent. She sniffed my wrist. “Wow!”
I smelled it—it was nice, sort of spicy, sweet and erotic. “I like it,” I mumbled as I looked across the high end department store for Dylan, hoping he was looking for us too.
She asked the tall lanky clerk with too much makeup on her long face to package up a bottle of it for me.
Wren pointed at the glass over the display case. “How about this necklace?” she asked me.
I walked over to her and looked. “Wow. That’s pretty.” It was a single heart shaped black stone pendant on a silver chain, very elegant and expensive.
“We’ll take this too.” Wren waved over the woman.
The lady smiled, seemingly pleased with her growing sales, as she placed the jewel in a silver box.
I couldn’t help but wonder why they were doing all this for me. But then it occurred to me that I had to look good to make them look good. It wouldn’t be auspicious to show up at a party with a slob. If they wanted to be seductive, everyone with them needed to be seductive too.
Gia handed her a black silk scarf. “This too. And those earings.” She pointed at the diamond pendants in the case. “Oh, and the dangly ones with the jade.” She pointed at an even more attractive set.
“Very good.” The woman pursed her lips together. “I can ring up those clothes for you too if you like.” She was referring to the armful of designer outfits Gia had picked out for me.
“And don’t forget the Mac lipsticks and eye shadows we chose,” Wren added.
“Right—got that.” The lady laughed. Once she had everything in boxes and bags, she rang up the items. “That’s nine thousand, four hundred, ninety two and seventy four cents.”
Wren started singing lightly. I shook my head as Lyra and Gia joined in. The song was so mysterious. It felt like wind rushing through your hair. A part of me yearned to join in. My throat itched. But I refrained.
The lady laughed nervously. Her droopy eyes were glazed. “Oh, let me take care of this for you.” She pulled her purse out from a cubby hole and took out her wallet. “I’ll have to use a few credit cards to stay in my limits.” Her giggle sounded almost like she was about to cry. She swiped all the cards and handed the bags to the sirens.
“Thank you so much,” Lyra smiled kindly at the woman.
“Give me that.” Gia grabbed the bag with the scarf and the earrings. We walked out of the store as the girls continued to sing faintly. Blake and Travis were picking out the coins in the water fountain when we approached them just outside of the department store.
“Where is all the stuff you were supposed to be holding?” Wren asked the boys in an irritated voice.
“Oops,” Blake said as he jogged over to the benches over on the other side of the fountain. He hurried back with a stack of boxes and several bags in his hands. “Here they are,” he said in a pleasing tone.
By now Wren and Gia were ignoring him trying to decide what to do next. Finally, they decided on hiking the mountains to the springs where we could take hot mud baths. “After, we’ll go for a night dip in the ocean,” Lyra said as she braided her long black hair over her shoulder.
“And then…” Gia added, “…we can get spa treatments and makeovers at the hotel in prep for our night on the town.”
Wren looked down at her watch. “There’s no time for all that.”
“Oh, you’re right. We must have shopped the day away. The sun is falling in the sky.” Lyra sounded disappointed. “I so need to get out and stretch my muscles.”
They just stood there in the promenade for a while just staring off in different directions like birds on a telephone wire. I thought it was weird. It seemed like they were each in their own private worlds. I could only wonder what they were thinking. And then I found myself staring off too, looking this way and that.
I started to drift in thought. My mind began to clear. I lost track of where I was. I yearned to be in nature. I felt cooped up here with people shopping around me. There was too much stimulation. I had been trying to control myself all day from attacking the numerous humans in my presence. I needed to get away. Now, I knew what the others must be feeling too.
“Let’s go back to the hotel,” Wren finally said.
We were quiet as we walked back. Nobody talked at all. Instinctually we just followed Wren. When she moved to the right, so did we without thought. When she moved to the left, it was the same. Her arm would rise, so would ours. It was like we were on autopilot working as one mind. Our instincts were taking over. It actually felt great to surrender like that.
When we got back to our suite, we walked into the living room to see Dylan, three teenage guys, and three teenage girls playing strip poker and drinking shots at the t
able. Loud music was playing on the stereo.
Anger boiled up inside of me. What the hell was he doing sitting there without a shirt on with these people? He had a pair of black thong underwear dangling from his finger. When I walked over, he kissed it.
What a bastard.
He ignored me and laughed when he lost the game and had to take off his shorts and take another shot of vodka. I guess he really did like hanging out in his underwear. One girl with big hazel eyes and a short pixie haircut that looked as cute as a cheerleader was wearing only a bra and a mini skirt. I could tell she was after Dylan. She kept trying to flirt with him. Maybe the panties were hers.
I wasn’t sure if he liked her or not. He just seemed to like being naked and I guess underwear was his new thing. I supposed I didn’t really know him as I thought I did. But more than anything, I wanted to kill that horrible girl who was staring at him like that.
“Put the bags and boxes in the bedroom,” Wren said to Travis and Blake.
They did as told, but were back in no time sizing up the girls. I was as mad as hell seeing that instead of two young women as there usually were, Dylan had brought home three. Everybody had a match but me. Unless, he was trying to short one of the triplets which I doubted.
Wren whispered in my ear, “Dylan used to be worse before you came along. He was a real bad boy.”
Not knowing what to say, I tried to ignore her.
The guys at the table were staring at the triplets and me by now. “Hey,” one good looking guy with grey eyes and a crooked nose said to Wren. “Why don’t you join us?”
“I have a better idea,” Wren said in her loveliest voice. “Why don’t we play spin the bottle.” She was always trying to control the situation.
The crooked nose guy didn’t seem to mind though. “We can do that.” He smiled with narrow eyes.
The pixie girl in her bra and mini skirt leaned over Dylan’s chair. “You wanna play?” she asked in her too cute voice.
“Huh?” He said, leaning back in his chair with his head tilted back. He looked drunk.
“Sit on the sofa next to me.” She tried to pull him by the arm, but he fell out of the chair, knocking an empty bottle to the floor. It only broke into a few pieces which he picked up and set on the table. He got up laughing and tossed the panties at her. I could see that he nicked his finger on the glass and it was bleeding, but he didn’t care.
Blake and one of the guys with black curly hair named Aiden pulled chairs from the table and arranged them in a circle around the coffee table in the living room. “Boy, girl, boy, girl,” Aiden said to the group trying to direct us where to sit. “Luke, sit next to Cinderella. He pointed at Wren who raised an eyebrow at his nickname for her. Paul sit next to…” he stopped to think for a second. “What’s your name again?” he looked at me.
With a scowl on my face, I snapped, “Hailey.”
“Right,” He squinted his eyes and looked at me more closely. “You sit next to me.”
I just stood there not budging. I glanced over at Dylan, but he was just drawing with the blood from his finger on a plate.
“Snow White next to Paul.” He nodded at Lyra and pointed at the chairs. “Lover boy next to Brenda.” He was referring to Dylan and the pixie girl.
Dylan pulled on his shorts and t-shirt. Without saying anything he walked for the door.
“Wait!” Brenda ran after him. “Can I come?”
He looked back at the room and thought for a second. “Okay,” he mumbled.
My heart fell.
She ran back and grabbed her clothes off the floor. By the time she was at the door, he had already left. Probably he was waiting in the outer hall for her.
My body ached. I just felt sick inside. What the hell was I doing here? Look at my life. For all eternity would I be hooking up with different guys and then killing them?
I just wished I could turn off the pain I was feeling. My mind whirled as Wren spun the bottle first. It landed on Lyra. Everyone but me laughed.
“If the bottle lands on someone of the same sex, you kiss the guy to the person’s right,” Paul said with a wry smile on his face because the one to Lyra’s right was him. He had short strawberry blond hair and pale skin. All the people Dylan brought over were attractive or Wren would punish him.
Wren slinked across the circle, ran the tips of her fingers down Paul’s face and kissed him on the lips. Aiden and Luke whistled.
“Get it on, Paul,” Aiden called out.
The whole thing made me even sicker. I wanted to leave. Now Luke said it was his turn. He was medium height with thick eyebrows and sad brown eyes. I don’t think he wanted to play either, but he spun the bottle as he shook his head and raised his eyes up.
It landed on me. I blushed. Nobody knew, but the only boy I had ever kissed was Dylan. And that was only once in a desperate moment. But now I had all these hungers and feelings I wasn’t used to. Luke was cute. He even looked nice. And soon he would be dead.
He walked over to me shyly. And just as he leaned over about to kiss me, I threw up on the floor! He backed up, shocked.
His friends, Travis, and Blake were all cracking up. They thought my vomit was the funniest thing they had ever seen. I looked at the triplets and they seemed surprised. Lyra was embarrassed. Wren appeared slightly annoyed. Gia started to laugh along with the boys.
Luke just backed up. His cheeks reddened. “Are you okay, Hailey?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I mumbled as I got up, walking for the kitchen to get a towel. “I’m sorry,” I managed to say. If I wasn’t imagining how devastated these kids’ parents would be once they showed up missing, their bodies never to be found, I might have been embarrassed. But I knew it didn’t matter one damn bit what Luke or any of his friends thought of me because soon they would be dead.
And it didn’t matter that Luke was sweet and kind and would never grow up to get married or start a family. He didn’t matter at all. At least not to Wren, Lyra, or Gia. And as far as I could tell there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to save his life.
And now Dylan was gone with some other girl. What was he going to do with her? Maybe he was just tired of me. I knew the kinds of desires sirens felt. I couldn’t blame him for not wanting to be committed to just one girl. Even still, I needed him. I couldn’t live this life without him.
But as I was going for the towel I saw the plate that Dylan was rubbing his bloodied finger on. Written in the blood was my name. It said Hailey!
“I gotta get some fresh air,” I blurted out to the others.
Wren looked down at the vomit and wrinkled her nose.
I grabbed a towel and tossed it to her.
“Clean it up, Travis.” I heard Wren say as I rushed out the door.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Death is when the monsters get you. –STEPHEN KING, Salem's Lot
Glancing down the hall, I looked to see if Dylan and the pixie girl were there, but they were gone. He must be somewhere near. I took the elevator down to the lobby. He wasn’t there either.
I hurried though the tall glass doors to the waterfall. “Have you seen my friend, a dark haired guy about my age?” I asked the security man with grey hair dressed in a tuxedo.
“Dylan?” he said. “You must be Hailey.” And to my surprise, he smiled.
“Uh, yes.” My eyes lit up. “I am Hailey.”
“He said he was going for an evening swim.”
“In the pool?” My voice was anxious.
The man nodded. “Well, I’m not sure.” He looked confused. “Maybe. He didn’t say.”
“Thank you,” I said, hurrying back into the lobby.
Anxiously, I pushed the elevator button. It seemed like it took forever to come. But finally it dinged and the doors opened. I took it up to the roof where the pool was.
When I stepped out onto the deck looking out at the glassy dark water, I saw that Dylan wasn’t there. I sat down on a lounge chair. The evening wind sent chills up my back. Where co
uld he be? He had to be close by. And then I heard this whisper in my mind.
“The ocean,” it said. That’s it! He must be at the beach. Why didn’t I think of that?
I rushed back to the elevator and pressed the button. It wouldn’t light. Over and over again, I kept pushing it. Nothing happened. The stairs, I thought.
At once, I hurried over to the door that opened to the stairwell and started running down the flights. My legs were strong, probably from the short feeding the night before.
When I got back out to the street, I saw a group of guys hanging around drinking beers. They were leaning against the outer wall of a closed surfboard shop.
“Hey!” the biggest one said. He was thick with muscles and a mean looking face. He grabbed me by the arm and swung me around.
“Let go,” I said and pulled away. A couple of cars passed on the street, but the area was mostly quiet.
He lost his grip on me which seemed to anger him. “Where you going?” He called out to me as I jogged away.
I hurried through a dark alley toward the ocean. I heard footsteps. Just feet away from the end, the mean looking guy and his friend ran in. “You think you can ignore us?” the mean guy asked as they walked up to me.
“Leave me alone,” I hissed as I turned around, jogging in the other direction now.
But then, the guys’ other friends closed in on me from the other side of the alley. There were two more guys. They all looked to be in their mid-twenties. All tough, probably from an inner city neighborhood.
“Let me pass,” I said.
Their eyes were glossy. They must have been high on something. Before I could think of what to do, they rushed in on me, slamming me hard against the brick wall. In rapid fire their fists were hitting me hard in the face, in the gut. I was surprised how much it hurt. One was pushing up my skirt. Another was trying to pin my arms back.
Even though I had no experience fighting, I started kicking back with all my might. I was gasping for air as one of them slobbered all over my face. I wrestled my arms out of their grasp. My nails dug into their skin, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. Their passions were so heated.
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