[[Black and White]]
Chapter Twenty.
[Houston, we have a problem.]
[[Apollo 13]]
[Ellie’s POV]
The heavy bass seemed to rattle my chest as I edged around the crowded dance floor. Hundreds of teens had shown for Hannah’s party—and more than a few graduates—filling the house and backyard to bursting. There was a large white tent set up out back with temporary wood flooring covering the soft grass within. A large DJ station dominated the left edge of the tent with speakers tall enough to brush the tent. People came and went from the kitchen, carrying a variety of drinks, mostly of the hard liquor variety. I watched in amazement as a boy passed me with a full bottle of Jack Daniels.
I gave up on spotting Hannah within the writhing crowd, veering off into the soft grass toward some of the tables set up a decent distance from the tent. I sank onto a chair, slipping off the heels Hannah had loaned me. Her feet were significantly smaller than mine, and I could definitely feel it. I slowly rubbed my feet, staring at the candle flickering in the center of the table.
Suddenly, I spotted Riley weaving his way through the outskirts of the crowd, obviously looking for someone. With a slight sinking feeling, I met his gaze and he made a beeline toward me. Okay, so I panicked. Dropping my shoes, I hiked up the bottom of my dress and sprinted for the edge of the house. If I could make it to the front and enter through that way, there was a chance I could shake him within the massive house.
I dodged drunken partiers, running headlong around the end of the house and skidding to a stop when I saw a nondescript door there. Glancing quickly around to make sure he couldn’t see me, I tried the knob and it swung open to reveal a pitch black room. Okay, even for me, the girl who can literally make fire, that darkness looked a little ominous. But then again, if I went the long way around, there was still a chance he’d catch me.
Call me reckless, but something about option one appealed to me. I slipped inside, closing the door behind me. After a moment, I saw a figure run past the distorted glass without even pausing. My whole body relaxed. One problem solved. Groping along the edge of the door, I felt for a light switch while my eyes adjusted to the darkness. It wasn’t until my own breathing slowed to normal that I heard it. Breathing. But it was strange, intermingled with a gurgling that chilled me to the bone. As noticed that, I realized where it was coming from. My pulse pounded as I my eyes adjusted just a little bit more and I looked down.
I screamed.
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[James’ POV]
Brooklyn had her arm wrapped around my neck, holding me tightly as she danced. I won’t say she wasn’t sexy. I’m not dead. But there was something just sort of wrong about it. I felt guilty. Smiling at her, I leaned down to shout in her ear, “I’m going to get a drink. You want one?”
She shook her head, grinning wildly as she released me to dance on the girl behind her. I didn’t waste any time, forcing my way out from the middle of the crowd and sucking down cool, clear air. I started toward the house, intent on grabbing a soda to replace the beer I’d already drunk earlier. I was in the kitchen digging through an ice filled cooler when I heard it. A scream ripped right through the muted bass, echoing throughout the house.
Startled, I looked up from the ice to see everyone acting as if they couldn’t hear a girl screaming bloody murder. Slowly, I shut the cooler, pushing to a stand and cocking my head. Where was it coming from, and why the hell was I the only one who heard her?
YOU ARE READING
Black and White
ParanormalEleanor Parks is far from normal. Crowned princess of a secret race, she has lived in isolation for nearly eight years for the murders of her parents, and the accidental injury of the human boy she grew up with. Now, released from her punishment...