Page 29 of Things Get Dark
At least Lena could join me next time. No way would I risk bringing a virtual stranger with me again. I’d kidnap her from that stupid manager of hers if he tried to make her work on her day off two years in a row.
“You haven’t been on the haunted manor tour?” he asked, mischief sparkling in his dark eyes. “Wait right here. Seriously, don’t go anywhere.”
For the second time that night, Nox left me sitting alone, but this time I was hopeful. Whatever he was plotting had my adrenaline pumping, and my knees bounced as I sat there, waiting. Minutes ticked by, and just as I started worrying he wasn’t coming back, Nox reappeared from behind the bench.
He leaned over the back, resting his chin on my cloaked shoulder, and held a set of keys in front of me, jingling them from one outstretched finger. “Tell me, Witch Hazel, how do you feel about meeting some of my friends for a little adventure?”
My options were simple: go home and watch a movie until Lena got home and we could rant about our nights, or take a chance on mystery door number two. Trust a group of strangers and see what lay beyond the rabbit hole.
If there was ever a night to do it…
Chapter Three
The door closed witha thud that echoed through the pitch-black room. A jingle of keys and a click followed as Nox locked the door behind us, and I pulled my cloak tighter around my shoulders. Somehow, I felt chillier standing inside the manor than sitting outdoors. As my eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness, Nox clicked a switch, and lanterns lit the large foyer in a dim glow. Not exactly historically accurate, but useful, nonetheless.
“I need to keep them darker than usual, so we’re not spotted from outside,” Nox muttered, dimming the lights with a remote until I could only make out vague shapes around me.
What a shame. It would’ve been cool to look around at the manor—it sure would’ve made Andy jealous—but I supposed that’s what the daylight tours were for.
“At least I might not bump into a table now.”
He pocketed the remote along with the keys. “True. You just need to worry about things bumping intoyou.”
I could practically hear his mischievous grin. It was easy to see why he’d been painted like a harlequin. He was smart, but inthe short time I’d known him, Nox seemed to truly come alive when causing chaos. He’d moved around outside with a nimble, yet elegant freedom, swerving his body between people with a single-minded focus on where he wanted to be. Ready to deliver a dose of playful terror to anyone in range. I wasn’t sure if I admired him exactly, but I was certainly fascinated by him.
Glancing back at the door, I asked, “Are you sure this is okay? I’m not going to get you in trouble with your boss or anything?”
He chuckled, a low sound that made my knees weak. “Believe me, the only one in trouble here is you.”
My heart pounded at his words. Here I was, in a supposedly haunted manor with a strange man I’d just met, ready to have his friends jump out and scare me. My sister knew where I was, but thought I was still on a date and wouldn’t be calling any time soon, and no one would be coming back to the manor until morning. I had enough red flags for a parade.
As if he sensed my trepidation, Nox sidled up to me and tilted my chin up to meet his gaze. “Listen closely. If you want out at any time, just tell me, and I’ll get you out. No questions asked.”
I searched his face for any hint as to if he was lying. It was difficult to see past the paint. “You swear?”
“On my soul, if I had one.” He winked as he ran his thumb over my lower lip. “Tell me, have you ever had a safe word before?”
I nodded, and his wicked grin widened.
“Perfect. Let’s use ‘pumpkin’. If you say that, everything stops immediately, and I’ll get you out safe and sound. Got it?”
“Do your friends know, too?”
Nox pulled away, grabbing his phone and quickly tip-tapping on the screen. It lit up his painted face, and I couldn’t help but stare at his eyes. They were so dark, like pools of pure shadow. I couldn’t see any difference between the iris and the pupil, both were completely black. Maybe he wore contacts, but somehow, his eyes felt like the only real part of his face.
“Okay, they know what to do.” He tucked the phone away and turned his attention back to me. “Now say it, so I know you understand. My friends and I want to hear your words as much as we want your screams.”
I almost wanted to ask what kinds of screams he was after. The way he stared at me, asking for a safe word of all things, made my mind wander to steamier places than this icy manor currently offered. I’d come out tonight to be fucking scared, but I was willing to settle for scared and fucked.
“Pumpkin.”
“Good girl. Shall we?”
He offered his arm, a surprisingly gentlemanly move, and I took it. The heat of his skin through his shirt immediately warmed my hand and energised me. I’d always wanted to attend a Halloween tour here, and now I get a private one? Fuck, yes. Let’s get spooky.
Nox led me through the foyer and up a grand staircase, the wood warped from centuries of footsteps. Ornate frames lined the walls, the gold glinting in the light even though I couldn’t see the paintings they framed. As he took me down the hallway and up a smaller set of stairs curving around a corner, I kept anticipating a jump scare of some kind. We wandered past abandoned scare-rooms from the tour, lined with black and orange fabrics and filled with smoke machines. I think I saw a room decorated as a laboratory with lightning rods, but we weren’t here for those cheap thrills.
Eventually, we reached an attic room that Nox had to use his keys to unlock. Was this usually closed off to the public? The thrill of going somewhere I shouldn’t quickly dissipated as I entered the room. There were no lanterns here. The only light came from a huge circular window at the back of the room that glowed from the festival below. The air was warm and thick with dust, but the walls seemed to shine with something stringy whenthe light hit them. How long had this room been closed off for? I turned to Nox, ready to ask what we were doing here, when I saw him looking up at the high point of the ceiling.