Madman’s Cure: Madman Duet Book Two

by Mason, V. F.

  Madman’s Cure

  Madman Duet Book Two

  V. F. Mason

  Copyright © 2019 by V. F. Mason

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Edited by Hot Tree Editing

  Cover Design: Sommer Stein

  Photographer: Wander Aguiar

  Cover Model: Chris Flemming

  To the power of love.

  Contents

  Prologue

  1. Chapter One

  2. Chapter Two

  3. Chapter Three

  4. Chapter Four

  5. Chapter Five

  6. Chapter Six

  7. Chapter Seven

  8. Chapter Eight

  9. Chapter Nine

  10. Chapter Ten

  11. Chapter Eleven

  12. Chapter Twelve

  13. Chapter Thirteen

  14. Chapter Fourteen

  15. Chapter Fifteen

  16. Chapter Sixteen

  17. Chapter Seventeen

  18. Chapter Eighteen

  19. Chapter Nineteen

  20. Chapter Twenty

  Epilogue

  Lachlan’s Protégé Excerpt

  Acknowledgments

  Also by V. F. Mason

  Contact

  Prologue

  “My madness no longer has a method… so I don’t wait for the cure.’’

  Madman

  Cassandra

  A soul-shattering scream echoes in the night, torn from my throat by the piercing pain in my back that shakes my entire body.

  My fingers dig into the ground, scooping soil under my nails while I breathe through my nose, filling my lungs with much-needed air.

  I clamp my teeth on the leather belt in my mouth to block any sound, so the monster won’t find me.

  It’ll bring him extra joy to see his prey drowning in the agony he created.

  He isn’t like all the other monsters, oh no. He doesn’t torture and hurt you to fulfill his fantasies and dark nature, craving someone’s blood.

  He escaped from the gates of hell to bring chaos and misery to everyone he encounters, and he is never satisfied unless the person is stripped from her or his sanity, begging him to end it all, so he can bask in his glory.

  But even then, he doesn’t comply, preferring to prolong their hell till his victim burns alive and only ashes are left for him to stomp on.

  A monster who is more terrifying than the devil himself because he has no method or control.

  Blood fills my mouth, while more slides down my forehead and drips on my nose and lips. I tremble from the freezing wind, which causes goose bumps on my skin.

  In a momentary reprieve from the pain, I crawl to the cave’s wall, pressing against the rough stone that digs into my scarred back, the marks left by a sword slashed into my skin.

  I never thought I’d ever come back to the cliff or this cave where four boys forever destroyed my life while their greedy hands feasted on my flesh, tearing me apart for the world to see.

  But tonight, the place of my greatest nightmares will become the place of my salvation. It has the power to hide me away from the approaching doom casting a shadow on my life.

  Whimpering, I wipe away the tears and take a deep breath as familiar prickles assault me, tingling a little before the pain hits me again. It seems like my bones are breaking from it. I squeeze the leather harder, my head twisting even though my body demands to let it out, not caring about the consequences.

  My body holds his imprints that will forever stain me with the darkness that has no mercy for anyone or anything. The things he is capable of doing… the things he is capable of achieving… the things he is capable of destroying….

  I’ve never seen a madness so strong, and for a second, I still, my eyes widening when I remember his last brand of torture that almost knocked me down, almost made me beg for mercy, even though I knew it was pointless.

  But I had a reason to surrender, and if I had to do it all over again, I’d beg on my knees and hope for a better outcome.

  This monster, though, needs to drink blood reeking of desperation in order to satisfy his cravings. And for that reason, he’ll never lessen his toy’s suffering.

  I can never allow him to find me after I’ve escaped, not when so much depends on my decision.

  Hiking my knees up, I fist the dress on my thighs while breathing deeper through my nose, almost coughing but holding it, because the slightest sound will reach his predator ears that are alert to everything.

  Sometimes I wonder if he is even human, because how can such evil exist in a person?

  I hear sounds in the distance that spike fear in me and awaken the desire to run away. My feet jerk in response, but the pain once again shoots through me, reminding me I can’t in my current condition.

  All I have left is to pray that someone will save me in time, just like I did all those years ago.

  Despite everything, I’m still a victim waiting for rescue that is nowhere in sight.

  “Cassandra,” he singsongs in his deep voice that sends instant revulsion through me. I swallow back the acid filling my throat. Breathing deeply, I close my eyes when the pain in my back ricochets again, almost sending me into a spiral of madness.

  Screaming soundlessly into my fist, I scrunch my eyes, controlling my body’s reaction as much as I can; otherwise, the sound will lead him to me.

  He is so close already.

  “Cassandra,” he calls again, and this time I hear the rocks crunching under his feet, but from a different direction. He must be walking along the path to the cave—uphill, judging by the sound of the ground. “Ah, you shouldn’t have done this, girl.” He tsks then chuckles, all while I almost stop breathing, because it might bring him closer. “I was very patient with you. But you people just don’t appreciate kindness, do you?” I hear him dragging his steel sword on the ground. The scraping sound echoes, grating on my ears and reminding me how I got my wounds.

  The monster was curious to see the color of my blood.

  “Cassandra.” He says my name as if tasting it and chuckles again. “I much prefer Arianna.” The ominous crunch of gravel comes closer and closer, making me shift my gaze to the cave’s opening and glue my stare there—like the agonizingly slow, scary movie where you know the characters are going to die brutally, but you still can’t stop watching.

  And then I see him standing in the opening. The moonlight is shining brightly on him from behind, giving him an even more sinister appearance. His boots thump on the ground while he taps his sword.

  With each step, the fear in me rises, almost awakening panic inside me, but the pain traveling through my body gives me strength like nothing before.

  I can’t surrender. I can’t give him power.

  I can’t!

  He sighs heavily, albeit still keeping his grin intact as he shakes his head, scanning his cold eyes over me. “What a pitiful sight. All this trouble”—he swirls his fingers in the air—“for you to come here.” He rubs his chin with the sword’s pommel and winks. “Had I known you’d prefer to die in the place you were brutally raped, I’d have obliged a long time ago.” He kneels in front of me, and even though I want to dart outside, far away from him, or push his touch
away, I have no strength to do that.

  He snatches the leather from my mouth, and I stifle back the groan of pain. Then the tip of his sword slides under my chin, digging lightly right over my artery while he cocks his head to the side. His eyes flash in excitement as he tips my chin to meet his stare. “Don’t hold back, honey. Scream loud enough. Maybe then he’ll hear you.”

  I detest him and want to spit in his face, to wipe away the satisfied smirk that indicates to me he’s already declared himself a winner in this twisted game.

  His chessboard might have more players than mine, but I’m still not left alone.

  But before I can do anything, another flash of pain travels through me. It’s almost unbearable; sweat breaks on my skin, my hair sticking to my forehead.

  Still, I swallow back the sound, but my nails dig painfully into my palms and draw blood.

  I’ve lost count of the never-ending bruises in my life.

  He moves a red curl, and when he notices how tightly my lips are closed, he orders again, “Scream.”

  This time, my agonized scream echoes in the night and ricochets around the walls of the cave, forever coating it in my misery.

  Once upon a time, a sinner, a priest, and a madman played a dangerous game.

  Unaware of the monster who shall not have a name.

  One day, he kidnapped the sinner to a foreign land.

  Where nothing but death awaited her by his hand.

  Chapter One

  “The predator became the prey while the victim transformed into the hunter.

  And the hunter?

  Well, he controlled us both all along.”

  Cassandra

  Small town on the edge of an island, United States

  Months earlier

  Cassandra

  “Let go of me,” I rasp through my dry throat, digging my fingers at the collar to pull it to the side, but it seems like it’s glued to my skin.

  The familiar flashbacks from ten years ago flood my mind, when the mysterious intruder wrapped his wire around me, coating it with my blood and misery.

  Only he is no longer a mysterious intruder, is he?

  “No” is the only reply, and I know the unknown is in possession of the body, and judging by how hard he squeezes the leather around my throat, he is not pleased with the momentary interruption of one of the twins.

  Do switches even happen this fast? “He’s gone. Fucking gone!” he shouts at me, and I frown in confusion, not understanding at all what he says.

  Who is gone?

  What if I judged it wrong?

  What if the one with the disorder has been Eachann who mostly spends his time at church and home, not interacting with other people.

  All this is crazy as hell, but what if I’m missing a piece of information that will allow me to make sense of this mess?

  Who truly died all those years ago—along with me—and why did he cover it up back then? Made everyone around him believe that the Campbell twins got into a fight and couldn’t stand to be near each other after that?

  In another life, I would have felt sorry for him for losing his brother, one of the sweetest people I ever knew, and experiencing such profound trauma resulting in multiple personality disorder that added one more person to live inside him.

  But instead of seeking help and getting treatment, he transformed into a monster who hunts his victims in the night and is obsessed with one person, who in his head is responsible for his loss.

  Me.

  Even if I have no idea what the hell is going on or what happened ten years ago with them.

  He drags me up, and I wobble on my knees, trying to get my balance, but he hikes me up, pressing my back to his front while his breath fans my cheek. “You always belonged to Eudard. If only you’d stayed with him that night, I wouldn’t have lost Eachann. Your love for him became his undoing.”

  Oh my God, my one single kiss awakened a monster.

  For he must be the monster who so viciously killed Ethan. No wonder Arson acted weird when I called him about it.

  He knows all the serial killers in the country; he must have known the madman had done it.

  “We are going to finally put an end to this misery,” he whispers into my ear and then pushes me forward. We move to the backdoor through the priest’s room in the dark hallway.

  “Do you think the twins would have allowed you to do this to me? If you care about them, you should care about me.” This is a very wild guess, since nothing but desire connects me with Eudard, and he doesn’t even know I’m Arianna.

  Passion though is so strong that it can attach a man to his woman.

  “I’m always rising to protect them. That’s my one singular mission in life.” What in the hell?

  Who is he protecting them from now anyway? Me? “Because I tried to kill Eachann,” I finally say, but he only snorts.

  “If only.”

  I cry out when he pulls me to the side, the leather digging into my skin, and I gulp for breath. He stops, loosens his hold, and continues to drag me outside where the harsh wind greets us along with the still-pouring rain.

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “To a place no one knows about. I’ll do what both twins are incapable of doing.”

  What does that mean?

  “I’m not alone in this world,” I say in his face, twisting in his hold and trying to wiggle free, but it only earns me a squeeze from the leather around my throat. “They will come looking for me. And when they find me, they will kill you,” I shout at him as I slide on the slick concrete, but he catches me in time and steadies me. “And your precious twins will die right along with you.” After all, he might not give a shit about his life, but his host will die too. “That would be a complete fiasco as a protector.” I block away the desperation sinking in me at the prospect of losing Eudard to this man, because it no longer has a place between us.

  Like I said, we are forever trapped on different sides of the fence.

  “Shut up,” he barks, shaking me a little to the point of my teeth snapping, but since my back is still to him, I can’t study his face or the effect my words have on him. “Just shut up and keep walking to the car. And I’m holding on by a very thin thread, Arianna. Unlike them, I do not like you. So watch your mouth.”

  As if I care if he likes me.

  It’s so dark I can barely see anything through all the cloud cover and rain, but he guides us deeper into the garden surrounding the church. He must have parked the car at the other end so no one would see it.

  I’m about to scream for help, because someone must be around the church and the collar no longer presses against my vocal cords, but the scream gets stuck inside my throat when he whispers into my ear, “Careful, darling. You don’t want me to kill anyone because of you, do you?” The timbre of his voice washes over me like a spider web, almost suffocating me to death at the prospect of innocent lives facing him.

  I still in his arms, and he chuckles, pulling harshly at the leather while I gasp for breath again. “Good girl. Now walk to that car.” He points at the black vehicle parked several feet away from us. “Before someone becomes collateral damage in this.” The idea of someone else suffering because of me makes me quicken my step, wanting to get as far away as possible from this place so the monster won’t have a chance to hurt anyone.

  The rain is pouring heavily, soaking us. My clothes plaster against my skin, sending shivers down my spine and making my teeth start to chatter.

  He halts his movements, leaning around a bit to check on me, and frowns, running his fingers over my jaw. I barely restrain the desire to laugh in his face.

  Does my discomfort displease him?

  Twisting my head away from him, pain travels through my throat, even the smallest of sounds bringing me agony from the leather. I hiss, “Don’t touch me.” He doesn’t listen though; instead, he digs his fingers into my skin harder, and for a second, something flashes in his eyes, the familiar warmth that always surrounds Eudar
d, but it’s gone too soon.

  “I’d advise you not to be rude to me,” he says with nothing but indifference coating his tone, yet it has the power to chill me even more, because danger dances on the edges of it. “You might not like the consequences.”

  “Go fuck—uhm.” He pushes me forward forcefully, causing me to stumble a little, but finally I see the car closer to us. The engine is running.

  My brows furrow at this, and I almost ask how that’s possible. He couldn’t have planned this all along, but then I think better of it.

  He opens the back door and orders, “Get inside.” I stand still, gritting my teeth together to prevent saying something that might antagonize him more, but that doesn’t fly with him. “Get inside.”

  “Where are you taking me?”

  My question is ignored as a half smile pulls at his mouth, and he orders once again, “Get inside.” But I still don’t listen, and that’s when the leather around me tightens so hard the air sticks in my throat once again. I try to croak something through my throat, but he doesn’t release me.

  This position takes me back to the past, flashing image after image in my mind of when the same monster came to my house and destroyed the world as I knew it. I claw at the leather, twisting back and forth wanting to free myself from him and run for my life.

  Instead, the leather wraps tighter and tighter. As I get weaker, white dots slowly appear in front of my eyes and darkness claims me while I suffocate to death.

  The last thought in my mind before oblivion takes me away is that I was wrong.

  Monsters might be evil creatures feasting on the flesh of their victims.