Briarcliff

by Lorraine Beaumont

  “We have to go.” Adriane pushed me forward.

  I forced my gaze back. “Okay.” I took a deep breath.

  “On the count of three, run as fast as you can, okay?”

  “WH—what, aren’t you coming with me?” I grabbed his arm.

  “Yes, I will be right beside you.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise.” Adriane grabbed my cold fingers and squeezed them. “You ready?”

  I nodded.

  “One…two…three…” We took off running.

  51-WHAT COMES A KNOCKING

  Hand in hand, we ran through the darkened corridors of Briarcliff Manor at an impossible speed. The hideous cries from the strange creatures grew fainter the further away we ran. Unfortunately, our flight for freedom ended much sooner than expected in front of an imposing pair of black doors.

  Adriane stepped forward and grabbed the handles. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” He shook his head in frustration.

  “What’s the matter?” My voice came out stilted from running so quickly. I didn’t even feel like my feet had touched the ground—it felt like I was running on air.

  “They’re locked.” Adriane raked his hands through his hair.

  I noticed his breath wasn’t rushing from his chest like mine was. “Is this the only way out of here?” I looked down the long hallway. A large plate-glass window was positioned in the center. Unless we were planning on flying, I didn’t see another way out, at least not on this floor.

  “We will have to find another way.” He didn’t sound convinced. He leaned against the wall and stared down at his hands.

  I wasn’t sure what he was doing but figured I should at least put some kind of effort in to aide in our escape. Even though, everything felt a bit unreal. Like it wasn’t really happening. It must be shock. I read somewhere that your brain will shut down when something too traumatic happens for it to process. Your brain will actually submerge the trauma until you are able to deal with it, which was just fine by me. Reaching out, I grabbed hold of the handles and shook them. They didn’t move for me either. Turning around, I pressed my butt against them and pushed for all I was worth. Surprisingly, they didn’t move, not an inch.

  Adriane lifted his head. “What are you doing?” A slight smile played on the corners of his mouth.

  “Hey, you can’t blame a girl for trying.”

  “You okay?”

  “Oh, I’m fine.” I rubbed my damp palms on the sides of my skirt. He was the one I was worried about. He didn’t look too good. Well, that wasn’t right. He always looked good, but right now, he looked peeked, like he might need to get sick. I was sure I would need to get sick too, that is if my mind didn’t block out all the horror I had just seen.

  “You’re fine?” He lifted his brow; some of his color returned. “You’re lying.”

  “Am not,” I argued, even though what he said was true. I wasn’t fine. Not at all. No, I was in denial. My mind had shut down so I wouldn’t go insane or whatever crazy people do when they finally snap.

  “What were those things?” I remembered all too clearly the crazy-looking woman in the foyer that would probably be starring in my nightmares for quite some time, that is, if I ever got out of here.

  “Degarè.” He fisted his hands.

  An intense surge of dread shot thought me at the mere mention of their name. Shivering, I wrapped my arms around my stomach. I felt like if I didn’t I would fall apart. “What do they want?”

  His scrubbed his hands over his face and then dropped them back to his sides. “Nothing you need to worry about.”

  “What do you mean I don’t need to worry about them…they are after us, aren’t they?”

  “Yes, but…”

  “What about my friends?” I cut him off.

  “Simon will look after them.” He pushed himself off the wall and I noticed he looked better.

  “Why would he do that?”

  He gave me a startled look.

  “I don’t mean they aren’t worth it or anything,” I explained, “but he doesn’t even know them.”

  “It’s what we do.” He shrugged.

  “What you do?” I shook my head, confused. “Sorry,” I said. “I don’t get it.”

  He laughed but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Inquisitive little girl aren’t you?”

  “Am not,” I told him even though I did sound like a little girl. I pushed against his chest and tightened my fingers on his shirt.

  He stared down at me. “Yeah…” His gaze slipped to my mouth. “You’re not.” He definitely looked like he felt better. I was the one feeling lightheaded now as my pulse thumped wildly and the warmth of his breath wafted across my face.

  The light from the full moon poured in through a window over his flawless skin. He looked like a statue frozen in time. I tried to swallow, but couldn’t. My throat constricted and stopped the flow of words I knew I should say. It didn’t matter though. Nothing mattered right now—but him and the only thing tangible in my mind was how I wanted him to kiss me again…and then he did.

  With a sudden fierceness, he pulled my face to his and emitted a low moan in his throat.

  My own moan of pleasure slipped from me as his lips hungrily pressed against my own. I wrapped my arms tighter around him, feeling like I couldn’t get close enough. His lips were hard and soft at the same time as he slid his warm tongue into my mouth, deepening the kiss. One of his strong hands cradled the back of my head as his mouth traveled lower and kissed the delicate skin just below my ear. My body trembled even more as his other hand roamed freely down the front of my shirt.

  He tore his mouth away and looked down at me. His eyes were haunted…hungry.

  I shivered in spite of the heat I felt in his arms.

  He grabbed my face and lowered his mouth to mine again. This time the kiss was more urgent. It wasn’t like before. This was more intense…like he couldn’t get enough of me…

  My hands shook as I slid them down his stomach…to the tops of his jeans.

  He made a groaning sound deep in his throat and tore his mouth away. “Evie…we can’t.” His voice was ragged, like he was in pain.

  My stomach dropped to my feet, probably a bit lower. How do I keep doing this to myself? “You don’t want me?” Humiliated, I stepped away from him.

  “Oh, Evie…” He leaned his head back and half groaned and half laughed and rubbed his hands over his face. “I do want you!” He dropped his hands.

  I gave him a doubtful look.

  He reached forward, gathered my fingers into his own, and lifted them to his chest. He leaned forward. “Feel that?”

  I nodded. His heart pounded violently inside the steel cage of his ribs.

  “Look at me.”

  “No.”

  He exhaled and placed his hands on either side of my face and forced me to look at him.

  Looking into Adriane’s eyes was like staring into a sky full of stars; I felt very insignificant in comparison.

  “I do want you,” he repeated, his deep voice hoarse. “I want you more than I have wanted anyone or anything…ever.”

  “Then what’s stopping you? Why don’t we just do it?” I had no idea where this urge to be with him was coming from, well, other than the obvious reasons, but we were being chased and would maybe even be killed. Maybe that was why…I thought. Maybe it was that simple and maybe there was no deep reasoning behind it all. Maybe I felt like I had to be with him because my body was telling me it didn’t want to die a Virgin. It sounded reasonable to me. Taking a step closer to him, I gently laid my hand on his arm. The contact of his skin made my fingers tingle.

  “Evie, it is not that simple…if I take your innocence now, nothing will ever be the same…”

  He lifted his hand from mine and I felt bereft the moment he wasn’t touching me. I suddenly wanted to cry and then the word innocence rang out like an alarm in my mind and drowned out whatever else he was saying to me. Oh-migod! How embarrassing! Did I have a
neon sign flashing over my head or something?

  “Listen…” I tried to play it cool. “It’s not like I am not old enough…to you know…decide for myself.” I took a breath. “I want you.” I knew I shouldn’t be pressing the issue, but it was as if I had no say in the matter. This urge overrode every other. It was not something I understood or even wanted to understand, right now. He was all the mattered and if I couldn’t be with him, like now, I felt like I may very well die with want. I couldn’t breathe right. I reached up and placed my hand on his arm…”Adriane…”

  The muscle worked in his jaw like he was struggling as much as me. “I wish it were that easy.”

  “It can be,” I whispered, and before I lost my nerve, I pressed up on my toes and tried to kiss him.

  He turned his head. “We can’t.”

  I dropped back down. Humiliated tears sprang to my eyes and it felt like a giant weight was pressing down on my chest. I couldn’t breathe. I was suffocating. I had to get away… I had to leave before I did something…so utterly mortifying I may not be able to stand the sight of myself ever again. Turning, I made to walk away.

  He grabbed my arm. “Don’t leave.”

  “I don’t get what you want from me?” I yanked my arm away and lifted my hands in the air in a helpless gesture. “I’m not a yo-yo you know. Either you want to be with me or you don’t?”

  He reached out. The tips of his fingers glided down my cheek and then slipped under my chin.

  “I just don’t get it.” I felt completely confused.

  “Look at me,” he urged and nudged my chin up with his fingers.

  “I can’t.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I can’t…” Breathe when I look at you. I can’t think when I look at you. I can’t function when I look at you… “I just can’t…okay.”

  “I can’t either…”

  Startled, I looked up at him. “You can’t what?”

  A deep sadness appeared in his eyes. “I can’t breathe when I look at you. I can’t think when I look at you. I can’t function when I look at you.” His words whispered to over me like a promise. “And I can’t …not… kiss you.” He pulled me roughly against his body and his mouth seized my own. All the pent-up emotions between us spiraled out of control. Opening my mouth wider, I tasted the velvety softness of his tongue as it twined and twisted around mine, delving deeper. His hand tangled in my hair, tugging and pulling my neck backward as he kissed me with growing urgency.

  The warmth from his body, mixed with his scent, made me breathless and dizzy all at the same time. My own thoughts became a riotous jumble, while other thoughts tumbled into my mind. They were not my own, but his…

  A clearing came into focus. The moon was blue, just like the very first night she met him. Two cloaked figures emerged from the shadow and pulled him along behind by chain as they dragged him forward. He struggled and tried to break free but he was not strong enough.

  The sound of his muffled groans of pleasure from the present drowned out his anguished cries from the past. I held him tightly and tried to kiss his pain away. Stay with me…I kept repeating over and over in my mind as my fingers gripped hold of his broad shoulders.

  A low growl emitted from the back of his throat. He pulled up my shirt and covered the soft flesh with his hand as he kissed continued to kiss me as though his life depended on it.

  Visions assailed him from other times and spiraled through his mind. “I have been waiting for you…” he gripped me closer. His mouth was everywhere, his hands kneaded, caressed… “You taste so good…feel so good…”

  “I can’t stop touching you,” he breathed into my mouth. “Please,” he begged. “Make me stop.” His hand slid down between my legs and then up under my skirt. His fingers worked the fabric, tearing it away to get closer.

  I couldn’t even begin to imagine stopping at this point. My mind was reeling, spinning out of control and I didn’t think I wanted it to end, not now…not ever. Feelings bombarded me. Ones from the present intermingled with past emotions from another time.

  Shadowy, misshapen images formed behind my closed lids, blurring the past into the present and dragged my unwilling mind down a rabbit hole, and again I was a spectator to the scene unfolding before my eyes…

  Another clearing came into focus. A pair of young lovers tumbled on the ground, kissing, touching one another. It was a moving scene. Then it changed. An angry mob crashed through the tree line, carrying torches. The young man was pulled away from the girl and tied to a stake, the angry mob cursing him for a crime he did not commit.

  I could feel him giving up. Hurt, fear, betrayal, assaulted my spiraling emotions. I felt every single one, like it was happening to me. Holding tightly to his body, I tried to use my own to give him pleasure…to take away the awful memories flooding his mind. Lifting his shirt, I slid my hands over his chest, then around to his back. My fingers connected with jagged welts, spread across his skin. He flinched away. I wrapped my arms around him more tightly. He was shaking. His agony was torture, making my own body writhe and convulse in his embrace.

  The scene opened again in my mind…

  They set the mound ablaze underneath his body. I prepared to feel the heat, but instead I felt coldness spread throughout my body as it turned his human remains not to ash…but to stone.

  An image of the statue in the front hall of Briarcliff Manor burned itself into my mind. It was him…it was Adriane. My body shuddered as my mind came crashing back to the present. Ohmigod!

  Tears rolled down my cheeks. His mouth seized mine, kissing me deeply…passionately. I tasted salt. I had no idea if the tears were my own or from him … maybe both. It didn’t matter. I held onto him, not wanting to let go. Not now…not ever—no matter what I saw.

  “It’s okay,” I whispered, trailing my fingers lightly over his skin. Again, he flinched. I held his face and looked up into his haunted eyes.

  I could feel his pain, hurt, confusion… the horrible vision lingering in my mind. And I knew I should be freaking out from what I saw—but—I can’t explain why I wasn’t shocked, appalled, or afraid but as long as I was with him, I felt so many things that my mind couldn’t even sort through them all. But I was not afraid of him and I didn’t know why. And still I needed to get closer to him…for him to be one with me and …..

  He lifted me up and my skirt slid higher. Instinctively I wrapped my legs around his waist. I felt hot and urgent at the same time. Truthfully, I felt so many things, they were all coming at me at once, things I couldn’t explain or even imagine. They were all twisted in a giant knot in my belly and I didn’t think I wanted to untangle them…ever.

  His mouth found mine again and our bodies melded together as his warmth pressed in on me. The room began to spin. I couldn’t keep my eyes open. The two of us…we were all that mattered now.

  The doors creaked loudly as our bodies pushed against them. I could feel him throbbing against my flesh, pressing in, but he wasn’t inside of me yet. Reality came crashing in…from the pressure. Am I really doing this right now? I looked into his eyes. They were black, shadowed, haunted. Again, he thrust forward…nearly inside...

  The doors gave out and banged forcefully against the walls.

  Weightless, still wrapped in his embrace, I fell backward in the open air as the floor rose up to meet me and sent a jarring swell of pain through my body as my breath rushed from my chest. On my back, I stared blankly up at the invisible ceiling as I struggled to pull air back into my lungs, but the action was caught. I felt like a large boulder was pressing against my chest.

  “Evie?” He quickly rolled off my body and pulled me up.

  “Evie breathe…” He shook me.

  I wanted to breathe. I wanted to tell him not to worry but I still couldn’t get the air I so desperately needed to come back into my lungs.

  A heavy object slammed into my back…

  Once.

  Twice.

  A burst of air surged through
my chest. I took gulping breaths. The warmth of his hand rubbed my aching back. “What did you hit me with?” I sounded like I had been sucking on sandpaper lozenges.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean…” He moved his hand.

  “No, it’s okay.” It was so dim in the room. I couldn’t even see his face.

  “No, it’s not. I could have…” He scrambled to his feet and practically ran across the room to put some distance between us.

  “I saw what happened to you,” I blurted into the darkness. It seemed easier somehow to say it in the dark.

  He was silent so long I wondered if he had even heard me and started to worry I had said the wrong thing. Standing, I pulled my skirt back into place.

  “What did you see?” he asked barely above a whisper, his voice sounded as haunted as his eyes had looked.

  “I saw them, the people drag you …” I trailed off, not knowing how much I should reveal. I wanted to tell him it was all right, that I understood it was not his fault, but couldn’t find the words I needed to say.

  He moved further away, his heavy steps muted on the carpet.

  “It’s not your fault,” I told him trying to keep the quivering edge from my voice.

  He laughed. It was full of defeat.

  “Tell me how to make it better.”

  “You can’t.”

  My heart felt like it might explode with the sadness I held inside for what he went through. I wanted him to know I wasn’t repulsed by what he had gone through. I felt desperate to make it better for him, but I didn’t know how. I took a few steps toward him as my eyes adjusted to the darkness.

  “Evie don’t…please.” He backed away and lifted his hands to stay me.

  “Why?” My voice shook. “It doesn’t matter, not to me.”

  “How can you say that?” he asked the bitterness in his voice palpable.

  “I don’t know…but I swear it doesn’t matter.”

  He ran his hands over his face, and then dropped them limply to his sides. “You say that now…you’re in shock. Once you come back to your senses you will be repulsed by what I am…what I have become.”