Chapter Eight:

When the world came back into view, Zosia found herself staring up into the faces of her father, Colette, Jessie and Arthur. From the decor around them, it looked as if she was in a private room on Keller. She tried to sit up, but could not. A quick glance to her side revealed that she was restrained.

"Zoshie," said her father softly. "Can you hear me?"

She tried to nod, and her body was slow to respond. Her mind felt foggy, and she found it hard to speak. Eventually she managed a sluggish nod.

"Good," said Guy. His arm was bandaged, she noted. Had that been something to do with her? She felt that it had. "You're on Keller. We're waiting for a psych consult."

Memories of what had happened in the CEO's office were coming back to her now. "Let me go," she slurred.

"Can't do that, Zosh," said Jessie. "You're sick, okay? We're going to get you better...but you need to trust us."

Colette gave a forced smile. "He's right, Zosh. You're ill."

"No..." Zosia shook her head. "I'm not ill...I knew what I was doing."

Guy shook his head. "I'm sorry...I can't deal with this. I have to go...but rest assured, darling - we are going to get you well again." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. His touch repulsed her - she wanted to spit in his face, but her throat was too dry. He and Jessie left, leaving her with Colette and Arthur.

She looked at Arthur, the pain of his betrayal gnawing at her. "How could you?" she hissed.

"Okay, listen," said Arthur defensively. "You're hurting yourself...you're a drunken mess most of the time...you're attacking people with scalpels. Don't you see how sick you are? You're a danger to yourself and others, so I did what I had to do." He rubbed his eyes. "I'm just...I'm really worried about you, Zosia. You need help, and since you weren't getting it yourself, I did it for you."

"Just get out," muttered Zosia.

Colette sighed. "He's right, Zosh. I thought you were just being a brat, but you're seriously ill. I know you won't believe this at the moment, but I care about you. We all do, and that's why we're doing this."

"I said get out!"

Arthur and Colette shared a look, then got up to leave. Arthur left first, but before Colette could go, Zosia called her name. She paused, and looked back at Zosia. "What?"

"Why are you so loyal to him?" asked Zosia quietly. "You'd do anything for him, but...you have to know, deep down - he won't do the same for you. He'll throw you away as soon as he doesn't need you. It's his way."

Colette stared at Zosia for a moment, then turned and walked away, not saying a word. Zosia tried to struggle against her bonds, but to avail. She glanced around in frustration, and caught sight of her father watching her through the glass. Everyone else had gone, and he was standing alone. When she caught his eye, he smiled at her - a smile that she knew very well.

It was the smile he gave when he had won - when he had taken someone on, and beaten them. He thought he'd beaten her. No - he knew he'd beaten her. Zosia had been given one chance, and she'd blown it - now Guy would go free, and she and her mother were condemned to eternity in the Labyrinth.

Zosia closed her eyes, letting tears run down her face. "I'm sorry, Mama," she whispered. "I'm so, so sorry."

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The next few hours saw no changes for Zosia's situation. No-one see knew saw fit to visit her - all clearly shaken by the events of the morning, and she was left with a variety of anonymous nurses and doctors. The psyche appointment didn't happen - Zosia had no doubt her father was pulling strings to get the consultant - and thus outcome - that he wanted. She had no doubt that she would be sectioned before too long. No-one would believe her story - and why should they? Zosia scarcely believed it herself.

It didn't matter, anyway. Soon the Cenobites would return to claim her, and she would be gone - reunited with her mother in a way, although unable to communicate with her at all. Despite all the horrors that the Cenobites promised, that would be the most painful torture of all.

The sky outside was dark now, and she was alone. She had tried to break her bonds, but the tight leather straps were not for budging. All she could was lie in bed, and quietly despair. The ward was quiet now - the night shift going about their business. They would come in to do her obs regularly, but apart from that, she saw no-one.

As Zosia lay in her bed, a cold blue light fell across her, and she felt her stomach lurch. So this was it - the return she had been expecting.

Illuminated from behind by the blue phosphorescence, she saw the Lead Cenobite step into view, appearing from beyond the far wall of the room. Was the Labyrinth always so close, she wondered? Did it always lurk just beyond the walls of the reality she knew? Did the Cenobites hide just behind the dark corners of the world, ready to break through at a moment's notice when

summoned? Were their victims there too? Could they see into the world they had lost from their prisons of experience? She would find out soon enough, she mused. She had already learned that the reality she knew was far more fragile than anyone realised.

Standing in the light, the Lead Cenobite appeared as a silhouette, the dark shadow of his nail-ridden head cast over Zosia. He was alone this time, his companions nowhere to be seen.

"I am disappointed," he said. "I saw potential in you, but you have failed us. We had a deal, and you have not delivered. As I said before, we do not like tricksters."

"I wasn't tricking you," protested Zosia. "I just wasn't able to make him confess. Things just...got out of control."

"And now you have no chance to correct that." He smiled, almost sadly. "Your mother was most excited at the chance of freedom, you know. The agony she felt when you failed was almost too sweet to taste."

"She knew?" whispered Zosia, horrified. "She could see me? She could see everything?"

"Of course. There is no better suffering than that of hope being destroyed. You did us a great service, child, and now you will come with us."

"I'm sorry, Mama!" yelled Zosia. "I tried...oh god, I tried..." Something occurred to her - a chance for success - a small chance, but a chance nonetheless. "Wait!"

"No more games."

"You said I'd done you a service? By my actions?" Zosia tried to struggle free, but there was still no freedom to be had.

The Lead Cenobite cocked his head to one side. "Go on."

"Then I want a favour...one service for another."

"You ask us for a favour?" The Lead Cenobite laughed - a mocking, cruel laugh. "Do you think we owe you something, child? Your actions caused us amusement and your mother despair, nothing more."

"A few hours," pleaded Zosia. "Please - that's all I ask. Isn't it worth it, to catch a trickster? To punish someone who's got one over on you?"

"Perhaps we already have one. Someone who would say anything to escape her fate. Someone who promises something she cannot deliver."

"Just a few hours more," she begged. "I can't escape you - you know that. What harm would it do? And I'll deliver my father, I swear."

The Lead Cenobite stared at her for what seemed like an eternity, his expression unreadable. Was he considering her offer, or just toying with her? Finally, he nodded. "Very well. But know this - we may be forever, but our patience is not. You have until dawn. You may deliver us your father, and you may not, but remember - you are ours either way. Come the dawn..." He smiled coldly. "We'll tear your soul apart."

With that, he was gone and Zosia was alone again. The thought that she had just leveraged her mother's suffering for a deal sickened her, but she had no time for reflection - she had to escape.

How, though, was a question she had yet to answer. Looking down at the restraints, Zosia considered her options, and finally hit on an idea - an unappealing idea, but the only one she could think of. She waited until her next set of obs - once that was finished, she would have half an hour by herself. Enough time - hopefully - to escape, and make her way to the CEO's office before anyone noticed. The security in Holby was notoriously lax, so she didn't anticipate any problems getting there. She only hoped that her father was there, and that he was alone, otherwise it would surely be a repeat of the last time.

Once the obs were finished, Zosia waited until the nurse had gone, then started pulling her left hand through the restraint. It didn't fit, of course, but with enough persistence and pain, Zosia hoped she could force it through. She bit her lip as her skin was rubbed raw by the leather, then bit down harder as the skin broke, the leather now rubbing against the wound.

She tried not to cry out in pain as the agony shot up her left arm. One positive side effect was that the blood lubricated her hand somewhat, and it began to slip through. Almost immediately, it caught on the base of her thumb, but Zosia was not to be stopped, and she kept pulling with all of her strength until finally, with a sickening crack, her thumb dislocated, and her hand slipped through the restraint.

Zosia gave a muffled grunt of pain, and bit down hard enough on her lip to drawn blood. She paused for a moment, waiting to see if anyone had heard her and come to investigate. When no-one arrived, she used her free hand to undo the cuff from the other hand. It wasn't easy, especially as her left hand was next to useless thanks to the dislocated thumb and open wounds, but she managed it.

Now free, she gritted her teeth, and reset her thumb, breath escaping through her teeth in an agonised gasp. She took stock of her left hand - it was still bleeding, but the wounds didn't seem to be deep. It had pulled off Arthur's dressing from the previous night and opened the wound, however.

Rising from her bed, and making sure no-one was watching, Zosia walked over and grabbed some supplies from a nearby trolley, cleaning and dressing her hand as best she could. That done, she prepared to make her escape from her private room. She would have liked to get dressed, but her clothes were nowhere to be found. This would just have to be done in a hospital gown.

Cracking open the door, Zosia peeked around it. There was no-one near her, thankfully. All of the staff members were at the other end of the ward, and all of the patients seemed to be asleep. As quietly as she could, she slipped through the door, and made her way out of Keller.

She made her way quickly but quietly through the hospital corridors, making sure that every route she took was clear of people. Maybe the majority of people in the hospital wouldn't know who she was, but any patient wandering the halls in the middle of the night was bound to invite questions, and that was something she definitely did not need.

Whatever they had injected to sedate her earlier was still fogging her mind slightly, but she would not be charmed or persuaded by her father this time. Her purpose was clear, and nothing would get in the way.

The trip to the CEO's office was longer than usual - Zosia made sure to use the less well travelled corridors to lessen the chances of an unwanted encounter. When she got to the office, she was glad to see that the light was still on. She placed her ear to the door, trying to detect any sound of conversation - anything that might suggest Colette or anyone else was there with her father.

There was nothing but silence.

For a moment, Zosia was afraid that the office was empty. Maybe her father had gone home, leaving the light on? It was the middle of the night, after all. No - she knew her father's habits. After such a trying day, he'd have retreated to his office, probably with a bottle of scotch or two. He wouldn't have wanted to go home. She had childhood memories of her mother taking phone calls from him - patiently telling Guy that no, she didn't mind if he stayed at work, and yes, she knew he'd had a hard day and needed to unwind. He hadn't changed since then.

Zosia steeled herself, and walked into the office. Her father was indeed there, alone. He was sat behind his desk, a large attache case and bottle of scotch both open in front of him. The Box was still sitting on his desk from where she had slammed it down. As she entered, he looked up and caught her eyes, and his face shifted into a look of pure rage for a split-second before he caught himself and switched back to his 'caring' face.

"Zoshie," he said, an air of desperation in his voice. He closed the briefcase quickly, but not before Zosia caught a glimpse of the contents. "What are you doing here? You're ill, darling. You need to get back to bed, and concentrate on getting well. I'm going to call the nurse, and after I ascertain exactly why my mentally ill daughter is roaming the corridors unsupervised, I'll get someone..."

He was reaching for his phone as he spoke, but Zosia cut him off before he had finished talking. "Go ahead - call someone. I bet they'd be very interested to learn why you've got a briefcase full of money with you. Clean out the account, did you?" She reached behind her and locked the door.

Guy reached for the phone again but paused, clearly trying to decide what to do. Eventually, he withdrew and tried to give an understanding smile. It was the fakest thing Zosia had ever seen. "Okay. We'll play it your way. As long as you don't attack me with a scalpel again. These arms are my livelihood, you know."

"I'm unarmed," said Zosia, "unless you count the truth."

"Oh, please. I don't know what you think you know, but..."

"I met them, you know. The Cenobites. Did you see them? When they took Mama? Or were you hiding, afraid to see what you'd done?" Zosia shook her head. "I bet you were afraid. You've always been a coward - always so good at making things seem like someone else's fault - so good at evading responsibility for fuck-ups - so good at seeming like you're supporting someone, while really stabbing them in the back."

Guy stood up and walked around his desk, stopping slightly short of Zosia. "Zoshie, it kills me to see you like this. So paranoid, so..."

"Of course, you've always been good at tricks, haven't you? Sleight-of-hand, misdirection...I suppose this is just more of that."

"All right...I've tried to be patient - to indulge this," said Guy angrily. "But this has to stop..."

"Shut up!" yelled Zosia. "How can you be so calm? You condemned her to the Labyrinth! You condemned her to...to Hell! You knew what they do there. You knew what they'd do to her!"

"Be quiet," snarled Guy, grabbing Zosia by the shoulders. "I said be quiet, damn you!"

Zosia stared him straight in the eyes. "You loved her. I know you did..."

"You stupid girl! You don't know anything..."

"So how could you, Dad?" Zosia pushed Guy back with all of her strength, sending him stumbling backwards. "How could you do that?"

Guy stared unblinkingly at Zosia, his mouth moving, but no sound coming out. "You...you're wrong," he mumbled finally.

Zosia took a step towards him. "I'm not, am I? I'm right, and you know I'm right. Has it bothered you over the last year? Has she tried to visit you in dreams, too?"

"She..." Guy closed his eyes and grasped his head. "She couldn't have..."

"She didn't, did she?" Zosia gave a hollow laugh. "Why would she? What would be the point? You have no remorse, after all..."

"That's not..." Guy jabbed his finger at her. "Don't judge me! I loved her just as much as you did!"

"Then why?" pleaded Zosia. "Why did you do it?"

"Because I was scared!" yelled Guy. "Is that what you want to hear? I was scared!"

A bleak silence fell on the room. Guy and Zosia looked at each other for what seemed like an eternity, until finally Guy turned away and buried his head in his hands.

Zosia let out a sob. Until that exact moment, she hadn't been sure - she'd suspected that her father had done it, but a part of her had wished he hadn't - that he was innocent, that it had been a mistake. But now she knew - now she knew that her father really had sent her mother - his wife - to Hell. "What happened?" she whispered.

Her father didn't turn to face her. "She - your mother - was sick...and taking care of her was...tiring." He sighed. "I needed a way to relax...to indulge myself."

"You've never had much of a problem indulging yourself," spat out Zosia.

"Look who's talking," said her father sharply, shooting her a baleful look. "Anyway...when I wasn't taking care of her, I...I lived...shall we say, a hedonistic lifestyle?"

"And how's that different from the rest of your life?"

"You weren't there!" yelled Guy. "You don't know how hard it was! You were off at university, no doubt drinking and fucking and whatever else you do to enjoy yourself, while I was watching my wife die!"

"I would have been there if you had called! Mama wanted to tell me - it's in her diary! Why didn't she?"

"I..." Guy looked at Zosia, then shook his head. "You don't understand...I'd found the Box by then. I'd been told that it offered pleasures...pleasures that far surpassed anything to be found in this world."

"Told by who?"

Guy ignored her. "I didn't really find it, though," he said, almost to himself. "It finds you, really...it's like it can sense people who want to open it, and it finds them..."

"Oh, I see..." Zosia wiped angry tears away from her face. "You wanted to open it, and you didn't want Zoshie around to spoil things. You stopped Mama from telling me, didn't you?"

"Just until I'd opened it," said Guy defensively. "Then I would have told you...but they changed all that."

"The Cenobites," said Zosia. "Not exactly what you'd been expecting, were they? So tell me, how did you trick them?"

"Does it matter?" Guy walked over to the table and downed a glass of scotch. "You're right, by the way - the case is full of money. The bank were a little suspicious about me withdrawing it all, but I've known the manager a long time. He was happy to smooth things over."

"So...what now?" asked Zosia. "You're making a run for it?"

"You've left me little choice, darling." Guy shrugged. "I can have you sectioned without much problem - half the hospital thinks you were already insane, even before your little attack. But it might raise some tricky questions, and I really can't have anyone looking into this whole affair too closely."

"The man at the funeral parlour might crack, for instance." At that, Guy looked up in surprise. "The grave's empty, isn't it? You bribed him to stage a fake funeral." She smiled grimly. "Yeah...I wouldn't put any money on him staying quiet under questioning."

"You always were too damn smart," muttered Guy. "So yes, I'm going to disappear for a while. I'll get you sectioned - sorry - then take it from there. I've got enough to live on quite comfortably for some time."

"How can you live with the guilt?" demanded Zosia.

Guy glared at her. "You think it isn't killing me? It is. But there's nothing I can do about it. If I could bring your mother back, I would - but it's a one-way trip! She's gone, Zoshie and we just have to live with it, and in my case - with what I've done. Believe me...you can't punish me any more than I'm punishing myself."

Zosia snorted in disgust. "At least tell me how. You owe me that before you try to get me imprisoned again."

"You really want to hear it?" Guy shrugged. "Magic tricks. Sleight-of-hand. All the things I tried to teach you, but that you were never interested in. I did my research first - the Cenobites are powerful, but not unstoppable. There are glyphs...wards...spells - for want of a better word - that can keep them at bay for a time - that can fool them. When they arrived, and were not...exactly what I had been expecting, I simply used some of what I had learned to make them think..." He closed his eyes, as if in painful memory. "That Anya...poor, sick Anya had opened the Box. And then..." A tear actually rolled down his cheek, much to Zosia's disgust. "And then they took her."

"Don't you dare cry for her!" shouted Zosia. "You sat and watched as your actions doomed the woman you loved! I knew you were a piece of shit, but even I didn't realise how much until now!"

"She was dying anyway!" protested Guy. "My work...it can save so many lives. I still have so much more good I can do! Anya's time was...it was up."

"So you sent her to Hell?" Zosia laughed. "God, listen to yourself! You're a coward - a despicable coward."

"And I've got to live with that." Guy reached for his phone again. "Time to get back to bed, Zoshie. I'm going to call someone to come get you." He paused for a second. "I know you can never forgive me...but understand my reasons, at least. Besides, as I told you, there's nothing we can do."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," muttered Zosia, as a familiar music box tune began to play.

"What?" Guy frowned. "What's that sound...?" He and Zosia both looked over at the Box. It had opened now, and the tune was playing while the Box began to slide into a new configuration. "What the hell?"

A church bell started tolling in the background, causing Guy to stumble back in fear. As he did so, a shadow fell over the room, and a cold blue light began to shine through the blinds, and through the edges of the walls.

"No..." said Guy in despair, stumbling back a few more times. "No, this can't be happening..."

A chain shot out from the darkness, cutting off his route. Many more followed, criss-crossing the room and surrounding Guy and Zosia, preventing either from leaving.

"I didn't open the Box!" yelled Guy. "You can't do this!"

And then the wall behind him flew apart, its pieces flying inwards, into the Labyrinth now visible through the opening. A voice came from within. "Can't?" it whispered. "We are not your playthings to toy with."

It was the Female Cenobite. She walked into the office, hook in hand, scraping it against the wall. Blood poured from her trail. "You, however, are our plaything now. We will show you what it means to be truly used for another's amusement."

Guy looked around in a panic, trying to seek a way to flee, but the Large Cenobite and the Chattering Cenobite were now flanking him - blocking off any chance of escape. As he frantically gazed around the room, his eyes met Zosia's. "You!" he screamed. "You did this!"

"I did it for Mama!" said Zosia firmly. "She deserved better."

"You stupid little cunt," snarled Guy, lunging at her. "I'll kill..." Before he could reach her, another chain shot out and impaled him through the shoulder, holding him back. He groaned in pain, and tried to extract the hook, but another chain snagged his arm and pulled it away.

More chains shot out, all of them digging into Guy - into his arms, his legs, his torso - all over his body, then they all pulled taut, lifting him off the ground and suspending him in the air.

He screamed in pain as they did so, directing his fury at Zosia. "Bitch! Fucking whore! I should have made her get rid of you, but she wanted a kid! She begged me and begged me to let her keep you, and like an idiot, I listened!"

"Shut up!" yelled Zosia. "Just shut up!"

"I should have done it myself," gasped Guy. "Just cut you from the womb...I would have been spared all the disappointment...twenty-seven years of watching you whore your way through the world, watching you disgrace my reputation, watching you act like the drunken, stupid bitch that you are...knowing that you - of all people - would be my legacy to the world..."

"Stop it," begged Zosia, tears streaming down her face.

Her father's tirade was interrupted by another voice coming from the Labyrinth. "Guy," said the Lead Cenobite calmly as he strode into the office. "We meet at last."

"I didn't open the Box," said her father, in between gasps of pain. "There are rules..."

"Oh yes. There are rules, Guy."The Lead Cenobite stopped next to Guy's suspended form. "Rules which you tried to break. You tried to trick us, and we do not take kindly to such actions."

"Don't take me," begged Guy. "Please - I made a mistake. I didn't know what would happen. Please don't take me!"

"Too late," said the Lead Cenobite. "You are ours now, and we plan to make up for lost time. Your suffering will be legendary, even in Hell." He turned to Zosia. "Go now - this isn't for your eyes."

"I want to watch," snarled Zosia, with a ferocity that surprised even herself.

The corner of the Lead Cenobite's mouth curled up almost imperceptibly, as if in a smile. "As you wish."

Chains shot out from within the Labyrinth - almost too many to count - all of them hooking into Guy - some in his back, some in the backs of his arms and legs, some in the back of his head, causing him to scream in agony. "Zoshie, please," he screamed. "Don't let them take me!"

A part of Zosia still wanted to save her father, to run forward and try to free him from his torture. Then she remembered what he'd done to her mother, and the desire faded. "This is for Mama," she hissed at him.

Her father stopped screaming and looked straight at her, clearly exerting all of his will to do so. "I never wanted to give them your mother," he gasped through the pain. "The thing that kept going through my head as I did it was that I wished you were there - because I would have given them you instead of Anya in a heartbeat."

Zosia took a step back involuntarily, as if she had been struck in the face. Guy saw her reaction, and began to laugh maniacally. As he did so, the chains in his back started to retract into the Labyrinth. However, the ones that held him aloft remained where they were, so for each chain that retracted, a piece of flesh went with it. His laughter turned into screams quickly as his body was torn apart one piece at a time.

As the flesh on each of his limbs was pulled away, more chains flew from the darkness to replace those that had gone. Skin was torn off first, then muscles and tendons, until only bloody bones remained. Then they too were pulled back into the Labyrinth as Guy screamed a mix of incoherence and obscenities, mostly directed at his daughter.

Zosia felt herself stumble back into the door and slide down it as the grisly scene unfolded in front of her, unable to pull her eyes away. She heard a plaintive cry of 'Daddy?' from her own lips, but still she watched.

Finally only Guy's head remained, and it was pulled back into the Labyrinth, still screaming as it went. When it had vanished from view, the rest of the chains followed, leaving Zosia and the Cenobites in the office alone.

The Female Cenobite advanced towards Zosia, a cold smile on her lips. "And now for you, Zosia."

Zosia was too numb to move, but even if she hadn't been, she wouldn't have tried to escape. She'd known that this would be her eventual fate. No point in trying to fight it.

Before the Female Cenobite could reach her, the Lead Cenobite's held up his hand. "Wait."

The Female Cenobite frowned, but paused her advance. "Wait?"

"Leave," commanded the Lead Cenobite. "I will join you presently."

The other three Cenobites shared a glance, but clearly knew better than to defy their leader. They walked out of the office, back into the Labyrinth, and soon disappeared from view.

Zosia gingerly got to her feet, her whole body trembling with disgust and fear. "So..." she said, trying to keep her voice from cracking. "Now I have to go with you? That was our deal, right?"

"That was our deal."

"Is..." Zosia swallowed nervously and tried to stop herself shaking. "Is my mother free? Did you let her go?"

The Lead Cenobite fixed her with a withering glance. "We honour our deals. She is no longer in our realm."

"Then where is she?"

"That is not our concern, nor was that information part of our arrangement."

Talking to the Lead Cenobite terrified her, but Zosia forced herself to press on. "But you're not...she's not being tortured any more?"

"No. She is not being tortured - she is not in pain. I will give you that information as reward for the gift of your father."

"Where would she have gone?"

"Again, it is not our concern. But there are other realms, other dimensions that can be reached. Ours is simply one of many."

"Like...like Heaven?"

He smiled coldly. "Spare me such foolishness."

Zosia stared downwards. "So...this is it? Time for me to go with you?"

The Lead Cenobite regarded her for a moment, then spoke. "I admit, it is tempting, but no."

That was something Zosia had not been expecting. "What?" she said. "But...why?" Then she realised that it sounded like she was asking to be taken, and wished she had stayed quiet.

"Knowing your flesh at this time would be an exquisite pleasure," said the Lead Cenobite, "but we are forever. We have time, and there will be an even greater pleasure coming."

"I don't understand..."

The Lead Cenobite walked over to Zosia, stopping just short of her. He looked down at her and smiled. "You want our pleasures, Zosia. We could take you now, but it will be far, far sweeter when you submit to them willingly. We are prepared to wait for that."

"You're wrong," whispered Zosia. "I don't want..."

"It is not merely hands that open the Box, it is desire. You sensed what it was, and it felt that. That is why you could open it."

Zosia shook her head furiously. "You're wrong! Do you think I want to be tortured? I was willing to do it for Mama, that's all!"

"I thought at first you merely wanted to experience our ways, that is true...but in watching you, I have realised that you not only wish to experience them - you want to be the one inflicting them."

"No," whispered Zosia. "You're wrong...what you do is sick! I don't..."

"You have a burning desire in you to punish. You wish to find the depraved, the guilty and the damned and make them suffer." He walked slowly to the desk and picked up the Box. "I do not need to convince you of this, however. You already know I am right. Your father was not the only guilty person you have pursued over the years, am I right? There have been others - those whose crimes you have seeked to expose, whose lies you have wished to reveal - those you seek to punish for their misdeeds. And who better to punish than those who wish it? We care little for any morality you may understand - but we would allow you to fulfill your desire to cause pain, and that is why you were drawn to the Box."

Zosia shook her head, but she could not meet his eyes, nor bring herself to speak a denial.

"Farewell, Zosia," said the Lead Cenobite. "One day you will open the Box again, and you will ask to become one of us. Until then, we will be watching...and waiting."

He closed the Box, and in the blink of an eye, was gone. The office was empty again and the opening to the Labyrinth had vanished, as had any trace of the Cenobites or the Box. Also, despite her father's dismemberment, there was no blood or remains anywhere. The office was as clean as when she had entered it.

The memory of her father's bloody exit made Zosia want to vomit, but she suppressed the urge. Instead, she unlocked the door and sank down into a chair, completely drained. She had no energy to do anything but blankly stare at the ceiling, attempting to understand the events that had just unfolded.

It was no surprise, however, when after just a few minutes, the door to the office swung open and Jessie and Colette both rushed in, followed by two security guards. They looked around the office, clearly looking for any sign of her father.

"Zosh!" said Colette, going to her side. "Where's Guy?"

"I came to talk to my father," said Zosia distantly, "but he isn't here."

"Do you know where he is?" asked Jessie, frowning as he opened the briefcase on the desk.

"No." A half truth, but better than trying to explain what had happened.

"Zosia," said Colette softly. "You didn't...do anything to him, did you?"

Zosia slowly shook her head. "I didn't do anything to him." That, at least, was basically true. The Cenobites had done it all. She had simply facilitated it.

"Colette," said Jessie, showing her the open briefcase. "Look at this."

Colette rubbed her forehead. "Jesus," she whispered. "What is going on here?"

"Wish I knew," said Jessie with a shrug.

"Why are you here?" asked Zosia, frowning slightly. All she wanted to do was sleep now. It was getting hard to think through her fatigue.

"The nurse on duty noticed you were gone, and called me," said Colette, bending down to examine Zosia. "I called Jessie, we figured you'd come here, and...well, here we are." She lifted up Zosia's injured arm. "Oh Zosh...what did you do to yourself?"

"I had to escape. I had to see him," said Zosia dreamily. "But he isn't here..."

Colette smiled sympathetically at her. "Come on - let's get this looked at, then get you back to bed, okay?"

Zosia nodded, and allowed Colette to help her to her feet.

"It's okay," said Jessie to the security guards. "I think we've got her." He closed the briefcase and lifted it up. "You're sure you haven't seen Guy?" he asked Zosia. She shook her head. Jessie sighed. "All right. I think we need to call Serena."

"I'll take care of Zosia," said Colette. "You call Serena."

"And tell her what, exactly?" Jessie shook his head. "Shit...I don't know what's going on here, but something's not right..."

"You'll think of something." Colette started to lead Zosia out of the office. "Just going to fix your arm, then I think you need to rest, right?"

That sounded immensely appealing to Zosia.