Page 28 of Fright Night
She’s done at this job. It’ll be the last fight I’ll ever have with Dad.
I’m two puffs into my smoke, staying well away from the event’s entrance and by the designated area that keeps the tobacco away from kids—another part of Oakley’s forward-thinking—when my phone vibrates, a text in my group chat popping up.
Blaze
Knox, you might wanna get back in here
Me
what’s she doing?
Blaze
not her exactly...
Me
wtf does that mean??
Cody
gimme a sec, I’m closer. I’ll see if I can overhear
Me
Overhear what?!
Annoyed at the lack of comprehensible messages, I throw the perfectly good smoke away and return inside, heading for the last place Oakley was. Unfortunately, she moves around so fucking much, it’s impossible to keep tabs on her.
So I stalk the park, looking much like the creepy monster statues Oakley decorated the place with and growling at anyone that blocks my path from getting to her.
Me
what the fuck is going on?
Cody
House of mirrors. Some dick is bothering her. Need us to step in?
Me
I’ll handle it
Pocketing the phone, I twist on my heel to head for the giant tent set up well behind the food vendors and close to the hay barrel maze. I’m hit by two foam swords and a witch’s hat in my dash, hating I can’t really get mad at them because they’re kids having fun. Oakley would actually kill me if I ruined her event by starting a fight with children.
Skirting past the mini-humans as quickly as I can and all but pushing the teenagers and college kids out of my way, my nerves are frayed when I eventually reach the House of Mirrors. Cody’s standing nearby, a mask identical to mine covering his face, and he gestures behind the tent.
The closer I get, the louder the shouts.
“Julian, I’m busy. Don’t know if you’ve looked around, but I have shit to do that isn’t dealing with your ass.”
Julian?Her fucking ex? Didn’t I pay my dues and deal with him being around during school? Blaze confirmed only days after my arrest that she broke up with him, so what the fuck is he doing around my girl, interrupting her event?
“You ignored me the other day.”
“Again, look around. I’ve been busy.”
And I’ve heard enough. Rounding the tent, I don’t check who’s watching, who’s around. My gaze focuses on my little fairy, my Trickster, being backed into the tent walls by the same asshole who groped her for years. Then, I was forced to watch because it’s what she wanted. Now’s another story.
