Page 21

Ivy opened her eyes and stared up at the familiar ceiling.

She shot up looking around. She was in her room at the castle.

The walls were the same cold, stone ones she'd grown to despise, but now they felt like they were mocking her.

For a moment, she thought it all had been a nightmare.

Then she saw the bandages on her arm, leg and her palm; the pain brought her farther back to reality, and it crashed down on her like a ton of bricks.

Ivy's chest heaved as she started to cry, tears streamed down her face. "No!" she screamed, her voice hoarse from crying. "No, please no!" The room seemed to close in around her. She had been so close to freedom, to Alice, to a life free of Vice. But now she was back in this hellish prison.

She was startled by something touching the back of her head.

She whipped her head around to see Vice standing next to her, stroking the back of her head.

She hadn't even seen him standing there.

She looked at him, her eyes wide, breathing rapidly, her mouth hung open.

"Welcome back Ivy,” he whispered, his voice a mix of anger and amusement.

"Did you really think you could get away that easily?” he asked, a smirk playing at his lips.

"But I’m impressed, you put up a good fight," he said, his voice devoid of emotion. "But you're not going anywhere."

Ivy's eyes filled with rage and despair. "Why?" she choked out. "Why can't you just let me go?"

Vice leaned closer, his breath hot against her face. "Because my sweet, I own you." His words chilled her to the bone. "You'll never leave here alive. His hand trailed down her body, his touch both gentle and possessive.

Through the haze of pain and fear, she felt something, anger. Anger at herself for being so weak, for letting him do this to her. She shrugged his hand off.

Vice then grabbed her by the arm roughly. His grip tightened as he pulled her out of bed. "You're mine," he reiterated, his eyes gleaming with a dark excitement. "And I don't let my possessions go easily. Now let's go." With those words, he yanked her towards the door.

Ivy stumbled, the pain from her injuries making her legs wobble. "What do you want from me?" She spat through clenched teeth, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.

"I want you to understand you're place," he said, his voice a low growl that seemed to vibrate through the very floorboards. "You're here to serve me, to entertain me. Nothing more."

He paused, letting the weight of his words settle.

Ivy kept her gaze locked on his, refusing to flinch, though her stomach churned with a fear she fought to suppress.

He wanted to break her, to see her cower.

She wouldn't give him the satisfaction. "Nothing more.

" she finally spoke, her voice surprisingly steady.

"Is that all? Because frankly, I was expecting a more creative proposition from a man of you're,” she paused, looking him up and down, her lips pressed together. “Reputation."

A flicker of something – surprise? Annoyance? – crossed his face, quickly masked. "Bold words from someone in you're…. precarious position.” he said, giving her a smirk. “Don't mistake my generosity for weakness."

"Generosity?" she scoffed, mirroring the coldness in his gaze. "You call this generosity? Imprisonment, more like. Don't insult me, Vice. We both know I wasn't invited here."

He leaned forward, the light catching the sharp angles of his jaw. "You misunderstand. You were invited. Of you're own… accord. But perhaps," he added, a dangerous glint in his eye, "you'll find my expectations… more stimulating than you anticipated."

"I doubt that" she said, her voice hardening.

He straightened, a slow smile spreading across his face, a smile that promised nothing but trouble.

"We shall see. Time has a way of changing things, wouldn't you agree?

" He tilted his head, his icy eyes boring into hers.

"And I have all the time in the world. "Now let's go.

" he said as he yanked her down the hallway.

He continued to pull her through the castle corridors, the walls seeming to stretch on forever. Each step sent jolts of pain through her injured limbs, but she forced herself to keep up, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her weak. Finally, they stopped in front of a door.

Vice pushed the door open, the sight that greeted her was one of horror. Two figures knelt on the cold stone floor, their wrists chained to the floor. As they approached, she recognized the woman; they ran into each other in the hallway. The other was Shamus, his face looking down.

What's going on? Ivy asks, turning to look at him, her voice shaking.

Vice steps closer, his eyes glinting with cruel amusement. "It's quite simple, really. You're going to choose which one of these fine folks gets to leave this room alive." He motions to the kneeling figures with his hand.

Her stomach twists in a knot as she looks at them. The woman's eyes are wide with terror. Shamus continues to look at the floor, his expression unreadable.

Ivy looked back at Vice. "No, I'm not playing you're sick game." she said firmly, her voice steady despite the tremble in her hands.

"Funny you think you have a choice." Vice cocked his head, a wicked smile forming on his face. "You will because, you let the devil in. Then crossed him and now you'll pay the price." Vice laughed coldly. "You see Ivy, this is you're punishment for trying to run away."

"Punish me, not them." Ivy protested, her voice shaking with a mix of fear and anger. "They didn't do anything. They didn't—."

Vice's eyes narrowed, cutting her off. You think I don't know what they did?

You think I don't see everything that goes on here?

" He took a step closer. "Shamus helped you.

He had the audacity to think he could hide you and help you escape.

And her," he spat, as he nodded toward the trembling woman, "she tried to keep the truth from me and not tell me you were wandering around.

They know the rules and they still chose to disobey me, because of you and for that you'll all suffer. "

"But I didn't mean for any of this to happen!" Ivy protested, her voice rising in desperation.

Vice leaned in closer, his breath hot against her ear. "Obedience, Ivy. That's what I want and that's what I will have." His hand closed around her chin; he forced her to meet his gaze. "Choose. Now!” he demands.

"I can't," she whispered, her eyes flicking between the terrified faces of her fellow captives. "They're innocent."

Vice's grip tightened, his nails digging into her skin.

"Innocent?" He spat the word out like a piece of rotten meat.

"There's no such thing. But if you insist on being the hero," he said, releasing her with a shove, "then I'll make it easy for you.

You have until the count of five to make you're decision. "

Ivy’s heart hammered in her chest. She looked at Shamus, her eyes filled with regret and a silent apology. Then at the woman.

"One," Vice began, his voice echoed off the cold stone walls.

Panic set in as Ivy searched for a way out of this twisted game. She couldn't decide. Couldn't bear the thought of sending one of these people to their death.

"Two," Vice said, his voice like the ticking of a clock, counting down to an inevitable fate.

Tears streamed down Ivy's cheeks as she looked back and forth between Shamus and the woman. She couldn't decide, she didn't want to play this twisted game. But the pressure mounted with each second that passed.

"Three," Vice continued, his voice was as unyielding as the chains that bound them.

"Please," she choked out, her voice raw with despair. "Don't do this."

Vice's grin widened, his teeth glinted in the flickering torchlight. "Four." he said, his voice dropping lower.

"Five," he smirks, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction as he pulls a knife from his belt.

Ivy's world spins as she watches in horror.

She can't move, can't breathe. It was as if time stopped.

Vice closed the distance between the woman and himself in the blink of an eye.

A cruel glint shone in his eyes. His hand grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back.

The unexpected force caused the woman to cry out.

She squeezed her eyes shut; a silent prayer formed on her lips.

He didn't hesitate. With a swift, brutal motion, he dragged the blade across her neck.

"No!" Ivy screamed, her voice was raw and desperate. Ivy turned away. Vice released his grip on the woman’s hair. He stalked toward Ivy, grabbing her hard by the chin, roughly turning Ivy’s face back towards the woman.

“You do not get to turn away from what you’ve caused, this is happening because of you!

” he spat. He forced her to watch the life drain from the woman's eyes.

The room filled with the wet, gurgling sounds of her life that was spilling from her.

Each bubble of escaping air a gruesome note that pierced the silence.

The woman’s eyes widened in shock, and she gripped her throat, the warm crimson steadily flowed passed her fingers, as she desperately tried to stop it. The smell of copper filled the air.

The woman's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water.

The gurgles of her blood mixed with the air as it forced its way through her severed windpipe.

Her breathing was coming in short painful gasps, and with each one, more crimson bubbles formed and popped as they flowed down her throat, moving down to her chest, then finally to the floor.