Shadow's Kiss (Monstrous Hearts: Fleur's Story)

Story Extra: Tricked for a Treat (2/2)

Fleur knew she wasn't dead because her head hurt too much. There was also a sickly sweet taste at the back of her tongue and in every shallow breath she took. She must have been knocked out with something. With a wince, she opened her eyes and saw the shapes of people through her blurry vision.

They were upside down. The whole world was, and spinning gently as well. Wriggling only made the movement worse. Her arms hung toward the floor, wrists tied together and held in place by some kind of rough rope. Her feet were tied as well, and she could crunch herself up just enough to see that those restraints were what hooked into a chain extending from the ceiling. Her abs quickly gave out, leaving her fully upside down and dizzy again.

In the next moment, a pink, neon cross swam into view, the only thing that looked rightside up to her—which meant it hung upside down on the wall. An inverted cross.

Her next breath came out as a shriek.

The neon sign cast light onto several figures hurrying around with coils of cables. They all wore jack o'lantern masks at odds with their careful, purposeful movements while they set up cameras on tripods.

Her piercing scream stilled their work, and she yelled again while wriggling against her restraints. "What the fuck is this?" she screamed at the masked faces.

Despite the ragged question, some part of her already knew. The multiple camera setup, the bright lighting all focused on a bloodstained table... even in the middle of her panic, her gaze darted to a ragged pile off to the side. A barely recognizable body. Somehow, she had ended up as fresh meat for another group of killers.

"This is not happening again," she growled, wrenching her wrists. "Not again."

"Again?" she heard one of them murmur, while moving the table out of sight.

"Never mind her," said a new voice from somewhere behind Fleur. "She'll shut up soon enough, anyway."

Despite her haze of shock and fury, Fleur still recognized who had spoken. Of course she did; it had taken five minutes to complete her stupid coffee order earlier that night at the church fundraiser. "Missy Blanc? Are you fucking kidding me?"

The woman circled around to face her. She looked far different from earlier, now in a black corset, fishnet tights, and high heels that clicked with each step. Only her smile remained the same, the flash of teeth dominating her face in the way of a shark. "That's strong language for a church-going girl."

"Fuck off." The words were hardly out of her mouth before someone grabbed her by the hair to spin her around.

Her vision didn't like that, swimming for a second or two before steadying again. When it did, Missy's boyfriend, Tony, stood there. He was shirtless and wore a masquerade mask and fake devil horns that were both bright, cherry red. He even had pathetically small demon wings strapped to his back.

He smiled at her. "I guess you were unlucky."

She just growled at him while renewing efforts to wriggle her hands free of the rope. He didn't seem interested in stopping her, instead sitting on a throne carefully angled toward her. The piece of furniture looked ornate yet cheap, like something meant for a play.

Missy seemed to have already dismissed her, instead walking along the cameras arranged around Fleur in a circle, one hand on her hip while she ordered the crew around. "I want audio for this one. And are you sure the lights are fixed? Tonight's first kill looked overexposed. This is live, remember? And we're getting paid lots of money for it. It has to look good."

Fleur fell limp from the realization of what was happening. The costumes, the fake furniture in an otherwise empty room, and the very expensive filming equipment... "You're livestreaming yourself murdering people?"