Divine Vices (26 page)

“I
did not
.”

“So
it never crossed your mind that I was responsible for the murders around here?”

“Who
said Veronica was murdered?” I asked, feeling paranoia shoot back through me.

“I
think it’s pretty safe to say that she’s not hanging out in someone’s basement
playing Uno,” Jack replied lightly.

I
stood motionless, closely examining his features, waiting for even the
slightest microexpression to give way to his possibly prevaricated answer.
Nothing.

“Dance
with me,” he said.

“I
should be getting back,” I replied, trying to slink around him until Jack’s arm
extended out to block my path.

He
gradually drew me in with an embrace ever so gentle, permitting me the
opportunity to break free, if I wished. But I didn’t.

“Haven’t
I tortured you enough?” I asked.

He
took my hands into his and coaxed me into the crowds.  “What’s courtship
without a little drama?”

As
the reverb of the music coursed through the barn, he pulled me in. The huddled
masses stifled the air, and Jack’s skin glistened from its humidity, his
enthralling scent overwhelming my senses. He placed his hands on my waist and
guided me from side to side. With each sway, the miniscule distance between us
closed, leaving the contours of our bodies to grind compatibly against one
another’s. The beat directed every stroke, each movement more natural than the
last. 

The
next riff urged Jack to spin me around, pulling me back into his arms with my
back now turned towards him. His left hand slid under my cape and slowly eased
its way from my side to the middle of my abdomen. I swept the hair off my face
and pulled it away from my collar, allowing Jack’s breath to cascade down my
neck. His right thumb began tracing around my clavicle, gradually ascending up
to my throat. Perching right beneath my chin, his fingers angled my head
upwards and to the side, leaving nothing but an inch between our lips.

An
unexplainable wantonness surged between us, and I intuitively slid my right
hand up his shoulder. Raking my fingers through the back of his mane, I
clutched onto it, taking control of him. Our hips continued to sway
harmoniously with the music, but our mouths had something a bit more lascivious
in mind.

The
room seemed to suddenly drop to sub-zero temperatures, and it caused my lungs
to burn as I tried to inhale. I pulled away from Jack, looking around at
everyone only to see that nobody else appeared to have noticed.

“Cass,
you okay?”

I
turned to Jack, and he too didn’t seem to sense anything wrong either. “You
feel that?”

“What?”

I
looked out into the crowd, my heart dropping the moment my eyes homed in on
Ian.

“I’m
sorry,” I said, pulling away from Jack. “I have to go.”

I
pushed my way back through the throng, trying to reach Ian, but he took off out
of the barn. Attempting to run as best as I could in my towering heels, I raced
out after him into the fields. The freezing temperatures dissipated as I bolted
outside, leaving me with nothing but October’s typically brisk climate. 

“Hey,
hold up!” I shouted, relieved to finally see him come to a halt. “Look, I’m
sorry-”

He
kept his back to me, but the severity in his tone when his words sliced into
mine left me fearful to see his expression. “Apparently, it doesn’t take
someone special, just someone manipulative.”

“What?”

“Just
go back to your libertine in there before he moves onto his next gullible
target.”

“Excuse
me?” I finally stepped in front of him.

His
features were sharp. Rigid.

“Where
the hell is this coming from?”

“You
know, I honestly thought you were different. What a fool I turned out to be,”
he barked, moving around me. “Why don’t you go join Stacy and the rest of the
trollops in there? It’s clearly where you belong.”

I
abruptly grabbed his arm, yanking him back so that I could look him in the
eyes. Thereupon, I slapped him so hard in the cheek that the impact resonated
in the cold. His head jolted to the side, but he didn’t seem the least bit
surprised by my response.

“You
know, that’s the second time I’ve had to do that today,” I snapped at him.

“Oh,
what? Casanova giving you a hard time? Or do you two just get off by the abuse
you inflict upon one another?” he replied remorselessly.

“What
is your problem?!”

“Mine?”
he laughed sharply. “What’s yours?! I was there, remember. I was there seven
months ago as you slowly put the pieces of your life back together after what
happened. That scumbag drudges up your past, your absolute worst memories, and
throws it back at you. Just a few minutes ago you couldn’t stand his guts, and
now look at you! Practically throwing yourself at him. It’s pathetic.”

My
insides wrenched harder than anything I had ever felt before. “I’ve gotta say,
I expected a lot better out of you.”

“What,
you thought I’d see his side of things?” he mocked scornfully.

“No,”
I bellowed as my eyes began clouding over, “because despite the fact that what
Jack did to me seemed to be about ten times worse, what you just said hurt
about a hundred times more.”

“Why?
Because he’s the only one here allowed to treat you like shit?”

“Because
you’re better than that! You’re better than this,” I bit back tearfully. “I
pray to God this is the alcohol talking, because you should be ashamed of
yourself.”

“Yes,
I should. Because I’m the nice guy. And that’s what nice guys do. They do the
right thing, while they clean the tread marks off themselves after everybody
else is through throwing them under the bus,” replied Ian, weakly.

“Yeah,
well, you don’t have to worry about that tonight. Because the only thing you
are right now is an asshole.”

I
turned from him and hastened inside the house, my legs shaking uncontrollably
as every muscle in me tightened to the point that I felt sick.

The
lingering chill in the air illustrated each breath I took with a puff of fog
exuding from my lungs as I walked hastily down the Jacoby’s driveway. The
further I headed, the less and less impact the dread burdening me took. By the
time I had come back outside, Gwen had already been lost in the throng of the
crowds and Ian was nowhere to be found, not to say that I was even considering
the notion that I would ask him for a ride. So as I made my way down the
forested streets of New Haven’s back roads on foot, an unmistakable sense of
relief washed over me despite my vexing thoughts. No matter how much clarity I
had found though could relieve the pain shooting up through my feet from my
unfriendly high heels and the burning of the blood vessels in my clouded eyes.
Then as nature would have it, a rumble roared heavily over the nightly air.

“You’ve
got to be kidding me,” I mumbled, pulling my red hood over my head.

Now,
it was only a matter of time before a torrential downpour would come into
effect and drench me in buckets of bitter rain. Despite the fact that I was
miles from civilization, I could not bring myself to go back to the party.
Surely someone there would sympathize with my dilemma and give me a ride back
home. Heck, I could think of a handful of people right off the bat who would,
but I feared losing the tranquility and regaining that dreadful rush of
anxiety.

Not
a moment later did a pair of headlights illuminate the road as a car rolled up
slowly behind me as it sloped down the hillside. Given the circumstances,
abandoned and alone in the middle of nowhere, instinct would have told me to
take off running into the woods beside me and to not stop until I was in the
clear. But this time, I remained on the roadside, continuing in a casual stroll
down the stretch upon hearing the unmistakable throaty purr of a classic
engine.

The
passenger window rolled down as the car pulled up alongside me. “In need of
some roadside assistance?”

“I’m
good,” I replied.

“What?
I can’t return the favor?” called out Jack, his hands hooked over the large
chrome spoke steering wheel of the Impala. “I’m not still a stranger, am I?”

“No,
but I don’t have my Taser, so if it’s all the same...”

“If
it’s all the same, I’m gonna be riding beside you until we reach your house if
you don’t get in the car.”

“I’m
really not in the mood,” I choked.

“Well,
that’s too bad, because I’m not in the mood to have my conscience eat away at
me all night for leaving you out here. Honestly, you’re an on-foot invitation
begging to be murdered.”

“That’s
not funny.”

“And
for about the third time in my whole life I wasn’t trying to be,” he said,
inching the Impala down the road to keep with my snail’s pace of a walk. “Come
on, I promise to be on my best behavior. No funny business. Scout’s honor.”

“You
were a boy scout?”

He
merely winced before shaking his head. “What can I say? I find the notion of
throwing away all the comforts of civilization only to willingly embrace the
brutality of the wilderness rather ridiculous,” Jack replied. “Plus, I’m not
exactly a team player.”

“Coming
from a former quarterback, how ironic,” I quipped.

“What
do you say, Red? Want a ride?”

I
looked around, as if I actually had an alternative to consider.

“A
pretty little thing like you shouldn’t be walking in the woods alone,
especially with big bad wolves on the loose.”

“And
being offered a ride by a known predator is better?”

“Well,
let’s weigh your options here. Spend fifteen agonizing minutes in the car with
me, or spend the next couple hours trekking your way back in the rain while
trying to avoid having a bunch of drunken partiers run you over with their cars
as they speed recklessly down these roads.”

I
stopped the moment a thick, singular drop of rain hit the top of my head. “Why
are you doing this to me?”

Jack
scoffed. “What? Helping you out?”

“I
wasn’t talking to you,” I said, looking up disappointedly at the sky with a
weak plea for an answer.

The
lightning merely crackled.

“That’s
the best you’ve got?” I deflated upon opening the passenger side door, falling
into the vinyl upholstered seat despairingly.

“You’re
welcome.”

I
didn’t reply. I simply shut the door, signaling that he could go.

Neither
of us said anything over the course of the next ten minutes in the car. Only
the sounds of the radio kept us from sheer, awkward silence. I nearly jumped
when my phone vibrated, only to descend back into a slump once I saw it was
just a generic text message from the phone company telling me about their
special offer for the week.

“Everything
okay?” asked Jack.

“No.”

He
didn’t say anything in response, and two streets later I finally decided to
address the topic. “You’re not gonna ask what happened?”

“Nope.”

“That
would have been the polite thing to do.”

“I
have an inkling as to what it concerns, and I seriously doubt you’ll value my
opinion on the matter.”

Very
good point. And with that nugget of advice in hand, I stayed silent for the
remainder of the car ride.

When
the Impala pulled up into my driveway, I actually hesitated getting out. Never
had the house looked so desolate. Its old Italianate architecture suddenly read
haunted. The pastel white siding appeared almost gray under the shadows draped
across the whole front lawn from the massive oak trees, only baring its true
color when a flash of lightning struck the sky. I finally mustered enough
strength to open the car door, which I actually needed since the high winds
pressing against it made it nearly impossible to push open enough so that I
could climb out.

“What
are you doing?” I asked Jack, watching him climb out of the driver’s seat.

“Walking
you to the door.”

“That’s
really not necessary,” I assured.

“Can
you do me a favor and just let me do something nice for once without you giving
me grief?”

We
slammed the car doors shut and he came over, wrapping an arm around me to
ensure I didn’t lose my footing on the flooded yard and walkway.

“Thank
you,” I said, pulling out my keys.

“No
problem,” he said as we raced up the porch.

I
unlocked the front door and pushed it open a crack, looking inside at the dark
foyer and corridor.

“You
gonna be okay?” asked Jack.

“Yeah,
why wouldn’t I be?” I was lying. It still freaked me out more than anything to
be alone, given recent incidents, but what other choice was there?

“Your
dad’s not home, is he?”

“Of
course he is. He’s probably just in his office, or maybe the basement.”

“You’re
a terrible liar,” he replied grinningly.

“So
I’ve been told.”

“Sure
you don’t want some company? I could do a search of the premises,” suggested
Jack lightly. “I’ll even check under your bed for monsters.”

“I’ll
be fine,” I said. “Thank you, again.”

“Night.”

“Good
night.”

I
stepped inside and closed the door behind me, securing the lock, the deadbolt,
and the chain. Even after only being exposed to the rain for a minute, my cape
was soaked through. I untied the hood and pulled it off, tossing it up onto the
coat rack to dry. My heart dropped the moment I flipped on the light switch in
the foyer, realizing that the bulb had not yet been changed. I headed into the
kitchen and turned on the pendant chandelier hanging above the island. As I
surveyed the contents of the refrigerator, the lights began flickering.

“Please
don’t-”

Too
late. With the next sharp gust to batter the side of the house, everything went
pitch-black. Given the house’s old age, the floorboards upstairs creaked for no
reason, making it all the more unnerving to stand exposed to the stark
elements. As soon as a thunderous roar rattled the whole downstairs, I bolted
for the front door. Without objective, I pried the locks loose and practically
ripped the door off its hinges as I flung it open in anticipation to run.

Instead,
I crashed to a halt, looking up at the shadowed figure lurking just outside the
doorway. Thankfully, my reaction to scream was a bit slower than it should have
been, because I realized not a second later who it was.

“Huh,
I’m impressed. You lasted about ten more seconds than I had you pegged down
for,” said Jack, consulting the imaginary watch on his wrist.

“Funny,”
I said, never so relieved in my life to see his face. “The electricity went
out.”

“Well,
I’d suggest taking you someplace else, but since it’s raining as hard as it is,
I wouldn’t say that’s the safest bet.”

“So
what? You were going to camp out on my porch until the storm passed?”

“No,
just long enough until you finally decided to let me in,” he replied, all too
smilingly.

Pulling
the glass storm door open, I stepped aside and motioned for him to enter.

“You
have any candles handy?”

“Yeah,
there’s some in the kitchen cupboard, and we have the fireplace.”

Jack
peeled off his blazer and I hung it up before heading back into the kitchen to
find as many candles as possible. I handed him the first one I lit so that he
could see by the hearth as he worked his magic.

“Let’s
see if we can’t get you situated,” he said, rubbing his palms together merrily
after setting the holder on the floor.