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“Can you stay a little while longer?”
The old maid hesitates to respond. There’s clearly a tug of war happening behind those kind eyes of hers—it’s like she wants to stay by my side... but she’s also afraid to.
I relieve her of the burden. “It’s okay, go,” I say, trying to put on a brave face. “I need some sleep anyway.”
Lady’s eyes sparkle and she gives me a friendly smile. “You just hold in there, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Lady turns to leave and the sudden reality of being alone again becomes overwhelming. “Lady!” I shout after her. She stops just before the doorway and turns around.
I search my heavy mind for a question, any question, to keep her close for just a little while longer. “Who else is here?” I ask.
“The same old people,” she shrugs.
That answer confuses me. “What do you mean? Didn’t everyone disappear?”
Lady tightens up at that question. A flash of bright fear races across her kind eyes. An arrow of guilt gashes through my swirling stomach.
“Everything will be alright,” Lady says, though her voice faulters just enough to make it clear that it’s more of a hope than a certainty. “You just get some sleep.”
Those unsteady words linger long after she
leaves. The bedroom door shuts behind her and is quickly locked in place. My warm bed feels cold and empty. My head pounds like a jackhammer.
I miss Angel.
Where are you, my vengeful beast?
The question bounces around behind my eyelids as exhaustion takes over and I drift off to sleep.
“Finally!”
The slimy voice slithers around in my nightmares before forcing my eyes open. The weight of reality pins me down under my covers as I listen through the eerie silence that surrounds me.
... Was I dreaming?
“It took those bastards long enough to get you here.”
Nope.
For some reason, I can’t find the strength to turn over and look at who’s speaking, but they sound so familiar, so frighteningly familiar...
“Come on, get out of bed! I didn’t bring you here to sleep... at least not without me.”
Suddenly, a flash of recognition grabs hold of my tired mind, strangling it half to death. I see the man behind my eyelids before I see him in the room with me.
A violent shiver runs down my spine and a frigid chill crawls over my skin.
It’s Angel’s brother. Dante.
Only this time, Angel’s not here to save me from him.
His shadow creeps over me as he stalks further into my room. My covers are ripped away and I’m left cold and exposed.
“Up!” Dante yells. His order is shrill and jittery and utterly blood curling.
“What’s happening?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.