Page 18 of When Night Falls

Smooth, deep, and inviting.

Come.

It echoes in my mind.

But the thing that catches me off guard the most is that its airy whisper invites me tocometo the party and notgoto the party. Almost as if it’s luring me in instead of guiding me one way or the other. And in that moment, I swear I see Stella blink all eight of her beady little black eyes. But that's even more absurd seeing as spiders don't even have eyelids, so I just laugh it off and wish her a goodnight before heading back toward the mask like a siren calling my heart to sea.

I pull it carefully over my eyes, not wanting to ruin my makeup, and tie the ribbon underneath the clip in my hair, pulling it secure and snug.

Maybe I won’t be noticed by whoever invited me.Will I even get to meet them? Will I know them? Will they know me?

And there goes my intrusive thoughts running rampant in my mind thinking that my evil step-mom put this party together and willCarrie Whitemy ass in front of the whole town.

God, how I wish I could do that to one of them.

But I have to shake those negative thoughts. The world isn’t out to get me. Hildigard and herdumb and dumberdaughters don’t know where I live and if they did, I’d be ready for whatever shit they’d try to throw my way.

I decide that at this moment—I trace the scar on my cheek as a reminder that I am stronger than anyone could ever make me out to be—that nothing will ruin this night. I’m going into it with an open mind. I’ll mix and mingle. And it’s going to be fun.

It’ll be the start of a new era for me.

A love letter to myself…

Bitch, you’ve got this.

XO

-Cyn

9

masks & martyrs

Lucynda

I’m standing at the edge of the road, right next to the Hollow Echo Drive street sign. I look down the darkened street, not seeing anything but trees stretching for miles just like I thought. It doesn’t help that it’s pitch black save the moon and the one dimly lit streetlamp set back a few feet behind me.

The wind howls in the night as clouds crowd around the moon; thankfully it’s not raining right now.

I hold the stupid invitation in my hand, desperately falling down the rabbit hole of search engines on my phone, trying to find the location of this stupid place, but unluckiness licks my fate. It’s no use.

Troian told me I’d see it, she was so sure of her directions, yet here I stand at the corner of the street with nothing but trees surrounding me. I look back at my phone and sigh, defeated that this whole thing was a bust. I feel disappointment wash over me,wondering if I should keep walking down further or turn around and go back home.

I get distracted at the sound of a bird cawing behind me, and curl into myself a little. There’s eeriness looming and standing out here by myself only adds to the feeling of danger. But as I wrap my arms around myself, and look around, trying to block the cold air from stinging my skin, my eyes get caught on something.

No.

I turn around all the way, hoping to fix my eyesight and correct this illusion, only to see the newly lit pathway paved all the way back into the forest.

A lump forms in my throat.

I know that was not there.

There’s no way I missed an entire path led by recessed ground lights, perfectly lighting the way just beyond the trees. I would have seen that the moment I walked up to the street sign. The only way this makes sense is if the ground lighting wasn’t turned on when I arrived, meaning there’s a small chance I wouldn’t have seen the stone pathway in the darkness of the night, but I still think I would have noticed it.

I wait a beat, feeling apprehensive about walking down this suddenly present path, not knowing if it will actually lead me to the private party I’ve been invited to or not. I step out onto the walkway and peer down the length of it. I can’t see much beyond the curve into the forest, where it turns off behind the dark shadows of pine trees. And I don’t hear any sounds or see any other lights to indicate a party is in the works.

But with a steady breath and one foot in front of the other, I find myself traveling down the path made up of gravel and stone. I end up walking into the forest and continuing down the trail parted between the trees, hearing only sounds of crickets and leaves blowing in the distance. I haven’t ventured into theforest yet since moving here, not really needing to know what hides in the depths of it. But I feel myself relax even in the midst of darkness, walking down an ominous walkway, feeling rather safe between these trees.