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“I think it’s super secluded.”
“Mm, well, the timeline is doable, and if this fee is really all inclusive, it’s an unbelievable steal. Almost too good to be true.”
“There are over two hundred verified reviews, all averaging a four-point five rating. Unless those are fake….” Bellatrix trailed off, allowing him to make his own assessment. Her eyes met mine, and she gave me a wink.
I rolled my lips together and pretended to have a more vested interest in my notes so that I didn’t laugh, glancing back up when Alex made a sound of indecision.
“What do you think, babe?”
Jacob yawned and stretched, sweeping a hand through his messy auburn waves.
“I say, why the hell not? There’s only one way to find out if everything they’re saying is for real. We’ve been searching for somewhere to go since June, and I didn’t take vacation time for nothing.”
I sat up and placed my drink back on the coffee table. “Should we ask Ty and Collin first?”
“No, let’s just book the trip like we usually do,” Bellatrix replied.
“Alright then,” Alex sat taller and rubbed his hands together, “Angeline, get your fine ass over here so we can plan us one helluva vacation.”
With a laugh, I tossed my throw to the side and went to join them on the opposite sofa.
CHAPTER
The cell service was spotty and WIFI anciently slow, but that made the trip all the better. It forced us to step away from our electronics and enjoy our surroundings. We were living in the moment, simply existing in the present.
We’d been here three days now, and I loved every minute of it. The village had so much charm and character. Even if there weren’t the festival of all festivals going on, it would’ve been worth visiting.
After last night, though, I could fully agree with the claim the organizers made.
I’d never seen haunted houses like those in my entire life. Everything from the props to the actors had been so realistic. I had a decent-sized bruise on my arm from when Alex had panicked and grabbed me.
I couldn’t blame the guy who’d been in a random group ahead of us for running the wrong way in desperate search of an exit. The poor man had urinated on himself. That’s how real it all felt.
I tied a small rubber band around the end of my last braid and took a step back to get a complete look at myself in the massive mirror affixed above the vanity.
Finally.
I expelled a short breath and mentally patted myself on the back. My hands ached from the number of times I’d twisted and plaited. It was an ode to how dedicated I was to my costume. The part alone took longer than I expected it to.
“Did you know blow-jobs have been linked to oral cancer?”
I laughed and shook my head. “Is that what you’ve been doing the past twenty minutes? Reading about blowies?”
“It may not be important to you since you’ve sworn off dick, but I happen to love it. There’s this thing I do with Alex, where--.”
“Please, spare me! I don’t need that pornographic image in my head.”
He laughed and bounced on the edge of the bed like a child. “Well, I’m bored. You guys take longer than me to get ready and I’m a top-tier diva. Why are you trying to out diva me, Angel?”
“Trying, Jacob?”
“Hey now, bitch.” He leaned forward and met my eye in the mirror’s reflection, sporting a glitter-faced grin. “You do look fucking phenomenal, though. Hottest Dorothy I’ve ever seen. The color of your hair makes it a tad bride of Frankenstein--in a sexy way.”
I eyed myself more critically. “That’s not what I was aiming for.”
“It was a compliment, baby. No one pulls off the half and half like you do.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled.
We’d been friends for years, and he still had no idea that I didn’t dye my long hair. None of our friends knew. Maybe it was trivial and petty to keep such a secret. The possibility that revealing the truth could lead to the revelation that my sister and I didn’t have any idea who we were was what kept me harboring it close to my heart.
I was lucky I could pass this off as a good hair job done by her. The left side of my head was so blonde it could practically pass as white, while the right was black as the feathers of a raven.
My mother claimed Poliosis was why it was this way, which stopped adding up as I got older.
Bellatrix’s whole head was the same color as the left side of mine. This did nothing to offset our freakish eye color, one as bright and blue as lapis lazuli, the other an odd shade of nearly translucent silver. We each wore a custom contact to make them the same hues.
