Chapter 68: Gothic Gathering
My first reaction to Pain's house was shock.
Followed rather quickly by a serious case of the giggles. Alison couldn't help herself. When she heard me go off, she did too.
Not that there was anything wrong with it. Quite the contrary. It's just I expected her place to look something like mine, only way more over the top. Creepsville. With turrets. In bad need of a paint job and a mowing.
Imagine my surprise when Alison pulled up at the quaint, gingerbread house painted a cheery yellow. The mailbox at the end of the driveway even matched. Perfectly. Someone built an exact replica and planted it on the top of a brightly painted post. There was even a sign at the gate, proudly proclaiming "The Hammonds Live Here!" All three of them. And their dog.
It was so charming I continued to laugh.
"I know, right?" Alison rolled her eyes, wiping carefully at the corners to keep her tears of hilarity from smearing her mascara. "And you'll never guess what her real name is."
Honestly, I'd never thought to ask. Funny, but she would always be Pain to me.
"Constance." Alison broke out into peels, the car shaking as she wriggled her whole body while she laughed. "No wonder she went Goth!"
I didn't really find it very funny. My family loved odd names, historical names. For example, my name literally translated into 'child of the demon' and my second name, Thaddea, came from my great grandmother. Alison must have realized what she said and how it came across because she stopped laughing and grabbed my hand.
"Syd," she said. "I didn't mean it that way. Your name is cool."
I let her off the hook and grinned. "Whatever. Are we going in, or what? I'd like to get this over with."
Alison punched me in the arm as we walked up the driveway to the lovely blue front door. "Great attitude! This is going to be fun."
I silently examined the blooming tulips by the side of the house while she rang the bell, trying to improve my mood. She was right, after all. It could be fun. It's just I had trouble with making a mockery of magic when I knew how very real it was.
They had no idea.
The door swung open and a petite blonde with perfect hair and makeup beamed at us from over the threshold.
"Alison!" The woman hugged my friend, air-kissing both of her cheeks. "So lovely to see you, dear. It's been ages. How's your mom?"
"She's fine, Mrs. Hammond," Alison gushed at her most flighty. "I'll tell her you asked."
"Remind her about this month's fundraiser at the club," Mrs. Hammond said. "We'd love her attention to detail."
Alison spun toward me, a look on her face I didn't recognize. "This is Sydlynn Hayle," she introduced me in a too-cheerful rush. "From Bay Street."
Mrs. Hammond looked like Alison handed her a prized present on Christmas. Her hands flew to her face and she beamed at me, open mouthed with delight. Fake or not, I couldn't tell, but there was something infectious about her good nature that made me smile back.
"Dear, it can't be!" She grabbed my hands and pulled me toward her, hugging me too. No air-kisses, though. "I've been dying, just dying, to meet your mother."
The very thought of this woman and Mom having even the slightest bit of anything in common made me snort. I covered the faux pas with a wider smile.
"I'll tell her," I lied.
"Six months you've lived here," she went on, "and I haven't had a chance to track her down once."
I'm sure there was magic involved. Had to be. If this woman tried to reach Mom in all that time and failed it was because my mother wanted her to.
"She's pretty busy," I said.
I could tell by the look on her face there were more questions coming and I honestly didn't have any more answers to give so I was grateful when Pain appeared at the door behind her mother and sighed her most emo sigh of exasperation.
"Mother," she said, dragging the word out so it wasn't a compliment. "They're here to see me." It was nice to know I wasn't the only one who did that.
Mrs. Hammond giggled, taking it way better than my mom ever did. "Of course. I'm sorry, girls. It's just so nice to see you. Come in, please, come in."
I followed Alison, letting her go first in the hope of evading further attention. Pain took care of it. Even before Mrs. Hammond closed the door behind us, Pain led us up the stairs so fast I barely had time to register the prim and flawless perfection of her house. I caught a glimpse of expensive leather furniture and decoration obviously dressed by a designer before I reached the top of the wide staircase and hurried down the hall to the last door on the right.
More stairs. These were less perfect, more natural and lived-on. It wasn't until I was almost to the top that I realized she was leading us into her attic.
Which, it turned out, doubled as her bedroom and what looked like a makeshift living room. All Goth, all the time. I left my sandals at the door and stepped onto the thick black shag rug. It felt fantastic on my feet. Her lumpy looking furniture was draped in more black. Even her neatly made bed glowered in the darkest shade possible, save for the giant grinning skull in the very center of it.
"What, no coffin?" I flinched as soon as I said it. But Pain just made a face.
"I wish," she said. "Mom won't let me have one. Yet."
Seriously. Pain had some pretty deep issues. Even my uncle and his girlfriend slept in specially made cupboards instead and they were vampires.
I jumped a little when Blood waved. He blended into the décor so well I didn't even notice him until just then.
"Yo, Syd," he said. "Yo, Al."
Alison took a seat on the couch and patted the cushion beside her. I was not at all comfortable and the thought of sitting down somehow didn't appeal.
Pain left us when the doorbell rang again, and I took the opportunity to ask Alison about Mrs. Hammond.
"Did you and Pain grow up together?"
Alison dimpled. "Yeah. Elementary school. She was so cute. Did you know she's a blonde like her mother?" She tossed her long hair over her shoulder.
"I like it black," Blood said. "Shows her truth."
Blood was always cryptic. And loved to debate. I wasn't interested in having a pros and cons argument about the emo life and I was glad when Alison didn't take the bait, either.
Pain returned with Simon and Beth in tow. Both looked excited and a little freaked out by the whole thing and I wondered about them hanging out with us. Not like I'm that jaded but honestly. They were just too cute.
"This is so cool!" Beth looked around at all of us. "I brought candles!" She fished a handful out of her bag. They looked like she lifted them from her mom's candleholders.
Pain was oddly kind. "I have what I need," she said, "but thank you."
Beth flushed and put them away.
"So now what?" I really wanted to blow this whole thing off. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if it was a good idea. I already confirmed by examining Pain that she had power, if walled off. What if she was able to raise something after all, by accident? It occurred to me only then she could be a necromancer or something. What if I then had to fix it and they found out about me? The possibilities were endless and none of them turned out well.
"We're still shy one person," Pain said.
I looked around. Counted even. We were all here. Then it occurred to me.
"I thought you said Brad wasn't coming."
Alison winked at me. It was then I heard the rumble of a motorcycle and my stomach clenched into a fist of tension.
"He isn't, silly," Pain said. The doorbell rang. "Our last guest. I'll be right back."
I wanted to hit Alison so hard she would never forget it. "What the hell?" I hissed at her.
She backed off, obviously reading my mind, but her eyes were full of evil laughter.
"Sorry," she said, "I couldn't resist. Besides, it wasn't my idea to invite him."
It was only then I noticed how unhappy Blood looked and I had a moment to wonder about Pain's real motivations for inviting the last person I wanted to do a séance with.
All six feet lean, dark and handsome of him walked through the door with Pain smiling up at him like he was her new puppy.
"Thanks for inviting me," Quaid said.
***
