Page 151 of Tricky Girls

She hands me back the thermos with a smile. ‘Here at nine, then.’

Should have worn more than just these woollen tights. I shake my head at myself as I traverse the forest, wind lifting my pleated skirt. I hold it down with one hand, the other shining my phone torch.

I’m an idiot for wanting to look good for her. We’re breaking into a crypt, for God’s sake. And she’s seen me in all states of dress already—free of makeup in mismatched pyjamas, naked in the bath, off my tits at Vipers. I don’t think what I wear tonight is going to have much bearing on how attractive she finds me. She tells me often enough that she does.

The forest is spooky as shit. I’m never in it this late unless I’m drunk on the way back from Vipers. But campus is the other way, and I’ve imbibed no alcohol to dull my awareness of mysurroundings. I arc my torch around, looking more for wolves than human-shaped dangers.

Insane that they’re even on this island. Like, surely that’s dangerous? Unless they’ve been bred in captivity, I suppose. I’ve heard they’re pretty much pets so it’s possible that’s the case. I wonder if Serafina owns them or just her dad. I know he’s a Wolf, that the guy buried in the crypt is too. Serafina seemed as angry as one that day she stomped after Aurelie. How shit to have to bunk with them. Aurelie seems different than her two roomies. Less dark and twisted. Maybe she’s gay with the angry one and not Blakely like I once suspected.

Love is mostly anger so that tracks. Ryan had been angry, enough to spook me sometimes. Mum’s always angry. Nic too. So, yeah, seems like there’s a lot of that going round.

It’s easier to think about all that than this damn forest. I’m not too far now. I can hear the ocean, see the orange lamp that hangs over the crypt. It’s not a huge structure but still imposing with its gothic arches and cross-tipped spires. The stone is grey and weathered, choked with trailing plants that don’t hold much green this time of year.

Haz is by the door, dressed in a black coat this time. She’s a hulking shadow by the arched, dark wood.

‘Hey.’ I turn my phone torch off now I’m here. ‘Got the key?’

‘Said I would.’ She runs a quick eye over my outfit. I’m wearing a cropped coat above my skirt, my boots shiny and slick from slogging through the dewy forest. I feel overdressed and stupid for it. ‘Dressing up for some old dead guy, huh?’

‘Yeah. After a sugar daddy, aren’t I?’

She chuckles as she pushes the door open. ‘Already unlocked it. Wanted to check all the keys.’

‘Who do you owe for this?’

‘That it’s me asking is enough for Nic.’

‘Cute.’ I wrinkle my nose. ‘I guess.’

‘I told you. She can be alright sometimes.’ She shoots me a look. ‘Don’t forget, despite all of this shit, she still doesn’t kick you out. She has the power to do that.’

Kind of true, I guess. Suppose her love for Haz and Elly is greater than her hatred for me. I’ll have to remember that. Might come in handy one day.

Stale must stuffs my nose. I peer around the mausoleum, following the bounce of Haz’s torch. Carved columns line the room, arcing around a raised platform in the centre, a stone coffin protruding from it.

‘Thought you said he was buried lower?’

‘He is. Coffin’s just for aesthetics.’

There’s another wolf on the coffin, sitting there with its head cocked, a lifelike representation. Under Haz’s fitful light, I swear I see it move, curiously tracking us.

Forgot for a minute just what a pussy I am. If the forest freaked me out, I can’t imagine a catacomb will be much better. Suddenly I’m glad I came with Haz. I know she’d protect me no matter what. I press closer to her under the guise of being cold.

‘Right,’ she says. ‘Entrance is through the coffin.’

‘What?!’

She grins. ‘I lied. It’s not just for aesthetics.’

‘You’re having me on.’

She just shrugs, hopping up onto the platform. Laying her torch on the coffin lid, she places both hands against it. There’s a rending sound of squealing stone as the lid moves to one side.

‘Haz…’

She gestures me over. ‘Come on.’

I step up hesitantly. ‘Are there bones?’

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