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When the trunk opened, it wasn’t Mason who greeted me, but one of his hooded and masked men. He reached inside, grabbed me by the arm, and pulled me out. I kicked and screamed, hoping my voice would carry. I punched, and squirmed, and tried to get out of the man’s grip, but he was stronger than I was.

In one quick move, he yanked me out of the trunk and shoved me to the ground. I hit the gravel with my cheek, then my shoulder. After coming to a sliding stop, I fought to get to my feet. With the magic suppression runes far enough away, I found myself able to summon my power, channeling it into a bolt of crackling energy that wrapped around my hand.

I went to lash out at him with it, but was grabbed from behind, and the streak of lightning that shot out of my fingers turned upwards and went harmlessly into the night sky with a whipcrack. Whoever was behind me was strong enough to pick me up and carry me to the door of the house I had been brought to.

It was a mansion, similar to mine, only darker. All of its lights were out, except for a single square of soft, flickering, orange light emanating from the open front door. There were trees all around the estate, each of them tall enough to reach high into the night and blot out the stars. I was alone. I could scream all I wanted, but they had me, and I wasn’t getting out of here on my own strength.

“Let me go!” I yelled, deciding still that it would be better to go down fighting.

The man who was carrying me didn’t speak. Instead, he led me toward the front door of the mansion, where he set me down, and shoved me so that I would stagger into the house. I fell on my hands and knees on the hardwood floor beyond the door. By the time I got up, turned around, and raced for the door, it slammed shut behind me.

On its own.

The single candle next to me snuffed out at the exact same moment, leaving me alone in the pitch dark, in a house that wasn’t mine. I tried to look around, but it was just as dark in here as it had been in the trunk, if not darker.

“Beatrice,” I heard someone whisper against my right ear.

My entire body tightened again.

“Who said that?” I asked.

“She smells afraid,” said another voice, this one racing past my left ear.

“Who’s there!” I yelled.

“She should be afraid.”

It sounded as if there were people all around me, circling me in the dark, whispering against my ear. At one point, I felt something caress my shoulder. I spun around to see who it was but ended up losing my orientation entirely. I couldn’t tell which way led to the front door of the house anymore.

In an instant I was lost in the dark, alone with the voices. I turned my hand up and called on my power again, bringing a trickle of it into my palm and birthing a small orb of golden light. The shadows receded, and for a moment I saw my light touch some of the surfaces around me.

A black table, etched with silver, a priceless looking vase on which stood a number of white flowers, something like a small glass pocket watch, a snuffed-out candle, and a silver letter opener. As soon as I went to grab it, the shadows shrieked. The racket was so loud I had to cover my ears for fear that they might explode.

I fell to my knees, brought low by the disjointed screaming going on all around me. It sounded like the voices were trying to get into my head, to claw their way past my hands and burrow into my mind. I couldn’t help but scream myself, trying to fight their noise with my own.

It was then that someone touched my shoulder.

I spun around and scrambled away from whoever was standing behind me. As quickly as it had begun, the noise stopped, leaving a sharp ringing in my ears. Carla Diaboli lit the candle, the orange light silently dancing across her sinister face. Mason Diaboli stood behind her, the dim light serving only to frame his even more sinister red eyes.

“Didn’t your parents teach you any manners?” asked Carla Diaboli. “It’s rude to scream in someone else’s home.”

I felt like my ears were bleeding. “What was that?!” I shrieked.

“Nothing too dangerous,” Mason said, “I can assure you. They were merely curious.”

“Demons?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes.” He paused. “Get up,” he barked, his demeanor changing like the flick of a switch.

“What are you going to do with me now?” I asked, “Throw me in a dungeon?”

“Dungeon?” Carla chuckled. “We aren’t savages, dear.”

“Well, you had me fooled.”

The smirk was quickly wiped off her face “Turn around, walk up the stairs, and we’ll show you to your bedroom.”

“Bedroom?”