Page 84 of The Monster of Hotel No. 7
Then I see something that makes my stomach turn, but I’m not even quite sure what I’m looking at.
It seems to be…an eye.
The pupil is so large, there is no iris to be found.
Only blackness and the whites, swiveling around frantically as if searching for something. Someone.
Fingertips tap against the base of the door.
It must be a person, but it looks so disembodied, this single eye visible under the crack.
The whimper sounds again, strange and distorted, like maybe their mouth is sewn shut or…
Get the fuck out of here, Karia. Fuck this. Run.
For some reason, I don’t want to. Especially as that swiveling eye with the blown pupil looks onto me, and I swear I hear them pleading inside my head.
Save me.
Just open the door.
I’m right here.
But I am pathetic.
I don’t stay.
I fucking run.
“Here.”Cosmo thrusts a black plastic cup toward me, full of blood-red punch from a bowl set upon a dark table topped with platters of hors d’oeuvre in skeleton-painted black serving trays. Chocolate-covered pretzels and shrimp cocktail and black bean dip and ghost-shaped marshmallow dessert. Despite my nerves, my stomach grumbles and I think about grabbing a handful of all of it and stuffing it in my mouth just so I don’t have to carefully talk my way out of this predicament with Cosmo.
I reach for the cup, our fingers brushing for a moment and his green gaze catches mine as the music changes in the dining room.Thisspace is off to the side of the main basement. It must have once been or is still partially used as a cold storage room. It’s freezing in here and I don’t think it’s meant to host eclectic dinner parties that play sultry bass beats, but Serpent’s Emporium has a lot of fucking surprises.
Including Cosmo de Actis’s presence.
He quickly explained to Maude we all knew each other but were meeting tonight by surprise, and he didn’t elaborate on ourfriendships.No one in the strange group seemed too inclined to ask further questions as Sullen reluctantly left me to speak alone with Cosmo.
I think everyone here tonight is keeping their own secret.
I bring the punch to my lips, catching the scent of cherries and bourbon. I only take a small sip, knowing it’s been a long time since I had food and soon, Sullen and I will need to fucking run again.
As the ice-cold punch freezes my throat while warming my belly, I turn to glance into the main dining room, just past the entranceway to this dim space, red lights the only glow in here, too.
Sullen is between Maude and the pink-haired girl, his chin tipped down, hands in his lap. The women lean in close to him with dizzying smiles. I think I even see a corner of Sullen’s mouth tip upward as Maude says something I can’t hear, and I clench my fingers tight around the black cup in my hand.
Just then, as my heart races and I try to fight back my own jealousy, Sullen’s dark eyes lift to mine and our gazes lock.
The half-smile on his full mouth disappears.
I lift my chin, take another drink as I keep my eyes on his, then wink at him before I turn away without waiting for his reaction.
A giddiness runs through me that is out of place tonight, but I can’t help it. This new bond between us makes me feel…dizzy.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, Karia?” Cosmo’s tone is ice. He finishes off his own punch, then crumples the cup in his hand. The plastic breaks, a jagged piece pushing into his palm, but he doesn’t seem to notice or care.
Cosmo and I went to the same private high school. I’ve known him for years, and he’s usually easygoing and relaxed, always with a smile on his face.
But I suppose nearly knocking him out with a flashlight and running away with a guy who drugged him might have shifted his attitude toward me a little.
