Chapter Twenty-Nine Emma Baldwin #2
Malcolm’s eyes flutter closed as he steps onto the ancient, seemingly endless winding bridge.
Each wooden plank creaks and groans under his weight, causing him to stumble, but he grips the rails, refusing to fall into the dark abyss below where coiled snakes twist and show their fangs.
After what feels like an eternity, Malcolm finally reaches the other side.
I trail behind him, my heart thumping with fear at the many red and black snakes hissing in the pit below.
I watch as Malcolm steps onto land and inches closer to a table that waits there.
It bears another note and a golden whistle that shimmers in the light of blue fireflies.
The whistle’s coiled snake shape taunts me.
I stand on the shaky planks of the bridge, heart racing with fear and wonder, as Malcolm gazes upon it.
He got the whistle. I guess that means he won this challenge.
I look at the snakes, their pink mouths wide and showing gleaming fangs. They hiss below the shaky bridge as I cross. I glance back at the writhing serpents crowning Venus’s hair.
I take a step forward, carefully placing my foot on the next wooden plank. But as I press down, it disappears.
I am falling fast. I look up and see the sky ripple in a swirl of navy and black.
Wind races through my hair and whips at my yellow nightgown.
My belly continues to drop. My chest burns.
Panic sets in, and I flail desperately, trying to grab on to anything to save myself from the endless fall.
When I think it can’t get any worse, a hissing sound echoes from below.
I spot a flash of gray scales beneath me, and I scream as I crash down into a massive bed of writhing, hissing, curling snakes.
Their angular eyes glint in the darkness, and their forked tongues flick.
Slick serpents coil tightly around my legs, my waist, my everything.
My worst fear is realized, and my heart freezes in terror as I watch the pink caves of their mouths open, exposing their fangs.
With every scream that escapes my lips, more snakes slither out from under me and bolt themselves around my trembling body.
The longer fear keeps me stiff and still, the more their venomous fangs seem to extend toward me, threatening to strike at any moment, and all I can do is pray for an escape from this nightmare.
“Use your stardust!”
Malcolm’s voice echoes from the rickety bridge high above.
Desperately, I lift my palm, trying to pull some from the stars above, but it’s pointless.
Sabine has disabled my magic for this challenge.
Flailing and full of a helpless panic, I struggle to summon even the tiniest bit of stardust. I can’t.
Malcolm produces the golden snake whistle from his pocket, and his jaws swell as he blows a soothing melody. The haunting, calming sound lulls the agitated snakes into a deep peaceful sleep.
The snakes are spread on top of me in a twisted blanket.
Staring up at the stormy sky from the bottom of the muddy pit, I ease the snakes off my body with shaky fingers and push myself upright.
My heart sags. The walls of the snake pit have more vines, their green tendrils glowing with an eerie sickly hue, and sprouting purple flowers with red spots that bloom ominously.
“Climb out!” Malcolm shouts, pointing to the ropelike vines. Remembering how different vines in this wood almost killed me, I pause. But realizing this is the only way, I exhale, steady my nerves, grasp the vines tightly, and pull myself upward.
The climb is awful. My knees are scraped raw, my arms straining against the weight of my body, but finally, I reach the top. I struggle to haul myself out. But end up clinging there, exhausted.
Malcolm kneels at the edge of the pit, gazing down at me with a mix of anger and sadness. His palm extends toward me. With his help, I finally emerge from the pit and collapse onto the muddy earth above. Raindrops pelt me as I shiver and exhale.
“You want me to die in the Tether?” Malcolm says, sounding both hurt and cocky. “Who else you got to save you?”
My heart aches, knowing how deeply my words had cut him.
But before I can say anything, he adds, “You weren’t the only one who saw visions in the rocks, Emma.
My visions showed me a lot about you too.
So maybe I should stop putting someone who thinks I’m just some tool she can use to end the Tether, and who wants me dead, over the people who truly care about me. ”
With a pained expression, he thrusts the sharp tail of the snake whistle into my thigh, sending searing agony through my body, the sting of betrayal piercing my heart.
“Sorry.” His voice is strained as he pulls the whistle back, regret and desperation smearing his face. “But I can’t let my ma die for no one. You know what Sabine would do.”
Trees stretch into long, jagged shadows as the forest around me melts away. The muddy earth beneath me dissolves into cold checkerboard tiles. Statues of enslaved children loom at the edges of the room, their lifeless faces twisted in anguish. The air is heavy as a chill slices up my spine.
Pain throbs in my leg, as sharp as the fear cutting into my chest. My family is still bound to their chairs, their wrists and ankles locked in glowing gold cuffs, their mouths gagged. Sabine paces before them, slow and deliberate, like a lion deciding which piece of prey to devour first.
“Look who finally decided to join us,” she purrs, her voice sweet as sugared poison.
My pulse rises. Sabine steps closer, her gown rippling. The heart-shaped bustier gleams white, spiraling with black threads of magic, while the ivory skirt fans out in layers of shimmering pearls. Her fiery hair is coiled into an elegant twist, gleaming like molten copper.
Trying to avoid her cruel, icy gaze, I search the room for clues, anything that might give me leverage or help me escape this nightmare I’m trapped in, no matter how futile it may be. It’s then I notice something is missing.
Someone is missing.
“Where’s Malcolm?” My voice shakes.
Sabine’s smirk is like the slash on a mother’s throat—cruel, final, and silent.
“Malcolm!” I call.
“Always so impatient, Emma. Don’t worry—he’ll join us soon. But first…” She claps her hands. The sound echoes through the room like thunder. “Let’s make this moment unforgettable, shall we?”
I flinch as her icy fingers close around my ankle.
She dips her nails into the bright blood pooling from my wound and brings it to her lips, licking it clean.
Her eyes flutter shut, and she tilts her head back, savoring it.
My stomach twists, bile rising as her hair begins to lighten, strands of molten gold spiraling down her shoulders.
Her skin glows, her features smoothing into something even more youthful and strikingly beautiful.
When her eyes snap open, there’s something different about their icy shade of blue. Something familiar. My breath catches, and my stomach knots tighter.
They look just like Ariella’s.
“Where’s Malcolm?” I repeat, louder this time, panic cracking my voice.
Sabine ignores me, her attention drifting along with her gaze.
Something’s different here. My eyes dart around the room, searching for the change.
The grotesque paintings remain—dark-skinned women dangling from twisted trees, ravens clawing at their flesh.
The statues of children still scream silently, their terror carved into white marble. But something is different.
My feet won’t move.
I glance down, heart banging as I see the shimmer of the tiles beneath me. Invisible snakes grip my legs, locking me in place. I yank one leg, then the next, but they’re stuck. Frozen.
“Let me go!” I scream, the words echoing back to me.
Sabine’s laughter is soft. “Always so dramatic,” she muses, waving a hand. “Malcolm will be here and you’ll be free to resume my game soon enough. But first, a surprise.”
A deafening ticking sound fills the air, rhythmic, jarring, and continuous.
My head snaps toward the far wall. A towering grandfather clock looms. That wasn’t there before.
The dark wood is carved with glowing runes that pulse like a heartbeat.
Sabine claps, and the serpentine clock hands spin backward, faster and faster.
The ticking gets louder, sharper, until it’s pounding in my ears like a battle drum.
The clock face splits open with a rumbling crack, quaking the room. Blinding white light floods the space, illuminating the spinning gears inside and the twisted paintings and statues in the room with a harsh glow.
Then the blood comes.
It gushes from the clock, thick and bright, splattering the tiles with a repulsing metallic scent. My stomach knots violently. God, no. Please don’t let that be Malcolm’s blood.
The liquid rises, spinning upward in a grotesque dance before solidifying. My breath catches as the gory figure takes shape—golden hair shining like molten sunlight, spun into a flawless braid threaded with ribbons of gold.
“Ariella.” Her name comes out in a trembling whisper.
She smiles, her chin pointing in my direction like a polished blade. “Did you miss me, Emma?”
The gold brocade of her gown clings to her tiny waist, cascading in a waterfall toward a hem stitched with crimson threads and rubies that shimmer like blood. Chains of gold line her shoulders, and the high collar clutches her neck like a jeweled noose.
“You…” My voice shakes with rage as I stumble over my words, glaring at Sabine before my eyes shift back to Ariella. “Why are you helping her? How could you?”
Her laugh is sharp, musical, and cuts through me like glass.
“Oh, Emma. I would do anything for family.” She steps closer, the blood-soaked trim of her gown trailing behind her.
The blood streaming from within the clock retreats, rolling back into the clock as she twirls the ribbon in her hair.
“Did I break your precious little heart?”
“You’re just as twisted as Sabine!” I yell.
“Thank you. I’ve always wanted to make Mommy proud,” she says sweetly, her tone like sugar and poison.
My chest clenches. “That can’t be.” I think of what I read online. “Sabine didn’t have any daughters.”
She grins. “None that I allowed people to know about. I kept my daughter tucked away, hidden in time and out of reach from my enemies. But she insisted on greeting you face-to-face.”
Betrayal burns hotter than any punishment Sabine could dream up, slicing through me with a pain sharper than any dagger. Ariella—my best friend. Sabine’s daughter. The girl who held me when I cried, who promised we’d stick together, swore we’d stand side by side no matter what.
Now, she’s standing with my enemy. “You spied on me,” I whisper, my voice breaking like my heart. “For her?”
She shrugs, tilting her head slightly. “It was fun. I deserve an award for that performance.”
“You’re a coward!” I say, my fists clenched so tightly my nails dig into my palms. “Hiding behind that witch like a lapdog.”
Sabine chuckles, pointing to my Tether. “And yet, you’re the one being dragged along on my leash.”
Ariella laughs, leaning closer. “Oh, Emma. Did you really think someone like you mattered? You were a tool. A distraction. A job.” Her smile widens, her voice becomes dreamy.
“But Malcolm? If you die, I’ll be the one to comfort him.
Don’t you think he’d look better by my side anyway?
” She giggles. “I’m already planning our ‘accidental’ introduction. ”
Rage boils over, white-hot and overwhelming. My legs won’t move, so I grab the closest object—a golden picture frame. With a cry, I toss it at her.
The frame freezes in midair, floating an inch from her face. Ariella giggles, snapping her fingers. It disintegrates into ash, which spins in a tornado before swirling into a swarm of mosquitoes. They dart at me, biting, stinging, until she snaps her fingers again, and they disappear.
“Pathetic,” she hisses, spinning on her heel.
“You always have been.” Her gown flares like molten gold as she strides away, her voice swollen with mock pity.
“Silly Emma, you should’ve known—friendship is just a stepping stone.
” She sighs, almost wistful, then adds, “Ashes to ashes, dust to … well, you.” She gives me mocking syrupy smile.
“Good luck with the Tether. You’ll need it. ”
With a snap of her fingers, she disappears in a swirl of golden light.
Sabine’s slow clap rings in my ears as I glance at my family. I was so focused on my rage for Ariella that I couldn’t see my mother’s tears as she sat bound and gagged. She loved Ariella too. This was a blow to my entire family.
“Bravo, Emma,” Sabine cheers. “That fiery spirit is why I chose you … But darling, I fear my dear Ariella might be right. You’re na?ve, and hopelessly out of your league. Maybe my Tether will do you a favor and put you out of your misery.”
I glare, tears blurring my vision. “Screw you and Ari. I love being underestimated—it makes winning that much sweeter.”
Her laughter echoes as shadows twist, forming a figure across from me. My heart jumps.
“Malcolm!” I cry, hope and dread braiding together as his silhouette steps forward.
“Congratulations, Malcolm,” Sabine purrs.
“You’ve won round two. And survived the hounds I sent to occupy you while Emma enjoyed her gift.
Good on you.” She twirls, her black-and-white dress billowing and glowing against the checkerboard floor.
“But now, for the main event: round three.” She snaps her fingers, and a black-and-white crown adorned with red rubies and gold chess pieces materializes on her head. “The battle to the death.”
A sense of doom overcomes me as Sabine’s laughter echoes off the clouds painted on the blue walls. Her eyes glitter with sadistic excitement. “This time,” she says, “if I don’t see blood, the kind that you truly mean—and death—I will kill every member of your pitiful little families.”