This Book Sucks Blood

Chapter 8: Kiss and Tell

Song Selection: Fangs—Younger Hunger

The anthem cut on again, loud and bouncy, with the sharp electric stings of the dance music pounding between Harrison's ears. He held Naomi's slim hand tight in his. Her eyes were wild, her face slick with sweat. He tried to smile at her, but his mouth twitched weakly. He only saw a small piece of the disappearance from his place on the stage. Seth's giant eyes, his whole body yanked down into the floor.

Mystique twirled, bobbing her head to the music. "Now dance!"

It was a command. Harrison pulled Naomi toward him and she stepped on all of his toes. The smile she gave was sheepish and small, those eyes still frozen with fear. The other contestants danced by themselves, eyes cutting back and forth between each other. Elody was smiling wide, her movements poised and graceful; it didn't even match the beat. She looked like a ballerina taken from a snow globe, her dress swirling all around her.

Kitty jumped up and down, her mohawk being tossed around like an orange flame. And it was like that for two more minutes, the song playing out. And then Terry stood up. "Alright, close your eyes. We're taking you back for the night."

The conga line resumed. The seven of them snaked backstage, guided blindly (and clumsily) back to their makeshift home. Three new camera bots sat in the center of the room, their dark lens eyes glimmering like tumbled stones. 

"We'll come to get you in the morning, Kitty. You all get some rest. There will be another challenge tomorrow." And with that, Terry turned on his heel, pulling his pageboy hat down so low that his eyes all but sunk into the shadow itself. He shrugged at the contestants as he left. When the door slid shut, it sounded like a coffin closing to Harrison's tired ears.

Elody cleared her throat and swung her head less than an inch from Kitty's."Why would the emperor pick you?"

"Easy, easy." Harrison lifted his hands, stepping between her and Kitty. Not that Kitty seemed affected.

"Back off." Elody bared white teeth. "Why do you think you have to intervene with everything? No one made you king."

Kitty took this as an escape route. "Beat you to the showers!" And she raced away to one of the attached bathrooms. Contestants trailed after her, all of them murmuring about Seth. Eyes moved suspiciously to the robots, and Harrison's heart pounded. It was Seth's absence, he thought. He already missed that easy laugh and smile. The fight had never bothered him; what bothered him now was that the stunt meant the man was gone.

The women trailed behind Kitty; some stayed behind to rifle through their luggage, maybe looking for towels or sleepwear. Griffin did the same, busily tugging at the zipper of his nylon suitcase. Harrison grabbed his now misshapen hat off a the work desk, took a long breath, and placed a hand on Griffin's back.

Griffin jumped, scattering the colorful clothes in his hands. They looked like Astorian birds, bright and silky things. Harrison bent his knees to get closer to Griffin's height, Griffin's icy eyes watching him ponderously.

"You don't think they'd have cameras in the showers, do you?" Harrison asked.

Griffin shook his head. "That would violate the privacy laws."

There was no way to phrase this well. In fact, maybe for drama! Scandal! It would be best to phrase it in the worst way possible. Have the people watching suspect one devious thing, instead of the other.

"Would you like to shower with me, Griffin? Platonically, I mean?"

Harrison didn't think Griffin's eyes could get any larger. They did. Griffin looked like a cartoon character, a handsome outline of a person with eyes that could swallow his face. "Uhhhm."