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When I finally arrived home, I saw Fiora standing by the water’s edge, her tiny frame silhouetted against the moonlit sky. She turned toward me as I approached, her eyes gleaming in the darkness.
“I would have driven you home,” she said.
I shrugged. “I needed the walk to clear my head and unwind from the party. Sorry, I should have said goodbye.”
I walked up beside her, looking out onto the harbor. I lived in a small one-bedroom cottage that might as well be called a shack, but at least I had an amazing view. Plus, Fiora lived a couple of cottages down, so I had a friend nearby.
She sighed. “Do you ever think about leaving this place?”
“No,” I answered quickly.
I hated that type of thinking. My father always thought about us packing up and living in Seattle. Heathens Hollow was only two hours away from the city, but it felt like a million miles from the life we lived.
Fiora nodded understandingly. “I get it. This place is like an abyss. It suffocates you and never lets you inhale deeply.”
I smiled wryly. “It’s not all bad. I mean, we have the ocean. And the sea life. And the—”
“Stop trying to convince yourself,” she interrupted. “You’re not happy here. You never have been. Your father wasn’t happy here either.”
“This is home.”
“We’re too good for this place. We deserve to be happy, to be free from the darkness that hangs over Heathens Hollow.”
“Hard night at work tonight?” I asked with a slight chuckle. “You’re awfully moody.”
“It sucked. It always sucks.” She turned to look at me. “Which is why I really want you to consider The Hunt.” She raised her hand to silence me before I could object. “And before you give me the same excuses, hear me out. It starts in two nights, and all I ask is you consider it. I was like you at first too. The thought of doing it made me feel like I was whoring myself out. And maybe that’s how you see me now. But I’m telling you this because you’re my best friend and I trust you… I think you’ll like it. I think you’ll enjoy the thrill of it as much as I did.”
“It sounds… brutal.”
“It is,” Fiora said with a nod. “But it’s also exhilarating, and oddly… sexy. I’m agreeing to do it again, and not just because the basket of goods I got last time was unlike any gifts I’ve ever been given. But I’m agreeing because… I haven’t been able to get the sensations of what I felt out of my mind since.”
“The idea of having sex with a complete stranger is just not my cup of—”
“It’s more than just sex. I can’t explain it but—”
“It’s having sex with one of those rich fucks we just served raw oysters and champagne to.”
Fiora returned her attention to the sea. “It doesn’t feel like you’re having sex with aman. I know that sounds crazy, and even saying the words out loud is almost unbelievable to me, but something happened that night. He’s in a bone mask, he chases, you run, and when it finally happens… it’s animalistic. Primal. It was the first time I ever really felt alive. Blood was pumping through me, electricity even. I felt like a different person to be honest. I felt alive. I felt empowered. And I want to feel that way all the time. And I want you to feel that way too.”
The look in her eyes was real. She wanted it. She wanted to do it again.
“I don’t know, Fiora. I’m skeptical.”
“So was I. It wasn’t a decision I made lightly. I don’t sleep around, and I have no intention of changing that. But the way I saw it was that it was one night. One night to experience the unknown. One night to leave behind everything and everyone you ever knew, to feel free, to feel alive. Do you really want to spend the next forty years of your life working those docks, struggling to put food on your table and make ends meet, and then die without ever really living? Aren’t you tired of the same thing every single day? You’re an artist, Storee. You paint. That’s what you’re meant to do. Not clean guts all day.”
She had a point. I sighed. But painting for a living was only something fools dreamed of. Hell… I hardly had enough money to pay for the paint and brushes I used. Painting was a hobby. An expensive one.
But Fiora’s words did ring true when she spoke of feeling free and alive. I felt nothing but… hollow.
“I’m not asking you to sell your soul. I’m not asking you to change who you are. I’m asking you to do this one thing. One night. And see what happens. Take a life-changing risk.”
I nodded. “I’ll think about it.” Suddenly the practical, reasonable side of me kicked in. “Wait… what about birth control and all that? How do we know we aren’t going to get some rich man’s disease?”
She rolled her eyes. “Storee… they’re vetted. So are we. Which is why if you agree, you need to get to the clinic on Main Street. They know what to do.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. What if people find out? It’s a small town.”
“It’s Heathens Hollow,” she said. “We have The Vault. We have private sex parties. And we’ve had The Hunt for generations. No one judges you. In fact, you’re judged for not being part of the ritual. It’s tradition.”
