“Which river is hers?”
“The River Styx,” she answered ominously. Of course. Why would it be any other river? I put my head in my hands. Things were going from bad to worse.
“She already has what she wants. Why doesn’t she just leave me alone?” I asked; desperation evident in my tone as well as in the frustrated tears that were once again rolling down my cheeks.
“She doesn’t want you to figure it out.”
“Figure what out?” She jerked her head to the left and her features turned to stone.
“I have to go.” She began to fade.
“Bianca, wait! Figure what out?” But she was already gone.
“Stasia?” I looked up into the eyes of Willow and Liam. I quickly wiped some rogue tears off my chin. Willow sat down beside me and put her arm around me.
“Do you want to leave?” she asked gently.
“It’s okay,” I looked down at my hands and ran a finger over my trace that was looking slightly dulled.
“You just say the word and we’ll bounce,” Carmen came up to stand in front of me; Ricker on her heels.
“Plus, Dr. Drake is calling….” Phoebe bounced up on my left and kissed me on the cheek.
“We wouldn’t want to leave him waiting.”
“Yeah, the last thing I need is to have some insane dead guy stealing my heart,” Carmen said.
“I thought I already did?” Ricker sneered; putting an arm around her.
“Maybe I’ll let Dr Drake steal my heart after all,” she lifted an eyebrow at him.
“It’s too late for that,” he pretended to tear her heart out as she wiggled away from him. A light change in color in my peripheral vision had me turning my head to the right - just in time to see a small gray tendril twist and writhe; vanishing behind several dancers about twenty yards away.
Chapter 28
On my feet in seconds; I pushed away from my roommates and launched into the throngs of monsters, witches, and fairies. With my head on a swivel, I spotted a second gray tendril as it precariously hovered above the head of a younger girl dressed up as Pocahontas. I watched in horror as it spiraled down onto her shoulder and slid around her neck. As I was about to reach out and swat it away from her it disappeared. Pocahontas gave me an odd look as I continued past her in pursuit of the evil smoke.
It reappeared several yards away, floating innocently and flippantly through the cool, night air. I concentrated on keeping it in my sight as my eyes followed it across the Hole. Suddenly obsessed with the tiny tendril and fearful for the hundreds of people gathered in celebration, I scanned every shadow and stone ledge in search of the only evil being I knew to produce such smoke. The loud music faded behind me as I followed a sidewalk around the history building. The festive ambiance created by the Halloween party in The Hole faded with it; eclipsed by a more sinister darkness that I could feel weighing on my heart. Even the shadows scaling the side of the stone buildings were darker. I could feel them watching me; imposing and leering above amongst the scraggly shadows of the tree branches.
A stinging sensation on my hand had me glancing down. I jerked away when I spotted several gray tendrils attempting to wrap around my left wrist; around my trace which had begun to dull in brightness. Looking in every direction, I still only found my ever-watchful night companions: the towering trees and ever-taunting shadows. A movement to my right quickened my pulse immediately and my breathing spiked considerably. Feeling vulnerable and exposed out in the open, I began to walk.
Slowly, the number of pin pricks on my back increased in number and in the level of pain where my skin was left bare by the style of my dress. I began to feel them along my arms and on the sides of my face. My legs stopped abruptly, I squeezed my eyes shut, and then spun around as if evading a swarm of killer bees. Considering a swarm of killer bees would be an upgrade from my current situation, I didn’t expect my futile attempt to work by any means. The next instant, the prickling sensation vanished and I felt a strong presence right behind me. Spinning around on my heel, I braced myself for what I would find.
“Stasia?”
“Phoebe!” My crudely constructed resolve shattered and my body began to shake.
“What are you doing out here?” she asked as she grasped both my arms in concern.
“I just thought I saw something.” I shrugged my shoulders, trying to play it off as no big deal.
“Haven’t you watched scary movies?” She put her hands on her hips.
“Huh?” How did we go from me seeing things to scary movies?
“Something bad always happens when a person walks off by themselves because they saw something or heard something. The only thing worse is when the dumb girl runs up the stairs when the killer’s after her.” I linked arms with her and let her chatter on as we walked back to the Hole. “I mean where does she think she’s going to go? Her bedroom? The roof? It’s tragic, really. So I’m going to have to make you promise to never be the dumb girl in the scary movies.”
I smiled at her; grateful for her wispy approach to the situation. “I can assure you I will never be the dumb girl in a movie. I’m a horrible actress.”
“Well that’s a relief. You had me worried!” she exclaimed with a smile.
Upon returning to the Hole, the party was still in full swing, so I tried to lose myself in the mass of people dancing and laughing. I blocked out anything related to Finn, Nadia, or my journey, and just pretended I was a normal girl dancing with my friends at a normal Halloween party. I pretended there were no evil princesses trying to steal my soul. I pretended my boyfriend wasn’t betrothed to the aforementioned evil princess. I pretended I didn’t have to travel to the Underworld in order to fulfill my destiny and become an immortal. And it worked. Until we left.
“That wasn’t break dancing. That was broke dancing.” Carmen jumped down off the stone wall she was using as a balance beam and sneered at Ian.
“It’s called b-boying or street dancing,” Ian replied in all seriousness. “And it’s not as easy as it looks.”
“All I know is that it looked like you were having a seizure.” Carmen did a bad impression of Ian’s popping and locking moves; leaving us all gasping for breath from laughing so hard. We had left the party and were walking down a shadowed road on the marsh side of the island towards the famed, haunted Drake House. Large live oak trees covered with Spanish moss flanked both sides of the road. The elegant moss hung from their deformed branches as it swayed in the ocean breeze; enhancing the spooky factor tremendously.
“You’re a regular JabbaWockee, Carmen,” Phoebe told her sarcastically.
“What’d you call me?” Carmen stopped mid-step and turned to face her. She gave her a sympathetic smile, “I need to pray for you.” She bowed her head mumbled something inaudible, and then looked up; shrugging her shoulders. “Nope, too late. Your soul’s not salvageable.”
“It’s alright. I’d rather be a vampire for the rest of eternity anyway. I’m starting to get used to my fangs.” Phoebe touched her teeth extensions delicately, “Just think how fast I’ll be able to eat corn on the cob!”
“What in the world is a jabachoochie?” Willow asked them.
“JabbaWockee,” Phoebe corrected her. “It’s that group that was on America’s Best Dance Crew. You know, the hip-hop group competition?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Ouch!” Willow screeched as Phoebe stepped on her long fake hair; ripping her head backwards.
“Oh! I’m sorry!” Phoebe jumped back.
“Let’s see if we can get this under control,” I muttered as I stepped over to Willow and began to gather her hair and twirl it into a massive bun on top of her head. The whole group stopped with us, watching and snickering.