Chapter 12

I gaped in horror at the man standing by the window. The phone was still ringing in my shaking hand. It clattered to the floor as my hands went numb and I was unable to hold it.

"What do you want?"

The man smiled. "Isn't it obvious?" I recognized his voice; I sifted through my memories, trying to match it to something. Then I thought of me sprawled on the floor in the hallway. . .

Michael.

The female laughed, her voice tinkering an octave higher than was natural. She threw her blond, crimped hair back, and in the shadows I saw a flash of green when her pant legs came up.

Dee.

The nausea came back. My breathing came in horrified gasps, my throat closing up.
What had happened to my best friend? They both had a distant, glazed-over look to their eyes. Then I noticed the deep blue necklace around each of their necks. It hung on two of each identical strips of black elastic, and in the darkness the navy seemed to tint black. When their fidgeting forms moved into the lamplight, it seemed to glow, now the lightest and softest of all blues. The insides of it looked like they pulsed, drawing you in and enticing your brain. I shook my head free of suddenly cloudy thoughts, and I remembered where I had seen that necklace before. It was unclear, for the owner's hair was whipping around her neck as she stood on the hilltop, her eyes shining with malice as she watched Duke and me on a south Texas beach.

Then Dee spoke.

"Don't be scared, Madi," she purred, stepping closer to me. On instinct, I retreated until my back slammed into the wall. She floated closer still. In one swift motion, she pulled an object of gleaming silver from her pocket. Then I felt the cool, sharp edge of a long switchblade pressing in on my throat. She pressed it a little closer, until the tip was a fraction of a millimeter from breaking the skin. "Where's Duke?" she asked, still in that false sweet tone.

"Don't. . .know," I gasped, my eyes still locked on the knife.

"Really?" she implored, and the skin on my neck tore. A single drop of blood oozed down the blade, leaving a trail of the darkest red to the hilt. Then the pain came.

"Argh. . ." I gurgled as the blood flowed more freely from the wound.

"Are you sure?" she threatened menacingly.

"Yes," I choked over the blood streaming from my neck. I could feel the color drain from my face as my whitish pallor became even more pronounced by the loss of blood.

Suddenly, a shadowy being fell into the room with an earth-shaking crash. My attackers did not retreat, but the male did sink into a crouch as if getting ready to pounce.

"No!" I tried to scream, but my head was throbbing and I couldn't see straight. I had realized who my savior was. Duke ran headlong into the male, swinging and beating viciously, but Michael was stronger than him. He lifted him off the floor with inhuman strength and Duke was launched towards the door. I wanted to help.

"You. . ." I began, but my willpower was deteriorating. My eyes rolled back, my eyelids drooped, and I gave myself away to the darkness.

I was vaguely aware of someone carrying me. All my limbs felt like they were waterlogged. I slowly groped at the face of the person above me, and they caught my hand and pressed it to their cheek.

"Madi?" rasped in a familiar and husky voice.

"Duke!" I gasped in relief. He leaned down to kiss me, but there was a sharp crack and Duke moaned in pain. "What?" I shrieked, but he tried to hide his pain from me.

"It's nothing," he assured me, but his breath still came in gasps.

"What are they doing to you?" I whispered.

"Like I said, it's nothing," he grunted.

"You up there! Quiet!" was a muffled yell, and then another crack to Duke's back. This time he fell. I felt the cool stone tile pressing on my back, then my face as the pain overpowered him. I opened my eyes to a murky corridor, and Duke lay next to me on the floor, writhing in pain.

"What did you do to him?" I growled at Dee and Michael, but they paid no attention.

"We told him he couldn't talk," Dee muttered in a light voice, as if she were scolding a preschooler for talking during naptime.

"Let's go," Michael rumbled and grasped my upper arm in his iron grip. I cried out in pain.

"DON'T HURT HER!" Duke yelled from the floor, his eyes flashing. He tried to get up, but suddenly clutched his side and fell against the wall. Michael seemed to consider this.

"The mistress really wanted to finish him off herself," he mumbled thoughtfully. "He's so weak, maybe she won't mind if I. . ." he trailed off and surveyed Duke.

"Michael? Dominique?" cried a shrill voice from the room towards the end of the corridor. "Where are they?" I gulped. I knew that voice only too well.

"Let's go," Michael commanded and handed me off to Dee so he could prop Duke unceremoniously on his shoulder, and we were hauled into the shadowy room at the end of the hall.

"Beautiful," she praised as I was dragged into the room. "Oh Madison, prettier than I remembered!"

"Shut up, you stupid old hag!"

She clucked her tongue. "Now, now, let's not be hostile."

"What are you doing to them?" I blurted out quickly.

"Oh, you mean my little helpers, your friends?"

"No, the little elves in the ceiling." I muttered.

"Again with the sarcasm," she murmured reproachfully. "You see," she continued, "I am, well, controlling them, if you will. It was so easy to persuade Dee to wear my pretty little necklace. As for Michael, I simply told him you would love it."

"Dee?" I whispered to my best friend, but her eyes were and empty abyss of clouds. "Michael?" His eyes were set in a blank stare.

"Anyway," she continued loudly as if I hadn't spoken. "I've been waiting for you to come, Madi. So I could rid myself of you." Her eyes narrowed. "And your precious Duke."

"No!" I gasped. "Oh no, no, no! Please! Not him!" She cackled at my pleading.

"Oh, my dear, I promise it will be quick and painless." She raised a hand. "Michael? Have him," she flicked her fingers casually at Duke.

"No! No!" I screamed, but Dee's strength had improved, and I was no match for her. She angled my body so it would be in the perfect angle to watch her and Duke. Michael stepped forward, his eyes gleaming with pleasure. "No! Baby, NO! Don't let him! Fight! Fight!" Dee clamped a hand over my desperate screaming. Michael towered over Duke, and lifted him off the floor with ease. I realized that in Duke's state all he would have to do is slam him to the ground hard enough and it would all be over.

Duke realized what he was doing, and screamed over Michael's enraged laughs, "Madi! I love you!" and he was slammed to the floor. There was a sickening crunch with the impact, and he was gone.

I dropped to my knees.

"Now, for you," Mrs. Coshell whispered with satisfaction as she stepped towards me.

"No," I whispered and whirled around to face Dee. I could see the lamplight glinting off the silver in her front pocket. I grabbed for it, and before I could think, it was open in my hand. I took a deep, steadying breath, but my decision was made. Besides the sinking in my stomach, there was a warm glow of rightness in my soul.

"Goodbye, I love you," I whispered for the final time, and raised the blade once again to my throat.