Trick or Treat Read online

  Zach sold out to the American teenage dream and left me in the gutter with my heart in tatters, wondering what I’d ever done to deserve such betrayal.

  I took a sip of the drink Madison had given me. The bitter aftertaste made me shudder, but I needed something to unease the knot in my stomach.

  “He seemed... different,” I mused, watching from the shadows as Zach hung out near the bigger bonfire. Tilly had made a beeline for him, attaching herself to his side like a spider monkey. His hand had almost instantly drifted to her waist, and my heart had sunk into my toes.

  As if felt me watching, he looked up, his eyes finding mine in the dark.

  “Oh shit,” Madison breathed.

  I didn’t avert my gaze. I might not have belonged here, but I wouldn’t cower.

  A faint smile tugged at his mouth and I felt sure I must be seeing things... until he pulled Tilly closer to his side and dipped his hand under her skirt, squeezing her ass.

  “What a total jerk.”

  “I spent the whole of junior year watching him with other girls.” I shrugged, ignoring the stab of pain.

  “Yeah, but, that’s Tilly. Your arch nemesis. He could have picked any other girl.”

  “He doesn’t know that,” I said. But it felt like a lie.

  It felt like he knew exactly what he was doing.

  But why?

  Why was Zach trying to get a rise out of me at all?

  I was no one to him.

  He’d proved that to me more than once.

  The party dragged on.

  Part of me wanted to leave. But the other part, the part determined to prove myself, stayed put.

  When Finn and a couple of his friends from the team joined us, I made myself scarce and went to take some more shots. Teenagers were fickle things. Sober, they looked down on me and my camera as if I was the scourge of the school, but get enough drinks inside them, and Madison was right, everyone wanted their five seconds in the front of the lens.

  “Clickope,” someone called. “Come get me and Mayer doing leap frogs.” Two guys staggered down the beach, jostling one another.

  I rolled my eyes, keeping a wide berth from the main bonfire as I trudged toward them. Denying them would only draw more attention.

  I’d almost made it when a hand shot out of the shadows and snagged my wrist. “What the—”

  “What are you doing, sweet pea?”

  “Get off me.” I shrugged Zach off, glaring up at him.

  “Come on, Clickope, we’re waiting.” Their laughter carried on the air, but Zach wasn’t smiling. He looked murderous.

  “You let them talk to you like that?”

  “Because you talk to me so much better?” I seethed. “We’re not friends, Zach. You made that perfectly clear when you...” I swallowed the words, averting my gaze.

  His presence was confusing.

  He was confusing.

  Long fingers slid under my chin, angling my face up to his. “Look at me, Calli.” His voice softened but when I finally lifted my eyes to his, all I saw there was hatred.

  A beat passed.

  Another.

  Until the air grew thick and heavy around us.

  “Clickope,” the guy yelled again.

  Zach sucked in a harsh breath, his jaw clenching.

  “I should—”

  “Don’t,” he ground out, as if the word was painful to say. “Just...”

  “Just what, Zach? What are you doing?”

  “Just go home, Calliope.” He released my hand as a frustrated sigh rumbled in his throat.

  “You know, I always wondered what it would be like to see you again.” Sadness wrapped around my heart. “I wondered what I’d feel, and I gotta say Messiah, you surpassed all expectations.”

  His eyes narrowed but I didn’t grace him with an explanation. Yanking out of his hold, I stumbled in the sand.

  “Cal—” His words were lost to the roar of blood between my ears as I jogged over to the two guys still goofing around near the water’s edge. I wasted no time, hiking my camera off my neck and losing myself in the moment. But as I pressed the release button, over and over, click, click, click, I was sure I heard his words on the breeze.

  “You can run, sweet pea, but you can’t hide.”

  Madison was drunk. She had that goofy smile and annoying giggle. Finn was taking full advantage of her ‘I-love-everyone-and-everything’ mood. The two of them sat cuddled close as we toasted marshmallows on the fire. I’d had a couple of drinks, the buzz of liquor in my veins was better than the constant state of trepidation I felt knowing Zach was nearby. He hadn’t talked to me again; he hadn’t even looked at me.

  Once again, I was nothing to him.

  But I preferred it this way, at least I knew where I stood.

  “You want another drink, Calli?” Byron, one of Finn’s friends asked me.

  “Yes—”

  “No, she doesn’t.” Zach loomed over me, a dark prince come to ruin all my fun.

  “Go away,” I mumbled, squashing a gooey marshmallow between two graham crackers.

  “Messiah, my man,” Finn slurred. “How’s it going?”

  Zach ignored him, glaring down at me.

  “What?” I hissed, licking the sticky mess off my fingers.

  “Holy shit, that’s hot,” Byron groaned. “Dude, you want another beer?” he asked Zach.

  “I’ll take one. Get Calli a soda.”

  “Yeah, of course.” Byron nodded.

  “Actually,” I said, indignation burning through me. “I’ll take a beer.”

  “She’ll take a soda.” Zach levelled Byron with a hard look.

  “Uh, yeah, sure.” He scurried off, and Zach dropped down on the sand beside me, not bothering to sit on the overturned logs the rest of us were seated on.

  “So how is it playing college ball?” Finn wasted no time bombarding him with questions.

  What was the level of competition like?

  What were the parties like?

  What was the pussy like?

  That last question earned him a stiff elbow to the ribs from Madison.

  “Come on, babe.” He grinned down at her. “It’s college. Everyone knows college pussy is—”

  “And this is why you’ll never get inside my pussy,” she smirked at him, but he exploded with laughter.

  “Oh God.” The blood drained from her face. “Did I really just say that?”

  “Sure did, Mads,” I said around a thin smile. “Maybe we should go.” She seemed kind of drunk and Zach’s presence was becoming too much for me to handle.

  “What? No way!” Madison waved me off. “We haven’t even been up to the house yet.”

  “Don’t tell me you’re seriously going to go in there?” Finn balked.

  “Don’t tell me you’re scared?” She pressed her face right up against his, their lips practically touching.

  Finn’s tongue darted out, tasting her. Heat flashed through me as I watched them sink into the kiss.

  “You like watching, sweet pea?” Zach’s voice was a gravelly whisper in my ear.

  “Fuck you, Messiah.” I met his cool gaze with my own. Lust swirled in his eyes and I wondered if he remembered. Stolen kisses and clumsy touches in the dark.

  His lip curved into a knowing smirk.

  Oh, he remembered all right.

  But why?

  Why was he doing this now?

  “Calli, I—”

  “There you are,” Tilly’s saccharine voice made my skin crawl. She completely ignored me, making a show of perching next to Zach and wrapping her manicured fingers around his shoulder. “A few of us are going to check out Travers House later. Are you game?”

  “What do you think I came for?” he replied coolly.

  “Maybe you and I can find a quiet corner and get reacquainted?” She cast me a glance full of venom.

  “You’re welcome to him,” I said, standing up and brushing the sand off my dress. “I’m going to take a look around.”


  Madison barely broke away from Finn’s lips as she murmured, “Okay, be safe.”

  “You don’t have what it takes,” Tilly sneered as I moved around her and Zach.

  “Excuse me?”

  “You’re going to go in there, alone?” she scoffed. “You’re not fooling anyone, Clickope, with your poor attempt at playing with the cool kids.”

  “I’m sorry.” I scanned the area, making a show of looking up and down the beach. “I don’t see any cool kids here.”

  She started cussing me out as I stomped away, taking myself off the sandbank towards the house.

  I didn’t look back. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.

  But I felt Zach’s eyes follow me the whole way.

  Travers House was a big sprawling place overlooking the beach. Once upon a time, it had been cordoned off and made inaccessible to the public. But over the years, the fencing had come down and a local group of residents helped keep the place relatively clean and tidy. There was no front door on the house and the windows had all been removed, but the original structure was mostly preserved.

  I held back, wanting to get a few shots of the outside. The click, click, click of my camera pierced the silence. Checking the screen for lighting, I took another few shots, moving closer and dropping to one knee to change the perspective. The house loomed over me, dark and foreboding. But there was also something sad about the place.

  As I reached the door, my heart beat wildly in my chest. I wasn’t scared. The stories about this place were just ghost stories told to drum fear into the hearts of children. I didn’t believe the tales of old man Travers haunting his house, warning off trespassers. But it didn’t stop the trickle of fear snaking down my spine as I stepped inside.

  “Boo!”

  I staggered back, falling flat onto my ass.

  “Gotcha!” Two guys ran from the house in a whirl of laughter and high fives.

  “Jackasses,” I mumbled as I clambered to my feet and checked my camera for damage. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw no signs of anyone else approaching.

  Maybe you should just go. But leaving felt like defeat. It felt like letting them win.

  Without overthinking it, I slipped inside letting the darkness engulf me. Pulling out my cell phone, I turned on the flashlight using it to guide myself to the staircase. If I could just get upstairs, I could take some killer shots of the bonfire. Maybe even a few cool shots of the ocean.

  The stairs creaked under my Chucks as I climbed them. The walls were almost bare now, covered in graffiti and years of declarations of friendships and love and teenage hopes and dreams. I rolled my eyes when I spotted my brother’s name scrawled in a crude heart. Even in tenth grade he had been popular with the girls.

  Distant laughter drifted on the breeze, and I stilled. I didn’t want to be here when the others turned up. Picking up the pace, I watched my step as I navigated through the abandoned house. It was even darker up here, only the silvery hue of the moon and the flash of my cell phone lighting the way.

  I moved over to one of the bedroom windows, looking out over the beach below. Excitement zipped through me as I pocketed my cell and began setting up the first shot. I wanted to capture the party, really focus on the reckless and wild nature of youth.

  There was something fitting about immortalizing my classmates as they drank and danced against the backdrop of the flames on Devil’s Night. The flicker of the fire cast their shadows, twisting and bending them into distorted monsters. They looked so careless, so free. But I knew we all wore masks, and not just the scary disguises of tonight. I knew we all only let people see what we wanted them to see. I also knew this was it—the final addition to my portfolio—and a sense of achievement washed over me.

  My mom and Madison wanted me to be down there, experiencing a night of teenage freedom. But I was far more comfortable up here, in the shadows. Watching but never participating. It hadn’t always been like this. When I was a child, I’d had friends. I’d had fun. But as I grew, I realized friendship was fickle. Girls didn’t play with me because they cared, they played with me to use me to get to Callum. And when Callum left, they moved on, without me.

  I wasn’t interesting enough. I didn’t like shopping and braiding hair and talking about boys. And I was sad, so fucking sad.

  Damn you, Callum.

  The air shifted behind me, and I froze, my heart crashing violently against my ribcage. “Hello?” I glanced over my shoulder and called out into the darkness.

  Silence.

  Nothing but deafening silence.

  It’s just your mind playing tricks on you. No one was up here, I would have heard them approach. The couple of drinks I’d had earlier were probably a bad idea, the lingering buzz in my veins muddying my mind.

  I ran my fingers around the focus ring, forcing myself back to the task at hand. A few more shots and I would be done, then I could leave the party and never look back.

  But when I felt a burst of warm air flutter over my shoulder, I knew I wasn’t alone. Fear gripped me, rooting me to the spot as I clutched my camera for dear life.

  “I told you, sweet pea,” Zach’s words were rough, as if he was teetering on the edge of control. “You can run, but you can’t hide.”

  “Zach, what the—”

  He curved his hand around my jaw, covering my mouth. “Ssh, they’re coming.”

  They’re coming? What the hell did he mean?

  But then laughter filled downstairs. “She’s in here somewhere,” that was Tilly. “Spread out and find her. It’s about time we gave Clickope a taste of her own medicine.”

  I tried to wiggle free of Zach’s hold, but his other arm went around my waist, pulling me flush against his hard body.

  Oh God. Every nerve ending came to life, vibrating at his close proximity. I wanted to hate him. Part of me did hate him.

  But how did you hate the only boy to ever see you? The boy who had given you your first kiss? Given you more than just your first kiss?

  Stupid, foolish, traitorous body.

  “She’s not down here,” somebody called out.

  “Try upstairs,” Tilly replied. “She’s still here. I saw the flash of her stupid fucking camera.”

  Their footsteps grew closer. They were on the stairs now.

  “Don’t say a word.” Zach breathed against my ear as he began pulling me further into the shadows. My Chucks squeaked against the floorboards, sending my heart into a tailspin.

  Darkness shrouded us as he pulled me into some kind of built-in closet. Zach’s arm was still clamped around my body, his hand splayed across my mouth, swallowing my harsh breaths. I wanted to protest but fear had me in its chokehold. Tilly was the original mean girl on a regular day, but fueled by liquor she was an evil bitch, and I knew if I tried to escape Zach’s grip, I would only be trading one tormentor for another.

  Footsteps hit the hall beyond the bedroom. “I can’t see a fucking thing,” someone said. “Give me your flashlight.”

  The beam bounced off the walls. From the sliver of light, I could make out that we were in the corner of the room, nestled in some kind of off-shoot.

  Zach’s breathing turned hard as his thumb began to brush my hip. My own breath caught as his hand slipped lower, silently moving down my body until he reached the bare skin of my thigh.

  “Wha—” He pressed his hand against my mouth harder.

  This couldn’t be happening. I was in a dirty, dank closet with Zach Messiah, and he was stroking my skin like he had every right to touch me.

  Shame burned through me. I needed to get out of here. I needed—

  “Anything?” Tilly entered their room, and I swear my heart stopped beating.

  “Nothing,” a guy said. “We checked the entire house.”

  “She has to be here. I saw her enter.”

  “This place gives me the creeps. I’m out of here.”

  “Drake, you can’t leave,” she whined. “She’s here. I know she is.”


  “So you stay and find her. I don’t know what your weird fascination with her is anyway.”

  Tilly grumbled something beneath her breath. Something I probably didn’t want to hear. “Fine,” she conceded. “I want to find Zach anyway. He just took off.”

  I felt his lips curve against my shoulder as he began kissing me there. Heat flooded me. A firestorm spreading through me as he continued stroking my thigh, inching higher and higher as his lips branded my skin.

  The second their footsteps disappeared, I yanked out of his hold and spun around. “What the hell was that?”

  “Don’t pretend you didn’t like having my hands on you, sweet—”

  “Don’t call me that,” I hissed. “You don’t get to call me that.”

  He prowled toward me like a predator stalking its prey. I inched backward, the air whooshing from my lungs when my back hit a wall. “Zach...”

  “Did you miss me?” His eyes were hooded, and a lazy smirk graced his annoyingly handsome face.

  Zach had always been easy on the eye, but he had grown into himself over the last eighteen months. His slightly crooked nose was like a leading line to his perfect lips and chiseled jaw. His shoulders framed a tapered waist, his body stacked with muscles upon muscles. He was a work of art. All hard lines and sharp angles.

  And he was here, in an old abandoned house, with me.

  “I don’t care about you,” I snapped.

  “Could have fooled me, Clickope,” he drawled, the smell of liquor lingering on his breath as he leaned in and ran his nose along the slope of my neck. “You smell fucking amazing.”

  “Zach, stop.” My fingers twisted into his t-shirt.

  “Make me.”

  His challenge rippled through me. This wasn’t the Zach I knew back when we were kids. This was somebody different. There was something in his eyes, a darkness I couldn’t decipher.

  “What happened to you, Zach?” I whispered. His eyes widened with surprise but then narrowed to dangerous slits.

  “I can remember, you know? I can remember how badly you wanted me. How desperate you were for my touch.” His hand drifted up my stomach, dipping between the valley of my breasts before wrapping around my throat. “I remember everything.”