Page 79 of Devils' Day Party
I'm not sure how I feel about that: important enough for time to bow down to … or so insignificant that my entire life can be manipulated on a whim.
“If you see the Knight Crew, tell them I'm not here,” I say, smiling at Luke, who just so happens to be dressed in my original mask. She gives me a thumbs-up, and I slink into the woods, dressed in a black ballgown that I wore for Halloween last year. It has flouncy skirts and a sleeveless, corset bodice with red ties down the back.
Lifting it up to move through the woods, I feel like some sort of dark princess, especially with the crown of branches on my head. Luke made it in about ten minutes after I told her how much I loved her bow tie. My new mask is a butterfly. It's black with silver sparkles, and most definitely not a Diana fritillary, but that's okay. Close enough.
Moving around the circular clearing where the bonfire's located, I keep my eyes out for the Knight Crew. Since I've been hiding Little Bee from them, they aren't able to drag it out here and make a throne of it. So where the fuck are they?
Eventually, I find them already tucked inside the train car, passing around several joints and a bottle of crazy expensive vodka. But it's just the three boys, nobody else yet, not even Sonja. She's probably out looking for Luke. The thought makes me frown.
“She has to know if we see her ugly fucking face around her, we're going to send Sonja to beat her ass silly.” Raz. My heart clogs in my throat at the sound of his awful words, followed by a surge of wild rage. Wow. After all that I've learned about him, I never would've guessed he'd still be able to talk about me like that behind my back.
He's lucky I don't have a weapon of any kind on me right now.
“She's been calling my dad again,” Calix says casually, and I pause, putting my fingertips up against the cold, steel sides of the train car. I'm wearing lace gloves today, but the metal seems to freeze the bits of my skin showing through the fabric. “That, and she threatened my brothers. Found a video they made on TikTok and then stalked her way into their emails. I thought if I let her hang with us, she’d back off, but she’s only gotten worse.”
“Let's find her and lock her in the Devils’ Den tonight. She can spend the night there. I mean, you guys pussied out on our plan for this morning. It's Devils’ Day; we have to prank somebody.” Raz, again. Even without being able to see the boys, I know their voices. I could probably pick them out of a crowd, to be honest.
“Don't act like we were the only ones who didn't want to get Karma this morning.” Calix. He pauses, and then exhales, like he's either smoking or has just taken a huge sip of vodka. “You got all weird about it, too.”
“Like it even matters. She took off and we haven't seen her since. Do you think she'll be here tonight?” It's interesting, how eager Raz sounds when he asks that. So they obviously weren't talking about me. Who then?
“No clue,” Barron says, and I can hear a sound, like charcoal on paper, that distinctive scratching that makes my heart beat wildly. Yes! He has his fucking sketchbook, and I'm going to take it. “Why do you think she hit your car?”
Calix makes a small sound of disgust, his voice far away, distant.
“I have no fucking clue. Maybe she wanted a repeat of last year's Devils' Day Party?”
I have to resist the urge to punch the side of the train car. I settle with cursing him out inside my head instead. Cocksucking son of a bitch.
“You think she hit your car because she wanted you to fuck and run again? Adjust your expectations, Lix. To be honest, I was worried she was still into you. Not anymore, not after today.” Oh, Raz …
“She obviously hit my car because she wanted my attention,” Calix snaps back, and this time, it's Barron who laughs. There's a bemusement to the sound, like he finds both of his friends completely and utterly ridiculous.
“She isn't interested in either of you; she's better than both of you.” Barron goes back to drawing as Raz scoffs in disgust.
I can't take anymore of this, I think, moving around to the front of the train car and pausing in the doorway. They all pause to look at me. Calix is wearing yet a different outfit today—he seems to have as many outfits for the Devils' Day Party as I have timelines. Tonight, he's dressed in a red military jacket, undone and showing off his bare chest. It's lined with silver buttons and silver caps on the shoulders. Paired with skintight black jeans and boots, he's a vision in nightmare colors, his dark eyes lined with kohl, a crown of raven feathers and branches on his head, his black devil mask firmly in place.
