Page 27 of Tainted Serenity

“She came to us from my distasteful brother’s manor after having been in an institute for reformation. A whore, many would say, for staying at different places in such a short time.”

His words make me choke on my saliva once again, and I turn around to stare at him with wide-open eyes and mouth. That is before I start laughing, like really fucking cackling, because the situation is too absurd to be serious. My laughter rings through my surroundings, everyone staring at me as if I’m crazy.

And I am.

I am utterly losing my fucking mind in here, worse than Grimhill and Dankworth, because this place invests in putting the focus on the comforts, making one believe that everything is safe and good, when in reality, it is the opposite. They are betting on mind games and manipulation, and though nothing truly serious has happened these past few weeks, I know it is just a matter of time. Now when I have finally healed from the stabbing wound, the worst is yet to come. These past few weeks in captivity have just been the calm before a horrendous storm.

I don’t know how long I laugh at the irony of the situation, but it’s long enough because, after a while, I sense a searing and burning heat in my cheek as someone hits me with enough force to make me scramble backward.

“Enough!” Irene roars, and the tension trickles over my surroundings at an all-too-fast speed.

Arthur grabs my arms once more, his nails digging into my flesh as I bite my lip to resist the urge to cuss him out again.

Earlier, as I entered this room, I couldn’t help but notice the guards carrying weapons, such as guns. I have no doubt they will use them against me if I try to do anything.

“We will begin our game now.”

The anger that previously laced Irene’s tone has blown away like a gust of wind, making my eyebrows frown; her calmness far too lethal for anything good to come out of it. Hearing her utter the word ‘game’ has my heart plummeting over the edge of a cliff as it skips a beat, a heavy knowledge within me that nothing will be fine after this.

“Since it’s been so long since we played this game, Arthur and I thought we’d play the old classic hide-and-seek. It’s a game you’re well familiar with, isn’t it, Naya?”

She turns her dark eyes to me, wrinkles forming around them that only deepen as she tries to hide her frown, and there is something so chilling at the sight of her like that.

She is freezing anything warm left inside me, turning me into stone, as Medusa did to those who looked her in the eyes.

All I can muster is a nod, acutely aware of everyone’s eyes on me, observing me until sweat coats my forehead and making old habits come forth. I have never done well in crowds of people.

“As usual, there is a wonderful prize. The winner gets the chance to kill the first two people found first.” A malevolent smile plays on Irene’s lips.

As I stare, horrified at the rest of the women inside the room, I see the insatiable bloodlust in their expressions. Each of them has been locked up inside their rooms, with their minds their only companion, only leaving the space when there’s a deadly game or appointment. Arthur and this dollhouse have warped up their minds, fucked them up entirely, and manipulated their very essence until their sole entertainment becomes these twisted games.

They want to fucking win the game.

Chapter 11

Naya

I should have diedthat day when his knife pierced through my flesh, tearing my skin apart. And although he missed any vital organs, he intended to end my life once and for all, and that is what should have happened. I guess I was lucky that I survived, but I don’t feel lucky at all. How can I hold on to hope when there is no hope to hold on to? Grey is gone, and now, so am I. I’m lost inside my soul, somewhere between being alive and dead inside my mind. A prisoner in the confinements of my skeleton.

Instead of being dead, I run where my legs take me, without a sure goal in sight. My survival instinct takes over. It’s funny how the psyche works.

I don’t recognize where I’m running; the building is gigantic, and it would be easy to get completely lost. The corridor my legs take me to is one with dark brown wooden doors on one side and large windows on the other. For a short moment, I contemplate smashing the window and jumping outside, but as my eyes slowly take in the surrounding area, I force my legs to keep running. It’s just trees outside, and the window is so high up that it would be like a free fall to plummet to my death.

My footsteps pound against the stone floor where I run, causing my heart to jump up in my throat. Panic slowly takes hold of me, like a boa, ready to constrict my lungs from oxygen. It hurts, but I have to keep running.

My mind is once again at Grimhill Manor, living the horrors I suffered through there. A deadly game of hide-and-seek, precisely like Frederick made me suffer through, enjoying every second of it.

Fear clogs my heart, making it even harder to breathe as I think about how I’m once again taken by the doll master that ruined my life. Will it ever be normal again? I doubt that.

A staircase is in front of me, leading down to the floor below, and I push my legs forward. The stairs are narrow, forcing me to pay more attention as I make my way down. The boards creak as my body’s weight pushes against them, echoing through my ears and sounding far too loud. I curse myself for making audible noises.

As I descend the stairs, coming further, a foul smell of something rotten and old fills my nostrils, forcing me to hold my nose in an attempt to escape the stench.

I’m too busy focusing on where I put my feet so as not to fall and on the disgusting smell to notice the extra footsteps heard alongside mine behind me. Before I know it, my feet lose their footing and I stumble forward, falling down the remaining seven steps, my back meeting each one. A force impact meets my tailbone as I hit the edge of the stairs, my hand scraping against the wooden material until I feel a splinter cut into my palm. An involuntary yelp falls from my lips as pain consumes me when I at last land on the wooden floor below, my body paralyzed from the shock, not being able to comprehend what the fuck happened.

A high-pitched giggle rings out behind me, and when I lift my head to meet whoever is there, a blonde girl with hair tied up in a tight bun stares down at me, an evil smirk gracing her lips.

“What the fuck?” I exclaim, more from the shock than rage.

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