Page 95 of Soft Tissue Damage
“I think I’ll go down and explore the maze,” I say when Vivienne is walking past me. “Will you listen out for Rosie if she wakes up?”
“Of course. Do you have your phone on you? Call me when you get lost.”
“Don’t you meanifI get lost?”
Vivienne laughs. “The first night I met Tyrant, he locked me in this labyrinth and ordered me to solve it, but all the gates were on timers, making it just about impossible.”
I really must ask her to tell me the story of how they met one of these days. “And did you?”
“Yes, but the maze I conquered wasn’t one of hedges and gateways.” She gives me a mysterious smile and leaves me be.
When I step outside, cool night air washes over me. I breathe in deeply, enjoying the scents of flowers and greensap. If I can reach the center of this labyrinth, I won’t ache for Cullan as much as I’m aching right now. If I can make it back out from the labyrinth, waiting for Cullan to return to me won’t feel so difficult. That’s what I tell myself as I pass through the first gate and make my way into the maze. My fingers brush the hedges, but so I can enjoy the sensation, not because I’m making a smart strategic decision to take all the left-hand turns or anything like that.
I want to get lost and find myself again.
After a few minutes, the maze opens up into a small square garden with rose bushes, a white stone bench, and a classical-style statue. I linger for a moment, enjoying the scent of the roses and the way the silver moonlight gleams on the white figure.
I keep moving, and pass through several wrought iron gates. These must be the gates that open and close to make things more difficult, though tonight they stand silently.
Cullan worked on this maze with Tyrant. I feel my lover’s presence all around me.
There are half a dozen more small gardens, some with statues, others with gazebos or fountains, and then I pass through an opening into a large, open expanse.
This must be it. The center of the maze.
I spread my arms and gaze up at the star-filled sky. It’s a bittersweet feeling knowing that I’m finally rid of my aunts, but I have neither my mother’s name nor Cullan with me. I’m free, but this freedom aches with sadness.
I circle slowly, gazing up at the sky, and then lower my arms and take a look around me. There are three openingsin the hedges, including the one I just came through behind me. Another is to my left, and the third is to my right.
There’s no movement to my right, and nothing out of the ordinary in the shadows. All the same, the hair stands up on the nape of my neck.
Someone is watching me.
I breathe in sharply and my heart rate picks up. Slowly, I move to my left, away from the void-like, hungering darkness. I reach the opening in the hedges still staring at that spot, unwilling to look away and give the person lurking there a chance to give chase.
I back away through the opening, keeping my eyes on the spot for as long as possible. My back hits a hedge as it turns to the right, and I either have to stay here forever, plastered against the leaves, or I have to turn and run.
I turn and run.
The last thing I see is a figure lunging out of the shadows in pursuit. He’s tall. Impossibly tall. And over his face gleams a mask, as red as wet blood.
I nearly stop and turn toward him, but then I remember what he once said.
“Don’t run. Or I won’t be able to resist chasing you.”
A smile curving my lips, I hurry onward, and I hear footsteps behind me. Measured. Unhurried. The self-assured steps of a hunter who knows his quarry isn’t going anywhere.
I run up against a dead end. There’s nowhere for me to go but back, or wait here until I’m inevitably caught.
I strain my ears, and I can no longer hear the sound of footsteps. Did I lose him, or is he waiting just out of sight?
Slowly, with my heart thundering in my ears, I make my way along the hedges, back to where I took my wrong turn. I peek around the corner and see…nothing. Maybe I did lose him.
I take several longer steps, and then the Red Mask Killer steps out of nowhere and snatches me up in his arms.
His breathing is hard. The red mask fills my vision, blank and menacing. This must be the last sight his victims see. Shadowed eyes and a blood red visage.
Threatening.
