Page 35 of The Circus

His grin is shit-eating, and I smirk, brushing back past him to fill the other corner of the room with candles.

“Asshole,” I mutter.

Above us, the creak of footsteps echoes, starting off slow before pounding down the hall and then stopping just assuddenly. Cash’s eyes widen until the whites are all I can see, and he slowly tilts his head back, gazing at the ceiling in horror. I snort.

“What did you expect? It’s a fucking asylum.”

“How…how did she find this place?” he whispers, morphing into a frightened little boy. I shrug, standing tall and using my toe to scoot the candles closer together. Good enough for now.

“No clue. She won’t tell me.”

“You sure that isn’t a squatter?”

I grin, patting his shoulder and gripping it as I pass by. “Trust me. I was fucking thorough the other day.”

On cue, the faint giggling of a child drifts to us from down the hall, and I smile, not scared in the slightest. She’s playing with us, I think, or at least that’s the vibe I’m feeling. A little girl stuck wavering between this world and the next, happy to have new friends.

“Fuck this shit,” Cash hisses, grabbing his keys and all but running away. But I stay for a moment, closing my eyes, breathing in the scent of rot and decay and misery. On the breeze through the open window, the tang of the ocean is potent on my tongue. We’re near an inlet, I think. I’ll have to ask Eden, because I’m sure she’s found a path to it, probably knows more about this place than the people who worked here a century ago.

Because I know that little shit can talk to ghosts, she’s just too scared of me judging her to tell me.

Slowly, I take a deep breath in, allowing the oxygen to expand my lungs as I open my eyes. I’m met with nothing but an empty doorway, early morning sunlight streaking in through the busted out windows. Disappointment deflates me, and my shoulders drop. Ever since seeing the ghostly visage of her father, I’ve been keen to see more. She at least explained he was alive, but wouldn’t give me much more information that next morning on our bus ride to school.

I’ll meet him today anyways, something I’m actually nervous for. If he’s about to leave this world, to leave Eden behind, I need him to know that I’ll take care of her.

So with a sigh, I gather the empty bags and make my way out after Cash. The rumble of his Mustang reverberates through the cavernous building. Shaking my head, I snort and start down the hall, a chill fanning across the back of my neck. When I turn and glance down into the dark, gaping emptiness, I see nothing.

But when I glance down to the floor, a set of tiny, bare footprints are etched in the dust.

“Tada!”My mom says, stepping aside to reveal the dress she’s been slaving over for days now. She holds her hands clasped near her mouth, nervous for my reaction, but she has no reason to worry. My brows shoot up, my eyes widen, and a beam splits my cheeks.

“Fuck,” I breathe, reaching out to run my fingers over the fabric. Hues of crimson and black jump out at me. The top is fitted, akin to a corset, and from the hips, gauzy tulle flares out, the crimson peaking through. Around the top of the bust is more tulle, adding flare to the chest but also shielding bare skin. I know Eden doesn’t want to be flashy in that sense.

So naturally I had to have my mom make her the dress from theHelenamusic video, only it’s somehow better than the real thing. I hadn’t bothered asking Eden her measurements, because one, she wouldn’t know them, and two, she wouldn’t tell me if she did. I’d simply…rifled through her room sometime last week after we made our deal. Someday, I’m going to buy herunderwear and bras that actually look comfortable and aren’t purchased at the same time as buying your groceries.

“Fuck, it’s perfect,” I say, grinning at my mom. She beams back, relieved and excited.

“Oh, good! I can’t wait to meet her, honey.”

Reaching for her, I pull my mom into a hug, resting my chin on her head. She squeezes me back, patting my shoulder.

“She’s…important, mom.”

“I can tell,” she says against me, voice muffled by my shirt. When we part, her eyes are glassy with pride. “Which is why I have one more surprise for you.”

Brows furrowing as she turns and rummages through a bag, a bittersweet sort of melancholy forms in my chest when she produces a black and red corsage and matching boutonniere.

“Mom,” I chastise, taking them from her. “That’s way too expensive.”

The rose is ebony, the lace and ribbon bloody, and it will look stunning on Eden’s pale, slender wrist.

“You get to go to prom senior year one time, sweetheart. Let me spoil you a little.”

I don’t bother telling her the extra money I had lying around was from a recent kill.

Grinning sheepishly now, I hedge, “On that note…I need you to buy us alcohol.”

I say it with surety and conviction, and she immediately frowns, hands fisted on her hips. I gently set aside the flowers and grip her shoulders, driving my eyes into hers. “Just one bottle. Just some strawberry wine. I promise not to spike the punch,” I say, holding up my pinky finger. She swats it away.

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