Red Light: A Dark Stalker Romance (Book One) (Dangerous Games Series)

Chapter Fourteen - Alanna

While I get dressed Flick runs home to grab clothes for the day. I should really give him a drawer or something. But we were moving so fast already. I didn't know if I should just because of the optics. I liked having him here, but he's basically moved in as is and I've only known him a couple weeks. That should be concerning right? That we're getting attached too quickly. I thought about what's appropriate for relationships as I picked out a spaghetti strap rose dress with a black backdrop and an asymmetrical cut bottom.

I slip the dress on and pull on some lace tights to go with it before I strap on my spiked boots. I wash my face to start with a clean palette and begin painting another masterpiece for the day. By the time I'm adding finishing touches I hear the door open and close. "In the bathroom!" I shout and I hear two sets of feet start ascending the stairs. I finish with my makeup and head to meet my guests at the top of the stairs.

Flick was ascending followed closely by Patty. "She flagged me down while I was headed back." Flick says by way of explanation. "Oh, I'm not missing a second of our experiment. Today's DNA Day after all. You should see the line outside the high school. People are just lining up to get free DNA information from Timothy. It's intense. The poor kid had to call in reinforcements from the science teachers." Patty says, knowing all the gossip already, she doesn't miss a thing.

"Oh shoot! Am I gonna have to wait in line?" I ask and Patty shakes her head. "You have an appointment. The founding families have been walking right in." I breathe a sigh of relief, and we all descend and head back to the driveway. "Do either of you need food before we go?" I ask as I go to lock the door. "I'll make us something after." Flick says with a shrug and we all head to his truck to make our way to the high school.

Patty wasn't exaggerating. There was a line out the front door of the high school. We park on the street, as the parking lot is full to bursting. We walk past people and Patty waves to basically everyone and stops to chat a couple times, getting new information about the day's events. People seemed to just grab her and tell her things. The looks they gave her and whispered questions about being with Flick and I were a bit annoying though.

While we walked past the line Shauna waved me over and gave Flick a wary look before asking me why I missed book club again. I apologized profusely and told her I'd try to make the next one. I was just so busy getting the house set to rights. She seemed to really really want me to join the book club. She'd made sure to text me reminders every Thursday and give me the address wherever they were meeting. I felt kind of bad for missing the meetings.

But Flick was always there and had a much more enticing offer on the table. So, I didn't feel that bad. We push through the doors and enter the entrance hall of the school. Flick and Patty quickly lead me toward the gym. Given that they know where they're going, the trip takes far less time than it would have if I had just followed the line of people. They took me through a shortcut that weaved through classrooms. Perfectly coordinated without even speaking to one another.

We come into the gym from the back and see three adults taking DNA from three people at a time while a rather small teenage boy sits talking with the first person in line. "Timothy! Your next appointment is here!" Patty yells across the gym and the young boy turns around with a stern look on his face. "You're late!" He says and I look at the caged clock on the wall and see we are indeed two minutes late. Strict little guy.

"Sorry." I say as we approach the empty plastic blue chair sitting in the middle of the gym. I take a seat, and Timothy comes over with a long Q-Tip and says, "Open." in a no-nonsense tone. I open my mouth, and he carefully places the Q-Tip on the inside of my cheek and swabs a few times before he pulls the Q-Tip out and places it in a long plastic tub, securing the bottom with tape and writing my name on it. "Is that it?" I ask. "Yep. Now, I need that chair." Timothy says with the same no-nonsense tone of voice.