Page 10 of Chain Me
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” I called back, putting all my focus into walking. Moving.You can do this, Ellie. You’ve come too far, now.“Go—please! I’ll…I’ll find my own way back.”
I didn’t look to see if he obeyed my instructions. I simply urged my body forward through sheer force of will. Step by step. Sidewalk square by sidewalk square.
How ironic. I knew this part of the city—a rarity for me, despite having lived here my whole life. For instance, this road was one of the few I’d driven on myself. I knew the darkened park to my left. And I especially knew the cathedral looming above.
In the darkness, it watched my approach like a disapproving remnant from a past life. The life of a girl who consorted with vampires. Who’d sold her virginity to one. Who’d let herself be poisoned, tricked, and humiliated by one.
The stupid, foolish woman who might have even trusted one.
I shook off the thought as blurriness disrupted my vision and the gothic structure split into two. With every step, my body swayed, tossing my shadow over the path beside me. My breaths grated on the air, noisy and useless. I was weightless. My trembling hands grasped at my sides, desperate for stability.
By the time I reached the cathedral proper, the grounds were deserted. A lone streetlamp cast the only light to see by as I approached the mouth of the structure. The door remained closed, the sign still nailed to it. When I traced my fingers over its surface, they came away gritty with dust.
Well, you were wrong, a part of me hissed as I slumped forward, pressing my sweaty forehead against the wood.You chased a shadow.
But the funny thing about shadows was that they couldn’t be stopped by something as mundane as a wooden door. A door that budged the slightest inch beneath my weight…
Thewind picked up, tossing my hair around as if in warning, before I even palmed the wrought-iron handle. I pushed once, expecting to find resistance.
It opened easily, issuing a weary creak as if mourning its failure.
One peek over the threshold revealed an empty, cavernous interior with abandoned pews. Some entity took care to preserve the space, however. When I placed my foot on the wooden floor, my shoe didn’t slide over a coating of dust.
Someone had been here.
Yet every ounce of sanity I still possessed warned me to turn back. Tonotpush the door open wider or inch my way inside.
To run.
Because I had nothing to prove. And even more harrowing to admit—I had nothing to gain. Just more questions with no fitting answers. Like, if Dublin Helos was lurking within the city, then why wait so long to come collecting?
I owned part of his life, after all. Ten whole years. The devil himself shouldn’t have been playing hide-and-seek while waiting for me to find him.
He should have been barging into Gray Manor like he owned the place, demanding I give him what I now owned.
His goddamn soul.
Shaking the thoughts away, I took another step. Thickened air irritated my nostrils and set off the reaction instinct could not—I recoiled. Harsh, rattling coughs forced me to cling to the door. Another set robbed me of balance altogether.
Light. Dark. The conflicting shades speckled my vision as everything spun and dissipated. Twisted. Faded.
And all I saw before the world went black was vibrant, terrible gold.
A Bed of Rosary
François must have brought me home. Considering he had never beeninsidethe house, it made sense that he wouldn’t know where my room was. The gesture was enough to earn him a raise, though—even if I still slightly hated him.
He’d chosen a decent bed at least. The mattress conformed to my limbs, far too decadent to have been purchased by my mother. Perhaps it was one Georgie had snuck in as an act of rebellion? My nostrils flared, seeking out her scent in the silky fabric, but I wound up inhaling something spicier than her rosy perfume. Something…unnatural. Familiar. Like winter in physical form.
A part of me stirred in alarm, but logic quashed any suspicions before they could form.
You’re dreaming, Ellie. Go back to bed.I rolled onto my side, fighting to return to the dreamless sleep I’d left behind. Just as my body began to relax, the bed frame jolted beneath me.
I lurched upright, my eyes flying open to a darkened room. Before I could write off the disturbance as a figment of my imagination, my straining ears picked up another alarming sign. Creaking wood. Footsteps? Heavy ones. They advanced in my direction, far too bold to be a burglar.
A list of potential visitors marched across my brain. Like my sister returning on her own for once? The grim reaper?
