My pulse stutters as I lose a breath. This cannot be happening. If I had anything in my stomach, I think I’d vomit.
“Y-You’ll cut my hepatic artery and?—”
“Not going that deep, Scout.” He approaches me again and leans in. His lips brush against my ear until I shiver with disgust. “Just need a tiny taste of you. One for my god and one…” He giggles deliriously. “One for my tongue.”
He lifts the scalpel like a priest raising a sacrament.
With a swift shift of my hips, I drive my knee up and nail him in the groin. Or it’s what I aim for. The cloak covers most of his figure. But I hit him somewhere.
He groans in pain, dropping to the floor, his candlestick forgotten.
Hurriedly, I rock side to side until I can work one of my wrists out of the bind, then undo the other strap. ThankCaliphylla,I have small hands.
You know what?
Fuck the gods.
He rises off the floor as I free myself. As soon as I stand, he snags one of my ankles. I scream and swiftly kick him in the face. Just like in soccer. My toes crunch against his cheekbone. But I can’t feel anything. Not right now. The drugs. The adrenaline. Thefearhas taken over.
I sprint away as he yells behind me. “Stop! Stop! I need you, baby!”
The cold stones cut into the soles of my feet. But I press through the open door, not even knowing where I am, or where to go. Justawayfrom the madman behind me.
Darkness swallows me as I stumble into the hall. The only light is a tiny trickle of silver jutting down a long passage. Holding back tears, I try to follow it, but it’s farther away than I realize.
Loud breaths echo off the walls. I can’t tell how far behind me he is, and the sounds bouncing around are messing with me. I could easily get turned around.
Finally, my bare feet hit a set of stairs, and I climb. Scrambling up each step as fast as possible. Heavy boots slap behind me.
I bust out of a door and into a…crumbling parlor. This is…
I recognize this place!
I’m in Sanguine Manor!
Hurriedly, I rush toward the front door. My hope sinks in my chest as I approach, spotting the board nailed over it. With shaky hands, I tug on the knob anyway, but it doesn’t budge.
“Pandora, seriously. You’ll get hurt. And I don’t want you to get hurt.” A manic screech tears from his throat like a deranged laugh. “Not unless I do it myself.”
I scream as his hand reaches for my bicep. Pumping my legs in a hard sprint, I find a set of stairs that looks eerily familiar… Like the ones I ran up on Thriller Thursday.
Yes! This is the path! What if I got to the attic? What if I could hide?
“Scout! I love you. We’re perfect.Malkaosapproved it. The elders agreed with the most high god. If I can sacrifice your mortal husband…you and I can finallybe. You just… You need tofeelme. Feel me inside you.”
Every haunting word he speaks sends me surging forward.
“Let me impregnate you. Take the pills. Then, I can be with you. All night, my darling.”
I want to curl up and cry. The terror is too much with ecstasy still lingering in my veins.
My heart racing. Breaths panting. The sweat.
Plaster crumbles around me. Floorboards crack dangerously.
Just as I think I can’t go on, he hums and whistles. Or sings…something that sounds like a Tyla Silk love song.
“Without your blood…life is meaningless. Without you…I need more nourishment.” But he’s warped the lyrics into something menacing.