“So … you’re late,” I mumble as Caleb stumbles into the Tartarus House and chucks his white mask aside.
Closing my book, I toss it onto the table next to me and get up, yawning. “How was it?”
“What?” he mutters, confused.
“The party,” I add, just as confused. “The one we just attended?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” he mutters.
My eyes narrow, and I fold my arms. “You don’t know?”
“Yeah. Boring. Fine. What do you want to hear?”
I tilt my head at him. “You know …” I tap my cheek to hide the decrepit smile on my face. “I was there too, in case you forgot. You guys kind of left me there all by myself.”
“Right. You know, I did forget. Sorry.” Caleb shrugs. “Does it matter?”
“You sound awfully distracted,” I reply.
“And you were awfully busy sexing up some people upstairs, weren’t you?”
Cheeky little bastard. “I do what I do best. You know that.”
“So do I,” he retorts, making his way to the kitchen. “Are there leftovers? I’m famished.”
“Arlo left some egg sandwiches in the fridge from his trip to the store,” I say as I follow him inside.
He rips open the fridge and grabs the egg sandwich without even asking if it’s okay to eat them, and he tears open the package and goes to town on them. He eats like an animal devouring prey, unpretty, disgusting, actually.
“Can you at least use a fork? Peasant,” I say, throwing him one.
“A fork? On a sandwich?” He scoffs. “You’re ridiculous.”
“You eat like a pig,” I retort as he rams the fork into the sandwich and picks it up from the counter, shoving it into his mouth in one go. “Good God, can you get any filthier?”
“Oh, you don’t even wanna know.” He snorts a little too loud to my liking.
I sigh out loud. “Darling, what are you hiding?”
“Nothing,” he mumbles, grabbing himself a drink too.
I plant my hands on the counter. “You came home fumbling like an idiot, and you’re distracted as hell. What. Are. You. Hiding?”
He chugs down some juice and throws away the empty carton. “We found the girl.”
Now he’s got my attention.
“You know her name?”
“Oh, I don’t just know her name.” He paces around. “I know where she lives. I know what she wears when she sleeps. I know what she looks like when she plays with herself.”
My eyes widen. “What? Are you insane?”
“Yup. Definitely.” He stops momentarily to stare at me. “Don’t tell Ares.”
“But you two were looking for her at that party, right? He knows you were there.”
“Yeah, and I think he toyed with Crystal at the party.”
Crystal…
What a precious name for a precious jewel.
“Because when she got home, she got under the shower immediately and then started getting herself off in bed.”
“How did you find her?”
“Followed her, then snuck up onto the fire escape behind her sorority.”
I slap my own face and rub my forehead, but then I’m reminded it creases your skin and ages you, so I stop immediately. “You could’ve been caught.”
“I know, but I wasn’t. Well, maybe.” He taps his fingers against each other. “I may have actually shot my cum against her window.”
I burst. “What?!”
“Shh!” Caleb hisses. “Not so loud.”
“You left evidence at a crime scene, and you’re expecting me not to get pissed off?” I growl. “Darling, you should know better, honestly.”
“Fuck off with your ‘darling.’ I did what I wanted. Who are you to judge, Mr. Fucking-all-holes-he-can-get-his-dick-into?”
“I would be mildly offended if it wasn’t you who was saying it,” I spit back.
He smirks. “Then you can’t blame me for being a little raunchy.”
“Still, that girl watched us kill, and now you went over to her house and left spunk all over her window? If she calls the police, we’re done for.”
“She won’t. Not after whatever Ares did to her. Really spooked her,” he says. “Besides, she doesn’t know it was me who left that cum.”
“What if she thinks it was him, hmm?” I ask. “Ever thought about that possibility?”
“So? He wants her scared. Job accomplished.”
I fold my arms. “I don’t think it will be that easy.”
“Why not? Threaten her. Make her keep our secret, or else. She’s seen what we’re capable of now. Might as well commit to it,” he responds. “She’s the kind of girl who wouldn’t hurt a fly. There’s no way she’d rat us out.”
“I don’t know, darling,” I muse. “Something about this feels off, and it’s not going to be pretty.”
“Whatever,” he says, shrugging it off like it’s no big deal. Then he raises his finger. “Don’t tell Ares.”
I raise my brow back.
“Promise me, Blaine,” he asks. When I don’t reply, he adds a pout. “Please.”
I roll my eyes. “Fine. But if he asks, I won’t cover for you either. I’ll just pretend I know nothing and be done with it.”
“Sounds good to me,” he says, walking off, leaving the kitchen one giant trash can. “Have to go shower now to get rid of this stain in my pants. Bye.”
“Go wash your ass, you filthy bastard,” I tell him, and he actually winks at me.
God, I need a rinse too after this conversation.
I grasp an apple from the basket and lean back against the counter, throwing the apple up and down as the pink sheen reminds me of the glossy cheeks of the girl from the maze.
I wonder if she knows what she’s up against.
If she’s prepared for what’s to come.
Maybe it’s about time I paid her a visit.
Crystal
At school, I feel antsy, clutching my bag close to my shoulder as though someone might steal it from my hands. Of course, no one would. It’s a ridiculous thought, yet … What if those boys want something from me?
I mean, Ares made it very clear he wanted me scared, and then that same night, someone came to visit me and left cum on my window.
I’m not losing it. I know it was there because I touched it.
This means someone was watching me while I was playing with myself, and I can only think of three people who would do such a thing: those Tartarus boys.
I gulp and walk past the people chatting away in the hallway, blissfully unaware that a murder has taken place on campus soil and the perpetrators visit these very same classrooms.
But right before I enter my next class, the door closes in my face.
A big, flat hand rests on the door as a figure approaches from the shadows, hair as dark as the skull shirt he’s wearing, with only the jewel on his belt buckle glinting in the dark on top of his purple pants.
I twist on my heels, but he grabs my shoulders and pulls me back, cornering me in the hallway underneath the stairs where no one ever comes.
And when I look up, there he is. A glorious man, who looks almost seven feet tall, chiseled and sculpted like an angel fallen from heaven, flexing his muscles as he flicks his hair back.
“Blaine,” I mutter.
“Oh, how adorable, you already know my name,” he muses, his voice awfully chipper and … zesty. “So nice to make your acquaintance.”
He grasps my free hand and pulls it up to his face, pressing a gentle kiss on top, and I’m too shocked to even say a word.
What are you doing, Crystal?
I swiftly pull my hand back.
“What do you want?” I have trouble looking away from his gold-colored eyes.
“Can’t we have a little chat?” He leans in to casually play with my hair, twirling it around his finger like he’s petting a dainty doll. “I’m curious as to why you were at the Tartarus party and the Phantom party.”
“It’s none of your business,” I reply with a smile so I don’t anger him too.
“So direct, yet you’re still sporting a polite smile,” he muses, his eyes landing on the tips of my lips. “No wonder they’ve taken a liking to you.”
They?
I frown. “What are you talking about?”
He slowly plants his hands behind me on the wall, trapping me inside.
“Hey—”
He leans in so close I can smell his fruity cologne, and I can’t even finish my sentence. For some reason, it’s becoming harder and harder to breathe when his nostrils flare against my skin. I can hear him suck in a few breaths.
Is he … smelling me?
Within seconds, he leans back, staring straight into my eyes for a good ten seconds, and this could not get any more awkward.
What is happening?
With a single finger, he tips up my chin and inspects my face like he’s determining the value of cattle, and quite honestly, it’s making me feel weird.
What is wrong with him?
When his finger slides down my chin and neck to the bite mark visible on my shoulder, I slap him away.
“Stop it,” I say.
“Hmm … interesting.”
I tug my puffy pink shirt farther over my shoulder. “What is? Do you have something to say to me or are you just going to feel me up like Ares did?”
“Feel you up?” The tip of his mouth quirks up into a smile. “Oh no, if I was actually touching you for pleasure, you’d know.”
My cheeks flush with heat.
He did not just say that.
He grabs my shoulder and leans in again, getting a little too close for comfort. “You’re curious. I like that.”
I frown, completely confused as to what’s happening here.
“But you gotta learn to defend yourself, darling. Do you want me to teach you?”
“Defend myself?” I parrot.
“Yes,” he adds with a bright but slightly ominous smile. “Because they’ll never stop until they have what they want.”
They. He’s talking about Ares and … Caleb?
“What do they want, then?” I ask, pretending I don’t know exactly what I witnessed … and the warning Ares gave me.
But the deadly smirk on Blaine’s face makes my entire body erupt into goose bumps even before he says the word out loud. “You.”
My whole body feels like it’s running a fever.
“Now go on.” Blaine pulls me away from the wall. “Get to class.” He adds a gentle nudge like he’s egging me on to keep walking.
But all I can do is glance at him over my shoulder and see the sinister look in his eyes after that warning.
A warning of what’s yet to come.
