Gypsy Truths (All The Pretty Monsters #6)- Kristy Cunning Page 0,165

certainly not the sweet girl you’ve been parading around. What happens next?”

For a moment, I simply stare at her, unable to answer. After another few beats of silence, she nods.

“Call me when you know,” she says.

She turns back around and sprints into the darkness.

For now, Idun seems to be the only target.

Idun’s a target…

The world is brand new all over again.

Music starts blaring, and I turn and sprint in the direction it’s coming from.

Chapter 48

DAMIEN

God help us all.

That’s the only thing I can think of when I see the chorus-singing kick-line of ghosts, who are definitely jamming out—in choregraphed, synchronized fashion—to Mad Hatter.

Another ballerina-zombie-girl ghost is half flesh and half bone, doing her own dance.

The field is fully lit by the spotlights, that I saw a few ghosts floating through the town on their way here. The lights are powered by the electricity surging from Hyde, I think.

The power to the ungodly amount of speakers seems to be generated by the same source.

Electricity visibly skitters across the ground.

Idun is mid-scream, as the song changes to Sweet but Psycho.

A sucker-sucking, Princess-Leia-styled monster is the one in flesh.

She squats over Idun’s torso, and grins around the sucker in her mouth.

“How many licks to get to the center, I wonder?” the sucker-girl asks Idun, pulling the sucker out to show it to Idun.

Idun’s eyes widen in horror, when the skin morphs on the girl, and threads whir through the air. Hyde morphs into the jester girl, who is all kinds of fucking crazy. I’ve witnessed the ghost version of her a few times in the past hours.

“Let’s play a game!” Jester girl shouts, as Little Monster starts playing.

All the apparitions shout in cheerful unison.

“To commemorate the first-annual Monster Olympics, we’ve come up with the perfect game too.” The jester takes a deep breath, before shouting, “Kick ball!”

In the next instant, she grabs Idun by the head and…rips it off.

As though it’s a simple, common task.

I startle, mostly because for a brief moment, I expect Idun’s monster to immediately retaliate.

“You don’t pass out unless your heart is removed and devoured, right?” the jester girl asks a wide-eyed, Idun…

Well, she asks Idun’s severed head, rather.

The jester simply nods when Idun doesn’t respond.

“I guess the ribbon girl story was exaggerated in the versions where it said you chatted up the fellas while your head rolled around on the ground. In real life, your vocal chords have to be intact for speech,” the jester adds with a malicious, twisted grin.

Blood oozes from Idun’s neck, splashing onto the ground, even as the rain cleanses it almost immediately.

“Pick me, coach! I wanna go first!” Anna shouts, as she stands on the makeshift plate.

“What the bloody hell?” Emit asks as he turns up at my side on two naked legs.

I barely notice him, because…I’m still staring at what has to be the day after the apocalypse or some shit.

The jester blurs across the field, as Idun’s head begins to roll across the ground. Before it can reach the base where Anna is standing, threads whir through the air once more, and Anna turns to flesh, as the Jester becomes the projection.

The transition is effortless, and Anna uses Violet’s threading skills with far more ease and precision.

Anna suddenly kicks Idun’s head so hard it comes sailing at me.

A hand darts out, catching the head by the hair, seconds before it collides with my face, while I remain as rigid as a petrified stone.

Vance lowers his hand, Idun’s head in his grip, as tears squeeze free from Idun’s eyes that have been frozen open. Her lips open in a silent plea for help…

Anna is suddenly standing before us, swiping Idun’s head from Vance’s hand.

“Interference! Penalty kick!” she shouts, before turning and punting Idun’s head in the other direction.

We all watch, since there’s not really much else to be done…

This is undoubtedly the most fucked up night I’ve ever been party to. Which is saying a lot. A whole lot.

“I’ve truly never been so speechless,” Arion says, as he joins the three of us.

Anna turns and bats her lashes at him, as Havana starts playing over the speakers.

“Let’s dance,” Anna says suddenly, grabbing Arion’s arm.

His eyes widen in surprise, as she pulls him out onto the middle of the field.

Idly, I notice the apparitions ‘kicking’ Idun’s head to each other, all while laughing.

“One wrong move, and I’ll start all over!” Anna calls out, when Idun’s lower half starts inching toward her torso.

Immediately, the lower half of her body drops to the ground, lifeless