Page 46 of Emerge

Chapter Fifteen

Riley

Things had been quiet, way too quiet. It was the type of quiet that made me more nervous and jumpier. I was aware of every sound around me, which was an unwelcome intrusion.

Finn wanted us to return to normal while the tritons searched for Dylan. He made no mention of my mom or the fact that we were hiding two fugitives in the cave. He knew about them, but any discussion of it was kept to a minimum.

"Earth to Riley." Ivy interrupted my daydreaming as we stood in the costume aisle at the store.

"Sorry. I've turned into a space cadet." I looked at the costume she was holding up and laughed. "You know if you pick that, every time we open the door to trick-or-treaters, they're going to sing that fox song. I like it though; it fits your personality."

"I doubt that generation even knows that song. I think a wolf costume would suit me better, but they don't have one." Ivy examined the bushy fox tail she was holding. "It kind of looks like a giant penis with the placement of the white tip. I'm getting it for that reason alone."

"I think I'm going to get this." I pulled a shark onesie off the rack and held it up. "It will keep me warm and is really the only costume that makes sense."

"Don't remind me of that." Ivy shuddered. "You could always go as a mermaid."

I knew she was kidding, so I threw it in the basket that already had enough bags of candy for the entire child population of Salinity Cove. We hadn’t gotten to the decoration aisles yet. Every year we decorated the front porch of the townhouse and handed out candy. There was always a trunk-or-treat put on by the police department in the beach parking lot not far away and the sheer volume of kids who came through was nuts.

On Tuesday, when we'd returned to school, Aiden and Ivy had wasted no time reminding me that Halloween was on Friday. Since we all had busy schedules of extracurriculars, the only time we could squeeze in shopping was on Halloween, right after school.

"Are you doing okay?" I walked next to Ivy as we continued to see if anything else caught our eye. There wasn't much to choose from since we were last-minute shoppers.

"I'm fine. I just feel really stupid that I didn't even realize he was controlling me." I grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Don't tell me it's not my fault, Riley, it totally is."

"He's not human, Ivy. He can control people. Hell, he even controlled me for a short time." I hugged her. "I should have realized sooner that something was off."

She wiped at a tear that had escaped. "I wasn't very nice to you."

"Honestly, even if Dylan hadn't been a factor, I wouldn't blame you for being a bitch. I've been a bad friend." She swatted at me and I laughed. "I know I have a lot of shit on my plate, but I feel like I've neglected my real life, and I'm sorry."

Ivy put a hand on my shoulder. "What you've been dealing with is your real life now. I'm still waiting for the hidden cameras and for it to be a prank. It's crazy. Doesn't it make you wonder what else is out there?"

"It's been a pretty elaborate prank." I considered her question about other nonhuman creatures as we started down the next aisle. "There probably are."

She shuddered. "There's a whole world that no one even knows about."

I leaned on the handle of the cart as we walked, not really paying attention to the decorations. "I find myself pinching myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. A few times I've wondered if I'm still seven and in a coma from almost drowning."

She snorted. "Wouldn't that be something? Imagine being seven and seeing all that you've seen and done inside your head. That's one fucked up seven-year-old."

"Where's the fucked up seven-year-old?" Aiden rounded the corner and dropped face paint and vampire fangs in the basket.

"Going for the tried and true vampire look again this year?" I grabbed a bag of fake spiderwebs and spiders off the display. I was tired of shopping and ready to get the townhouse set up.

"You know it. I want to suck some blood." He bared his teeth and made a hissing sound.

"Probably the only thing you'll be sucking." Ivy grinned.

I missed my friends and how normal it was being around them.

After paying for our stuff, we went back to my townhouse, which I hadn't been to in a few weeks. When I opened the door, the beeping of the alarm countdown started, and I entered my passcode on the panel. My mom hadn't been lying when she said Finn had taken care of the bills.

"Woah, where'd all this come from?" Aiden dropped the bags he was carrying on the new sectional. "Did I imagine that we sold all the furniture?"

The entire downstairs was newly furnished with similar furniture to what we had before. All that work selling everything had been for nothing. Well, not nothing. I did have all the money still.

"My mom has a sugar daddy now." I started digging through the bags, ignoring Aiden's questioning gaze, and found the orange pumpkin lights. "Let's get the decorations up so we have enough time to get ready."

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