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But I did not.
There was nothing but curling mist and shadow across the overgrown grounds.
Marius was not there. So much relief burned through me that a single sob escaped my parted mouth. My breathing came out ragged and uneven as I fought the urge not to tumble to my knees.
As far as my sight could allow, I scanned the dark garden, looking for him among the shadows, searching for answers as to how he survived the fall.
Then, as I squinted into the dark, the echoing laugh began again.
27
It was a game to Marius as he stalked me through the castle. His domain of shadow and stone.
For hours we played, me the role of a mouse and Marius the hungry, prowling cat. He did not attempt to get close to me, although I was confident he could if he wanted. Instead he let me run from hiding place to hiding place, laughing and scratching nails against walls as he followed me.
My initial plan had been ruined and my panicked mind did not have time to conjure another as I looked wildly for the next place to keep hidden. It was best to keep moving, not allowing him to trap me in one place.
The castle was barren. As I ran the halls, it was not the same place I had dwelled within thus far. Only the light of the red moon gave visual to the forgotten castle. No candles burned. There was no smell of freshly prepared food, or the usual warmth from the lit hearths in every room.
On this night, it was as though I had woken in a place that had been left neglected and untouched.
I found myself down an unfamiliar hallway, one not blessed with windows which made it blindingly obscure. My hands fumbled across the walls, hoping to find a nock to hide within, or a door to hide behind. Gone was the hope to conjure firelight, for that would alert him to my presence. If he was not already aware.
The slack shirt I wore was now plastered to the curve of my back from sweat. If the noise of my bare, running feet did not scream my location, I was certain my odour would.
Just as my hands found the familiar shape of a handle, a scuffle of noise echoed at the end of the hallway.
Reluctantly I glanced back. For painful long moments the hallway was empty. Then my breath halted as a figure ran across it. In a blink it was there, then gone. My heart filled my throat, beating loudly in my ears. Marius had found me.
With damp hands I fumbled for the door handle and thrust it open. Into yet another dark room I ran into, not bothering to shut the door behind me.
I stood, bathed in darkness, as I watched the door.
Come on.My body vibrated with nervous energy.Show yourself.
It had become clear that Marius was stalking me. There was no hiding place he would not uncover. I quickly learned to play along. Not controlling my fear as I longed for the adrenaline that came with it, hand in hand, to aid me when the time came.
“Why did you stop?” His voice was all around me. I spun in frantic circles, trying to search for him in the dark. “Do not make this easy for me, Jak… just when I was beginning to believe you were trying.”
The hairs on my arms stood on end as his rumbling, drawling tone shuddered from each corner of the room. I raised a hand ignited in conjured fire to battle the shadows, uncovering that he was not physically in the room.
Not yet.
But his power of the darkness clearly aided him.
“It seems you missed an important lesson,” I shouted back, waving my fire covered hand as though it was swordplay.
“Pray tell, what would that be?”
A cold chill raced down my spine as icy breath brushed against the back of my neck. My nose scrunched against the copper twang laced among sweet notes of wine. I was rigid and still as a clawed finger traced up my neck, stopping at the base of my ear.
If I closed my eyes it would have been no different to the nights prior when I lost myself to his touch. Although I felt as though I could simply melt beneath him, I stood rigid.
He had not walked through the door, only securing the suspicion that his mundane chase through the castle, hunting me, room to room, was no more than a game to him. He could move through the shadows. And now he had me.
My voice was weak as I finally uttered a reply. “It is rude to play with your food.”
“That was a lesson I must have skipped.” His nail traced down from my neck to my collarbone. I could not help but tilt my head as he traced my skin. “Why do you not fight back?” His voice was velvet steel, gentle yet sharp.
