The BAD Prince

Chapter One

    Kelly took a deep breath and tried her best to act calm. If her friends knew she was scared, they'd make fun of her all night. She'd just have to find an excuse to tell them no!

- Look, I could probably go... But the biology exam is the day after tomorrow, there's no way I could fail. - She looked at her friends' faces to see if they believed her, but they were impenetrable.

Sure, Kelly had been intrigued when Rebecca had suggested that they meet at her place tonight and discuss the "crazy plan," but she couldn't have anticipated just how CRAZY it was going to be!

- Kelly, we've been friends for so long! - Rebecca began.

- That's crazy, a whole year! - Wendy interjected sarcastically.

- Let me tell you! - Rebecca scoffed. - You know how much I trust you. I don't want to go in there alone. If I had other friends, I'd call them. But you're all I have!

Rebecca folded her palms in a prayerful gesture and rolled her eyes theatrically toward the ceiling. Her demonically beautiful white curls fluttered like waves in a paradisiacal lagoon. Yes, that was exactly how Kelly described almost every detail of her friend's appearance. Rebecca was incredibly beautiful! People say "devilishly beautiful," and it was hard to argue with that. The girl had an otherworldly magnetism, there was something fascinating in everything she said.

- I cannot believe my ears! Rebecca Jones is obsessed with a guy? Who are you and where has the real Becca gone? - Wendy grinned again.

Kelly thought about how jealous Wendy was of Rebecca, but tried her best not to give herself away. Let's face it, this is hard.

- Ethan will be at the Field. He wants to see me! - Beca almost begged.

Kelly couldn't help but notice her friend's sincere, burning feelings for the guy who had been occupying all of their conversations lately. At Rebecca's behest, of course.

Ethan was a member of a street gang. He's the kind of guy responsible parents scare their kids about. Daring, criminal and divinely handsome - again, in Rebecca's opinion. Kelly has never seen Ethan in real life, and remembering the rumors about "The Field," her desire to get close to him and his boys has completely dried up. A street called "The Thorny Corner" is one everyone in her town knows to be wary of. The one that is barely lit at night.

There, behind the unfinished building of the Mall, where there should be a parking lot for a few hundred cars, is the "Field". A huge piece of land covered with gravel. The home of Ethan's gang! The most realistic place in a thriller. Kelly shuddered as she pictured the hulking empty Mall building, black against the setting sky. Like a giant toad, looming over the patch of gray earth where the supermarket's visitor parking lot had once been planned. A stone monster and its sanctuary!

And that's where Rebecca wants Kelly and Wendy to go.

- Have you ever been there? I'm serious, Becky! I know it sounds lame, but we've all heard the horror stories about The Field. I mean... what if even a fraction of those stories turn out to be true? I don't want to be beaten and raped! - Kelly tried to sound confident. She was sure of what she was saying, even if it made her look like a coward.

- Look, I'm not going to talk you out of this forever! Are we friends? In my opinion, yes. I don't want to go there alone, and if I thought there was the slightest threat to your safety, I wouldn't ask.

Rebecca's green eyes glistened and she looked like she was about to cry. Kelly knew it was just a ploy, but she couldn't resist.

- I'm going to regret this! - Exhaling heavily, Kelly agreed.

- We've officially agreed to go to Elm Street! - Wendy followed her friend's lead. Her reference to "A Nightmare on Elm Street" did not inspire much hope for this venture.

- No boys or alcohol! - Kelly insisted.

- Only if you ask her. - Rebecca smiled mischievously, her eyes shining with triumph.

Kelly had regretted her decision to go through The Thorny Corner a thousand times, but deep down she wondered.

Maybe not all of the monsters were as scary as she thought.