A Real Nightmare

Changing Games

Chapter 8

The putrid stench of rotting flesh assaulted her nose. Her mother's corpse. No. No. Katerina was shaking so violently that it in turn caused the light to quiver, almost dropping it and alighting herself in the process. Grief struck her heart swift and hard, tears of despair rolled down the bridge of her nose and glided down her temple, little droplets landing on her lifeless, coarse hair. Her hair looked so brittle, frail, as if one little touch would cause the straggly strands to break free from her scalp.

Even though Kat knew this was a nightmare, and Viktor got his kicks by tormenting her in her dreams, it still clawed at her heart, ripping open fresh wounds that she knew would be forever stained on her heart. The image of her...like this, would be eternally seared into her mind. She kept silently chanting to herself, this isn't real...this isn't real...this is not real. Over and over again, trying to wash away the grotesque site in the forefront of her mind. But the damage had already been done. She could feel every tiny hair, every muscle, every fiber of her being, flooding with utter despair.

What if this were real? What if this could become reality?

Viktor is unpredictable and unstable. How was she, a human, to take on a Vampire—a Royal Vampire at that? He said it himself, humans are weak and pathetic. They are gullible and he is using her weaknesses against her and she was falling right into the palm of his dead hand. "Here I am, on a silver platter laid out so delicately for you to take and squeeze."

Suck it up Kat! Don't let him play you like this.

But as her inner strength were trying to persuade some courage into her, her gaze sweet to the side of her once more, unable to tear herself from examining her mother's  rotting flesh. She couldn't stop the long wail of raw grief that escaped her trembling lips. Her mother's hard—cold, pale eyes stared right through her. Deadpanning her with an accusatory look.

"This is all your fault, Katerina! You are the reason I'm dead. Had you learned anything I taught you, I would not be dead right now! You should have listened to me. You should have listened to your father. But no, you had to choose to be...well, the way you are. Foolish girl. If you don't change, this will be you lying here with maggot-ridden flesh."

How could she let her mother die at the hands of Viktor?

No. This isn't real.

Inhaling the rotting smell, she coughed, closing her eyes trying to muster up the courage to summon Viktor. She knew he was watching. Observing every tear, every pain-filled expression, every rushing thought. That's how psycho's like him work. She needed a plan. One that would allow Kat to escape from this nightmare and return the pain onto Viktor. He would never let her get close enough to him, though.

As long as he doesn't get his hands on The Rosary which contains the cure—not just any cure—but the one that specifically belonged to him, then she still had a shot at taking him down. Or if she could somehow replicate the cure, that could potentially lead to eradicating the entire Vampire populace.

The challenge with this is simply, protect the cure and stay alive. She needed to find someone who she can trust with helping duplicate the cure. It's the only one in existence that she would be able to get her hands on in her lifetime. But as simple as it sounds, she knows that things are never as simple as they seem. Especially for her. Staying alive will be difficult, but staying alive while trying to find a scientist without Viktor catching her...well, that's a whole different matter. If she's ever to be captured, she knew without a doubt that he would bring pain, torture, hell upon her until she relents and her betraying lips spew the answers he needs. He would do what was necessary to extract the information from her and he would enjoy it.