Page 13 of Grotesque

I grew up with nightmares. It was a rare surprise for me to have a pleasant dream, or wake without having dreamt at all. Maybe that was why I was drawn to horror stories– they were rarely worse than what greeted me every time I closed my eyes.

I’d heard of sleep paralysis but was fortunate to have never experienced that torment.

Until now, apparently.

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness around me, I was acutely aware that something had changed. The silence was so complete, the only sound I could hear was the breath moving in and out of my lungs. I felt my body straining to coil in on itself as I realized what had woken me.

There was someone in my bed.

It was the dip of the mattress at my back that had woken me, as they slid beneath the sheets. I could feel their chest against my back and their hand on the back of my thigh.

How long had they actually been there? Was it Quint?

Something in their utter stillness, in the menace I felt misting in the air like smoke, told me it wasn’t Quint paying me an unsolicited visit in the dead of the night.

My fight or flight sense seemed to have abandoned me entirely. I was frozen, unable to move as the hand on my thigh started to move. The touch was gentle at first, but then the fingers splayed over my skin, grazing it with the edges of razor sharp nails… claws?!

“There she is.” The rumbling voice was male. Its pitch was low, and scratchy, like he was parched.

A silent scream died in the back of my throat as my entire body remained rigid. Something pressed against my hair, his nose I imagined, as he inhaled and let out a groan.

Why the fuck couldn’t I move?

He slid his hand over the top of mine and moved it down between my legs.“How about we have a bit of fun? Last night was cut so short,” he hissed.His fingers curled over my own, the tips of his long nails biting into my sensitive flesh.

The man in the shadows. It had to be.

Somehow, he had gotten into the house again, and past Quint.

And now, the stranger was in my bed.

Get up. Get up Sorcha!

A spark ignited in my blood, cracking the ice holding me in place. I jerked forward. Not fast enough, before a clawed hand encircled the entirety of my throat and pinned me back to the man’s – creature’s – cold body. Humans didn’t have claws.

Dreams couldn’t hurt you. Not even nightmares had the power to come to life. Which meant… my stomach dropped as a wave of nausea hit me. This was real.

“Sorcha,” he growled. “If you don’t play my game, I’m going to wake your guest downstairs, and slit his throat. A guest you’re not supposed to have.”

I stilled, my breath coming short and fast. He smoothed the flat of his hand over my chest as if he meant to soothe me.

“That’s right, I know the rules. And you’ve broken every single one, which gives me the right to punish you. Now, are you going to play with me?”

A garbled sound came out of me before I found my voice. “Don’t hurt Quint.” He was innocent in all this. And the stranger was right, I knew the rules but had brought him in anyway. I’d subjected him to this psycho’s whims.

“Don’t make me,” he purred.

I nodded. “Ok,” I whispered.

When I tried to crane my head back the creature hissed. “Not yet, little dove. You may not look upon me yet.” His nose pressed to the side of my head as he nuzzled my hair again. “They always send me sparrows, little birds that do not satisfy my hunger. But you, my dove, I think will fill me up.”

My stomach flipped and roiled. I was going to be sick. I could feel my gut churning violently. Burning erupted across the back of my throat and I heaved, gulping in air like it was the last time I’d ever get a taste of it.

“Shh,” he crooned. His fingers worked over my throat, easing their grip as he rubbed the tension from it.

I shut my mouth when I realized I was gasping. It was near impossible to breathe through my nose but I focused on each exhale, trying to calm my nerves. Freaking out wasn’t going to help me.

He slid his hand from mine, trailing those sharp nails over my stomach and up my chest. The press of his fingertips over my beating heart intensified the pressure building within me.

I exhaled slowly. “What’s the game?”

“Close your eyes,” he said. “And then sit up. If at any point you open your eyes, the game is done, and I kill your boyfriend.”

This guy was fucking psychotic.

Warmth flooded my body when he rolled away from me. I hadn’t realized how cold I had been, or that he was the source of it. His sudden absence ran shivers down my spine. I sat up slowly, my hands trembling as I placed them on either side of my hips.

Reluctantly, I closed my eyes, letting darkness shroud me.

I flinched when I felt his cool presence move in front of me. It was all I could do to not shrink back when he took my hands and pulled me to my feet.

“I’ve already seen you.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I slammed it shut. My teeth clacked together so hard I felt the impact in my jaw. I shouldn’t have told him that. He would kill me now that I had admitted to catching a glimpse of him last night before the door slammed in his face.

A spiteful chuckle rumbled from his throat. “No, you haven’t.”

He led me away from the bed. Once satisfied with my position he began to turn me, moving his hands from shoulder to shoulder. I could feel the room shifting around me as I lost my bearings. Round and round I went until both of his hands slid down my biceps to still me.

“So you don’t cheat.” Something soft banded across my eyes. I opened them instinctually, but only blackness stared back. He had blindfolded me. Tightness clawed its way back up my chest. I wouldn’t say I was claustrophobic, but it suddenly felt like the walls were closing in around me.

“The rules are simple.” His voice circled me. “Figure out where I am, and if you can touch me, then you win.”

Wait…what? That didn’t sound that hard. The room wasn’t that large and there were only so many places he could go before I found him. It was too easy, which meant something was terribly wrong with his proposition.

“How do I lose?”

I could practically hear the smile in his voice when he said, “You have two minutes to find me. If within that time you have not caught me, then I win.”

I clenched my fists at my side.

Teasingly he asked, “Don’t you want to know what happens if I win?”

The fear simmering beneath my skin twisted as my blood began to heat. My instincts sharpened as I tracked his slow circles around me. He paused somewhere on my right, by the way the hairs on that arm tingled.

“What?” I spat between gritted teeth.

“I get to taste you.”

Heat bloomed over my face. Curling my hands into tighter fists. I scoffed. “Absolutely not. You’ve had plenty.”

He chuckled again, a deep thrum within his chest. “Not near enough,” he breathed against my left ear. I’d been so certain he was on my other side.

Stay focused.

“Two out of three,” I said.

I felt the hair on the right side of my face stir. “You’re not really in a position to bargain.” He hummed quietly. “I suppose it is only fair to agree. It is your body, but with three tastes of you I might not be able to stop.”

“Prick,” I snapped. It should go without saying that you should never antagonize someone willing to hurt you.

His breath ghosted my lips. “The game starts now.”

I lunged forward, my hands diving through empty air as my momentum carried me forward into the wall. Something heavy and sharp-cornered dug into the side of my hip as I slammed to a stop.

I swallowed hard as I lifted trembling hands, turning away from the wall.

I couldn’t hear anything over the sound of blood rushing in my ears, waves crashing against the shore.

Every rustle of my t-shirt as I moved my arms, or scuff of my foot on the ground sounded too loud. Too loud! I couldn’t hear him.

I could feel him, though. That terrible feeling of being circled, of him pressing right behind me–

“You agreed to play,” he murmured, his breath whispering against the back of my head. The touch of his fingers slid up the inside of my thigh.

I whirled, fingers clawing into nothing. “I am playing!” I bit my lip. “Fuck, this isn’t fair,” I whispered.

He laughed, a deep, menacing sound that clenched my heart. “It’s not supposed to be fair.”

I followed the hum of his laughter, staggering forward into another impenetrable object. My fingers brushed over something soft– the bed! I ran my hand along its edge, my other still waving in front of me.

“Thirty seconds.”

Fuckfuckfuck!

I wasn’t going to find him in time. I spun, turning back in the direction I had just come from. Aching cold brushed against my side, a finger across my back. I spun around, reaching for him. He was right there!

I stilled, listening, my blood raging. There wasn’t time, but I had two more rounds to win. Two more and then…and then what? I hadn’t thought to ask what I would win.

“Times up,” he whispered against the shell of my ear.

I wanted to punch him. I was so angry I could scream. He was like a shadow, swirling around me, as uncatchable as smoke.

“Each round gets a prize,” he said against my neck.

My knees buckled. If his hands hadn’t grasped me beneath my elbows I might have dropped to the floor. I flinched when his nose brushed against mine. The gesture only caused me to tremble more, my breath coming out in ragged bursts.

His nose trailed over the top of my cheek.

Even though I knew what he was about to do, I still tensed.

Cold lips ghosted against mine. His fingers curled into my arms, holding me steady.

He kissed me. My mouth parted as I jolted back.

He followed, kissing me softly until I was backed against a wall, where his mouth grew more insistent.

I don’t know if it was his kiss or the rush of the game, but my head felt foggy. Everything else was heightened, and the taste of him, the feel of his tongue against mine shot a heated line to my core.

“Just as delicious as I imagined you would be,” he said. The pad of his thumb ran over my lower lip and dragged down to my chin. “I could eat you right up.”

Warmth seeped into my lips and a heady rush of desire flooded my system. A defense mechanism. There was nothing sensual about the way he was toying with me, and yet I found my tongue flicking against his as he withdrew.

“Are you ready for the next round?” A hiss of anticipation filled the air.

I swiped a hand over my mouth. I hadn’t meant to kiss him back. This was some side effect of the game or his vampire powers. Was he a vampire? He moved like one, his form spilling across the floor with the grace of water.

“Fuck you,” I whispered.

He chuckled. “You keep losing and I just might.”

This time I was more confident. Not that I had a choice; I couldn’t lose again. I stayed stock still, cocking my head and listening for any sign of movement. I breathed slowly, calming my racing blood.

Creak.

I turned slowly in the direction of the loose floorboard. One step at a time. I kept my hands lifted; my head turned in the direction of the sound.

“Warmer,” he said.

I lunged forward and brushed…something. He was turning from me. I heard his footsteps round behind me and I turned with him, following him back across the room in a blind dance.

“Much warmer.” The silk of his voice was closer, wrapping around me, leading me to him.

I bared my teeth when I bumped into something. A dresser, or the bed again, I didn’t take the time to assess.

“You’re on fire,” he purred.

I dove, my nails curling like talons as I aimed and struck true. My fingers latched onto the fabric of a shirt, the thrum of a wildly beating heart beneath it. “Got you!” I said, triumphantly.

The stranger slid his hands over mine. “That you do.” The weight of his gaze caressed me. My fingers flexed beneath his. “You win a question”

“A… a question? You kissed me and all I get is a question?”

“Rules are rules,” he purred.

“You’re making the rules up as you go.” I had the vague idea that he was shrugging.

“So? Are you going to ask?”

I pulled my hands away slowly. “Are you going to kill me?”

The stranger sucked the back of his teeth. “How boring. Of course not.” He sounded annoyed that of everything I could have asked of him, that was what I’d settled on.

A trickle of something slid down my spine. I wouldn’t call it relief but at least I could take comfort in knowing Quint wouldn’t find my strangled body lying on the floor in the morning.

Was Quint alright? Was he fast asleep downstairs? Or had the stranger lied and killed him already to toy with me freely?

No, don’t think that. One thing at a time. For now, I had to trust that the stranger was being honest. If I let my mind stray, I’d panic.

“Who are you?”

The stranger hummed. “You have to win the next round for that answer. You better try very hard this time, Sorcha, but you should know.” His hands slid up my arms, as his face pressed against mine. “I don’t like to lose.”