Chapter 9 #2
Ezra’s in a full vampire costume, with drag queen glam.
We’re talking floor-length black velvet cape, red glitter eyeshadow, highlighter blindingly bright, and sharp little fangs that make his smile look even more adorable.
His ginger curls are swept up into a half-up bun, with sparkling glitter dusted throughout.
His boots are heeled, and his nails are a sparkly black. He looks like a freaking vision.
“There she is!” He yells when he sees me. “Miss Sin and Suffering herself.”
Talia lets out a wolf whistle. “Look at our little devil. Who knew damnation came with a pair of banging tits?”
I bark out a laugh and flop onto the couch beside her, adjusting the corset for the hundredth time. “I feel ridiculous.”
“You look hot,” Talia replies, bumping her shoulder into mine. “Like the kind of girl who could ruin a man’s life with just a wink.”
“Honestly?” Ezra says, handing me a solo cup filled with pink liquid. “If I were into boobs, I’d be worshipping yours right now.”
I giggle, shaking them at him for effect before sipping the drink.
It tastes like melted candy with a strong after-burn.
Perfect. We keep drinking, and Talia puts on Doja Cat, making us scream the lyrics into hairbrushes as we dance around the room.
Ezra spins, his cape billowing around him as he lip syncs for his life, whilst I do my very best not to trip over in my heels.
It’s nothing short of chaotic, and I’ve never felt so alive.
Talia swipes up Ezra’s phone, scrolling through his playlist with a smirk before putting on a track she knows is going to break us all.
Sleep Token - Take Me Back to Eden. The room stills for a breath, then the first haunting notes slide through the air.
We don’t speak, we freaking belt. Every single lyric and crescendo.
Talia clutches at her chest dramatically, and Ezra throws his head back, howling the bridge like it’s being torn from his soul.
When it ends, we stand there panting from our efforts, and Ezra throws a handful of glitter into the air like confetti and yells, “TO THE FRAT!”
The Lambda house looks like it’s been doused in the stuff that oozes from glowsticks, wrapped in fake cobwebs. Pumpkins line the stairs up to the door, fog machines pump out thick mist, and lights pulse red, purple, and eerie green through the windows.
Ezra spins as he steps into the foyer, his cape flapping around him.
The party is buzzing. Bodies are everywhere—angels with glitter halos, cowboys in crop tops, there’s even a guy in a banana suit doing the worm.
The music thumps through the walls, and I swipe a drink off a tray, downing it in one gulp alongside Talia and Ezra.
We move straight to the middle of the main room, Ezra grinding on me like a horny teenager, and neither of us gives a damn.
Talia’s surrounded by a flock of frat boys, every single one of them dressed as something shirtless.
Ezra barks at them. Literally barks, to make them go away.
One of the guys stumbles back, eyes wide. “Jesus!”
“I bite!” Ezra says as he barks again, and I burst into a fit of laughter.
Talia kisses his cheek as a thanks, then begins to vanish into the crowd with someone way too old to be in a college house. “Back later!” She calls with a wink.
Ezra turns to me, glancing over my shoulder with a sparkle in his eye. “Don’t let the frat goblins steal you. I’m off to seduce Batman.”
I turn to look over my shoulder and spot him across the room. Tall, blonde, definitely Ezra’s type. He’s wearing black eyeliner and cat ears.
“Go get him,” I say, shoving him forward. “Flash him your fangs, maybe he’ll let you bite him.”
He winks and struts off, hips swaying as his cape trails behind him. Menace.
I spot him before he sees me. Ethan, standing in the doorway, flanked by three of his teammates and riding the high of an obvious victory from the game he just crushed.
His letterman jacket hangs open, red solo cup in one hand, half his shirt untucked.
He’s grinning like the party was thrown just for him.
He wasn’t supposed to be here. He said that he would be too tired after the game, that he would need to rest. But here he is, loud, drunk, scanning the crowd. I don’t know why, but some small part of me prays he doesn’t see me. But of course, his eyes land on mine.
“Daisy!” He shouts over the music, grinning from ear to ear as he walks over.
I force a smile as he pulls me into a one-armed hug. “You won?”
“Crushed ‘em, babe. You look—” his gaze sweeps over me hungrily, lingering just a little too long. “Jesus, you look hot.”
I step out of his arm, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. “Thanks.”
“Here,” he says, thrusting a drink into my hand. “Catch up.”
“I’m good, really—”
“Come on, it’s a party. Don’t be a bore.” He demands, cutting me off.
He stares down at me until I take a sip, pushing the cup back to my lips when I go to pull it away. He holds it there until I finish it, and he smirks before handing me another.
He pulls my back to his chest, gripping my hips as he grinds himself against me to the music.
His friends all surround us, cheering and laughing, and I just let myself fall into it, trying to enjoy the party.
When the second song finishes, it feels as though the room is spinning.
My legs feel unsteady, and my thoughts feel like they’re sticking to the sides of my brain like honey.
Everything’s loud, then quiet, then loud again.
The colours blur, and voices seem to distort around me.
But Ethan stays close, his arm wrapped tightly around me.
I feel him lowering his fingers, and I try to brush them off, but I feel horrific.
“I don’t feel good,” I manage to slur out.
I didn’t drink that much, did I? Not enough to feel this drunk. Gods, I feel wasted, and not in a nice way.
Ethan leans close, his breath hot at my ear. “Let me take care of you, baby.”
He pulls me towards the stairs, keeping a tight grip on me as I stumble forward.
I slowly blink as the bass fades, and he opens a door and pulls me into a darkened, quiet room.
I don’t recall even climbing the stairs, yet somehow, now I’m up them and entering a bedroom.
I’m so tired. I just want to lie down. Just for a second.
The bed dips under my weight, the cold sheets welcoming against my too-warm skin. My body feels heavy, wrong, like it doesn’t belong to me anymore. My eyes fall on Ethan, and I see him pull a condom from his jeans, ripping the wrapper open with his teeth.
“Ethan,” I whisper. “Wait…”
But he doesn’t. My thoughts fragment, and I try to move, to sit up. But I can’t. My body is not cooperating with me at all.
“Just relax, you’ll like it.” He whispers as his blurred form slips off his jacket.
His hands are on my thighs, pushing the skirt of my costume up as I try to protest. He’s not listening to me. His weight pins me to the mattress. I try to push him back, but my arms feel full of cement.
“Stop,” I murmur. “Please stop—”
His mouth crashes into mine. He tastes like vodka and sweat and cigarette smoke. I turn my head to evade the kiss, but he grabs my face in his hands to turn me back to him.
“I promise, it’ll be fun,” he mumbles between sloppy kisses that I try to avoid.
I try to push away again, but he doesn’t notice, or he just doesn’t care. My eyes sting as tears begin to fill them. Everything feels too loud and too far away all at once. This isn’t happening. It can’t be happening.
I hear his belt buckle clatter as he forces my thighs apart, and I give one last attempt at stopping him from doing this to me.
“Please, Ethan,” I slur, begging him to stop what he’s doing.
He forces himself inside of me, my body so unprepared I hiss in pain at the brutal contact.
“See, doesn’t that feel good?” He grunts as he buries his face in my neck.
I go still. Not because I give up, but because it feels like the only way to survive.
My body is too heavy to obey me anyway. I stare at the ceiling through bleary eyes at the blinking red light of some forgotten smoke detector.
I count each blurry blink, trying to pretend I’m somewhere else.
I feel the sting between my thighs as Ethan mumbles my name against my neck and I grip at the sheets for some form of control, some form of safety.
My body feels limp, almost lifeless, as he uses me for his own pleasure.
My mind floats away, trying to focus on anything other than what’s currently happening to me.
I lie entirely still until Ethan climbs off me.
“Now you have no more reason to say no to me. It’s done, nothing to be scared of anymore, baby.
” He says before placing one last wet kiss on my mouth.
He gets up, buckles his belt back up, and leaves the room without looking back.
He doesn’t even bother to fully close the door, leaving me to lie there, vulnerable and used.
I still don’t move. I just stare at the ceiling, hot, wet tears tracking down my temples into my hairline as I try to come to terms with what just happened.
And even though my mouth is full of cotton, even though my body betrays my need for flight, frozen like I’m still strapped beneath his weight—a single name slips out of me, soft and broken.
“Korithax.”
Then everything goes black.