CHAPTER TWO
LILA
The interior oozes luxury. Diamond-stitched leather seats mold to my every curve, while chrome accents and sleek digital displays give the dashboard a futuristic, high-end appearance.
The suede steering wheel, as soft as freshly shaved legs, is sensually teasing the driver.
Soft ambient lighting casts a warm, elegant glow throughout the cabin.
This is not just a car. It is pureseduction on wheels,perfectly fitting Aster’s bold personality.
As we make our way down the long, grand driveway, I glance back at the mansion. The glow from the windows feel safe like a lifeline I could still grab onto.
I could still turn back…
I could curl up on the couch with my heated blanket, a bottle of wine in one hand and my favorite novel in the other.
That would be predictable. So even though I want to turn back… I won’t.
Settling into my seat, I watch as tree after tree blurs past, doubts swirling in my mind.
Do I really have the guts for this? What if people laugh at me? What if it’s all a setup, a prank to remind me I don’t belong? Are they being nice… or is there some hidden agenda meant to hurt me?
My mind drifts back to tenth grade, when the star lacrosse player asked me to the homecoming dance. He’d heard I had a crush on him and used it to his advantage.
I was thrilled until we arrived.
He led me to the center of the dance floor, then pulled out his phone to record, called someone over, and smiled.
His ex-girlfriend.
At least, that’s what I believed. But the moment she stepped into the circle of flashing lights and laughing faces, I realized the truth. She wasn’t his ex. She was his real girlfriend. And I was nothing more than a joke. Just a pawn in his cruel game of emotional chess.
The crowd pressed in, their laughter slicing through me like shards of glass straight to my heart. My chest tightened, making it hard to breathe. My vision blurred. My stomach twisted as shame burned hot against my skin. I wanted to disappear.
“You really thought I’d take you?” He froze, soaking in the crowd’s attention, then let out a low chuckle. “That’s cute.” His eyes dragged down my body with slow, deliberate cruelty. “I’d never date someone who lives in a… shithole.”
Then he started toward me, achingly slow, like he was savoring the moment. Like he was feeding off my humiliation, and without warning, he smashed an egg on my head. “So run back to the trash… where you belong.”
Let’s just say Aster had no idea about any of this until later, and now he can’t have kids, thanks to a hospital visit for severely damaged testicles , courtesy of her. I smirk at the memory. My best friend is a total badass.
But then my leg starts bouncing, nerves creeping back in as the unknown of tonight settles over me.
Aster notices and cranks up the music, trying to drown out my anxiety with my favorite tunes. My heart skips when pop punk blasts through the speakers.
“I knew you would be freaking out about the party,” she says, smirking. “So, I had the playlist queued up and ready to go just for you.”
My worried expression melts into a grin, and I place my hand over my chest. “You really do know the way to my heart.”
“Or the way to get you horny before the party,” Aster teases. “Maybe you will actually get laid tonight.”
“Aster!” I sputter, turning red.
She laughs, throwing her hands up as if she is innocent. “I am just looking out for you. You are always so tense… and need some cock… I mean to loosen up.” I can’t help but chuckle at her vulgar mouth.
“I am not clueless, you know. I have been with one guy…” I mutter defensively. “Plus, Clint took me out the other night and it was… uhhh, nice.” I plaster a large fake smile across my face.
“Ew, Lila, you’re kidding. That frat guy from college? He is adouchebagand thinks he is better than everyone because his daddy owns a few clothing stores.” She rolls her eyes and makes a gagging noise. “I bet that prick is compensating for apencil dick.”
I spit out my water mid-sip, and we both break into high-pitched laughter. “Okay, okay… you’re probably right,” I admit, still catching my breath. “But he’s connected to Heartford Cyphers International, the company I’ve been dreaming of working for years. So, yeah... I might as well play the game.”
“Lila, whatever helps you sleep at night… but getting laid multiple times a week? That’s what really relaxes the body.”
I pause, her words echoing in my head.
Maybe she’s right. What if I actually had an orgasm and let this built-up anxiety go? But every time a man has touched me, it’s ended in disappointment. Empty. Forgettable.
Still, something inside me aches for more. Emotionally? Physically? Sexually?
God… I don’t even know. All I know is I’ve never felt truly satisfied.
I shake my head, snapping back to reality. Focus, Lila. Tonight is about fun. Nothing else. I crank up the volume, letting the music drown out my thoughts. The rhythm takes over, and I start nodding along, dancing in my seat, scream-singing along to“No Vanity”by Jxdn.
Aster watches me for a long moment, a slow smirk spreading across her face.
“Lila, you’re insane,” she laughs. “And you’re definitely a Gemini.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask, still jamming to the tunes.
“Well, I’ve always heard Geminis have two sides to their personality. A sweet side like an angel…” She shoots me a sideways glance, her voice dropping just enough to tease. “And a wicked side that’s full of spice… and a touch of darkness.”
I pause, taken back by her words. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, babe… I think you know exactly what I mean,” she says with a wink, turning her
eyes back to the road.
I glance at her, breathless, and my lips part as a strange realization settles over me. Do I really understand what she’s hinting at? Is that how she sees me? Sweet one minute… sinful the next? Can I really be both? Maybe I’ve always been.
Aster whips around the winding road, making the car ride feel like it’ll never end. I watch her navigation screen, my eyes fixated on the estimated arrival time ticking lower and lower.
Five minutes.
Four minutes.
Three minutes.
With each second that disappears, my heartbeat quickens. Aster must sense it because her fingers find my hand, squeezing reassuringly. Finally, the navigation chimes: “You have arrived at your destination.”
Right on cue, she makes a sharp left toward a monstrous black gate. I blink up at the towering iron structure, its gold accents glinting under the moonlight. Aster grins.“Welcome to our playground for the night.”
“This place gives me the creeps,” I murmur, shifting uncomfortably in my seat.
She laughs, her eyes flashing with wicked delight.“Good. That’s the goal! It’s Halloween, after all. Maybe you’ll find a big, strong man to protect you.”
I roll my eyes, but can’t help the shiver that runs through me. She scans a QR code, and the massive gate creaks open, swallowing us whole. I glance behind us as the iron bars slam shut again, locking us inside.
Well, it’s too late to back out now.
The road ahead twists into darkness, flanked by twisted oak trees whose branches stretch like skeletal fingers overhead. Flickering jack-o’-lanterns cast eerie red and orange glows along the path, their twisted faces carved into wide, sinister grins.
I should have stayed home.
Figures loom between the trees, their hollow, masked faces appearing and disappearing in the shifting shadows.
My stomach twists. One moment, they’re part of the bark …
and the next, they’re closer, like they’re waiting for the perfect moment to rip open our doors and drag us into the dark, eerie forest.
My hand fumbles for the door lock.“Uh, lock the doors… like now. ”
Aster snorts.“Relax, Lila. They’re just actors.” But the way the darkness shifts around them feels too real. The road curves and then…
I see it.
I grip Aster’s arm. “Holy. Shit.”
Before me rises the kind of mansion you only see in fairy tales or daydreams; it’s Gothic and grand, with towering spires that reach the night sky.
Moonlight spills across the stone, casting shadows over balconies and arched windows.
The whole place feels like a whisper from another era, as if Juliet herself is waiting on a balcony for her Romeo.
It’s beautiful, yes, but in the way a graveyard is beautiful. Quiet. Reverent. Unnerving.
The music thrums through the ground, a steady, pulsing bass that vibrates in my chest.
At the center of the courtyard stands a fountain, but it’s no ordinary sculpture. It’sMichael Myers.
A monstrous stone figure of the slasher icon looms over the entrance, his knife raised mid-swing, his blank, emotionless face staring straight ahead. Thick red water drips from his hands, splashing into the basin below, as if blood itself is pouring from the blade. My pulse skips.
Aster smirks, eating up my every reaction. “Creepy enough for you?”
I gulp. “I think I just unlocked a new fear… can we turn around?” I say sarcastically, but deep down, I mean it.
She chuckles, completely unbothered. “There’s no way to escape now.”
As we pull up to the valet, I spot a sea of luxury cars stretched across the massive lot. Rolls-Royces, Lambos, Aston Martins… each one probably worth more than my entire existence.
Aster looks just as stunned. “Damn. I swear, I had no idea it was going to be this packed.”
I let out a nervous laugh. “A small celebrity party, huh?”
She shrugs and casually tosses her keys to the valet. He’s dressed in a sleek black tux, his face hidden behind a glowing, neon orange mask. Two giant X’s cover his eyes, and a sinister grin stretches across the lower half.
“This place is going to be the death of me.” I tighten my grip on Aster’s arm as if she’s my lifeline. We climb the grand steps and slip through the towering vintage doors, straight into my own personal hell.