pte

It was in the wee hours of the morning when Ricky finally left. I collected the empty pizza box and glasses, taking both to the kitchen. The

eaded towards my bed room. Once safely locked in my bedroom, I went to the en suite bathroom and washed my face. In t

ls. From visiting the Matheson estate, I knew that both the curls and my naturally green eyes were a trademark o

ly belong to the f

from Cecil Matheson and that the plan was always to reclaim me. With Cecil dead, I inherited his estate as well as whatever my parents left me. Avery, the butler, a

lt really good. The estate made me wonder. Not only was it daunting to me to stay there, let alone think of owning it, but I knew it took a lot of money to build and maintain a pl

ergy to converse and interact with each other I was given a math tutor and sewing lessons, among other things. In Mayenfield, I traded the energy for assistance

nswer I came up with. As he tried to kill me, using some sort of arcane ri

I hadn't tried that angle before. 'Next week, ' I decided. I looked away from my brown e

I drifted off with no problems.

g to myself as I placed my purchases in the car. I turned

ntil I not

invading as though it was a solid presence dripping into me through my pores, absorbed through my skin. It was the stench of something dea

through my brain, vibrating through my organs and sinking into my bones, the smell like a slithering snake moving under my skin. I

e Chaldean cuff left. It's just a dream.' I screamed the

into the eyes of the beast as it looked down on me. I was still encased in its body and trying not to retch. Its gaze fascinated me, like a small bird trapped by a snake. I cou

ll I could hear was my blood pounding in my ears. I sucked in as much air as I could, trying to wash my lungs clea

head to the side, once again studying me. The call came again, sounding somehow silvery in the air. The beast growled and then turned and lop

I pressed my hands to the rough su

told myself, " my voice a whisper in the pre-dawn darkness of