Free Tricking Tara by Viola Grace

Chapter One
    She missed having Caro underfoot. Tara's days were bland and filled with nothing but preparation for the holidays without her friend. Phone calls just did not cut it.
    The mechanical tricks in the house were just about set up. Only one task remained to her, the selection of staff from a series of volunteers. She hated volunteers.
    Each person who came into the Simmons Haunted House was trying to capture some of her secrets. She changed them every year to preserve the mystery, and to protect her secret. She was the main source of effects in the house. Special effects indeed, if you could call telekinesis special. Mostly, she called it a pain in the ass. Hiding in her tower and controlling the effects around the house while three tours at a time ransacked her personal space was difficult, but controlling the curious ones who wanted to find her control centre was the hard part.
    If only they knew that the engine for the haunted house was her in a room, sitting in a lazy boy, eating Ding Dongs and slurping Dr. Pepper. Not exactly a mysterious electrical system to the special effects, but it got the job done.
    With brisk movements she pulled her t-shirt into straight lines and moved down the stairs from her tower. It was show time.
    Taking a deep breath she opened the door to her home and stepped out onto the porch. There on the grass of her front yard were the applicants that she had contacted to work in her Haunted House for the season. Six men and three women stood in companionable silence, but two of the men stuck out. Damn. She had hired her elves by mistake. With only a paper resume to go on, she had selected the guys who stood out on paper as being up for a little silliness. So one Lios and one member of the Wild Hunt were standing with her workers. Crap. She had been dodging their introduction for weeks.
    They had haunted her at the coffee shops she frequented, offered to carry her groceries and obviously, had finally decided to apply for the openings at her business. Because her business did not depend upon looks once the workers were all in costume, a phone interview was all that she gave. She may have to adjust her policy in the future. Their names had been carefully chosen to blend in, so Michael and Alexi were now just part of her monster crew.
    Well, her boys were determined, so it was time to see what they could and would do. “Ladies and gentlemen, you have been selected to be this season's employees and we are running on the theme of old torture devices and unsettled victims of it. Four of you will be selected as tour guides and storytellers, the rest will participate in scaring the clients on the tours.” The grins that were lighting their features made her smile in return. Things were about to get fun.
    "Oof.” The arrival of a half-transformed werewolf who scooped her up and ran off with her was unexpected, and since there was an audience, she did not free herself immediately. He didn't drop her, but kept running with her over his shoulder and into the woods behind her home. This was not the day that she had so carefully planned.
    It was less weird and more creepy than anything her mind could have come up with, and Caro should have learned to clean up her loose ends. Her friend deserved a pinch.
    [Back to Table of Contents]

Chapter Two
    The absurdity of being hauled through the woods over the shoulder of a werewolf soon overtook the panic that his lunge had caused. Her shirt rode up with every step that he took and soon the rough texture of his fur was rubbing against her abdomen. She was going to have raw patches when this was all over. She hoped it was soon, she still needed to train her tour guides.
    His fluffy tail wagged as he ran and she tried to keep her eyes off of his ass, but it was the only thing in her field of vision. Werewolf heiney was not high on her list of recommended views.
    At long last he stopped and opened a door. They were deep in the woods and he dumped her on the floor