groaned. Scarlet
stumbled and tried to steady herself on the walls but lost her footing and
crashed to her knees.
Even in her
terror, Scarlet could think only of Sage, and of the way she had left him out
there alone. What if he wasn’t strong enough to survive the battering of a
storm? What if he died out there alone? She would never forgive herself.
Just then, a
loud crack of thunder sliced through the air. It was so loud that Scarlet
covered her ears. Then a mere second later came the flash flash flash of
lightning, bright enough to burst through the cracks in the stone brickwork.
For a moment, the whole room was illuminated.
It was then that
Scarlet realized she was not alone.
Though the room
had been alight for no more than a second, she had gotten a good look at them.
Three old women, each with a long white shawl hanging over her shoulder. Their
eyes were glazed over with age, clouded by cataracts. Scarlet wasn’t sure if
they could even see her at all. They were standing side by side serenely,
smiles on their wrinkled faces as though oblivious to the storm and the shaking
tower. They looked like they could be a thousand years old.
Scarlet was on
her knees, looking up at the blank space where she’d seen the women.
“Who are you?”
she cried, her voice rising a notch to compete with the screaming wind outside.
The tower shook
as another rumble of thunder sounded out. Scarlet pressed her hands to the
ground, trying to find something solid and unmovable, and failing. The ground
shook like the aftershock of an earthquake and Scarlet felt her stomach roiling.
“Please!” she
shouted. “I’ve been led to this place! I think you can help me!”
The women didn’t
say a word. Scarlet began to worry that she had made them up entirely.
She dragged
herself to her feet, battling against the swaying ground, and began to stumble
toward the place the women had been, hands outstretched. She’d gotten no more
than two paces when lightning struck again. The women were no longer there.
Scarlet was
plunged back into darkness. She span round, groping, trying to get hold of
something, anything.
“She seeks
answers, dear sisters,” came a wizened voice from behind Scarlet.
There was
something about the voice that made Scarlet feel uneasy. It was beyond old,
beyond ancient. It was a voice from the beginning of time.
She swirled on
the spot but couldn’t see a thing. She couldn’t even make out their silhouettes.
Another
explosion of light burst through the cracks in the walls, revealing the three
women now surrounding her. She screamed, startled by their sudden reappearance,
by their closeness. She felt fingers slide into her hair and shuddered. Her
skin crawled.
When lightning
illuminated the room again, Scarlet caught another glimpse of the three
strange, white-haired women. She realized that they were pacing in a circular
motion around her. She reached out and tried to grasp one of the women’s arms,
but they moved too quickly for even super vampire speed.
“She is in
love,” another voice said, distinct from the first but equally as disconcerting.
“It is an
obsession,” the third voice contested. Her voice was the most terrifying of
them all. It was raspy, painful just to listen to, like acid burning flesh.
Scarlet’s throat
constricted.
“It’s not an
obsession,” she stammered. “Sage and I are in love.”
The women
ignored Scarlet, speaking not to her but instead to one another over her head,
as though she weren’t even in the room.
“A vampire in
love with an Immortalist!” the horrifying third woman was saying, her cackling,
rasping laughter making Scarlet shudder.
Scarlet squeezed
her hands into fists and swallowed the bile in her throat. The third woman
enraged her. How dare she make such snap judgments about her and Sage?
Just then the
ground shook violently, flinging Scarlet to the floor. Her palms slammed into
the cold stones, making pain race up her forearms.
Now the voices
of
stumbled and tried to steady herself on the walls but lost her footing and
crashed to her knees.
Even in her
terror, Scarlet could think only of Sage, and of the way she had left him out
there alone. What if he wasn’t strong enough to survive the battering of a
storm? What if he died out there alone? She would never forgive herself.
Just then, a
loud crack of thunder sliced through the air. It was so loud that Scarlet
covered her ears. Then a mere second later came the flash flash flash of
lightning, bright enough to burst through the cracks in the stone brickwork.
For a moment, the whole room was illuminated.
It was then that
Scarlet realized she was not alone.
Though the room
had been alight for no more than a second, she had gotten a good look at them.
Three old women, each with a long white shawl hanging over her shoulder. Their
eyes were glazed over with age, clouded by cataracts. Scarlet wasn’t sure if
they could even see her at all. They were standing side by side serenely,
smiles on their wrinkled faces as though oblivious to the storm and the shaking
tower. They looked like they could be a thousand years old.
Scarlet was on
her knees, looking up at the blank space where she’d seen the women.
“Who are you?”
she cried, her voice rising a notch to compete with the screaming wind outside.
The tower shook
as another rumble of thunder sounded out. Scarlet pressed her hands to the
ground, trying to find something solid and unmovable, and failing. The ground
shook like the aftershock of an earthquake and Scarlet felt her stomach roiling.
“Please!” she
shouted. “I’ve been led to this place! I think you can help me!”
The women didn’t
say a word. Scarlet began to worry that she had made them up entirely.
She dragged
herself to her feet, battling against the swaying ground, and began to stumble
toward the place the women had been, hands outstretched. She’d gotten no more
than two paces when lightning struck again. The women were no longer there.
Scarlet was
plunged back into darkness. She span round, groping, trying to get hold of
something, anything.
“She seeks
answers, dear sisters,” came a wizened voice from behind Scarlet.
There was
something about the voice that made Scarlet feel uneasy. It was beyond old,
beyond ancient. It was a voice from the beginning of time.
She swirled on
the spot but couldn’t see a thing. She couldn’t even make out their silhouettes.
Another
explosion of light burst through the cracks in the walls, revealing the three
women now surrounding her. She screamed, startled by their sudden reappearance,
by their closeness. She felt fingers slide into her hair and shuddered. Her
skin crawled.
When lightning
illuminated the room again, Scarlet caught another glimpse of the three
strange, white-haired women. She realized that they were pacing in a circular
motion around her. She reached out and tried to grasp one of the women’s arms,
but they moved too quickly for even super vampire speed.
“She is in
love,” another voice said, distinct from the first but equally as disconcerting.
“It is an
obsession,” the third voice contested. Her voice was the most terrifying of
them all. It was raspy, painful just to listen to, like acid burning flesh.
Scarlet’s throat
constricted.
“It’s not an
obsession,” she stammered. “Sage and I are in love.”
The women
ignored Scarlet, speaking not to her but instead to one another over her head,
as though she weren’t even in the room.
“A vampire in
love with an Immortalist!” the horrifying third woman was saying, her cackling,
rasping laughter making Scarlet shudder.
Scarlet squeezed
her hands into fists and swallowed the bile in her throat. The third woman
enraged her. How dare she make such snap judgments about her and Sage?
Just then the
ground shook violently, flinging Scarlet to the floor. Her palms slammed into
the cold stones, making pain race up her forearms.
Now the voices
of
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