Page 16 of Things Get Dark

One Fateful Halloween

By Isla Harding

Chapter One

Kai

“Nothing in this placecould scare me.”

Despite the distance, her words echo across the space as clear as day. The screams from within and the peeling laughter of the surrounding area does nothing to protect her identity. I already know. I had my eyes on her from the moment she stepped into the vicinity, and this statement only ensnared me to her further.

The words sparked an unknown risk to herself, igniting something within me and daring me to go beyond. It changes everything. What had meant to be a normal night for her, is now going to be something so much more. I feel it in my bones.

Give a man a challenge, they want to win, to conquer, but will accept defeat. Give that same situation to a monster, they will hunt and devour it.

And this monster wanted her.

Brown hair flying wildly in the wind, whipping into her face and distorting her pretty features. Her feminine curves have me entranced, almost hypnotised, my cock thickening, but it wasn’t only my sight she had captured. Sliding my eyes over to Abel,it doesn’t take a genius to realise that the giant of a man is as captivated by her as me.

I blink my attention back to the task at hand guiding another faceless person into the depths of our creation as she becomes shadowed by darkness. In moments, I know she will be bathed in a pool of the next light, and I hasten my pace not wanting to miss her.

It’s been a busy night so far. The extreme horror house is already throwing out shrieking squeals of terror. Our employees do their jobs with the utmost flair. Each one trained by us, to work their hardest. Our only trainee has been with us around two months and is currently shadowing me. But perhaps, it is time he goes out on his own. Perhaps tonight, while this monster is on the prowl.

We have built this business from the ground up. All created by us, and it is to run smoothly. Me, Abel, Sergio, and Rowe have made something good from our torrid past. Moving location every month. October has however, always been insane in the lead up to Halloween. Always our best work.

Halloween has, after all, always been the most bittersweet.

Chapter Two

Abel

Despite the crowds, Ikeep her in my sights. I need to keep focused; she already has me too distracted, but the tingles of anticipation keep my eyes shifting back to her every time she is revealed by another light. I must be sure she is right for us; mistakes are not acceptable. I won’t let us become the men who came before us.

The stab of his spiny elbow in my gut knocks me into focus as I pass my current customers over to Kai. I raise my brows at him as he rises to his tiptoes to speak to me discreetly.

“You’re distracted.” Kai’s lilting words tease, his breath tickling across the shell of my ear and sending shivers down my body. He isn’t complaining per say. Just a reminder to do my job properly, we can’t afford to get sloppy with consent forms.

Tonight, it is just me and Kai on shift, the other two won’t be far though, lurking in the shadows, just in case. Like every October, we are all on edge. We have all faced the real horrors of this world, seen they exist. Kai more than the rest of us.

I get back into my swing, not letting her distract me, giving punters their forms, examining them on their return. Then Ipass them off to Kai. It doesn’t escape my notice that his own interest is on the woman that moves steadily our way with her group of friends. A lopsided grin pulls at my lips as he catches my eye, and he shrugs, giving me a wink.

Excitement flows from her group in noisy chatter and laughter but rising above them all is her glee that rings out into the night. A lyrical melody that pinpoints her when she repeats the words that will change her fate for this entire event.

“I told you already, nothing in this place could scare me.”

A challenge, a gauntlet she doesn’t know she has thrown down at a monster's feet.

My fingers itch, tracing the edges of the papers in front of me, a decision to be made. I look at Kai, and I know his thoughts the instant my eyes meet his. A thirst sparks there, a need much like mine, but one more hungry, more volatile than my own.

It’s why I am left to make the choice, because they can’t be trusted.

It’s been too long since we had a chance to play.

The make-up smeared on my face doesn’t cover the salacious smile that curls my lips as she draws up to the counter with each sway of her hips. A taunting echo of her words whispers into my mind. Begging me to prove her wrong.

Handing her friends their forms, they pay me no mind as they begin their completion of them, laughing and joking with one another. I leave her until last. My eyes can’t help but tear up and down her curving body, drinking her in. I lick my lips, tasting the chalky residue of the paint. I couldn’t care less if it smudges, it always becomes more contorted and twisted throughout the night. With each blur of the lines, my true monster comes out to play.

Her face flushes so beautifully, yet she stands there full of confidence. Remains in place, boldly staring back at mewatching as my tongue traces my lips. I can’t help the dark chuckle from my throat as her eyebrows raise.

---