The Arrangement 22 (The Arrangement 22)

I make the noise once more, louder this time. My last bleat comes out choked as I nearly gag myself with laughter.

Mel is belly laughing, bent over and wagging a finger in my direction. “That’s hilarious! Who knew you were a goat girl deep down inside!” Mel tries to make a bleating sound, but it comes out more like the ACK, ACK, ACK of a machine gun.

“Bwuhahahaha! Your goat lives in the ghetto and is packin’ some serious heat, Mel. What the hell kind of farm animal sounds like that?” There are tears in the corners of my eyes from laughing so hard. I wipe them away as we finally get control of ourselves.

Mel lets out a long sigh through her mouth and looks over at me. “If it ain't some asshole trying to kill us, it’s all fun and giggles—”

“Yeah, until we fell down a hole.”

“Do you know how embarrassing this is? I’m like a knife ninja. In a street fight, I win. I always win. I can’t believe I’m stuck in a fucking hole.” She shakes her head and glances around.

“With me! It could be so much worse.” Grinning, she flicks her gaze up to meet mine. “Seriously, Mel. I don’t mind being trapped in a pit with you, but Sean is going to freak out.”

She finally stops laughing and walks toward me in long, slipping strides as the sand moves under her feet. “Why couldn’t we fall into a pit with a hot man? That Pitfall guy was hot, but he was a little too boxy and rectangular if you ask me.” She says it so deadpan that I start giggling again. “Seriously, though. We couldn’t fall into one of them holes that already has smashed up concrete in it and a ladder?”

“We’re not lucky like that, Mel.” I lean against the sidewall and slide down. I pull my feet in toward my chest and tip my head back. The night sky looks like spilled ink with a dusting of silver glitter to make up the stars.

Mel paces for a few turns and then sits next to me. “If I die in a hole, I’m gonna be pissed.” She folds her arms across her chest and tips her head back, closing her eyes.

“Are you going to sleep?”

“Yeah, so?”

“What about demon babies and vacation homes?”

She swats a lazy hand at me. “It’s not summer. Dude ain't here.”

CHAPTER 9

Mel naps next to me while I stare at the sky thinking, wishing I could contain my thoughts, but they bubble up and overflow from my mind like a pot of boiling water. I can’t stop it. Images flash rapidly through my head like a confused movie. The scenes don’t blend and the timeline spirals in an illogical loop. Silent screams, slick skin, a diamond engagement ring, the cold feel of the gun grip in my hand, the hard ground at my parents’ graves, and blood—pouring, pooling, covering my pale skin, tainting me. Fear intensifies and chokes me until I can’t breathe. I jump up and chase the thoughts from my mind when the noise comes closer. It sounds like a giant bee.

I kneel next to Mel and shake her shoulder. “It’s back.”

Just as she stands next to me and we look up in unison, a bright light shines down directly overhead, blinding us. The drone loudly buzzes as it drops close to us way too fast. It stops at eye level and hovers in the air in front of us.

“I wish I had a bat," Mel growls at the machine, "I’d smack it!” She bends over and pulls up two fists of sand, ready to toss it into the four spinning propellers.

“Wait!” I grab her arms, stopping her and get closer to the drone. It’s not white like the one I saw a few nights ago. This one is flesh-toned with brown streaks and—is that an eye? I get closer, blinking twice at the device before chills race up my spine and my stomach turns sour. “Tell me that’s not what I think it is.”

Mel leans in, careful not to get close to the spinning blades allowing the drone to hover. She snorts, “That crazy fucktard really has the hots for you. He made an Avery drone.”

The drone is shrink-wrapped with a picture of me. I blink hard, hoping my face and body will disappear from the side of the machine. It’s the picture I gave Henry of me way back before I knew he was insane. It was meant to stay in his wallet. I shouldn't be plastered to the sides of a drone.

Straight-faced, I stare at it with contempt. “That bastard. He made me a flying whore!”

Mel tries not to grin. She eyes the contraption carefully then spits out, “Damn, he’s freaky. I bet he has a thing for Wonder Woman.”

“I bet he has his own invisible jet. Screw Wonder Woman.”

“That’s what he said!” She chuckles and slaps her knee. “Damn, I'm funny!”

The drone tries to take off, and then circles back when we don’t follow. It does the same thing four more times, trying to get us to take off after it. I shake my head and point, but they don’t seem to get it.

Mel plucks the drone from the air, flips it over, and says slowly directly into the tiny camera on the bottom, “We can’t follow. We’re stuck in a pit.” Then she tosses the thing up in the air, and it falls like a stone, almost hitting the ground before shooting into the treetops again.

She laughs. “I bet that made his British britches bunch. By the way, you don’t want to see what’s on the underside of that drone. He’s a sick mofo.” Her lips twitch like she wants to smile fondly. It’s almost admiration. No, that’s not quite right. There’s a starry look in her eye combined with the almost goofy grin.

Wide-eyed, I point at her. “Holy shit! You like him!”

“I do not!” She scoffs, grimacing like it’s an insane accusation.

“Yes, you do! You’ve got that bashful smile on your face, the one that’s totally smitten and goofy! How could you like him? He’s insane.”

She doesn’t argue this time. “I don’t know. He’s hot, funny, and a little sick. Besides, who are you to criticize? You’re dating the world's most twisted guy.”

Laughing darkly, I challenge, “Yeah, but Henry is worse.”

She grins wolfishly and presses her palms together. “Yes, he is.”

CHAPTER 10

I have no idea how much time passes, but it feels like hours by the time Sean and Henry show up. They stand at the rim with their hands in their pockets—their stances mirrored. Sean’s head tips to the side and Henry’s eyes are wide like he just realized he needs to dig a pit in his shed immediately.

I wave at Sean with the tips of my fingers. “Hey. How you doin’?”

He snorts and offers a lopsided grin. “How the hell did you end up in a hole?”

Mel glares at me, muttering, “Pasty, here, pushed us in when that sick bastard's drone buzzed us.”

Sean and Henry are about to say something, but Mel cuts them off. Waving a pointer finge

r in the air she narrows one eye to a slit and growls, “And don’t you give her shit about it. It’s dark and freaky out here at night. There are worse responses to getting hit in the face with a robotic flying machine.”

Jaw slackened, I gape at her. “You chewed me out!”

“Right,” Mel looks at me and holds up a palm toward the guys, “which is why it’d be redundant at this point to do anymore scolding. I already took care of it. Plus, I don’t like it when they yell at you.”

“But it's okay for you to do it?”

She folds her arms over her chest and cocks her head to the side. “Damn straight.”

I roll my eyes and look up at Sean, “Save me. Please.” I lift my arms to him like a little kid, and he smiles, shaking his head.

“Hold on.” He takes an armful of rope and ties it around a tree.

Henry stands at the rim and asks, “Is sand your Kryptonite, Melanie? Did you finally meet a foe you can’t best?” He chortles to himself.

“Fuck you, Sweater Vest.”

He glares coolly at her. “Sorry excuse for an assassin.”

“Who the fuck says I’m a hit man?”

“Obviously, you’re not. I’m rather disappointed.” He smirks at Mel. I step back waiting for flames to erupt from her mouth. “If you were, you wouldn’t be stuck in a hole.”

“Asshole.”

“I’d rather enjoy visiting your hole.”

Mel’s lips twist in disgust. “Yeah? Well, whip it out and let’s see what happens.”

Henry snort-laughs as Sean throws the rope over the edge and reminds him, “She’s going to get out of that pit, and you’ll wish you hadn’t said a word.”

Henry slips his hands into his pockets and laughs, throwing his head back like Sean is funny. It sounds forced and sarcastic. “As if.”

I laugh and slap my hands over my mouth. Mel glares at me, so I rush to the edge where Sean tossed the rope over the edge. Looping my hands around the thick-corded rope, I tell her, “He sounds like you.”