Downfall By a Power Most Wicked
an excerpt

The Tomb of Anok Fero

Terry stood back watching as the other three members of his team forced a way into the tomb. The sun beat down on them like a hammer on a nail, and the dryness of the desert parched him. He had never been to Egypt before, but somehow he always knew that he would end up here for a reason such as this. The same reason that takes him lots of places. Money. Greed. Five million dollars was offered to him and his team if they managed to retrieve a certain artifact for a man in New York, by the name of Arthur Verasco, claiming that he wanted it for his collection of rare ancient relics. The man’s reasons for wanting it mattered not a bit to Terry and his team of so-called treasure seekers. What mattered to them was the money, and five million was the most they’d ever been offered for a single job, so there was not a chance in hell he would let it slip by.
After about a half hour of trying to work out how they were supposed to get in, they decided to fuck it and blow the door open. Terry guessed there was supposed to be some great ingenuity to opening it, but instead of wasting precious time, they just went with the some good old dynamite. Lance had the dynamite rigged up to the door to get the best result with the least amount of explosives—Dr Barsko, not so affectionately called Doc, the anthropologist from London who spends all of his time in Cairo, was complaining that there had to be another way into the tomb, if only they would give him enough time to look and see, while Neil was complaining that there was not enough dynamite around the door, but then again Neil had a great affinity for blowing shit up.
As a kid, Neil was the kid who threw cherry bombs into the school toilets, and setting anything and everything he could on fire. He had spent some time in juvenile hall because he thought it would be hilarious to shove an explosive up ass of his next door neighbors’ Pomeranian. Needless to say, Mr. Boochies was never to be heard from again.
After shutting Neil up for the fifth and final time and Doc for what felt like the thousandth time, Lance pressed the button and the door practically disintegrated before their eyes—a little cry of despair could be heard from Doc at the sight.
“Right,” said Terry, “We have got to go in there, get this book of the dead thing, and leave. I don’t want any messing around with anything else in there. Let’s go.” The rest of the group did not bother to respond, they just followed their leader inside.
The inside of the tomb smelled really musky, as if it had not been opened for more than a millennium, which was sort of the case. Upon entry, Doc ran directly to the walls to examine the hieroglyphics all around them. The rest of them, however, were not exactly bothered. They were focused on getting the book and getting their money.
“This is simply fascinating.” Spurted the Doc, “I’ve never been inside and actual tomb before. This is just amazing.”
“Is this what all your wet dreams have been about, Doc?” Lance responded sardonically.
“I would appreciate it if you lot didn’t call me Doc. My name is Doctor Brasko. At least call me by my first name, Allan.”
“Whatever you say, Doc.”
“Imbecile.”
“Ass.”
“Shut up, the both of you.” Shouted Terry, “Once this job is over, you and the doc don’t ever have to see each other again, but for now just shut the hell up. You’re giving me a bitch of a headache.”
That was the way things were around them. Lance and Doc were at each other’s throats constantly, Neil wanted to blow everything up, and Terry was stuck babysitting them all. But he had his plan. Once he gets paid his five million, he is ditching these goons. This is his operation, they worked for him. If anyone deserved that money, it was Terry, no one else. He was prepared to kill anyone who got in the way, but not until after the job was done.
They reached a spiral staircase that descended down into the main chamber of the tomb. Terry did not know much about Egyptian tombs, but he remembered from movies about traps and stuff like that, so if anyone was to go first to check out the place, it was not going to be him. “Doc, I need you over here.” He called out behind him. Doc obediently came to Terry’s side. “I need you to see if any of this writing mentions traps or anything.”
“I looked at all the ones leading up to here and I didn’t see anything of the sort.”
“Good. Neil, go down and check it out.”
Shocked, Neil responded, “Why do I have to be the one to go down there?”
“Because I said so. Besides, you heard the doc; there are no traps down there. I just need you to go lead the way.” Terry could see that Neil wanted to protest, but instead he did what he was told and descended the stairs, torch ahead.

It felt like they had been walking down these steps for nearly a mile, but really it had to be about 100 feet, before they reached the antechamber of the tomb. It was a rather large room, with two hallways on either side of the room that ventured out into unknown parts of the tomb. At any other time, in any other situation, Doc would have taken less that a second’s thought to look around at everything and venture down the halls to see what was down there, but right now he partly feared for his life from these mercenaries who had supposedly hired him, but he wasn’t even sure they were going to pay him anything. He would not have even accepted, if it were not for the chance to fulfill his dream of actually stepping foot into a real life tomb and see everything for himself, instead of reading it out of some book. So, reluctantly, he held himself back with hopes that now that he knew where the tomb was, he would be able to come back when it was safer, maybe with a colleague to help out, and take a closer examination.
On the far wall opposite the stairs they just descended, there was a large set of stone double doors, a lot more hieroglyphics around it. Doc approached it and examined the writings for any sign of what may lay inside.
“Well?” asked Terry impatiently, “What does it say?”
“It basically says whoever disturbs this tomb will suffer a deadly curse.”
“Is that it? Okay, Lance, Neil, open it up.”
Doc was going to protest, but they were already at the door forcing it open bit by bit. Within a couple minutes, the door to the tomb stood wide open, as if it were just waiting to swallow them up.
“I think I’ll wait here, watch out others.” Doc said, shakily.
“I don’t think so,” said Terry decisively, “We need you in there because you’re the only one who can make sense of these pictures all around us. You come with us, Neil will stand guard.” So Terry left Neil to stand guard outside the main chamber, while he and Lance forced Doc inside.

On the inside, the first thing Terry noticed was a large sarcophagus in the middle of the room. He looked around the rest of the room to see if there was any sign of the book anywhere. He ordered the other two to look around and see, but none could see the book anywhere.
“Goddammit, the book has to be here somewhere. That is what the old guy said. That it would probably be in the room with the sarcophagus. Where the hell is it?”
“Maybe it’s in with the body.” Suggested Lance.
“Hmm…maybe.”
“Excuse me,” interjected Doc, “but if it’s in with the body, we definitely shouldn’t go in there to look for it.”
“What do you think will happen? A deadly curse will fall upon us? Lance, help me move the lid off.”
Lance and Terry moved over to the sarcophagus and pushed the lid off. The lid fell to the ground with a thud loud enough to wake the dead…he hoped that would not be the case. The lid was off, but what lay inside was another, smaller sarcophagus, encasing the body.
“What the hell is this? Why are there two?” he exclaimed loudly, but instead of waiting for an answer, he and Lance put everything they had into removing the second lid. This time the body inside was exposed. The wrapping around the body was tattered and falling apart, but the body looked rather well preserved. The skin was black and rather decayed, but still preserved. That was not important to Terry, though. Terry was angry because there was no book in with the body.
“Where the hell is the goddamn book? We need to find it now.”
“Maybe the guy who hired us was wrong.” Said Lance, “I mean, you think he has actually been in here. I’m guessing it’s down one of the other hallways. We should split up and check them out.”
“Yeah, we’ll do that.” He agreed. They left the chamber, back out into the antechamber where they had left Neil. They told Neil about the book not being in the room, and ordered him to take Doc down one hallway while Terry and Lance took the other one. If one found the book, they were to call the other group on the radios that they each brought with them and wait for them to arrive. Everyone agreed and they started down their designated paths—Terry and Lance down the hall to the right of the doors, Neil and Doc down the left.
Terry could not make sense of any of the pictures on the walls around them; if they were walking into a trap they would never know it until it was too late. They continued down what felt like at least a quarter of a mile until they came to a fork in the road. Despite their reluctance to separate and have to venture down these halls alone, they knew they had to in order to find the book. Terry instructed Lance to take the left fork, while he himself took the right. He was not sure why, but he had a strong feeling that the book was down that right passage, and if anyone was going to get to it first, it was going to be him. They split up and went down their passages.

Doc and Neil were still together in their hallway. They had seen a couple other passages leading out from this one, but decided to stick together and check them out on the way back. They were admittedly the most cowardly of the group, and so the idea of separation was unthinkable. Neither of them particularly wanted to come on this excursion, but Doc’s fascination and desire to know brought him, while Neil’s greed for money brought him along. Now, however, they were wondering if it was such a good idea to come down after all.
“I don’t like this place.” Confessed Neil, “It’s creepy, and I’m not even positive we’ll find our way back out.”
“Relax,” assured Doc, not sounding very assured himself, “It’ll be fine. It’s not like we’re too bothered about finding the book. If you ask me, finding the book will probably be a lot more troublesome than not.”
“But what about the money? Five million is a hell of a lot of money.”
“I don’t see why I should care. I know I’m not going to end up seeing any money. And by the looks of Terry, I doubt either you or Lance will either. He’ll end up screwing you over and taking it all for himself.”
“Nah, he wouldn’t do that. We’ve been together too long.”
“Maybe, but watch him carefully nonetheless.”
Finally, after about a half hour of walking, they came across medium sized room. It was completely barren of objects and writing, but it seemed to be the end of the line. Doc chose to take this opportunity to have a rest. “We may as well stay here. Let them find the book. I have a terrible feeling Terry will be the one to find it.”

Eventually Terry came across a small door with engravings all over it. As usual, he could not make heads or tails of them, so fuck it, what was he scared of? Curses? Curses do not exist. Upon that decision, Terry opened the door with much effort. It was not a very large room, inside, but somehow it was lit up very brightly. He walked further into the room and looked around. He saw nothing except a pedestal with a big black book on it. This was it! This was the book of the dead that he was here to find. He approached it. It was a large book, which seemed to be made out of a shiny black stone. There were intricate latches on either side of the book, binding it together. Surprisingly, though, there seemed to be nothing securing the book to the pedestal. Terry thought this was quite weird, but did not spend too much thought on it. He picked up the book and put it in his backpack. As he did so, the light in the room went out. He got his torch back out and tried to shine it about, but it would not work. Shit, he thought. He is going to have to find his way out of here in the dark. As he was approaching the door, he heard a scream come through the radio. It was Lance.
He tried to run to the passageway Lance had gone down, but it was hard without any lights. He was not sure which was he was turning or anything, but at some point, he came crashing into a set of metal bars in his way. The bars were large, and rather sticky, like they were covered in…Terry had a horrible thought at this. At this time, his torch decided to work, revealing to him the truth in his horrible thought. Lance, while running back in the dark, had been impaled with these big black spikes that shot out of the wall. He hung there bleeding from every hole with a look of utter shock frozen in his face. He must have set off a trap in the dark. Shit. Lance was the best in his team, too. He would have split the money with Lance, if he was not going to run off with it himself anyway. He wept a little bit. Not in mourning of Lance, but at the fact that this may happen to him down here. He decided to make his way back to the antechamber carefully.

Doc and Neil had heard the scream just as their lights went out. Neil recognized it as Lance and was freaking out. In panic, the both of them decided to slowly make their way back to the antechamber to see if they could meet up with the other two…if, of course, that scream was not to signify the end of Lance. They made their way back in the dark, half stumbling all the way. They maintained a conversation for the entire way back just so they could keep track of whether or not the other person was still there, and when they ran out of conversation, they resorted to singing. They tried to radio Terry to see what was happening and if he found the book, but he was not responding. They wondered if he was dead. They continued to run until they saw a light bobbing in the distance. They quickened, hoping it was Terry. Fortunate for them, it was Terry, and he was just making it back to the antechamber as they were.
“Is everything okay? You weren’t answering your radio. Where’s Lance?” asked Neil.
“Lance is dead,” he said completely nonchalantly, “but I’ve got the book. We can get out of here and get our money.”
“What? Lance is dead? How?”
“Trap. Got stabbed by some spikes. It was horrible.” Neil noticed that there was not a hint of remorse in Terry’s voice as he said it.
“So where is it? Let me see the book.”
“You can see it once we get out of…” Terry was interrupted by a violent trembling of the chamber that almost threw them off their feet.
“What is that? An earthquake?”
A low, rumble scream was heard from inside the main chamber of the tomb.
“I’m going to say no.” Doc added.
Terry shone his light toward the door. It was oddly still, as if it was indifferent to the shaking and screaming around it. Just then they saw a sort of blackness seeping through the cracks in the door. It was like oil, but it seemed to move with a purpose, right toward Neil. Before Neil had time to notice, the oil had reached him and started wrapping itself around him. The oil did not take long to completely envelope him, and then absorbed into his skin. Neil was still stood there with a look of horror on his face.
“What the hell was…?” As Neil was speaking, the oil that forced its way inside him started to tear him apart from the inside. Some parts of Neil’s body was sucked in, some parts blew away. Neil was screaming in agony that seemed to hold a sound that was not quite human. Doc and Terry were stood transfixed to the sight. When the oil was done, it had completely taken possession of Neil’s horribly distorted body. In several places his bones and skin became fused together, and warped so much that he only barely resembled the human that he was.
At this point, Terry decided to speak up, “I think it would be wise to get the fuck out of here.”
“Agreed,” responded Neil. They ran toward the stairs and ascended it as fast as they could with the former Neil in pursuit. They reached the top of the stairs rather quickly and ran as fast as they could toward the door. Halfway to the door, Doc tripped up and smacked his head against a rock. He was conscious, but was dizzied.
“Help me.” He called to Terry, but Terry kept going and did not look back until he was at the door. By that time, Neil had already reached Doc and was holding him up by his head. “Help me!” he continued to scream, but Terry was already closing the door. The last sight Terry saw of inside was Neil crushing Doc’s head between his hands.

Two days later, Terry was back in New York meeting with Arthur Verasco in his suite. Terry after two days of not seeing any sign of the curse, Terry was convinced that it was still locked inside the tomb, waiting for the next sucker to open it up.
“So, how was the expedition?” Arthur asked him.
“It went well, Mr. Verasco. Everything went smoothly. I got you your book without any problem at all.”
“What about your colleagues? Where are they? I would have assumed they’d be here to collect the money, too.”
“Colleagues? There were no colleagues, sir. It was just me.”
“But I thought you said…”
“No, it was just me.”
“Well, I must say, I’m impressed. You going down there and getting this all by yourself. You know, some say that tomb is cursed.”
“Like some threat of a curse is going to scare Terry Haddox.”
“Indeed. Well, here you go. A check for five million dollars. Spend it wisely, won’t you?”
“Yes sir, thank you.” And with that, Terry took his exit. He ran by the bank to cash the check and then returned to his hotel room, exhilarated at the completion of the job, and being five million bucks richer. He decided that when he got home, he was going to take his wife out for the nicest dinner she’s ever had and then buy a big house down in Long Beach or somewhere like that.
A knock at the door stirred him from his imaginations.
“Who is it?” he called out, but there came no response. Annoyed, he rose and went to open the door. As he was approaching the door, he saw the door twist and distort way beyond the breaking point. He stopped, closed his eyes, and reopened them to find his door back to normal. “Stupid Terry, you know you don’t believe in curses.” He returned to the bed and dozed off to sleep.
The next day he woke up, got ready, and left for the airport without seeing anything else weird. He caught his flight at 9:50am and was home in San Francisco in about five or six hours. He finally got home to see his front door wide open. He dropped his bag and rushed into the house to find Elaine. He called out her name, but there was no response from anywhere in the house. He checked all the downstairs and the backyard, but still nothing. He decided to check the upstairs. He opened the bedroom door slowly, but the horror he saw there was completely beyond his comprehension. His wife lay in the bed, half fused with it. Her body was completely warped, just like Neil’s was, and her insides was all over the room. Terry collapsed to his knees with tears flowing out of his eyes like a faucet. Through the distorted view through his tears, Terry managed to see a large dark form rise out of his wife’s body. He did not move or try to run. He just stayed kneeling.
“What do you want?” he said through his sobs. “Do you want the money? I’ll give you the money. Do you want the book back? That’s in New York, with Verasco. You can have it all back, just please let me live.” The darkness was not interested. It clearly wanted revenge for the disturbance of its tomb. Terry’s tears started to boil on his skin, scalding him. He screamed at the pain, but could not stop the tears from flowing. He then felt all the water in his body start to boil away. He had never experienced an agony such as this before. Though he had never been religious in his life—he even admonished God and the church—he started praying to God to spare him. God, however, was not listening. Terry continued to scream as his skin blistered and broke and his eyes boiled away out of his head. He finally died after several agonizing minutes of torture. The dark spirit, still not appeased, went to claim its book back.

------

The Date with Beauty

Tim Orson sat in his senior English class watching as the new girl took her seat beside him. She was absolutely gorgeous. She had long, blonde hair that was tied back in a ponytail and a figure that would bring any man down to his knees. She smiled the sweetest smile at him and he was lost. He leaned over to her and said, “So, new here, huh?”
“Yeah,” she said, “I just transferred.”
“Then welcome to Rodriguez High, then. My name is Tim.”
“Hello, Tim. My name is Claire.”
“Nice to meet you. What classes do you have?
“This one, then biology next and calculus after that. Tomorrow I have science, history and PE.”
“Ah, unfortunately I do not share any of those with you.”
“Oh well.”
“Fortunately this should be my last year.”
“That would be why you are a senior.”
“Hah, very funny. I said that last year, though, too. Things went wrong and now I am stuck as the only eighteen year old senior in the school.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I honestly do not know. It just sort of got said.”
Claire gave him a weird look followed by a laugh, making Tim feel better about the fact that he just made himself look stupid.
“What are you doing for lunch?”
“I do not know yet.”
“Would you like to have lunch with me?”
“This is rather quick, do you not think? I mean, we literally just met.”
“Sorry, but you seem nice. I just thought you might like a friend on your first day.”
“That is very sweet of you. I will meet you in the cafeteria at lunch, then.”
“Great.”
The class started with Mr. Elston talking about the plays of William Shakespeare, specifically ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ Tim looked to see that during the lecture on ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ Claire looked rather bored. He whispered to her, “I am guessing you do not find Shakespeare interesting either.”
“Oh, I do. It is just that I have done ‘Romeo and Juliet’ before. I wish teachers would talk about other, better plays. Like ‘The Taming of the Shrew,’ or ‘A Midnight Summer Night’s Dream.’ ‘Romeo and Juliet’ gets done to death, wherever you go.”
Tim felt a little stupid admitting that he found Shakespeare boring to a Shakespeare lover. He stopped talking and listened to the lecture. He decided that he would go home and read several Shakespeare plays to see if it would improve his chances with Claire.

Lunch came around after his Algebra class and he headed over to the cafeteria. On the way his friend Phil invited him to go play basketball outside, but Tim declined, saying he was trying to get on with a new hot girl. Phil wished him good luck and walked off.
Tim entered the cafeteria to see that Claire had kept to her word, as she was waiting just by the door for him. “Good to see you decided to join me.”
“Well, like you said, I am in need of friends. So here I am. Just do not try anything funny. We are to be friends, nothing more.”
“Nothing more.” Tim agreed. They got their food and sat down at a table together in the corner. “So, how are you finding your first day here?”
“Oh, it is great. I have been getting on with a majority of the people here, except that one girl, Becki. She does not seem to like me very much.”
“She does not like anyone who is not a jock or a cheerleader. Just do not mind her.”
“I think it is awful how someone can treat others with such contempt. She really should be taught a lesson.”
“I completely agree.”
“So what about you? How long have you been here?”
“I have been here in Antioch my entire life. My parents were born here and so was I.”
“Have you ever been to visit anywhere else?”
“The furthest from Antioch I have ever been is to San Francisco. That is really it.”
“Wow. I have been all over the United States, and even to countries in South America and Europe.”
“Is your dad in the military or something?”
“He was when I was younger, and that was when I went to Europe and South America. He died when I was eight. My mom and I started moving from state to state up until the time she died last year. Now I am here in a foster home.”
“Wow that sounds like a harsh life.”
“I get by. I assume that since you have been here your whole life that you have a lot of friends here.”
“I have a few. I would not call myself popular by any stretch.”
“Popularity is a joke. I would rather just be in the background than throwing myself at everyone.”
“I know what you mean.”
“Do you have anything to do after school?”
“I was invited to go to the mall with my friends, but that is it.”
“Oh, would you mind if I came, too? I always like going to the mall. I love watching people.”
“Yeah, sure. I am sure my friends would not mind you tagging along. Let us say we will meet at the flag pole out in front.”
“That sounds like a good idea. I will come meet you by the flag pole out front.”
“Awesome.”
The two of them finished their lunches and stayed to chat until the end of lunch bell rang. They parted ways, reminding each other to meet at the flag pole in front of the school.
Tim got to his United States History class to meet Phil.
“So, how is the new girl?” asked Phil.
“She is amazing. Really hot, and I can tell she has a thing for me.”
“Nice. So when are you going out?”
“She is actually coming with us to the mall after school. Her idea to come along.”
“Ooh, I get to meet her, then. I promise not to embarrass you too much.”
“You do and I will break your legs so you cannot play basketball.”
“Just chill, man. I will be cool.”
“Thanks.”
“So, what is her name?”
“Her name is Claire. She is in my English class first thing in the morning. A real Shakespeare lover.”
“Oh, now you are not getting down with the geeks, are you?”
“So what if I am? Once you see her, it will erase all doubt from your mind.”
“This better be true. If she turns out to be a whale, I am taking you to get some help.”
“Help in what way?”
“My brother knows some people in this strip club down in San Francisco. He can get us in.”
“Maybe I do need a little help after all.”
“That is what I like to hear. I will see what I can do. You sure this chick of yours will not mind?”
“Nah, we are just friends for the time being. I do not think it really matters what I do.”
“Riiiight. She says you are just friends, but she will still take these things into consideration.”
“Consideration for what?”
“Whether or not you two are going to go any further. My advice is tell her nothing about strip clubs or anything like that.”
“Right. Got it.”
Tim and Phil sat in their respective seats. Tim looked over to the classroom door to see, much to his displeasure, Jordan Campbell, the school’s favorite football star, approaching in their direction.
“So,” he started in a mocking tone, “did I hear you two talking about strip clubs?”
“What is it to you?” said Phil.
“Oh, nothing. I just thought how funny it would be to see you two get thrown out because someone ratted you out.”
“Yeah, just try it.”
Jordan then turned his full attention on Tim. “I saw you with that new girl in the lunch room. What a beaut she is. I might try to take her for myself. It would definitely give her a few points on the cool meter.”
“Sorry,” said Tim, “but she said she is not into the whole cool thing.”
“She was probably just trying not to hurt your feelings. Besides, she has never been on a date with me before. She probably does not know what she is missing.”
“You are a jock. Part of the popular crowd. She will hate your guts.”
“Just you watch. By this time next week, I will be putting it to her on a regular basis.”
Jordan walked past their desks to sit in his own all the way at the back of the room.
“What a dick.” Said Phil
Class commenced and the teacher, Mrs. Wilkes, talked on and on about the Civil War. Tim could not find any interest in it. He found such subjects like English and History to be complete bores. He would have rather been in PE, but that was not until the next morning. Eventually the class let out and Tim and Phil rushed out front to meet with Claire.
Once again, Tim found Claire to be just where she said she would. He introduced her to Phil and they all headed over to the mall together.
“Want to hear something funny?” Tim said to Claire.
“What is that?” she asked.
“Jordan Campbell, the school’s star quarterback, thinks he is going to get you in bed by next week.”
“Are you serious? I saw him while walking between classes. He seemed like a complete ‘tard.”
“He is. He is going to try and ask you out on a date.”
“He wishes. I would need a lobotomy before I even considered going out with him.”
Tim and Phil laughed and they continued on to the mall. The walk took about fifteen minutes, but it felt shorter than that to Tim. Phil, Claire and he seemed to get on better than Tim had ever expected. They talked about all sorts of things, like places that Claire remembers from her childhood, and talking about all the people in the high school that Claire had encountered and was yet to encounter.
They arrived at the mall to see that it was really busy. Phil wanted to go to the video game store and Claire voiced that she, too, wanted to go there, so they made that their first stop. Tim was never that big into video games, but he was rather impressed that Claire was. He had never pictured her as the gamer type. The more things he learned about her, the more infatuated he became. She was unlike any other girl he had ever known.
After they were done looking around—without buying anything—the three of them headed to the food court. Claire occasionally got distracted by gadgets and computers and stuff in the windows of the shops they walked past, but they made it to the food court eventually. They each went to different stalls—Tim for burgers, Phil for pizza, and Claire for Chinese—then met back at the same table in the center.
Half way through his meal, Tim saw Becki Horton approaching them. He said to the other two, “Do not look now, but here comes your new best friend, Claire.”
Claire looked around to see who was coming and said, “Well, this should be a laugh.”
Becki reached their table and said, “Well, if it is not the new girl. I should warn you that being seen in such company affects your status outside of school just as much as it does in school.”
“Well if I ever want people to think that I have the intelligence of a brick, then I will come join you. Until then, I think I am fine right where I am.”
“You are really making a big mistake here.” Becki admonished and stormed off. Claire laughed to herself.
“Looks like you are getting the hang of things around here.” Phil said.
“Sometimes you just have to tell bitches like that to just fuck right off.”
For a good couple hours they did not move from where they sat. The time was spent talking and laughing. By the time they left for home, the food court was just closing. Tim offered to walk Claire back to her home, but Claire declined saying she could take care of herself, so they said their goodbyes and parted ways.

The next day, Tim spent the first two classes distracted by thoughts of Claire. She was simply incredible as far as he was concerned. He saw her briefly before classes and at the break in between. At lunch he went to the cafeteria expecting to see her waiting for him, but she was not there. Tim assumed she had not reached the cafeteria yet. He waited ten minutes, but when she did not show up, Tim decided to get his own food and find a table. He sat at the table the two of them had sat at the day before and waited for her to show up. After another five minutes, he saw her rush into the cafeteria and to the table to join him.
“Sorry,” she started, “but that Jordan is just way too persistent. I had to lock myself in the girl’s toilets for like twenty minutes to get away from him.”
“What was he doing?”
“Asking me out. Even though I kept saying no, he just would not desist. He definitely thinks highly of himself.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right.”
Claire got up to go get some food for herself and came back. By that time, Phil had come in to join Tim.
“Dude, you were right about Claire, man. She is amazing. If you do not go out with her, I might have to take the opportunity to get myself in there.”
“Do not even think about it. Do not even mention it when she shows back up. She was in the toilets all lunch trying to get away from that meat head Jordan.”
“Really? Dude just does not take no for an answer.”
Claire returned to the table at that moment and sat down to eat. “I have been thinking,” she said, “I think I will say yes to Jordan next time he asks me out.”
“W-what? Why?” Tim exclaimed with great shock.
“Well not for real. Just thought if I go out with him once, I can make sure he never wants to go out with me again.”
“How will you manage that?”
“I have my ways.” Just at that moment, Jordan entered that cafeteria and headed in their direction. “His ears must have been burning.”
He got to the table and said to Claire, “So, how about you and me tonight?”
“Have you not already asked me this question?”
“Yes, I have, and I will keep asking until you give me the right answer.”
“The right answer?”
“Mm hmm.”
“And what would be the right answer?
“Yes, of course.”
Claire sighed and said, “Fine. I will go out with you on one condition.”
“What is that?”
“I pick where we go?”
“I do not normally go for that, but I suppose I can make an exception in your case. Where do you suggest we go?”
“I think it would be best as a surprise.”
“Oh, come on. I do not do surprises. Tell me where you think we should go.”
“It is either a surprise, or I do not go.”
Tim could tell that Jordan had to think on this a bit, but eventually he said, “Fine. It can be a surprise. I will pick you up at seven.”
“Alright, seven. I will be ready by eight.” The last statement made Jordan a little confused and he walked off.
“So what is the surprise? You can tell us.” Phil said.
“I do not have a clue,” Claire confessed. “Do either of you have an idea?”
Tim added his suggestion, “There is always a good rock and metal club. I think there is one downtown that is open tonight. I know Jordan hates that stuff, but he would do it if he thought he was going to get some sex out of it.”
“That sounds perfect. Of course there will be no sex. Hopefully we will not make it that far through the date.” The bell rang for the last class of the day and the three parted.
Tim only saw Phil after school. Phil told him that Claire had gone home to get ready for the date and then invited him to go play a game of hoops. Tim said yes, thinking it would provide a distraction from his irritation that Claire was actually going out with the one person he hated the most in the school, even if it was for a prank.
Tim and Phil left went to the back of the school to use those basketball courts. They were not the only ones back their, others were there to practice to get onto the school’s basketball team. They played a few games—Tim losing most of them—and then decided to head home. Once he got home, Tim went straight up to his room and stayed there the rest of the night.

The next morning in English, Tim saw Claire already sat in her seat beside his. He got to his seat and said, “So, how was the date last night?”
“Oh, I will not tell,” she said.
“Why not?”
“You will see.”
Tim was confused and spent the class listening to the day’s lecture—still on ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ When he got to the next class, Jordan approached him and Phil, and said, “Dude, that girl is out of her mind. Take it from me. Stay away from her. She is psychotic or something.”
Tim wanted to ask Jordan what exactly had happened, but Jordan was already moving past them to his seat. Tim and Phil exchanged confused looks and decided to ask Claire at lunch.
The lunch break came sooner than they were expecting and they made a line past the queue for food and straight to the table to meet Claire. She had just sat down when they approached her.
“Afternoon, fellas,” she said, cheerfully.
“What did you do to Jordan? He is practically in shock.”
“Oh, a lady never tells. Let us just say that he will not be looking out for another date with me ever again.”
Becki now approached the table and yelled to Claire, “What the fuck is your problem, bitch?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Jordan is fucked up now because of you. You did something, what was it?”
“Are you jealous that I went out with him and you did not?”
“As if. Jordan is my brother.”
“Brother with a different last name?”
Becki huffed and rolled her eyes, “Half brother. I am going to make sure you pay for this.” Becki walked off back to her table to rant at them. Tim and Phil exchanged confused looks again.
“So,” Claire started, “mall again today?” “Yeah, sure,” said Tim. “Flag pole out front?”
“Sounds good. How about you, Phil?”
Phil seemed rather hesitant, but eventually gave in, “Yeah, why not?”
“So, what did happen last night? Tell us.”
“If he will not tell you, then neither shall I.”
That was as much as Tim and Phil got out of her. They soon gave up and continued on to class as soon as the bell rang.
The three of them once again met at the flag pole after school and headed to the mall. This time they went straight to the food court and got the same food they did last time. This became a regular routine between them from day to day, rarely ever deviating.

After a couple months, Tim felt really comfortable with Claire. He felt as though they were getting to know each other really well and as much as he had liked her at the beginning of the year, now he liked her several times as much. He saw her as his completing part—his soul mate. He would get lost in the things she said and would try and spend every waking minute with her. He even dreamed of her when he slept.
Claire still wanted them to be just friends, and although Tim wanted to respect that, he was getting a little frustrated. He was completely infatuated with her and wanted her to realize that, but she just would not. He did not know what to do to get her to feel the same way about him as he did about her. Everyone around them could see how much Tim wanted her and he was often the butt of jokes because of it, but, as far as he was concerned, it mattered not. He remained determined to make her his.
During this time, there was a growing animosity between Claire and Becki—ever since Claire’s date with Jordan. They would constantly hurl insults at each other and find ways to antagonize each other. Over the course of the months it continued to escalate, until one day Becki failed to show up for school, which was odd since, although she despised school, she was never once absent a day—due to her parents’ insistence that her education was very valuable and would be needed for her future, despite her repeated argument that as a cheerleader she would not need to know such stupid things like Algebra or Shakespeare.
Tim, Phil and Claire were sat at their table in the food court at the mall when Tim asked, “I wonder where Becki was today. I do not remember her ever missing a day of school. Even Jordan, her brother, was unsure of why she did not show up.”
“Would you not expect Jordan to know if his sister was going to show up to school or not? Do they not live together?” asked Phil.
“No, Becki moved out to live with some friends over the summer, completely paid for by her father.”
“Oh, so really no one knows where she is.”
“Maybe she is ill. Either that or she is taking advantage of the opportunity of not being home to play hooky and not get yelled at for it. That is, until Jordan goes home to tell his parents he did not see Becki at school, and I cannot see Becki looking that far ahead.”
“That makes sense.”
The entire time that Tim and Phil were talking about this, Claire had not spoken a word. She was just eating her food calmly. Tim decided to include her and said, “What do you think happened, Claire?”
“I could not really give a shit. She could drop dead for all I care.”

Tim was not at all surprised by this response. On many occasions Claire had wished death upon Becki. It had just become another part of her. The three of them continued their meals and talking about other stuff that were going on in their school, such as the upcoming Winter Ball. It was only a month away and Tim really wanted to ask Claire to go, but he had not had the chance to yet.
Claire soon excused herself, saying she had to go to the restroom and that she would be right back. Once she was out of earshot, Tim said to Phil, “Dude, do you mind taking off a bit early? I really want to ask Claire to go to the Winter Ball, but I want to do it just to two of us.”
“I should be offended. Throwing me away while you get all that to yourself…Yeah okay, I will catch you both tomorrow.”
“Thanks, dude. I will tell her your mom called or something.”
“That works. Good luck, dude.”
“Thanks. See you tomorrow in math.”
Phil gathered his things and took off home. Claire returned shortly after and asked where Phil was.
“His mom called him and told him to rush home right away.”
“Oh, he could not even wait until I was back to say goodbye?”
“I think it was rather urgent.”
“Oh, fair enough. Maybe we should get going soon, too, then.”
“Yeah, in a bit. Listen, I wanted to ask you something.”
“Shoot.”
“The Winter Ball and everything. I do not have anyone to go with. Would you like to go with me?”
She responded in a sardonic tone, “Oh, but then I would have to cancel all the invitations I have received so far.”
“Ha ha, very funny.”
“You know I am kidding. Of course I will go with you.”
“Great.” Tim said with a grin.
“Phil did not really get a phone call did he? You wanted him to leave so you could ask him by yourself, right?”
“Wha…How you could say such a thing?”
“Please, it is obvious. Do not worry, I do not mind. I think it is sweet that you wanted to ask me all alone, if not kind of cheesy.”
Tim chuckled shyly and said, “So, should we get heading off then?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Can I walk you home?” Tim must have asked this question about a hundred times, and the answer had always been no. It had turned into a sort of joke between the two of them. He knew that she would say no this time, too.
“Yeah, that would be nice,” Claire replied with a smile. Tim was completely off guard for that answer. He stumbled for the next words and Claire giggled at him.
Once Tim had regained himself again, the two of them walked off out of the mall, back to Claire’s home. On the way, Claire slipped her hand into his and squeezed it. Tim’s heart was beating faster than he had ever known it to. This was the moment he had been waiting for since the first time he had met Claire. He did not know what to say to this action, so he chose to say nothing at all, just squeeze back. They remained holding hands until Claire stopped in front of a building that she was her home—up until that point, Tim had never found out where Claire lived. She kissed him on the cheek and said good night. He stumbled a little bit, but he managed to say good night back.
Tim’s walk back to his home was the happiest walk he had ever done. The night was cold, but through his elation, he did not seem to notice. What he had been waiting for for months was finally here. He finally managed to make Claire feeling for him the way he did for her. His mind thought of nothing else the entire rest of the night.

The next day, Tim did not have any classes with Claire, but he did have his morning PE class with Phil. Today they were in the weight room working out. During the class, Tim told Phil everything that had happened after Phil had left them.
“About time,” Phil said quietly.
Tim could tell that Phil did not share his elation. He knew that Phil wanted Claire, too, but, out of respect of their friendship, did not pursue anything. Tim knew this and was appreciative to him for it.
By the time lunch came around, Tim and Phil had noticed that Becki was once again absent. They thought nothing about it, sticking to their theory of her taking advantage of not living at home. Some people around the school were theorizing that Becki had been abducted and was being held hostage in the trunk of someone’s car and was now being driven through New Mexico. Others thought she had changed her name and run away with some secret Latin lover named Juan down to southern California. Claire still held up her argument that she did not care what happened to Becki. Tim and Phil just stuck with not caring alongside Claire.

A couple of weeks passed by and no one had seen hide or hair of Becki. Jordan tried to hide his worry, distracting himself by picking on anyone who crossed his path. A couple of times he even started fights unprovoked.
Tim and Phil were also getting a little concerned. They did not like Becki, but they would never really wish bad things upon her. Claire, however, still maintained her indifference. Tim and Phil were a little disturbed by Claire’s attitude to the whole situation, but kept it to themselves.
The days to the Winter Ball were getting ever closer. Tim and Claire were also getting ever closer. They ended up spending a lot of time together over at Tim’s home, even though Tim still had never been inside Claire’s. Tension between Tim and Phil over Claire had since dissipated as Phil found himself the object of interest for other girls in the school—thus Phil ended up spending less time with Tim and Claire, which they did not mind much. Despite Phil egging him on, Tim had not yet gone all the way with Claire. He would have liked to at some point, but he knew rushing it would just make the whole thing fall apart. He just enjoyed the time they spent together.

The weeks leading up to the Winter Ball had Tim completely freaking out. He had never been do any of the school dances before and had no idea what he was supposed to be doing, but this was his last year in high school and he had the most gorgeous girl in his opinion going with him. If he was going to go at some point, it may as well be now. His parents told him to relax and that everything would be fine, but he just could not help himself. He wanted everything to be perfect for the night. He was going to go pick her up a couple hours before the dance so they could get some food and then hopefully spend the rest of the night having a great time, and if the great time led to a little fun in the bedroom, so be it. He found all the days leading up to it a hell of waiting.
The school was already being prepared for the Winter Ball. Posters were up, tickets were being sold, and the decoration was already in production. Everyone gossiped about who would take who and what they were going to wear. All the excitement for the Ball eventually drowned out the mysterious disappearance of the formerly popular Becki Horton. The only person who still obsessed over it was her brother, Jordan. Becki had faded into old news, just like Clara Dupree, the senior who had disappeared right near the beginning of the school year.
Phil had gotten himself a girl to go to the Ball with, a girl named Sharee. Tim hardly ever saw Phil outside of the classes they shared anymore. It saddened him somewhat, but being able to have Claire all to himself made him even happier. Claire, however, seemed to change. It was not a drastic change, but still enough for Tim to notice. She seemed moodier and more prone to violent outbursts. A couple of times, she had gotten into fights with other girls at school who agitated her. Tim tried to be there for her as much as he could, but he learned that Claire was sometimes best left alone. The cheery, sarcastic nature that once captivated him was slowing running dry. He wrote it off as a phase and just enjoyed his time with her.

Soon enough, the Winter Ball had arrived, and Tim could not be more excited than he was at that moment. This dance would signify the beginning of their winter vacation, where they would be away from school for two weeks, resuming after a couple days past New Years. He planned to spend as much of the vacation with Claire as he could manage. He had already bought her what he thought would be the best Christmas present—two tickets to the Coachella music festival in southern California the following year. He knew that Claire loved music of all sorts, so he figured this would be a great time for them to spend together away from everyone.
The school was absolutely buzzing with excitement for that night. The school was even letting classes out a little bit early so students could go home to get all ready. The Winter Ball started at seven o’clock, and Tim had promised to pick Claire up at about half past six. His mother was offering to drive to pick up Claire and then take them both to the Winter Ball, but Tim declined, saying that it would be a lot easier to watch, but in reality he just did not want to be seen being dropped off by his mother.
However, all day Claire seemed a little uninterested. She barely seemed to notice the elation that surrounded her. Tim asked her if she was happy to be going to the Winter Ball with him, and, although she said yes, Tim could sense traces of insincerity in her words. He tried to find out what was wrong with her, but it was to no avail. He new that if Claire did not want to talk about something, she would not, no matter how much he tried to coax her into telling him.
The school let him out an hour early, and he took the opportunity to run home and make sure that everything was in perfect condition. He had his suit all pressed and clean, and made sure he had a couple condoms in his bedside table just in case. He had never been so nervous in his life. He kept telling himself that he would not mess anything up, but the doubt still lingered in the back of his mind.
Six o’clock came around and Tim got himself all dressed and ready to go. He called Claire to let her know that he was on his way to get her and she said she was all ready to go, as well. Tim’s mother was still insisting that she drive the two of them to the Winter Ball, but Tim argued saying that he did not want to be dropped off by his mother and that the walk alone would be good for them. His mother, defeated, gave in and wished him a good time.
Tim arrived at Claire’s house about twenty minutes later—a bit earlier than he had promised, but she had said she was all ready to go. He walked up the garden path to the front door to knock, but Claire came out before he even reached the porch steps.
“Hey there,” said Claire, “You are here early.”
“Yeah, the walk took quicker than I had expected. How did you know I was here?”
“I saw you out the window. Shall we get going?”
“Do I not get to meet your foster parents?”
“They are not really in the right mood for meeting new people. We should probably get going.”
“Right,” Tim said, and they headed back down the garden path together and down the street toward the school.
During the walk, they talked a lot more than they had in the recent weeks. Claire seemed to have come out of the depression she had been in for the past couple months. She seemed a lit easier to talk to and willing to have a good time, which is how he remembered her acting when they first met. They talked about anything and everything they could, the same way that used to at the mall.
They reached the school in a few minutes and saw a small line of students who also arrived at the school a little to early waiting to go in. They saw Phil and Sharee in line together and waved at them, but got no wave back. Ever since Phil had started hanging around with Sharee and her friends, he had slowly turned into a bit of a snob, talking to them in a condescending tone and acting as if somehow he mattered more than them, just because he goes out one of the popular crowd. Tim could no longer bear to be around him or talk to him because it was just full of mindless dribble that Tim was never in the mood to discover.
Seven o’clock came around and the doors to the gym where the Winter Ball was being held opened up to let students inside. Tim and Claire did not take long to get turn in their tickets and be let into the dance, by which time the line looked like it was miles behind them.
Inside, the dance floor was slowly filling up with people ready to dance. The song playing at the time was one that Tim despised greatly. He was never a great fan of hip hop, nor was Claire, so they decided to sit the song out. They sat watching the other people dance and making snide comments to themselves about the way there were dressed or the way they danced or other topics along those lines. The disc jockey seemed as though he was working at the orders of the popular students, since his play list seemed to be compiled of strictly songs that they liked.
Tim and Claire seemed to be the only two unpopular people to have shown up to the dance, which was not very surprising seeing as all others were either scared away by the popular kids or by the lack of dates. Tim and Claire, however, were not about to give in to that pressure.
After about a half an hour, Claire decided that she did not care what was played, she just wanted to dance. She grabbed Tim by the arm and pulled him onto the dance floor. Tim had never really danced before, so he was a bit shy and self conscious, but he soon decided not to care and had fun. The two of them received disapproving looks from the popular kids who probably felt that these two outsiders were encroaching in on their territory, but none of them had the balls to say anything in front of the parents and teachers who volunteered to chaperone the dance. Tim even caught Phil giving them a disgusted look a couple of times, but was having too much fun to bother. The two of them just ignored the others and the horrifically bad music, and just had fun making each other laugh.
The Winter Ball soon came to an end around eleven o’clock and everyone was slowly moving out into the open. Tim and Claire were tired from all the dancing, but they were not done with the night.
“I am hungry,” said Claire.
“Me too. I think there is a fast food place just down the road. Do you want to come get something with me?”
“No, I think I would much rather get something to eat at home. Want to walk me back?”
“Yeah, okay.”
The two of them set of walking back to Claire’s home. Tim had hoped that Claire would want to come to his place, but he knew that the fact that she mentioned going home was her way of saying she was done with the night. They walked back home slower than they had walked to school. Tim was trying to savor the night and milk every minute he could get to be with Claire.
Unfortunately for Tim, however, they eventually reached Claire’s home. Claire started walking up the garden path and Tim followed close behind, hoping to get in a kiss before he went home for the night.
“I thought tonight was just fantastic,” said Tim. “How about you?”
“Yeah, it was great. I every minute of it was a blast.”
They stopped just in front of the door and Claire turned to look at him. She smiled her sweet little smile that always melted Tim’s heart every time he saw it. He slowly leaned in for the kiss and saw at the same time that she, too, was leaning in close. He closed his eyes preparing his heard for the soft touch of her lips upon his. He was almost there, but was interrupted by something smashing against the back of his head. He fell to the ground and blacked out.

Tim woke up in a dark room up against a cold wall with his arms and legs chained to the wall and tape covering his mouth. He had no idea where he was or what had happened. The last thing he remembered was going in to kiss Claire when something hit him in the back of the head and knocked him unconscious. Someone must have been hiding, waiting to attack them. Oh no, he thought. They must have taken Claire, too. What were they doing to her? Were they hurting her? If he could figure out how to get himself out of these chains, he would find whoever had them held hostage and kill them all. He tried to think of anyone he knew who would want to do this. He thought maybe Becki was never ill; she had just disappeared to wait for the perfect opportunity to strike and humiliate Claire. Or maybe Tim and Claire at the Winter Ball had finally pushed Phil over the edge of his jealousy and he wanted to exact revenge upon them both.
A door opened at the top of some stairs. Light spilled into the room from the open door and Tim could see the silhouette of a person up against the wall. A light was turned on from the top and the person started stepping down the stairs. With the light Tim could see that he was in some sort of dark, grimy basement and chained up against the far wall.
The steps had stopped and Tim looked up to see that it was Claire. He felt such a wave of relief that she had gotten away from the kidnappers and was now able to help him, as well.
It is about time you woke up,” Claire said. “I am sorry about the chains and the tape and all that. It is merely a precautionary measure. I do not want you running out of here and telling everyone what I get up to down here. I know you are probably thinking, ‘What the fuck?’ but I assure you that there is a perfectly logical explanation for this. What that is, I am unsure myself, but you must believe me that there is one somewhere.
Tim was really confused he had no idea what she was talking about. Was she the one who had knocked him out and chained him up? She seemed to be able to read the questions on his face because she said, “Yes, it was me who hit you over the head with the flower pot. I mean, eurgh, you were about to kiss me. I am sorry, but that was going too far. I could barely put up you anymore as it was. I know this is all probably a big disappointment for you, but do not feel too bad. I have done this to several people before.” Claire moved over to Tim and removed the tape from his mouth. “I can tell you want to say something so now is your chance.”
“Who the fuck are you?”
“I am the same person you met at the beginning of the semester. Only my name is not exactly Claire. My birth name is Olga Baldershot. What the hell kind of name is that? I hated my parents for that name.”
“Are you fucking insane or something?”
“I have been told that, but that was by my mother, the ignorant, drunken slut.”
“What about your foster parents? Will they not find it suspicious that you have a boy chained up in the basement?”
“There were no foster parents. I came here by myself. By the time the officials found my mother’s body, I was long gone.”
“You killed your mother?”
“If you knew the kinds of things she used to do to me, you would have helped me.”
“What things? What kinds of things did she do to you? Tell me.”
“Oh, you are not getting that information out of me. Try to get me all upset and vulnerable then take the opportunity to take control.”
“That is not what I was trying to do, honest.”
“Oh, be quiet. You are annoying me again.” Claire took out a large roll of duct and cut a piece off. She placed it around his mouth again and left to go upstairs. The light went out and Tim was left alone in the dark.
He was there for what felt like an eternity wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into. He had sworn that Claire was not like this when he met her. She was sweet and funny, and he swore that she genuinely liked being with him. So what had just happened? Perhaps he was dealing with a doppelganger. A girl that looks exactly like Claire came in to make Tim think it was her and she was going to kill him.
After a while, the door opened, light came on, and Claire reappeared at the bottom of the steps. She said, “Right, so let us try not being all psychology and philosophical bullshit. I want to hurry up to the fun bits.” She moved toward Tim and removed the tape.
“What are you going to do to me?”
“Kill you, eventually. Thought we could have a little fun first, though.”
“What kind of fun?”
Claire pulled a sock from her pocket and stuffed it in Tim’s mouth and replaced the tape over it. From behind her back, Claire brandished a large knife and started running it through her fingers. “My kind of fun.” She walked up to Tim and cut at his shirt, ripping and tearing it from his body. She ran her fingers across his chest that was beading with sweat out of fear. Her hand slid down his chest, across his stomach, and down his pants. She started rubbing his crotch and said, “I know what you really wanted from me.” Tim shook his head furiously. “Oh, yes. I know your kind. You just wanted to fuck me.” With the last two words, Claire clamped down on Tim’s testicles. He let out a scream that ended up muffled by the sock in his mouth. “I was tempted to be nice and give you what you wanted, since I am about to kill you, but I just could not bring myself to do something so degrading. I decided that I would just leave you with a hand job…but not yet. That will be the last thing I do.” She brought the knife up in front of Tim’s eyes, “My friend wants to have a little fun first.”
Claire brought the knife down and ran it along the skin of Tim’s chest, digging it in a little bit. Tim screamed mostly in fear than in pain. He wanted this nightmare to end right away. He wanted to wake up and have this whole thing never happen. Claire stopped the cutting into Tim’s chest and said, “You know. I bet you must hate being able to hear your own screams.” She brought the knife up to the side of Tim’s head and cut his left ear off. Tim would have howled in pain if the sock in his mouth was not preventing much noise from coming out. Claire seemed to be enjoying the torture. How did this sweet, lovely girl who Tim had fallen deeply, madly in love with in just a matter of months turn out to be a completely psychotic killer? Claire moved the knife across to the other side of Tim’s head and cut off his other ear. Tim could feel blood running down the sides of his head—warm, sticky blood flowing in gushes. The pain was so intense that he fainted briefly, only to be awoken a minute earlier from a sharp pain through his right arm. He opened his eyes and looked up to see that Claire had run her knife right through his forearm out of annoyance at the fact that he had passed out.
“I really wish you would not pass out. It makes this torture a lot less fun, you know.”
Tim really could not care whether or not Claire was having fun. He wanted to kill her right there and then. All the love he had ever felt for her had gone with his ears. Tim shook and writhed violently in anger, attempting to break one of his chains so he could knock her over.
“I would stop that if I were you,” Claire said and pointed over to a gas canister in the corner. “That over there is a blow torch. Do not make me use it. It always scares me. But I will use it if you keep up this uncooperativeness.” Tim did not really care. The rage he felt was not about to be subdued by threats. He continued to lunge at her and scream muffled obscenities at her, all while attempting to work the chains out of the walls. “Fine,” she continued, “you just want to be difficult.”
Claire moved over to the corner, picked up the little canister and brought it back over to Tim. She had a little trouble lighting it, during which time Tim was able to loosen up the chain connecting his legs to the wall. After a little more working at it, he managed to break it away from the wall. Claire did not have time to counter as Tim lifted his legs up to his chest and kicked out at her. He kicked right in the center of her chest. She flew back several feet and landed hard on her back. Winded, she had a little trouble getting back to her feet.
Tim worked hard at the chains above his head and managed to get them loose from the wall, as well.
“Damn,” Claire said, “I knew I should have gotten who knew what they were doing to put those chains in.”
Tim ran over to Claire and picked her up by her hair. He ripped the tape off of his mouth and spat the sock out. “I loved you,” he screamed into her face. “You made my life complete, you made me happy, and then you went and betrayed me. I hate you with every fiber of my body. I swear I will murder you.”
Any emotion he had felt for her was completely gone. He was just left with anger and rage and the desire to kill her the way she tried to kill him. Tim was going to throw her against the wall, but she reached out too quickly and scratched her nails across his face. He dropped her as a reflex to touch at his face. She tackled him and knocked him down on his back.
“Clara and Becki did not put up this much of a fight,” Claire spat. “Neither did my mother. I guess men are more violent than women.”
Tim was not really listening to her, though. He just fought to get her off of him. She was deceptively strong for her size and he had more trouble kicking her off than he had anticipated.
Tim managed to grab a hold of Claire’s hair and wrench her hair backwards. Claire cursed and screamed at him, but he just kept pulling until she was completely off of him. He kept a hold of her while he got to his feet and dragged her over to the wall. He wanted nothing more than to smash her face into it, but she had gotten her hands on the knife once again and ran it straight through the back of Tim’s thigh. Tim’s leg buckled and he fell back down to the ground. Claire was trying to climb on top of him when he saw the blow torch was still lit. He reached out for it, but it was too far for him to reach. Claire, still trying to get on top of Tim, saw what he was reaching for. She ran her knife through Tim’s back and ran for the torch while he stopped and screamed. She picked up the torch and turned to run back to Tim, but he had already gotten to his feet and knocked her over. The canister flew out of her hand and landed on the carpeted wooden staircase that Claire had descended moments ago.
Tim had Claire pinned to the ground and was ready to strangle her. The carpet on the stairs lit ablaze, spreading the fire across the entire staircase. There was no getting out for either of them.
“I guess we will both die down here,” Claire proclaimed.
Claire took the opportunity of Tim getting distracted by the fire to squirm out from under him and run for the knife. She picked it up and stabbed Tim right through the back. Tim screamed and fell to the ground. Claire turned Tim over onto his back ran the knife through his chest. Tim knew that it was over. He was going to die, but at least he got to take Claire with him. His lungs were filling up with blood making his breathing harsh.
“Well,” Claire started, “I did say I would give you one last hand job before you died. I guess I will stick to that.” Claire pulled down Tim’s trousers and started stroking him. Tim allowed himself to enjoy this last piece of ecstasy before he died. He looked at Claire with sweat and blood all over her and, although he knew it should not have done, it really aroused him. She stroked him faster. His last sight was himself shooting his semen all over Claire’s hand. He closed his eyes and allowed death to come to him.

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The Weeping of a Life Eternal

DjaDja Betuké enjoyed her life. She loved it so much that she bragged about it constantly. She was the Queen. The wife to the unwritten pharaoh of Anok Fero. She had every luxury that her mind could conceive, and she had the entire empire groveling at her feet. She loved to walk down these Egyptian streets just for the sight of people marveling at her. And, by the light of Ra, she was the most beautiful woman to ever walk the earth. Anyone who says that wealth does not bring happiness has never met the radiance that was DjaDja Betuké.
Tonight she was on the way to see her secret lover. Although she was the queen to the pharaoh, she hated him immensely. She only stayed by him for the power. Tonight, however, things would change forever. She had learned of the location of a sacred book called the Book of the Dead, and was on her way to get her lover to go fetch it for her. She had learned from the stories that the book has the power to grant eternal life, which she desired more than anything. An opportunity to live her glorious life forever. How could she resist? She reached the door to his hut and knocked. He answered promptly and graciously let her in.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of your radiance tonight, my queen?” he said with the sincerest obedience.
“I have discovered the location of the Book of the Dead from one of my mistresses. I need you to go fetch it for me tonight.”
“The Book of the Dead? Are you sure?”
“Positive. I need that book, and I need it tonight.”
“I heard there’s a curse surrounding the book. I fear that this book may bring harm to your loveliness. I dare not risk it.”
“You will get me that book.” She approached him seductively, “If you do go, I will make sure you are very handsomely rewarded,” with this she gave him a kiss to make herself more persuasive, then she continues: “and if you do not, I will have you thrown in the dungeon to rot like all the other scum in this city. Do I make myself clear?” Her eyes now commanded such power that Nebi was instantly brought to his knees.
“Yes, my queen. I will get it for you tonight.”
“Good. Then when that is all settled, we can discuss killing my husband.”
“Yes, queen. I agree. I will go right now.”
Nebi ran to get his equipment and head off. DjaDja left his hut and returned to the palace in the greatest of moods.
When she returned to the palace, the pharaoh inquired as to where she had been.
“Do not worry, dear husband. I just went for a stroll through the city. I am alright.” She assured him,
“You know I do not like you wondering around through the streets by yourself. I would like it if you at least took a guard with you.”
“Please. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. No one would even try to harm me. I am loved in this city.”
She took her leave without waiting for a response. She knew that he had not been convinced, but as far as she was concerned, he was soon going to be an unwritten part of history. She decided to return to her bed chambers and wait for Nebi to return with the book.
The next day, DjaDja did not hear from Nebi at all. She wondered if he could have died trying to get the book, and swore to curse his decaying corpse if he had. She was getting impatient. She had spent all day dreaming of having the book in her hands and wondering what it would be like to live forever. She met with her mistresses to see if they could offer her any guidance as what she would have to do. She ignored their many protests of performing the ritual, warning her that the result will not be what she’s expecting, but she was not interested in hearing negative words. She wanted affirmation that she was going to be successful and be powerful forever, which they finally gave after giving up on their futile efforts to change her mind.
That night she decided she had waited enough and decided to see if Nebi had returned yet. When she reached his hut, she saw the door was ajar. She entered to see him sprawled on the floor, a book of shiny black stone gripped within his arms as if it was his only anchor from flying away. She kicked him in the back.
“Get up. Give me that book.” She shouted as she kicked. Eventually he came around, and started flailing around as if he were being attacked by hundreds of invisible bugs. In the flailing, he dropped the book. DjaDja was affronted and shoved him over in order to get at the book. “You idiot. You might damage it, and then what good would it be? What good would you be?”
Nebi stopped flailing once he realized that there was nothing attacking him anymore. “I am sorry. I was attacked by a dark force that followed me all the way here. I collapsed from the weight of it, but I managed to keep a hold of the book just for you.”
“Good. Now we can start the ritual.”
“What about my reward?”
“Oh. I shall have money sent tomorrow.” Nebi looked very disappointed, but DjaDja took no notice, “Now, lets see what we have to do.” She opened the book and found the passage with the ritual for eternal life. Without hesitation, she recited the words aloud, not caring who heard her. The passage was quite a long one, but when she was done, she waited. For a few minutes nothing happened, and she was growing impatient. “Why is this not working? Did you bring me the wrong book? Did you damage this one when you dropped it? What did you do?” She was practically screaming now. However, a strange dark light started emanating from the book. It rose from the book and hovered in front of DjaDja. Is shaped and reshaped itself until the floating dark light was the shape of herself. Then, with the force of a typhoon, the dark light slammed into her, throwing her across the room.
In the commotion, a woman from the neighboring hut came running in in time to see DjaDja being thrown across the room, and Nebi standing before her. She started to call out that this commoner has been abusing the queen. Although DjaDja was still completely conscious and aware of the accusation being thrown, she did not stop it. It was an easy way to get rid of him. The book, however, had to be hidden. She stashed it away in one of Nebi’s large vases and got up as the palace guards arrived to arrest Nebi and escort her back to the palace.
On her return to the palace, she was placed in her bed chamber and was soon confronted by Anok. “What did I tell you about going out into the streets by yourself? You were quick to brush off my concern as paranoia, now look. Shamed. From now on you will have a guard on you at all hours. If you disobey me, I will have you executed just as your boyfriend is being right now.” DjaDja was perplexed as to how he knew about them, and apparently it showed, because he immediately said, “Yes, I knew about you two. Do you think I am blind? I have been having you followed for months. I knew where you were going and what you were doing. I even know about this.” He held out the book before her. As much as she tried, she could not hide the look of horror on her face. “Your boyfriend was rambling on about it as the guards were taking him away. I ordered the place searched for it, and we managed to find it rather quickly. You are obviously not as clever as you seem to think you are. I also know that your mistresses have been aiding you in finding this book, so just as your boyfriend, they have been taken to be executed. Now, as I said, you will obey my every word. If I ever feel like you are not, you will join them quickly. I will lock you in here tonight, just in case you have any urges to go wandering again.” He exited the room and locked the door behind him.
DjaDja was in deep despair. She let the man she loved go to be executed; all her mistresses were gone, too. She mourned for them, but she mourned more for the loss of her book. She did not even know if the ritual had worked properly. She wanted to find out, but did not know how. She looked out to the stars and wished for a sign that the ritual had worked; that, indeed, she could not die. Then it dawned on her—she could jump out of the window. If it worked, she would live and be okay. If not, then she would be free of her tyrannous husband forever. She stepped up on the ledge and looked down. She had never stopped to notice how far up she was. If the impact did not kill her, it would at least hurt a lot. Despite that, she went for it. Anything would be better than this, she reasoned. Without a second’s more thought, she leapt out of the window and plummeted down the side of the palace down to the ground. She smacked a couple ledges on her way down, which she had not taken into account before she left, leaving her with a few broken ribs and a broken arm. She smacked the ground with a thud which hurt more than anything she had felt before. She lay there, not being able to move. Blood was pouring out of her head, all her bones felt like they had been smashed with a giant hammer, but she was still alive. She saw a pair of feet walking toward her—they were Anok’s.
“I had a feeling you would attempt this.” He said, amused. She wanted to rebuke him, but she just could not speak. The pain of the fall was too much. “I shall go fetch some attendants to see to healing you. Then we shall see what to do with you.”
About six or seven attendants came up to her and placed her on a board to take to be healed. The pain was excruciating. She still was not sure if the ritual had worked. She always dreamt that eternal life meant without pain or injury as well. If it had worked, then was this what she was fated with?
The attendants arrived at the healer’s quarters and placed her down on a stone table. The healer came up and examined her thoroughly. She looked quite impressed, but why, she could not fathom.
“Interesting,” she started, “by all accounts, you should be dead right now. I guess Osiris has been good to you tonight. Do not worry. In a couple days time, I will have you all fixed up nicely.”
The next few months were spent agonizingly. The ritual had supposedly worked. She was supposed to be dead, but she was not. The pain, however, made her wish it had not worked. She did not want to have to suffer the pain anymore. She needed the book back. She needed to find the right spell to reverse it, but how would she get it? Even if she had it, she was still having trouble speaking. She supposed the spell would not work if she cannot say it allow. So for the time it took for her to recover, she just lay there, bored out of her mind.
When the healer felt she was okay enough to leave, he came in to see her. “Right, you are allowed to go now, but I must warn you. The fall was not exactly kind to you. You will not look the same again ever. You will not be the same again. You are a lot more fragile now, so you better take care.”
DjaDja desperately wanted to know what she looked like now. She wanted to know what he meant by saying she will never look the same again. She demanded to see what she looks like. The healer walked her over to a small pool of water so she could see her reflection. DjaDja almost fainted at the sight. Her one beautiful face was ruined forever. Some parts she looked sullen, and frail. Her physique was warped where some of the bones had set in wrong places, but according to the healer, he could not do anything about it. There was just too much broken when she came in. DjaDja despaired. She lost everything. Her lover, her mistresses, her beloved book, and now her beauty was gone forever. She left the room weeping, picking up a knife on the way out. She was going to make this all better.
Waiting for her outside the room was Anok, just the person DjaDja wanted to see.
“How are you feeling?” he asked with not the slightest sympathy.
“I feel fantastic.” She replied sarcastically, “How are you today?”
“I did say that last time you disobeyed me I would have you executed, but I think you did better than I could ever have. Now I hope you learned something from this. I expect to see you keeping in line from now on.” Finished, Anok turned around to leave.
“This is your fault!” DjaDja screamed as she pulled out the knife and ran it through the back of his neck. Anok dropped almost instantly—dead by the time he hit the ground. DjaDja ran as fast as her disfigured limbs could take her, out of the palace and down to the river. She had to get away from this place as quickly as possible, it did not matter where she went—she just had to go. She purchased a small boat for herself from one of the common vendors by the river, and sailed the river up into the now Mediterranean Sea. One day when she was forgotten, she would return to claim the book for herself, and restore her back to her mortality.

She did not know how long she had been sailing for. Weeks, maybe months. It felt like an eternity went by and she had not noticed. She was thirsty, and parched. She wanted food, and, more than anything, she wanted land. She had tried to drink the water around her, but it tasted horrible and did not do much for her thirst. For many more weeks it went on like this. She sat in this old boat, sailing to Ra knows where, wishing she could just get off.
After an indeterminable time, as she slept, her boat ran ashore on some foreign land. She was awoken by a cold nose and sniffing at her cheek. She jumped up, startled, to find that it was a rat investigating. She kicked the rat away and shook, feeling dirty and infested with the probably diseased animal. Although she did not know it at the time, she had just landed on the southern coast of Italy, where she was going to start her new life immortal. First thing on her mind, however, was to look for food and drink. She wandered and wandered through the land, scavenging on any scraps of food she could, and drinking what water she could find. Her brittle bones could not take strain for very long, so she had to rest a lot, but she could not find a place suitable enough for her to hide, so on she went. She did encounter people on her wanderings, but tried to avoid them at all costs. Her disfigurement made her reluctant to talk to any people who may mock her. Eventually she found her way into the Alps and found herself a cave there to hide away in. Even though it was suitably hidden, it was much too cold to sustain her for very long, so after a few days rest, she continued to wander until she came to the to the area that is now Romania, in the mountains of Transylvania. This seemed to be the ideal place for her. It was not too cold, and provided her with hiding. The people were also very superstitious, which she used to spread rumors of a bloodsucking fiend who lived within those mountains, ensuring that very few people passed by. Here she had herself a castle built with the help of some locals, who she then slaughtered so they would not be able to tell others about her, and stayed for many centuries, growing older and older as the time went on. She came down from the mountains every once in a while to feed on any people or animals that strayed near enough for her to capture, and her thirst was fed with the abundance of moisture that lay all around her.
The world changed around her. Empires had risen and fallen, and new powers were rising. The centuries aged her beyond that of normal aging. She became old and decrepit, her skin practically rotting off as she breathed. It pained her to live as she did. Her skin withered and broke, her bones would break at the slightest touch, and she had long gone insane from the agony. She screamed all day and all night, so loud that the villages around her castle were terrified by the frightening sounds they could hear at all hours.
One night, when they local townspeople decided they were sick of living in fear of this witch that no one had ever seen and lived to tell about it, the castle was stormed by a giant mob with pitchforks and torches. They broke down the door and searched the entire castle for the witch. They found her old, withered, frail form in her bed wheezing as she breathed. She saw them come, but did not try to stop them. She would be thankful if they managed to kill her. They all threw their torches on the bed and watch it go up in flames. DjaDja screamed in horror as the fire burned off her flesh, and seared her bones, turning her body into ash.
The townspeople, cheering and celebrating in their victory, left the castle to return to their villages and spread the news. DjaDja, however, still did not manage to die. Although her body had perished, her spirit and consciousness still lived on inside the castle. She had hoped that the destruction of her body would finally release the curse she had placed on herself, but much to her dismay, it had not. She screamed and wept louder than she ever had before, and did not stop. Her life was pain and agony, nothing more. She was doomed to this limbotic forever. Her weeps continued with no end.

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The Destruction of an Innocent Life

Maria woke up in the middle of the day in a cold sweat. She was having nightmares again. She could not help it. For the full sixteen years of her life, she had never had a good day’s sleep. That was because of the screams that came from the mountains during the nights. Her family lived at the bottom of the Carpathian Mountains in a small village in Transylvania, Romania. Her family had been there for centuries because they were just too poor to live anywhere else. This was not a desirable place to live.
The mountains around her part were haunted by the spirit of an ancient witch that her ancestors had burned in a castle within the peaks. Every night since then, screams of remorse and agony could be heard throughout the nights. The village had turned into a night community because no one could sleep during these wails. Businesses were run by night, crops were harvested and prepared at night, and kids even went to school at night. Everyone did their best to make lots of noise during the nights to blot out the sounds of wailing, but, for all their efforts, they could still hear the wailing. The noise now was just to provide a distraction from the cries. Everyone made the best of their situation, and when they had scrimped and saved enough money, they would move as far away as they can. Maria’s family never got that far.
Maria saw that the sun was still high in the sky, but there was no way that she was going to be able to get back to sleep. She got up and decided to do some chores while everyone else was still asleep. A pile of dirty clothes were sat beside the washing tub waiting to be cleaned, so Maria set to getting those done so she could use the rest of the daylight to get them somewhat dry.
Maria had always wondered what it would be like to go up into the castle and see the ghost for herself. She heard the horrible stories about travelers who had gone up into the mountains and had never been seen again, many of them backpackers from America, but then she knew that lots of wild animals lived in the mountains. It was very possible, and probably the case, that the travelers got attacked and dragged off. She was not scared of a ghost. She had read that ghosts were non-physical remnants of previous lives. She figured that if they were non-physical, then they could not do her any harm. The problem was getting away long enough without anyone noticing.
That night was the Halloween. Everyone would be out celebrating and drinking heavily all night long, meaning that during the next day everyone would be too drunk and tired to notice if she slipped away when they passed out. For now, she stuck to her chores, determined to get them all done so that when Halloween was done, she would have less clothes to wash. Somehow, everyone always managed to get their clothes really filthy, even though they do not do any work.
Once the washing was done, Maria decided to go for a walk to pass the time until the town woke up. Decorations were already up and the smell of pie baking lingered to her nose. She had not expected anyone to be up yet, but apparently someone was really preparing early. The smell of food made Maria’s stomach rumble, but she knew the kitchen was not open for another couple of hours, so she kept going through the village taking in the view.
Maria had decided to walk up to her favorite spot—a little clearing amongst the woods from which she had a great view of the mountains, and from where she could see the castle far in the distance. No one else liked coming this close to the mountains because they feared the castle so, therefore Maria was always by herself up here, the way she liked it. She had never been one for great amounts of people. She only agreed to come to the town parties so she would not be considered abnormal and have people spreading strange rumors about her, as they have done before. Years before, when a woman from the village failed to show herself in more than three months, rumors spread that she was a witch and had to be banished. The woman then was forced to walk up to the castle and stay there. If she came back, they would say she was in line with the witch and kill her. Needless to say, she never did come back. Maria figured that the woman had fled to live instead of returning to face death.
Maria reached the clearing and sat on one of the rocks that protruded from the ground. From this clearing, the forest started sloping upward becoming the foothills of the majestic Carpathian Mountains. Maria loved this view during the day—she only ever came here during the day when she could not sleep. At night, the screams terrified her too much to make her come any closer—so much so, that she sometimes spent several hours here. Some people of her village considered it odd, but not extremely peculiar, for her to come so close to the castle as this, but some of them have also seen the view from here themselves and could understand how a person could overcome the shivers and enjoy this place for the landscape.
Today she stayed until the sun started to set. The screams always started right when the sun dipped below the horizon—no earlier or later—so Maria liked to make sure she left in enough time to make it home before that time. On the way back she noticed clouds rolling in with the rain. She was glad. She knew a little rain would not stop or slow down the festivities of tonight any little bit, and most likely the rain would continue well into the next day, providing cover for her escape up into the mountains.
By the time she returned to the village, people were already up and starting to gather. The tavern was open and overflowing with people. The streets were full of singing and rejoicing. No one noticed when the witch started screaming. A lot of people were on costumes—most of them homemade—and some of the kids were even going up to people trick-or-treating. Maria found her Papa in the tavern drinking and laughing with several of the neighbors. She went over to join them, and stayed with them the rest of the night. She did not contribute much to the conversation, but then she was generally a quiet girl and everyone knew that.
The night passed quicker than Maria had expected. She could see the sky getting lighter and the screaming from the mountains had stopped. She was admittedly having a good time talking to neighbors and having a couple drinks, but she wanted the day to come soon so she could get away. The anticipation of what she might see up in the castle took up most of her concentration. Tată had long passed out from drunkenness, along with plenty of the other men. Her Mamă, quite drunk herself, was picking him up to carry him home, Maria following close behind. When they got home, Maria climbed into her bed, deciding to fake sleep until everyone else had gone to bed. There was no good day from her Mamă or Tată since they just stumbled over to their bed and fell right asleep.
Maria waited a good hour or so after all signs of life outside had ceased before she got up to go. She packed herself some provisions, like food, water, clothes, and her Tată’s hunting knife—just in case—and quietly set off out of her home and through the village, heading up toward the mountains. The day was foggy, making it hard for her to see, but she could see enough to assume she was going in the right direction.
She reached the clearing first and looked up in the direction of the castle. She could not see it through the fog, but she knew it was there, and that whatever secrets it held within she would find it. She stepped past the rocks that stuck out of the ground and over to the trees on the other side. This was the closest she had ever been to the castle. She turned back to look at her village, sleeping quietly, then continued into the foliage.
The slope was rather steep, making her legs hurt before she was even half way to the top, but she persisted. She found a road that trucks and cars used to get through the mountains on their way to the wealthier cities, and walked along that up toward the castle. She walked about a mile before a car came whizzing past her, making her jump into the shoulder. She never liked cars. She had never been in one, and had no interest in them at all. She did not even like riding bicycles; she was much more of a pedestrian. A few more cars drove past as she made little progress up to the castle.
She walked about a quarter mile more when a car pulled over in front of her. A woman stepped out and spoke in a dialect of Romanian that Maria had trouble understanding. The woman said, “What are you doing out here in the middle of the road? Are you okay?”
“Yes, I am okay.” Maria said to the woman, who seemed to be having slight trouble understanding Maria’s dialect, too. “I am on my way to the castle.”
“Castle? I didn’t know there was a castle up here.”
“Yes, it is away in the woods. I can’t see it from here, but I know it is up this way.”
“Well would you like a lift? I can get you a lot closer quicker. I don’t like the idea of a young woman walking along this road alone, vulnerable to being hit.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I must say no. I am capable of making this trek alone, plus I don’t like cars. I think they are vicious beasts.”
“I insist that you come for a lift with me. You will be a lot safer inside the car than outside. I won’t feel comfortable unless you accept my offer.”
Maria could see the sincerity in the woman’s words. The woman wanted to genuinely help Maria, and seemed to be insistent that her car was perfectly safe. After consideration, Maria agreed to take the woman up on her offer and thanked her for her kindness.
The car was rather comfortable, and Maria’s legs were also appreciative for the break. The woman had introduced herself as Elena Verasco when they climbed into the car, and said she was from New York on a vacation through Europe—currently driving to Prague in Czechoslovakia. Maria had no idea where that was. She knew very little about places outside her own village, but Elena was more than glad to talk about the places she has visited—Prague, Paris, Amsterdam, London, Rome, New York—all places that Maria had never heard of before. The only place that Elena mentioned that Maria had a vague idea about was Bucharest, which Maria had heard of from travelers, where Elena said she was now driving from. Maria found this really interesting and wanted so much to do like Elena and travel to places outside of Romania.
Elena soon changed the subject, “So, what is the name of this castle?”
“Name?” Maria repeated, puzzled. “I don’t know any name; I just know it is a very old castle. It is supposedly haunted.”
“Haunted, ay? How old would you say this castle is?”
“Oh, this castle has been here forever. Some say it has been here more than two thousand years.”
“Two thousand years? I have never heard of such a place existing, but I suppose it is possible. I would very much like to see this castle. Would you mind if I came with you? It would be a great addition to my sight-seeing.”
“Of course, I would love the company. No one knows what is inside. Anyone who comes up this way is never seen again, but that is just superstitious nonsense. I do believe it is haunted, but I can’t believe that a mere ghost can harm people.”
“Personally, I think the whole ghost thing is preposterous. Once people are dead, they are dead. There is no afterlife or anything of that sort. Let us check this castle out for ourselves. Then we shall tell everyone that the stories are all false.” Maria agreed with the last apart, but not about her idea that ghosts do not exist. This woman obviously has not had to endure the screaming her entire life.
Maria spotted an unlabelled dirt road leading up into the mountains on their right. Maria could not see the castle, but was sure that it was up that road. “The castle is up this road.” Elena saw the road and turned into it. The road winded up into the mountain for a long time before they saw the moss covered walls of the great castle. The road winded along a bit further before coming to the front door of the castle. It was a great, magnificent castle with great, dark spires that gave it an almost ominous look. The front doors were huge, wooden slabs that had been withered away with time. Moss covered the entire front side of the wall, and the jungle around it looked like it had not been taken care of ever.
“For being two thousand years old, this castle looks in remarkably good shape.” Exclaimed Elena.
“My people say that a wicked witch lived here a very long time ago. That is why nobody has come up here since the mob that killed her well over one thousand five hundred years ago. They know that her ghost still haunts this place and won’t risk themselves to come up here.”
“If your people are so afraid of this place, why have you come up here?”
“I have to know. I have to see the ghost for myself. I want to be the first to return to my village after coming up here.”
“How adventurous of you.”
“Shall we go in?”
Elena nodded her agreement and the both of them went to work on opening the door. They had much trouble forcing it open, but the rot worked too their advantage. The hinges soon broke off, sending Maria off balance and onto the ground. Maria got back onto her feet, laughing in embarrassment.
“Are you okay?” asked Elena.
“Yes, I am fine. Thank you.”
With that, Maria took the lead to step through the doorway.
The exterior had been completely deceptive. Apart from a few spider webs, the inside looked simply immaculate. Before them lay a massive staircase that looked like it had just been installed. Tapestries and other décor looked as if they had just been made, and there seemed to be not a speck of dirt anywhere. The two of them were in awe.
“This place is magnificent.” Remarked Elena as she took out her camera and started to take pictures.
Maria could not believe her eyes. She had never imagined the castle to look this exquisite. She slowly wandered deeper into the castle, drawn by her fascination. Her wandering took her down a passageway behind the staircase, into a maze of corridors, but somehow she knew where she was going.
The passageway wound deep into the castle. Maria followed it in a trance-like state. Her mind did not once pass over Elena while she was down here. It was only until she reached another staircase that lead upward. Maria came to her own senses when she reached the bottom of these steps, slightly confused and scared as to how she got to where she was. She looked around to find that Elena was nowhere to be seen. She wanted to run back and find Elena, but something was pulling her, urging her up. She climbed the steps to find herself in another hallway that stunk of something that Maria could not identify, but whatever it was, she did not find it pleasant. Maria walked down this hallway, further toward the smell. She wanted to turn and run away, back to her village, but she could not. Her body kept her moving toward the hell she was imagining at the end of the hallway.
She reached a large door, upon which little pictures were carved. It looked as if it was meant to convey some sort of message to the reader, but Maria could not grasp the meaning of such scribbling. All sense told her to heed the possible warning and turn away, but her curiosity led her forward to open the door.
Inside she found what her imaginations of hell had not prepared her for. The stench was overpowering, and made Maria dizzy. She reached out for a wall to steady herself, but came into contact with a substance that was slimy and sticky. She turned to look at what she placed her hand on. She saw, to her horror that it was a human body hung upside down, slowly rotting away — the sight of which made her even dizzier. She now saw that all around here were hundreds of other bodies similarly hung. Maria fainted at the sight.

Elena had been too busy snapping shots to notice Maria wander off. By the time her camera stopped flashing, Maria was gone. Elena looked around and could not see any trace of where Maria had gone. She called out her name, but did not receive any response. She guessed that Maria had gone upstairs and decided to follow up that way. The stairs led up to a small landing that was quite bare compared to the downstairs. There were only two doors available to her—one on either side of her. She decided to take the door on her left.
Behind the door, Elena discovered that she was in a great long hallway, even less remarkable than the landing. She found it bizarre that there were no doors in the hallway, not any lights. She was relying on the light coming in through the glass-less windows to navigate her way. She also noticed that the further away from the entrance hall she got, the less effort that was put into design and décor. She felt like she was walking for ages through an endless maze. Curiosity of where this passage led prevented her from turning around and going back to the entrance hall. After several turns, she came to set of winding stairs, each step about an inch high that required several turns just to get to the next floor. Elena had heard of people with bone illnesses who could not lift their legs more than a couple inches off the ground. She determined that whoever lived in this place was one with such an illness.
At the top of the steps, she found herself in front of a small wooden doorframe, with the door smashed inward. Elena deduced that this was where the mob that Maria had talked about had come to kill the witch. She stepped inside and, to her surprise, she saw a woman, not much older than she, sitting on a bed. The woman looked to be in great misery.
“Excuse me.” Said Elena.
The woman looked up, startled, as if she had not heard Elena come in. “Oh. Hello.” She said, suddenly acting as if she were completely happy. “Who are you?”
“My name is Elena. May I ask who you are?”
“Of course. I am Madam Betuké. I own this castle you are currently in.”
Elena was suddenly greatly embarrassed. “Oh my, I bed your pardon. I was told that this castle was uninhabited. This woman and I came in to look. I did not mean to intrude upon your space.”
“It is okay.” Betuké said calmly. “In fact, I am quite glad you came. I have longed company for quite a while. Will you come into my tea room and join me, please?” Before Elena could object, Betuké walked through another small room on the other side of the room. Elena followed.
“I hate to decline this lovely invitation, but I must go find my friend. She is somewhere in the castle.”
“Oh, don’t worry, my dear. This castle has a way of bringing people around in a circle. Your friend will find us eventually, you need not worry. Please sit with me.”
Elena was not entirely convinced, but she did not want to insult her host, so she took a seat at a little table with Betuké as Betuké poured into each of their little cups. The tea was hot, as if just made, and for a woman with no company, Betuké was certainly prepared for guests. Either she was preparing for the chance she might have a guest, or she knew that Elena was coming. Elena let Betuké take the first sip of tea out of suspicion, but tried to let on. After Betuké had taken her sip without adverse side-effects, so did Elena.
“So,” started Betuké, “How did you come to this castle of mine?”
“The woman with me, Maria, I found wandering along the road a few miles back. I knew cars were used to speeding along that road at quite unsafe speeds, so when I saw her, I pulled over and offered her a lift to wherever she was going. She then told me about this castle that she was on her way to see. She told me it was more than two thousand years old and that nobody lived in it. So I asked if I could come along. So is it true that this castle is that old?”
“Oh, yes, it is. It was built a very long time ago by one of my ancestors. I live up here in complete isolation and long to have company.”
“Why don’t you ever leave if you wish for company?”
“I cannot leave. I would not be accepted by the people outside. I would much rather stay here alone than suffer their judgment.”
Elena did not know how to respond to that. She knew what people were like, but she did not see what was so odd about Betuké that would draw such attention to her. Elena took another sip from her cup of tea. She looked out the window to see that the sun was getting rather low. She was supposed to be in Prague by tomorrow. She had to find Maria and get going.
“I must apologize, Madam Betuké, but I really must get going I have a long journey to make. I must go find my friend.”
“Very well,” said Betuké with a hint of disappointment in her voice. “I will come help you find your friend.”
Elena and Betuké left the tea steaming on the table and left out the way Elena came. They went down the stairs and the hallway that Elena had come up, back to the landing at the top of the great staircase. Betuké suggested that they split up to look for the girl and entered the room on the other side of the landing before Elena could object. Elena had no other option than to descend the stairs and look for a way down there.
She reached the bottom of the staircase and walked around to see if there were any doors. The front door was still open from when Maria forced it open and a cold draft blew in, sending a slight chill down Elena’s spine. She eventually found a hidden passageway behind the staircase that she had not noticed earlier on. She headed down into the darkness. She had gone a little way when she heard mumbled, unintelligible speech come from ahead. She stopped in her tracks, straining to listen to determine what it was. The mumbling was coming closer and closer. Elena was getting afraid, but stayed to see what it was. She soon saw Maria emerge from the darkness staggering and covered in blood.
“Oh my god, Maria. What happened to you?”
Maria saw her and quickly ran to embrace her. As she held onto Elena she mumbled something incoherent. Elena was only able to catch the word “dead.” She knew that Betuké had to be involved, so she took Elena to sneak her out quietly. She had to half carry Maria because the girl seemed unable to move faster than a stagger. It took them longer to reach the entrance hall, and Elena was perplexed by what they found. The front door had been closed while she was fetching Maria. Elena looked around, but did not manage to see anybody about to have closed it. She ran to the door and tried to force it back open, but it just would not budge.
Elena ceased her attempts at opening the door and ran back to Maria. Maria was watching Elena in her attempts to get out. Elena ran back to her and said, “We need to find a way out of here, but try and avoid that woman, Betuké. Do you understand?”
To her relief, Maria nodded her head in understanding. With that, Elena took Maria by the arm and pulled her up the stairs. She did not know which way to go to avoid Betuké. She had seen Betuké go through the door on the right, but she could have easily gone back through the door on the left up to her bed chamber. Elena was stuck in her dilemma. Her decision was soon chosen for her when Betuké emerged from the door on the left.
Betuké spoke, “Ah, I see you have found your friend. My lord, what on earth happened to her?”
“Get away from us, witch.” Elena screamed. “You did something to my friend. What did you do?”
“I did nothing. I was with you the entire time.”
Elena nodded to the door on the right and said, “I saw you go through that door. How did you end up on that side?”
“Dear, I know this castle better than I know myself. On that side there are about a hundred different ways that a person can go. I checked the first one that came to my mind, which was the one that circled back around to my bed chamber. I see, however, that you found her. Now let us go let the poor girl wash up. She looks dreadful.”
Maria decided to join in at this point. “I saw…I saw the bodies. D..Dead bodies.”
“Oh, you do not understand. I mean you no harm. Please come with me and I shall explain everything.”
“Care to explain why the front door has been closed?”
“Has it? I did not do that. Someone followed you here.”
Elena did not trust Betuké at all. She knew that whatever Betuké had to say would most likely be a lie. She grabbed Maria and ran for the door on the right, slamming it shut behind her.

By this point, Maria had regained her composure and was now able to move without Elena’s assistance. They ran as fast as they could past hundreds of doors leading to unknown places. They ran to the end of the hall where they reached a spiral staircase that wound upward. Maria was the first one on the stairs, climbing as fast as her legs would take her. She was still woozy from the sight of the bodies, but she did not slow down. She knew that that woman Elena was talking to was the witch that she had been told tales about, and wanted to get as far away from her as possible.
The staircase ended at the top of one of the large towers that flanked the front wall. Maria saw a large glassless window looking over where they had parked the car. She was shocked at the sight she saw. Standing beside the car was her Tată and other men of her village standing as if guarding the door. Maria yelled down, “Tată, Tată. Up here, Tată.”
Tată looked up at her, but he did not look happy to see her.
“Tată, help us. The witch is after us. Please help us.”
“I’m sorry,” Tată said, glumly, “You did not listen to the tales that said to stay away from this evil place. You cursed yourself by coming here, and by returning home you curse the rest of us, too. You cannot come home. You belong to the witch now. May God take pity upon your cursed soul.”
“What? No, Tată, no. I did not mean to come here. Please, Tată. Help us.”
Tată turned and walked away. Maria continued to call out his name, but he pretended not to hear her. The other men stood as stoic as they could, prepared to take any action necessary to keep the evil inside.
Maria collapsed by the window in despair.
“What happened?” asked Elena.
“They won’t let us leave. We’re trapped in here with her.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll find another way…”
“Yeah, but we won’t if we’re stuck up here.”
Elena agreed and went to look out the window.
“I can see in the window of the other tower. Betuké is in there sitting. If she is evil as you say, why is she not coming after us?”
“I do not know, but I do know that the sky is getting progressively darker. The screaming starts when it gets dark. I would like to leave soon.”
Elena agreed once again, and the two of them descended the stairs, determined to find another way out. Back down in the hallway, the two of them took every turn they saw and checked almost every door to find anything that might help them to escape. They did not succeed before they heard it. A loud, mournful scream pierced air, sounding as if it was coming from every direction. It chilled them both down to the bone.
“Is that her? Is that Betuké screaming?” asked Elena.
“It’s the witch. We have to go. I do not want to stay here any longer.”
The entire castle seemed to vibrate with the screaming. Maria was able to function and keep looking for a way out, but Elena seemed to be having difficulty. She seemed to get rather sluggish and unfocused. Maria tried to speak to her, but she did not get much response back.
“I…I can’t do it.” Elena mumbled and collapsed where was.
“What’s wrong? What can’t you do?”
“I can’t go on. It’s no use. We’re not getting out. We belong to her.”
“No, Elena. We don’t. You have to get up. You have to come with me.”
“No. Can’t. No hope.” Elena was slowly fading out of consciousness.
Maria stooped to try and coax Elena up and to continue, but it was useless. Why was Elena being affected like this? Maria felt fine. She wondered what it meant. Was everyone outside the castle suffering as Elena was? Maria gave up trying to get Elena to move and sat down beside the woman. She cradled Elena’s head in her arms covering up Elena’s ears in the hopes that it would at least muffle the screams for her. This seemed to work a little bit because Elena seemed to relax a bit.
Maria held Elena all through the night. She felt pangs of guilt since it was because of Maria that Elena came. She should have never gotten in the car with Elena. She should have refused her and continued to refuse. She wanted to see this evil for herself. She wanted I know. Elena knew nothing about the tales. How was she to know what she was getting herself into? Maria knew, though. She should have warned Elena and made her stay away. Now because she did not, Elena was lying here in an almost catatonic state. Maria wanted to cry, but she resolved to stay strong for the both of them.
The screaming seemed to go on forever. Maria could feel exhaustion taking over her, but fought to stay awake. She could not let her guard down while they were still vulnerable to that witch. Hours dragged by and Maria started hallucinating. She thought she was seeing dark figures moving in the shadows and voices shouting at her from within her subconscious. She did her best to resist them, but they were breaking her down piece by piece. Eventually exhaustion caught up with her and she drifted off into a deep, dreamless slumber.
Maria woke up to the feeling of hard stone beneath her. She looked about her to see that she was tied down to a stone slab in the middle of a dark, dank room. She felt an intense heat at her feet and looked down at them to see that they were in front of a raging furnace, soaking her legs in perspiration. Elena was on a stone slab next to Maria, but she was still unconscious. Maria called her name to try and rouse her, but it proved futile. Maria could not see much in the room due to the fact that the only light came from a small slit in the ceiling that led to the open air. She could, however, hear footsteps approaching from behind her. She tried to look above her head, but she was unable to tilt her head far enough to see.
She soon saw Betuké walk into view on the other side of Elena. She had a menacing look on her face as she looked over Elena’s body. She seemed to have expected this, but she seemed perplexed when she looked at Maria.
“Why are you not like this one?” Betuké asked Maria.
“Huh?”
“Look at her. She is rigid. She has pretty much given up life. This is normal for all those who hear the screams to go into a shock state like this. You, however, are not. Why is that?”
“I…I don’t know.”
“Are you, by any chance, from the village at the base of these mountains?”
“Yes.”
“Ah, that could be it. Only those from the village are unaffected by it. It is very rare that I have someone from there come up here. They are all too scared to come close. What makes you different?”
“What are you going to do to us?” Maria noticed her voice was a bit shaky.
Betuké ignored the question, “I think that since your people grow up to the screams and live with them all their lives, it does not affect them. This must be why you are still conscious, while your friend is not.”
Maria did not care. She wanted to be free. “What are you going to do to us!?” she asked louder.
“Hush your pretty mouth. You do not need to know what I am going to do. Just know that I shall be set you both free in just a moment.” Betuké’s menacing grin came back, “You see, living in these mountains all these centuries has taught me many things, like new magicks that I never dreamed of back in my home of Egypt. For one, I learned how to preserve myself. Okay, I kind of failed it the first time around in my original body. That one was just too old and withered. Thankfully your people came and released me from that body. I quickly used what I had learned to possess a young woman who had stayed behind to watch my ashes. Nobody knew the wiser until I up and left back up to the castle. They must have assumed that the young woman had been consumed by evil.
“I then used a spell I learned to preserve the body I was in forever, without it aging or breaking. It was perfect. The only flaw through the whole ordeal is that a part of my spirit has remained in the castle ever since my original body was destroyed. That is what has been screaming. The scream seems to have a quality that drains the person of their will to exist. It seemed to work to my advantage since with my prolonged life came a profound hunger. I seem to get a lot of youngsters passing by here who get side-tracked by the site of this castle, as well as any workers I hire to work on the castle. I meet them, make sure they cannot leave, and then when they hear the screams they become like your friend here. It makes them a lot less defensive. This time I seem to have a audience to my feeding. Do not worry, though. You will not have to live with the memory for long. I shall soon turn you to ash like your ancestors did to me.”
The entire time that Betuké was talking, Maria had been working at the rope tied around her hand on the opposite side of the slab from Betuké. Some of what she said managed to make sense and linked with certain things she remembered in the past, but she was more concerned with getting herself out. She was still curious, however, about what Betuké was going to do. Betuké looked down at Elena’s body as if inspecting it. Maria knew that whatever Betuké was doing would end in Elena’s death, but she could not help but watch. She still worked at the rope trying to untie herself so she could get them both out.
Betuké unbuttoned Elena’s blouse and picked up a scalpel from a table behind her. She brought the scalpel down upon Elena’s body, cutting through the bra, piercing the skin. A line was cut down between Elena’s breasts and down to her belly button. Elena, still alive and partly conscious, was screaming at the pain. Blood ran out of the incision dripping down the table onto the floor. The blood and screaming was too much for Maria to cope. She was feeling queasy. She tried harder now to undo the knot, but it did not seem to be coming loose any faster.
Onc