A/N: Welcome to the Halloween special! AKA "The one where Avery and the gang try to summon a spirit"! Of course, nothing goes to plan because this, my dear friends, is Quarantine. The story where everything that could go wrong, does go wrong. Warnings for ouija board use and other methods of communicating with spirits. If you're sensitive to that stuff, please read with caution or don't read at all.
Thank you for all your input and ideas for the content of this chapter, as well as everyone's continued support and readership. Y'all make my day with your reviews and Discord chaos. Slyther - that Halloween party was a great idea BUT there's another formal event in the lineup much later to look forward to. Hope everyone enjoys!
Quarantine: Day Three, Part Four
Princess Addison Louise Schreave was not in the mood for shenanigans.
She thought she had at least two hours of pure, unadulterated relaxation while Avery was out being not-gay asking his not-boyfriend out on a not-date. It hurt her to see him so stressed about something he couldn't help, which upset her for many reasons because she wasn't used to having sympathetic feelings towards her annoying little brother. Honestly, who gave a fuck if he wanted to fuck guys or girls or both? Addy sure as hell didn't care. Her best friend was trans and nonbinary. Plenty of her followers were also on the LGBTQ spectrum. The people of Illéa could either get with the century or get the hell out.
Maybe that was why she was so kind as to let Avery borrow her foundation. And her Jimmy Choos. Though, that was more a theft. If he so much as scuffed them, she would cut off his little troll feet and make him eat them so help her God! Her kindness had limits, okay?
Anyway, back to relaxing. She'd borrowed a green tea face mask from Rori - finally, the nuisance was good for something other than making innuendo about her ex - and had Talis cut up some cucumber for their eyes while she tried to wash the day away. Sure, her outfit had been fierce and she'd managed to ignore everyone who tried to bask in her gloriousness. Sure, she maxed out her number of live-streamers with her afternoon quarantine yoga sesh. Sure, she still had her health and her beauty and her closet full of Mui Mui, Balenciaga, and Fendi.
None of that mattered when Li Jun wouldn't call her back.
She thought they'd been over this! He knew how anxious and stressed she got when he ignored her calls! She made sure to ask him if he had his charger and the emergency back up. He'd shown them to her over FaceTime the other night. Now, it was radio silence. Not a peep since his good morning text! Addy had half a mind to send him nudes just to get a reaction. He could never resist her feet pics.
"Don't worry about him, darling," Talis soothed, patting her hand blindly. They had such good aim for eyes obscured with fruit. "I'm sure he's got just as many struggles on his hands as we do."
Addy wished she could just turn this anxiety, this need off. But it was like Li Jun was engraved in her brain. He was her programming. He was what was hardwired into her brain to think about morning noon and night. Talis could never understand because Talis had never been in love. Not like this.
The love Addy and Li Jun shared was life-altering, world-defining, earth-shattering. No one had ever loved this hard, this long, this much. Addy would die for her love. She would kill for her love. She would go to the ends of the earth for her love.
Li Jun couldn't even answer a fucking phone call.
It was getting insulting.
"What problem could be more important than our separation?" Addy lamented. She knew she sounded like a broken record, that Talis was tired of comforting her and saying the same placating bullshit over and over again, but she couldn't help it. Li Jun was all she knew.
She blew out a heavy breath and tried to think happy, relaxing thoughts, like the vacation she was going to take once she was allowed out of this gilded cage or the casket she was going to buy to hold Li Jun's remains once she got her hands on him and strangled him for leaving her on read.
Just as Addy was finding her happy place, the door slammed open. All peace was shattered.
"You're back soon," Addy grumbled. So much for relaxation.
"My mission was successful," Avery reported smugly, his head held high as he strut like a peacock over to the couch. He didn't have any make up covering his zit, and he looked like he'd fallen down stairs and fought with a bear.
Had he and JR...?
Addy gagged at the thought. No that was impossible. She definitely would have heard screaming.
"You snagged the man of your dreams?"
"I sure did."
"Really? He actually said yes?"
"Yes, really," Avery repeated, now irritated. It was annoying and childish how quickly his moods changed. Like dealing with a toddler. "We're having dinner tomorrow."
"Well, color me impressed," Talis commended, giving Addy a look that told her they didn't think Avery had it in him.
There had to be something wrong with this man. He had to have braincells missing or a sixth toe or crippling debt. Why else would he put up with Avery willingly?
"OMG Avery!"
Of course, wherever her brother went, Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber had to follow.
Rori burst into the room with too much energy that did not go with the calming vibes Addy wanted. Behind her, Niko walked in at a much slower pace, like her oversized shadow. That boy was going to rule a country one day. Which country, Addy couldn't quite remember, but it would need some serious help unless that boy grew a backbone and kicked Rori to the curb.
"Look at what we found in the closet!"
Which closet, Rori did not specify. It pissed Addy off that this girl felt entitled enough to rifle through their personal belongings, showing off her prize as if she hadn't stolen it. She could have at least grifted something more valuable than a dusty old box.
"It's a ouija board," Rori said, pointing to the faded title. "You can use it to contact dead people."
"Ew, Rori!" Avery jumped away from the board, disgusted with it. "Why would I want to talk to dead people? They're dead."
"You were just fine to do an autopsy!"
"Yeah, but she wasn't talking. That's just weird!"
"Why the hell do we have this, anyway?" Addy wondered, frowning.
The Queen was a religious person. She would never have left something like this lying around where her children could get to it. Addy didn't remember purchasing it, and there was no point in asking Avery. He didn't even remember what he ate for breakfast. It was possible it could have belonged to the staff. Or it was possible it was so old and in a closet so far removed it belonged to one of their relatives long-dead.
There were secrets in this palace, along with hoards of useless junk.
Secrets like the identity of a murderer.
"Maybe we could contact Cameron and ask her who killed her," Rori suggested, reading Addy's mind. She hated it when they were on the same page. It meant Addy actually had to admit she wasn't useless.
"That's actually kinda brill."
"Thanks!" Rori chirped, flipping her hair over her shoulder, preening in the praise. "While I was the one to take initiative, I actually can't take credit. It was Niko's idea."
"Rori - " Niko hissed, but she elbowed him in the side to shut him up.
"He's so broken up about carrying Cameron's body down all those stairs. This would really help him process the trauma."
Niko's cheeks flushed a bright red as Rori patted his chest in sympathy. It was the only sympathy he was going to get, apparently.
"Who cares about trauma? That's no fun," Avery said with a roll of his eyes, grabbing the board and clearing off the coffee table to make room for it. "Let's find a murderer!"
While everyone else set up the board, Addy grabbed her purse, pulled a card out of her wallet, and passed it to Niko. He looked down at the small slip of grey paper lined with a phone number and address embossed in glossy black, back up to Addy with confusion.
"My therapist," Addy explained, lowering her voice. "She's a miracle worker. Plus, she isn't like the other hippie dippie Angeles quacks. She believes in whole-body wellness. Meditation Mondays will change your life."
"Thanks..."
"Don't mention it," Addy may not have been close to Avery's friends, but Niko wasn't he worst. He'd need someone to vent to after all this time spent in Rori's company. "Seriously, though. Don't mention it. Therapy is cool and all, but I don't want everyone showing up at my appointment times for an inside scoop. What happens in that room is a sacred bond between Linda and myself...and eventually millions of adoring readers when I decide to write my memoir."
Niko nodded, slipped the card into his back pocket, and walked off to join the group. He took the spot between Avery and Rori, while Addy chose the spot next to Talis. Thank god her best friend was a freaking saint and placed themself on the opposite side of the table.
The board itself was straightforward: the alphabet laid out in large, cursive font along side a few simple words such as "yes", "no", and "goodbye". A teardrop-shaped planchette sat at the bottom middle of the board, waiting. Addy had never used one of these before, but she'd seen enough horror movies to get the gist.
"So, who wants to start?" Addy asked, fully intending to be a passive observer in this game instead of an active participant. Mostly, she wanted to see Avery lose his shit. She should pretend to be possessed, flip the board, or get up and turn off the lights just to fuck with him. Her followers would love it! Where was her phone when she needed it?
"Niko should do the honors," Rori volunteered for him.
The prince did not look thrilled to be taking part in this game, but he did so with grace. What a good sport. If Addy was in his place, she would beat Rori senseless with the board, that girl had some gall!
He put his hand on the planchette and cleared his throat. "Cameron, are you there?"
Everyone stared at the board. Nothing happened.
"Babe, you're not doing it right. I'll show you," Rori said, already scooting over to help.
"Oh, I'm sorry, is there a right way to talk to a ghost? I didn't know," Niko snapped, finally at his wit's end. He put the planchette in her palm. "Perhaps you'd like to do it."
"Fine," Rori sniffed.
She placed the planchette back down. From this angle, Addy could see just how tragic her manicure had become. She was missing half her nails and at least two more were chipped. Without access to a proper nail technician, the quality would only continue to decrease. Addy felt a pang of sympathy for Rori that she absolutely did not want to feel, not for one of Avery's insufferable friends. But Addy couldn't help but imagine those were her nails. They very well could be soon. She should cherish her fresh press while she had them.
"Cameron," she said, a little louder and more commanding than Niko had, her eyes closed. "I'm still pissed at you for stealing my earrings, but that doesn't mean you deserved to die for it. Let us help you. Give us a sign."
For a moment, there was nothing. But then, Rori swayed over the board, her arms moving forward and -
"SATAN!"
Everyone turned to see a young woman in the doorway, body shaking and hand pointing towards the board as if it were the source of all the world's evil. Her eyes were dark and luminous, consumed by wide pupils filled with wild frenzy. No one could stop her from storming inside, picking up the board, and throwing it into the wall.
"Come on!" Talis yelped, gathering up the ends of their jacket so Venus could not step on it.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Addy shrieked, trying and failing to grab her wrist before she threw the planchette in another direction. It was impossible to tell where the damned thing landed in the dark in a room full of crap, but there was no mistaking the sound of glass breaking as it hit the ground.
"Are you serious?" Avery huffed, crossing his hands over his chest. "How are we going to get any answers now?"
"Be grateful!" the stranger shouted in reply, her large bosom heaving with each breath. She looked as though she'd run a marathon with how much she was sweating and panting. "I just saved all of your souls from the clutches of the Devil!"
"God isn't real and neither is the ouija board, it's just a game!" Talis countered, pissed beyond belief. Addy had never seen them this mad, and her hand immediately reached out to hold theirs, letting them squeeze their anger out tight.
"I will pray for you," the young woman said with tears in her eyes, crossing herself before turning to the rest of them. "What were you thinking? Princess Addison, Prince Avery, without your souls, this nation is lost. We would have been leaderless, a flock without a shepherd to guide us through these treacherous lands."
Only one person could be this much of a zealot. This had to be the preacher's daughter, Medea O'Lyone. Or Venus, as she was rumored to call herself. Addy recognized her from the TV sermons her mom tuned into on Sundays. Truth be told, it was hard to be sure. Venus on the TV was always buttoned up to the throat in something floral and frilly. This version of Venus looked like she had taken a walk through the woods in her underwear, a sheer white robe falling off her shoulders and damn near exposing herself to the entire group.
"We were trying to find out what happened to Cameron Garcia to see if we could stop the murderer before they axed anyone else," Addy huffed, pissed that she had to explain away her brother's stupidity yet again.
Who the fuck did this religious bimbo think she was, wrecking their séance and reminding Addy of all the stupid things she wanted to forget? Like responsibilities. It was a fucking pandemic. Responsibilities were on hold until further notice.
"Cameron...?"
"The girl found dead in the closet. You know, the big thing that happened yesterday?" Addy prompted, but Venus remained wide-eyed and innocent. Addy shook her head. "And I thought Avery was dumb..."
Venus wore the look of a woman conflicted. She paced back and forth, worrying her lips between her teeth and speaking nonsense to herself. Honestly, Addy was more freaked out by her behavior than playing with the ouija board.
"If you insist on tampering with such wicked forces, then I insist you do so in a safe, holy space!" Venus decreed.
"Okay..."
Where were they gonna find one of those?
Apparently, a 'safe, holy space' meant a space Venus could control. So she took them back to her room. Not the chapel, not an open foyer where anyone could intervene. A room she shared with other people. The horror.
Thankfully, the only other tenant at the moment was a young Saudi woman in pajamas that could not be hers given they were two sizes too big and had the name "Olivia" bedazzled on the back of the purple button-down top. Addy may not have been the most attentive, but she knew Nesryn el Sayed when she saw her, and fuck she was even prettier in person than on her Instagram.
The fucking nerve.
Did everyone here have to be a successful influencer? Was this Addy's personal hell? To be placed in a palace full of people with more followers? The world said women shouldn't be pitted against one another, that they should build each other up, but the world clearly hadn't spent enough time in Addy's social circles.
"Oh, hi Venus, everyone," Nesryn said, blushing as she crossed her arms over her torso and hugged the shirt closer to her. Clearly she was embarrassed about being caught in her pajamas. Addy didn't know why. The girl was a smoke show. Even Rori was annoyed at how pretty she looked in something so gaudy. "Can I help you?"
"We are tempting God's wrath by trying to contact one of his fallen disciples," Venus said solemnly. Nesryn nodded along, unfazed, as if this was normal behavior. "We need to create a safe space, full of light and goodness. Do you have any crystals that can help?"
"I think I have a few..." Nesryn bit her lip and started rummaging through her bag on her bottom bunk. Out came a few sticks of white crystal and a lumpy looking black rock. "I have some clear quartz, for healing and purifying the space, and some smokey quartz for protection from outside chaos and disturbances."
"Perfect!" Venus clapped her hands. "Place them in strategic points around the room. Whatever you think will give us maximal oomph. I'll start lighting the candles."
Most people brought a spare change of clothes to a party. Their cellphone. Some lipstick. Venus, apparently, brought a whole handbag full of tea candles. Tea candles made from organic wax from her family's farm, harvested from a thousand of the sweetest bees. At least, that's what Venus claimed as she lit what had to be the twentieth one with no intention of slowing down.
"We sing Amazing Grace as we collect the honey, and One Bread, One Body as we boil the comb. It's such a soothing process. The bees take such pride in their work, they love to dance around us as we go."
Addy had to be dreaming. She had to have ingested some kind of drug and was hallucinating this whole thing. No one was this deranged.
But Venus was, and she just kept powering through, creating her fire hazard with three dozen little candles placed on mattress and wardrobe-tops and windowsill. Anywhere and everywhere she could stick one that wasn't occupied by a person. Addy had to admit, she admired the girl's tenacity, and how good everyone looked in this lighting. She wished she had brought her phone to live-stream this; her viewers would love these angles.
When the last candle was lit, Venus had everyone sit in a circle and hold hands. She sat herself in the center, a vision in white . Her eyes were closed, her hands palm-up on her crossed knees, her head tipped up towards the ceiling.
"We should begin with a prayer."
Addy didn't know any prayers. Her parents had forced her to go to the Church of Illéa services when she was younger, but she mostly spent those rolling around on the carpet under the pews, finding pieces of chewed gum stuck to the undersides and carving her name next to all the other princesses who had carved their names before her. It was disgusting looking back on the memory, but it beat the hell out of listening to some old white guy drone on and on about the holy right of kings. Never the holy right of queens, the sexist fucks.
Maybe that was one thing she could do if she ever decided to becoming Queen of Illéa - gag. She could outlaw religion. It was all shit anyway. People would thank her once they finally started to think for themselves instead of looking towards some fat preacher in an oversized bathrobe to tell them what to do.
This time, however, everyone did as they were told and held hands. Talis's palm was warm in Addy's, as was Nesryn's. Addy pitied the unfortunate soul who had to hold Avery's sweaty hands. One minute in and it was a Slip N' Slide between his fingers.
"Holy Father, protect your children as we enter into this unholy union between the mortal and spiritual planes. Guard our souls as we reach into the afterlife and pluck the soul of one of Lucifer's ranks back into the realm of the living."
"Hey, we don't know if she's in Hell," Talis protested, squirming with discomfort. They weren't nervous before, but somehow the ambiance made the experience all the more spooky. Like they were really about to do something dangerous and forbidden.
"Do you remember what she was like?" Avery asked, one eyebrow arched in extreme judgement. "A bitch is definitely in Hell."
Venus waved a bunch of burning sage around the circle, making the candles flicker as she moved her body in seizure-like motions, throwing herself (and her tits) into the laps of those nearest her. Addy choked on a whiff of sage, coughing as the smoke thickened. Everyone else started coughing too. Addy waited for a fire alarm to go off, then remembered this was technically the servant's quarters and that meant no one gave a fuck about safety precautions up here.
Tears obscured Addy's vision as Venus rolled her own eyes up into her head.
"It is I, Carmen - "
"Cameron"
" - Cameron Garcia, coming from beyond the grave to tell you all..." Venus stopped for dramatic pause, her whole body shuddering into stillness. Avery leaned forward, enchanted. And then, in a burst of energy, Venus cried, "Bury me with my handbags!"
Silence washed over the room. Venus stopped her thrashing and lowered her arms, the last burnt bits of sage scattering to dust on the ground. She heaved out a sigh and trailed a hand down her heaving cleavage, sweating from all her theatrics.
"That's it?" Addy was shocked. This could not be it. This bitch had to be joking. She turned and looked at everyone else. "We're just gonna believe that?"
"Yeah."
"Makes sense."
"They were nice handbags," Rori pointed out. Knowing her, she already had her eye on one. Probably the Birkin.
"I think I should get one, you know, as a thank you for my hard work," Venus suggested, batting her long lashes with false innocence.
"Bullshit!" Addy cried. She'd heard enough. "You made that stuff up!"
"I did not!" Venus gasped, offended. "I offered up my home, my sanctuary, to become your den of iniquity and sin, and this is how you repay me?"
"You offered this place up yourself!"
"Addy, Venus, take a chill pill," Rori said, taking each of their hands in one of hers. "Cameron's message was shocking. We are all working through a lot of negative emotions right now - "
"Oh shut up," Addy snapped.
She was sick of Aurora Winfield too. Sick of all of them. Why could Avery and his friends just do what Daddy said and leave well enough alone?
"Was there anything else Cameron told you?" Avery asked, pushing the subject. He had that look on his face that he was thinking too hard, which always made him look constipated. Combined with the zit, he looked like one of those witches with the warts on their noses.
"Well, she did say one thing," Venus said, tapping her chin with a pensive stare, no doubt thinking of some other nonsense to spew out her ass. "She said, 'beware the man in black, for he will bring death in his wake.'"
"The man in black?" Addy scoffed. As if this couldn't get any more ridiculous. "We're being haunted by Johnny Cash?"
"Who?" Avery asked.
"Famous country singer," Talis explained, giving Avery a smirk. "You can ask JR all about him on your date."
"Well why don't we just call him up and ask him why he's killing people!"
"Oh my god, you idiot!" Addy breathed out a sigh of annoyance. Just when she thought her brother might have some redeeming qualities... "We can't call him because he's dead! He's been dead for hundreds of years!"
"How was I supposed to know that?"
Avery's face was bright red and splotchy, like a bruised tomato. He was such an ugly, weasel-looking boy when he was upset. Thankfully he hadn't started crying. Addy wouldn't be able to handle that. He was just so ugly. It was amazing her parent's genetics created the perfect combination in her and then came together a couple years later to make...that.
"Bullshit. All of this is bullshit," Addy mumbled, getting up and blowing out the candle nearest her before it caught her tulle on fire. She hated repeating herself, hated being the only one with common sense. It was exhausting having to carry the weight of so much intelligence while her brother and his friends made fools of themselves. Well, they could have their fun. Addy was done. "I'm going to bed."
She was half way out the door when a scream drew her attention.
Immediately, Avery, Rori, Niko, Talis, Venus, and Nesryn pushed past her and ran towards the source. Talis was a dear and waited for her, beckoning her along with a wave of their hand. Addy had no choice but to follow, unwilling to admit that she, too, was curious. That she was a hypocrite for calling this all bullshit a second ago, secretly just as eager to get into the thrill of the chase.
Don't get her wrong, Addy was scared as hell and defs did not want to die. But what could she say? There wasn't much to entertain her these days and she had terrible FOMO. Again, she lamented the absence of her phone. Nothing like a good mystery shriek to boost the algorithm.
In her delay, Addy was the last one to the party. She had to push her way to the front of the semi-circle that had formed at the end of the royal guest hall, elbowing her brother in the gut so she could see what all the fuss was about.
The fuss, it turned out, was well deserved.
One of Daddy's interns, Olivia Edison, knelt on the carpet, bawling her eyes out.
"This isn't what it looks like," she pleaded.
There were tears in her eyes, blood on her clothes, a knife in her hand. And there, on the ground, in a pool of his own blood, lied the freshly-murdered corpse of Victor Adam Quinn Windsor, Duke of York.
