To Put A Leash On The Master

e polished ceiling in a familiar room before turnin

itting cross-legged on the couch across from the bed, c

me roll my eyes and look away with a sigh. "Gods, I just had the

rother in your dream?" She emphasizes the words 'my brot

end how the girl's mind works; I mean-that's t

did kiss me twice in the dream, which is strange gi

d hurts like

ok from me. How long is a long time? "Four hours," she adds before I gl

feeling a brief stinging

forehead?" I ask when my

andage."

w I got here. Last I can recall, I w

Hunter brought you here, to his roo

w in my dream. The bed, couch, table, and mirror all

is room for any reason. Now I know why. Yet, even though I've pieced together that puzzle,

ead isn't helpin

e to Hunter except for the eye patch, which is the only common thing. But I can't i

view, for some unknown reason, with my

y chest. "Why do I

lling my lungs and knotting in my gut, making m

eaching to place the smoothi

this... it feels like I'm suffocating. I find

fore her lips curl into a smirk

n. "Of

hrusts her chin, and a

the girl in the eye and watching her smirk falter at the truth of my words.

he rough edges of the adhesive. Then I begi

s, but to me, that sounds more like a pol

here yo

ist?" she say

lready destroyed my phone, and ther

life these past months more miserable than it should have been and I now feel anger

omfortable silence as I

her voice sounds softer. "I can't believe it takes

ertainly high on alc

e you're bloody drunk. "I mean, I did drink a lot..." she yawns

, yes?" I can't help letting out a small chu

she says as she uncros

id. "I do believe I've spen

with a sigh. "I want to enjoy the peace down here

my shoes. "Your fucking se

f' your habit of swearing?" Sat

a bitch," I shoot back

I think I'

the al

he door, pausing when Saturn begins, "Just watch out

. I don't respond. But when I try to tu

am Kwakye's change of attitude to my encounter wi

id I hit my head... that

says between her chortles. "Hunter killed a guard for hurting you then brought you here. Ha

n exaggerating matters to get reactions. But something in her words

ng?" I'm fuming again. I might actual

d kill her like she was nothing.

s through the crack in the door. "By the way, I didn't destroy your phone. Someone stole it from my ro

that had been pulsating throug

red to their rooms? These questions keep co

I stealthily descend to the second floor. And that's where my eyes are immediatel

bodies are strewn down the staircase like disc

choking with terror as my h

p, adrenaline surges through my veins. And without thinking, I bolt down

til I reach the party hall. There, music still plays in the backgr

attered across the floor, the once vibrant celebr

other piercing cry, with two more almost immediately, thuds

ving me to stare blankly at the blood-pooled floor. B

? And my dads and Mo

I don't hear my voice, as the words bar

liar satin cloth shimmering under the dim light, I rush over; on

rely, this has to be another dream-a fu

ck up the stairs. And when I burst into Hunter's roo

to the floor, gripping my braids with f

ars won't come. So, I just sit here, my face in be

's a subconscious urging me to escape the mansion, but it doesn't o

ed away somewhere as I search the bodies

l ripped out, which slightly convince

h growing dread and a panging

shoulders drop instantly before I fall to

is alive if I don't find their bodies. But no

e staring defeatedly at Dad Tad's open

en someone's whimper as life leaves their body ec

hall in confusion, scrambling to my feet, su

t to the near darkness surrounding me, something catches my attention-the moving shadow of a

ts intensity renders me unmoving. Or maybe i

tention as if commanded by the sight. And even as the om

space on the wall where it once was whil

e hallway illuminates parts of him-his nose, hair, and shoulders-but the rest of his form

as I only then recognize the silver-blonde

stands. I collide with him and wrap my arms tightly around his

k, but I'm satisfied

arms and patting his shoulders. He seems fine to me; except, he isn't moving. "Say

hing cold and gooey beneath my touch, then look down to see what coats them, it

follow a trail to my own bloodstained hands, then back at Hunter's, watching the ma

just before the spotlight suddenly flickers across us. And in that short moment, I catch Hunter's emo

ing," I whisper while sha

I'm also almost resigned to the probability that whatever thi

tter with a breaking tone. "Please tell

ith every second that passes without him talking o

nvading-a reality that's worse than an