by Amy Cross
“You want to run?” he asks. “Where will you run to? He can follow you anywhere you go”.
“So what are you saying?” I ask. “Are you saying I should just hang around until he decides it's time to kill me?”
Along the corridor, behind Astley, Patrick appears at the top of the stairs. He's looking at me as if he knows everything, and as if he's sad about what has to happen. I can't shake the feeling that maybe the moment of truth has arrived.
Astley turns to see Patrick. “Hello, old boy,” he says. “Your girlfriend and I were just talking about the good old days”.
Patrick starts walking toward us.
“You can't kill me,” I say to Patrick, backing away. “You can't, I'm... It's me!”
Astley grabs my arm. “This way,” he says, leading me away, around the corner and down a set of back stairs. He stops halfway down. “I'll delay the vampire, you run and get out the back way”.
“He'll kill you,” I say.
“Maybe, maybe not,” says Astley. “But he and I go back a long way, so I can slow him down enough for you to get away”.
“Are you sure?” I ask.
“I'm sure,” he says. “There's no escape for me. I'm doomed. But you can run, Sophie. Just get down into the kitchen, go to the side door and open it, do you understand?”
Nodding, I turn to run, but Astley grabs my arm and pulls me back.
“It's very important that you open the external door,” he insists. “Open it all the way”.
I look up and see Patrick at the top of the stairs. Then, without saying anything, I turn and run, pulling my arm away from Astley's grasp. Eventually I find myself in what appears to be a large kitchen area, with pots bubbling on the stoves. I see a door and run to it, but as I get there I realize that there's someone outside. It's Jessica, the maid from earlier, the one who went down to the bottom of the garden.
“Let me in,” she says, staring at me.
I pull the door, but it's locked. The key's in the lock, though, so I turn it and pull the door open. As I do so, dust falls away, as if the door has been closed for many, many years. “I need to get out of here,” I say to Jessica. “Are you coming with me?”
Jessica steps through the door, and two other maids come with her. There's something odd about them, though, as if they're just staring at me, and they seem to be cold, almost gray They're walking strangely, tottering almost, as if they're walking on ice and they don't have complete control of their limbs.
“Are you okay?” I ask, backing away. I glance over my shoulder. Fortunately, there's still no sign of Patrick. I turn back to Jessica. “What's wrong? I don't have all day, are you coming with me?”
“Let me in,” says Jessica, taking a step towards me.
I look over at the door, which is wide open. “I did,” I say.
“Let me in,” she says again, her eyes fixed on me.
“You're in,” I say, looking around the kitchen. “You're in, okay? I let you in”.
She moves toward me. “Let me in,” she repeats. Behind her, the three lights from the garden seem to be hovering just outside the door. I don't like the idea of running straight into them, so I guess I need to find another way out of here.
“Okay,” I say. “You're being a little bit creepy now. You should probably work on that”. I turn to run, but as I do, Astley staggers into the room, covered in blood and with cuts on his face.
“Sorry,” he says. “I did the best I could. I fought him off, I made him work to get past me. I tried”. He stares at me, and then he smiles. “But you opened the door! Excellent!” And with that, he collapses to the floor just as Patrick steps into the room. He looks at me with that sad, desperate expression on his face that I've seen before.
A hand touches my shoulder. I spin around to find Jessica standing right behind me.
“Let me in,” she says, staring at me intently. “Let me in”.
I pull away and I run. As fast as I can, I run across the kitchen and through another door, and I keep running. There's no way I can stay here. Patrick's too dangerous, and Gothos is too confusing. I still don't understand why Patrick brought me here, but I have this mounting feeling of dread that suggests I really don't want to find out. All I want to do is find a way out of here, and for that I need the help of one person in particular.
Astley
Is this it? Is this death?
Taking a deep breath, I sit up. Of course it's not death. Why must I always be so goddamn melodramatic?
Watching as the maids walk past me, I realize I still have a chance to get a girl into my bed tonight. If it can't be Sophie, then one of the maids will do. Feeling a slight quiver in my loins, I remind myself not to be disheartened. If all goes well, I can get some fun and then be on my way. The whole world is waiting for me, and tonight's the night I'm finally going to escape from Gothos and get out there!
Sophie
The Lock is standing in the corner of the room, a drink in his hand, talking to someone as I run over.
“Get me out of here,” I blurt out as I reach him.
“Excuse me,” says The Lock to his friend. He turns to me. “What's the problem now? I don't suppose you've seen my wife anywhere, have you?”
"Wife?" I ask. "What wife? Patrick's trying to kill me." I grab his arm and try to pull him with me to the door. “You have to help me get out of here. You have to help me get away from him forever”.
“And why would I do that?” The Lock asks. “Look, I'm very sorry if I've mistakenly given you the impression that I'm concerned about your safety, but really, I have more pressing matters to attend to”.
I let go of his arm. “You've got to help me,” I say, looking back over my shoulder. Still no sign of Patrick. Not yet, anyway, but I know he's coming after me.
“Listen,” says The Lock. “Patrick is going to kill you, yes. That's true. It's written in the Book of Gothos. But he's not going to do it yet. Not now. Not for a long time and, frankly, you might not want to hear this, but when he does finally do it, he'll have a very good reason”.
“A reason?” I ask. “What kind of reason could there be?”
The Lock shrugs. “A very good reason. And it will be entirely your fault”.
“If you know everything,” I say, “why won't you just tell me?”
“I'm really very busy,” he says, attempting to turn back to talk to his friend, but I grab him again and pull him back so that he's facing me.
“Why are we here?” I ask him, begging him to answer. “Why did Patrick bring us to Gothos?”
The Lock sighs. “He brought me here because he always knew that the only way to get rid of me would be to bring me back to my wife and family. And he brought you here because... Well, there are many reasons for that. You'll find out, in due course, but let's just say that the Prophecy demanded it”.
“If I just go out the door,” I say slowly, trying to stay calm, “will I be safe? Can I just walk out of here?”
“I have no idea,” says The Lock. “Why don't you try, and if you get anywhere, send me a postcard. But to be honest, I doubt you'll get very far”. He turns back to his friend, and this time I don't try to get his attention back.
Looking across the room, I see that Patrick is standing in the far doorway. He's walking toward me, but I turn and run out into the hallway. I go to the main door, but when I try to open it, I find that it's locked, so I turn and run up the stairs. At the top, I look back and see that Patrick is slowly following me, so I head along the corridor and into the room where I changed into my dress earlier. I push the door shut, then I turn and face the bare room and I realize there's no way out. I go and try the window, but it's locked and, as I keep trying, I hear the door open.
I turn and Patrick is just a few feet away.
We stand in silence for a moment. I've been scared of Patrick before, but never like this. I've never actually believed that he's about to kill me. There's a look in his eyes, though, that seems weighed down with dread. It's as if he doesn't
want to kill me, but he has no choice. I know what The Lock said, but the look in Patrick's eyes right now is similar to the look I saw in the flash from the past, when he was tearing Gothos apart. He's calmer this time, but that same appetite for death and destruction is still apparent.
“Are you here to kill me?” I ask. I wait for some kind of signal from him, some kind of response, but there's nothing. “Because if you are,” I stammer, trying to sound strong, “I'm going to fight you, okay? I won't just get down on the floor and let you sink your teeth into me. I'll fight. I'll shout and I'll scream and I'll make you hurt me. I won't be brave. You'll have to rip me apart, and I'll haunt your fucking dreams for the rest of your miserable, never-ending life, do you understand me?”
He takes a step toward me. After all this time, I still can't read his expression. I have no idea what he's thinking, what he wants. I've never known. I've always assumed that Patrick is a friend, that he cares for me, that he... Well, that he seems me as someone special. But all this time, maybe he's just been keeping me alive because he wants to kill me in his own special way. I wish I understood what's going on, but everything around Patrick seems to be filled with chaos.
“I was trying to work out why you brought me to Gothos,” I say. “And now I realize.. You brought me here to kill me, didn't you?”
Slowly, he shakes his head. He steps closer.
“But you're going to kill me one day, aren't you?” I ask.
He's standing right in front of me now, just inches away. Slowly, he nods.
“You are?” I say. “Well... when the time comes... if the time comes... I'll still fight. You know that, right? When it comes down to it, if it's you versus me, I'll fight you all the way. And if I have to kill you, and if I can kill you, then I will. Do you understand that?”
He stares at me.
"You're not here to kill me," I say eventually. "Are you? Not today."
He shakes his head.
I take a deep breath. "So what are you here for?" I ask. "Why did you bring me to Gothos?"
He steps closer, and then he leans in and kisses me slowly on the lips. I let him, and then I start kissing him too, and for what seems like eternity we stand in that bare room, delicately kissing and then, finally, allowing our tongues to touch as the kiss becomes something more, something more passionate. As he puts a hand on the side of my neck, part of me wonders if this is the prelude to him biting me. I imagine the feel of his teeth sliding into my skin. But no bite comes. We just kiss, and kiss, and kiss, and I realize that when I looked into his eyes earlier and thought I saw hatred, I was actually seeing love.
Slowly, he pushes my dress down until I'm bare-chested, and he runs his hands over my breasts. This is the moment I've been waiting for, even if at times I wasn't sure it was what I wanted. As he gets the dress down to my hips, he simply rips the fabric so that it slides down over my hips, and his thumb catches the sides of my underwear and pulls everything down. I step out of the dress and I'm completely naked in front of him, and we're still kissing. Part of me is screaming to stop this, but somehow it feels so right.
Eventually we go over to the bed, and I start to peel his clothes away until he, too, is naked. He has such a perfect body, I can't stop running my hands over his chest. We get onto the bed and he gets on top of me, and he starts to kiss down my neck and onto my chest, sucking on a nipple as, finally, I feel his large, hot penis slide inside me. As he slowly starts to make love to me, I reach up to his face with my hands and stare deep into his eyes as he stares back at me.
I've been waiting so long for this, and it feels amazing. I wrap my legs around him and reach my hands down to his ass as it rises and falls. The most amazing thing is that for the first time ever, it doesn't hurt to have a guy inside me. I've only ever had sex – or tried to have sex – with two guys before, and both times it was agony and we had to stop. With Patrick, though, it feels perfect and right, and all I'm experiencing is pure pleasure building up through my entire body.
He starts making love to me faster and harder, and my whole body starts to become tense. I can't help but let out a little moan, which is kind of embarrassing but who cares? I kiss him hard and deep, as passionately as I've ever kissed anyone, and I start to feel his rhythm increasing as he starts kissing my neck again. I run my hands down his bare back, feeling his muscles and trying to withstand the force and power of his love-making.
And finally it happens.
As I reach orgasm, I pull him as tight against my body as possible, and I feel him reaching his climax too. I gasp as a wave of pure ecstasy jolts through me, and then I un-tense my body and try to catch my breath. I keep him held tight against me as I listen to his rapid breathing, and it feels as if we're lovers trapped in one moment of time.
Astley
Well, this is fun to watch. Even in my damaged, bruised and bleeding state, I can still get off on watching two people having sex on a bed in my spare room. Especially when one of them's the vampire who destroyed my home, and the other is a hot girl who I'll be killing later. Okay, sure, this whole situation is a little fucked up, but you get used to fucked up things happening around Gothos. Seriously, if this is the most fucked up thing that happens today, we're all getting off pretty light.
Once they've both 'finished', so to speak, I don't hang about for the pillow talk. I head out of the room and back along the corridor. When I get to the top of the stairs, I find that the three maids are halfway up already. They're walking slowly, still adjusting to their new bodies. They're not dangerous at the moment, but their time will come. Soon, they'll learn how to walk properly, and how to coordinate their powers. Then, finally, these gods will get to burn out in a manner befitting their legendary status.
I walk down the stairs, and when I get to the hallway I find The Lock is waiting for me.
“Is it done?” he asks.
I nod.
He laughs. “For a moment, I thought it might not happen”.
“It was always going to happen,” I reply. “The vampire knows it. You know it. I know it. The only person who doesn't really understand is Sophie herself”. I pause for a moment. "She even got a glimpse of the girl earlier. She said she saw a girl who looked like her. You know what that means, don't you?"
"I think I do, yes."
I pause for a moment. "So what's her name going to be?"
"The child?" He smiles. "Abigail."
"Abigail?" I consider the name for a moment. "Not bad. So it's to be a girl, is it?"
“And what about them?” The Lock asks, indicating the three unsteady gods slowly making their way upstairs. “How long before they break?”
I shrug. “I don't really care,” I say. “I'm out of here anyway. I'll just get what I want from the girl, then I'll be gone from Gothos forever. It should be rather enjoyable to explore the gardens now that they're safe”.
“You can't kill the girl,” says The Lock. “She needs to live a little longer”.
Sighing, I realize that he's right. Now that Patrick has sealed the deal, so to speak, the prophecy is stronger than ever. My designs on Sophie will have to be put on hold, probably forever.
“Will he ever say it?” I ask. “Will he ever say the word that brings back the other vampires?”
The Lock glances at the grandfather clock in the corner. “Of course he won't,” he says. “He detests all other vampires. He will go to his grave without ever risking seeing another”.
“And he knows nothing of our friend Mr. Tarmey?” I ask.
“Nothing,” says The Lock. “Tarmey remains sealed in a room made of lead, and he's quite insane. Besides, he's not what he seems to be. He's just another in a long line of pretenders”.
This is the best news I've heard for a long time. I have been planning all of this for so long, it's almost impossible to believe it's all coming together. I have tested the vampire and the girl for months. I gathered together an assortment of creatures to send to attack them, and each one failed. I released the last of the
Sentinels, I drove the wolves from their kingdom, I set loose the Tenderling King, I planted the seed that became Martin Keller, I even loosened Deck from her chains, although Deck simply ran rather than attempting to confront the vampire. Finally, after I sent Keller to kill Vincent, the vampire chose to come back to me of his own free will, and he brought the girl with him.
“I have no further need of you,” I say to The Lock. “You have opened all the doors that I needed you to open”.
The Lock sighs. “Is it time?”
“You won't fight, will you?” I ask.
“No,” he says. “But will you at least do one thing for me? Will you make it a quick, painless death?”
I think about this for a moment. “Sorry,” I say. “It's not up to me. You know I can't fight the urges”.
He nods, accepting his fate, and he turns as he hears my mother walking up behind him.
“You'd better go with mother,” I say, and he does. I'm sure they'll be very happy together, although I hope she at least toys with him for a while first. I like it when she plays with her food.
Sophie
“I didn't think...” I start to say, but I don't know how to finish the sentence. “I mean, I thought...” I look at his face, and for once I feel as if I understand what he's thinking as he looks back at me with an expression of genuine tenderness. “I wasn't sure,” I say finally, “if that was what you wanted”.
He opens his mouth, and for a moment I'm absolutely convinced that he's about to say something. I wait, wondering what his first word to me will be, what his voice will sound like, but finally he closes his mouth and I see the tenderness recede from his face, replaced by his usual inscrutability.
Slowly, he slides his penis out of me and rolls off my body. I have no idea what to do, so I just stay where I am, flat on my back and naked, and still out of breath. Patrick is sitting on the side of the bed, with his back to me.
“I'm sorry I ran,” I say. “I thought you wanted to kill me”. I wait for him to say something, but of course he remains silent. “I kinda still do think that, but...”