Page 33 of Finding Fate
“Are you kidding? Riggan is letting me wear a pair of my heels for this. I’m taking advantage. Plus, I like social events, and you only turn twenty-one once. I’ve never been one to get drunk a lot, even before I got pregnant. Being out without getting drunk doesn’t faze me at all.”
My mouth opens. “He told you it was my birthday?”
Her brows turn down. “Was he not supposed to? Why would you want to keep your birthday a secret?”
I blink at her like an idiot. “I just haven’t celebrated it since the last one I spent with Maddox. My age ruined us. It’s what got my son taken away. Then every year after that I aged was miserable without him. Your birthday isn’t special if you can’t spend it with the people you love, as in plural. Age hasn’t been a good part of my life in a long time. It’s easy to hide my birthday since people are focused on Halloween. I wasn’t expecting him to remember until it was over.”
She grabs her purse and her key and opens the door. “That’s terrible, Gabby. I have a bottle of champagne chilled for you. We’re going to make this one the best you’ve ever had. Leave the shopping bags. We’ll get them tomorrow.”
We both get out of the car and shut the doors. I start to walk ahead of her but stop suddenly at the sound of a haunting melody that’s wrapping around the property like an invisible cloak or fog, much like horror films, and I take in the front lawn. God, I must have been glued to my phone when she pulled up to miss this. What the hell? Why would anyone wait until the day of Halloween to decorate?
Evil jack-o-lanterns line the walkway, each giving off a flickering glow against the night, making them look angry. Ghosts hang from the palms, moving with the fall breeze. Headstones are positioned in the grass like a cemetery. I glance at each one, reading the names. Each of us living in the house has one. That’s a little creepy. Mine looks freshly dug, loose dirt around it, and has a shovel stabbed in the grass next to it with a bloody handle. An image of a grim reaper appears behind the headstone, staring at me, and within seconds, it’s gone. I blink over and over, trying to figure out what made that appear and go away like that, my breathing escalating.
A cackle screams through the night, making me jump, and suddenly a witch on a broom comes sailing through the air in front of me, making a full circle, before returning to the direction she came. “Shit.” I look up, wondering how in the hell she was flying, and notice a track. At least I’m not crazy. “Sayler, how did they do all this in like eight hours?” I ask as I turn around, but she’s nowhere to be found. “Sayler?” Where did she go?
An evil laugh sounds over a loudspeaker, and then an altered voice comes through, disguising who it is. “Welcome home. Enter at your own risk.”
I should have known Maddox wasn’t going to let my damn birthday go. Goofball. I walk forward, along the pathway to the entrance, my heart racing. A caldron bubbles with a green substance at the end, but something is visible beneath the surface, causing me to lean closer. It’s a human head in distress, taking on a melting effect. Fingers push through the liquid. I jerk back, just before a black cat rubs along my ankle as it meows, making me scream. Where the fuck did they get a live cat? I kick my heel out just enough to hint for it to go away, not hurting it. I hate cats. They’re evil little creatures. “Shoo. Go away.”
Fog billows out of the entryway, making it impossible to see where you’re stepping, which isn’t smart in heels and a short dress. Cobwebs spread along the corners above the door. I step carefully, and just as I walk toward the heavy wooden door, it creaks open, more of that daunting music daring me to enter. “Hello,” I call out as I push it open. “Sayler . . . Presley . . . Are y’all in here?”
No one answers. I move farther inside. The area is dim, only lamps and candles lit, and the Halloween decor is speckled all over the main living space. More fog is covering the floor space, no doubt coming from a fog machine somewhere. The door slams behind me, scaring me, and the deadbolt slides into place. My muscles jump from the unexpected noise, and I spin around, my eyes setting on a tall guy in a hoodie with the hood up, a little bit of dark hair peeking out, with scary red and black makeup covering his face like a demon. “Ready to die?” he says, taunting me, but it’s not a voice I recognize.
I back up. “Who are you?”
“The better question is, who are you?”
A high-pitched scream sounds upstairs. “No!” Her voice comes out in a cry. “Please, don’t hurt me. Help!”
Sayler? What the hell is going on? My pulse accelerates, just before someone grabs me from behind—the guy in the hoodie. “Okay, is this a joke?”
The flat side of a metal blade presses against my lips, shushing me. “It could be a joke,” he says in my ear, the hint of laughter laced in his words. “Or it could be the perfect murder. A houseful of rich college kids found slaughtered on Halloween, when everyone is behind a mask. I’ve always wanted to make my own horror film.”
“Stop. Please,” she begs again, and then a slashing sound filters down the stairs, making my stomach roll. This has to be some sick joke.
“Do you smell that?” he grits in my ear as his hand rubs along my side. I shake my head. “Blood.” He runs his nose along my neck. “I bet yours smells just as good.”
I try to step forward, but he jerks me back against his muscular frame. “Maybe I’ll have fun with you first. Nick an artery so that you’ll bleed out with every heartbeat. Fuck you while I get high off your blood. Let you weaken a little at a time until I feel your last breath leave your body just before I come.”
What the fuck? My head is spinning. Footsteps hit the staircase. A female comes running down in jeans and a white, fitted tee shirt, blood all over her, and makeup on her face that looks like her flesh is rotting. “Gabby, run!” Presley screams, and then a guy in a black cloak andScreammask comes running after her, a knife in hand covered in red and dripping something from the tip.
I start fighting against the guy behind me, fear coursing through my veins. “This one’s a fighter,” the guy behind me says, gripping me tighter.
The guy in the mask catches up and jerks Presley back by the hair, before he swings the knife forward against her back, making her body do something weird, and then she crumples to the floor front first, the handle of the knife the only thing still showing. Red stuff starts pooling on the floor underneath her, expanding, and I scream at the top of my lungs over her still form.
My eyes gloss over and I shove forward, somehow getting loose, and take off running, despite the fact that I’m wearing heels. If I break an ankle, I don’t need it to live. The entire house becomes a blur as I run through it as fast as I can, making it to the sliding glass doors that go to the pool and outdoor space. I jerk on the door, fiddling with it, until finally, the damn thing gives and the door opens. I don’t waste a second before running out, and as I glance behind me, I crash into a large form, already swinging my fists in front of me. “Surprise!” many voices shout.
What?My heart is pounding so hard I can’t even focus on the people scattered around. My mind can’t grasp the Halloween decorations or the presents or the balloons because of the fear and adrenaline running through my veins. “Happy birthday, Gab,” Maddox says, calming me down instantly.
I finally look up at him, his face matching mine with a smile on his face, trying to even out my breathing. My chest is heaving. “I’m going to kill you for doing that to me.”
“Were you scared?” he asks, cocky smirk and all.
“Hell yes! My life flashed before my eyes.” I smack his arm. “Asshole.”
He turns me around, forcing me to look at a table with snacks and a three-tiered birthday cake, decorated with ghosts and goblins and headstones and pumpkins to go with the Halloween theme. On top sits a casket made of chocolate, the top open, and an impressive diamond ring is peeking out. “The way you feel right now—blood pumping, heart racing, unable to breathe and scared shitless—is the exact way I felt when I woke up that morning to you gone. When I couldn’t get you on the phone all I wanted to do was run. Fear was all I felt. I’m done living in fear that I’ll lose you.”
He reaches forward and pulls out the ring, and then he hits his knee. “Holy shit,” I whisper as I look down at him in front of me, already taking my left hand in one of his, still trying to calm down from my heightened emotional state. “Are you for real?”