by Amy Cross
***
An hour later, having delicately sidestepped a few more of Edgar's attempts to get her to stay, Kate found herself walking along the narrow dirt path that led down from the mansion to the town. She was accompanied by one of Edgar's men, although her companion had said nothing so far and even his face was mostly hidden in shadow, as if he was there to do his job and nothing more. Most people would have found the situation awkward, but Kate was actually glad that there was no pressure to make small-talk.
“It's okay,” she said finally, stopping and turning to the man as they reached the first house on the outskirts of the town. “I can take it alone from here. Thanks, though. It was very nice of you to come with me this far.”
The man nodded, and then immediately turned and started the walk back to the mansion. Kate looked up at the building up on the hill, which for once was lit with the lights of a grand party. The faintest hint of music was drifting across the entire island, and Kate couldn't help but smile as she realized that in less than a week, Edgar Le Compte had most definitely made his mark on Thaxos. After a moment, however, the smile faded as she thought of him living up there with that Didi girl, who he seemed to dislike.
And then suddenly, as if with the snap of someone's fingers, the music stopped and the lights dimmed. Kate waited for a moment to see what would happen next, but gradually the rest of the lights began to go dark.
Taking off her shoes, Kate walked barefoot back to Ephram's house.
VIII
The dream was the same as the one before, and the one before that, and all the ones that had come over the past month, except for one crucial difference.
This time, she was scared.
Kate stepped back into the shadows, listening to the sound of footsteps echoing through the mansion's dark, empty corridors. She was lost, unable to find the main door so she could escape; or rather, she'd found the place where the main door had previously been, but now it was gone, replaced by a blank wall. She felt certain that the layout of the mansion was changing around her, shifting its walls and doors in an attempt to trick her, and she couldn't shake the feeling that in this manner she was slowly being delivered to some pre-determined, desired location.
She held her breath as the footsteps came even closer.
Someone was in the room with her.
“Kate?” Edgar called out. “I only want to talk to you.”
Still holding her breath, she waited for him to leave, but all she heard was the faint buzz of absolute silence.
“Kate?”
She waited, holding her breath long past the point at which it was comfortable. She was convinced that if she made even the faintest noise, she'd be heard, so she waited and waited until finally she heard footsteps heading away across the marble floor. She waited even longer, before finally allowing herself to breathe again. She had no idea where to run next, but she -
Suddenly she felt a man's breath on her neck, and a hand touched her waist, resting on the fabric of her dress. She wanted to run, but just like in all the other dreams, Edgar's touch seemed to paralyze her. She waited as his other hand reached around, gently stroking her hip before moving up toward her chest and clutching her breast through the fabric of her dress. As she braced herself for the moment when she'd inevitably wake up, she realized that this dream was lasting longer than usual. Edgar's hand moved up to her shoulder, and Kate began to hold her breath again as she felt the strap of her dress being slipped down.
She waited. She'd always woken up by this point in the past, but now something very different was happening.
Edgar's hand slipped the dress down, pulling the fabric over her right breast and exposing first the nipple, then the underside, and then the upper part of her belly. Slowly he did the same to the other side of the dress until she was topless, and yet still she couldn't move as his hands slipped the dress down further, over her hips and then further still.
She tried to tell him to stop, but she couldn't.