“What are you hiding from?”
“You,” I answer as he smiles from ear to ear, his canines appearing even longer than they did a second ago. The expression is familiar but it’s not the count’s smile. Jean-Claude’s emotions are always hopeful, but laced with a certain melancholy. Even his mirth is mixed with sadness. This mask of a smile, it’s… different. It’s the upturned lips of someone who’s long forgotten how to grin, how to truly feel happiness.
“No,” he says.
The rough bite of redwood bark sinks into my shoulders as he holds me against the tree. His gaze drifts… as though he’s looking through me into another time and place. A split second later, his focus comes back, but it’s as if he’s been gone for an extended stay in la-la land.
“You followed someone today. Why?” He growls.
Followed someone? Who did I follow? My mind won’t work right. I’m so scared, I can’t think of anything. Who did I follow?
“You mean Tor?” I let the information slip without realizing what I’m saying.
He stares at me, examining the lines in my face. “Why?” He shakes me when I don’t answer right away.
There’s still something so familiar about the necromancer, but I can’t place it. I can’t place him. And though I can see the glow of his face within Jean-Claude’s, his features aren’t prominent enough for me to recognize him. Yet…
“Why?” he snarls again.
I swallow hard. “I thought he was up to no good.”
The count lifts his eyebrow in a way I’ve seen on someone else. But who? Who is this face that looks back at me with such intrigue and curiosity? Who is this necromancer? Who is controlling Jean-Claude?
“Who are you?” I demand.
He cocks his head. His smile is slight. “You know who I am.”
I decide to play the game. “You’re Jean-Claude Von Zarovich.” I reply. “The third.”
He smiles genuinely and chuckles. “No. You know the person inside the count, the one who now rules him. Who has control of him. You know… me.”
My eyes widen. I gasp in recognition as it all starts to make sense. I remember the cadence of his voice, the expression in his eyes. I recognize the pattern of his speech, even if he’s hiding his tone behind Jean-Claude’s voice.
“You,” I whisper.
“Say my name, girl.”
“Faunus.”
He nods and appears impressed with himself. “Very good.”
“Are… have you killed Jean-Claude?”
“No, but I have total control of his body now. He won’t be coming back.”
“No,” I gasp, mostly to myself as I glare at him and the realization that whatever he has in store for me, isn’t good, hits me full-force.
He shifts his hand to brush a forefinger along my cheek. “I’d hoped you would understand, Everly.”
I shake my head, attempting to get his hand off me. I don’t want him to touch me. “You make me sick…” I start.
Then I shift as I notice Riddle creeping along the branch on a tree just above us. Wide eyes and little claws fumble, but he knows better than to attack, or maybe he’s waiting for the right moment. But what really surprises me is that he’s even bigger than he was before.
“Only one question now remains, Everly,” Faunus says.
I glare at him. “What is that?”
He cocks his head at me and smiles in a way that’s so unfamiliar on Jean-Claude’s face. It gives me the creeps. “Will you join me, or will you rejoin nature?”
Join him or die. Not exactly a choice. “First I have a question of my own,” I start.
“Ask.”
“Why are you doing this?” I’m stalling. Trying to delay the inevitable even though I’m not sure why. Maybe I’m hoping I’ll come up with some ingenious plan. Or maybe I’m hoping Jean-Claude will suddenly find some long-lost power and fight back against this asshole.
His smile turns bright. “The only way for good to exist, for there to be peace, is if evil is banished, wiped out. You, of all people, should understand that.”
“And why would you think I would understand that?”
He narrows his eyes at me. “Because you don’t belong here. You are a child of nature, much as I am. And this place,” he pauses as he looks around himself with the expression of distaste plastered across his features. “This place is death. It’s darkness. It’s shadow. It’s unnatural.”
“Death is natural,” I argue, shaking my head. “You can’t have light without shadow.”
His smile fades. The disappointment in his eyes diminishes the glow. “I disagree.”
“That’s why you’re here then?” I ask. “That’s why you’re in Dread? To… get rid of this place? To get rid of the darkness?”
He chuckles and nods.
“How in the world do you think you’ll ever be able to accomplish that?” I ask, amazed. “I mean, Jean-Claude is powerful but no one is that powerful.”
His eyebrow lifts. “I’m not going to reveal my plans to you. Especially when I know you won’t be joining us.”
Us.
That means it’s not just the whims of some delusional lunatic. There are more of them. More who want to accomplish the same seemingly impossible goal. Damn. This is worse than I thought.
I have to think of some way to stall him, just a bit more. In the time we’ve been talking, I’m been working on my own defense. But the spell I’ve been gathering isn’t ready yet. These trees are slow and unused to collecting their power to a single source.
“So my choices are to join you or die?”
He sighs. “You have no choices any longer.”
I frown. “But… you just said…”
“And I realized where your loyalties lie as soon as you responded.” I swallow hard as he continues. “I’d be stupid to let you live, so you could immediately turn around and warn Riven.”
Yes, he’s right.
