❝You and me, darlin', we're gonna have a whale of a time...❞
Shortly after her sixteenth birthday, Tamsyn James has her first encounter with the Fae - a deadly group of beings from a place called the Otherworld. Not long after finding out she's one...
A giant banner hung across the doorway read Happy Birthday, Tamsyn in giant sparkling letters.
"The senior boys put a lot of alcohol into this," Sienna announced, hand on the knob as the other girls gathered behind me. "Act surprised."
The door opened; Sienna propelled me into the dark.
Evil shapes with burning red eyes lurked all around. They called for me, in a roaring, endless whisper-scream that blew my hair back. Then the lights came on, and the monsters vanished. Thrown back into a world of color and chaos, I could hardly catch my breath as the crowd screamed happy birthday.
People were packed into the living room and piled on the staircase, gathering single file for an endless wave of hugs. My shoulders were clapped, my hands were clasped; I was swallowed by a swarm of smiling faces, most of whom I barely knew. I was just thankful to be in the light.
The crowd around me thinned and the lights went dim. Tove Lo blasted through unseen speakers and boys and girls grabbed their partners, red plastic cups in hand. Blue and silver balloons floated against the high, tapered ceiling; matching streamers decorated the walls. In the dining room, a mahogany table was stacked a foot high with gifts in wrapping paper. And if I knew Kelly Miller like I knew the rest of Sienna's family, then Mrs. Miller had probably ordered some extravagant cake and left the kitchen loaded with party food. And I was ungrateful as hell.
In attempt to escape the crowd, if only for a moment, I headed for the brightly lit hallway leading to the bedrooms. Telling myself to ignore the demon whispering about alcohol in my ear, I stopped short when I saw the light at the end of the hall begin to flicker.
"Oh, gimme a break."
No such thing.
The ceiling lights in the tunnel-like hall went out one-by-one, as hungry red eyes danced in the dark, pushing me backwards step-by-step. Trembling at the mouth of the hallway, frightened of those red eyes jumping in the blackness, I gasped, hands on my face as a giant shadow came hurtling from the dark.
I watched a laughing couple blast past me hand-in-hand. When I turned, the lights in the hall were shining again, bright as they'd ever been.
"Fuck you."I was still shaking as I turned on my heel, forced to return to the crowd.
I didn't see Kai until he reached out and grabbed my wrist. He looked handsome in his plaid blue shirt, rolled at the sleeves. He waggled the present in his hands, smiling - until he saw the look on my face.
"Tamsyn? You okay?"
Behind him, over his shoulder, the tunnel went dark again.
I shook my head. "No. I am definitely not okay."
I left, hurrying away, my guilt heavier than my fear as I realized poor Kai probably thought it was his fault. But when I turned back to apologize, he was already gone.
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