Gargoyle: A Reawakening (Briarcliff Series, #2) (11 page)

They kissed…caressed…
bit…squeezed… moaned…and were really into what they were doing. She
looked away, but glanced back off and on—it was kind- of hot to
watch, in a weird way. One of the girls opened her eyes and looked
right at her. She guessed she should have been embarrassed or even
apologetic, but heck, they were the ones getting all-busy in the
bathroom line. What else was she supposed to do? Stare at the
ground? So instead, she shrugged her shoulders at the girl and
smiled. The girl winked at her in return. She smiled back, in a
nice way. Like thanks for the compliment but I’m not interested
sort of way, even though she did feel flattered. The chick was hot,
so obviously she thought Evie was pretty hot too. It helped to
bolster her flattened ego.

The wind picked up
strength, gusting around the corner of the mansion. A loud,
grossed- out sounding –groan, was expelled by nearly every female
in the line as the unmistakable stench of someone’s
“
number two
”
sucked all the freshness out of the air.
No wonder the line wasn’t moving.
Quickly she lifted her shirt back over her face to cover the
smell but it wasn’t working. One of the girls behind her was
complaining loudly about the lack of usable toilets and she had to
agree. Who has a big ass party and only has one Jiffy-John? And it
wasn’t like Kingston didn’t have enough money to buy a truckload
…oh well, who knew, maybe only one John was available.
Right
.

Bouncing up and down she crossed her legs
like most of the other girls in line. It wasn’t helping. Actually
it kind-of made it worse. A few more girls dropped from the line
and ran off into the woods and she was trying to decide if that was
the avenue she wanted to take. As if on cue, some random guy with a
shaved tatted-head stumbled out from behind a tree, yanking up his
leather pants and then jerking up his zipper. His dark eyes caught
hers. “See something you like?” he laughed out, stepping closer to
her.

Evie looked up at him.
“Ah—No.” He lifted his brow in response to her snappy retort, shook
his head, and laughed stupidly in her face. She stepped back
reflexively, which made him laugh even harder before he brushed
past her and headed back into the fold of the crowd.

Creep
. That was it. She was done waiting. At this rate, she would
end up missing the entire party. She stepped out of the line and
walked around to the front of the mansion to check to see if a
usable bathroom was inside. Dodging some people sitting on the
stairs she made her way to the doorway. More people were gathered
in clusters hanging around the edges. The ugly statues she had seen
earlier with Moriah, now each had a red cup perched jauntily on top
of their heads, making them appear as though they were wearing
little red makeshift hats. They looked silly now, but she still
gave them a wide berth as she bolted inside the door.

The stale odor of the room
hit her once again when she stepped inside the foyer. She still
didn’t like it, but soon another sharper, pungent scent filled the
air intermixing with the musty odor. She looked around for the
source. Two guys dressed completely in black were sitting on the
stairs, passing a joint off to each other. The thick smoke swirled
around their heads, making the room hazy. She walked further
inside, looking for a door that might be a bathroom. Heck at this
rate she would pee in a bucket if one was around. The farther she
walked into the room, the more uneasy she became. Her eyes
automatically went to the side of the stairs, where the statue had
been the previous day. The spot was still empty. She didn’t know
what she had been expecting. An eerie feeling spread through her as
she looked at the stairs, the carpet was torn, exposing the stone
underneath. Her body shivered, remembering how her fingers held
onto that same carpet, for dear-life, just a day ago. She shivered
again, remembering the guy who had sat next to her on those same
stairs. Funny. When he was beside her, she didn’t give the
thing
that attacked her
a second thought. It was only now that he was gone that she
remembered the terror she had felt.

The wrought iron chandelier jangled in the
wind pulling her gaze higher, up to the painted dome in the center
of the ceiling. Large winged creatures floated amongst the billowy
clouds. Earlier, she had thought they were cherubs, but now they
looked different. They looked larger, darker…creepier. Actually,
she couldn’t be sure what they were, since the ugly yellow glow
from the blubs were hard to see past. It didn’t matter though; it
still made her feel—uncomfortable. She lowered her head and rubbed
the back of her neck. The two guys that were on the stairs were now
staring at her. She smiled awkwardly and pulled her hoodie around
her midsection more.

“
You want some.” The
thinner of the two asked, his voice coming out stilted as he pulled
air further back into his lungs, holding the joint out to
her.

She shook her head back and forth. “Nah—I’m
good. Thanks anyway.”

Smoke filled the air as he finally expelled
it. “Suit yourself.” He shrugged and handed the joint back off to
his buddy.

Evie smiled nervously at
them both, at least they were normal…well, kind-of. She turned to
walk back to the open door. The cool breeze blew against her,
ruffling her hair. She still needed to use the bathroom, but wasn’t
sure she wanted to go back inside and look for one. Maybe she
should just go behind a bush it seemed safer somehow. She eyed the
area, trying to see where would be the best place to go and then
glanced down to her right. There was a big bush blocked by the
stairs on one side and a small tree on the other.
Perfect
.

A short time later, she crawled out from
behind the bushes, doing a quick check while adjusting her skirt
and fixing her shirt, making sure, nothing was hanging out.
Satisfied she climbed back up the stairs. Now, as she leaned
against the column on the front stairs her mind strayed back to the
guy from the night before. She still wondered where he could have
gone. And what about her attack? What the hell was that? Could she
have really imagined that part? There were so many unanswered
questions swirling in her mind, it was starting to give her a
headache, and it was definitely ruining her fun. She had to
stop.

Reaching up, she tugged nervously on her
little Wolfie choker, making him snap back and forth on the cord
tied around her neck. Her raven pendant had gone MIA, which sucked,
but was another testament that her fight with the unknown creature
may have been realer than she thought.

The sound of
Sarah Fimm
’
s
voice coasted over her, the
evocative lyrics of
Afraid
resonating to her core, filling
her with a growing sense of unease and dread. Turning she looked
behind her, she felt like she was being watched. The two guys’ from
earlier, that were on the stairs were now gone. And still she
couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that she was being watched.
Peering further inside the foyer, she leaned around the door. Sure
enough, someone was there… correction two someone’s.

A petite girl with short spiky platinum hair
was busy rubbing her hands over the back of some beefy guy as she
grinded against his leg. It looked like they were about to throw
down and have a full-blown romp- session.

“
Wow,” she mouthed, and
walked quickly back out the door. An image of the guy she had met
last night slammed into her mind. The way he looked at her at this
very spot. Sarah Fimm’s voice sounded warbled as she said her
goodbyes to the crowd. Reaching out she grabbed hold of the column
to her right to stop from falling over. Her vision skewed, a blur
of shadowy shapes climbed onto the stage. Shaking her head, she
tried to focus. Someone bumped into her.

“
Sorry,” they mumbled out,
bumping into her once more, harder. She fumbled to keep hold on the
column, the feeling of helplessness closing in on her. Her hand
slipped a few times but finally she planted it against the chipped
surface. Forcing her brain to stay in the now, and her eyes to
focus, finally her vision cleared. Another band was about to play.
The lead singer had jet-black hair that stuck out in awkward angles
from his head. He was dressed all in black and his pallid
complexion was in stark contrast to the darkening sky. He looked
like a vampire.

A spotlight flicked on the
stage, cloaking the band in an ethereal glow. The drums kicked in,
the heavy beat shaking everything in the general vicinity. The lead
guitar followed with the low, constant thrum of the bass, pulling
every instrument together in a menagerie of haunting poignancy. The
singer grabbed the microphone belting out the lyrics to
Tr
y
ing
to
C
onn
ec
t
wi
t
h
y
ou
; the ever-growing crowd went
wild. She knew what band it was now, their name suited them—
The
Va
m
pire Bats.
They were another good fit for CRAVE. She concentrated solely
on the music, forcing herself to have a good time no matter
what.

REMEBRANCE

SATURDAY * 8:47 PM

Heavy branches swayed in the wind breaking
into the stream of light from the stage, making it flicker. The
heavy thrum of music sent tingling sensations over his body, making
his muscles jump. Adriane watched two girls walking towards him,
their arms hooked together. They looked the same. Red, vibrant hair
tied back into long ponytails. Their complexions, pale. They
giggled with one another, their wobbly gait picking up speed as
they approached.

Adriane smiled at them even though the
simple act felt awkward. He used to smile often, in another time.
Sadness settled over him. He pushed the memories away, keeping them
at bay before they overtook him once more and shoved his hand in
his pocket. The tips of his fingers grazed across the small
circular pendant, the glass stone smooth to the touch.

“
Hey there,” they called in
unison, skidding to an abrupt halt in front of him.

The shrillness of their combined voices made
his ears ring. “Hey,” he replied, looking past them through the
throng of people.

“
We’re twins,” they giggled
out, each separate voice overlapping the other.

“
I gathered that,” he said,
unimpressed, shoving his hands in his pockets once more.

They giggled again, covering their mouths
with their ghostly white hands.

Stepping forward, he saw a
familiar face cutting through the crowd…his heart immediately
picking up pace…
could it be?

The girls tracked his gaze, and gave one
another a knowing look. They too stepped to the side and
deliberately blocked his view.

Adriane frowned down at them and moved
again, stepping further away. They moved forward, giggling, closing
in. At first, he was amused, but now he was beginning to feel like
prey. Apparently, some things had not changed so much over time. He
was starting to think there was more to worry about in this world,
besides Degare’.

“
We can do things
together,” they said suddenly, shrilly in unison.

“
Really, that’s great,” he
said just to placate them. His eyes scanned the crowd. When they
stepped closer, he sidestepped their advance once again and
continued looking. “Where did you go?” he sighed and then felt a
light smack on his arm. He looked down.

One of the girls was
holding her ghostly white hand. It looked like she might
cry.

“
My, what big broad
shoulders you have,” the other one remarked, pushing the one that
was about to cry out of the way, her gaze calculating as she placed
her unusually cold hands on his arm. Not to be outdone, the one
that was about to cry walked over to his other side and quickly
grabbed his free arm.

Suddenly he felt trapped. His blood ran
cold. They reminded him of another time from long ago, making his
mind yank backward… back where it did not want to go. He tried to
lift his hands to the sides of his head...to stop the flow of
memories, but it was too late.

Adriane*the past*

The darkness of night surrounded him,
closing in on all sides. His arms stretched tautly between two
mortared columns, the heavy metal bands clasped firmly around his
wrists. The chains clanked loudly as he pulled against them, trying
to break free—the cold air turning his breath white as it swirled
around his head clouding his vision.