The McKay Boys

15| fabht•

"Sure you were." He deadpanned. "Fifth room on your left."

"Thanks, man. And your party is fucking awesome. I'm chuffed to bits with this whole place. The décor, the designs...wow; it's bloody awesome."

Khalil nodded simply, and when the room lit up again, I saw amusement twinkling in his eyes. Perhaps he knew that Christoph was only trying to butter him up, and I felt embarrassed on his behalf.

"Anyway, gonna take a piss. Enjoy the night." And he speedily walked away, disappearing around the corner so fast, I thought he was nothing but a ghost.

"Amelia." Khalil then loomed closer to me and wrapped his arms around my waist, grabbing the straw from his mouth so he could sprinkle little kisses all over my face. From my forehead to my jaw, to my cheek. I cringed, trying to escape the affection, but unable to stop my mouth from stretching into a stupid grin.

"Khalil, ew, stop."

He didn't halt his onslaughts, however, and I laughed airlessly as I shoved him away by the chest. I shifted on my feet as I tried hard not to remember the way his cool lips had felt on my neck the day before. He could be very affectionate, a tad smutty-minded sometimes, but I could no longer wallow in his affections without remembering what he had done to me in that corner. It was not like his usual hugs and kisses; something about it felt entirely different. My body had reacted entirely differently.

"Follow me somewhere." He propped the straw between his lips again, slanting his head. A piece of wet hair popped out of his slick back.

I frowned. "Where? Where's Kanan and Keegan, by the way?"

"In the game room. But I want you to follow me to the loft."

Why?

I had rarely been to the loft. It was a small room under the roof where Meredith and Kai kept their appliances and materials that they'd rarely use. The space was always dark, even with the presence of light. For some reason, the request made me think of that dark corner again, and I flush to the colour of the room.

I twisted my lips and the room glowed purple again. Long enough for me to have made out his face but not long enough to read it. I moved my body to the side and pressed my hip against the railing. "W-Why?"

"Because I need to get some more red cups. We're all out." He extended his hand to me, and it felt as though Lucifer himself was offering me a deal. A bargain for my soul. The silver bracelet around his wrist glowed richly against his gold watch. "Coming?"

I stared at his slender fingers. Khalil had nice hands, and so did his brothers. Meredith took them to the spa every other week. But I hated to imagine what those fingers and hands could do to people. Or had already done to Jacob Whitaker and possibly Matt Colton.

All because of what? Jacob was a bully, yes, but all Matt did was bumped Khalil. If we murdered people because they stepped on our toes on overcrowded buses, they'd be no one left in the world.

And still, his request remained.

I had already made countless deals with the devil. Surely, not directly. But there was a silent agreement going on without the official signing of a written contract. Ideally, the moment I fabricated that lie about Jacob following the fireflies, I'd cut myself and drew my name in blood on the devil's parchment paper.

"Yeah..." I placed my palm in his warm hand, the hand of a hell-bound soul, and we made our way across the hallway and down to the left-wing. The music sounded fainter the farther we went, and I was relieved that my eardrums could finally rest from all the noise.

"Why did you guys buy liquor if we have a cellar?" I ignorantly pondered as Khalil drew down the silver ladder that led to the trapdoor. The screeching noise drifted through the underlit hallway, and I glanced around us, noticing how terrifying such a huge house appeared at night. Sometimes I wondered if Jacob's unrest soul roamed the hallways and lingered outside of our bedroom doors when the clock struck twelve.