Hades Read Online Free Page B

looked
    worn and rotted through in places. Someone had put a
    candle on the edge of every step and now the wax dripped
    down, pooling like frosting on the wooden boards. Empty
    rooms spil ed off the wide hal way. I knew drunken couples
    probably occupied them, but the darkness was stil
    unnerving. We made our way down the corridor, weaving
    past bodies al decked in various outfits. Some had gone
    al out in terms of costumes. I caught flashes of vampire
    teeth, devil horns, and plenty of fake blood. Someone real y
    tal and dressed as the Grim Reaper glided past us, his
    face completely concealed beneath a hood. I saw Alice in
    Wonderland (the zombie version), Raggedy Ann, Edward
    Scissorhands, and a Hannibal Lecter-inspired mask. I
    gripped Xavier’s hand tightly. I didn’t want to ruin his night,
    but I found the whole scene slightly unsettling. It was like al
    the characters from horror stories suddenly coming to life
    around us. The only thing that took the edge off the eeriness
    was the constant flow of chatter and laughter. Someone
    plugged in an iPod dock and suddenly the house was fil ed
    with music so loud it shook the dusty chandelier above us.
    We picked our way through the crowd and found Mol y
    and the girls in the living room, ensconced in a faded
    tapestry club lounge. The coffee table in front of them was
    already littered with shot glasses and half-empty bottles of
    vodka. Mol y had stuck with her original idea and come as
    Tinker Bel in a green dress, tattered at the hem, bal et flats,
    and a pair of fairy wings. But she had chosen her
    accessories careful y and in keeping with the spirit of
    Hal oween. She wore silver chains around her wrists and
    ankles, and her face and body were smeared with fake
    blood and dirt. She had a plastic dagger protruding from
    her chest. Even Xavier looked impressed, his raised
    eyebrows indicative of his approval.
    “Gothic Tinker Bel . Solid effort, Mol s,” he complimented.
    We took a seat on the divan next to Madison, who, true to
    her word, had turned up as a Playboy Bunny in a black
    corset, fluffy tail, and a pair of white bunny ears. Her eye
    makeup was already smudged so she looked as though
    she had two black eyes. She downed another shot and
    slammed the glass victoriously on the table.
    “You two suck,” she slurred as we squeezed in next to
    her. “Those costumes are the worst!”
    “What’s wrong with them?” Xavier asked, sounding as if
    he couldn’t care less about her opinion but was merely
    asking out of politeness.
    “You look like Woody from Toy Story, ” Madison said,
    suddenly unable to suppress an attack of the giggles. “And,
    Beth, come on! You could’ve at least come as one of
    Charlie’s Angels. There’s nothing scary about either of
    you.”
    “Your outfit isn’t exactly terrifying either,” Mol y said in our
    defense.
    “Don’t be too sure about that,” Xavier said. I smothered a
    smile behind my hand. Xavier had never liked Madison
    much. She drank and smoked too much and always gave
    her opinion when it wasn’t wanted.
    “Shuddup, Woody,” Madison drawled.
    “I think maybe someone should lay off the shots for a
    while,” Xavier advised.
    “Don’t you have a rodeo or something to organize?”
    Xavier jumped up, distracted from responding by the
    entrance of his water-polo team, who made their arrival
    known to everyone present by letting out a col ective and
    uninterrupted war cry. I heard them greeting Xavier in the
    hal .
    “Hey, man!”
    “Dude, what’s with the outfit?”
    “Did Beth put you up to this?”
    “Man, you are so whipped!” One of them straddled his
    back like a chimp and tackled him playful y to the ground.
    “Get off me!”
    “Yee-haw!”
    There were a few more hoots of laughter and the sounds
    of a friendly scuffle. When Xavier surfaced he had been
    stripped of everything but his jeans. His hair, which had
    been smoothed back neatly when we walked in, was now
    ruffled. He shrugged at me as if