The Voodoo Bell

Part 1: Chapters 1-5

She checked herself once more in the mirror and I mimicked her. I couldn't help but compare her vibrant blonde hair to my dark auburn color. She had been dying her hair for years, but I had always been too afraid to take the risk of putting color on my hair. I was afraid that dye would make the natural red highlights from all those days in the summer sun disappear and never come back. Her small, trim figure did a twirl in the mirror beside of me and I began to look at my own figure. I too was trim around the waist, but I was much curvier than Lily. She has always joked that she was going to get plastic surgery and tell the surgeon that she wanted boobs like mine. With a sigh and one final look at myself, we headed off down stairs. As Lily put her coat on and went to set the alarm system, I zipped up my boots and stepped back into the cool October night.

Chapter 2

Plans Change

Lily and I walked arm and arm through half the city. We held onto each other in an attempt to share some of our body warmth. It was getting colder by the second and we needed to keep the chill at bay. Plus, it meant she was able to lead me where she intended us to go without having to say anything that gave away our destination. Once we hit Crowley Street, I knew that we were going straight toward "The Alley", a hip club that everyone in my college classes were always raging about on Monday mornings. I groaned internally. The thought of standing in that line so that a big bouncer could decide if I was sexy enough for entry made me want to have one of my trademark panic attaches. I must have groaned a bit out loud as well, for Lilly grabbed my arm a bit tighter, a giant, devious smile on her face.

"Don't worry, birthday girl. You look smoking and this will be so much fun".

"Obviously, you don't remember the last time I attempted to dance. I tripped over my feet and busted it in front of Spencer Clark. I still can't look him in the eye when I see him on campus." I complained.

"Well, that was when you were dumb enough to wear my heels and you weren't used to them. Not to mention, they were a size and a half too big for your tiny feet. Tonight, you have on boots, no worries".

"I don't know if you have noticed or not, but these "no worry" boots have heels and are already starting to kill my feet." I retorted.

She heaved a sigh and just pulled me on along with her, deciding not to try to convince me until we actually made it into the club. We only had a few blocks left when we passed a side street that led to the entrance of the downtown park. I wouldn't have even noticed if it weren't for the heavy traffic of people walking past and heading that way. We paused for a moment and looked down the street. The park, normally dark this time of evening, was glowing with activity. I could see the trickle of light beams coming from the gateway, and something large was standing just past the little grass hill that marked the start of nature in the middle of the city's concrete jungle.

Lily and I looked at each other, shrugging off the abnormality and crossing the stream of people to continue towards the club. That's when Lily stopped dead in her tracks and I nearly toppled over at her unexpected change of pace. My eyes found hers and I followed her gaze to a group of guys heading straight toward us, Eric in the lead. "Shit", she said under her breath. Her spine straightened up a bit and I could tell she was making an effort to show her cleavage as much as possible.

"Hey, guys", she said with a huge smile, as they came to a stop in front of us.

"Hey", Eric said, surprised.

He glanced past me briefly and his eyes moved over to lock onto Lily. So, he wasn't out with Kassie tonight. I made the mental note to bet myself twenty bucks that the pair would get back together by midnight. After all, they had been dating ever since high school, until Eric decided to "sow some oats, as they say".