“I have been around for a decade or two,” she said.The woman’s voice didnotmatch her appearance.Lola had expected to hear the creaky sounds of a throat stretched long past the manufacturer’s warranty date.But the lady’s voice was smooth and velvet, almost seductive.It was hard to reconcile the buttery sounds with the wrinkled face from which they were issuing.
She wore a short sleeve, button-up shirt, but Lola could still see more tattoos covering her neck, collarbone, and hands.The woman’s face, though, was unmarked.The tattoos on her neck were bright and encompassed every color of the rainbow, instead of the faded blues and greens Lola would have expected.Despite her age, the old woman’s eyes were still a bright blue, and they stood out against the white background of her skin.
“Your tattoos are lovely,” Lola said and then looked at her two best friends to see their reaction.They both frowned but were slowly nodding their heads.
“Uhh-huh.”Katy rocked back on her heels.“You look great for your age.And the, uh, tattoos, totally work, even though you’re, ya know, old.”
“Let it go, Katy,” Maddie, the only one of them at the moment with an ounce of decorum in their group, gritted out.“She’s a senior citizen.We’ve established that fact.Move on.”
The woman still didn’t seem annoyed or offended.She looked at Lola and then at the picture on the wall that Lola had been staring at.
Remembering that her hand had been mere centimeters away from the artwork, Lola felt the need to explain.“I wasn’t going to touch it.”Lola pointed to the lion man.“It’s just so different.That’s not what I was expecting to see in here.I’ve always wanted a tattoo.”
“Liar,” Katy and Maddie said at the same time.
Lola rolled her eyes and blew out a breath as she shook her head.“Okay, they’re right.That’s not entirely true.I mean, I’ve more recently been considering it because of…” She looked down at the pure white marks that mingled with the pinker pigment on her hands and arms.“Well, I’m trying to embrace this.I always worried a tattoo would just draw more attention to my condition.”Lola noticed the woman’s gaze move over her skin.The vitiligo had turned her skin into what resembled a map, but instead of green and blue, it was pale skin with even paler patches mottling her flesh.Lola gave a wave of her hand over herself.“I don’t want to let it continue to control my life.I want to own it.I know a tattoo would draw even more eyes to me, but I don’t want that to be a reason to prevent me from doing something that I have secretly wanted to do.”“Why haven’t you shared all of this with us?”Katy’s eyes were tinged with a hint of hurt.“You know we have your back.”
“Because you would have tied me up and forced a tattoo on me,” Lola answered.
Maddie nodded.“Yes.She would have.Good call on keeping that crap to yourself, Lo.”
Katy sighed.“Do you mind if I sit down?I’m sort of having an emotional trauma moment over my BFF keeping secrets.”
“By all means.”The woman motioned to some chairs that lined the wall.Katy walked over and plopped down on one, throwing her legs over the side.She was super lady-like.
“It wasn’t a secret, per se.”Lola took a step toward Katy.“It’s just my stuff, Katy.It’s something I have to accept on my own.No one can do it for me.”
Katy waved her off.“I know that, Lo, but that doesn’t mean you can’t talk to us.”
Lola chastised herself for keeping those crucial matters hidden from her friends, feeling a surge of guilt within.She berated herself further for neglecting to mention the looming presence of her stalker.Secrets were not part of the BFF Code, and she had knowingly betrayed it.
As Lola shifted her gaze back to the woman, her breath hitched in her throat.The woman’s eyes completely transformed into a deep shade of red—like legit, full-on, no-more-pupils-in-sight red.Then,somethingunfolded from the women’s sides.At first, Lola thought they were wings, but then she realized they were even more disconcerting—legs.She fought to contain the gasp that threatened to escape, clamping her lips tightly sealed as her eyes widened in astonishment.
Lola quickly made a count of the legs.There were eight of the hairy appendages, stretching, curling around the old woman’s shoulders, encircling her arms, and disappearing beneath the counter.
A rational part of Lola’s mind urged her to flee, to head for the safety of the door, to leave this place and never look back.But two things kept her standing in the middle ofWild Inktattoo parlor.The first was that she wouldn’t leave her friends behind.She was quite certain neither Katy nor Maddie had seen the strange, spider-like legs extend from the old woman’s body, mostly because neither of them were screaming in terror.And Lola didn’t know how to explain it to them without seeming like a lunatic.
Second, if Lola wasn’t crazy—and that was a big if—that meant this woman was some kind of… what?Magical creature?Lola had no idea.Questions swirled within her, demanding answers.And she wouldn’t find those answers by running out the door, fleeing in terror.Lola had to know what was going on.This place,Wild Ink, had been recommended to her by the guys whose features shifted before her very eyes.And now, the first person they encountered here showed a similar phenomenon, though the legs appearing were far more dramatic than any of the changes she had seen in the guys.Were these people somehow connected?Was it some sort of club for weirdos?Or a gang?A gang of what?she wondered as her eyes narrowed.
She tilted her head to the side as if that would somehow change her perspective and maybe understand what the hell was happening.Nope.Nothing.She was just as confused as when her head was straight.Sometimes you’re a dumbass, Lola told herself.
“Lo.”Maddie’s voice penetrated her racing thoughts.“You good?”
“Yep,” Lola said, popping the ‘p’ on the end of the word.She quickly glanced at her friend and gave her a smile.She was pretty sure it looked like the one that Jack Nicholson gave when he busted through the door inThe Shining.When she looked back at the woman, the legs were gone.Of course they are.“Can I be completely honest?”Lola blurted.
“You haven’t been in the past.Why start now?”Maddie asked dryly.Apparently, she too wasn’t happy about Lola’s sort-of-secret concerning the tattoo and vitiligo stuff.
“I didn’t come here just because I want a tattoo.”Lola ignored Maddie’s snarky remark.She’d have to deal with the wrath of both of her friends later.“I came here because I was told this was the best place to get a tattoo, but that’s not really the reason, either.”
The woman’s head tilted, just as Lola’s had done moments earlier.“Curious.”
“Just wait,” Maddie said as Lola saw her step into view and lean against the counter, only a few feet from spider woman.“Once she really get’s going, she’s like —”
“A bottle of soda that’s been shaken, not stirred,” Katy interrupted.
“Boom,” Maddie said, making an exploding motion with her hands.“She just pops with all that ‘need to know.’”
Katy pursed her lips and nodded.“We’re convinced one day we’ll find her guts all over the concrete after they’ve burst with inquisitiveness.”
