Masquerade (Heven and Hell #1)(41)
Author: Cambria Hebert

I didn’t bother trying to be quiet as I went deeper into the trees. I wasn’t trying to hide. The monster knew I was here and knew that I would come. I took a deep breath to pinpoint where it was hiding so we could get this confrontation done with. I needed to get back to Heven. There were the normal smells of the night and the woods of course, but there was something else too…something that seemed to latch onto the inside of my nose and wouldn’t let go.

I began pushing further through the trees, hurrying, but half afraid of what I would find. Seconds later my eyes focused on something lying up ahead. I ran forward then stopped.

And looked down in shock.

Pale blond hair, streaked with blood, covered most of the girl’s face. Her arms and legs were bent at odd, unnatural angles. There were deep, bleeding gouges all over what was once flawless skin. But those sights weren’t the worst part. No, the worst part was the blood crusted charm bracelet that hung around the girl’s wrist.

My knees threatened to buckle, but I refused to let them.

I felt blood, hot and urgent, rushing through my veins, pumping up my insides and surging energy through my limbs. I blinked, trying to clear my eyes and when they cleared my stomach revolted. Deep anguish settled on my chest.

No.

I just saw her with Cole; I thought was safe. How could he let anything happen to her? The monster better have killed Cole too because if he is still breathing, I will make him wish he wasn’t.

I turned to run, to escape the sight, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave her here alone. How was I going to live with this? I stared down, swallowing past the lump in my throat. Then, a sound reached my ears through the dark.

My head snapped up.

Again. Please, God, again.

The sound floated to my ears once more, and this time I did fall to my knees.

Heven’s laughter filled my ears, and I bit back a strangled sob.

It isn’t her. She’s alive.

The pressure in my chest eased, and I forced myself to get it together. I didn’t have time for this. I looked back again at the crumpled body lying in the grass. It was easy to see why I thought this girl was Heven. She looked just like her with long, very light-blond hair and slender limbs. Around one of her wrists sat Heven’s silver bracelet. Heven’s bracelet with the skeleton key charms. It was bloody. I reached down and grasped it. It came easily, as if it knew that this wasn’t where it belonged.

I stuffed it into my pocket and continued to stare down at the horrible sight, and I felt terrible knowing she died in Heven’s place. Her skin was tan…and from here I could see a lot of it. If I had been thinking straight before, I would have realized that Heven wouldn’t wear something so revealing. Then I realized that her outfit hadn’t been revealing, but that her clothing was shredded. Scraps of fabric littered the forest floor and left her body vulnerable and invaded.

I reached for my sweatshirt to try and allow this girl some sort of modesty – some kind of respect in death – but I wasn’t wearing it. Heven was. Heven – who was alive and breathing.

But for how long?

I jumped up and turned, ready to race to her side. To reassure myself that she was still safe.

The monster stood yards away, staring at me…smiling.

“Take a good long look.” The voice was taunting and smug. “The way her blond hair hangs limp, the cuts and scrapes that still leak with blood, the way her blue eyes stare out, vacant and flat. The next time you see this sight, it will be her. And there will be nothing that you can do to save her.”

Disgust, hot and acrid, speared through me. Before I knew it I was launching myself straight at the person I hated most in this world. We rolled across the ground, and when we stopped I was on top. I didn’t even think twice before I plowed my fist into flesh and bone.

The monster yelled, and I shoved a hand over a wide-open mouth. The last thing we needed was for someone to hear and come running. I stared down at the struggling form beneath me. Teeth cut into my hand but I didn’t care. There was only one way I could think of that would allow us to have it out with no one able to see and hear.

I got up, dragging the monster with me, and ran quickly through the trees. Thankfully, the walk wasn’t far, and when I got there I delivered another solid punch before tossing the body in the lake.

Then I jumped in too.

The water was cold and dark. In that moment I realized the fear that Heven must have felt when she was drowning. How overwhelming it would be if I didn’t know how to swim.

But I did.

And I was very good.

I looked through the dark water, my eyesight already adjusting to the murkiness. The monster was there, a body in transition. My body quivered with need, but I held back. If I transformed now my clothes would be ruined. How would I explain that?

Fortunately for me, I wasn’t that worked up. The minute I realized that it wasn’t Heven lying there mauled and dead, I calmed down. I knew that I should feel guilty for not mourning that dead girl, and there was a part of me that was, but Heven was my only priority, and I couldn’t think beyond her.

Strangely, I felt calm…almost resigned to this fight, to this battle. I knew what I had to do and I knew that there was only one acceptable outcome. I could do this.

I had to.

The monster came at me, and I was thankful we were underwater. It made it easier to flip myself around and throw both legs out in a hard kick. My feet caught the beast and sent it floating back. I cut through the water, grabbing out but coming up empty. I ducked just as a hit was about to connect with my face and I swam down, deeper into the water.

I was grabbed from behind and slammed into the rocky floor of the lake. I spun and kicked out again. I sat crouched and ready for the next charge but instead I watched as the monster swam away.

When I was certain that it wasn’t coming back, I pushed up to the surface of the water and took a deep breath. I swam quickly to the shore, making sure I was still away from the house and walked up onto the shore.

I stuck my hand in my pocket to be sure the bracelet was still there. It was. Then I rushed to the edge of the trees and looked through the crowd and up to the deck. Heven was still sitting there, her eyes scanning the crowd below. No doubt, she was wondering what was taking me so long.

The DJ turned down the music and spoke into the microphone. “Will Andi Richards please come up to the booth? Sean is looking for you.”

My heart sank at the thought of the body lying in the woods. She wouldn’t be coming back to the party. She wouldn’t be doing anything ever again.