Antigoddess

Andie went back to studying the tattoos.

“Twin symmetry aside, it’s sort of cool looking. Not something I’d get, though. I don’t think I could get a tattoo. It’d be there forever unless I sprang for the laser treatments. And I hear those hurt like a bitch.”

Cassandra nodded and watched a bunch of werewolves ogle Andie’s chest from across the room. There was no shortage of skin for their eyes to feast on, but Andie’s skin was a surprise. Even Sam had stopped by more than once to put an arm around her and tell her something or other.

“Hey,” Cassandra said. “Boys are staring.”

Andie scowled. “Hey! I’m a murder victim.” She pointed to her exposed guts. The wolf howled and his friends laughed. “Perverts. What kind of sicko gets turned on by a dead girl? I’m going to find your brother.”

Andie walked away, bobbing and dodging through groups of people and dancing bodies. The way some of them were gyrating, you’d think they were trying to turn the party into a bacchanal. Cassandra’s mind slid back to Aidan and the kiss they’d had in the kitchen. She turned and whispered in his ear.

“I think it’s time we checked out the haunted house.”

He smiled, and the heat from his body jumped. “Follow me upstairs in a few minutes.” When he got up, his fingers trailed along her leg.

Take a breath. This is bordering on unhealthy.

With Aidan gone, she looked around and tried to be inconspicuous. In the corner of her eye, someone sat in a porcelain mask, dark eyes watching her through the cutouts. But when she turned, there was no one there. Cassandra blinked.

Probably just my imagination.

Everyone seemed to be caught up in their own conversations, and no one had asked her to do the coin trick yet, which was nice. She wasn’t in the mood.

How long had it been since Aidan had left? Long enough to go after him? There weren’t any clocks on the walls and she hadn’t checked her phone for the time. She stood and walked toward the hallway. More than likely she’d stumble into the wrong dark room and get yelled at by some couple. Or she’d open a door and have a skeleton jump up and rattle in her face.

The music changed to some song that sounded like a remix of My Morning Jacket. The closer she got to the music, the more people shouted to be heard, and through the crowd she saw Henry’s face rise up over the other faces like the dorsal fin of a shark. She veered away toward the stairs, so he wouldn’t see her sneaking off to meet Aidan. But then he also didn’t see someone grab her from behind and pull her through an open door. Her yelp of surprise was drowned out by laughter and music, which itself was muted when the door closed in front of her.

“Shh,” a male voice said into her ear. “And don’t struggle or you’ll fall down the stairs.”

She looked down. Her feet balanced precariously on a stone staircase leading to the basement. The light where they were was dim and yellow, thrown from a single blurry bulb. It smelled like stone and was kept cool enough to make her arms prickle. After the heat upstairs, it felt almost good.

“What are you doing?” she asked. It was the first thing she thought to say. After the initial surprise of being grabbed, her heart began to thump its way back to normal. She was at Sam’s house, at a party. Someone had grabbed her to play a prank or something. It was probably someone she knew.

Except it isn’t. The strength in these fingers is like the strength in Aidan’s fingers.

But it wasn’t Aidan. If it was, she wouldn’t still be tense, ready to grasp the railing should whoever it was decide to throw her down the steps like she was a pile of rags.

“I’m not doing anything. Just making introductions.” His grip loosened, and she twisted to look behind her. She found herself staring into a white harlequin mask, the cheek painted with gold glitter tears. Green and purple feathers adorned the head. It was something you’d see at Mardi Gras, or Carnival in Rio.

“You were watching me,” she said. The eyes behind the mask regarded her without blinking. She didn’t recognize them. When they swept up and down her body, the movement was unnaturally quick, curious. “What? What are you looking at?”

“I’m not sure. To be honest, you aren’t quite what I expected. I thought you’d be taller. Or that you’d be sparkling.” He smiled, revealing beautiful white teeth. The movement highlighted the gauntness of his face. His clothes were slightly loose and the mask was the only costume piece he wore. The rest of him was clad in jeans and a navy-blue t-shirt.

“Who are you?”