Page 14 of Hollow House
I wandered the halls until I found one that looked vaguely familiar. After a few more minutes, I found the hall of rooms where the Wraith had left me. I poked my head inside the door, but he wasn’t there waiting for me.
Instead of returning to the room, I slid down the wall beside the door and sat. Exhaustion swept over me after everything I experienced in a short few hours, the adrenaline crash real.
The events of the bathroom were still fresh in my mind, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to be trapped in any room alone now, not without an easy escape. The woman disappeared; I never fully saw her, but I couldn’t shake the feeling she had really been there.
Not a trick of my mind.
My arms wrapped around my knees and my eyes felt heavy. I let my head fall a little, drooping until I stared at the floor. The plush carpeted halls were a deep red, the color of blood. I closed my eyes, trying to forget the bloody woman I’d seen.
My head bobbed and lifted suddenly. Had I nodded off waiting?
I shook my head and rubbed my eyes, trying to wake myself more. I wasn’t built for partying through the night. Those days were well behind me.
Voices carried up the hall, and I tucked myself closer to the door, too tired to flee but not wanting to disrupt someone else’s fun.
Perhaps it was the man I was waiting for; I couldn’t leave if it was.
Two men rounded the corner, and neither was him. One was shorter, with sandy blond hair and a navy suit. The other was the exact opposite—dark features and an all-black ensemble.
They paused when they saw me seated on the ground, clearly not expecting anyone in this secluded corner of the house. The blonde man leaned in and whispered to the other before moving toward me.
I felt the urge to move away, too aware of how exposed I was on the floor alone.
“Are you okay?” the more jovial man asked.
“I’m good! Just waiting for someone,” I admitted.
He gave a glance back to the other man, who had stopped walking.
“You look upset,” he noted, turning back to me. “You should join us.”
“Join?” I asked.
He grinned at me, and a shudder ran down my spine.“No one should be this displeased at Hollow House,” he said, smiling gently at me.
He held out a hand and, skeptically, I took it.
The man behind him watched quietly, waiting patiently by the door he stopped in front of. His face read of a mixture of annoyance and defeat.
I knew I shouldn’t go. The Wraith gave me a clear order: wait. Only hours before, I promised him I belonged to him for the night. What was I even thinking? That sounded like something out of one of the books Felix wrote.
This was real life. I got to make my decisions.
The flip flopping between my head and body was nauseating. One wanted to make its own decisions while the other wanted to wait for the touch of the man that made it come like no other.
Infuriating.
I decided to listen to my head, the often more reasonable of the two. I followed the man, realizing this could be the perfect opportunity to learn more.
So what if I had a bit of fun doing it too?
“I’m Ben,” the blond said without any hesitation in his voice.
Maybe it was a fake name, but for some reason, I believed him when he said it.
“I thought there weren’t names here,” I stated.
He shrugged, and the other man eyed him, seemingly even more annoyed.
“For some, but not everyone follows every last rule,” he said, his tone turning sultry. “He’s Javier.”
“Are you two—” I started.
Ben broke into laughter. The other man just continued his quiet walk into the room, sitting down on the bed in the middle.
“This is a house of desires,” Ben said. “Titles don’t matter here. Javier is helping me fulfill a desire, but he is not my partner.”
My cheeks reddened, realizing the question was juvenile. Of course, couples here didn’t really need to be together. The whole point was that anything was possible. Any desire could be fulfilled.
“Will you be joining us?” Ben asked, climbing into the bed next to Javier.
It all happened so quickly, I barely had time to realize I had to make a choice. I knew what I was accepting following them, but this all happened fast.
What did I expect? More conversation? That wasn’t how things worked here.
The entire concept was going to make for great article material, though I’d have to omit some of the more private details of my night.
I walked forward and climbed into the bed, wordlessly accepting the offer. I needed a distraction before I lost my mind waiting around for the Wraith.
Javier and Ben wasted no time. Their hands wandered over me and pawed at my dress.
As the two men undressed me, I noticed a shadow in the doorway.
Hadn’t we closed that?
I looked closer, the men oblivious to our new audience. My dress came completely off and my bra unhooked. The shadow moved, and with a bit of light pouring in from the hall, I made out the shape of a person.
Standing in the door was him, the man I’d hoped would come, and his eyes promised only darkness.