Gillian and Quinn supported each other as they walked through the dark, mirrored hallways. They took comfort in the fact they only had to gather two more items. The orb of magick and the coin of freedom. Maybe everything would be alright after all. Deep down though, they knew nothing would ever be the same again. Ebony was nowhere in sight, Darius may have already got to her, killed her even. Anything could have happened.
"Quinn?" Gillian asked, not wanting to intrude on the vampires still fresh grief for his soulmate and his friends.
"Yes Gill?" A dark resignation showed in his face.
"Are we going to die?"
"I don't know Gill, I really don't know."
****
Ebony was running down a twisting maze of hallways. Some were like hospital hallways, shiny, new and with obsessive cleanliness. Others were old, decaying and crumbling. One even reminded her of Thierrys mansion. Still, she didn't stop to examine them, she only ran faster.
It was true that Darius had granted her last wish. He was gone, and the ghoul versions of her once dear friends were now in her pursuit. She clutched the orb of magick to her chest like a baby. Even if it was attracting the monsters, it was one of the last items, she'd soon be free.
But did she want to be free? It was true she hated Darius, but then again she once read that love and hate were the same, only standing on their heads. No love without hate, no hate without love. She vaguely recognised this as a truth. Rashel and Quinn, Ash and Mare even Keller and Galen had reason enough to hate each other, yet they were soulmates. Ebony knew Darius was NOT her soulmate, she doubted they even existed. Yet there was still something there…she wanted him. It was lust. She remembered what the girl Jenny had said to her...
"He tried to force me, he gave me no choice…" The voice of the girl was imprinted in her memory. If only she could resolve this nagging voice in her head. The only way to stay with him would be to give herself to him, the way she had longed for at the very beginning of the nightmare. She couldn't go willingly, it would mark her evil. If he forced her, now that would be a way out. A way Ebony wasn't sure she wanted to take though. Finally the dream was understood. Ebony wanted what she could never have, no-one could take it from her and only one person could give it to her Darius. She wished she could find Ash. He'd know what to do. She loved the devil, she was actually flirting with destruction itself. She was sick, twisted and ashamed at her passion for Darius.
Ebony ran into a banquet hall of some kind. It had a huge table in the centre, surrounded by about a dozen oak chairs, each lined with blood red velvet. A great, silver chandelier swung back and forth, creaking every time it neared the ceiling. What once was a brightly coloured tapestry now hung from the wall, faded and dull, the life sucked from it. The ghouls followed her, they were only a little slower than herself, yet they were persistent and Ebony was beginning to tire greatly.
The former Rashel made a grab for Ebony's wrist. Ebony kicked her back in disgust. The ribs of the creature stuck out from its front, piercing through its still beating heart. Thump, thump, thump. The sound was of insanity itself. Her neck fell at a strange angle, surely broken. Grey skull showed through. When the ghoul moved closer Ebony gagged. One of the cat green eyes had been pecked out of the socket. The other was not faring any better, it was decayed and had a plump, squishy maggot as it's resident in the centre. Ebony grabbed a smaller chair and desperately beat the creature away, snapping its neck in the other direction. When the creature was down, Ebony had no hesitation in using the chair to beat the ghoul's head into oblivion. When she was sure of its demise, she twirled to Blaise.
The Blaise ghoul was easier to dispose of. It was drooling, eyes glazed, mesmerised by the hanging tapestry. As Ebony approached, the fiend turned and lunged. Ebony shook Blaise off and pulled the tapestry down onto what was left of its burned head. The tongue protruded from the bloated lips, making a sinister rasping sound from under the artwork. Ebony grabbed a candle from the table and set the cloth on fire, careful to keep the flame away from her vampiric skin. The material went up in smoke, Blaise once again being set alight. Ebony stepped back and curled into a ball. Her salty tears streaming for a good minute before Darius took the time to appear
****
"Well, only one more item to go…I must congratulate you my dear. Of course I expected no less." Ebony realised she and Darius seemed to be dancing to a slow haunting melody. His shadow was eerie and haunting on the strobe lighted dance floor. She tried to draw back but Darius held her with inhuman strength to his muscled chest. His painful grip on her hurt her wrists. Ebony scowled and looked directly through his eyes into his black heart and evil soul.
"Leave me." She said it with a force that she had never used before.
"I've already done that, if you're going to be with me for eternity you really need to find another greeting for me. How about calling me master?" Ebony tried to kick him but he just laughed.
"How 'bout bastard?"
"My, my your spirit is incredible. It's one of the reasons I like you so. Have I ever told you why I love you so?" He paused, waiting for a reply but continued when he didn't get one. "Well, there's actually many reasons…your raven black hair. Your blue eyes…" He danced slower still. "They're the river flowing to your innocent soul."
"You don't love me, you want me. Mainly because you can never have me." Ebony fell as Darius allowed her to step back.
"Oh Ebony, I could have you any day and any way I want. I guess after all this time you still haven't realised, I let you get this far in the game." He sighed. "My magick is powerful, beyond belief or comprehension of your most powerful Daybreak witches. Give in, it's not to late. You're innocent Ebony. You didn't kill your so-called friends, I did. Come with me now and no more shall die." Ebony's legs felt weak. She nearly wept.
"I hate you, you do know that? I'll never give in, I've come too far for that and despite what you say, I do hate you Darius. Sure, in a way I want you…but that's not what's important now. What's important now is that I'm me. You have no power over me and…" She paused. "That's right, you don't have any power over me!" Darius looked mad.
"Oh, but I do Ebony…or have you forgotten? Anyway, don't get overconfident. The game has yet to finish and there's one more round to go…" And then he disappeared, leaving Ebony totally alone in the dark.
