The little dragon on the necklace stirred slightly in agreement that it was now getting close to the time for me to act. Every short, tentative step I took forward would cause its little tail to flick, letting me know that I was on the right track. Edmond had told me I’d have to get close enough to the stasis chamber to throw the necklace toward him, so close that the little dragon amulet would be able to do its thing. I’d have to hit the chamber, or come darn close to hitting it, at least, before that would work. But I was at the other side of the long, long room right now, much too far from Edmond’s chamber. I would have to get a lot closer yet, but I couldn’t see how that was going to happen with Arrosha standing so near by, watching me like a hawk; and I knew from my experience at the tower that she didn’t have to be close to me in order to stop me.
If my throw failed and I didn’t hit my mark, the amulet would just return to its box after a few seconds and this game would start again from scratch with someone new. It was important that I succeeded because if I didn’t, she would kill me in way I didn’t want even to think about. My failure might not be the end of the game, but it sure would be the end of me. Between Edmond’s energy transfers and the essence improvements, I felt as if I’d been an okay player up to this point, but right now was where the rubber met the road and I was afraid that I was going to let him down. My heart sank deeply as I looked at him, prisoner of the stasis chamber for so very long, and I realized, more surely than ever, that he had picked the wrong person to do this. It seems I’d said that to myself a lot since I’d gotten sucked into this game, but I was never more certain of it than I was now. A magic potion for strong, sure aim and accuracy was what I needed to complete this task.
I had to stop thinking this way, for these thoughts were putting me into a funk that I couldn’t afford. It was time for me to do my part. I judged my distance from the chamber carefully. It was far, way too far to throw. If I could just get nearer to Edmond, at least I’d be close enough for my pitch to stand a chance.
“I told you that I would give you one more opportunity to avoid a painful, messy death by handing the amulet over to me willingly,” she said, breaking my concentration. “Try not think of this as coercion. The deal I made you in earlier in the tower room still stands if you hand it over. If not, it’s merely a simple statement of fact that your alternative will not be either pleasant or neat.”
I shook my head no. I’d made a promise to Edmond and felt bound to keep it. Eventually, I’d be dead and beyond her tortures, but if I gave in, I was certain that despite her promises, the best outcome would be that I’d wind up like Max and she would torment me into perpetuity.
“No? Well, that proves that you are more stupid than I thought. In that case, then, let’s assess this situation, shall we?” she said in her oiliest, most saccharine tone. “Over here,” she motioned to the stasis chamber as if it were an appliance on a TV game show, “we have your hero, your knight in shining armor, your, dare I say it, paramour. Here he sleeps, waiting to be released, to be rescued, to be freed. And you,” she said, motioning to me now as if I were yet another of the game show’s prizes, “are over here, in the very same room, just on the other side of it, in fact, waiting to rescue him, wanting him freed so you can feel his big, manly arms around you, so you can feel his strong caress, his hot, trembling lips upon your own, his heart beat against your breast. Now, I’ve known women go to great lengths to get a man, darling child, but considering what you’ve gone through to get him, well, all I can say is that you must surely be the most desperate woman I’ve ever met. Why, you’re just a poor little Miss Lonelyheart, aren’t you?”
“I’ve gone through all of this because I got trapped in this game and couldn’t get out and you know that.” My answer was almost a low growl. She’d hit a nerve and my hatred of her now overrode my fear.
“Tell yourself whatever you need to, dearie,” she said dismissively. “Nevertheless, over here you are and over there he is, together at last, separated only by the length of this room. So close, so very close. And you have about your neck the means to free him and to make your most cherished romantic dreams come true. All you have to do is take off the necklace, throw it at the chamber, hit it and he will be free. Fail to do so and he remains where he is, waiting for someone else to take the chance, another woman, perhaps, younger, prettier, more desirable than yourself. Go ahead dear, give it your best shot.”
She knew I was too far from the chamber to hit it. No average person, let alone me, would ever be able to. She was just trying to goad me into blowing my only chance. No matter how slim it was, I couldn’t allow that.
“You just want another opportunity to get your hands on the amulet,” I said.
“Are you really that stupid or did Edmond fail to mention to you that it is not possible for me to obtain it that way? How thoughtless of him.”
I knew she was being disingenuous, for she’d played this game for so long that she knew darn well that he had told me the rules.
“The only way I can obtain the amulet is for you to give it to me willingly via one of my minions. I know I told you that before. How many times do I have to keep telling you? The amulet is a product of such an advanced technology that you could never begin to understand it. It senses intent, you stupid woman!” she yelled, beginning to get angry. “If I had one of my people take it from you or intercept it when you throw it, or if it just falls on the floor when you miss, all it will do is return to its box in just a matter of minutes and then it will be useless to me.”
“Won’t it just return to the box anyway if I gave willingly?”
“No!” She yelled. “Then the box would be called to it and they would both be mine forever. It’s smart. Apparently, a lot smarter than you are! Once I have both of the pieces in my possession, I can stop playing this infernal game forever and become great once again, unrestrained by the distraction of the one thing that can destroy me, the one thing that is now in the hands of those who want to murder me! Woman, that you even still say these things means that you must be the thickest creature I’ve ever encountered in this game. How did you get this far?”
For once she wasn’t getting angry, she was getting frustrated. I was hoping that agitation would make her sloppy and that if she got sloppy, I could get closer to the chamber.
She faced the wall and began to rant now, an insane rant that became unintelligible as it seemed to grow into indignant rage. Tentatively, I put one foot out and walked forward as silently and slowly as I could. She seemed not to notice and since she was looking elsewhere, I did it again. This plan was crazy, I knew, but then so was she. Maybe, just maybe, I could get close enough to hit the stasis chamber. Her ranting had now turned into a mad screaming which seemed to be aimed more at the walls than at me. She was so preoccupied that not only did she not turn around to me, she thankfully did not even turn her head backwards to check on me, so I grew bold and with a sudden spurt of energy, burst out into a full run at top speed.
This was it, I was getting closer, I was coming up to my moment of truth. Arrosha was still facing the other way, still ignoring me, still muttering her unintelligible babblings at various levels of volume. If only her attention could stay diverted for a few more seconds, I would make it.
The dragon now moved excitedly at my neck, urging me on, increasing my speed, tugging me toward Edmond. I was making good headway. I was still too far away, but in just a few more yards, maybe, just maybe, I could do this. I judged my distance from the chamber and realized that I only had about four or five more yards or so left to go before I would feel confident enough in my ability to hit my target. Arrosha’s ravings seemed to be losing some steam, so I picked up my pace and using all the reserves I had, ran even faster. I felt the now-familiar, gentle motion at my upper chest as the little dragon began to stir more and I again felt its warmth flow into me. The warmth then turned into an energy so strong that I was running harder and faster than I had ever run in my entire life.
The dra
gon began to move around excitedly and to flick its little tail impatiently. Edmond said it would let me know when it was time. Its fluttering wings now told me that the little dragon was anxious to be released. All of these thoughts flashed through my mind at lightning speed as I reached up to grasp the amulet’s chain to tear it off and break the clasp, knowing that the necklace would make that easy. I also knew this was the best and the last chance I was ever going to get.
Then, in the middle of my blossoming hope and optimism, it happened. When I put my foot down, instead of the hard floor that had been there just a second ago, there was mush. It threw me off balance, but when I tried to regain my stability, the floor turned to quicksand, wrapping itself around my feet. When I looked down, I watched helplessly in horror as the metallic floor itself came to life and grew upward rapidly, encasing both of my legs to the thigh before it hardened. I was inextricably trapped now, a prisoner of the very floor itself. As in a nightmare, the section of the floor upon which I stood slid backward rapidly, as the room expanded, stretching out before me as if it were made of elastic. Helpless, I watched in shock as Edmond and his freedom rapidly slipped away. I found myself back where I had started, at the far end of the room. I was shocked and confused. How could Arrosha work so effectively against me when I wore the necklace with its amulet? As when she’d thrown me off the tower, I thought it was against the rules of the game. This wasn’t fair. After all, I’d had nothing of hers to drink, taken no potion to make me vulnerable.
Arrosha’s shrill and ugly laughter rang in my ears. “Oh, my dear,” she said through her chilling laughter, “You certainly are so much fun to play with. If I didn’t have my heart set upon killing you, I’d keep you around for my entertainment. You’d be even better sport than Max.”
Trying hard to catch my breath, I scowled at her now-hideous, laughing face. She looked far worse than she had earlier, currently resembling the decomposing corpse of the walking dead. However, instead of being frightened of her now, I was repulsed, a hatred for her bubbling up inside of me that tasted like bile. I choked it down.
“Now that your latest little act of rebellion is behind you,” she said coldly, “would you like continue?”
I glared at her, determined that while I might not be able to free Edmond, I would at least try. I simply couldn’t go down without giving it a shot. I knew now that the amulet was capable of flight when close to its mate, and realizing there would be no more chances, and I reached up one more time to rip it off my neck, hoping beyond hope that perhaps it could somehow make its way to Edmond without me. Arrosha began ranting at the walls once more, babbling incoherently. I guessed her babbling was simply to throw off my concentration, but I was very wrong.
She had anticipated my actions, for just before my hand reached the necklace chain, a loud, unholy shriek sounded from the floor and on either side of me the ground ripped open violently as two metallicized figures burst out. I screamed loudly as they grabbed me by the wrists before sinking back down into the earth with only one arm exposed apiece, arms of metal that now held my wrists shackled at my sides, clutched immovably in their grips. I was now shocked beyond screaming and a dead silence filled the air, broken only by my labored breathing as I struggled uselessly against this prison.
A cold, shrill sound, more of a cackle than a laugh, burst forth, cracking the air as if were a crystal goblet. I looked up and over at Arrosha. Her body was still facing the wall away from me. Her head was not.
“You didn’t really think that I would let you get away with that, did you? ‘Let’s try to pull one over on the lunatic while she’s raving at the walls’? You stupid fool. Those weren’t ravings, those were incantations!” She looked me up and down, “They worked quite well as usual, I must say!”
She glided over to me as closely as she could, her head still on backwards, her eyes blazing with insanity, two round, red glowing orbs in a face that was a now nothing more now than an ugly skull with a layer of decaying skin stretched tightly over parts of it, coming off in pieces elsewhere.
“You really are quite gullible, woman!” she sneered. “‘The Goddess seems indisposed,’ she mocked. ‘Oh, yes, and let’s take advantage of her while her back is turned.’ Ha! As you can clearly see, and as I made a point of showing you earlier, my back being turned is not a problem for me!” She then began to spin her head around in circles, cackling madly.
The bile that had bubbled up inside of me before returned and this time I could not choke it down. I threw up. I had nothing in my stomach but water and stomach acid, but I couldn’t hold even that down. She stopped spinning her head but as she faced me, her back still to me, she looked at the floor and scowled angrily.
“Look what you did! I mean, just look at what you did! You’ve messed my floor! My beautiful, clean floor! Now you are going to have to clean that up! I most certainly am not going to clean that up! You are!”
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she threw back her backwards head and laughed.
“Oh, that’s right. You can’t! I’m going to keep you nicely shackled and then I’m going to kill you. I guess that wouldn’t leave you with much of a window for cleaning, now would it?” She sighed, resignedly, and, while keeping her head stationery, she swiveled her body around so she was now, head and body, facing me normally. “I suppose I’ll just have to get someone else to do it, won’t I?”
She clapped her hands loudly and out of nowhere, Max appeared alongside a mop and bucket.
“Max!” I screamed, desperation raw in my voice. “Help me! Please!”
“Max can’t help you,” Arrosha’s oily voice oozed. “He belongs to me. Why, Max is going to help me, aren’t you, Max?
“Max, our guest Ashley has made quite a mess here. I need you to clean it up.”
Max said nothing. His normally hunched posture became even more hunched, as if he wanted to crawl into himself to escape. Our eyes met but for a second before he quickly stared back down at the ground. His sense of shame seemed profound.
Arrosha appeared not to notice as she continued. “And my boy Max here knows that if he’s a good dog and helps me well that I will reward him and make him pretty.” She patted his head condescendingly as if to prove that he was, in fact, her dog. “And he knows that the more he helps me, the prettier I will make him.” Her voice took on an ominous edge as she continued. “And he also knows that if he’s a bad dog, I will punish him harshly and that I will make him so very ugly that no one will want to look at him. The very sight of him will make children scream. You know all that, don’t you Max?”
Max nodded his head “yes” as he tried to crawl even further into himself.
“And here are some of the things that he is going to help me with.” She waved her hand again and beside me appeared a table. It was filled with instruments of all kinds, ugly and sharp with a nasty, surgical appearance.
“These were my idea, of course,” Arrosha said as cheerily as if this were a second grade show-and-tell session. “At least, most of them were. Max reminded me to bring the javelin, which, as you’ll soon see, we need. I’d almost completely forgotten. Good Max.” Again she petted his head as if he were indeed her dog. “That’s right, you remembered, didn’t you Max. Good boy.”
Max hung his head even lower, but when his eyes met mine, his expression was inscrutable.
I was left to wonder what use she had for a javelin as she went on and on, discussing the instruments of my impending torture as if she were making a presentation at a home kitchenware’s party.
As she did so, Max continued looking at the floor without enthusiasm, his expression still completely unreadable.
“All right then,” Arrosha clapped her hands together once in anticipation, “we’re almost ready to get started on Ashley. Her voice held far too much enthusiasm. “But first,” she added cheerily, “I’m starving. I really must eat!”
She clapped her hands twice and a handsome young man, naked, appeared before her. He looked around t
he room, trying to hide his nakedness with his hands as best he could, an expression of fear and confusion on his face, the sight of my predicament visibly adding to his anxiety. When he caught sight of Arrosha, he jumped back and recoiled, a loud whimper escaping his lips.
“Have I become such a fearsome sight?” she uttered in a tone more soothing than I had heard from her to date. “I know I am not at my best when I’m this hungry but am I indeed that terrible to look upon?”
The young man just stood there, whimpering and shaking.
“Are you afraid?” Arrosha asked in mock concern.
The young man nodded.
“Well, you can blame her for that,” she said, pointing to me, “She’s the one responsible for your current situation.”
She glided over to him and stroked his cheek with one finger. The young man recoiled with fear and disgust, but like me, he seemed unable to move.
“You see,” she said, conspiratorially, “Under normal circumstances, I would never frighten my food. It gives me indigestion. Of course, usually, I never let myself get this hungry. I just never, ever let myself go like this. But because of that one, there,” she pointed at me again, “I just didn’t have a choice. It’s because of her I had to expend so much energy that I became this way. Oh sure, I could have eaten before now. I had the time, but I didn’t have the audience. You see, dear,” she said to the quivering young man, “getting this hungry isn’t very good for me. I don’t like it, not one iota. But I had to show that one the consequences of her actions, didn’t I? I mean, how else was she to learn? And, as usual,” she sighed, “the lesson fell all on my shoulders.”
The Nightmare Game Page 68