Page 6 of Waste
Mary Worth stared at him and nodded. “It is a necessary evil,” she replied.
“One I could do without.” Drew had been to feed. Once a week, his Ghoul needed to consume a bite of dead flesh. It had nothing to do with his Sin but with the form the Sin had forced his body into.
“I’m grateful the taste doesn’t carry over,” Drew said, and Mary nodded. She closed Ghoul’s portal down and shifted into her human appearance. Marie smiled at him and linked her arm through his. They headed for the door to leave her tower, but Drew felt a sense of unease with Marie. She seemed puzzled, almost concerned.
“Is something wrong?”
“No. Just a puzzle I am trying to figure out,” Marie replied.
“Would you care to share? A problem shared is a problem halved,” Drew offered. They passed through the doorway and walked down the stone steps. At the bottom, they entered a wide hallway.
“I’m about to head to the library; would you want to join me?” Marie said.
“Are you going to spill the beans?” Drew pressed. He smiled at Marie as she rolled her eyes.
“Fine! Let’s go grab a coffee, and then we’ll go to the yellow drawing room,” Marie replied with a sigh.
Drew smiled. Whatever this issue was, it was a doozy because Marie had capitulated too easily.
They grabbed drinks from the kitchen and headed through the maze of hallways to their chosen room. Although everyone had their apartments/suites, there were plenty of rooms open to be used communally. Most of them guarded their private domains zealously. The Great Hall was where the majority of them gathered at mealtimes. During the day, they’d be spread out through the castle in groups or in the gym, which the former dungeons boasted.
There was also a swimming pool as well as the lake, which was safe and clean to swim in. And other things, such as a bowling alley and at least six snooker/pool tables. The stables held horses for riding in the valley where the castle sat. Nobody ever needed to be bored here.
While Drew had only arrived a year ago, he felt at home. He’d known the castle before all the expansions had occurred and was still awed by what it had become. Even the valley was a protection against mankind invading it. Or Hunters coming for them.
Although together, with so many of them, the Hunters might find themselves outmatched. One never knew. To reach the castle, you had to survive the defences Lilith, Baba Yaga, and Pandora had put in place.
Only one human had ever succeeded. That had been Emmaline, and she’d been driven by love for Scylla, Yeti, and Big Foot or called in order by their human names as Salah, Shay, and Durant. Shay, Durant, and Salah had claimed Emmaline as Heart-Sister, something unheard of. The ritual was known to them, although only those three had previously completed it with a human.
Shay, Durant, and Salah had each shared a little of their life force with Emmaline, bonding them to her. In return,Emmaline had done the same. Should Emmaline perish, the other three would lose a tiny piece of themselves. And the same for Emmaline, should Shay, Salah, or Durant die, a part of her would diminish.
Drew entered the yellow drawing room and took a seat as Marie made herself comfortable.
“How is life treating you?” Marie asked.
Drew raised an eyebrow. Ah, so Marie planned to beat around the bush first. “Life is fine, Marie. You know that.”
“Are you settled now?”
“Yes, Bran Castle has changed into a maze that one can easily get lost in,” Drew replied.
“It amuses me to see how this has expanded,” Marie admitted.
“In the human world, the replica you left remains the same, while this has grown beyond belief.”
“Indeed, it was a tricky bit of magic moving the real castle and leaving a duplicate behind. But if we vanished an entire building, the Hunters would have become aware and would seek the castle out,” Marie agreed.
“I visited it on the way here. Nobody would ever know that it was a copy created by powerful magic. It looks identical to the real thing,” Drew said.
“Well, the original does. This now resembles a fantasy abode, but we love it, and it’s home. We have everything we need here,” Marie replied.
“Stop ducking the issue, Marie. What is bothering you?” Drew pushed, tiring of the conversation.
“Straight to the point, Drew. My mirrors are playing up.”
“In what way?” Drew inquired, sitting up. They depended on Mary Worth’s network of mirrors. Should they fail, it would endanger them all.
“Calm down. They are as robust as ever. No, they keep showing me an image of a young woman. She has brown hair and blueeyes. I don’t know who she is or why she matters. I can’t detect a Sin in her, and she appears in many mirrors, not just one.”
