Danse Macabre 3: Deadly Deception

Shadow Games

Eight

Shadow Games

Terrible as the circumstances may have been it was nice to be in the back of the limo again and not taking the bus. So much time had passed since the last time that the novelty of the luxury had returned. The soft cool leather under my fingertips somehow felt nicer than it had before then again with my reacquaintance with the coarse close-cropped polyester fabric they had on bus seats it was a welcome change.

Elizabeta was silent the entire way there and remained that way even as we wound our way through the endless labyrinthine hallways of crimson Hill. There were changes, of course, most of the red was gone and everything was now black and an odd tarnished silver. The silk wallpaper displayed a lovely black-on-black damask pattern which shone dimly in the faux gas lights that lined the halls. As we made our way through the Hall of mirrors I couldn't help but stare at my endless reflection as a thousand copies of my reflection stared back, watching as the endless procession of guards led by Elizabeta took us deeper into the bowels of hell.

We walked all the way down to where the finery bled away to nothing but painted cinderblock and cold cruel clinical lines. Maybe I should have been frightened since the last time I was down those halls I visited Collette during her mental break; it was also where Niki was kept after everyone thought he killed Aleksi. The minimalistic modern hallway was where the most nefarious deeds were done, and I don't mean the disembowel meant or the dismembering. Now that they did out in the open the light shining in on it from the tall leaded glass windows.

It was down here in the darkness where they tucked those deemed unfit for society, and considering how brutal vampires could be there were a surprising few who fell into that category. Was I going to be next? Elizabeta paused before one of the doors and looked me over slowly, pursing her full lips before letting out a slow breath.

"Were I you, lovely girl, I would tell them the entire truth because no matter what you say they will find out what's really happening. They know everything, they are everywhere, and you did the one thing that they concern themselves with. You killed unaffiliated humans." I almost wanted to point out that I was human but I didn't, because was I really? In the back of my mind I couldn't help but feel like maybe just maybe what happened with Evan was more than me merely feeling him turning Zach for my connection. After pausing a moment she put her hand on the door. "Good luck and I mean it." She held the door open just long enough for me to step through then closed it hard behind me.

It was darker than I expected it, it also lacked the two-way mirror I was expecting. Here the walls were darker cinderblock the hallway wasn't that institutionalized bleached white rather something was softer gray with a hint of green in it, just enough to bring to mind mental institutions from the forties. In the middle of the room was an industrial metal table and an empty black plastic chair which looked uncomfortable. On the opposite side of the table sat a small woman with long pitch-black hair spilling over her shoulders in haphazard natural waves. She looked adorable, one of those cutesy faces somewhat similar to my own but somehow more non-threatening, her nose even turned up slightly at the tip. She was slight of build, smaller even than myself or my friends but there was nothing frail about her. And those eyes, those deep dark soul-devouring eyes of hers were blank and empty like all the lights were on and no one was home.

"Dr. Autumn darling, servant to Aleksi Mikhailovich, Ph.D. in Eighteenth-Century Literature, amateur dancer, submissive and let's not forget cold-blooded murder." She smiled up at me and I slowly took a seat at that empty chair.

"There was an accident, another car slammed into ours then there was a semi-the came out of nowhere and..." My voice fell into nothingness in my eyes went from hers right to the table in front of me. I didn't have an excuse, I wished that I had one, but I didn't all those people lost their lives because I lost control.