Welcome to the Masquerade

"Angel" by Aerosmith

AN: It's really short but I didn't want to let the whole of January go by without some kind of update. This chapter is for gafrogge - whose birthday it is for another 10 minutes and roxandsand whose story "When the Lights Went Out" is one of my favorites.  Standard disclaimer! I only own Lory. Everything else is the property of C.L.Stone. Constructive criticism is welcome and even requested, but flames will be used to make s'mores. I love votes and views. Please let me know your favorite lines and moments. Happy Reading.

Lory stepped from her shower with her hair finally free from the last of the paint she had scraped through it. It had only taken what felt like 700 washings and a fine tooth comb. Once she was dry she pulled on her pajamas. It was only about six in the evening, but after last night and taking the scenic route to get home, she was not going anywhere else tonight. She may even rebel and refuse to go to school tomorrow.

She probably should have chosen different pajamas considering she was now living in a draughty old Victorian house. But the yellow shorts with "Hufflepuff" across the back and the black tank top with the Hufflepuff crest were her favorites. The shorts were barely decent but she wasn't going to give them up. It's not like anyone was going to see her. Luke and North were on dinner shift. Sang was with her brothers and everyone else had an elsewhere to be. Who was going to bother her? By the time she made it to the bottom of the stairs, she was cussing under her breath.

"Fucking cold ass floors..."

She ducked into the laundry room and began digging through the clean laundry.

"Jackpot!" She crowed when she found a matching set of men's athletic socks. She plopped down in the middle of the floor and rolled them up. The tall white socks came to her knee.

"Much better," she mumbled as she wandered into the kitchen. Setting up her phone to play her thumbs up list on random, Lory began collecting what she needed to complete her plan for the evening. Rifling through the cabinets she was beginning to get irritated. "Where the hell is the cocoa?"

Sugar? Yep!

Vanilla? Check.

Milk! Double check.

Cocoa...Not so much

How was she supposed to drink hot cocoa and curl up with her Kindle to read trashy novels if there was no cocoa?

"North." Lory groaned aloud realizing he must have hidden it. Eyeing the corner cabinet as the most likely suspect to be holding the cocoa she climbed up onto the counter. She was searching the cabinet. Even standing on the counter on her tiptoes she couldn't quite see the back of the tallest shelf.

"Stupidly tall people using their freakish height against me...."

"I'm sorry?" Came a voice behind her. She turned just enough to have her foot slip off the counter overbalancing her and causing her to fall.

*~*COREY*~*

"I appreciate you looking at this for me," Vic said to me.

"No problem. Why are we meeting here?" I had no problem heading out to the Taylor place. It just seemed odd.

"Because I gave Lory back the drive that had the program on it and I want you to check the original. She should have an extra copy in her room."

"Why does someone named 'Lory' have a room in Uncle's house?" I'm a little worried. The relationship the Blackbourn team is trying to build with Sang could go sideways fast if another girl gets introduced into the mix. This could be bad.