The Masquerade

by Rae, Alexa

  Adam was the first to move. "I don't care." He kissed Shiloh on the side of her head. "Date whomever you want. Just get me an autograph from that drummer, PJ." He moved past me muttering something about avoiding the girl drama. The three of us watched him leave. We shared the same eye roll we saved for Adam when the hormones got too much for him.

  Before they could yell at me I decided to play the innocent card. "I like him." I said, staring at a tiny speck of dirt on the hardwood floor. I could feel their eyes on me, contemplating how to respond. They knew without exchanging thoughts that I was sorry. I couldn't tell them the truth about why I kept Ben a secret and I couldn't explain why I never told them about last year without hurting them. I had to lie to cover up another.

  "Yeah, we noticed." Hayley laughed.

  I looked up then to see them both smiling. They weren't smiles that displayed loads of enthusiasm, rather smiles of approval. They were happy because I was even if I lied to them.

  "Is he what's best for you?" Shiloh asked me, her eyes sincere. I knew she was referring to the rock star persona he carried, but I answered her truthfully.

  "Probably not."

  "But you still like him."

  I nodded.

  Hayley and Shiloh exchanged looks before Hayley spoke. "I'm happy for you, but if you lie to us again we're kicking your ass."

  I laughed, "I'll keep that in mind."

  "How did you two meet?"

  After a brief pause, I moved to the counter and pushed myself onto it to get comfortable. With their attentive eyes on me, I proceeded to tell them about the night of the concert last year and the run in I had at the graveyard during Halloween. I told them everything, minus the zombie details. When I finished they stared at me with wide eyes and open mouths, similar to before.

  "I can't believe Ben saved your life that night," Shiloh said.

  I nodded, "He's saved me in a lot of ways."

  "Oh, Ella!" She ran over and threw her arms around me. I leaned down so that she could reach me. "I'm so happy for you," she whispered, squeezing me tight, and then pulling back to look at me. "My best friend is dating a rock star."

  I laughed. "How many times has that been mentioned tonight?"

  She shrugged, "What does that matter? It's difficult to grasp."

  "I would agree, but to me he is only Ben. Not some rock star that girls all over the world obsess over." I bit down on my lip again. "He's mine."

  "You two have been getting it on!" Hayley practically shouted the accusation with a knowing smile on her face.

  "No!" I quickly shot back with wide eyes.

  She put her hands up, palms facing outwards. "Looks like someone wants to," she sang lightly, teasing.

  I shook my head. "Ben isn't like that."

  "Ben isn't the one I was referring to," she said with an arched eyebrow.

  I blushed and forced myself to look away. We were quiet, lost in the conversation we shared. It felt like huge deal, but they only knew the half of it. My eyes were on the counter that was covered in glorious food products that caused my mouth to water when I stared for longer than a couple seconds.

  "Thanks for the food," I mumbled sheepishly.

  "I thought you were upset about Eli so I wanted to throw you a food party."

  "You're the best Shi," I told her, smiling.

  She shrugged, "You can show your appreciation later. You have a phone call to make."

  I looked at Hayley and she winked. "We'll leave so you can get back to your business." She cleared her throat to emphasize the meaning behind her words.

  "Guys," I began, but they shook their heads.

  "Just don't stay out too late. It's still a school night."

  "It's Thursday and tomorrow is Friday. It's all the same, but thank you for the reminder, Mommy." Hayley mocked, rolling her eyes.

  I laughed pulling my best friends into an uncomfortable hug that we'd mastered over the years. Before they left, Hayley made at least a dozen more suggestive comments about my sex life while Shiloh managed to counter them, telling her to behave. I leaned against the counter, a smile on my face, listening to my friends bicker as they left. I didn't see their car in the driveway so I imagined they were going to Adam's house or walking home.

  When they were gone I heaved a heavy sigh of relief. I had come clean to my friends about Ben without managing to hurt them. They didn't ask why I didn't tell them because they knew the reason didn't matter. Caught up in the moment, I hardly heard the noise upstairs. The creak in the floorboards above me snapped me out of my trail of lingering thoughts.

  I froze, waiting in silence for the noise again. The old wood creaked somewhere in my mom's room on the second floor. My first thoughts that said it was my dog washed away when I heard his barking outside. The relief washed out of my body while it was replaced by apprehension, as I stood frozen, unable to determine who was upstairs, knowing they were uninvited.

  Twenty-Six

  Something was wrong, I could feel it in every bone in my body. I couldn't point it out but that same unnerving discomfort was there. My eyes were glued to the ceiling, my hand frozen on the counter. A heavy weight sank to the bottom of my stomach. I tried to swallow back the knot in my throat, but it grew larger. The floorboards creaked again.

  I snapped out of it and pulled my phone from my back pocket. Ben's number was already on speed dial. I hit one button and put the phone to my ear. I waited anxiously. I didn't realize I was holding my breath until he picked up on the third ring.

  "Ella?"

  I frowned. The voice didn't match Ben's. "Um, yeah."

  "Oh, hey girl it's Cam," he said, his voice suddenly imitating a valley girl.

  "Hi Cam," I stressed, the uneasiness leaking from my voice.

  I recognized Jesse's voice in the background. "Dude, stop she wants to talk to Ben not you."

  I imagined Cam pulling the phone away from his mouth, but I could still hear them. "Nah, it's fine we're cool as ice." He put the phone back, "Right Ella?" There was a smacking sound, some rustling against the receiver, and then Jesse's voice was clear on the other line.

  "Hey Ella, it's Jesse. You'll have to excuse Cam, he's an idiot."

  I heard Cam shout something in the background, but I couldn't catch it. "Um, Jesse, is Ben around?"

  "He left to check on you. I think he left his phone here though."

  I heard Cam's voice again, "You think? What's that in your hand, you idiot!"

  I heard another smacking sound and Jesse's voice again. "Is everything okay, Ella?"

  I hadn't heard the noise in a while. It must have been nothing. I didn't want to bother them. I exhaled into the phone, "Yeah, everything is okay. So Ben will probably be here soon?"

  "Unless he stops for a bite," he paused, cutting himself off. I cleared my throat. "Sorry, I'm sure he'll be there."

  "Thanks Jesse," I said, preparing to close my phone.

  "Insensitive bitch," I heard Cam scoff before I ended the call.

  I stepped away from the kitchen counter and slipped the phone in my pocket. I tried to reassure myself that Ben was coming. What I heard upstairs was nothing. Yet, the unsettling feeling refused to leave my system.

  A pocket of crisp air swept across the back of my neck. I whirled around, my shoulders hunched, and my fingers clenched into fists. The room was empty. I turned to the living room and found the same thing, nothing. Everything was in place.

  I moved into the hallway. My senses alert and my eyes everywhere. When I entered the foyer my gaze shot up the stairs, but again there was nothing. The lights were off on the second story so there was nothing but darkness that leaked from the second floor down to the first.

  I waited in silence and found nothing. After a few seconds passed, I sighed and stepped away from the front door. I couldn't avoid the second story. I gripped the wooden railing of the stairwell with my hand and began to make my way up the stairs.

  "You're overreacting," I told myself calmly.

  "I didn't think
I was overreacting."

  I froze. My grip on the railing tightened until I was sure my knuckles would break through my skin. I didn't recognize the voice behind me. I spun around, my palpating heart ready to jump out of my chest. My eyes locked on a man standing at the bottom of the stairs. He wore blue jeans and a brown leather jacket. His face was hard with defined features that had seen better days.

  His smile was deceiving. "I haven't gotten started yet."

  I shook my head, "Please. Don't."

  "Don't what?" His eyes widened and he whispered, "Eat you?" Laughter followed, "Not yet, sweetheart." He moved in front of the staircase.

  I backed up the stairs quickly, tripping over myself, but refusing to take my eyes off him. He blinked and his brown eyes were suddenly onyx. A scream left my mouth before I turned and bolted up the stairs. When I reached the top I veered to the left and ran for my mom's bedroom.

  A deadly cold hand caught my wrist. He spun me around and pushed me closer to him. "No, no sweet girl," he laughed. His other hand reached out and attempted to caress the side of my face. I dodged it and my fist snapped forward, cold cocking him in the nose.

  He recoiled with surprise. My knuckles screamed at me, but I ignored the throbbing pain and backed away from him. He was in front of me within the blink of an eye. His hands gripped my shoulders tightly and pulled me against him. His cold, murky breath was at my ear.

  "Your smell," he inhaled, "It's divine."

  "Let me go!" I spat, pushing against his chest. He made another attempt to touch my face. I ducked down to avoid his hand and that only seemed to amuse him.

  "So much searching," he shook his head. "It's incredible that we found you. I promised I wouldn't taste, but I don't think I can help myself."

  "No!" I shouted. I raised my leg up and kneed him in the groin. It took him by surprise again, but it didn't hurt him. I took his moment of surprise and bolted around him to the stairs. I could hear his footsteps, multiple times faster than mine, behind me. He was fast, but it seemed like he was giving me room to run. He wanted to chase me.

  I made it to the bottom of the stairs when his hands grasped my shoulders and shoved me forward. I hit the ground a few feet away from him. My head smacked against the hardwood floor. I moaned, rolled over, and made an attempt to crawl towards the kitchen.

  I felt his hands wrap around my ankles. I screamed as he dragged me back to him. I kicked my legs, hoping to loosen his hold, but his laughter proved he was enjoying my response. I threw my arm out to grab the corner of the wall, but he caught it first. I craned my neck and looked back through my hair to see him bending over me. His lips were at my arm. I screamed and tried to jerk it away from him, but he held it steady. My eyes closed, my teeth bared together, in preparation for the pain that was to come.

  The front door busted open.

  "Ella!"

  The cold lips tore away from my arm, followed by a loud thump against the wall behind me. I groaned feeling my head throb when I flipped over on my back. Ben's hand wrapped around my arm and he hoisted me up to a standing position as though I weighed nothing at all. My eyes, still wide, moved to the stranger who was pushing himself off the ground by my kitchen table.

  "Ella run," Ben said his voice dangerously low. He crouched down, his shoulders hunched, his eyes locked on the man who stood before us wearing a conniving smile on his face.

  "I wouldn't do that," he advised me.

  "Ella," Ben warned.

  I shook my head. "I'm not leaving."

  The stranger crouched in a position similar to Ben's. "It's been a long time, boy. I haven't seen you since before you became famous."

  "Jealous?" I could hear the smirk in Ben's voice.

  He shook his head, "I'm only here for her."

  "Tough shit," Ben snarled.

  "Let's face it, Benjamin. One pint of her blood could last you an eternity. Let's not be greedy."

  I could see the anger boil in Ben's expression. He moved in front of me to diver the stranger's attention away from me. The man eyed Ben's actions with curiosity. He tilted his head to the side in what appeared to be realization. He laughed out loud, but it was the sort of laugh where humor was absent.

  "Oh," he said, "You are the last person I would have laid money on that would fall for a human." He laughed. "I always liked your lack of respect for the human race. What's happened to you?"

  Ben shook his head. "Ella's mine. You need to leave."

  "Please Benjamin. I'll let you have a bite." He motioned to the bandage on my collarbone. "Although, it looks like you already have." His eyes sparkled with malice. "Did you enjoy it, Ella? Did it turn you on?"

  Ben disappeared beside me. In the next moment the stranger was on the ground, rolling over on his side in pain. It only took him a second to recover. The man was on his feet again. His hands met Ben's chest and shoved him to the ground. He was above him, crouching down, when his fist met Ben's jaw and knocked his head to one side.

  Ben let out a stiff grunt. The man above him snapped up. His starving eyes were on me. I stepped back and he was gone. My feet were no longer on the ground when I felt the man's arm wrap around my waist, holding me up. Something cold and sharp pressed against my skin. I winced feeling the thin blade slice gently through a sheet of my skin. I let out a cry, feeling the sting electrify my nerves around the punctured wound.

  Ben was on his feet. His eyes were fuming with anger. "Let her go." He began to lunge forward, but the blade sliced a deeper into my skin. I cried out, the tears forming in my eyes. I bit down on my tongue, but the sharp, stinging sensation shot from my toes to the roof of my mouth.

  "What if I let her blood spill?" The stranger barked. "Will you be able to control yourself or will you make a meal out of this girl."

  "How 'bout, no." I heard Cam's distinctive voice say behind us.

  The knife instantly hit the ground and I was released from the man's grasp. Cam caught me and gently held me while Ben took the knife the stranger used against me and brought it down against his face, shoving him against the ground. Blood poured from the gash that sliced his nose in half. It sprayed against Ben's white shirt and onto the hardwood floor. He brought the knife across the man's throat, provoking the nails dragging down a chalkboard shriek until his neck lay ajar from his head.

  I could see white exposed through the wound in his neck that was frayed open. Blood clumped together with the loose flesh around the neck bone giving me a new perception of what the inside of a person's neck looked like. The blood ran in different colors ranging from crimson to burgundy depending on what it was blanketed over, flesh or bone.

  My eyes were glued to the gore on my kitchen floor. I didn't so much as flinch when Ben drove the knife into his face and then proceeded to separate his head from his neck until he hit the bone. I should have been sick to my stomach, but I felt absolutely fine, unaffected by the atrocity lying on the floor.

  Jesse was beside Ben. He waited until Ben finished and stood up. His gaze flickered between Jesse and the unrecognizable body on the ground. It was in their silence that I noticed Max and PJ were in my kitchen as well.

  "Nice," Jesse nodded.

  Cam's arms released me. He moved next to PJ so that he could view the body as well. He put his hands to his hips while he observed the corpse.

  "I'd give it a seven for style."

  Ben's rigid posture straightened. He blinked to snap himself out of the blind rage that was clouding his perception. His eyes immediately flashed to mine. Worry filled them and he was at my side instantly. His hands touched my stomach gently. His eyes flashed to mine. I gasped when I realized the blue ice was replaced with charcoal.

  "I'm sorry," he whispered, his expression torn. My heart wrenched as I touched his face with my fingertips lightly.

  "You didn't cut me, Ben."

  He pulled me up into his arms so that I was cradled against his chest. "I'm taking Ella upstairs to clean her up. Can you take care of this?" He motioned to the body.

&n
bsp; "Can we take him home?" Cam asked pointing to the body like a five year old. I was almost convinced he was in fact a little boy trapped inside an older looking man with skinny jeans, tattoos, and a nose ring.

  Jesse shrugged, "His head would look great in a gift basket."

  I noticed Max, who I had yet to talk to since our encounter, roll his eyes. "We're burning his body like the others. Don't get any ideas." He bent down, gripped the ankles of the dead monster, and dragged him across the floor to the back door. He looked up and his eyes met mine for the first time. "We'll have your kitchen clean before you come back, Ella." He nodded his head once to me and I instantly knew it was his silent apology.

  I gave a little nod in return before Ben carried me up the back stairs. I pointed to my mother's room before we passed it. "My mom has a first aid kit in one of the cabinets in her bathroom. She's a nurse so she should have everything I need." Ben nodded and continued into my bedroom. He sat me down on the bed, laid a soft kiss on my forehead, and disappeared only to return moments later with a white box in his hands.

  I took it from him, opened it, and pulled out some gauze, a wrap, and rubbing alcohol. I lifted up my shirt carefully pulling the fabric away from my bleeding wound. I winced from the profound stinging it caused, but continued until I could see the gash. The knife didn't cut deep enough to need stitches, but enough that it would hurt like a bitch for a couple weeks.

  Ben sat close to me on my bed. His tall form towered over me like a blanket of protection. His eyes were on my hands that were fumbling with the gauze while trying to hold up my shirt. "Let me," he murmured, taking the products from my hands. His cold fingers brushed near the wounded skin, numbing the pain there.

  He began to carefully pull the hem of my shirt over the wound. His eyes met mine once before he pulled it over my head. I sat there silent, secretly thanking the decision I made that morning to wear a lacy, black bra.

  His eyes fell to my cleavage without shame before they moved to the wound. His fingers trailed over the edges where the blood was beginning to dry. "You won't need stiches," he muttered.

  "Yes, more battle scars!" I tried to laugh, but the movement of my chest reflected to my side, and I winced momentarily.