Read Exsanguinate for Free Online Page B

Why?”
    “Well, Rox doesn’t live that far away from here. I know he travels a lot, but didn’t you mail that 3D holographic rendering suit to his house in Kissimmee a couple weeks ago? So, for all you know he’s the guy at the coffee shop you go to every morning. Or he’s the guy who runs the animatronics at Disney’s Country Bear Jamboree. Or … or …” Her hamster wheel turned faster than her brain computed words. “Or he even could be that guy who makes the 3D chalk drawings at Downtown Disney.”
    “Or maybe he’s that creepy guy who pushes the shopping cart and talks to the swan boats at Lake Lola,” I added.
    “Right? The crazy guy who yells at you to stop drowning the swans?”
    We both laughed until our sides ached. I hadn’t laughed this hard in ages.
    Note to self – Take more half days off with sisters.
    Dakota decided it was time to reveal my costume. She dangled the small bag in front of me again.
    “What am I going to wear, a gift card or something?” I moaned at her, truly hoping it was a gift certificate to the costume shop.
    Prancing around after her second cider for the afternoon, she said, “See, you’re already in character.”
    “Huh? What are you talking about? Did you get me a costume for a hooker?”
    Laughing out loud, Dakota said, “Sweetie, you couldn’t be a whore even if you tried!”
    I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not. Dakota unveiled a skimpy, gauzy mummy costume.
    “What the hell is that? And where does my body fit into it?” My eyes and hands examined the thin , flimsy fabric. Baffled, I looked at her as if she had killed one to many brain cells from her recreational drugs.
    “I don’t understand. Is this a joke?” I gawked and stammered. “Is this just the accessory? Where’s the costume?”
    “This is the costume, Chey. Look, it’s a bodysuit. You can move the gauze straps to cover the areas you want, but it still looks like you’re wearing hardly anything at all. Isn’t it bad ass? This is exactly what Lady Caz would wear to meet Roxas.”
    “Unholy hell, Dakota, I wished I was Lady Caz right now. Then I might have the guts to wear this thing.”
    As I tried on the mummy scraps I complained, “Are you sure you didn’t get this from the girls’ department as a joke?”
    “No silly, it’s Lycra. It’ll mold to your body. What I haven’t showed you is the skirt that goes with it.”
    I breathed out a sigh of relief.
    Oh thank the Goddess … there’s a skirt.
    She pulled out the bag with the shoes and surfaced with another small bag. The skirt looked just as miniscule as the body suit.
    I looked at her with a what the hell? expression, but she just beamed at me, so proud of what she’d accomplished. That’s when I knew something was up. “All told, did you and Harris have this arrangement set up?”
    She shook her head in a theatrical gesture and brought her hands to her chest in mock surprise. “Not us, we would never do something as devious, deceptive, and perfectly wonderful for the two of you, now would we?”
    “Seriously?” I threw the eensy bits of fabric at her and fell down onto the bed. “Was Briggs in on this plot too? Sheridan? How long have you planned this?”
    Beano sauntered over to the scraps of fabric, sniffed, and grabbed them up in his teeth.
    “Hey, gimme that.” I rescued the mummy costume from the wrath of Boxer. I held the scraps of cloth over my body. “Where are the panties for this thing?” I prayed for boy shorts.
    “Oh yeah. Here ya go.” She flung something at me that looked like dental floss with a miniature flag. No such luck on the boy shorts. Dakota put out a hand, blocking my retort. “Just do it will ya – you want to make a good impression on Roxas or not?”
    “A good impression yeah, but slut wasn’t quite the effect I was going after.” I stretched the cream-colored panties over my hips and snugged the floss into place. “I’m not too keen on the crawling cord up my heinie,