Page 4 of Pick Your Poison

“All right,” she toes off her black, fur lined boots and settles in on the sofa, getting comfortable, “Spill it all.”

I drop my head back on the arm of the couch and sigh heavily.

“I was walking home last night, and like always, I was passing in front of the Bellevue. I normally stay on the other side of the street, that way I don’t have to walk under the covered part where guests pull up and unload things. It was so cold last night that I wanted to take advantage of the heaters they have lining the sidewalk on that side…”

“That makes sense.”

“Then this car pulled up and some men got out, and they were the most intensely attractive men I’ve ever seen in my life, Callie, but especially one in particular.” I can see him in my head right now, with those incredible, confusingly scary eyes. It sends a delicious chill up my spin. “Seeing him made me literally freeze in my tracks, and he saw me staring at him. We locked eyes and I felt this spark. I know that’s stupid, but it’s true.”

“These are all good things. When does the overthinking come into play?”

“He had his arm around a woman when it happened. He looked over her to see me, then went into the hotel. I shook it off and kept walking then somehow, I don’t know how it happened, but he ended up behind me and asked if I was looking for someone.”

“What do you mean he ended up behind you?”

“I mean I watched him walk into the hotel. I didn’t look away, really at all, then I walked by the entrance, tried looking through the glass doors for him and all of a sudden, he was behind me. I can’t explain it. I never even saw him come back out.”

“That’s… odd. Is that what has you freaking out?”

“No,” I stand up and go over to my bag and pull out the keycard. “This is.”

“What is that?”

“It’s a key. He invited me to a party that he’s having at the Bellevue tonight.” I hand it over to her so she can inspect it closer.

“Where hedonism is king,” she says, quoting the etching on the back.

“Tell me that doesn’t sound intriguing, but terrifying.”

“Are you going to go?”

“I was hoping you’d have some more insight or advice about that, because the more I think about it, the more my heart rate goes up, then I start spiraling and then I break out.” I plop back onto the sofa dramatically.

“Well, I guess my first question is, do you even want to go? What’s your instant reaction?”

“If I have to answer without thinking then yes, I want to go.” I want, no, need to see him again, and I don’t even know why.

“There’s a but in there somewhere. Let’s hear that side too.”

“But… I’ve seen enough true crime documentaries to know that it’s very possible that nothing good can come from going to a mysterious party with an equally mysterious stranger on Halloween, of all days.”

Callie has been my most trusted friend since I moved into this apartment. She’s always brutally honest and calls me on my shit, and I call her on hers. If she thinks going to this party, if living a little, is a good idea, I will trust that.

“It’s not like he invited you to a shady apartment in one of the bad sides of town. It’s a party inside of one of the most luxurious, prestigious hotels in the country. Did you get a bad vibe from him?”

“No, not really. All I got from him was mystery.”

“Is it a mystery you want to solve?”

That, Callie, is the question of the day, isn’t it?

“You’ve heard about the parties thrown at the Bellevue though… especially around Halloween.”

“Rumors, at best, Lilith.”

The Bellevue Hotel and the parties that happen there are rooted in the history of Chicago. They can even be dated back centuries, before Chicago was even Chicago and it was taking place across the pond in Europe.

There are rumors of Al Capone attending and many other gangsters and mob affiliates. It’s all evolved over the years, and so have the rumors.

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