Dark World (Book I in the Dark World Trilogy) (4 page)

What is he talking about?
Need three for what?

His friends shrugged and looked at one
another with glazed eyes, obviously less concerned than
Rory.

After shifting his gaze to the moon
again, Rory announced, “We’d better get started.” His eerie stare
fell on Scarlet, darkness pulsating behind his eyes, adding
cryptically, “We have no choice, we’ll just have to use
one.”

He knelt down and unzipped his duffel
bag, producing what looked like a large, black blanket and an
antiquated scroll. A tremble possessed her body and her eyes
watered with fresh tears.

This is it Scarlet,
something awful is about to happen.

The other boys hooted and hollered,
retrieving their own piece of dark fabric. Horrified, Scarlet
watched with wide eyes as each of them swung the cover over their
shoulders, secured it at their necks and finished by raising a cowl
over their heads. She drew in a sharp breath when she realized what
they really were.

They’re not blankets…they’re
cloaks!

A fear like she’d never known occupied
her soul.

“
Rory,” Scarlet’s voice
quivered. “What’s going on?”

Unresponsive, Rory stood stoic,
watching the unveiling festivities with a horrible grin carved upon
his face. Scarlet’s body shook while they began arranging something
on the forest floor. The moment Steve pulled out a can of black
spray and painted a symbol on the ground, the situation became more
transparent.

A pentagram.

This was some kind of
ritual.

Scarlet wasn’t sure what was going on,
but she wasn’t going to hang around to find out. She forced her
quivering legs forward and ran for the trees. Hot blood raced from
her pounding heart and into her head. Lines of sweat dripped over
her brow while she pushed her body as hard as it would
go.

“
Get her!” Rory yelled, his
voice a mesh of anger and perverse amusement.

I’m almost to the trees. If
I can just get there, I can hide.

Shelby’s boots were like lead on her
feet, hindering her as the chunky heels plodded against the ground.
The tree line was so close now, only a few more feet. She could
hear them right behind her, jeering and laughing like a pack of
jackals. She didn’t dare look back for fear it would slow her down.
Scarlet could almost touch the boughs as she neared the edge of the
woods. Visions of seeing her family and Shelby flashed through her
mind. Her thighs burned and her feet protested with every step, but
she wouldn’t let herself stop.

Almost there!

As she broke through the wall of
branches, a sense of liberation embraced her.

I did it!

A new emotion rose rapidly to the
surface, overshadowing her elation. Betrayed by her imperfect
vision, darkness blurred before her, the trees and shrubs blending
into a haze of silhouettes.

Which way?

Panic eroded what remained of her
nerves, the thudding of footsteps closing in on her. Her heart beat
against her chest like a furious gorilla, caged and wild with fear.
Sweat beaded and ran from her brow, plummeting like lemming off her
chin and splattering against her bare, heaving chest.

She had to make her move.
Now.

Just move, Scarlet!
Move!

Willing her feet forward, she plunged
into the thicket of shadows before her, arms outstretched, feeling
her way through the web of branches. Between the sound of leaves
crunching beneath her feet and her heartbeat smashing inside her
eardrums, she couldn’t determine how close her assailants were.
Summoning any courage that may be hiding in the deep crevices of
her soul, she began to run. Blind and terrified, she prayed she’d
get away. Prayed for a happy ending.

Her prayers would go unheard, replaced
only by screams.

Halted in mid-stride, a terrific pain
seized the back of her head. Scarlet was yanked backwards and her
body hit the ground with a resounding thud.

“
Stupid little bitch,”
muttered a voice she recognized as Steve’s. He pulled her by the
hair like a cave man, dragging her back toward the fire.

“
Let me go! Please!” she
shrieked, kicking and thrashing wildly.

Scarlet could scarcely believe what was
happening. It didn’t even feel real. The whole scenario had the
makings of a horror movie, only she knew it was real. Terrifyingly
real. She stole a fleeting look at Rory, but his back was to her.
Scarlet prayed he would come to his senses and whisk her away from
this nightmare. Maybe if she cooperated, they would just finish up
with their sick little game and she could go home. Not knowing the
first thing about cults or rituals, she hoped they wouldn’t hurt
her, or worse, kill her.

“
Why are you doing this?”
Scarlet’s lip quavered uncontrollably as she was led to the center
of the pentagram. Rory had his arm draped over her shoulder,
guiding her. Herding the lamb to slaughter.

With a sinister glow behind his blue
eyes, he smiled insincerely. “We need to make a sacrifice under the
full moon, to appease our God.”

In a small voice, Scarlet offered,
“Lucifer?”

The boys laughed at her in unison while
they formed a circle, corralling her into the center of the
pentagram.

“
No Scarlet, there are far more
powerful beings in Hell than Lucifer,” Rory retorted, his voice
dripping with condescendence. He then raised his arms and yelled,
“We serve Malus, Queen of the Underworld.”

Scarlet stood in horror while Steve and
the other boys began undressing her. The red skirt, Shelby’s boots,
and all other articles of her clothing were tossed pitilessly into
the raging bonfire. Though it took everything in her not to fight,
she realized it would be pointless to even try.

“
Why…why me?” Her body
wracked with sobs. “Why did you choose…me?”

He chuckled and rolled his eyes as if
she should know the answer. “Why you? Why not you?” Rory
straightened his shoulders and approached her. He grabbed her by
the neck, tightening his grip. Breath caught in her windpipe, she
glared as he brought his face inches from hers. “You made it easy
for me. You’re weak. Pathetic. You had to be cured of your human
weakness. I’m giving you a gift.”

Rory loosened his grip on her throat,
then leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. Disgusted, she fought
against the human shackles holding her in place. He pulled back, a
twisted grin on his handsome face.

She stared into his eyes, the eyes of
insanity, searching for that guy she once admired from a distance.
He was nowhere to be found. A demon lived inside him. A
monster.

Scarlet wrenched from his grip, a
strangled cry escaping her. He sneered, then sauntered back to the
head of the pentagram, giving a nod to his minions.

Naked and shivering as bitterly cold
wind stung her bare skin, they forced to her lie down in the center
of the emblem.

“
Are you…going to kill…me?”
Hot tears ran down the sides of her face as they bound her wrists
and ankles, attached them to tent pegs, and nailed them into the
ground.

Rory bent down, and placing his lips
just inches from her ear, whispered, “Don’t worry, there is no
death—only transition.”

It was then that Steve produced a vial
of liquid and leaned over her. She pursed her lips tightly
together. Undeterred, he grabbed her naked breast and gave it a
hard squeeze. Her jaw dropped open to protest but he dumped the
liquid into her mouth before she could utter a sound. Upon slamming
her chin shut and clamping a hand over her mouth, he pinched her
nose and ordered, “Swallow.”

Her lungs begging for air, she gulped.
Bitterness slid past her tongue, then burned all the way down her
esophagus. She tried to cough and spit it out, but it had already
starting taking affect. A calm sensation permeated her body,
sedating her. The world spun. Everything became hazy and
incoherent. She now believed she was dreaming.

It’s just a nightmare. I’ll
wake up soon.

A monotonous chanting began. She was
vaguely aware of Rory and the boys standing in a circle around her,
their voices blending like a thunderous song. Scarlet tried to turn
her head, but her muscles were non-compliant. She felt so light,
like drifting in a dream. The enormous full moon hung overhead. A
silver talisman suspended in the black fabric of space, its steely
hue sporadically blemished by a drifting charcoal cloud. The stars
stared down at her, winking and sparkling as if sending her secret
messages.

“
Help me!”
she called to them inside the
confines of her delusional mind.

Her disjointed thoughts shifted to her
mom, dad and brother. They were probably going to miss her. She
wondered how long it would take the police to find her body? What
if she was never found? What if she was murdered and Rory and the
boys were never brought to justice? Was Shelby going to be angry
about her clothes?

Her mind couldn’t function. Couldn’t
focus.

She gaped at their cloaked faces and
wondered if these were the last moments of her life. Inside her
paralyzed body, Scarlet’s soul began to struggle. She wanted to
live.

Please no…not like
this.

Rory unrolled the tattered parchment.
Amid the blotches of ocher staining the document, the scroll’s
golden lettering leaped from the page, glistening by the light of
the moon.

Rory hovered over her, reading from the
script, hollering words in some other language. At first, she
thought it was some kind of Satanic gibberish, but as she listened
closer, she realized she could understand what he was
saying.

“
Hera nos Regina of Atrum.
Tribuo nos immortalis!“

Struggling against the pall of the
drug, she focused on his voice, translating as he spoke.

It’s like…Latin,
she thought,
suddenly grateful for obsessing over the ancient
language.

“
Hear us
Queen of the Dark, we give you
this soul in exchange for power and eternal life. Take this child
into your bosom of evil, feast upon her spirit. Grant us
immortality!”
Rory commanded in the foreign tongue.

She watched as Rory rolled up the
scroll and tucked it into a large pocket on the front of his robe.
From the same pouch, he then produced what appeared to be a box
cutter.

Oh god!

When he crouched beside her, a rush of
adrenaline forced her heart to palpitate faster than she thought it
was capable. He edged the blade up with his thumb; a clicking sound
preceding the appearance of the razor. Scarlet followed the pointed
tip as he loomed over her. The horrific thought of him carving out
her eyes crossed her mind. He placed the steel tip against her
forehead and sliced what felt like another pentagram. The pain was
excruciating, but because of the tonic, her body lay frozen in
torment. Warm liquid pooled, then trickled in thin streams from the
wound, winding past her eyes and into her hair. She almost wanted
to die right then. Her will to live was fading like the last light
of sunset.

Please let this be over
soon!

As if her wish had been granted, she
witnessed Steve place an object into Rory’s waiting hands. It was a
very long—very sharp—knife. Holding the silver dagger over her,
Rory paused and held her gaze a moment.

Maybe he’s having second
thoughts…maybe he truly cares for me.

With anticipation swelling in her
heart, she held her breath. But her hopes were dashed when a glint
of evil crossed his eyes.

In one fluid motion, he plunged the
steel blade into her chest.

And the world stopped.

Dark Butterfly

As hard as it was to play dead, Scarlet
forced the pain aside, sipped shallow breaths, and stayed as still
as possible. Even when Rory crouched down and closed her eyelids
with his fingertips, she refused to believe this was truly
happening.

“
Untie her,” he said, hollow
and uncaring.

Rough hands removed her bindings,
leaving her paralyzed body splayed unsympathetically.

“
Okay, we’d better get out
of here,” Rory stated.

She cringed inside her broken
body.

They’re just going to leave
me here?

Like someone had telepathically
received her cry, one of the boys asked, “We’re just gonna leave
her here? What if someone finds her? What if they link it back to
us?”

“
Maybe we should bury her,”
added another.

“
We have to leave her here, in
the pentagram. It’s what the ritual says. It’s been done this way
for centuries. Don’t worry so much, Malus will protect us,” Rory
explained and then added with a frustrated sigh. “Let’s just go, we
have to get her car from the theatrer parking lot and
dispose
of it.”

They all laughed as they walked
away.

Anger occupied her soul like a demon
taking possession. Wrath sidled next to her pain, owning her
thoughts and emotions.