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M adeline awakened, bouncing on Praevus’s shoulder as he scurried through a door into a deserted alley. Once clear of the narrow passage, the monster took to the air, bat wings shooting from his spine, pounding up and down to lift off the ground. Maddy screamed, unable to hold back her shock and fear.

Holy shit. I’m gonna die.

When he shifted her in his arms, cradling her like a baby, she watched buildings get smaller and smaller until he leveled out and zoomed forward. They soared above a crumbling, shabby urban area, the air filthy, factories belching noxious exhaust through chimneys.

Abruptly, Praevus changed the angle of flight, eliciting a gasp from Maddy. He straightened the slant of his body, his wings pounding up and down. His boots touched the ground near one of the fume-spewing factories.

Setting Madeline on her feet, he maintained a firm grasp on her wrist. Though shaky, she attempted to peel off his fingers, but Praevus was too strong.

He looked both ways, then opened a metal door and shoved her inside. She fell to her knees. Another cavernous warehouse, dark and reeking of mold and mildew. She heard the snick of a switch.

Light.

Madeline fought Praevus as he bound her wrists and ankles with rope. He won easily and would have even if her arms and legs hadn’t been so weak.

Her gaze flicked from the monster to her surroundings. The concrete was filthy, with dark blotches of God knew what. But since she trembled from exhaustion, she flopped onto the floor with her back to the wall, her legs straight out in front of her. Maddy refused to think about what was under her, including any bugs or rats in residence.

New digs. Same problem. What did he want with her? What plan could she devise to escape? She couldn’t break free from the ropes, though she kept trying. Best thing was to stay alert. Wait for an opportunity. But if she got away, where would she go?

Focus. Don’t worry about that now. Devise an escape first.

To calm herself, she ignored Praevus and mentally shelved books in the library, using the Dewey Decimal System while she tugged on the restraints at her wrists. The result was to open fresh wounds on unhealed skin. Able to reach the bindings securing her ankles, she gave them a jerk. Not going anywhere.

When she lost focus, Madeline felt herself slipping into old, destructive patterns—watching someone else, waiting for them to act, being afraid they would, and losing control of her environment. She wanted to run or curl into a ball, duck her head, and hide. She shook off the disabling behavior.

No!

Once, her sisters had returned home to find her cowering in a closet, hiding from their drunken mother. After hugging her and telling her she was safe, they scolded her. Darya made her plan a different way to deal with the problem, one where she would be in control. Life was about control.

That’s what she needed now. Madeline drew in a calming breath through her nose, refusing to even blink. That tiny motion might be all it took to dissolve any sense of control, any sense of order and precision she might gain from the breath. Like when she’d been at the mercy of an alcoholic parent.

Interrupting her reminiscences, Praevus pulled a chair on wheels close to her and sat down, elbows on knees. He stared at her.

She held the monster’s fixed gaze. “What do you plan to do with me?”

Praevus straightened and smiled, but his grin was far more terrifying than his slumped posture and grim stare. He tilted his chin to one side. Then the other. He scratched his jaw. “I’m beginning now. Pay close attention because I am a master of my craft.”

Bending forward, he set a palm to each of her cheeks, squeezing her face between them. Pain shot through Maddy’s head, churning her stomach. Instead of barfing, she slammed her eyes shut tight while she concentrated on driving out the agonizing headache.

When the pain lessened, she reorganized her closet, putting the items in alphabetical order. Blouses, pants, t-shirts...

Praevus jumped to his feet and grabbed a fistful of her blonde hair. “Stop it,” he screamed. His white eyes blazed with anger.

Stop what?

Maybe it was her concentration on arranging her wardrobe. She chuckled. He didn’t like her itty-bitty OCD thoughts.

Screw him.

Though he continued to hold a chunk of her hair, he relaxed his grip. “I can see you will take time.”

She grouped the closet items by color. Blue, green, red... Then, by season and, finally, by length, creating a beautiful diagonal line of hanging clothes.

Eventually, Praevus stomped off, leveling her with an evil, melodramatic cackle. “You are so fun.”

When darkness swallowed an exhausted Madeline, her antagonist starred in her nightmares.

When she awoke, Praevus offered her a plate of food. Bound with her wrists in front of her, she fed herself. Madeline pushed the items around, sampling small bites, not trusting the meal he’d set on the floor beside her. It might be drugged. Still, what choice did she have? If she didn’t eat, she’d weaken and be unable to escape when an opportunity arose.

With a spoon of something resembling fruit salad hovering near her lips, she stared into Praevus’s unnatural, freakish white eyes. She shoved the bite inside her mouth. Not so bad. The man was depraved, and whatever he had done to her made her temples pound like the drum solo in a heavy metal band’s song. She swallowed a second taste, her arm quivering from fatigue or fear.

Praevus snatched the plate away before she finished. “Time for another session.” He pulled his chair close again, reaching out to touch her hair, resting an unwelcome hand on her head.

He was rummaging around in her mind. Crazy, huh?

Twisting her head from side to side, she dislodged his palm. With more wiggle room in the rope, she raised her hands to fight the dissolute Scourge.

When she scratched his face, he slapped her so hard her teeth rattled. “Enough,” he screamed, his white eyes an imitation of flashing headlights as blood dripped down his cheeks. One point for the prisoner.

While she was recovering from the blow, he fisted her hair. Maddy’s eyes rolled up as pain shot through her. “Stop. W-w-what are you doing?” She just wanted relief from the bulleting agony. Praevus was a dentist drilling out a deep cavity, striking nerves without the benefit of Novocain.

She’d recited the Dewey Decimal Classification System. She’d re-organized her closet. Time for famous authors in alpha order while she ignored the throbbing spasms rocketing through her, a dark cloud eclipsing her concentration. But she forged ahead. American. Alcott. Angelou. Baldwin. Faulkner. Fitzgerald. Hemingway. Lee. O’Connor ...

Once Praevus removed his hand from her head, she sighed with immediate relief. Still, something was wrong. She’d been ... violated. She felt dirty, as if his fingers had been everywhere. She’d been mind-raped.

Madeline struggled to speak. “W-w-what? W-w-why?” Slurred words tumbled from her mouth.

Wiping sweat from his brow, Praevus leaned back in his chair. “I am making you mine.” His shoulders slumped and he released an exhausted sigh.

Maddy’s chin rolled to her chest, but she jerked up to fix on his crazed, chalky eyes. “D-d-don’t understand.”

“It’s none of your concern. After I rest, I have an errand. Don’t miss me too much.” He cackled.

Worst movie villain ever.

But Madeline couldn’t let go of his words. “I am making you mine.”

No. Never. Not happening.

Still, how do you fight someone who can touch your mind? Make it feel dirty, violated?

When he returned, she resisted the next incursion by focusing on alphabetizing canned goods. Darya and Fia had drummed survival into her. They taught her control, that every situation had a way out, that she could protect herself, and that she was self-reliant.

But she collapsed, dreaming. She returned to the house with her drunken mother. Surrounded by empty booze bottles and overflowing ashtrays, the woman hurled insults, blaming Madeline for everything. For the father who had left. For her miserable life. For her addiction. For the steady stream of men who wouldn’t stick around.

“No,” Maddy shouted, jolting awake.

I am responsible for myself. For every situation, there is a solution. I will get out of here because I’m in control.

But something wasn’t right. Her head bobbed forward when the dark cloud swallowed her again.

****

P raevus studied the human from a shadowy corner, eager to continue his sessions with Madeline but content to observe for the moment. He was lucky a Scourge had warned him of Ike’s betrayal so he could escape with the female. The hard-won prize he’d found at his employer’s cabin in the Razor Mountains.

Serita, the trustee Scourge who was his boss at the restaurant, had called him to her place to give him an assignment. She told him she would be absent from her cafe for a while and asked him to manage it while she was gone.

That’s when he heard a sound from the other room. Sheets rustled as someone tossed and turned in their sleep. Curious, he shoved inside to find a human tied to the bed, a delicious female whose mind was ripe for the taking. Praevus lost control of his urges. After nearly beheading his employer with his bare hands, he stole Madeline. After all, he deserved a chance to use his gift. Then he panicked.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. But the deed was done. Now he would enjoy the fruits of his rashness.

Stroking a palm across his jaw, he tilted his head to the side. The pretty young thing was unconscious again. Though her blonde, chin-length hair was dirty, the choppy cut gave her an air of innocence. She was a tall female with a trim but lush body. Revealed beneath a torn white blouse, her breasts were full. He closed his eyes to imagine testing their weight. He’d raped her mind. In time, her flesh would be his. His cock stirred, a rarity for him these days.

Not yet.

She was a fighter. Usually, he abhorred strong females, preferring fractured, subservient ones. Still, he loved the prospect of breaking this one, splintering her mind. He would enjoy the look in her eyes once she realized her will was shattered. His mouth watered with anticipation.

She woke.

Her breathing steadied. She appeared calm, pinning him with a glare as she sat with her back against the wall, her bound legs out straight in front of her. Despite her controlled expression, he sensed her mind floundering in chaos, screaming with fear. Yet she refused to show it. Interesting . Earlier she had proved a strong subject, fighting his invasion. He would ramp up his efforts.

“Hello, Madeline. Are you happy to see me again?”

Her lips squeezed tight. Her eyes narrowed.

He grabbed the back of his chair and dragged it across the floor, the scritch of metal on concrete echoing through the cavernous warehouse. Sitting near her, he leaned forward and slapped a hand on her head, curling his fingers so she could not escape his grasp.

Once she stopped whipping from side to side, he began.

To Praevus, the mind housed a beautiful, intricate series of underground burrows that turned left, right, up, and down, a maze of interconnected pathways. He always started at the outermost point before working his way inside. The closer he traveled to the center, the greater his control over the being.

Most often he slipped into the first tunnel with ease, the shaft to the mind open, allowing access. Later he might come across a collapsed area—that was how he thought of it—where he had to dig through rubble. If he ran into a wall of debris, he recognized it as damage. Then he backtracked until he could plow forward again.

Madeline required more effort. He realized this from his earlier attempt to breach the exterior of her will. When he could not find an unobstructed shaft, he had left, too exhausted and puzzled to continue. Now he resumed the task with a re-invigorated determination.

He still saw no doorway that led deeper into her mind. Continuing to explore the outer surface, he sought a way inside.

Ah. There it is.

A gigantic metal door. Sturdy. He pulled on the handle. When it didn’t budge, he leveraged a phantom foot on the frame and tugged.

No success.

Praevus paused in his failed pursuit so he could study Madeline. She drew her lips into a grim slash. Her facial muscles tensed with the pain of a headache caused by his intrusion. He rose from his chair, stretched his arms overhead, and bent left and then right. Altering a mind and setting triggers was a physical task as well as a mental one. He laced his fingers together and curved them until he heard cracking sounds.

Better.

Back inside her brain again, he sought a way to disrupt her battle against him. At the imaginary doorway, he turned around, pretending to ignore his task. As he suspected, Madeline, weary from the struggle, relaxed. When she did, he barreled through with a sneak attack.

Success.

He made it into the first tunnel, deception being a marvelous tool.

Praevus, Mind Rat extraordinaire, halted, examining his location and what surrounded him. Hers was unlike any mind he had breached before. Most, even those of Immortals, were open, more easily accessed. But in Madeline’s brain, a burrow in front of him had collapsed, requiring him to dig. Metaphorically, dirt, pebbles, and larger rocks filled it.

He clawed through. When he hit a clear patch, he caught his breath and scurried ahead.

Damn. Another collapse.

Praevus dug his way forward.

After hours, sweat dripped into his eyes, his arms quivered from tension, and his own head ached from the labor. Praevus released his hold on the human. To preserve his strength, he would require more than a couple of days for this mission.

He could use brute force, but that would leave Madeline a drooling, useless blob of flesh. Using stealth and finesse, he would be more pleased with the result. She would become a thrall to his desires, his errand girl, his slavish lover, his waitress, his housekeeper, his cook, his admirer, his greatest fan.

Using his skills on the Scourges in Angor was unrewarding. Their brains did not exercise his superior Mind Rat talents. But now, he was free to do what he wished to this human.

When he retreated from her mind, her eyelashes flickered, indicating she was equally tired.

Rising from his chair, Praevus stretched his arms and rolled his shoulders several times. He cracked his knuckles. Shaking out his hands, he planted his ass back in the torn leather seat. He cradled a palm on her head again to hold her in place and because touch was necessary with someone of her will.

“Once more, my dear.” He smiled though she did not see him. Still, she fought him, her eyes clamped tight. Valiant . Eventually he would win.

To distract her while he invaded, he shared incidents from his life, his eons in Vast, his unfair capture, and his many punishments since his arrival in Angor. Once his words lulled her, he drew a deep breath, traveling to the last point of his intrusion.

Determined, he once again faced collapsed rubble. Larger metaphorical boulders blocked his path. With effort, he heaved them aside until he cleared the way.

Strolling forward, he paused to admire how her mind worked. It was well-shielded. Trauma, perhaps. But he was an expert Mind Rat. With a phantom hand, he touched a thin-membraned wall, planting a command that would activate later.

A trigger.

Several steps ahead, he plunged downward. Unusual . The pathway on which he strode had given way, tumbling him into an unexpected shaft. He must be more careful. She was a dangerous subject. He risked getting lost or injured while manipulating her will. Praevus created an imaginary ladder and climbed out of the pit to continue his journey.

Damn. Another mound of debris.

He needed food and rest. Never had he been so challenged. What a delight the human turned out to be. Such a great self-reward.

His boss, Serita, had become involved in something big. After he had worked for her at the restaurant in Angor a long time, she offered him a hush-hush job. On the side. When he consented to be her errand boy, she freed him from the Ordeals and gave him better accommodations. She had powerful friends in high places, but he had blown that deal when he attacked her and stole the Madeline.

Again he planted what he liked to think of as a bomb, or trigger, that would explode at a later date. If Madeline passed from his hands to another’s, this would be a pleasant surprise for her new owner. Praevus had no doubt that she’d eventually be taken from him. He chuckled with delight.

Mind Rats came in many varieties. At the low end of the spectrum were those who did nothing but destroy brain matter, leaving their victims catatonic. Sloppy . A middling ability allowed the Rat to twist the subject to their will. He possessed that skill. But at the upper end were those few who set triggers to activate later. This prowess made him special.

After planting the second trigger, Praevus released his hold on Madeline and wobbled to his feet.

Yes. Food and rest.

Her chin bobbled to her chest when she fell into unconsciousness. He had to be careful to keep her alive. Despite her strong mind, human flesh was weak. Nonetheless, Praevus had not had so much fun since his capture. Once again, he was somebody, a master of his art. How dare the OneCreator call his gift a malady. It was his genius. His greatness.

If Serita suffered for what he gained, so be it. He owed her nothing.