Pretty Monster Read online

  Like clockwork, the temperature in the room dropped about forty degrees. The lights began to flicker. The door to the building slammed shut on whatever poor soul was attempting to open it. Whatever few eyes had stopped staring at her all started again. Everyone knew it was her doing.

  But it was him… and nothing else mattered.

  She stepped past Reese, who was looking at her like she had completely lost her mind, past a table of twenty-somethings looking at her like she had never had her sanity to begin with, and past a table of ten-year-olds who looked ready for her to act even crazier. But she didn’t pay attention to any of them. She paid attention to one person, and one person only.

  The man from that night.

  It was him. There was no denying it. He had those same flickering, fiery eyes, bright like embers, emitting a light of their own… The same bright, translucent skin that at the time had mirrored nothing she had ever seen before, and now somehow mirrored her own…

  He was exactly the same.

  She had reached him. He was staring right back at her.

  “You haven’t aged a day,” she whispered, and even though it was a whisper, it echoed a thousand times into the dead silence that surrounded them, and she knew everyone was listening. “How is that possible?”

  The man stared coldly into her eyes—coldly; how was that possible with those eyes?—and responded, “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “It was me,” she whispered, the loudest whisper she had ever uttered, and yet the most afraid. “The little girl. That night, outside of the bank. You stayed with me.”

  He shook his head. There was no recognition in his eyes. No understanding. Nothing.

  She found herself completely unwilling to accept this response. How was this possible? After all this time—after thinking she had gone crazy that night, seen an angel, seen a ghost—how could he stand right in front of her and deny that it had ever happened?

  “I was alone,” she urged, her voice desperate, pleading. “You told me not to be afraid of you… You told me to trust you.”

  Still, there was nothing in his eyes. She felt the room growing even colder, everything getting darker. Her heart growing weaker.

  A tear slid down her cheek, and it felt like it was burning, and she hated that tear, and suddenly she felt hot despite the cold, and everything hurt.

  “I had a pink blanket. Don’t you remember?”

  In a voice as cold as the ice that was starting to freeze over the windows, he told her, “No.”

  • • •

  She ran out after that. She left him behind. She left Reese behind. She had no idea where she was going. She didn’t care. So much for her front. So much for convincing everyone that she had no feelings and not a care in the world. She’d been on the island for one hour, and they had already seen her tears.

  She hated him. She hated him almost as much as she hated Crowley. How could he do that to her? How could he look into her eyes, the same eyes that stared up at him when she was a child, and deny ever having helped her?

  Unless…

  Was it possible that he wasn’t just denying? Was it possible that he really hadn’t been there? That who she had seen really had been a figment of her imagination?

  But how could they look so similar?

  She forced herself to shake her thoughts away before she walked into a part of the island she wasn’t meant to be in. She wasn’t even sure that such a place existed, but she certainly didn’t want to find out the hard way. Deciding that she had fled far enough away from that wretched dining hall, she stopped to gather her thoughts and surroundings.

  Despite how much of the island there was to explore, her exhaustion and metal state got the better of her and she decided to find the dormitories. Given how many students she had seen in the dining hall, she assumed it would be a large building. She scanned the buildings around her, eyes settling on a three-story brick building about a block away.

  She started walking again, glancing back to see if anyone had followed her from the lunch room. To her relief, she saw that Reese hadn’t; she wasn’t ready to start answering questions about what had happened. A part of her hoped she’d see Ridley behind her, the one person she might be willing to talk to, but she didn’t. She didn’t see anyone.

  She kept walking until she reached the front of the building, which, sure enough, read Dormitories just above the door. She stepped inside, entering another lobby. This one was much cozier than Savannah’s. Sitting at the front desk was what could only be described as a vampire.

  He smiled pleasantly at her when she walked in, revealing piercing canines. “Hi! I’m Drax. You must be the new girl.”

  Still dazed and reeling from the café, it took her a second to register what she was seeing and hearing. “Drax,” she repeated. “Drax the vampire.”

  He rolled his eyes, but he didn’t seem to take it personally. He flattened his slick, black hair before responding, “And you’re Siren the seductress. Don’t tell me you think yours is any better.”

  She wiped the remnants of tears from her eyelids, forcing herself out of her delirium and coming over to the front desk. “Touché. But I didn’t give myself that nickname. And I don’t go by it.” She extended a hand—first time she had done so on the island. She liked his spunk. “I’m Quinn.”

  “Nice to meet you, Quinn.” He shook her hand. She noticed with amusement that his was cold as ice. “My real name is Stuart, but I prefer Drax. If I had a name as cute as yours, maybe I’d feel differently.”

  Her normal red flag alert didn’t go off at this compliment, which usually meant the person played for the other team. Normally learning this about men disappointed her, since it meant her compulsion wouldn’t work as well on them, but in this case, she didn’t mind.

  “Maybe you could help me,” she said. “I’m supposed to live here and have a roommate. Could you could tell me where my room is and whether I’ll need you to conveniently suck the blood out of my roommate before I make an appearance?”

  “As much as I’d like to help, I’m all monster and no maker. Good, in that I don’t melt in the sun… Bad in that I don’t have any ‘vampire’ abilities, including sucking people’s blood.”

  “Not sure that’s really an ability,” she pointed out with a tiny grin. “Think any old Joe Blow could do that.”

  He laughed. “Regardless, I know your roommate, and there won’t be any need to resort to such things. Haley is an absolute delight, and if you don’t like her, there’s just no hope for you.”

  Quinn considered pointing out that there hadn’t been any hope for her in a long time, but she decided to keep the mood light. She waited as he pulled a key out from his desk and led her to the elevators.

  “You’ll be on the third floor,” he told her. “With the rest of the Young Adults. Myself included.”

  “Young Adults? Like the bad tween romance books?”

  “I know, it’s a stupid name. Not sure where it comes from initially. But it’s a good group of people. We’re the oldest students on the island. Think the youngest of us is about fifteen, oldest is about nineteen.”

  “And you? I thought none of us had to work until we’re ‘cleared’ by our teachers.”

  “I’m eighteen, and I’m close to getting cleared. I’m terrified of going into security, which is typically where monsters end up—the makers get all the good jobs. I convinced the last person who worked the front desk to recommend me when she left for a better gig. Figured if I started early, at least I’d know I’ve got this job when I get kicked out—I mean, cleared.”

  He spoke optimistically enough, but his words made her sad. Again, it was so evident that prejudice existed here on the island just as it did in the outside world.

  But she said nothing. Instead, she watched the floor numbers tick up until they reached the third floor and the elevator doors opened.

  “You’re room 307,” Drax told her, leading her down the hall. “Most of your floormates are still at
lunch. Did you get something to eat already?”

  Her stomach chose that moment to groan. She had never grabbed her food from the order window; she had run out before she got the chance. But there was no way she was going back now.

  “I’m good,” she said, waiting pointedly next to the door.

  He took the hint, unlocking the handle and handing her the key. “Well, get some rest. Haley will be here soon, and you can make your introductions. I’m at the front desk between classes and from six to nine every evening, if you ever have any questions. And I’m sure I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”

  She smiled politely, but the sight of a waiting bed was all she could think about, and she couldn’t help but shut the door in his face without so much as a thank you. She collapsed into bed, falling immediately to sleep.

  • • •

  “Guys, she’s probably sleeping. Why don’t you just come back in a few hours?”

  “She probably won’t be here in a few hours. I’m surprised she isn’t already gone. Come on, what’s the worst that can happen?”

  “The worst that can happen is, she blows us all up. The whole dorm, even. The whole island, even! But I still want to meet her.”

  Quinn stuffed a pillow over her head, cringing at the noise from the other side of the door. Clearly the Young Adult brigade was back from lunch.

  “Fine, but five minutes, and then I want you both to clear out of here. I’m going to be living with her for the foreseeable future. I’d at least like a few minutes to get to know her before she writes me off for being friends with you two weirdos.”

  “Five minutes. I solemnly swear.”

  Quinn tried to lie as still as humanly possible as the key turned in the lock and the door opened, but it didn’t make a difference.

  “It’s her, it’s her!” exclaimed one of the three voices, jumping onto Quinn’s bed and bouncing around. The person was a child, judging from her high-pitched voice and ability to jump on the bed and not break it.

  “Rory, she’s sleeping!” the first voice chastised—the same voice that had warned the others not to stay longer than five minutes. Quinn’s new roommate. As annoyed as she was at the lot of them, she did appreciate on some level that this girl was attempting to give Quinn some peace.

  “No, she’s not,” Rory said as Quinn pulled the pillow away from her head, glaring up at the girl. “See?”

  Quinn squinted as she scanned the three bodies in front of her. Two of them, she realized, she had already met. The girl was the one she had passed shortly after arriving on the island—the one who had said she was surprised Quinn had been caught. The third person, the man, was the one she had passed just after the girl—the one who had attempted to flirt with her.

  “Hey,” he said in that same, flirtatious tone. She imagined it probably seemed charming to most girls. Not to her. “I’m Trent.”

  She ignored him again, turning to face the girl she had gathered was her roommate. “You must be Haley.”

  Haley’s expression brightened; Quinn’s small courtesy seemed to be more than she had expected. Haley was pretty, Quinn observed, with creamy, caramel skin, large, hazel eyes, and thick, curly hair. There was a smattering of freckles across her cheeks. She was a bit shorter and stockier than Quinn. She looked pleasant. Friendly.

  Not Quinn’s usual type.

  “I am Haley. Haley Mylar. I’m afraid I really only know you as the Siren, though. Is that the name you prefer to go by?”

  Quinn had never introduced herself as the Siren or been called it by anyone she remotely cared about. “I’m Quinn,” she said, extending a hand for the second time that day. She didn’t extend the courtesy to the other two, to their dismay. “Quinn Harper.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Haley said, shaking Quinn’s hand and then reaching into her bag. “I brought you some food—I hope that’s okay. I asked Reese and he said you had started to order the steak, so—”

  Quinn’s eyes lit up at the sight of the box, snatching it so quickly, she inadvertently used her abilities. “Thanks,” she mumbled as she dug in.

  “You’re welcome,” Haley said, smiling softly. “Reese was a little worried about you. He was going to bring you this, but I offered to go instead. Told him I was going to be your new roommate.”

  A part of Quinn wished it had been Reese and not Haley, but she knew better than to linger on it. Haley seemed perfectly nice; maybe it was time Quinn had a female friend for a change.

  “What happened in there?” asked Rory. “How do you know Dash?”

  “Dash?” Quinn repeated, assuming that she was referring to the man from the dining hall. “That’s his name?”

  “So, you don’t know him,” Trent inferred. “Why the meltdown, then?”

  She glared at him. “None of your business, One Direction. What are you even doing here?”

  He laughed out loud at the insult. “I’m not even British, but I appreciate the spunk of the attempt nonetheless. I’m here to say hello. If you couldn’t tell, Rory and I are your biggest fans.”

  Rory shoved Trent with one of her tiny hands, which barely made it to his abdomen, he was so much taller than her. “I’m your biggest fan,” she told Quinn. “He just thinks you’re pretty.”

  Trent grinned. “Well, she’s not wrong about that.”

  Quinn retained her straight face, but was starting to find the two of them amusing. She wasn’t sure who was more pathetic. At least the girl was cute.

  “Well, you’re both insane,” she told them as she chewed. “Go listen to some music, watch some films. Find better celebrities than me to fuss over.”

  “We can’t,” Rory insisted. “They’re not like us.”

  That was when Quinn realized why her fame within the wall was different from her fame outside of it. To the outside world, she was awe-inspiring, fear-inspiring, but not simply inspiring. Here, to these people…

  She was like them.

  There wasn’t much of her heart left to be warmed, but what was left was warming. She decided she liked this little girl—at least, the part of the girl she didn’t find tirelessly annoying.

  “Okay, okay,” Haley said, “time’s up. Both of you, out.”

  “But, Haley,” Rory whined.

  “No buts,” Haley said, pushing Rory and Trent towards the door. “We don’t know what sort of day this poor girl has had getting here.”

  “Actually, we more or less do,” Trent said. “Crowley Enterprises, DCA raid, helicopters, airplanes—”

  “Okay, well, those of us that don’t stalk her don’t know. Either way, she clearly had a long day.”

  “Fair enough. Quinn, it was a pleasure finally meeting you. You’re only escaping me for now. I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”

  Quinn said nothing, nodding a short goodbye to both him and Rory. Finally, they left Quinn and Haley in peace.

  “Sorry about them,” Haley said, shaking her head. “They mean well. They’re just excited.”

  “Them, I can handle.”

  Haley nodded. “Is there anything you want to ask me? I know you hardly know me. But if you do have questions, about Dash or—just about anything…”

  Quinn did have questions. Haley clearly knew Dash, the mysterious man who had shot Quinn down in front of a hundred people. Quinn did want to know more about him. But with thoughts of Kurt, Crowley, and night of the event lingering in her mind, all she was up for was finishing her food and going back to bed.

  “Thanks,” she said, trying to be as sincere as possible. “I probably will have questions eventually. But for now…”

  “Of course. Get some rest. Here’s your new phone—everyone gets one when they arrive here. Reese gave me yours. I went ahead and programmed my number into it. I think Reese’s is in there as well, along with Siloh’s emergency hotline. Don’t worry—there are never emergencies.”

  Quinn accepted the phone, wary that anything given to her for free on the island might be watched by Savannah. Not that she planned on h
aving any particularly juicy phone calls in the near future.

  “Thanks,” she said, placing the phone on the bedside table. It wasn’t her first phone, though it was probably the first one she’d have for more than a few weeks. She had always cycled through them quickly on the run.

  “No problem,” Haley said warmly. “I’m going to go finish my classes for the day. Make sure you get enough rest to make it to class tomorrow morning. Our schedules are the same, so I can show you the ropes.”

  Quinn nodded, but she dozed off again before Haley even left the room.

  • • •

  Quinn would have been happy to sleep for the rest of the afternoon and all through the night, if not for one small problem.

  Her stomach.

  She should have known better, she thought as she sat with her head in the toilet, vomiting up the bulk of the food she had eaten. She was in a foreign place, hadn’t had a decent meal in weeks, and a steak dinner had been her first choice?

  She tried to get back to sleep in between bouts of vomiting, but her queasy stomach repeatedly woke her up, and it became more and more difficult to fall back asleep. The only silver lining was that Haley didn’t return to the room until Quinn had gotten it all out of her system, so she was able to fake sleep and avoid an unwanted conversation.

  An hour or two after Haley returned, Quinn finally drifted off for real. She actually managed to get a decent rest, until Haley’s obnoxiously shrill alarm clock woke her up the next morning.

  She tried covering her head with a pillow again, but it didn’t make much of a difference. Haley turned the alarm clock off, switched the light on, and came straight for Quinn.

  “I know you don’t want to hear it, but you really should come to class with me. Trust me, it’s not worth the Savannah headache to skip.”

  Quinn inferred that she wasn’t the only student Savannah liked to threaten and chastise. Maybe Savannah had given the same speech about seers to all of them, she supposed. Maybe it was just standard practice, and didn’t have anything to do with Quinn specifically. She made a mental note to ask Haley when she felt more comfortable around her.