by L A Cotton
“Leave her alone, Trina. I think she looks hot.”
“Green looks good on you, Prince.” Caitlin glanced over her shoulder, smirking. But I let her passive aggressive compliment roll off my shoulders. The Poison Ivy costume was from a couple of years back. It wasn’t a fashion statement. The long red wig and green eye mask disguised me enough to survive the night. Even I barely recognized myself when I’d looked in the mirror before Kara picked me up.
“Holy shit,” someone exclaimed, and all eyes went to the Limer farmhouse. Trina was right, it knocked all other years out of the park. The whole place looked like something straight out of a horror movie. Fake spider webs hung from the wooden cladding. A Jeepers Creepers style monster hung from the balcony, and the windows were all dirtied up to make the place look abandoned.
“I’m so freaking excited.” Trina looped her arm through Kara’s as they moved ahead of me. “Everyone who’s anyone will be here. Maybe Lonnie can—”
“Do you really want to finish that sentence, Trin?”
“What?” She shrugged. “A girl can dream. Besides, I heard the barn is the real deal this year. Apparently, Sam hired a professional theater company to do one of those live-action experiences.”
I groaned, imagining what kind of torture lay ahead. Ghosts, spiders, and a whole load of fake spider web didn’t freak me out, but a dark barn full of actors lying in wait to scare the shit out of me... that was a different thing entirely.
“Ladies,” a deep voice called, and Sam Limer stepped out of the shadows, the Joker style grin on his face menacing under moonlight. “Welcome to the Farm of Fears.”
A couple of girls giggled, but I muttered under my breath, “Farm of Fears?”
“Your task, if you dare to accept it, is to navigate your way through the barn. But beware,”—he thrust a gloved finger into the air and Kara yelped—“for things lurk in the shadows. Depraved and evil things. Things that devour cheerleaders for breakfast.”
A chill ran up my spine and I mentally scolded myself to get a grip. Kara dropped back from Trina and slid her arm through mine, squeezing tightly. “Okay?” she mouthed, her eyes alight with anticipation. Most kids lived for this shit. But things that used to seem all part of the regular teenage experience, no longer held the same appeal for me.
“Do we have to do this?” I kept my voice low to avoid Caitlin overhearing. One thing our captain did not appreciate was insubordination, and me fleeing from the Farm of Fears would be just that.
“Come on, Mace, it’ll be fun. And just think, once it’s done, there’s a party waiting for us on the other side.”
Another party.
Just what I didn’t need.
Offering her a tight smile, I nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”
Sam motioned for us to join the line. The football team were up ahead. Laughing and joking and acting all macho until a blood-curdling scream poured from the barn and everyone fell silent. Sam’s mouth tipped in an amused smirk. He lived for this—getting off on terrorizing high school kids—and more fool us, we were willing participants.
The air around us crackled with a potent mix of fear and excitement. Even I couldn’t deny the way my heart thrummed in my chest as we slipped through the black plastic curtain. A smoky haze lingered, making it difficult to see. Kara’s hand slid down to mine as we followed our small group, the screams and high-pitched laughter of those already inside piercing the air.
“I can’t see a thing.” Caitlin said from up ahead, making a point of leading the squad. Maybe the lurking things would get her first.
A girl could hope.
“AARGH,” someone screamed, and we huddled into a tight formation. “Something touched me,” Monica cried. “I swear the walls are alive.”
My eyes strained against the darkness. Although the barn was a huge building, we seemed to be enclosed in a narrow passageway. But as my eyes adjusted to the light, I realized the walls weren’t walls at all. They were blood stained plastic sheets and there were things moving on the other side of them.
It’s only pretend, I tried to remind myself. None of it is real.
“Stay away from the walls, look.” I lifted a shaky hand and pointed.
“Oh my god, what is that?” There was no disguising the tremor in Caitlin’s voice. “Come on, let’s hurry.”
We moved as one, navigating our way around the maze. Whoever said this was supposed to be fun, needed their head checked. Screams reverberated around the room. There was the cackle of demented laughter. The click-clack of our heels against the ground. The eerie rustle of the plastic sheeting as we rushed past. It was sensation overload and adrenaline pumped through my veins.
“Oh no. No fucking way,” one of the girls said, and I craned my head around Trina’s shoulder. Someone stood up ahead, his face illuminated by a flashlight. He grinned, revealing a set of yellow-stained teeth. He looked like something out of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre in his blood-soaked denim overalls, holding a meat cleaver in one hand.
“Why is he just looking at us like that?” Kara cried, gripping my hand tighter.
“He’s not moving,” someone else shrieked.
“I guess we have to go around him.” All the girls looked at me, fear glittering in their eyes. “No, I didn’t mean...” I choked over the lump in my throat. “No way.”
“Scared, Macey?” Caitlin challenged, her lip curving in a smug smirk.
“Fine.” Pulling my hand free from Kara, I barged past Caitlin, stepping up to the front of our group. The man was as still as a statue, his eyes trained right on me as I took a step forward. His grin widened, and he mimicked my movements until we were almost toe-to-toe. My heart hammered in my chest. This isn’t real. This isn’t real. But it felt hella real. My subconscious reminded me there were rules about these kinds of things. He was an actor. He couldn’t touch me. Right?
Right?
Inhaling a harsh breath, I closed my eyes and darted around him. Something grabbed my arm, and I screamed, yanking sharply to break free, but I ended up stumbling into one of the plastic sheets. A scream pierced the air. “RUN!” and then all hell broke loose. Something sticky coated my hands as I tried to wrestle myself free. But when an arm snaked around my waist and pulled me into the darkness, I couldn’t even scream. Fear gripped me. My heart in my throat as I thrashed against the strong body holding me steady.
“Easy there,” a familiar voice whispered in my ear and the fight left me until I sagged in his arms. But it was quickly replaced with anger, and I spun around to face my captor.
“What the hell are you doing?” I hissed. “I thought you were one of those... those things.”
“I was saving you.”
“Saving me?” I asked incredulously, rubbing my chest in attempt to lower my pulse. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”
“Chill out, Princess. I’ve got you.” His arms slid down to my waist, yanking me closer. My eyes searched the surrounding area, but we seemed to be out of the main maze. “Don’t worry,” he said as if he heard my thoughts. “This section is out of bounds.”
“Out of bounds? What the hell does that mean?”
“It means,”—he lowered his face to mine, his eyes glittering in the darkness—“we’re all alone, and from the way your heart is racing something tells me you need calming down.” His mouth ghosted over mine. So close and yet, not close enough.
“Wait.” I slammed my hands into his chest. “How did you even know it was me?”
His brow quirked up in a ‘really?’ kind of way, but I didn’t dissect that. This was all too confusing, and my heart was still going haywire in my chest. Although I was no longer sure it was from my fright in the maze.
“I’d know you anywhere.” He leaned in again, kissing the corner of my mouth.
“No, don’t. You can’t...” I tried to break away, but it was too late. The second his lips touched mine, I sank into the kiss. My arms looped around his neck, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.
“You look... fuck, Princess,” he breathed against my mouth before dipping his head and trailing his tongue down my neck.
“This is...” I panted as his hand slipped down to the apex of my thighs, “We shouldn’t...”
“We should.” He ground the heel of his palm against my center, but it wasn’t enough. I rolled my body into his hand, needing him to reach my deepest, darkest places. He groaned into my neck. “We most definitely sh—”
“Macey? Where are you?” Kara’s voice cut through the lust-filled haze surrounding us, and I jerked away from him.
“Don’t do this,” he ground out, his dark gaze pleading with me. “We can get out of here. Go to my place. You hate these things.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, breathing in deeply. Damn him. Damn his ability to see me.
“Macey?” Her voice was filled with panic, and I started to turn away, but his hand snagged my wrist.
“Macey, stay.” If I didn’t know better, I would have mistaken the longing in his voice for something other than a guy needing a quick screw.
Because that’s all we were. Bad decisions and reckless touches.
It was all we could ever be.
“I have to go, sorry.”
But neither of us moved, suspended in time as our eyes locked on the other’s trying to say all the things we wanted too and never could. He was the first to break the suffocating silence. “Yeah,” he smiled tightly. “Me too.”
I ducked out of the plastic sheeting and gave myself a second to catch my breath. He wasn’t supposed to be here. I wasn’t supposed to kiss him. Not after I told him it was over.
But I had, and now all I could feel was the taste of his lips on mine.
Shit.
This was bad.
Really bad.
“There you are.” Kara appeared around the corner looking flustered. “What happened to you?” Her brows bunched together as she took in my disheveled appearance.
I brought my fingers to my mouth and inhaled. “The blood, it’s syrup.”
“Ew, gross. Come on, we found the way out. The others are waiting.” She motioned behind her, a sliver of moonlight leading the way to freedom.
“Thanks,” I said falling in step beside her. “For coming back for me.”
“As if I’d just leave you behind. Who knows what’s lurking in this place.” She shuddered, and the corner of my mouth lifted in a knowing smirk. If only you knew.
We found the others outside, drinking their celebratory shots. But when Caitlin spotted me, she snickered. “Macey Prince, is that you under all that... what is that?”
“Syrup,” Kara answered. “And I think it looks pretty authentic.”
I offered my friend an appreciative smile. Not that I cared what Caitlin thought. My mind was too preoccupied with other things. Things it had no right to be preoccupied with.
“Ladies, you survived.” Sam appeared with another tray of shots in his hand. But then his eyes found me, and he added, “Barely.”
Trying to tame my tacky wig, I flipped him off, grabbed two shots and knocked them back. “I don’t know about anyone else,” I said. “But I’m ready to party.”
Chapter 4
“Macey, come over here, dear, and let me get a good look at you.” Beatrice, Kyle’s grandmother, caught me by the wrist before I could dodge her. “You look tired. Are you sleeping okay?” Her crinkled eyes studied me, and I wanted nothing more than the ground to open up and swallow me whole.
Someone coughed behind us and I didn’t need to turn around to know her golden boy was probably muttering some sarcastic remark under his breath. My suspicions were confirmed when Rick growled under his breath, “Stone.”
“What?” Kyle spluttered. “Something got stuck.”
I glanced back and raised a brow at him. His amused smirk dropped, and he ducked his head, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Oh good, the birthday girl has arrived.” Laurie clapped her hands together, glancing between the two of us, then made her way over to where Lo and her dad were entering the restaurant.
I lingered in the back waiting, while everyone greeted them, hugging Lo and wishing her a happy birthday. Her eyes found mine through the crowd, but my gaze darted away before she could try to pull me into the conversation.
“Macey, could you at least try to—”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“Sweetheart—”
“What do you want from me, Mom?” Her eyes searched mine, and I didn’t like the way she could see inside me. See the broken girl underneath the hard shell.
“I...” her voice trailed off as Gentry approached us. He slipped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.
“What are the two of you doing back here?” He smiled warmly.
“Nothing.” Mom pressed a kiss to his jaw. “Let’s get seated.”
I followed reluctantly, managing to score a seat at the end of our table next to Summer. Her boyfriend Nick was on her other side, with Laurie and Kyle opposite, Lo and Maverick in the middle, and the adults at the other end of the table. Everyone had someone. In fact, the only other person not with someone was Beth, Uncle Rob’s girlfriend’s seven-year-old daughter. She was a sweet kid and had all the adults wrapped around her little finger. Uncle Rob especially. So while she might have been the only kid at the grown-ups table, she wasn’t really alone.
Mindless conversation followed. The adults all wanted to know how Maverick was finding college. How was the team? Their shots at the championship? Then their attention turned to Kyle and his plans for college next year. I sat quietly, avoiding being pulled into the discussion. I thought I’d escaped until Beatrice craned her head down the table and said, “Macey, it’d be nice to see you with a date at one of these family dinners in the near future.”
Silence fell over our corner of the restaurant, and all I could think was... Fuck. My. Life.
TWO HOURS LATER, THINGS were even worse. Mom was drunk. Gentry, Uncle Rob, and their father, August, were reminiscing about their younger days; and Rick and Lo, and Kyle and Laurie couldn’t keep their hands off each other. To an outsider we looked like the epitome of a happy family. Bright smiles and roaring laughter. But what they couldn’t see were the cracks. Fracture lines so deep I wasn’t sure things could ever go back to how they used to be. When it was me and Rick against the world. When my father was just a ruthless businessman and not a manipulative asshole with a bad temper and loose fists.
The clink of metal against glass drew my attention, and I rolled my eyes, groaning under my breath as Gentry stood up to make a toast. “I’d just like to take this opportunity to wish Lo a happy birthday.” He raised his glass and everyone else did the same. “When we found about you and Maverick... well, let’s just say, we were surprised to say the least. But I’m old and ugly enough to admit when I’m wrong and I was wrong about the two of you. I think I can speak for all the adults here when I say we’re glad you found each other. And we couldn’t be happier that you’re joining Maverick at SU next year.”
My eyes snapped over to Rick who mouthed, “We’ll talk later.”
I dropped my gaze, picking at the napkin on my plate. It shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise that Lo was following Maverick to college, they were joined at the hip. But denial was my friend and hearing the truth was just another nail in our relationship.
After that, I zoned out. If I thought I could have gotten away with it, I would have helped myself to the wine on the table and got drunk like Mom. But unless I wanted to cause a family intervention, I figured it was best to stick with soda. When dessert arrived, I excused myself and made a beeline for the restroom.
“Macey, wait up.”
“Go away, Rick,” I snapped, keeping my eyes on the door. My fingers barely grasped the handle when my brother’s hand snagged my elbow.
“Come on, talk to me. Don’t I at least deserve that? You didn’t even come to my first game last weekend.”
I spun around and
glared at him. “Okay, let’s talk.” I ignored his words, ignored the stab of regret. He was right. I had missed his first game. But I had my reasons.
My arms went over my chest as I said, “Let’s talk about how you forgave Mom like she didn’t screw you over. Or how you left and barely looked back.”
He scrubbed a hand down his face, his expression hardening. “That isn’t fair, and you know it.”
“What I know, Rick, is that this, us, it can never go back to how it was. You made your choice, so leave me the hell alone.” I shirked out of his hold and stormed into the restroom.
Guilt pinched my heart, but I shoved it down. The rational part of me knew Maverick wasn’t to blame for things. It wasn’t his fault he found Lo and she saved him from the darkness that had consumed him for years. But the other part of me, the part jaded by life, by fake families and even faker friends, resented that. The two of us had spent so many years protecting one another from the vultures. The guys out to try to prove something. The girls out to try to bag themselves a Prince. We never asked for any of it, but thanks to our father, being Macey and Maverick Prince meant something in a town like Wicked Bay. Even if we didn’t live with him, we were still his kids; his legacy. And people took notice of that. Most tried to use us to their own ends. It’s why we’d always kept our circle tight. Why we didn’t get close to outsiders.
And it was exhausting.
My whole life I’d been wary of those around me, of their ulterior motives. But I’d always had Rick by my side. He was the constant. The one person in the whole world I could count on. Even when I lost another friend, or learned a person’s true colors, I had Rick. And I didn’t resent him because he was the one person who hated this life even more than I did.