Obsession

Chapter 4

Four

S lowly, Ren's eyes fluttered open, and she was disoriented. The cold, hard surface beneath her was not the familiar comfort of her car seat. Her head ached, but not nearly as much as her beaten and bruised body. Her leg screamed at her and still oozed fresh blood bringing her last memory to the surface.

“I wrecked my car…where am I?” Her whispered words forced her to draw in painful breaths.

She found herself lying in an unfamiliar place. It was lumpy and jagged, something poked uncomfortably into her back.

There was cloth draped above her head on a four poster bed. The sheets beneath her were smooth and cool to the touch, but something beneath scraped and rattled as she moved. The confusing sound and feel beneath her caused her to pull back the sheets, revealing a collection of bones strewn across the surface of the bed. She panicked, yanking at the lace trellis hanging from above the antique bed frame.

She made a dive to get away when she slammed hard against something solid. Her head throbbed with a dull pain.

She brought a hand up to her forehead, wincing. A knot had already formed on the curve of her forehead. She squinted her eyes to look around before moving further, fearing more pain.

A cage of some type or barrier surrounded the bed.

It’s not glass, but still just as solid” she thought. Beyond it she saw towering stone walls inlaid with skulls and other skeletal fragments, catacombs in the guise of an ancient mansion. A thick scent of dust, old books, and eternal death filled the air, adding to her bewilderment. Her ears picked up the distant roar of the storm outside, muffled by the thick, ancient walls. Yet, as she listened, there was another sound - the low murmur of hushed conversations.

As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, three figures detached themselves from the shadows. Three pairs of eyes watched her, glowing red rubies pitched against a velvet black canvas, each piercing her with a mixture of coldness, curiosity…and was that hunger?

The room seemed to close in on her as the three figures stepped, no…more like glided, into the dim light. Shadows of monstrous demons forming into three of the most evil looking yet devilishly handsome creatures she’d ever seen. The beings only cliché romance books are written about. Sharp chiseled jawlines, long lithe bodies dressed impeccably, and an allure that was unmistakable. A magnetism that she couldn’t fight pulling her to stare, slack jawed and directly as she might into the blinding sun it would seem. Her eyes burned, mirroring the desire she saw in them.

Then one by one the demon brothers moved closer, fangs glinting with murderously charming smiles. Their inspection of her seemed to last forever, yet only seconds passed by.

"I am Callum," the first purred, his voice a sultry allure. “She’ll do just fine.”

"Grayson," uttered the second, his tone held layers of veiled depth and meaning. His look at Ren was almost that of indifference before turning his attention to the first man to speak.

“If you say so, dear brother.” The last man spoke.

Ren stood stock still, seemingly trapped inside a barrier. It gave her a sense of safety, even if she didn’t know what it was.

"Bastian," the last introduced, his voice the very embodiment of darkness, hard as steel.

“You, darling, are ours now. Our pet. So be a good little girl and listen closely.”

And like the final note of a haunted melody, her initiation into this shadowy realm completed.

“What are you going to do to me?” She asked the three men with accents that she couldn’t quite place.

Three men that seemed to have had a plan that they had no intention of shedding any light on.

“Sleep.” The deepest voice reverberates inside her head like an echo.

Her body felt weightless and she felt the darkness overcome her mind, until nothing.