Beautiful Demons

37. They Choose You

Drake drove through downtown, across a bridge, then out into the dark countryside beyond. I had never seen this side of town before.

"Where's this party anyway?"

He turned down the radio a bit. "Foster's parents have this cabin down by the lake. They let us use it whenever we want," he said. "It's completely stocked, too. You'll see."

Drake turned off the main highway onto a deserted dirt road. I couldn't see any lights and for a minute, I wondered if he'd gotten lost. Then, up ahead, a huge orange flame rose up.

"A bonfire?"

"So cool," Agnes said.

I didn't want to tell him how much fire scared me. Already, I could feel my palms getting sweaty. Great. Just what I needed.

At least thirty people were already dancing and drinking around the fire. A stereo system was set up on the huge side porch and the speakers blasted loud music. I wondered if there were any neighbors who might call and complain, then remembered that we were in the middle of nowhere. Plus, these were the rich kids. They probably never got in trouble.

The so-called cabin was actually more of a mansion. I figured anything over three thousand square feet lost the right to be labeled a cabin, but what did I know? Geez, what was it with this town and huge houses? This one raised up high into the sky, three stories up.

Drake's hand closed around mine and he led me through the party. I looked back to say something to Agnes, but she and Courtney had disappeared into the crowd. Oh well. I'd find them later.

Brooke, Allison, and Lark stood on the porch, their faces lit by firelight. They waved me over like we were old friends.

"Time for tequila," Brooke yelled over the music.

"Ew, I can't do it," Lark said. "I had the worst hangover last time. I think we should do a round of lemon drops in remembrance of Tori."

"Hell yeah," Allison said. "Lemon drops it is. You down, Harper?"

Everyone looked to me. What the hell. "Let's do this."

**

"I seriously need to pee."

Lark grabbed my arm and practically dragged me toward the house. We'd been doing shots and dancing by the fire for the past hour, and to tell the truth, I'd had to pee for the last twenty minutes.

Together, we climbed our way through the crowd. Inside, though, both downstairs bathrooms had lines three people deep.

"Dammit, I'm going to seriously pee my pants," she said. She leaned against me and I struggled to hold her upright.

"If you pee on me, I swear to God, I'll never forgive you." I laughed and grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's check upstairs."

The second floor had several bedrooms. In the first room, a couple grunted in the shadows. "Taken," a guy yelled out. Lark and I giggled and shut the door.

A couple other rooms on that floor were locked tight, too.

"I think there's a third floor," I said.

Lark groaned. "You aren't seriously going to ask me to walk all the way up there?"

"Come on."

The stairs up to the third floor were dark and when I flipped the switch, nothing happened.

"Forget it," Lark said. "I'm going back down to wait."

"Scared of the dark?" I teased.

"Yes," she said. I laughed as she made her way back downstairs.