Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
THE SHADOW
The Yates’ Estate
Watching The Guilda’s newest Hellhound carry his princess’ unconscious body from Lilah’s house decimated The Shadow. The girl appeared so fragile, tossed over The Hellhound’s shoulder, blindfolded, gagged, and bound.
The mask The Shadow donned tonight once again hinted at the beast he hid underneath his polished veneer, black and menacing, with gold embossed serrated teeth and crude Xs over where their eyes would be.
A mask meant to strike fear in anyone who came across it or him.
The mask of The Shadow. The mark of a killer. The title The Guilda laid upon The Shadow at the young age of five, in an abandoned church in Moscow where his training had begun.
“Taking your control issues a little far, aren’t you? I thought this pageantry was below the Canis Infernum.” The Shadow sneered at The Hellhound, who he had once trusted implicitly until The Shadow realised The Guilda had other plans for the boy fated to rule at their helm.
“Your woman shouldn’t have tried to circumvent The Guilda’s plans for her. She made her bed. Now she must lie in it.”
The slash marks on The Hellhound’s mask glinted in the moonlight, mirroring the ones he had been scarred with at a young age, hinting of a dark past that even The Shadow stayed leery of.
That eerie silver-blue from the metal lining them reflected ominously as he swung the girl around, her limp weight seemingly weighing nothing as he stared right where The Shadow’s eyes would be.
“Trying to outplay me by claiming her family name…well, let’s just say little Audrey Yates will have to decide once and for all tonight if she is woman enough to step into the truth of her Ellsworth name.
We all know what that family was infamous for, and spoiler alert: the pretty little princess has no clue what she truly has in store for her… ”
Dread sank into The Shadow’s gut as The Hellhound’s words hit home.
He had known all along that he could never truly harm or refuse the girl over their shoulder.
The Shadow’s one true weakness was always his unrelenting love—possession of her, the fierce and prideful princess.
The obsession had blinded The Shadow for years while he waited for her to come into her own, to finally come crawling to him.
“You plan to force her to choose…but the question is, which family are you planning to use as the sacrifice in this first game of loyalty and blood?”
The Shadow bristled at the feeling of The Hellhound’s smug glee, evident in the way his body relaxed and the grip on the princess loosened.
“The founders can say whatever they want, but no one believes that you’re actually the imbecile you pretend to be.
There’s no point in acting shocked, Shadow, at least not here, not with me.
” Opening the door to the car stalling in the Yates’ drive, The Hellhound lifted his mask.
“None of us blame you. It’s been quite the show watching you fall ass over feet for this tiny Viper Queen. ”
The Hellhound’s words didn’t match his actions, though. Almost like he regretted what was about to happen later tonight. He slid his face in the direction of the others, pausing briefly over The Sun and The Rose, who each carried one of the Kenton brothers.
“Make sure everyone is restrained appropriately. I don’t want anyone accidentally getting free, or worse, waking up before we arrive at the loading zone for the Labyrinth tonight.”
Ice skated down The Shadow’s spine. Memories of his time inside the deadly maze blasted through the walls he kept guarded and high.
The hours of silence and darkness were only broken up by the callous way The Guilda forged recordings and soundtracks that made him believe fates even worse than death awaited him.
The Shadow cast one last glance at his princess as he opened the back door, dropping Ellery from his shoulder before rounding the car and sliding in to make his way to the one place that was true hell on Earth.
The Labyrinth of The Guilda Sanguis Venenati was crafted into an initiate’s worst nightmare, built fully underground, modelled after the infamous one from Greek mythology—an underground maze, full of stone walls, metal chambers, and traps made in the image from all sorts of depraved minds.
The Labyrinth was never for the faint of heart. The Shadow should know, as he was one of the few subjected to the horrors years ago, although he had been spared from the worst…unlike The Hellhound. The founders designed it with one goal in mind: to destroy the sanity of whoever they locked inside.
The Hellhound’s voice crackled over the Bluetooth in the car, snapping The Shadow out of the past and the horrors this game would surely inflict upon all the players tonight.
“Drop off is at the Anathema. Gate five. This group will endure the harshest routes once they drop inside. Tonight, initiates from all five factions will fight for the fifteen spots available for the rest of The Ludi…prepare yourself, boys, after tonight, natural selection will ensure only the strongest will survive.”
AUDREY
Game One: The Labyrinth
13 June 2021
I woke up to darkness. Bound, gagged, and restrained by something unrelenting against my back.
Blindfolded, my mind supplied as I grappled with why my eyes were unable to see what was occurring in front of me.
I yanked at my hands and feet, gritting my teeth when pain bit into where the cuffs prevented my mobility.
“Welcome, initiates, to Game One of the first-ever Viperae Rosarum. The time is upon us, and only fifteen of you will claim spots to advance tonight.”
That eerie robotic voice I was beginning to hate broke the silence of wherever they hauled us tonight.
Wait…fifteen spots? My mind whirled at the realisation that the other charters must have hosted The Ludi this year, and now, we were all cornered like animals competing for limited spots.
It would be a blood bath if someone got caught.
Calloused hands gripped the back of my head as the blindfold was yanked down and the bright lights I was under assaulted my eyes.
A chill slid down my spine as my eyes adjusted, my mind gathering that I was bound to an executioner’s post, my feet balanced on the tips of my toes dangled atop a narrow trap door above what could only be described as a maze.
“Tonight you get to enjoy The Labyrinth, where you will be tested in mind, body, and heart. But I warn you…”
I took in my surroundings now that I had adjusted to the lights shining across The Labyrinth, where they were undoubtedly about to drop us into. Looking across the tops of the walls, I could barely make out shadows of platforms at every protruding angle of the maze’s walls.
Looking down, I made out the lines of a sigil—the crest of the forefathers, The Guilda’s brand burned into the wood underneath the soles of my feet. The split between the planks, lining up perfectly, where they could just decide to drop me.
“…Only the strong will survive tonight. And only the ruthless will reign supreme. Be the first to complete the maze, and you will gain immunity from being cut from The Ludi tonight.”
Howls erupted behind me. The sounds of starved predators and hounds, scenting their prey. The voice carried on as the lights began to shut off one by one.
“There will be four tests. A test of your mind. A test of your body. A test of your heart. And if you prevail at the first three, then a test of your loyalty to blood will be given to those deemed worthy, that choice, to be determined by me.”
“Nobody knows what test another initiate will receive, as each is tailored to you exclusively. Cheating will not be tolerated. Each test will be watched by a leader of The Guilda Sanguis Venenati. To keep things fair, they cannot watch over the competitors within their own chapters. The fourteen who complete their trials the best will move on, in addition to whoever finishes first.”
“You have three hours to complete this game; outside of the fastest initiate, your time inside the maze is irrelevant as long as you do not exceed the three gracious hours I’ve given to you.”
Gooseflesh pebbled my skin as my mind considered what all I might have to face. I had to complete all four trials. It would be a failure if I were only deemed worthy for three.
“Please…release the initiates from their bindings.”
Gloved hands released my arms from the cuffs; my body still bound to the post in rope. A groan sounded from under the gag as blood rushed down into my hands, and the sensation of thousands of needles stabbing me tingled all the way down to my toes.
The creaking of wood sliding open echoed in my ears as my feet grew unsteady. It’s opening. I stared, locking my feet in place so once the door swung down, I might land on my feet instead of my ass.
“As I said, you have three hours. May Lady Luck bless you with the fortitude to beat out those not fit for a seat. I fear you all will need it as you traverse through the labyrinth tonight…”
The trap door beneath my feet slid open right as the whir of a knife slicing rope made it to my ears, my restraints slipping off as darkness encompassed me.
Screams of the other initiates assaulted my ears as I fell, and the last light blinked out, blanketing the labyrinth in obsolete black, cutting off plans anyone may have had to locate friends or foes alike.
I hit the ground hard a few seconds later, getting back to my feet and checking my pockets for anything they may have left me. My lighter.
Yanking it out, I flicked it on as I began to walk forward.
My eyes shut briefly as I calmed my racing heart, forcing my breath to slow and my body to relax.
From the darkness, a Queen will reign…fractured memories began to assault me as I remembered my mum, and all the times she told us to never cower in fear.