“I left early that night, for I knew that I could not stay and still keep my sanity. Thoughts of this new, exotic woman swam through my mind as I returned home. Upon getting there, I found the box I had brought with me from England sitting out upon my desk, open. When I left the house, that box had been closed, tucked away in my shirt drawer and tied up in one of my handkerchiefs. I asked Virginia if she had taken it out and she said no, not only had she not, but no one had been at the house all evening. I believed her, for by that time, I had known Virginia long enough to trust her implicitly.
“After I dismissed her to go to bed, I sat in my armchair with the box in my hand, troubled, staring at it for hours, studying it, unable to figure out how it had wound its way onto my desk or how it had been opened. As I sat, I began to grow sleepy and started to doze. I woke with a start a few hours later. The amulet had escaped its box and moved itself over to my walking stick, without which I never left the house. In amazement I watched as elongated, inching its way up the stick in the same elongating and contracting motion as a caterpillar, until it reached the top, merging with the cane, claiming its place as headpiece before becoming immobile and stationary once more.
“It was then I realized that this woman who called herself Rochere and the artifacts were related. The evening had simply been too bizarre for them not to be. I knew now why I’d been pulled to New Orleans, why I had to be here and why I’d joined high society when it was not my custom. From that point forward, whenever I attended a social function, Rochere did not notice me when I had my cane. It was the strangest thing, for when I walked away from it, she was friendly, as if I had just entered into the room, but when I had it with me, it was as if she could not even see me. Also gone were the seductive impulses she sent me and the intoxicating aroma that had previously made my head reel. I began to notice that even her behavior became strange, for when I had my cane with me, she would not stand near me, as if some invisible force of which not even she was aware, was keeping her away.
“I sent Christopher a letter telling him that I’d discovered something completely fantastic about the relics and telling him to hurry. About this time, a gentleman in our New Orleans social set, Thomas, became quite ill. It seemed he’d suddenly become very weak the night before, right after one of our parties. It was his heart, the doctor said.
“‘I should have known my heart would begin to fail me one day,’ Thomas told me when I went by to see him. ‘It’s an affliction that runs in the family, although it’s never affected anyone as young as myself before. I was certain I’d have at least another decade or two before my problems with it began.’
“When I quizzed him briefly about Rochere, he had no memory of having been with her after the party, although he’d certainly seen her at the event. Thomas died the next day. It was then I began to track her in earnest.
“When first I followed her, she was always alone. I stood vigil before her house every night, but she did not come out every night. In the very beginning, she intrigued me. After her first excursion, she repulsed me. I observed quietly as she walked to the docks or into saloons and picked up men at night, men far below her station, but always young and handsome. She would then lure them into deserted side streets or alleys. Since she was unable to notice me, I became brave and walked closer than I should have, close enough to overhear her hints of offers of sexual favors. Once in the alley, she would embrace each man and give him what would seem, to any casual observer, a very passionate kiss. After several minutes, she would release him. He would invariably seem confused and completely discombobulated, not knowing where he was or how he had gotten there. She would then tell each man that he had simply taken a wrong corner, that he should be on his way, or something to that effect, if she told them anything at all. The poor fellow now was left wandering, lost and confused, the luckier ones making it home to die, the less fortunate ones shot, stabbed or beaten while being robbed on their way home. Several of them simply fell into the river and drowned, they were so helpless in their extreme stupefaction.
“I waited for weeks for Christopher to inform me of when he was coming to the city, but the letter I received left me crestfallen. It was from Freddie, who told me that Christopher was ill. Nothing serious, he relayed, but it was enough to keep him from travel. Christopher had deciphered part of the parchment and the words of which he was most certain were ‘succubus’, ‘destroy’, and ‘together’. He said Christopher was most eager to join me, that he had extended his deepest apologies, and would be traveling just as soon as he was able. It would be a few weeks yet until he could leave for America. It seemed I would have to wait still longer for him to aid me in my hunt for Rochere.
“I felt I couldn’t wait that long, for while I was able to observe, I was unable to do anything to help Rochere’s victims. Young and impetuous, I decided to go it alone, the most foolhardy decision of my entire life. People were dying and I had to make those killings stop. I had no idea of how powerful she truly was. I had no idea that I was playing such a dangerous game, but feeling protected by my walking stick’s headpiece, I grew bolder. One night I grew too bold and it was to cost me my freedom for almost two centuries. If only I’d been just a little more patient, waited for Christopher’s arrival with the second relic, things would have turned out so much differently. It was my own impatience that led not only to my ordeal but the ordeals of too many others as well. Including you, Ashley. I learned too late that if I had only waited just a little bit longer, she could have been so easily destroyed. Too much of this was my own fault.”
“Now, man, you couldn’t possibly have known,” Julian protested.
“True, but Julian, I should have behaved more prudently. I acted so unwisely. That was my downfall. You see, one night as I stood in the shadows outside of her house, Arrosha left as she so often did to feed. I found out later, after she imprisoned me, that she did not need to feed that often, she merely did it because she enjoyed it so much. But that night was different. She took a young man with her that night, the man with whom she kept company, the man she told everyone was her brother. Jean was a fellow with a very odd constitution, sometimes quite robust, while other times frail in the extreme. His frailty came upon him gradually, while his robustness always appeared quite suddenly. That night I found out why. He seemed quite sickly that night, very gaunt, very weak. I had never seen him look that ill before. The two of them walked to an alley in the Quarter that was much darker and more isolated than was her wont. The area was so incredibly secluded that they had to wait a few hours for anyone to pass by. Shrouded by the darkness of the alley, I heard her companion whimper that the wait was too long, that he could go no further, that he needed to eat. She told him to be patient, that it hadn’t been that long, that she could feel that someone would be by soon. She called him ‘my love’. As I observed them together; she held him, put his head upon her shoulder, frequently kissed his face and stroked his hair, almost as if he were her favorite pet, but certainly not her brother. I’d always found it strange that I could see her so easily, even in the darkest settings. Nothing else could I see better than could any other person, only her; often the places she chose were pitch black and I could not see even my hand before my face. But I could always see her, as if a light of unknown origin were trained upon her constantly, but, as usual, she could never easily see me, and as long as I remained quiet, I remained safe.
“That night, though, my danger of being discovered was greater, for her companion was with her, and I could elude him no easier than I could any other person. Jean’s presence that night was to be different in another way, as well, although I had no idea of just how different, nor horrible, it would turn out to be. After a while, a drunken couple passed by, but she did not bother them. She preferred men traveling alone. I’d only ever seen her prey upon men, but, as I later found out, that while she preferred them, she would occasionally feed upon women as well, especially any woman who would challenge her, be it for status or the attentions of
a man upon whom she had set her sights. Eventually, as we waited, a man walked by, extremely inebriated, whereupon she, abandoning her companion, stepped up to him alone to begin her, I assumed, by now familiar seduction.
“Once she had gained his interest, however, what occurred next was anything but familiar to me. I gazed in horror and disbelief as she grew in height, her body changing into some ghastly abomination, into a many-tentacled monstrosity that pulled the poor man, suddenly sobered by fear, into itself, the abomination that you yourself saw, Ashley. No cries came from the poor man, even though I could see his hands and feet flailing wildly. I cupped my hand over my mouth to keep from making a sound, lest I be discovered. She finished with him soon and he dropped to the ground. I thought for certain that he was, in fact, dead, for he looked like nothing more than a decaying corpse. Rochere then returned to the likeness of a woman, the appearance she showed the world, and walked over to her companion, revealing a ball of light she now held in her hand. He leaned over and sucked the light out of her palm, much the same as a dog might take a treat from its owner. Tilting his head back, a look of sheer pleasure came upon his face and I saw him change before my very eyes. No longer did he look sickly or drawn. Instead, in a matter of seconds, his flesh filled out, his skin became rosy and young, his eyes sparkled brightly. He stood up straight, embraced Rochere and kissed her passionately.
“‘Thank you, my Queen,’ he said to her after the kiss.
“No sooner had this transpired than my attention was once again diverted to the man on the ground that I thought was surely dead. He began to moan, in a manner more frightening than pitiful, ‘help me’, over and over again. His desiccated body struggled to sit up, then lethargically shuffled to rise, succeeding clumsily to its feet. It was a gruesome sight, Julian, as Ashley can attest. It began to lumber toward Rochere and her friend, at which point she seemed enormously annoyed, this time turning only her right hand into a long, thick tentacle. She flung this tentacle out at the poor man, immediately severing his head from his shoulders. His body fell to the floor while his head rolled, not stopping until it reached my feet.
“This time, I could no longer restrain myself and against my will I let out cry that could not be contained and could be heard even through my hand, still clasped tightly against my mouth. I tried to leave immediately, moving away as quietly as I could, but it was already too late.
“‘Get him!’ I heard her scream and I now ran as Rochere’s companion was on my heels. Jean, now so newly revived and rejuvenated, overtook me too easily and held me down. Rochere moved closer, but stayed at the distance she always remained whenever I had the cane in my possession.
“‘So, it’s you, Edmond,’ she said to me, for she could now see me. ‘I can’t say that I’m surprised Your attitudes toward me were enough to make me distrustful of you. Besides, you’re the only one who could spy on me without my knowing it. I would have picked up on anyone else immediately and killed them for their efforts.’
“‘And why is that?’ I asked her, fully knowing the reason.
“‘Because of that cane of yours, or rather its headpiece,’ she answered. ‘I’m surprised to see it again. Why, I presumed that it had been destroyed centuries ago or at least lost beneath the earth so deeply that no one would ever find it.’
“‘Now that you can see me, what are you going to do? Kill me like you killed that poor man?’
“‘So you enjoyed my little show?’
“‘Enjoyed? It was evil, it was vile!’ I said. ‘What kind of monster are you?
“‘Monster? How dare you, you snide, arrogant little man!’ she told me, ‘I’m not a monster, I am a goddess! You should kneel to me and worship me!’
“‘Take care, woman. You blaspheme!’
“‘Oh, no, my dear. I speak the truth, as you’ll soon discover.
“‘Do you want me to take it from him, my Queen?,’ her eager companion asked.
“‘Yes’ she ordered. ‘Take it from him so that I may rid myself of this interfering mental pigmy.’
“Jean ran over to grab the cane from my hand but it was too late. It had merged with my hand and become one with it.
“‘I can’t take it, my Queen,’ he said. ‘It’s mingled with his flesh.’
“At this, no sooner had she said that she would remove my hand than the headpiece sprouted tentacle-like shoots, running them throughout my entire body.
“‘So,’ she said, resigning herself to the fact that she would not be able to separate us, ‘It seems that he must keep it. At least now, I’ll always know it is in his possession. I know who my enemy is and I will make sure I always know where he is from this point onward.
“‘As for killing you, let’s just say, my dear Edmond, that you won’t get that lucky. You’ll wish I had killed you; you’ll soon be begging for me to kill you, but I won’t. At least not until I have what I want.’
“‘And what is that?’
“‘The headpiece of that cane needs another in order to function fully. They are a set. Where is its mate? If you found one, you found the other; I know because they are not easily separated.’
“‘I don’t know what you mean.’
“‘Oh, yes you do,’ she said, looking me in the eyes. Even from a distance, I could feel her stare bore into me. ‘And you will tell me.’
“‘I won’t tell you anything.’
“‘You’ll tell me everything. By your eyes, I can tell already that the second amulet has been found and you know where it is. You will tell me, Edmond; you have no choice. Jean, don’t let him get away and follow me.’
“I was taken to Ursuline Street, and made to face a brick wall. A door appeared from nowhere and her lover, who seemed as surprised as I was, forced me inside, into an open, empty room. We walked across the room to the opposite wall, in which a second door magically appeared. She walked though it first and gave Jean instructions to keep following as we wound our way down a long, metallic hallway until we reached a room filled with machines of some kind. In the middle of the room was a large coffin-like object, which turned out to be a stasis chamber. Jean forced me inside the chamber and closed its door behind me. Frantically, I searched for a handle, a lever, a knob, anything that I could pull or turn to release me from this tiny enclosure, but found none. I banged upon the glass door of the chamber, demanding, pleading to be released, but she, standing across the room, simply smiled mercilessly and touched the bracelet she always wore. I felt a pull upon my body, as if a gigantic magnet were forcing me back upon the slanted back wall of the chamber. My eyes were forced closed as my body froze, cane in hand. I tried with all my might to move, but I was now paralyzed, having lost all feeling and all ability to move. My mind was screaming in panic, I felt I might go mad, trapped as I was in this chamber of complete, absolute silence. While the silence must have lasted only a few minutes, it seemed forever and I could do nothing but hear my mind scream to be released. Thankfully, I eventually heard Rochere’s voice, a voice I never would have imagined I would be happy to hear, but in my state I was desperate for any of my senses to respond. I did not hear her through my ears, but rather through my mind. She said that there was something she would like me to see and suddenly, I could see again, although it was not through my natural eyes, for the viewpoint changed according to her whim. The scene that followed was dizzying, for the perspective in which she allowed, or rather forced, me to witness the events that followed, shifted, from her perspective to his; sometimes it was as if I were floating mid-air above them. I saw her walk up to Jean and stroke his hair. I saw the sadness in her eyes as she told him that he could not be with her anymore, for he now knew this place existed and no one could know that.’
“‘But I love you, my Queen, you cannot toss me out. And I know you still love me.’
“‘I do, my sweet,’ she said, softly stroking his cheek. ‘I love you dearly, as much as I’ve ever loved anyone. It is so sad that you know of my true home now. I will always keep you close to
me, that I promise, but you must not be allowed to exist in the outside world ever again. I must imprison you also. I must mostly kill you.’
“‘No!’ he began to scream. ‘I’ll never tell anyone.’
“‘With a second amulet out there already rediscovered, my love, I can’t take that chance,’ she said.
“‘Let me go home, my Queen. Please. I won’t come back. You can trust my promise because I won’t come in here, I’ll never tell anyone. It would do no good, anyway, because the doors won’t even appear for them.’
“‘They will appear for whomever carries the talisman’s brother, the second amulet, so no one must know where to look. I’m sorry I must get rid of you, Jean, but I love you dearly, so I will make your death fast and sweet. Don’t worry, my love, I adore you too much to kill you completely and I will keep you with me always.’
“She embraced her struggling lover so tightly he could not escape, clamped her mouth against his and began to draw his life from him as I had seen her do with so many others. But instead of leaving him terminally ill and able to walk away, when she released him, his seemingly lifeless body dropped to the floor, only the weak fluttering of his eyelids revealing any life at all. The sight which was not my own now saw him float upon the ground as she lead him into a room with artwork of all kinds. She stopped in front of an empty canvas and allowed Jean’s body to lower to the floor.
“‘Oh, my sweet Jean, my faithful companion all these long years, how I will miss you. But worry not, for I’ll come to visit you from time to time. Let me see, now. Whose work should you be? Michelangelo? No, I prefer his sculptures and I really don’t need another sculpture right now. You’re so beautiful you should be a Botticelli. No, I know! You were made to be a Raphael. Yes, my love, it is a Raphael that you shall be!’
The Nightmare Game Page 75