Page 74 of Squad Ghouls

“What the hell are you talking about?” Seth asked, only to be ignored.

Ryan’s eyes shone with excitement and I realised I was as weak in the face of that look as I was for making sure everyone around me got what they wanted. I didn’t like standing in the way of people. Not when it made them happy. Not even when it was to my own detriment.

“You get five minutes,” I said slowly, pulling my phone out and setting the timer. “It starts…now.”

I barely got the words out before Ryan was giving a nod to the chaos duo now crouched behind Seth’s chair.

They grinned, finally in agreement on something. Within moments, Harri disappeared completely, his facial features merging with Seth’s until there was nothing of him left other than that awfully gleeful glint in his eye. Larri stood beside him, the chain now looped around Seth’s wrist and connected to his own.

He wrapped his fingers around it and yanked, making Seth lurch out of his chair. Harri made sure he stood up instead of just face-planting the floor.

The clock on my phone ticked onwards and I wished for it to go faster. Four more minutes.

“How are you feeling, pet?” Larri asked.

Harri swooned in Seth’s body, placing his hands over his heart.

“Oh, master,” he said in this really weird, high-pitched voice that didn’t match his face at all. “You are the best and the sexiest beast I have ever met.”

Harri made Seth lean against the table, one arm thrown over his face dramatically.

“I sure am,” Larri said. “Do you like your leash?”

“I love it!” Harri replied. “It’s exactly the colour I wanted. Rust is the latest trend, I heard.”

Three minutes.

“It brings out your eyes,” Larri said, and Ryan nearly doubled over, laughing like he was having the time of his life.

Harri made Seth blink rapidly, clasped hands positioned under his chin as he looked at Larri like a lovesick little puppy. “Thank you.”

“Are there any other wishes you’d like me to fulfil?” Larri asked, and Harri twittered like a little princess with a crush.

“I want you to call me your pretty doll,” he said. “Tell me I’m the fairest in all the land!”

He began twirling around, pantomiming dancing.

Two minutes.

“Ah yes,” Larri said. “You have the prettiest mug of all the mugs!”

“YAY!” Harri stopped dancing and made Seth bounce on the balls of his feet. “I knew it must be so. I just knew it.”

He skipped back over to the table.

One minute.

“Now get down on your knees like a good dog so we can take you for a walk,” Larri said.

Harri bent Seth’s body to follow the command and complete the humiliation, but I stepped in, unable to keep watching. “That’s enough, guys.”

“But we still have forty-five seconds,” Larri whined.

I grimaced. “I know you want to get back at him on my behalf, but we don’t need to stoop to his level.”

I felt Ryan’s eyes on me and was hesitant to meet them, but instead of disappointment in my decision, he seemed contemplative before turning to the guys. “Pack it up, boys. Let the loser go.”

“We didn’t even get to try a beer!”