Page 9 of Prayer of the Damned

“Because I can?” Is this idiot asking me?

I turn to his friends behind me, and watch them approach with agonizing slowness – like this whole scene is taking place in slow motion, in some twisted horror movie.

“W-what’s going on here?” I stammer, giving Trent a pleading look, but his expression tells me I’ll find no salvation from him. His gaze is even more insidious than the others.

I crouch on the floor, closing my eyes tightly, hugging my knees, burying my face and praying to be swallowed up and wiped away from this world before the worst takes place. Why did I come here? How could I think something wonderful, like the most popular boy in school inviting me to his graduation party, could even happen in my life? I curse my stupidity again and again in my mind, then I tightly clamp my hands over my ears to drown out all the screams I let loose in my head.

Or maybe they’re real screams, because I swear by all I hold dear that all I hear are screams.

My heart is pounding in my chest and my stomach’s doing somersaults as time stretches out into a torturous, unending existence. A sharp smell hits my nose and blurs my senses so intensely that I think I’m about to fall flat on my face. When I manage to count my breaths and seem to hit a hundred, I could swear it’s been suspiciously long, and something – anything – should have happened by now.

I gather the courage to open my eyes… but there’s no one there. I’m alone in the room.

I force myself to blink and scan the room again. It’s silent and still.

Even the sharp smell has almost vanished. Where did they go? Did they change their minds and decide to leave me alone? Or maybe it’s another twisted game of theirs?

My stomach flip-flops with the realization that they might come back, so I burst through the door to the game room and run out of Trent’s house as fast as I can. I don’t look back as I cross the lawn full of teens and run straight to my jeep. I get in, slam the door, start it up, shift into gear and the squeal of tires echoes throughout the nightmarish suburban streets of New York.

The thought of a guardian angel makes more and more sense to me. Because I swear, I have no other logical explanation for what happened tonight.

Chapter Four

Bellcolor

Ipark my jeep in the sole parking space I left behind, and hurry to our penthouse elevator. It’s 4 AM and I’m not tired at all. That’s totally understandable given the adrenaline flowing through my veins after tonight’s demented events. I should just go to bed and declare tomorrow a new day in the new life of Belle Fermi. Tonight officially belongs to the past of Bellcolor, or Bella Fermi, who got to live for just one night.

I lift up my cloak, press it as tightly as I can to the elevator ceiling camera, and count the seconds until the elevator finally reaches the penthouse floor. The bell rings, and I’m about to put my cloak back on when the elevator door opens and I see my father waiting for me. No point, then.

Great. A perfect finale to a nightmarish evening that just won’t end.

“Bellcolor,” he pronounces my name in a bloodcurdling tone.

Shit. I know that tone. This is going to be unpleasant.

“Dad,” I smile a phony smile.

“We need to talk,” he says, turning his back to me and marching into the living room.

Okay. I follow him without saying a word. He stands facing the lit fireplace, gesturing to the couch with one hand. Strange, it’s still cool outside but summer has officially begun and there’s no reason for the fireplace to be lit at this time of the year. I decide not to say anything about it, sit down and await my sentencing.

He paces back and forth, calculating his words in his head before letting them out into the world – as he always does with his colleagues – but never with me. I stare into the fire and wonder how I never paid any real attention to it until now.

It’s beautiful.The flames dance without a care, free of worry, breathtaking.

My dad is going to kill me and I’m thinking about these awe-inspiring flames. Finally he stops and turns to me. I hold my breath and prepare for the worst.

I’m an exact copy of him aside from his huge body. He’s wearing an Armani suit tailored to his exact immense proportions. Broad soldiers, a solid and muscled body, black hair slicked back with gel, and deep dark eyes.

“I assume you have questions.”What?

I’d been expectingWhere were you? It’s 4 AM! You have an early flight tomorrow! What were you thinking, sneaking out in the middle of the night? You could’ve been killed!Or something like that, you get the idea.

“Um… I do?” Am I answering or asking? I have no idea, I just know I’m extremely confused. He doesn’t respond except to let out a deep-throated grunt meant to prove to me that the innocent little girl act won’t work on him. “Okay, fine! I went out to a party! Are you satisfied?”

“I already know that, Bellcolor. The alarm system goes off when someone leaves. I was surprised to see that it was triggeredtwice, when Betty was the only one supposed to leave at the end of her shift.”

“Wait,” I interrupt him. “How did you get here so fast? Shouldn’t you be in Tokyo?”

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