“Yes, yes, because your skin tone is as important as my literal eternal damnation. My entire family is waiting for me on the other side, and I’m never gonna show. But please go on about your sex life.”
“At least my sex life was real.”
Molly’s head jerked toward her. “Excuse me?”
“The afterlife, God, heaven…it’s all bullshit. This is the only thing that comes after death.”
Molly lunged forward, grabbing Veronica by the throat and slamming her against a tree. There was an audible boom from the speed in which she threw her. “Take that back!” she hissed. If I hadn’t been on the ground gasping for air and shivering, I may have fallen over.
Veronica swatted Molly’s hand away from her throat and casually groaned, “Get your hands off of me, you crazy bitch.”
“You’re so full of it. Just because you mucked up your life by letting any guy railroad you at a party doesn’t mean the rest of us are cursed to an infinity of nothing.”
“Go ahead, Molly, take everything out on me. You never were any good with reality.” Veronica pushed both hands against Molly’s chest and shoved her to the ground. Molly skid across the snow like she was on ice.
Shoot. Were they gonna fight?
Before Molly could get to her feet, Veronica put the tip of her heel to Molly’s chest and pinned her to the ground. “Sit here and cool off,” she told her. “I’ll meet you back home. Try to be less crazy.”
Veronica disappeared.
Molly huffed and puffed and wiped the snow off of her dress as she got to her feet. It wasn’t a good feeling at all to be left alone with Molly while she was fuming.
She turned to me and asked, “What are you looking at?”
I immediately stared at the ground so I didn’t piss her off even more.
“Come on. We’re leaving.”
I knew this was her way of telling me to crawl back onto her, and so I did just that. My skin was so cold and my stomach kept twisting. At this point, I didn’t care where she took me, as long as it was somewhere warm.
After a few minutes, we arrived at our destination. Once more, I fell ill and dropped to the ground to throw up. I didn’t feel the cold breeze as strongly, so I knew she had parked me in front of a building. I looked up at Molly, and a porch light shined against the back of her head and created a shadow over her face. It was almost a blessing, because then it meant I didn’t have to see her snarling at me.
It dawned on me that if there was a porch light of sorts, then we were absolutely outside of a building. As much as I dreaded being taken to this Master character, I dreaded dying from frostbite even more. At least he’d finish me quickly.
“Get your dumb ass up,” Molly commanded.
My hands were gloveless and they stung as I pressed them into the snow to push myself off the ground to get to my feet. For a moment I thought I was going to be sick again, and I covered my mouth and moaned. It was then that I realized I was able to make a sound. The hypnosis was wearing off like a bad buzz. Either my ride through the snow forced it out of my head or the hypnosis, in general, doesn’t last long, I wasn’t quite sure.
The front door to the building was a rustic mahogany with one giant black, circular door knocker in the center. It was an extravagant door. I briefly looked around at my surroundings to get an idea of where we were, and I was blown away. There were tall trees circling the snow-covered premises, and the land went on for miles, so far that I couldn’t even see where it ended. The building in front of us, however, was the real sight, as it was absolutely massive. It looked like something conjured up right out of Dracula. The exterior was a dirty, white stone that had faded over time into a pale shade of gray. Pillars made of rocks with pointed tops covered every inch of the roof, and the windows had a criss-cross of metal over the glass as if it were trying to keep people out…or in.
This wasn’t a mansion, it was a damn castle.
We weren’t in Lunar City anymore. Hell, we weren’t even a little outside of it anymore. They had found a secluded area beyond the forest and close to a frozen lake where the castle could exist in secrecy. Where He could exist in secrecy. There would be no one close enough to hear my screams when I finally regained my voice, and once I was inside the thick, stone confines of the castle, I would be forever silenced.
I knew I had to hold out hope that the only reason I was being brought here was as a captive and a bargaining tool to get Melanie back. I hated it, but it was how I was going to stay alive. Once she and Max were here, we’d fight our way out. We had no other option.
The castle’s interior was a lot more modern looking than I had anticipated. Yes, the walls were made of stone and were very ancient-looking, but the floors had been updated with wood and draped with red carpet. An enormous fireplace and mantle were at the entrance and in front of it were two chairs, one turned as if it had recently been sat on. Beside it was a small table with an empty glass and an ashtray with half a cigarette lying in it. Was that where he sat to think? To plot? To relish in the taste of his last victim?
The reality of his existence hit me all at
