Lola walked down the hallway in her oversized t-shirt that she'd slept in and the sweatpants she borrowed from Melissa. She hung the jacket on a pedestal next to the stairs and headed straight for Jax.
She heard hushed voices the closer she got and didn't bother to knock when she arrived, but rather just stepped inside. He had after all given her a deadline.
"Lola," Jax was leaning back against the desk and Lavina was standing with a smile and rose-tinted cheeks, holding the clipboard on which she had all the details regarding the fest.
"Hi!" Lavina cheered.
A shadow crossed her from behind and the door closed. Ash stepped around Lola and took a stance by Jax.
"It's been a while." He said, glancing over Lola's face.
"Yes, not from a lack of trying on my part but it's good to know where we stand." Lola's tone threw them off guard. She was short and montane, leaving much to be desired. though it didn't take them long to realize that she was speaking to them just as they had spoken to her. Every game she played was taken from their playbook, they were the masters and she had been taught well.
"Did you hear about the body?" Jax asked.
"I did, Melissa's mom told us." Lola clapped her hands in her front and lifted a shoulder. "Do you know who it is?" She asked.
"No. Did you think we would?" Jax asked.
She didn't answer so Ash chimed in. "Of course she does, she thought it was us."
"No, I didn't but I was hoping you'd know who it was so we'd at least have an ID. Or that you would know what happened because from what I've heard it would seem that-"
"The vampires are back." Jax finished.
"Which is why you-" Ash said and stepped closer. "-won't be attending the Winter Whimsy."
Something stirred awake within her, a warm sensation spread through her extremities and her lips pulled in a smile that pushed Ash back a step.
She countered with a step and relaxed her shoulders.
"I would love to see how you'll stop me. I'm going to the poorly named winter fest and I will be with my friends, see my teachers, drink eggnog with my classmates and for a few hours pretend like my life isn't a completely fucked up mess. Now you guys take care and I hope you have fun tonight, relax, and let loose. You look like you need it." She patted his arm, relishing the shock on the faces around her.
They had no idea of the information she'd learned with Melissa last night and she knew that they couldn't do much while Ash's father was in town.
All she needed was to get out of the mansion and once she was out she would be fine.
But first, she needed a shower.
***
Her eyes were puffy, her stomach was upside down from the information about the body they'd found and her skin was dull and lifeless but she had showered and gotten dressed.
Who's body was it?
She was eager to get to the Winter Whimsy and make sure that all those that she knew were safe and well.
All that was left was to survive the day and night and then get a full night's sleep before the rest of anything continued because there was nothing they could do right now.
No new information had gotten out about the body and it didn't seem as though anyone was missing which made the case even more of an anomaly.
As she sat and did her makeup she thought about Ed coming to see Melissa tonight. It pained her to see her best friend going through the heartache she had and she wanted nothing more than for Melissa to be happy but she wasn't sure that Ed was the right fit.
He'd left her, alone and afraid of what might've happened and then he sent a simple text? She hoped Melissa would drag him through the dirt before ever considering forgiving him, though knowing Melissa, it was doubtful.
The guys hadn't attempted to lock her in her room or tie her to a radiator yet so she hoped they would give up on not letting her go to the Winter Whimsy. Regardless, she didn't care, she was going and she was going to pretend to be normal for a few hours with her best friend.
They would be surrounded by the whole town so it was most likely safer there than at the mansion.
Lola put on the dress with a high neckline and long wide sleeves that would keep her warm- the wool dress from Ralph Lauren hugged her figure nicely, it was gifted to her for the Winter Whimsy, put on her bed days ago and meant to be saved for this occasion.
She had no idea who gifted it to her but loved the look and decided to wear it.
The makeup was done and another few hours passed as she caught up on a Netflix show, something she hadn't done alone since she lived in her apartment.
Lola checked the time and saw that the fest was pulling near, Melissa would be there to pick her up any minute and they were heading out earlier to avoid running into Jax or Ash.
Her worry was more with Ash considering her husband seemingly had gone back to not caring about what happened to her.
Lola took her lipgloss, phone, gum, and cardholder and put them in her clutch.
She stared at her reflection, scoffing when she saw what she had become but loved how it made her look.
It was clear that she had changed since moving into the Blackwood mansion. The way she perceived herself, her accessibility to everything lavish that was within her reach, it was all hers for the taking.
Though the guilt was very much present, always lurking in the bottom of her stomach, sometimes painfully reminding her of where she began and how far she'd come since then.
She turned her wrist and lifted the sleeve, the scar seemed like a lifetime ago but she knew it was a reminder of how her path had been decided for her long before she was brought into the world. The same path she walked then, leading to the scar, is the one she walks now- blind to what lies ahead.
Her phone vibrated in her purse and she saw the text from Melissa saying she had arrived.
Lola hurried out into the hallway, pushing aside the rising feeling of hopelessness, that had become her trusted companion, and scurried down the stairs. She stopped at the entrance, slowly turning on her heels and looking around the house.
It was eerily quiet, not a soul made itself known to her and even the whispers seemed to have stopped.
"This place is creepy when it's empty," she said to herself, expecting maybe a cough or a retort but nothing came.
Lola hurried out, the chill that spiked her spine indicated that though it was quiet she might not be altogether alone in the house.
"Did they try to stop you?" Melissa asked her as they got in the car.
"No there was no one there as far as I could see," she answered. Her brows pinched together and she shrugged a heavy shoulder.
There were always people in the mansion, always footsteps echoing from somewhere but the stillness of the house made it seem as though they hid in the shadows and waited for Lola to leave. She looked up towards the windows when Melissa drove up, behind one of the curtains was a silhouette, it disappeared just as quickly and pulled the shade shut when Lola looked up.