Melodic Madness

by Natalie Bennett

  I looked around the lower level, wrapping my arms around myself. This place was far too big for comfort. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining things or not, but I felt like some of the effects from whatever Alaric gave me hadn’t waned off yet.

  I deviated from my path to the great room and entered the kitchen for something to drink that was safe. It was impossible for me to miss that the door going to his basement was wide open. Right away I was hit with a feeling of dread and curiosity.

  There was light coming from below, the same cool air I always felt too. Thoughts of getting a drink were replaced by my sudden need to go down the steps. I reached the doorway and stared into the basement.

  Goosepimples erupted all across my skin.

  I was torn between following this curious urge or pretending to never have seen that he’d left the door open.

  Why did he do that?

  There was no way it was a mistake. Alaric was far too careful about this door for that to be the case. This is what caused the feeling in the pit of my stomach, the dread. It came from knowing that’s exactly what he wanted. Something was down there I was meant to see. I swallowed audibly and eased a bit closer to the first step.

  “Demitri,” I called out quietly.

  I hadn’t expected any kind of response, but I’d rather have known if he were down there now than be surprised once I got to the bottom. There was a slight whirring noise, though. It reminded me of a near-silent humidifier.

  I checked behind me and then proceeded forward. I would just take a peek and then get back upstairs.

  Since there was a light already on, I didn’t bother flipping the main switch. At the bottom of the steps, I found myself struck by a bout of Déjà vu.

  I’d been down here before and saw this exact set-up. It was in a dream…I think. Was I doing it again? I don’t know. This felt way too lucid for it not to be real.

  The night I’d accused Alaric of having some secret kind of ER attached to his office. It looked just the same as it had then. The scent was even like I remembered. Licking my lips, I took slow steps into the area where one of the fluorescent lights remained on.

  It was facing down, aimed at the metal operating table closest to me. On top was a black piece of fabric. I approached and carefully ran a hand over it. My brain was slow to realize what I was touching.

  Uneven stitching gave it all away.

  I lifted the black dress so that I could see it fully. This was definitely the same one Amber had on. So where was she? Patricia too.

  There was no sign of her dress or her. I lowered the light piece of material and took a good look around the room.

  It was so…practical.

  There was everything I imagine an actual OR would need. Even a glove dispenser and sink to scrub down. Why the hell did Alaric have this in his house? I may not have known much about the medical field or its laws, but I was positive this kind of thing was highly illegal.

  Is that why he kept it hidden somehow?

  I looked behind me to where a massive bookshelf usually would have been closing this area off entirely.

  But…this room wasn’t meant to exist at all according to Alaric. Flashes of memory floated through my mind. Bloodied hands and our bodies covered in sweat. How could I have these vivid imageries if none of this was real?

  I’d…done things in here. What someone would deem sick and unforgivable things.

  The dilemma was me not understanding if this was reality or a realistic dream. Was I as screwed up as my thoughts alluded me to be? Was it all a sick fantasy where my demons came out to play safely inside a world that wasn’t real?

  If I could just remember clearly, I knew I’d have my answer. That would have a great deal of importance for how I felt because right now I was feeling like a ship lost at sea.

  Looking around the room again, my eyes came to rest on a solid metal door. I think I needed to go in there, right? That’s where I’d been when I came here before. I sat the dress down and walked over to the door.

  The whirring noise was coming from behind here. Something else too.

  I glanced over my shoulder to make sure I was truly alone, not seeing anyone. I placed my ear against the cool metal. What was that? My brow scrunched up in concentration. It sounded like something was attempting to move a heavy object.

  Or someone…

  I grabbed the door handle and twisted. It didn’t budge. The door was locked this time. I jiggled the knob and got no give. There wasn’t even a keyhole so how the hell did it unlock?

  I stepped back and searched the room with a wild gaze. What was the setup like in there? I wanted to slap the answers into my head. It was a freezer I think, maybe even a metal box. All I knew was that the last time I’d gone through this door I’d found a room from hell.

  The black dress caught my eye again, and with it the sinking realization that if Amber or Patricia were inside this room, they weren’t among the living anymore. My feet carried me backward until I whirled around to face away from the door.

  On a shiny tray beside one of the operating tables were two scalpels and something I had never seen before. I picked up a scalpel and studied the blade. Would this work? I placed the end of the tool against my index finger and applied pressure.

  A stinging pain caused a knee-jerk reaction. A hiss flew from between my gritted teeth as the skin separated. The scalpel fell to the floor with a small clatter. Blood ran down my finger and over my hand, dripping onto the linoleum floor.

  “One…two…three…” I counted beneath my breath, watching the blood drip. It looked like a beautiful crimson river, flowing effortlessly. Was it always this color?

  It didn’t seem like it was going to stop dripping anytime soon. My flesh still stung where it was split apart.

  This proved what I’d already suspected, but my brain refused to accept it.

  I couldn’t allow this to be a reality. I needed to get out of here. Not just this room, but the house.

  I raced back through the room and up the stairs. When I got to the kitchen I stumbled over my own two feet, catching myself before my face met with the floor. He was here. Of course, he’d be here. This was his intention after all. His eyes seemed bluer than usual. Was it because he was in the dark?

  “What are you doing?”

  “I…” Swallowing, I darted a glance towards the nearest doorway. Free and clear. The front door was only a few steps beyond that. I needed to take this chance. My brain commanded my body to run.

  He called my name after I took off. My heart was beating so loudly. Blood ran down my wrist and left a trail on the floor. But I made it!

  I undid both locks and pulled open the door.

  The warm sea air swept across my face, vanishing within a split second. An arm wrapped around my waist and hauled me backward. Alaric reached above me and slammed the door with so much intensity the sound echoed throughout the house.

  He released his hold just to spin me around and shove me backward, bracing his arms on either side of my head to keep me caged in. I decided right then I preferred when he kept his emotions hidden. The look on his face made my entire body want to shrink in on itself.

  He brought his eyes level with mine. “You’re truly testing my patience, Catalina.”

  “I just want to go home, please just let me go.”

  He laughed, the sound far from joyous. It was as terrifying as the look he was giving me. “Has anyone told you how fucking stubborn you are?”

  “Your vapid bitch of a mother told me, while we were discussing me taking care of you, but this is above what I imagined.” He lowered his arms and glanced down for the first time.

  “You…what did you just call her?”

  “What is this?” he grabbed the hand now covered in old and fresh blood. “You’re hurt.” He openly leered at me, as if my being injured physically affected him. Without another word, he clasped hold of my wrist and started walking towards the stairs.

  I had no choice but to follow him or I�
�d be dragged. It was becoming a common thing for me to wind up back in his bedroom.

  It sunk in then that he was in nothing but a pair of grey sweatpants. The hint of his sinful angel tattoo peeked at me when we turned to enter the bathroom, as did his overly defined body.

  He made me sit on the ottoman again and left my side only to get first aid supplies. I held my hand over my lap so I wouldn’t stain it. When he returned, he sat everything down beside me and silently got to work.

  He cleaned the blood away, adding some kind of clear liquid to clean the wound. I bit the inside of my lip to suppress the discomfort it caused.

  “It’s not that deep,” he noted, gently wrapping it up. “You’re not allowed to get hurt like this. You have flawless, perfect skin.” He kissed the back of my hand and then stood up. “Stay here.”

  I lightly thumbed the protective bandage he’d wrapped around my finger. If I pressed hard enough it still hurt.

  I looked stared out the window above the tub, momentarily mesmerized by the half-moon. If I stood up and got closer, I would be able to see it reflecting off the ocean.

  “What did you do to those girls?”

  He returned, this time with a warm wet washcloth in his hand. Without answering my question, he gently wiped the blood away from my skin.

  I turned my head and looked down at him. He was intently focused on what he was doing.

  “Alaric.” I reached down and placed my hand over his to get his full attention. Finally, he lifted his gaze to meet mine.

  “What is going on? Where are those girls?”

  He stood and rolled his shoulders, the muscles in his torso flexing with the movement.

  He launched the washcloth across the room where it landed in one of the double sinks. “They’ve gone elsewhere.”

  What did he mean by that?

  “Then why was one of their dresses in your basement? Why do you have that room down there? You told me that wasn’t real.”

  He tilted his head, regarding me with his inscrutable mask back in place. “Did I tell you that?”

  “What?”

  “I don’t recall ever saying that it wasn’t real.”

  “You…”

  I couldn’t find the words. Why did he purposely try and twist things around like this? Triggered by my question, the memory of when Rebecca snuck here to warn me popped into my head.

  “Alaric’s going to fuck your mind twice as hard as he is your body.”

  I stood up and sidled away from him, making sure we remained facing one another.

  “She said you were like this.”

  “Explain?” he urged, taking a minuscule step towards me.

  I cut my eyes at him and moved further away. Did I want to have this conversation with him here and now?

  I suppose it was the perfect opportunity. While the things I wanted to say were fresh.

  “You do this.” I twirled a finger in the air between the two of us. “You find women and manipulate them until they’ve become nothing but useless broken toys.”

  “Cat,” he said my name like he was amused. It was completely inappropriate for this situation. “I’m not the best at this groveling thing. Is this about dinner? I shouldn’t have drugged you. I’m sorry. Would you believe me if I said it was for your own good?”

  My mouth opened and closed twice before any words came out. The fact he so nonchalantly admitted to putting something in my drink raised every red flag there was. I think I was out of warning labels that could be affixed to him.

  Plain and simply put: Alaric was twice as dangerous as I initially thought. And he didn’t give a damn that I knew it. No, he wanted me to know. The man needed to be wrapped up in chains and caution tape. Slap a few bold red signs on him for added security.

  “There is something seriously wrong with you.”

  “Isn’t there something wrong with all of us, Cat? It’s what makes us human. Even you’re pretty little head is a fucked-up mess.” He ran his eyes up and down my body. “But I do find everything about you, including that, to be the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  This wasn’t someone who felt any kind of grievance over losing their wife. He was hellbent on making his sister-in-law his exclusive possession. I could hardly be called a carbon-copy of Meg, so why?

  Based on what Rebecca had said, and what was proving to be disturbingly true, I didn’t fit in any of the boxes Alaric typically checked off when pursuing someone.

  “Why are you doing this to me? Is it because of this deal you made? How do I get out of it?” I planted my feet and told myself not to retreat any further.

  “Our relationship is separate from the deal. I’m not faking this or my feelings for you.”

  “Feelings?” I sputtered. “Don’t do that. Don’t pretend you care about me. This is exactly what someone does that doesn’t care. What do you want? I’ll give you anything if it means I can go home.”

  “You don’t get to dictate how I feel or not. And you are home,” he replied firmly.

  “Alaric, please.”

  “I want you. I want everything you have to offer and all the things you think you can’t or don’t. Will you give me all that?”

  I swallowed and rubbed the back of my neck, shifting my weight from left foot to right.

  “I…I can’t. Anything but that.”

  “I wondered how you would answer.” He pulled his plump lower lip between his teeth and looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t know if you’re not understanding me, or you think I’m talking out of my ass.” He shook his head and admonished me with a cool smile.

  “You don’t have to give it to me. I’ll keep taking until you willingly offer everything. You’ll learn to love me more than the air you breathe.”

  “He’ll make you need him and when you finally worship the ground he walks on, he’ll decide he’s done and leave you to crash and burn. No amount of begging will bring him back.”

  His words and Rebecca’s warning clashed inside my mind and caused a rift in my heart. He was right in saying there was something wrong with me. It was true. I wanted his words to be real. I wanted him to show me if what we did down in the basement was more than just a scrappy figment of a dream.

  I was scared too. I was scared of becoming the woman I’d be once he finished awaking the demons that had been dormant inside me. That, in itself, was a twisted dream.

  “I know I’m not special. You’ve done this before. I’m not like your other girls. I--.”

  “Precisely,” he interjected, marching across the bathroom to stand right in front of me.

  “You aren’t anything like them. You are beautiful and worth keeping. I know what you think of me and you’re not wrong.”

  He brushed a few strands of hair away from my face, leaving his hand to rest against my cheek.

  “I’m not a good person. I’m selfish and have no boundaries I won’t cross or break to get what I want, but there’s a madness in my methods that will give you the best version of me and a life befitting of a queen.”

  He made madness sound beautiful.

  Only Alaric could say something poetic, yet also macabre. I reached up and touched the side of his face, running my fingers across his stubble and over his prominent jawline. He captured my hand and looked down at me with his eyes conveying an emotion I couldn’t decipher.

  Without a word, he began to lead me back into the bedroom, walking backward the whole way there so that he could keep watching me.

  There weren’t any lights on in there, the room was illuminated solely by the bathroom until he flipped those lights off too, cocooning us in near-total darkness.

  We reached the bed and he let me go to undo the robe.

  He placed a hand around me, slowly gliding his palm up my back to unhook my bra. The cool air hit my exposed breasts and the nipples hardened. He leaned in and kissed the side of my neck, making a trail down my body. I sucked in a breath as he kissed across my navel. Two fingers hooked inside my lacy thong and eased it off
.

  “Alaric,” I murmured.

  “Let me,” he intoned rather politely. He kissed my apex, working his way to my pussy.

  My body tensed in anticipation. I slightly jumped at the first swipe of his tongue. He purposely dragged it up slow, pushing the tip between my lips. When he reached my clit he flicked it, rolling the bundle of nerves in a circle. I groaned, placing my hands on his shoulders.

  “I need to be deeper,” he mumbled to himself.

  Abruptly, he grabbed my thighs and whirled me around. He tossed my body onto the bed and took hold of both ankles, spreading my legs wide before hooking them over his shoulders. With a light kiss placed just above my navel, he lurched down and buried his face between my legs. Stubble grazed my skin as he opened and closed his mouth, quite literally eating my pussy.

  “Alaric,” I whimpered his name, threading my fingers through his soft, silky hair.

  “There you go,” he rasped, pushing his tongue inside me. He added two digits and used them to alternate, pushing in and out, sucking on my clit. My legs were shaking to the point he had no choice but to hold them still. “You love this, don’t you? I do too. I could eat your pussy all night every night.”

  I couldn’t reply to his words, my mouth only parted for moans to slip through.

  I felt the familiar buildup of heat and energy, a tingling, pleasurable pressure. He stopped suddenly and eased away from me. His grey sweats hit the floor and then he joined me on the bed, his defined body just visible in the dark.

  My body was maneuvered with ease. He rested his back against the headboard and spread my legs so that I was angled above him. “Put me inside you. You’re going to fuck me until you come.”

  “But--.”

  “No buts,” he objected. Reaching between us he placed the head of his cock against my slick lips. My clit was throbbing. I knew I would be coming in a matter of seconds. This was…what I wanted. It was messy and oh, so wrong, something we absolutely shouldn’t be doing which only made the desire to do it stronger.

  I reached out and cradled his face in my hands. My lips brushed his hesitantly, tasting my pussy on them.

  “Tell me I’m dreaming,” I whispered.