Filed To Story: Pretty Poisoned Novel by Elle Mitchell
“Look around. Turn off that part of your brain that’s telling you that this is all just a bunch of fucking weirdos playing vampire. See and feel what’s inside you, in front of you, and around you.”
I look back at her over my shoulder. “How did you know that’s what I was thinking?”
“Because that’s what Riv thought at first, too.”
“Really?” I ask.
She nods.
“You know, in many cultures, drinking blood was thought to be a cure-all for the spirita cleansing for all the things that ail you but no one can see the ones that live in your bones.”
“I have a few of those ” I say.
“Come on, let’s go join the party,” River says.
Hazel jumps down from the counter and leads me back into the main living room with her arm nestled in the crook of Layla’s.
Layla, with her sad, dead eyes, pale grey skin, and stained red lips, moves lifelessly through the throng of people. Her makeup looks like an accidentlike she did her best to go through the motions but didn’t quite get it right, and now, it looks more like a mask than it should. Even the way she moves looks unnatural; it’s as if someone else is pulling the strings and making her do it when all she wants to do is curl up in a ball on the floor.
Fuck. Maybe my perception is heightened.
I look around the darkened room and through the sea of bodiessome bare and some bloodied, most moving with the music and gyrating on all sides of me. The room is filled to the brim with sex. I try to do what Hazel said and feel it instead of thinking about it, and I do. I feel like I’m wading through it, swimming it in.
The room has a pulse, and I feel the shift in vibration.
Either that, or I’m just as crazy as they are.
River turns to me with a glass in each hand and extends one to me. I take it, relieved when I see only clear liquid inside, then bring it to my mouth. I taste smooth gin on my tongue and quickly drain the contents.
Then, I let her take me by the hand, and we dance. I don’t know for how long; I lose track of space and time, spinning in circles, grabbing shot glasses and more fruit slices soaked in blood and vodka from trays around the room.
And then I’m light-headed. I’m fairly certain I’m something other than drunk.
“Enjoying yourself?” Declan says from behind me.
“I’m I’m not sure.” I look from him back to where the girls were only seconds ago, and now Layla’s there alone. I watch her float across the room in that unnatural, heavy way before dropping down into a high-backed chair. “Did you drug me?”
“I didn’t give you anything, did I?” he asks. “This is the first time I’ve seen you all night.”
It’s evasive. I don’t tell him that.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he says. His tone is light for once, and it catches me off guard. “Something real.”
“What’s in it for me?”
“I gave you three questions last night. Maybe this is just for me. Maybe you owe me, and this is such a small thing, don’t you think?”
“I’m thinking about drugs now,” I tell him. “You were wrong, by the way. Attention is not my drug of choice; I don’t care about that. And I’m thinking about the series of accidents that landed me here and trying to figure out what I missed.” I turn away from him and back to that high-backed chair. “And Layla. I’m thinking about Layla. I’m not sure there’s anyone in there anymore. She’s your family, right? Don’t you care?”
His eyes shift again, and his jaw clenches. Oh, shit. I said all of that out loud, didn’t I? Why the fuck would I do that?
“Layla is family. But she disappointed me. And there are no accidents, Teagan; you know that, right?”
“I’m not really the religious type.”
“It’s got nothing to do with religion. There are no accidents, Teaganthat’s what you’re missing. This might not be something you’re used to, but you’re not in control here.”
Yeah, I’m starting to figure that out.
“Well, I don’t like that.”
The room begins to lean to the side, and I feel myself going down with it. I reach out and grab his arm to stabilize myself.
“Um sorry,” I say before slowly letting it drop.
“What is your drug of choice, Teagan?” he asks.
“Freedom,” I say, embarrassed after the word leaves my lips. I’m not even sure where it came from.
He opens his mouth to say something but before he can, I’m catapulted forward and onto the hard marble floor. I look over my shoulder at the man I saw earlierthe one with his teeth filed into fangs.
“Whoops, my bad,” he says, laughing. He extends a hand to help me up, and I almost take it before Declan’s hand closes around the man’s throat.
“Get the fuck out of my house before I slice you open and strangle you with your own intestines.”
He releases the man, who stumbles backward, choking, before turning and heading for the door.
“Are you okay?” Declan asks.
He reaches for me, but I quickly scramble to my feet on my own. He folds his arms across his chest, his eyes darkened with rage, and when he speaks again, his tone changes.
“I don’t like sloppy people in my house,” he says. “You should get your shit together, too.”
Then, he turns and stalks off toward the staircase.
That was fucking weird.
I begin to move through the room, scanning it for a familiar face. I pass Layla in the high-backed chair, then cross the entryway of a parlor of some sort, hearing a familiar laugh.
“Riv,” I say, leaning against the doorframe. “You left me.”
“Aw, I’m sorry!” she says. “I didn’t mean to. Come here.” She pats the place next to her on the sofa, then gestures toward Hazel. “Just don’t talk to or touch him.”
Oh Luca. Perfect. I didn’t realize that’s whose lap Hazel was sitting in.
I cross the room to the sofa, but when I go to sit, I miss and end up on the floor in the space between the couch and the coffee table.
“Jesus,” River says. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t think so,” I tell her. “I think maybe someone gave me drugs because I can’t stop talking.”
“What?” she says as they laugh.
“I’ve never done drugs before.”
“What do you mean you’ve never done drugs? No drugs ever?” Hazel asks.
I shake my head. “I’ve smoked weed a few times.”
“How is that possible?” she asks.
“I don’t have any friends,” I whisper. Why am I whispering?
The three of them laugh.
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.