Chapter 42 — Here we go again

Kell:

PROM NIGHT

I move my head to the music as I make my way to Amara’s house. My fingers pull at the bow tie that hangs snuggly around my neck. I’m wearing a traditional black and white tux with a black bowtie—James Bond style. Or so Amara told me. I smile at the memory of the really bad things we did after I got the tux.

It doesn’t take me long to get to Amara’s house. We decided to forego the traditional limo. Especially since my Barracuda is so badass. Amara loves this car. We’ve had some really hot make-out sessions in the front and back seat.

Stepping out of the car, I adjust my jacket, grab Amara’s corsage, and make my way to the front steps. Mimi answers the door with a delighted grin. Mimi has warmed up a lot to me over the past few months. At first, she was very formal, but I wore her down with a few flirtatious comments and compliments on her outstanding cooking. Unlike Amara’s parents, Mimi seems to be the only person in this house who is looking out for Amara. That’s one of the reasons why I like her so much.

“Well, don’t you look dashing, Mr. Kell.” I wink at her and hand her a single red rose. “Thank you, Mimi. I bought this to you in hopes that you’d rethink my proposal to run away with me and make me your famous Snickerdoodle cookies until the day I die.”

Mimi blushes to the roots of her snowy white hair and preens. “Oh, you do love to tease an old woman.” She takes a whiff of the rose and smacks me in the chest with it. “Don’t worry, Mr. Kell, I have a jar of my freshly made snickerdoodles with your name on it in the kitchen.”

I pull her into my arms and lay a loud kiss on her cheeks. “Oh, Mimi, you are a true lady.”

She giggles like a schoolgirl, pulls away with a flustered sigh and holds her palm up. “Stay right here. I’ll get the jar and my camera to take pictures of you two.” I nod my head and place my hands in my pockets with a little boy lost look. “Yes, ma’am.”

Mimi narrows her eyes suspiciously and walks away. Just then, Amara descends down the stairs. She looks incredible in her long golden sheath dress with a high neck and exposed shoulders. The dress sparkles with rhinestones all over. It’s flairs out in the bottom, making her look like an ethereal figure instead of a real-life girl. Desire flashes through me at the sight of her beautiful smile. She looks classic with her hair pulled to the side in a loose French braid. Her eyes look smoky, and her lips gleam a pale blush color. She looks like she has just been kissed. Her lips are swollen and bee-stung. I have to bite back a groan at the thought of tasting her.

Stepping forward, I take her hand and pull her into my arms. A loose strand escapes the side of her face. Running my thumb over her cheek, I pull the strand behind her ear and lay a gentle kiss on her lips. “You look like a goddess, beauty queen.” She smiles bashfully and rests her hand on my chest. Her eyes look soft and loving as they gaze into mine. “You look incredible, too, my angel.”

We both stand there, gazing into each other’s eyes. It’s as if the world has faded away, and I don’t want it to ever end.

Just then, a light flashes, startling us from our enamored trance. We both look towards where the flash came from. Mimi is standing there with a mile-wide grin and a digital camera in her hands.

“Oh, you two look so perfect.” She says with a giddy little girl giggle. It’s amusing to see such a put-together woman regress to a young girl. She inches her hands together and says, “Okay, now put your arms around her and face the camera. Amara giggles behind her hand and puts her arm around my waist.

Mimi is about to take another picture when I step back. They both look at me, startled. “Sorry, ladies, I almost forgot…”

I drift off, taking the corsage I was holding on my side and show it to Amara. “This is for you, babe.”

Amara’s eyes soften as she takes the simple white lilies with the fragile white gold ribbon. She takes it gently from the box and hands it to me to place it around her wrist. I gaze into her eyes and slide it on. Several more lights flash from Mimi’s camera, but Amara and I are too focused on each other to care. Amara looks down at her wrist and rotates her arm back and forth to look at the corsage. “It’s so beautiful, Kell. I love it.” She says with a breathy voice.

I have to bite back a snarl when Mimi steps forward and interrupts us again. All I want to do is grab Amara caveman-style and carry her somewhere private. But I know that Mimi means well, so I take a deep breath and give her my best smile. I’m sure I look like a grinning shark, but Mimi is too oblivious to notice. “Okay, now that you have your corsage, I want a full-frontal picture. So. get together and look at the Camera.”

It takes Amara and me nearly a half hour to get out of the house. Unfortunately, or fortunately, in my case, her parents were out of town. Not that they’d care. But I’m not telling Amara that. Hand in hand, we walk into the hotel where our prom is being held. The place is palatial. It looks like something you’d read in a fairy tale. The walls are the color of white marble and an arched doorway decorated with ornate gold trimmings. There are round tables across the room with lavender tablecloths, white China, shiny sterling silver utensils, glass flutes, and simple white flowers in a vase settled in the center of the table. The lights are turned down, leaving a lavender glow to blanket the room. There are fragile glass chandeliers hanging tastefully on the ceiling and a large dance floor in the middle of the room. The iron chairs look like fragile bistro chairs decorated with large lavender bows.

We both walk in to find the place already occupied by most of our senior class and dates. Carrick and Haley wave us towards a table they reserved for us. We both walk up to them, stopping every few moments to greet a few people until we make it to their table and take a seat beside them. The music is creating a staccato bass across the room, making the table reverberate with its echoes. There’s a DJ booth placed across from us in a nice tight corner of the room where the crowd won’t interfere. All you can see of the DJ is his body moving back and forth from computer to computer, and the large headphones wrapped around his ears as his head moves to the beat.

Everyone is dressed to the nines like they were for the pageant dance. Carrick pats my back with a content grin. “Look at this place? It looks like something Walt Disney threw up.”

His eyes widen as his chair groans under his weight. “Dude, I’m scared of moving too hard in this chair because I might break it.”

I snicker at his horrified look. “Relax, bro, they wouldn’t make us sit in these chairs if they weren’t safe.”

Carrick quirks his brow and shakes his head in no way reassured. “Um, I don’t know if I want to take that chance.”

I chuckle and stretch my legs out in front of him in mockery, then place my hands behind my neck, looking relaxed. “See, it’s not breaking.”

Carrick snorts and rolls his eyes. “I’m just saying, bro…”

Amara and Haley roll their eyes at our antics. Then Amara looks around curiously. “Where’s Juliet? I thought she was coming?”

Haley shrugs her shoulders. “She said she was on her way.” Both girls frown and gaze towards the door, hoping to see their friend, but she does not appear.

Haley bites her lip and takes out her phone. “I’m going to text her. She should have been here by now.” Amara nods her head with concern. “Yeah, I’ll text her too.”

Both girls begin texting desperately.

I look back at Carrick. “What’s up?”

He frowns in puzzlement. “I don’t know.”

Several tense minutes pass where the girls do not say a word. Feeling worried, I wrap my hand behind Amara's neck and shake her gently. “What’s wrong, beauty queen?” She shrugs. “I don’t know. Juliet hasn’t texted me back.”

Carrick and I sit up in alarm. “When did she say she was on her way?” Haley looks down at her cell phone glumly. “I don’t know. I spoke to her about forty-five minutes ago, and she said she was on her way. Do you think something happened? She’s been having car trouble.”

Amara nods her head enthusiastically. “Yeah, she had tire issues a few months back, and the other day she said it wouldn’t start. Maybe she got stuck on her way back.”

I look over to my worried mate and gaze at my brother expectantly. “How about we drive around to see if we spot her?”

Carrick nods his head. “Yea, let’s go.” We both stand up, followed by the girls.

“We’ll go, babe. There’s no reason for you two to miss out. We’ll find her and bring her back.”

Both girls shake their heads. “No way,” Haley says.

Amara narrows her eyes and points her index finger under my nose. “Juliet is our friend, and we’re going. Let’s not forget the last time we went to a party, and one of us disappeared.” She says, widening her eyes, emphasizing her hidden meaning. Shit, she’s right. When we split off at the pageant ball, Taylor kidnapped her.

Taking a deep breath, I gesture for them to follow. “Fine, let’s go.” We all file out of the room without another word. Amara suggests that we take the route Juliet would take if she was coming from her house, but we don’t see a thing. Haley continues to try to call Juliet, but there’s no response. We are all worried at this point. Where the hell would she go?

There’s no one at her house either. We drive around again, but there is no sign of her or her car. Amara looks at me. Her mouth trembles, and her eyes water.

“I think… I think I should look in the mirror.” She whispers to me with a quiver in her voice. I look in the rearview mirror and stop in front of the hotel. “Hey, Carrick. How about we split up? You guys take one way, and we take another to cover more ground. If you find her call, Amara.” Carrick nods his head and pats my shoulder as he opens the back door and steps out of the car. “Yeah, sounds like a plan.”

Haley follows him out of the car, looking anxious and subdued at the same time. Both girls smile at each other in encouragement. “It’ll be alright,” Amara tells her friend.

Once they’re out of sight, I look at Amara. “Where do you want to do this?”

She frowns in consternation then snaps her finger. “Let’s go to your bluff. It’s not far from here, and I can use your dash mirror.” Not wasting any time, I make my way to the bluff. Five minutes later, we’re both parked in the private corner. Amara takes a few deep breaths and lowers the passenger side mirror.

Before she looks in, I take her hand and turn her to face me. “Your hands are cold, babe. Are you sure you want to do this? What if you don’t see her?”

She shrugs her shoulder and looks down at our intertwined hands. “I have to try, Kell. What if something happened to her? I’m hoping that whatever power I had in that other-dimensional place will reappear. I guess I’ll just concentrate on her and hope that those powers will reemerge.”

Taking a calming breath, I separate our hands and swallow deeply. I’m sure she can see the worry etched on my face, but I have to step back and let her do this because I know that it’s important to her. “Fine, but be careful and remember I’m here. Don’t let it overtake you.” Amara takes my hand and gives me a reassuring smile before she whispers. “I’ll be fine. After all, I have my angel with me.”

I squeeze her hand tightly and lay a kiss on it. Squeezing my hand back, she takes a nervous breath and turns to the mirror. At first, nothing happens to her. Then I notice her pupils become smaller until they’re barely visible. Her breath begins to fade, and her face goes blank.

Taking her cold hand again, I inhale deeply and wait.