The Nightmare Game

by Martin, S. Suzanne

  Ben bent down to my eye level, looked at me with a serious, concerned expression and began to stroke my hair lightly to comfort me.

  “Surely that can’t be. I could hear a commotion going on, but this must be some kind of bad misunderstanding.”

  I shook my head vehemently.

  “Where is he?

  I pointed to the gallery. “Staircase,” is all that came out.

  “Well, let’s go find him, then, and see if we can’t straighten this out, okay?”

  Instinctively, I shrank. Confronting Geoffrey again was an idea that appalled me. Ben noticed this and in a fatherly manner put his arm around me.

  “Don’t worry, Ashley, I won’t let him hurt you.”

  We turned the corner into the gallery and saw Geoffrey standing casually on the stairs, a sneer still on his face.

  “Problem, Ben?” he asked nonchalantly.

  “I’ll say there is, Geoff. Ashley’s scared to death and you woke up the whole house with your yelling. Mind telling me what’s going on here?”

  “Why, nothing, Ben, my dearest, nothing at all,” he said calmly while he leisurely descended the stairs and sauntered over. “It’s only that I’ve discovered that our seemingly innocent little guest Ashley is, in reality, a traitor that is out to destroy not only us but our beloved Goddess Arrosha as well.”

  “What? Geoffrey, are you out of your mind?”

  “No, sweet Benjamin, just informed.”

  “I certainly hope you’ve got proof to back up this accusation.”

  “Oh, yes, darling, lots and lots of it.”

  “You want to show it to me?”

  “I’d love nothing more than to show it to you,” he answered, walking back toward the spiral staircase. “Just make sure that someone keeps an eye on that one,” he said, pointing to me, “and follow me.”

  By now the rest of the household were standing in the hallway, silently watching the scene unfold. Ben called Illea forward.

  “Illea, can you take Ashley back to bed?”

  “Sure, Ben,” she said, a worried look upon her face. “No problem. C’mon, Ashley, let’s try to get you some rest.”

  “Ashley,” Ben asked. “Can I trust you to stay in your room until I can get this straightened out?”

  I nodded wearily. I was emotionally exhausted and there was nowhere else I could think to go.

  As Illea and I walked by the others, who were now looking at me as if I were suddenly dangerous and whispering earnestly among themselves, Ricky approached me, tentatively voicing the questions everyone else was thinking.

  “Ashley, what happened with you and Geoffrey? Are you really here to hurt us?”

  I couldn’t tell them the truth about myself, but I was too worn out mentally to make up a convincing lie, so I kept my answer as simple as possible.

  “I would never want to hurt any of you guys,” I told him. “I really have no idea why I came to be here.”

  “Is it true that Geoffrey has proof of his accusations?” Robert asked me in a manner that belied that I was no longer as attractive a prospect to him as I was before.

  “I don’t see how what he showed me could be considered proof of anything to any of you,” I answered truthfully. It had been to me, but only because it had reawakened my memories. It had been to Geoffrey, but only because, when pieced together with Arrosha’s private instructions to him, his paranoid brain had actually stumbled upon the truth. In actuality, until Arrosha backed him up, all he really had was a group of photos clipped together. That meant I had a little time before the whole story hit the fan, but probably not much.

  “Alright, everybody,” Illea said. “That’s enough. Ashley’s going back to bed now. She’s been through a lot tonight. I’m sure that Ben’ll be down in a few minutes and then he’ll tell us everything that’s going on.”

  We walked through the now-silent group on our way to the bedrooms. No one else made another comment except for the Three Sisters, who merely giggled in unison as we passed them.

  We entered our room and Illea closed the door behind us.

  “Let’s keep the curiosity seekers out, shall we?” she said, softly closing the door. “Ashley, you need some water right now. Why don’t you sit down and I’ll get you some”

  “No!” I exclaimed so forcefully it set Illea aback. I could never take another drink of that poison again. I wasn’t thirsty at all, but I had to admit that I now intensely craved the liquid in order to calm my nerves. “I mean, thanks a lot, but I just really need to sit down right now. Sorry,” I added because she looked hurt. “Didn’t mean to snap at you, I’m just feeling really shaken right now.”

  “Here, let me at least get you a fresh glass for your night stand. You’ll want some later and it’ll be right here, okay?”

  Under normal circumstances, I would have appreciated Illea’s need to mother people, but right now she was just making me even more nervous. But I just nodded and said, “Sure, Illea, thanks a lot. I appreciate your help.”

  Still feeling stunned, I sat down on the edge of my bed while Illea performed the task she needed in order to keep herself busy and calm. She was visibly upset by the small part of Geoffrey’s scene that she had overheard, as I was sure were most of the others. Apparently, over the years, the water had succeeded in its job of keeping them all harmonious and docile. Tonight’s events were a rare, upsetting aberration. After placing the full glass on my night stand, she sat on the bedspread next to me and searched my face for any information that she could find there.

  “Ashley, what happened with you and Geoff?” she asked.

  “It was so strange,” I told her, trying to dissuade much questioning. “I don’t know how to describe it.”

  “Do you need to talk about it?”

  “No. Thanks a lot, Illea, but if it’s okay with you, I think I’d rather be alone. Tonight’s been so bizarre that I really need to be alone with my thoughts and try to make sense of what happened.”

  “Sure, Ashley. I understand completely. You can stay here, lie down and relax if you can. I’m going to go out and wait with the others for Ben. There’s no way I’m going to be able to go back to sleep until this thing gets resolved.”

  “Thanks, Illea,” I said half-heartedly, wanting to be alone but realizing that the odds of anything at this point being resolved in my favor were slim to none.

  As she closed the door behind her from the outside, I walked over and locked it, doing the same with the bathroom door. The last thing I wanted was for either Geoffrey or those three strange women to barge in on me. I just wouldn’t be able to handle dealing with them right now. I walked over to the bed and flopped down upon the bedspread, finally able to take in a few deep breaths. My mind raced as it sunk in fully just how screwed I really was. I didn’t see how I could survive this. Unable to relax, I got back up a minute later and, turning the light out, I peeked out of the drapes to see if escape looked as dismal from this side of the house. Once again I saw the twinkling lights in the grounds down below, lights I no longer found charming now that I knew what they actually were. A full, bright moon shone down upon the land, and I could see that the rear grounds rose slightly as they went back, enabling me to see with my so recently improved vision so much farther than I would normally be able. The fiends were standing in wait at the perimeter. They were just inside the woods, not very far past the reflecting pool where I had stood yesterday, blissfully ignorant and completely unaware of their presence. Had they been hiding in those woods the entire time, just waiting for me to set foot outside of some invisible barrier? The thought made me shudder.

  I closed the drapes and turned the lights back on again. What was I going to do? I had to get out of here. My urge to run was overwhelming; that I had nowhere to run was the only thing keeping me here. But wait, there was a way out of here, wasn’t there, a way that lead to New Orleans, a way that lead back to the real world. Geoffrey had upset me to the point that I’d forgotten about it in the fracas because I’d ne
ver actually seen it or used it. The mysterious voice last night was calling me upstairs to the third floor, to escape through an exit that must have been the one that the group used all the time. I had almost completely forgotten about it. There were several drawbacks right off the bat. First, I didn’t know exactly where the gateway was or even what it looked like. Second, it lead directly to The Crypt and I didn’t want to go there, but at this point, almost anywhere was better than here. Whatever it was, it had to be on the third floor, the one place I was not allowed, the one place that I needed Rochere’s express approval to be and now I knew the reason. That’s why the voice called me up there to escape, that’s why Geoffrey was so angry at my attempts to climb the spiral staircase. I needed to go up there, it was my way out. I couldn’t do that at this moment, because Ben and Geoffrey were there now, but as soon as they came down, I would sneak up to make my escape.

  The knock on the door was soft, but even so, it made me jump. I stopped my unconscious pacing as the person addressed himself.

  “Ashley, it’s Ben. Can I come in? I need to talk to you.”

  “Sure,” I answered, hit by a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, a feeling I normally associated with the anticipation of a breakup or getting fired from a job.

  I walked over and unlocked the door. Ben entered, a serious, worried look on his face. I could see that he didn’t want to tell me his news any more than I wanted to hear it. We both walked over to the foot of my bed where he sat down, indicating I do the same.

  “Ashley,” he said. “I don’t know what to say. Geoffrey’s making some very serious allegations against you.”

  “I know,” I admitted.

  “Are any of them true?”

  “Honestly, Ben, after all that Geoffrey said to me, I still don’t know how he came to any of his conclusions. I have no idea why I wound up here.” I felt safe giving him pretty much the same generic answer that I gave the others because it was almost true.

  “He said that you knew who the people that were in the clippings and photos in the trunk.”

  “No, Ben, he’s wrong. I don’t,” I answered him. While I recognized who the people in the separate box were, I did, in truth, not know who those in the trunk were. While I suspected they were those that Edmond had called that hadn’t made it through the game, it was still only an educated assumption on my part. Even when it came to Virginia and Marcus, I was acquainted with them, but I couldn’t actually claim to know them. I realized I was being disingenuous, but the whole truth would be dangerous to me now.

  Ben looked deeply into my eyes, studying them, trying to see if I was keeping anything from him. I kept my expression as neutral as possible, concentrating my thoughts on what I did not know rather than on what I did. I knew I was a bad liar by nature and wanted to avoid having to lie to Ben outright. He was a trusting man but still astute. I wanted to tell him everything, I wanted to tell him that I needed his help, that I needed him to get me out of here, back to the city, but I couldn’t. Even though Ben was a good man that I most likely could have trusted with my life under normal circumstances, I could tell by the suspicion upon his face that I couldn’t trust him now. Geoffrey had accused me of being far worse than a mere infidel to the goddess that he worshiped to the very depths of his soul, a goddess he thought to be true, a goddess that I alone, in this entire mansion, knew to be false, knew for the horror she really was. He’d accused me of trying to destroy this entire group. Geoffrey, with his self-serving ways, was dangerous enough. Would Ben, who was not only simply a true believer but also the closest thing to a high priest that this cult had to offer, be even more dangerous? I couldn’t chance it. There was a lot more at stake here than even my life.

  When he said nothing, to break up the tension, I added, “I do know, though, that Geoffrey’s hated me since I came here.” That much was certainly true enough. “He admitted as much tonight.”

  “Well,” he said, finally taking his intense scrutiny off of me,” I do know that in whatever is going on, if it even does amount to anything, Geoffrey badly overstepped his authority tonight. He should never have treated you that way and I’m sorry that he went off on you like that. He’s lately had a talent for blowing things out of proportion. He loves the drama. If he had suspicions, he should have come to me first and even if he didn’t want to do that, he should especially have talked it over with Arrosha first. He most certainly should never have gone over her head.”

  “I think he was trying to impress her.” I knew that was the case, but I didn’t want Ben think that I was too sure about anything. I figured that at this point, playing dumb would keep me alive the longest.

  Ben shook his head sadly. “I don’t know what’s gotten into him lately. I’ve just about had it with him. It frightens me, Ashley. He’s started to act like he used to, back in our previous life. He’s been such a little shit these days, just like he was back then. I love Geoffrey dearly, he’s always been the love of my life, but if he’s reverting back to his old self,” Ben said, his eyes becoming moist, “I don’t think I can put up with it. I really don’t think I’m up to going through that again. He put me through so much before, it ripped my heart out the first time around. I just can’t go through a betrayal from him again.”

  I didn’t know what to say to him.

  “Sorry, Ashley,” he said. “You’ve had enough problems yourself from him tonight.”

  “What’s going to happen now, Ben?” I asked, worried.

  “I honestly don’t know. Nothing like this has ever come up before. There’s no precedent. It’s all up to Arrosha at this point. Geoffrey’s requested an audience with her and she’s approved it. He just left, so he’s in the city now, talking to her.”

  “He just left and he’s in the city already?”

  “Yes.”

  “How is that possible?” I asked, hoping Ben would give me a clue as to how to get out of here.

  “We have a way, our own shortcut to our club, The Crypt.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said, trying not to let my desperation show. Could I convince him to reveal the way out?

  “I haven’t shown it to you yet. Arrosha told me you were not to be allowed up there until she had specifically approved it, which would be sometime after the transformation ceremony.”

  “Oh, okay. I understand,” I said as nonchalantly as possible, trying not to arouse Ben’s suspicions. So it was in the third floor, after all. I was right, the voice had been trying to show me the way out of here all along.

  Ben rose from the bed and waked back over to the door.

  “Listen, I’m sorry but I’m going to have to ask you to stay in here for a few hours and not go wandering about until all of this gets sorted. The others are waiting for me down in the hookah room; they’re anxious for me to tell them what I’ve found out so far. Some of them are pretty upset with you. They think that you may have gotten Arrosha angry at us all by being here, so I think it’s better if you stay put. I think that things will go better for you if you’re not around. They don’t need to see you right now. I’ll fill them in on what I know and then we’ll wait for Geoffrey to get back and give us Arrosha’s assessment.”

  He opened the door and walked out but turned before leaving.

  “Did you lock the bathroom door?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. You might want to lock this one after me again. Geoffrey’s been talking crazy and I don’t want him getting in here when he gets back. I don’t want to give him another opportunity to try to hurt you. Regardless of how this turns out, I’m going to have to talk with Arrosha to see if she knows what’s wrong with him and ask her to fix him.”

  “I know what’s wrong with him. He’s been sneaking in outside water,” I volunteered. I had no reason to protect Geoffrey and every reason not to; and Ben had a right to know what had caused such a drastic change in the love of his life.

  “But that’s disgusting and would have made him very sick,” Ben answered, perplexed. �
��It’s not good for us any more. Why on earth would he do something crazy like that?”

  “He’s been weaning himself back onto it slowly over the last few months. He said the water here made him too forgetful, too docile. I think it had something to do with getting his free will, his autonomy back or something like that.”

  “Oh,” was all he said, but the tone of his voice and the look on his face told me I had hit a nerve. Ben must have had his own suspicions about the water and I had just confirmed them. “Anyway,” he continued, glad to change the subject, “I will be back up here to let you know what’s going on after we talk to Geoffrey. Ashley, I say this for your own safety, don’t try to leave the house. Geoffrey told me there are some kind of creatures out there that will kill you if you do.”

  “The ghouls, yes, I know. They’re the ones that attacked me and almost killed me when I first arrived.”

  “You remember now?”

  “Yes. It all came back to me when I was arguing with Geoffrey. I remember everything now.”

  He glanced over at the water glass and then back at me. “Perhaps it would be best to keep it that way for now,” he said simply, but I understood that he meant for me not to drink from the glass that Illea had poured for me.

  I nodded.

  “And again, please don’t leave this room until I get back. I have to warn you against trying to leave by way of the third floor. That exit is now locked.”

  The last of my hopes sank when I heard this.

  “I thought that’s how Geoffrey was getting back,” I said, trying to get more information.

  “It is. The gateway is usable now in one direction only. He can get back, but I’ve been informed that it is locked from this side to prevent you from leaving here. No one can get out until Arrosha unlocks it. I hope knowing that will keep you from trying anything foolhardy.

  “Anyway, Ashley, I have to get back to the others. Like I said, I’ll let you know in probably a few hours what’s been decided.” He then closed the door and left. I did as he asked and locked it after him. Now more than ever, I felt trapped, an animal in a cage just waiting for the slaughter.