Homecoming Masquerade, The (16 page)

The eighth and final slave
approached. She was a petite thing with thick black hair and milk-white skin.

“Aurora came to me when she was
only ten,” Renata said, putting her arm around the girl, leaning close to her
hair and taking in her scent. “I knew right away that she was something special.”

Came to her?
As if this
girl just dropped out of the sky and landed on the mansion. Now Melissa was
getting angry. Couldn’t Renata at least acknowledge the good work that was
happening on the Farm? Couldn’t she mention that under Melissa and Dominic’s tutelage,
the breeders there were making better and better specimens?

“Oh Renata, you’ve outdone
yourself with this one,” said Mark. “So vibrant she is. I bet she’d live to a
hundred if allowed.”

“You all can have her,” said
Lena with a laugh. “I learned last year not to go after Renata’s favorite.”

“That’s right. You went hungry
last year,” said Renata. “Well, I’m sure you’ll find something tasty to pursue
among my treats, even if it isn’t lovely Aurora.”

Renata put a wide, hospitable
smile on her face as she spoke, and in that moment, Melissa decided that she
would have Aurora this night. She would go head to head with her former best
friend, her speed against Renata’s, and she would take the prize meal of the
night for herself.

“Gather round, my children,”
Renata said as she escorted Aurora back to the line. All eight slaves formed a
circle with Renata in the center. “I have something to tell you.”

Renata started with Aurora,
looking her in the eyes, probing the activity behind them, making a hypnotic
connection.

“You are released,” Renata said.

The words, spoken in Renata’s
voice, with Renata’s gaze doing the rest of the talking, had an immediate
effect. All the commands that had been put in that girl’s head since early
childhood were released at once, and Aurora’s eyes woke up to what was really
happening around her. That first look in the eyes was one of Melissa’s favorite
parts. A kind of recognition showed in the girl’s face. It was the realization
that she had been duped.

Poor girl. Poor beautiful,
delicious, sumptuous girl.

“Aurora, we’re going to eat you
now,” Renata said. “But there’s a whole forest behind you. I suggest you run.”

A murmur, some trembling, and
off she went.

“She’s fast,” said Bernadette.

“Another strike against her as
far as you’re concerned?” asked Renata.

“I like it when the meat on
their bones slows them down,” Bernadette said, following her comment with a
cackling laugh.

“Let’s do yours next, shall we
Bernadette?” Renata said. She turned to Nellie, looked her in the eyes, and
released her from enslavement. Nellie didn’t wait for any encouragement to turn
and run. She lumbered into the forest, moving as fast as she could. The girl
wasn’t built for running. Bernadette would take her down in seconds.

The next five were released in
rapid-fire pronouncements, each of them sprinting away the instant their minds
were freed.

“And Edgar, I’ve saved you for
last because I expect your long legs and skinny frame will make you the
swiftest runner of the bunch,” Renata said. She turned to her guests. “Tell me,
which of you has your eyes on this one?”

Lena and Mark both raised their
hands.

“Do you see them, Edgar?” Renata
asked.

“I do,” he said.

“One of them is going to eat you
in a few minutes.”

“I understand.”

“Are you frightened?”

“No.”

“But you will be once I set you
free.”

“I understand.”

“If you got to choose, would you
rather be eaten by Mark or Lena?”

“Lena.”

“How come, Edgar?”

“She reminds me of you, Madam.”

“Oh, how sweet,” said
Bernadette. “Now I kind of want to eat him.”

“You stay with the one you
already picked,” said Lena, her fangs now showing in her smile. All of them
were ready to eat, but, according to tradition, none got to go until Renata
gave the word.

“You are released, Edgar.”

He bolted into the darkness.
Melissa saw Mark lick his lips as he watched Edgar go.

All the immortals stood still
for a moment, listening to their prey push deeper into the woods. On another
night, Renata might have let the humans run for ten minutes or more, just to
make it more interesting, but she was due inside the mansion shortly. The dance
was on intermission right now. The immortals had to go join the party once
intermission was over.

“How do you suppose things are
going inside?” Dominic asked.

“Who cares?” said Renata. “This
will be the most boring contest we’ve ever held. The Renwick girl has had it
wrapped up since birth. Is everybody ready to race?”

The hungry monsters roared in
response.

“Take your marks,” Renata said.

The immortals lined up in a row,
all of them being careful not to cheat even by an inch. Doing your best in this
race was a courtesy to the hostess, even if you ate the human she wanted, as
Melissa intended to do. But cheating was not acceptable.

“Get set.....go!”

With that, Melissa and eight
other immortals blazed into the forest after the humans now running away.
Bernadette reached her target first, dropping onto Nellie like a bird on a
mouse and felling the girl with a single bite to the neck. Ansel was next to
break off in pursuit of his prey, then Mark and Lena. Dominic went off to the
left, chasing one of the boys. Melissa wasn’t surprised. Dominic loved the
taste of a young man. Alexander had gone in the same direction, just a few
steps behind Dominic.

Melissa and Renata ran alone
now, side by side, weaving in and out among the trees, hurdling obstacles on
the forest floor, both of them chasing Aurora’s citrus scent. As they ran,
Melissa felt an understanding pass between them that they both were after the
same target, that they were competitors now.

That the relationship they once
had was over.

Her own body bubbling with the
chemistry of the hunt, Melissa no longer felt anxious or sad about all that was
changing. She felt angry. She felt an anger that was suitable for a chase such
as this, an anger that would drive her past her former best friend and make the
kill that much more delicious. A part of her knew that the anger was temporary,
a byproduct of circumstance. But a larger part recognized that her anger was
not only justified, it was overdue.

It was Renata’s fault that
everything was changing. Renata was the first of the Samarin clan to break her
bond, and nothing had been right ever since. Now Daciana was missing. What
would become of them all if Daciana never returned? Who would be clan leader
then?

Tradition gave the right to the
oldest among them, which of course would be Sergio, but he had no interest in
such things. Next was Aaron, but if Daciana was gone, that would mean that
Aaron killed her in the fallout from their breakup, and if that was the case, all
bets were off. The clan would break into factions, with some wanting to follow
Aaron out of tradition, and others, Renata being one of them, wanting to kill
Aaron and take over the top spot themselves.

Yes, that was the real story
here. Why hadn’t Melissa seen it before? Renata was thinking about a coup.
Renata was hopeful that Daciana and Aaron were done, and intended to make a
play for the top spot in the clan. The way she responded when the others wanted
to speak of Daciana, the way she was so dismissive of the whole topic, the way
she had become such a different person after her own bond with Chad had ended...

Someone had to put Renata in her
place. To remind her that she was no better than the rest of them. Aurora was
within sight now. Melissa and Renata were neck and neck. They would be on the
girl in seconds. Melissa allowed her anger to drive her feet, and she pulled
ahead. Her mouth was open, her fangs extended, the taste of Aurora’s delicious
flesh practically on her tongue, when Renata tackled her from behind.

The two of them, both moving at
speeds more suitable for a race car than a formerly human body, went tumbling
to the forest floor in a violent heap that broke through branches and left a
trench in the dirt. Melissa caught sight of Renata’s face in the heap and
roared in anger.

She was surprised at the venom
of Renata’s response. Renata’s eyes had turned a shade of red as vibrant as her
hair, and her fangs were all the way out.

In that instant, had Melissa
responded in kind, these two former best friends would have fought to the
death, then and there.

It wasn’t worth it. Melissa
retracted her fangs. Renata seized on the moment of weakness and threw Melissa
into a tree, then leaped from the ground and came down on Aurora, winning the
most delicious prize for herself.

“Good Lord, Renata, what was
that all about?” Melissa said.

Renata took a deep inhale of the
girl’s blood, her back expanding as she sucked the life out of her former
slave, then she tossed the girl’s body aside and stood up.

“All in good fun, no?” she said,
wiping the blood from her lips with the back of her hand.

“It didn’t feel very fun to me,”
said Melissa.

Renata smiled. “That’s only
because you lost. But I had a great time. I’m so pleased you tried to challenge
me. You made it so much more fun and interesting.”

Melissa looked into Renata’s
eyes. Was she serious? Was that moment of murderous anger all in Melissa’s
head?

No. It couldn’t have been.
Melissa had never been in a fight with another immortal, but her instincts told
her that the look in Renata’s face was entirely real. Renata would have taken
this as far as Melissa was willing to let it go.

With that thought, the anger of
the hunt morphed right back into anxiety. So much was changing. So much from
the past had to be answered for.

“I’ll go back to the trailer and
prep your new slaves,” Melissa said, eager to get away from Renata.

“And get us some wine glasses
while you’re over there,” Renata said.

Melissa closed her eyes and
shook her head. “Sure thing,” she said. As loser of the night’s game, it was
her job to give everyone a wine glass so they could fill it with the blood of
their kill and carry their own drink into the ballroom.

A moment later Melissa was
unlocking the door to the horse trailer she and Dominic had parked on the east
end of the property. She led eight teenagers outside, each of them dressed in
the black and white outfits that were distinctive of Renata’s mansion. To make
Renata the supreme master of these slaves, Melissa had to look into the eyes of
each one of them and let them know they were off the Farm and Renata’s commands
now superseded her own. As she went down the line, searching deep into the
minds of her slaves, she thought about her first encounter with each. Six of
these slaves were born on the Farm, and came under her control as soon as they
could talk. One of them was the child of parents suspected of illegal activity,
and was taken to the Farm after her parents were killed. And one of them was
picked up as a stray off the streets.

That stray, a handsome lad named
Francisco, brought back memories of another time of anxiety, just like this
one. Francisco was one of two kids brought in that night. The other, a little
girl, had gotten away. In all her years running the Farm, that girl was the
only one who had ever escaped. What a strange night that was. For some reason,
Melissa’s mind control had malfunctioned with that little girl and she’d walked
right out of the Farm and was never found. For weeks, Melissa had been
terrified about what that little girl’s escape had meant. If Daciana had found
out...that would have been the end of Melissa’s reign on the Farm, probably the
end of Melissa altogether.

But nothing ever came of it. The
little girl was somewhere at the bottom of the Florida swamp, and no one but
Melissa knew that she once had a human ignore her mind control and walk out the
front door.

“Francisco, your new master is
named Renata Sullivan,” said Melissa, looking into the eyes of the boy. “She is
coming to meet you in a moment.”

“My new master is Renata
Sullivan,” Francisco said.

Such a handsome boy this one
was. Olive-skinned, perfect teeth, emerald eyes...

It was too bad that little girl
got away, because she and Francisco were quite a pair. Beautiful specimens that
would have ripened together. They could have been presented as a matching set
to Daciana herself.

Nicky. Just thinking of the name
made Melissa angry. Little Nicky. The one that got away.

Music during the second half of
the Masquerade was more modern than the first. Guests were still expected to
follow the formal etiquette of a ballroom dance, but no longer were they
required to know the specific steps of a waltz, minuet, or cotillion. Following
the intermission, the orchestra returned with their folders full of
contemporary pieces, pieces written specifically for the Homecoming Masquerade.
The most renowned composers in the world wrote new music for the dance. It was
swirling and ambitious music, with sounds from multiple centuries blended
together in a modern way. It was the kind of music Renata liked. Beyond
romantic, the music was downright hypnotic. With everyone already buzzing from
the wine, their bodies warm and loose from the first hour of dancing, the music
put the ballroom in a kind of trance, creating the perfect background for the
immortals to make their entrance.

And at some point during the
second hour, they would. Until that moment, Jill had work to do. According to
the new plan she and Nicky had concocted, Jill worked her way over to Art
Tremblay and made sure she was his dance partner when the second hour begin.

Getting a dance with Art was the
easiest thing Jill had done tonight. Coatless, with his head down, smelling of
wine, Art all of a sudden found himself an outcast, and was glad for Jill’s
attention. Finding dance partners for the rest of the night was going to be a
challenge for him.

The music began, they picked up
their feet, the ballroom was in motion, and Jill delivered the line Nicky had
scripted for her.

“I saw what you did earlier,”
she said.

They were spinning around the
floor, their feet moving with a simple grace to match the four-beat bars of the
music.

“Everyone saw,” Art said. “I’d
rather not talk about it.”

“I think it’s pretty cool what
you did, that’s all.”

“Pretty cool? What are you
talking about?”

“The way you stuck it to Kim
like that,” said Jill. “I’ve been waiting for years for someone to stand up to
her. I was talking to Nicky and some of the other girls during intermission.
They were totally impressed. I am too.”

“Wait a minute,” said Art. “You
were talking to Nicky? What did she say?”

“She told us everything. She
knew she wasn’t supposed to tell – I guess you asked her to keep everything a
secret – but please don’t be mad at her. What you did was so amazing.
Seriously, half the ballroom is thrilled at what you did, even if they’re
afraid to admit it. The fact that Kim has a real competitor now, thanks to you.
It’s so awesome.”

Art didn’t say anything. He was
waiting for Jill to tell him more.

“You know, I think you’ve played
this exactly right,” Jill continued. “Kim may be in the driver’s seat right
now, but we’re just a few hours into the night, and already Nicky has peeled
off a good chunk of her support.”

“You think so?” Art said.

“Everyone I’m talking to wants
to go to Nicky’s party tonight, not Kim’s. We’re all a bit nervous though. Once
we go, we’re committed. We needed something to push us along. Your courage is
what did it.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say it was
that courageous,” said Art. There was still a lot of confusion in his voice.
Now was the time to help him understand what Jill was trying to tell him.

“Are you kidding me?” Jill said.
“Kim asks you to make Nicky crash into Rosalyn, and you do it yourself instead?
It was perfect. You made Kim think she had it all worked out, you lulled her
into a state of inaction, and she did nothing about Nicky all the way to
intermission. Then when you protected Nicky and threw yourself at Rosalyn
instead, Kim was screwed. Kim bet everything on you, and when you turned
against her, it was too late for her to try anything else. And having you take
the wine spill instead, making that big scene, and then Nicky got to look at
Kim and say ‘You missed.’ My God, that was one of the best moments of my life.
It was perfect. You changed the whole nature of the contest in a single move.
Every one of us has wanted to turn against Kim from the beginning, but we all
were scared. In one courageous act, you showed us the way. You might have won
Coronation for Nicky Bloom tonight. Who knows? The way Nicky was talking about
you, you might have won yourself a bond with a future immortal.”

Art was looking around now. His
eyes found Nicky dancing with Xavier Lincoln, and stayed on her, no doubt
imagining himself with her, imagining an immortal falling in love with him and
arranging for him to live forever.

“How much did Nicky say to you
about what happened?” he asked.

“She told me everything,” Jill
said. “Or, I guess I thought it was everything. You’d know better. She said
that as you were dancing you whispered to her that Rosalyn was waiting with a
goblet of wine and you were supposed to push Nicky into it. Then you told her
you were going to crash into Rosalyn yourself. You told her that a lot of
people in the ballroom knew Kim was going to try something, and you had a plan
that would make sure everyone knew that Nicky got the best of Kim. She said it
was your idea for Nicky to look at Kim after it was over and tell her she
missed. That part’s my favorite. You are so ballsy.”

They danced in silence for a bit
while Art processed this gigantic lie.

“Nicky told us you were coming
to her party,” Jill added. “I’m going too. So is Annika. And you know how many
people Annika will bring along.” She was improvising now. The plan was to feed
Art a story about the wine glass incident being his idea, about the ballroom
buzzing over his heroics. Jill figured, if she was telling a lie of this
magnitude, she might as well lie about everything. She might as well pretend
that her own part of the mission hadn’t failed, that Annika was bringing a crew
to Nicky’s after-party.

“I’m beginning to wonder if
Nicky’s party is going to have a bigger turnout than Kim’s,” she continued.
“And with you going, she’ll have one of the big money players. I can’t believe
this is happening. Kim Renwick is going to lose. You are so fucking amazing,
Art Tremblay. I could kiss you.”

Now Art was looking at Kim, who
was dancing with Terry Reese.

“It was so smart of you to ditch
her,” Jill said. “She was using you. She uses everyone. And now...oh my word, the
things she’s saying now. You couldn’t get away from her fast enough.”

“What is Kim saying?”

“Just her typical morbid
fantasies. She thinks she’s immortal already and gets to kill anyone who
bothers her. She’s totally delusional. The poor girl has been raised to think
Coronation is her birthright or something, and all of a sudden everything’s
going wrong for her. Nicky’s the new favorite to win. Wow. It feels so good to
say that. Nicky Bloom, not Kim Renwick, will be the immortal from our class.
And we owe it all to you. You are so totally my hero.”

Jill was aware she might be
going overboard, but was caught in the moment. Art was buying everything she
was selling, and it felt good to have something going right, since everything
had gone so wrong with Annika. Even with Art on board, the night could not be
called a success if Annika didn’t come around. Art had lots of money, but they
needed more than one person with money to have a good party.

Blackmail. The word sent a
shiver down her spine, so closely was it tied to the Renwicks and their
treachery. To bring Annika along, Jill was going to have to blackmail her.

She decided not to think about
it right now. One thing at a time. She was still dancing with Art. Her story
was going over well, but hers was only part one of a two-part plan to bring Art
on board.

She could feed this lie to Art
all she wanted, he still knew the truth. He was there. He had tried to push Nicky
into Rosalyn and had failed. If Nicky was telling people otherwise, Art had to
know why.

That was part two of the plan:
Nicky dances with Art and tells him why.

 The music came to an end and
the dancing stopped. Art’s moment of truth was coming up right now. Jill made
sure to arrange herself so Art turned in the proper direction to find his next
partner.

“Hello again, Art,” Nicky said,
with a seductive smile that made Jill jealous. Why were some girls just born
with the ability to do that?

“Nicky. We were just talking
about you,” Art said.

Nicky took his hands in hers.
“Nothing bad, I hope,” she said.

“No,” said Art. “Nothing bad at
all.”

Jill turned to her next partner,
Eddie Miller, and left Art in Nicky’s hands.