The Deadly Scrolls by The Deadly Scrolls (retail) (epub)

Author:The Deadly Scrolls (retail) (epub)
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Post Hill Press
Published: 2022-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

49

CASSANDRA HAD NO IDEA HOW long she remained on the bed. Unmoving, eyes closed, barely breathing. She remembered hearing the soft thud of the door, the snap of the lock, his receding footsteps. But was that ten minutes ago? Or ten hours?

She looked out the window. The diffuse chalky light suggested it was mid-morning.

Slowly, she sat up. Then, she dragged herself into the shower.

The plumbing in the apartment was old. The small showerhead, attached to a black hose, hung from an iron bracket on the wall. When she turned the handle all the way to the left, lukewarm water mixed with rust particles trickled on to her head, then down her back and legs. The brittle plastic curtain reached only halfway across the wooden bar. She could see a blurred image of herself in the misted mirror above the sink.

With a sliver of crusted soap, she scrubbed her body until the skin was raw. Trying to wash off the humiliation and fear. She was glad to replace one pain with another.

After she shut off the water, she glanced up at the small window. The iron bars were stained brown and pitted in many places. But her chemical cocktail had failed. The bars of her prison were still very much intact.

Wrapped in the threadbare towel, she walked into the kitchen area. She threw her panties into the trash can. From her backpack, she took out a clean pair of underwear, a pair of cargo shorts, and a loose white blouse with peasant sleeves and delicate lace bordering the scoop-necked collar. Then, she went back into the bathroom and combed her wet hair, happy to see that the purple dye was beginning to wash out. She longed to return to her former dirty-blonde self.

She took out a bottle of cold water from the refrigerator and drained it in a few gulps. She felt ravenously hungry but feared she would retch if she ate anything. She contented herself with a couple of dry crackers. It was barely enough to still her hunger.

Leaning against the wooden counter, she looked over at the desk. Goldmayer’s laptop sat there, waiting for her. Its dark screen reminded her of a cave. A black mouth ready to devour her. To swallow her alive. But she had no choice. She had to face that ravening maw. She had to keep hoping that she would come out of this alive.

As soon as she sat down in the chair, her thin body started shuddering, as though suddenly plunged into ice-cold water. Her hands trembled on the keyboard. Her eyes lost their focus. Icy fingers crawled all over her skin. Her head was wrapped in suffocating wool. Her nostrils twitched with the stench of poison. The floor beneath her bare feet tilted so that she had to hold tight to the arms of the black chair to keep from falling. She screamed, but no sound came out. And then came a hot wind, full of sand that stung her flesh like a thousand flies.

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