The Lost Girls || Bbangsaz

XVII

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Hyein opened the front door. The creaking hinges set off the neighborhood dogs, and a pane of glass slid out of a window, shattering on the front porch. Home sweet home. In the main room, Hyein's loyal followers, sad kids in black, were sprawled out everywhere. Like human roaches, they emotionally suckled off the filth and dreary atmosphere.

"Attention." Hyein gave a single clap. With a change in posture, she had gone from the girl who had seen Pretty in Pink five times in the theater to a discount Dracula. "I have invited a council to join us this evening. Initiation begins in five minutes in the basement."

The six teens scrambled to their feet, tripping over one another as they shoved their way toward the basement entrance. All over the opportunity to die. They were so hungry for it, for the beauty they thought came with immortality. They had no idea how ugly it could be. The scent of their desperation snapped in the air. They'd probably taste gamy, like deer and bark.

A girl with two lip rings and fishnet gloves hesitated at the door. She pulled her store-bought black hair over her shoulder as she examined the four of us with fear glazing her eyes. The promise of immortality no longer appeared as appealing when staring down actual death. She had a chance to change direction. To live fully. She looked at me, and I mouthed, "Run." With a final glance at Hyein, she booked it through the sliding glass door and disappeared.

"Smart girl." Hyein gazed out the open slider like a proud mother bird who had just pushed a baby out of the nest. "I always did like Alyssa. It would've been a shame to eat her. Make yourselves comfortable while I deal with the others."

The metallic scent of rust and standing water wafted up from the basement as she headed down the stairs, which groaned with each step she took. I was surprised they hadn't rotted out completely. The five teens who had clamored to get down there probably shook with anticipation, thinking they'd soon be joining the ranks of the undead, poor things. What a terrible place to die.

Haerin dumped her suitcase by the front door. She stepped on the carpet, and it crunched beneath the pressure. Her delicate nostrils flared as she sniffed the air. "Good God, it's even worse than I remembered."

"Don't be rude, Haerin." Dani clasped her hands, looking every bit like a big-eyed bunny facing a gothic house of horrors. "A little fresh air, a little Lysol, and this place will clean up nicely." Her smile faltered as a mouse scurried across the living room and into a hole in the wall.

"It was very kind of Hyein to let us stay here."

"We could always get another apartment," Haerin said.

"How did you find the last apartment, anyway?" The rent on that place must've been double what I made at Taco Bell in a month.
Unless Haerin had a secret business selling her art projects on Etsy, I couldn't figure out how they afforded it.

"We killed the landlord." Dani had a way of making murder sound like peaches-and-cream innocence, and she gave the sweetest smile at the memory. "He owned six properties, lived alone, and charged enormous late fees. He still hasn't been reported missing."

"Huh. Good idea." That was so much more economical than trying to scrape together enough money for rent. When I lived with Elton, we mostly stayed in hotels or off-season cabins. It had never occurred to me to secure housing for more than a few days at a time.

Just another way I hadn't been properly prepared to live as an adult.

"Now that that's done, a few warnings." Hyein dusted off her hands as she came out of the basement. "The second floor is beyond repair, don't go up there. The backyard burts up against the woods. You can dump your kills back there, not too close to the house, though, or it'll attract animals. My mom's house isn't a palace, but i don't think Elton knows about it."