Feature Writer:
Feature Title: The Old House By The Beach
Published: 01.11.2024
Story Codes: Erotic Horror
Synopsis: A short Halloween Story
Author’s Notes: The inspiration for The Old House By The Beach came from a 750 word micro-story I wrote back in February 2024. It was called Angel Vengadora, and formed my first foray into Erotic Horror. Elena is a character, who first appeared in Heaven & Hole (which was also Bobby’s debut). I quite like Elena, and thought that my previous plot idea was also kinda cool. So I decided that both merited a lengthier treatment. However, I opted for not just writing an expanded version of the earlier story, so some elements of the ending, and a few of the character motivations, are somewhat different here. I hope you approve of my choices. I’ve never been to Florida, let alone Miami. So sorry if any details are off. I’d also like to acknowledge my two lovely alpha readers: Djmac1031 and ShelbyDawn57.
The Old House By The Beach
Friday October 24, central Miami
Britany eased back into the leather of Scott’s Cabriolet. It was humid, of course it was humid, even in late October, and she wanted to feel the wind in her hair. No such luck. They’d tried to leave the campus early, ahead of the rush, but it was Friday and the traffic had been bad. Coral Gables to the beach in State Park should have been thirty minutes; twenty with how Scott drove, but it had been forty already and they were still in downtown.
Yawning, Brittany pushed a button and moved her seat back.
“Ow!”
She turned and saw a rather unhappy looking Aleja, trying to sit sideways across the two, tiny rear seats. “Sorry, babe. Forgot you were back there.”
Aleja half smiled, half grimaced. “It’s OK.”
“Well, at least you are small, girl.” Britany turned toward Scott. “Can’t you, like, take a back road, or something?”
Scott revved the engine, clearly frustrated, but said nothing. Britany decided that silence was golden. It was cool having a boyfriend with a Porsche, but he also had a temper.
She looked at the sunlight playing on her jade ring, and how internal reflection in the pyroxene matrix made the stone appear almost luminescent. Her mother’s face swam into her mind briefly. The image was less than welcome, and Britany felt the anger rising; why was she taken so soon? Leaving just this memento for her only child.
Suppressing unwanted emotions, Britany tried to focus on other things. She moved her seat further back, ignoring the suppressed grunt from behind her, and stretching her long legs as she smiled to herself. There, that was better.
Anyway, it was only reasonable. Scott was her boyfriend, so it was pretty much her car. Stupid Cuban should be grateful she had a ride. And grateful that Britany was letting the bitch into a circle that should, by rights, be far beyond her social status. Particularly when transferring late to the program. She’d just appeared one day, it was strange. No one knew her, and she was – frankly – kinda weird as well. Yeah, bitch should be grateful that Britany had taken her under her wing.
Finally, the traffic started to move. That was better. Britany stretched her arms up and let the breeze cool her hands.
xxxxx
Aleja tried not to let Britany get to her. She had other things to think about. The beach that they were heading for appeared in the distance and to her left, a gleaming sliver highlighted by the low sun. Bathed in orange rays, a single house stood on the horizon, abandoned by the looks of it. And old, really old. Aleja leaned forward and spoke loudly above the rushing air. “What’s that? I thought that this was a state park.”
Britany shrugged and ignored the question. It seemed she felt it beneath her to know such things. But Scott spoke for the first time in many minutes. “My Dad told me it predates the park. Used to belong to the family who gifted the land. It’s derelict. There was some plan to turn it into a visitor center, but they ran out of money. Stupid socialist BS if you ask me.”
Having imparted this information, he wrenched the steering wheel left and, with an angry squeal of tires, they headed directly to their destination. Scott lurched to a halt in the lot next to a red BMW roadster. Aleja didn’t recognize the car, but assumed it was probably Brian’s. Brian and Scott were both Sigma Phi Epsilon, and Brian’s girlfriend, Alessia, was Britany’s roommate. The four were basically interchangeable. Attractive in an imperious kind of way, and with the casual arrogance that only comes from never having had a thing they wanted denied to them.
Aleja felt a low level disgust in their company. They were so not her people. Then maybe they could help her, she could do with help, and beggars couldn’t be choosers. Aleja buried any negative feelings and smiled as she extracted herself from the back of the Porsche. As she clambered out, it was hard to ignore Scott’s eyes on her. Something that didn’t seem lost on Britany, who thumped her boyfriend’s arm.
The blow seemed to not affect Scott at all, who simply smiled in a slightly lopsided way at the smaller girl. In truth Britany was a more striking figure. Legs that went on forever, a Sports Illustrated figure, and a face that could have been beautiful if not so often pulled into a dismissive frown. Maybe in response, Britany pulled her T off, dropped her short shorts, and ran to the shore. Her bikini was of the minimalist variety and Scott seemed at least momentarily distracted by the pneumatic display of Britany’s ass wobbling as she sprinted.
But then he turned back to Aleja.”Not a shy one are you?” His smile had morphed into an unembarrassed leer.
Aleja was a little nauseated, but decided to play along. She too shed her T, but retained her boardshorts, at least for now. “Nice,” said Scott in a tone suggesting he was accustomed to having his advances reciprocated as a matter of course.
Aleja, feeling uncomfortable, decided to go for distraction. “Let’s go find Brian and Alessia.” Scott nodded and, with Aleja feeling rather relieved, they walked in the direction that Britany had just taken.
xxxxx
The beach sand was still warm and the air balmy. Afternoon rain hadn’t reduced the humidity, it seldom did. Britany waved to Brian and Alessia, who had spread a blanket and cracked a beer each already. The park was meant to be alcohol free, but such ordinances were just for the little people. Alessia looked slightly flushed and Britany guessed that she and Brian had been making out.
Brittany sat on the sand, supporting her upper body on her arms, and legs spread wide. “Looking good, Brit,” Brian said, his eyes on her crotch.
Alessia placed a proprietorial kiss on her boyfriend’s cheek, then shared his direction of gaze. “Sure are, girlfriend.”
Britany wondered about her roommate. She did have a somewhat disconcerting habit of wandering around their place in underwear, or even nude. Britany idly wondered whether the purity pledge they had both made applied to other women.
Aware that her thoughts were having a physical effect, Britany closed her legs almost demurely. Her sapphic reverie was interrupted by Scott throwing their blanket down and demanding a beer, which Brian tossed to him. Clinking bottles, her boyfriend lay down on the blanket, his head on Britany’s thighs.
Aleja crouched down awkwardly on a corner of the material, seemingly trying to occupy the minimum area possible. She looked every bit the outsider that she was. Britany critically appraised the new girl. Skinny, but with nice tits. Nothing compared to her own, of course, but kinda OK. Olive-accented skin, dark, curly hair, that constantly strayed across her face. An obviously Latin appearance, which was less in her favor, but with big, brown eyes that made Aleja look younger than the twenty years she claimed. Britany could see what Scott saw, but, at the end of the day, her kind were only really good for one thing.
The young Cuban girl shifted uncomfortably and looked back over her shoulder at the old house. When she spoke, traces of Havana were still etched into her voice. “It’s kinda creepy, right? Makes you feel like someone is watching you… or something.”
Brian guffawed. “Yeah, probably an old dude with a telescope and beating his meat looking at Alessia.”
Alessia pouted, but seemed pleased by her boyfriend’s words. “Let’s give the perv a show, shall we?”
With that, she pulled her bikini top down, nestling the fabric under her breasts. She stood and shook her torso at the building, her tits wobbling alarmingly. “Hey, pervert. Want some of these?”
Britany spoke with faux shock. “Really, Alessia. You’ve got to get this exhibitionist streak under control.”
Aleja thought that she maybe saw something else in how Britany was looking at her topless friend. Then Scott interjected. “You jealous, Brit?”
Smiling in a kinda unpleasant way, Britany also stood, undid her halter string, and mimicked her friends display. “If anyone is jealous, it’s her.”
Britany really did have great breasts, it had to be said. She turned to Aleja. “Your turn.”
The Cuban girl shook her head, furiously blushing. Scott and Brian started clapping, while yelling, “Al-e-ja! Al-e-ja!”
Feeling flustered and confused, Aleja also stood and, as quickly as she could manage, flashed her breasts, rapidly pulling the garment back into place, her cheeks as pink as her bikini top.
The boys’ chant changed to, “one of us, one of us,” before they dissolved in laughter. Brian threw her a beer, which Aleja just managed to catch, before twisting the top off. Looking at the group, a small flame of defiance sprung up in her. She tipped her head back, and downed the bottle’s contents in one go, a little of the amber fluid trickling out of each side of her mouth.
“Hey, great swallowing, bitch!” crowed Scott, earning him a kick from Britany.
Aleja was feeling a little buzzed, and both her mammary display, and chugging the beer, seemed to have gained her some sort of group approval. Maybe it would be easier to get to know them than she had thought.
Aleja went as far as ditching her board shorts, and sat down again in a more relaxed manner, closer to the others. Scott and Brian both grinned warmly at her. Maybe Britany and Alessia’s smiles were a little more forced. Still, more beers were passed round, and the evening was pleasant enough, so long as Aleja filtered out the worst of the boys’ verbal excesses, and the girls’ cattiness.
But, inevitably, alcohol loosened inhibitions, and soon Aleja realized that she was a fifth wheel. She got up, a little unsteadily, the beers having gone to her head, and decided to go for a walk. Looking back, Scott’s tongue was now deep inside Britany’s mouth, while his girlfriend stroked the front of his shorts. Brian seemed to be biting Alessia’s neck, one hand inside her bikini top squeezing. Yeah, time for a walk for sure.
xxxxx
The sun had set, but radiant, pink clouds in the west still illuminated the beach, together with a few elderly street lamps on a concrete boardwalk, set well back from the beach. One of these shone a palid glow onto the derelict walls and boarded-up windows of the old house. Some of the nailed planks hung loosely, revealing shattered glass behind, and it was not a stretch to imagine some figure within gazing out of the dark slots. Aleja shivered, despite the persistent heat. She wished that she had brought her T-shirt with her, and suddenly felt vulnerable in just her skimpy swimsuit.
Still, something about the crumbling edifice drew her. Looking back, the others – did she call them friends? – were just shadowy shapes. No one else was in sight. Turning back to the house, Aleja took a deep breath and strode purposefully forward.
There were rickety steps leading up to a porch spanning the entire frontage. Cans and shattered bottles were strewn around, and the wooden floor was singed in places where impromptu fires had clearly been struck. Stepping forward, hesitantly, the boards groaned under even Aleja’s slight weight.
The heavy, wooden front door seemed in better shape than much of the building. ‘Focus, girl, focus.’ Aleja grasped the large, brass knob and tried to turn it, but it held firm. Stepping back, she surveyed the nearest windows, looking for an opening of some sort. Surely there was some way in.
“What are you doing?”
The words were whispered in her ear and Aleja couldn’t stifle a scream. Spinning she saw Scott behind her, appearing drunk and swaying slightly.
He smiled blurily at her. “You wanna go in? No one goes in there. Don’t you know it’s haunted.”
With the last word, Scott raised his hands and made a moaning noise.
“Cut it out, Scott, you scared me. Did you follow me? Does Britany know?”
Scott looked sheepish. “Britany? Yeah. Well, she’s kinda a tease. Puts out, then says ‘no.’ Stupid purity pledge. A boy has needs. You don’t strike me as a stupid girl, or a shy one.”
With that, Scott ran his fingers through Aleja’s curly locks, and down to cup her chin, tilting the girl’s still startled face up toward his.
Panicking, and feeling revulsion surge inside, Aleja grasped at straws, trying to regain control of the situation. “Your ring, it’s a Sigma Phi Epsilon one, right? Is it jade, like Britany’s?”
Scott paused and looked at Aleja strangely. “Yeah, it’s jade, a family heirloom. A special kind of jade. My grandma gave it to me.” As he spoke, Scott ran the tip of his ring finger over Aleja’s lips. She began to feel herself start to shake. ‘Control it, control it,’ she told herself.
“Scott, what the actual fuck.” It was Britany and she was super pissed.
Thankfully for Aleja, Scott’s girlfriend seemed to be directing her ire primarily – and reasonably – at him. Aleja walked back to the other two hurriedly, muttering an unacknowledged, “Sorry,” and with the sound of raised voices ringing in her ears. She had a lot to think about.
Back at the blankets, Brian had passed out and Alessia was gyrating slowly, eyes closed, while humming a tune, maybe Cruel Summer, and totally oblivious. Aleja thought that they looked as if they had moved on from beer to other substances. But she couldn’t worry about that now. Instead, she pulled her clothes on, retrieved her phone, and began to tap the screen.
Looking up for a second, Aleja said, “Tell Scott and Britany thanks, I’m gonna… gonna get an Uber.”
Neither replied and Aleja went back to her phone, fingers moving rapidly, until she was satisfied.
Several hundred feet down from the house, another lamp illuminated a wooden bench. Aleja walked to sit there and waited. When the car pulled up, the driver lowered the passenger window. He was a black guy, with a broad smile. “Ramirez?” he said, his grin widening.
Aleja said nothing, but got inside, and the car pulled away into the night.
xxxxx
Monday October 27, The University of Miami
Aleja didn’t see either of the other girls that morning. Indeed they both seemed to view pre-lunch classes as optional. She sat on a low wall in the middle of campus, a sandwich beside her, and trying to shield the screen of her phone from the midday sun’s glare. She eventually made out the words and tapped a reply.
“Boyfriend?”
Britany was standing behind Aleja and leaning down to read the Cuban girl’s messages with a totally unashamed air.
Aleja turned her phone over rapidly. But not rapidly enough.
“Didn’t figure you for a snow bunny. But I guess it makes sense for someone like you. To be honest, some of those BBC vids do it for me.” With this Britany sat down beside Aleja.
“I… I… it’s a high school friend. That’s all.”
“Sure,” said Britany, taking a sip from her water bottle, “so not jungle fever at all. Your secret is safe with me.”
Aleja desperately wanted to change the subject, and the pivot seemed appropriate. “I… I heard you had a black friend. A girl. Didn’t she leave or something?”
Britany turned to Aleja, raised her sunglasses and looked at the Cuban girl intently. “Where did you hear that?”
“Oh… I dunno… someone said something. Maybe Alessia…”
“Alessia wouldn’t have said that,” said Britany with surprising intensity. Then she seemed to relax. “But yeah, I threw the bitch a bone. Pretty girl, despite… well the obvious. I think she couldn’t cut it here, went back home to Atlanta. College is difficult for those types, then I’m sure you know.”
Britany stared ahead silently, and the matter appeared to be closed. Aleja was going to persist with another question, but her companion stood and waved. “Hey, Alessia, over here.”
Britany’s friend joined them and their conversation turned to shopping and dresses and cosmetics. Aleja ate her lunch in silence as the two other girls made plans for a mall trip. It appeared she wasn’t invited.
xxxxx
Tuesday October 28, a Miami bar
Especially with her diminutive size and young looks, Aleja had expected to be refused entry. Her license stated that she was only twenty after all. But Britany had a magic ID, flashing a Platinum Amex at the doorman, who waved the five of them in.
The place was only half full, then it was midweek. As Aleja’s eyes adjusted to the low light, the crowd seemed mostly other college kids, presumably in possession of the same sort of golden ticket as Britany. The other two girls had turned up in micro dresses. Aleja felt a little out of place in a halter top and jean shorts, but it seemed both wardrobe choices had their devotees in the bar.
They found a booth and a Latina waitress appeared within seconds of them sitting down. “Hi! What can I get you guys?”
Brian slapped her ass hard. “A little of that to start. Then ten Calidads, in honor of our friend, OK?” He held up a credit card and a twenty dollar bill. The woman took both, affecting a smile of sorts. As she turned her eyes locked with Aleja’s. Was that a note of sympathy in them?
The group talked about inconsequential stuff for some time. Britany and Alessia being bitchy about other girls, Scott and Brian being lewd.
Then Brian leaned toward Aleja. “So you doing anything Halloween?”
Aleja said she had no plans.
“So, we thought the beach again. Screw costumes. I’ll bring a keg and we can get wasted. Good for you?”
Aleja nodded, a little uncertainly.
Scott interjected. “That’s if you aren’t terrified of the haunted house.” Again he mimed a ghoul as he spoke.
Britany rolled her eyes. “Enough of the Scooby Doo shit, OK!”
The rest of the evening was uneventful, Aleja adopting a protocol of one drink for every two the other four had. Uneventful, that was, until an inebriated Brian had attempted to kiss her as they waited for their cars. Aleja had tried to push him away, but Brian was a foot or more taller. Alessia and Britany had intervened, manhandling him into an Uber with Scott, while suggesting that Aleja wait for the second one.
Standing alone on the sidewalk, Aleja realized that she was shaking. Shaking uncontrollably. With a large effort of will, she calmed herself. ‘Not now, not here.’ Minutes later, seated in the rear of a Prius, she took several deep breaths before sending a message.
Can we talk, later? A bit shaken. And they want me to go back to the beach this Friday.
When her phone beeped, Aleja smiled again. It was good to have a friend, one you knew you could rely on.
xxxxx
Wednesday October 29, The University of Miami
Aleja’s first class was at 9:30am. As she sat waiting, AirPods in situ, staring at the empty screen, and mind kinda blank, she was disturbed by a movement next to her. Pulling out one earbud, she turned her head to see Alessia, She was wearing sunglasses.
Maybe reading Aleja’s mind, Alessia said, “I have the worst head. Thumping, and Motrin isn’t even touching it.”
“So, why are you here? I’ve never seen you so early.”
“Well, it’s my dick of a boyfriend. I… I just wanted to apologize for him. He… he changes when he drinks too much. He probably won’t even remember last night. But I do… well at least some of it.”
Alessia paused, looking a little confused for a second, before continuing. “Anyway… well, sorry.”
Aleja decided to be magnanimous. “It’s OK. He was blind drunk. No harm done. And thanks for helping.”
Alessia smiled and then winced. Aleja assumed it was her head. “You should go home.”
“Yeah. But Brittany’s there… And she snores.”
The two girls giggled. The idea of little Miss Perfect having a flaw was kinda amusing.
Aleja had an idea, “You could crash at my place. It’s just me. I had to get accommodation in a hurry, with transferring late. It was all I could find near campus.”
Aleja briefly wondered whether there was anything lying out that she’d prefer Alessia not to see, but was pretty sure all was good; she tended to be tidy.
Alessia seemed to be in two minds, so the young Cuban continued. “Here’s the key. The address is on this tag. You can walk. And I’ll come and check on you later.”
“Really?” Alessia sounded very different to the bitch she appeared to be normally. Aleja wondered if it was all an act for Britany’s benefit. She could empathize with that.
“Really. Go now. There are Tylenol in the vanity, if you need them. And juice and water in the kitchen.”
Alessia took the key, squeezed Aleja’s hand and left, leaving the other girl reassessing a number of things.
xxxxx
Later, Aleja let herself into her apartment block with the spare keys and took the stairs to the third floor. The place really didn’t have a college vibe at all, but – as she had explained – it had been a rapidly arranged lease. Aleja opened her door quietly, but was greeted by a cheery, “hiyah!”
Alessia was in the kitchen and seemed to have gone into domestic mode. She smiled and held up two plates. “I made us sandwiches. Hope that’s OK.”
“Great, thanks. I guess your head is better,” said Aleja, sitting down at the kitchen table.
“Yeah, I slept for like two and a half hours. Guess I needed to. Thanks so much again. Pickles?”
Aleja nodded and – as Alessia explored the refrigerator – the Cuban girl debated whether to ask the question at the front of her mind. She decided to go for it. “You… and I hope you don’t mind me saying this… seem… well… nicer than… er… sometimes.”
Alessia grinned. “Oh that. Gotta fit in, right? Britany, well, she can be a bit much. And she’s my roommate. I had to find a way to, you know, get by. Sometimes it’s better to go with the flow. And I can do bitch just fine. Does that make me a bad person?”
Aleja thought that she was in no real position to criticize. “No, I guess we all mask a bit.”
Pickles finally located, Alessia joined her and the two girls munched their food in silence for a while. Then Alessia seemed to have something on her mind. “I… well… you know that pledge that Britany and I took as freshmen?”
Aleja nodded, unsure where this conversation was going.
Alessia continued. “Well… I might not have fully complied with all of its terms.”
Aleja found her friend’s (was that what they were becoming?) turn of phrase amusing. “Well?” She asked with a grin.
“Well… to be honest. The pledge is kinda convenient. I mean, Brian is OK – when he’s not drunk that is – and I don’t mind kissing so much. But…” she tailed off, looking at Aleja and maybe hoping for her to understand.
The young Cuban understood only too well. She’d found that, recently, her insight into other people had become – what was the word? – heightened maybe. Yeah heightened, elevated even. Smiling, she filled in the blanks. “But you’ve figured out that you kinda prefer girls, right?”
It was Alessia’s turn to nod silently.
Another thought popped unbidden into Aleja’s head. “And…maybe girls like… er… me?”
Alessia was now blushing deeply. “Yeah, do you hate me? Are you disgusted by me? I just… well sometimes a girl can tell. But my gaydar isn’t always reliable.”
“It’s reliable, honey. I like girls. And… I should be clear… guys as well. I’m bisexual is what I’m trying to say. And…” here Aleja put a finger under Alessia’s chin and raised her face so that their eyes locked, “… I kinda like you too.”
Aleja adopted a more serious tone. “But, honey, I have someone in my life. We have this sort of flexible relationship, but… well… we don’t really know each other so well, do we? Maybe if we spent some more time…”
Alessia looked downcast. “Yeah, I was coming on too strong. It’s just, since Jayla…” Having said the name, she abruptly and very noticeably went silent.
“Jayla? Was that the black girl that Britany was telling me about?”
Alessia looked kinda haunted, her eyes darting around the apartment as if looking for hidden people. “Yeah. Yeah, that was her. We… we had a thing… had to keep it from Britany, she’s so jealous… but yeah.”
There was a dull noise, maybe from someone closing the door of another unit, and Alessia startled, looking genuinely scared.
Aleja spoke softly, doing her best to calm the other girl. “Just a neighbor, nothing to worry about. It’s all OK.”
Alessia still looked fearful. Deciding she had to do something about this, Aleja took her friend’s cheeks in her hands, pulled their faces close together, and almost breathed, “it’s OK.”
Maybe it was Aleja’s reassuring tone, or perhaps the touch of her finger-tips, but Alessia visibly relaxed, taking a few deep, steady inhalations.
“Better?” Asked Aleja.
“Better,” replied Alessia.
Gently, Aleja spoke again. “So, you were telling me about Jayla…”
Alessia now had her eyes closed and a half smile on her face, she spoke slowly. “Well… I shouldn’t. Britany will be pissed. But, yeah, she was a pretty girl, and… sweet… and I really liked her. We… we kinda got close, real close. Until… well… Britany didn’t like her so much. Said her kind were trouble. So… so we kept it low pro.”
Eyes still closed, Alessia paused, swallowed, and then continued more falteringly. “But… I guess she found out… or something. There was a big scene at college. But then… then it was all OK again, all friends.”
A frown crossed Alessia’s face. “But… not long after… Jayla… well… she left. Just left. No note, nothing, I tried her cell, no reply. Last time I saw her, we were at the beach. Then… I don’t remember… I… maybe I drank too much. Anyway… that’s… that’s it. Britany said to not worry about it. She was… kinda insistent. She… can be real insistent sometimes, so…”
It seemed like Alessia had stopped breathing for a few seconds. Then she opened her eyes abruptly. “Sorry, still tired from last night, I guess. Is your sandwich OK?”
Aleja said it was great, but that she had to get back to class. “You can stay here if you like. We can talk more.”
Alessia stood. “No, better get back. Britany likes me to be around. Don’t want her pissed with me. Thanks for letting me rest.”
She shrugged, squeezed Aleja’s hand, and left, waving at her friend as she descended the stairs.
Aleja picked up her phone and tapped out a message. There was something, definitely something. But what?
xxxxx
Thursday October 30, Britany and Alessia’s Room
Britany was not in the best of moods. Alessia had been acting weird, and that was the last thing she needed right now.
“What the actual fuck, Alessia? You’re behaving like a guy who’s wife caught him browsing porn. What have you done?”
Alessia’s voice had a note of panic in it. “Nothing. Nothing at all.”
Her friend’s demeanor wasn’t making Britany feel any calmer. “It’s that Cuban bitch, right? She said that you told her about Jayla. We were talking Monday, and she just came out and said it. I thought it was BS, let it go, but have you been shooting your stupid mouth off?”
“Monday? But we talked yest…” Alessia put her hand to her mouth, her eyes wide in fright.
Britany became icy. “I knew it. You’re gonna tell me exactly what you told her, and don’t leave out any details. I can make things fucking miserable for you, and don’t you forget it.”
With hesitation, Alessia explained that Aleja had been asking about Jayla, but that she was fuzzy on precisely what the two of them had discussed.
“Fuzzy?” Said Britany in some disbelief.
“Yeah, kinda, maybe it was the alcohol from Tuesday night. I had a bad head… and… I’ve… I’ve been having… well… black outs, maybe. Periods I can’t remember. Like… like that last night with Jayla.”
The example didn’t seem to sit well with Britany, who grimaced. “OK… OK. If you can’t remember, you can’t remember. But she was definitely asking about Jayla, right?”
Alessia nodded, hoping she might still avoid her roommate’s wrath. But Britany seemed relatively serene, tranquil even, when she spoke next. “What about anyone else, did she ask about anyone else?”
“Anyone else? Like who? I… I don’t think so. What’s going on Britany?”
“Nothing. Nothing for you to worry about. I just don’t like people nosing around where they have no business.”
Britany seemed to have reached some sort of decision. Much to Alessia’s relief, she changed the subject. “So, Halloween. The beach, right?”
“Sure, Britany, it’s gonna be fun.”
“And Aleja is coming?”
“She said she was, yeah.”
Britany’s mood appeared to be improving. “Good. Perfect in fact.”
She paused in thought for a few seconds. “OK, I have to go out. Some… some arrangements for tomorrow. I’ll be a couple of hours.”
xxxxx
Friday October 31, The Beach at State Park
The alcohol had been flowing and Aleja already felt buzzed. Really buzzed, she reflected. But much too buzzed to worry too much about it. Instead, she sang and danced with the others. Even letting Brian lift her up once.
Scott’s voice boomed above the music. “Keg’s empty. Gonna get some more drinks. Brian, I need a beast of burden. Brian grunted and the pair headed back to the parking lot.
Alessia called after them. “You can’t drive like that!”
Scott waved his hand without turning round and kept walking.
“His Dad knows the Chief of Police, it’s all good,” said Britany, slurring slightly.
“You people are like from an alternative reality.” Aleja giggled uncontrollably.
Britany looked at the Cuban girl strangely as she replied. “We just take control, you have to take control, or you are just some low-life blowing in the wind.”
“You said ‘blowing, Britany,” laughed Alessia, holding an imaginary organ in front of her mouth and moving it back and forward.
She and Aleja ended up rolling on the floor in a drunken paroxysm. Somehow they rolled together and their lips briefly met.
Britany stepped in. “OK, enough of that. If anyone is gonna kiss Aleja, it’s gonna be me.”
Aleja looked up at Britany, her eyes open wide.
Britany continued. “Yeah. But first… first you have to pass a test. Show you’re worthy. I don’t kiss just any bitch.” She turned her gaze to Alessia. “Not like some people.”
Aleja’s voice was a slow drawl. “Test? What test?”
Britany looked over her shoulder at the old house. “That kinda test. You too scared?”
“But… but… it’s locked,” said Aleja.
Britany grinned. “Let’s see, shall we? It is Halloween, a time of opening, of possibilities, when the real and the spirit worlds touch.”
Aleja thought Britany was full of shit, but she played along. “OK, I’m not scared. Lead on.”
“Sure. Come on Alessia, I want you to see this as well.” But Alessia was asleep, and nothing the other two girls could do would rouse her.
“Fuck the lightweight. We’ll send her a photo or something.” With that Britany strode to the house, Aleja walking more slowly in her wake.
As they approached the building, it loomed darkly above them. Britany strained her eyes into the gloom of the porch. An even blacker vertical sliver showed the door to be slightly ajar. She smiled to herself.
The change wasn’t lost on Aleja either, and the sight seemed to have sobered her up a little. “It’s… it’s open. What the fuck?”
Brittany, still staring ahead, replied. “Yeah, only on Halloween, right? When all the ghosts and ghouls come out. You’re not afraid, are you?”
Aleja felt an itching in her shoulder blades, causing her to shudder a little. But she controlled herself, no way was she going to let this pampered bitch see her true feelings. “No, I’m good. What stupid thing do I have to do?”
Still not looking at her companion, Britany said, “Not much, see that window up there?” She pointed to the second floor, right above the front door, and a place which had either not been boarded up, or where the planks had long since fallen down. “Just go and wave to me from that window, that’s all.”
Aleja tried to sound neutral, though her nerves were tingling. “Sure, no big deal.”
Britany ascended the stoop stairs and stood in front of the quarter open door. She took out her phone. “OK, message me when you get there. I’ll go down to the yard and take a photo.”
Aleja joined her. “Sure, no problem.” With that, she tentatively stepped forward. Placing a hand on the door, it swung inward with a creak. She looked back at Britany, who nodded, urging the Cuban girl on. Aleja took a couple of deep breaths and stepped into the house.
xxxxx
Outside was dark, but there had at least been some illumination from the boardwalk lamps. In here, the blackness was oppressive. A few shafts of faint light penetrated the boarded up windows, motes of dust turning slowly in their dim luminescence, and making the surrounding shadows even deeper. Despite the lingering heat outside, Aleja was cold. Her short denim shorts and a pink bikini top felt hopelessly inadequate. She was starting to get goosebumps, and her nipples had become two iron towers, the material of her O’Neill’s chaffing against them.
Aleja peered into the darkness, making out the dimensions of what seemed to be a large room. Then she couldn’t suppress a shriek as the door clanged shut behind her. She tried the handle, but it was locked. “Fucking Britany and her mind games,” she muttered under her breath, her back now aching with barely suppressed tension. ‘Keep it together, you can do this,’ she told herself.
Aleja turned back into the room and could begin to make out some details. Cobwebs covering each ceiling corner. Furniture dotted around, seemingly at random, some overturned and broken. Beneath her feet a ragged, stained runner, extending into the chamber.
Aleja stiffened. She’d heard something. Had she seen something? A movement? It was hard to be sure in the low light. Another noise. Unmistakable now. A deep voice moaning a single word, again and again. “Al-e-ja… Al-e-ja…”
Aleja shivered. More Britany pranks, she guessed, wondering pointedly what had happened to Scott and Brian. But some spoiled rich girl, and her frat boy friends, weren’t gonna scare her. She moved forward. “Hello. Who’s there? Come out wherever you are, assholes!”
Silence.
xxxxx
It happened quickly. Strong hands gripped Aleja’s arms hard from behind. A masked figure rushed from in front. She was thrown to the floor. Her head hit the rug hard and rang like a bell, robbing her briefly of the ability to breathe. The first, and larger, assailant pinned Aleja down. Looking up, her eyes wide with apparent incomprehension, she saw he too was masked. Aleja struggled, but he was too heavy, too strong.
In an attempt at bravado, Aleja half croaked, her voice brittle. “Hey, guys. You had your fun. Scared the new girl. Now get the fuck off.”
Her protestations were met with laughter from the smaller guy, who taunted her. “You aren’t going anywhere, bitch! Not until we are finished with you anyway. Maybe not even then.”
Aleja screamed, the same man slapped her face hard, and she tasted her own blood. Her mouth open in shock, he shoved a rag into it. “Shut the fuck up, you little slut! We know what you want.”
He dragged Aleja’s shorts and bikini bottoms down her thrashing legs. She tried to land a kick on her assailant, but got the back of the guy’s hand across her face again instead. Aleja froze, pain erupting in her bruised cheek, anger and shame rising in her heart, and her brain turning somersaults, trying to work out what to do, when to do it.
The man laughed, and addressed his friend pinning Aleja’s arms. “No fight left in her. These Latin chicks have big mouths, but slap them a bit and they are pussycats.” The second guy didn’t reply, but his grip on Aleja remained unrelenting.
Aleja watched, a look of horror and disbelief on her face, as the guy in front of her peeled off his boardshorts, gripped his erect cock, and waved it’s modest length at her. “Some juicy white meat for you, little immigrant whore!” Looking at his partner, he added, “her top.”
The other man released one of Aleja’s arms long enough to rip her bikini top off, and then resumed his vise-like hold. The guy brandishing his dick jeered. “I’m gonna stick you. Stick the little maid’s daughter hard. Make you wish you’d never left your shit-hole country.”
He knelt over Aleja, pushed her legs roughly apart with his knees, and aimed his cock at her pussy. “These anchor babies are only good for one thing.”
Aleja shut her eyes tight, tried to focus on other thoughts. Anything, anything but the awful here and now. But still she refused to make it easy for him. Refused to give up entirely.
The man began to move his body forward, as his victim continued struggling to break free from the other man’s clutches. The sight of Aleja’s semblant, impotent wriggling seemed to both amuse and arouse the man. He leaned forward and lay on Aleja, his belly meeting hers, and said, in a voice loud enough for the other guy to hear, “wonder if she’ll be as tight as that black bitch was.”
Then his tone changed, becoming syrupy sweet, his words enunciated slowly, and achingly clearly. “The… poor… dead… black… bitch!”
xxxxx
Aleja had been writhing, straining to evade her captors, to cheat her fate; all seemingly in vain. But, at these words, a change came over her. Aleja’s useless struggles ceased, and her body began to shake. Imperceptibly at first, then with greater amplitude and higher frequency. A buzzing filled the air, turning into a high pitched whine. The larger man loosed Aleja’s arms and covered his ears with his hands. His partner clambered to his feet and did likewise. The sound seemed like it might rip the very fabric of the house apart.
Now unencumbered, Aleja’s nude body, still vibrating menacingly, rose slowly off the floor, her eyes shut tight. Her assailants screamed, their hearing assaulted by the strident, piercing noise. A few feet off the floor, Aleja’s frame pivoted forward, and she was now levitating in an upright pose. Slowly she stretched her arms out to either side, fists clenched.
Suddenly, her head lurched backward, exposing her neck and, as her bellow resounded off the walls, there was a whooshing, wet, flapping sound, and wings burst from her back. White, blood-stained, and massive. As her head returned more slowly to a normal attitude, she opened her eyes, and dismissively spat out the rag. Aleja was now enveloped in a golden aura, and she floated down to stand on the ground. The glow abated, seeming to sink into her naked skin.
The torturing noise abruptly ceased, and the two men regained their senses. They exchanged a look and an understanding, despite their masked features. Both rushed at Aleja. The smaller guy reached her first, arms wildly swinging. Aleja easily evaded his attempted blows, and hit the guy squarely in the chest with an open palm, sending him flying backward through the air.
The larger man tried to repeat how he had earlier grabbed Aleja from behind, but she stepped forward, and spun rapidly, one heavy wing colliding with the man, and then the other. He was knocked to the floor, and lay in a crumpled heap, moaning. Aleja strode to him, effortlessly lifted his bulky body one-handed, and threw him at his friend. Bone crunched against bone sickeningly, and the pair both screamed.
Approaching the door, Aleja kicked out and it disintegrated into hundreds of shards. Outside stood Britany, her phone to her face, but her voice now silenced by the sight of the terrible winged apparition before her. The phone fell to the floor and Britany turned to run.
Aleja shot up off the ground, flapped her powerful wings once, twisted, and landed the other side of her erstwhile friend. The transformed Cuban grabbed Britany, and half carried, half dragged her back into the house.
As they reentered, the two masked men got falteringly to their feet and stood in battered indecision. Aleja let go of Britany, and the taller girl knelt in supplication on the floor next to her.
Britany reached up and tentatively touched Aleja’s side. “You’re an angel, a beautiful, pure angel, have mercy on us, please Aleja.”
Aleja looked at Britany impassively. The two men stood hesitantly, unsure of what to do. Then another noise broke the silence. The distinctive sound of hands clapping. “Bravo. Bravo. You are a gifted actress, Britany Anderson.”
From the shadows emerged a figure. A black guy, of average height, but muscular. He had earmuffs around his neck. As he walked towards the group he ceased his solo applause and addressed Aleja. “Hi Elena, seems like a cool party.”
Aleja replied, her first words since the transformation. “Hi Bobby, thanks for joining us, I was beginning to wonder whether you had… you know… dozed off or something.”
Britany swiveled repeatedly between the two. “Elena? Elena? Who the fuck is Elena?”
The black man smiled broadly. “Yeah, ’bout that. Seems you don’t have a monopoly on deception.”
He’d now reached Aleja, or rather Elena, and the two exchanged a brief kiss.
The angel asked, “so you got it all, right?” Bobby nodded, and she continued. “The attempted rape, the confession about Jayla, everything?”
Bobby pulled out his phone. “All in here. And backed up to the cloud, just in case.” He looked directly at Britany. “So, in the unlikely event of anything happening to me or Elena, our organization will be able to access it.”
Britany was dumbfounded, but managed to ask, “organization?”
Bobby began to reply, but stopped when Elena spoke up. “We have many names. The Earthly Chapter of the Avenging Angels is the traditional phrase, but, to be honest, I’m pretty fond of just Emma’s Escorts.”
While she had been talking, the smaller of the masked men had moved closer to Britany. As he drew near, she shouted, “now!”
They held hands and raised their conjoined arms above their heads. A ghostly chartreuse glow surrounded their closed fists. Both entoned, “voces nostras audietis et obedietis!”
Bobby laughed out loud. “See, that Latin shit might work with some humans, but you are dealing with an actual Avenging Angel, and something much worse.”
Britany, her voice trembling, found herself forming a question without any real volition. “Worse?”
“Sure, Ma’am. US Marine Corp at your service, retired of course.” With that, Bobby pulled a handgun from the rear of his pants and trained it on the, now very subdued, group.
Elena spoke again, calmly, almost sweetly. “Your rings, take them off and give them to Bobby.”
Britany tried to rally. “Or you’ll what? Angels are the good guys, you aren’t allowed to harm us. Heaven doesn’t like that shit. We’re just gonna walk out of here, nothing you can do.”
Bobby chuckled. “You been reading the ‘Good’ Book?” He turned to Elena. “Honey, want to show them that trick with fire that your demon friend taught you?”
Elena looked eager and her eyes briefly turned into two orbs of flame. Britany slumped, “OK, OK.”
“And you might as well take the mask off, Scott Williams. And help Brian Murphy with his too.” Bobby gestured with his gun.
When Scott pulled off Brian’s mask, it revealed a face devoid of any life, its eyes glazed white.
“The rings, please,” said Elena.
As Britany and Scott removed the items, and jabbed them to Bobby, Brian’s features reanimated and, in a confused tone, he asked, “where am I?” Then – having laid eyes on Elena, gloriously naked, and with her wings arching high above him – he added, “what the actual fuck?”
Elena spoke to Bobby. “We should get him out of here. And Alessia is probably waking up, now the spell is broken. We should go to her.”
Bobby nodded, “Men in Black protocol?”
“I think so,” replied the angel..
Bobby took a pair of hefty handcuffs from his pocket. At the rear of the room, a spiral staircase ascended, flanked by metal railings. He fastened one cuff onto Britany, looped the chain through the railings, and then closed the other cuff on to Scott’s wrist.
Happy that Britany and Scott were secure, he spoke. “Now listen, assholes. We know you’ve done this before. We know this is the place you use. We know how many girls and their names. Soon the cops will too. And they will get at least the first half of my video.”
Rejoining Elena, he continued “Sad to say, there are too many rapists in this World for us to police them all. But then you progressed to murder. Why was that, Britany, just petty jealousy?”
Britany said nothing, so Bobby went on. “And you used deep magic to get rid of the body. Yet you were too dumb to realize that shit like that causes ripples, ones that people like us… well… notice.”
Elena picked up the thread. “We spoke to Jayla’s folks. It was a long shot, but they told us she had an AirTag in her backpack. One that was connected to their phones.”
Bobby held up a small disk-shaped object. “Guess where we found this…? In this very room.”
Britany hissed. “I told you to burn her stuff.”
Scott replied. “I did, must have… must have fallen out. It’s dark in here.”
Elena spoke again. “Our initial investigations narrowed down the field of suspects. And, let’s say that Scott’s reaction to me trying to get in here was… illuminating. Anyway, I’m sure you can figure out the rest. We’re going now, and taking Brian with us. We know how you used him. You try to implicate him, or Alessia… well, don’t think I won’t be able to find you in jail. Got it?”
The cuffed pair nodded miserably.
Elena furled and absorbed her wings, and pulled her clothes back on. Bobby let a disoriented and weak Brian lean on him, and the three made for the yawning hole where the door had once stood.
As they reached it, Elena turned.
“Seems like anchor babies are good for more than one thing after all. Enjoy prison, I’m sure you’ll meet some lovely people, just your type.”
A smile broke out on her blood-stained face. “Oh, and one more thing: Hasta la vista, chicos, and Happy Halloween!”
With that, they were gone, and the sound of MPD sirens could be heard faintly in the distance.
THE END
Excellent.