The front door opened. A gust of wind swirled around my legs. My nightgown was flannel, but it wouldn’t do anything to protect me. I chuff-chuffed rapid breaths, bracing.
“Is little Acari chilly?”
“It’s going to be a long night for you, little Acari. ”
They dragged me outside, and I went limp again, but the path scraped my bare skin, and I flinched, pulling my feet back under me.
“Poor Acari. Do you miss your shoes?”
A shove, and I stumbled, then caught myself. A shove from the other side. Another from behind. I lurched drunkenly, but I stayed on my feet. It was a tiny victory, but in that moment it was everything. I clenched my jaw, girded. This Acari would fight back.
One more push, and I staggered as the terrain changed beneath me. Rocks bit into my bare feet, and cold dampness squished between my toes. I swung my hands blindly in front of me. We’d left the path—one of the vampires’ cardinal rules, broken.
“Strip her. ” Rough hands were all over me, everyone wanting to be the one to rip my clothes off. Girls yanked and jostled me, trying to rip fabric. The flannel pulled tight at my neck, jerking me back. I heard a short tear, then another, followed by a long, crisp ripping sound as my nightgown was rent from top to bottom. Bitter air gusted in, billowing it like a tent behind me.
I regularly slept in a jogging bra and panties to save time dressing in the morning. I’d worn them to bed last night, and how I loved myself for it now.
“Look at the fat ass. Too ashamed to sleep naked. ”
Girls kicked me and laughed. “Look at her jiggle. ”
Another kick sent me stumbling forward, but I caught myself on a tree. I clung for balance, and bark jammed under my nails.
My arms were wrenched behind me as my shredded nightgown was torn off. “Pull it off. Strip the fat ass. ”
I’d been trying to keep cool, to keep my mouth shut and minimize the damage. But I’d had enough.
A foot pressed onto my butt. My skin wobbled, and of course it did, seeing as someone’s foot was grinding into it, but still the girls crowed over and over, “Fat slut. ”
“As if I care,” I mumbled. I should’ve shut up, but I couldn’t. Did these ridiculous adolescent taunts work on some girls? “Am I supposed to cry?”
r /> “I’ll make you cry. ” It was Masha.
Crap. I should’ve kept my mouth shut.
Another girl’s voice sounded, nasty and screechy. “Make her jiggle some more. ”
More Initiates kicked me. A few kicks were clumsy, grazing off my calves. But some landed hard. I’d be bruised and scraped.
“Tie her up. ” A final push propelled me forward, and my face slammed into the tree.
“Turn her around. ” They spun me and pinned my arms at my sides. Bark scraped my back. “Get the plastic wrap. ”
There was a crackling sound, and cool plastic touched my belly. Sheets of it wound around me. Panic dumped adrenaline into my veins. I was being Saran Wrapped to a tree.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I wriggled, but hands held me fast. “You think Headmaster is going to put up with this?”
The plastic wrap got tighter and tighter, and they wound it higher and higher, and some animal instinct flared to life, my heart pounding Fight, run, fight, run. I was going to suffocate. I’d wanted to be cool, but I struggled wildly now, and still they wrapped higher, and lower, and tighter, down to my ankles and up above my shoulders.
“I think by the time Headmaster finds out, you’ll be ground beef. He’ll be so psyched we packed him a little snack, he won’t care who did this. Wrap her up tight, girls. Gotta keep her fresh. ”
This wasn’t hazing. This was murder.
“Alcántara is preparing me for a mission. ” The words burst from me, and I didn’t know if it’d pour oil or water onto the fire. “He’ll have your heads. ”
I was bound in a cocoon now. My face was free, but plastic covered my body, and my skin felt smothered. The cold made my feet numb and my nose run, but beneath the plastic, sweat soaked me, running between my breasts, under my arms, and down my spine to the crack of my butt.
Hot breath whispered in my ear, “Caught like a fly, Acari, and we’re going to eat you alive. ”