Gothicana

She closed her eyes, centering herself, images flashing behind her eyes in a split second.

 

The Devil, The Lovers, The Tower.

 

Mo’s voice as he told her to hold onto him.

 

Coming together in the car on a cliff in the rain.

 

Pressed together in the library.

 

Dealing together in the Vault.

 

Dream-Vad sitting on his throne, all alone, ravishing her.

 

Real-Vad consuming her in the woods.

 

And just hours ago, together in the bath.

“Do you trust me?” he asked the pertinent question, his voice steady, giving nothing away.

Corvina opened her eyes, staring at his hand. A sense of déjà-vu washed over her again, as though she had been in this place, in this moment, in this time before. 

It might be stupid. It might be destructive. It might change everything. But she trusted what he made her feel, trusted her instincts to not have led her astray, trusted the universe not to have guided her wrong.

She took his hand, glancing up at him. “Yes.”

His hand engulfed hers, wrapping around her smaller one with power and triumph, his other hand lowering the lantern and shrouding their faces in the dark. Something pivotal had happened in that moment, something that had changed, shifted, realigned the two of them, merging pieces of them together in a way one couldn’t tell where she ended and he began. With her trust, she’d given him the last of that she’d had left, her entire being this mountain of secrets that he now owned.

“You have no idea what you’ve just done, little witch,” he tugged her into his body, his jaw glowing in the low yellow flame. “There’s no going back now. I will never let you escape.”

Corvina swallowed, her free hand over his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart under her palm. “Just know that if you kill me, I will personally haunt you. Good luck getting your dick wet after that.”

A slash of a smile in the dark. “Duly noted.”

With that, he tugged her with him, taking her into the abyss.

Corvina gripped his hand, following this lead as he went through the dark, narrow tu

He kept the lantern low and Corvina looked up to see why.

Bats. Hundreds of them hanging upside down in the cave-like tu

The confidence in his stride was the only thing that kept Corvina from feeling suffocated in the tu

After a few minutes, she looked up, relieved to see the bats gone thankfully. 

“What is this place?” she whispered, her voice carrying even in the low volume.

“One of the many tu

“Was it on your family’s map?” she asked just to keep herself distracted.

“Yes,” he replied, giving her hand a squeeze. “There’s one that leads straight to the valley. I had that one sealed shut. That’s what the Slayers had used to get up and down the mountain so quickly without being seen.”

Corvina shuddered, the wetness in the air and the cold in the tu

“How do you even cross these alone?” she asked, looking at the bones scattered about as they crossed it.

His hand squeezed hers again. “I’ve never really been scared of much. Darkness, death, blood, bones, they’re all a part of life, one way or another.”

“And ghosts?” she asked picking up speed with him. “Do you believe in them?”

“I don’t know,” he gave her a look from under his hood, the lantern swinging from his other hand, lighting their path. “I’m more of a preternatural believer. I believe that there are many things beyond our understanding that don’t have an explanation yet. Maybe it will in a few years. After all, a few hundred years ago there was no explanation for schizophrenia either.”

No, there hadn’t been. Her mother, had she been born in a different time, would have been burned at the stake. So would Corvina.

They emerged into the mouth of the tu

A murder of crows flew by overhead, cawing at her.

“Your birds missed you,” his wry voice came from her side as she looked up at the birds, a small smile on her face.

“I haven’t been able to see them in a few weeks,” she commented, watching as the birds settled on the open gazebo beside the bridge, some flying away.

“I know,” he let go of her hand. “I’ve been giving them treats when I go to repair the piano.”

Corvina looked at him in surprise. That was unexpected. Nice. And she felt like an idiot for having a moment of panic before they got in the tu

“You wanted to come to the lake,” he reminded her, walking upon the bridge and leaning his elbows on the stone railing. “Here we are.”

Corvina inhaled and walked to the bridge by his side, leaning over to look into the black water.

For the first time since coming to Verenmore, she closed her eyes and opened her senses. She didn’t know if it was something she’d picked up subconsciously that was now coming to her, or something beyond the normal, beyond her understanding. She simply knew it was trying to make itself known through her.

The smell of rot and decay drifted in first before the voice did.

‘Find us.’

Phantom ants crawled over her skin, the hair on the nape of her neck rising. Corvina took a deep breath, and looked down at the water, seeing her reflection in the murky depths. The crows who had been on the gazebo took off, circling above her head once before flying over the mountain.

She swallowed.

“Will you be here when they drag the lake?” she asked the man by her side, the one she could feel watching her closely.

“Yes.”

“Have them look under the bridge.”

She didn’t know how she knew that. Maybe it was the way her reflection reminded her of that mirror incident in the bathroom. Maybe it was instinct, some clues her deep mind had picked up on her walks that her consciousness couldn’t understand. Maybe it was the birds. She didn’t know.

But she touched the cold stone of the railing, remembering being dragged into this water, and wondered for the hundredth time if she was losing her mind.

After a few minutes of silence, they both returned to the castle through the woods, going around to the Admin Wing to make their phone calls.

Kaylin exited the Wing, stopping in surprise as she saw both Corvina and Vad standing together.

“Mr. Deverell,” Kaylin gave the man beside her a nod, realization dawning in her eyes. “Corvina.”

“I trust you to keep this confidential, Kaylin,” Vad spoke in his deep, authoritative tone to a woman much older than he was. “We’ll need to make some calls this morning.”

“Of course, Mr. Deverell,” Kaylin tilted her head and walked off to the path.

Corvina watched her go. “She knows who you are?”

They entered the empty building and Vad led her to an office on the left, sliding her a look. “No. You’re the only one here who knows that.”