Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
Daddy probably would’ve sliced him up some first to attract the venomous pets we keep back here, so I’m actually being a bit more humane. We reached our vantage point and looked down into the little clearing where the good doctor was trying his best to avoid the snakes that surrounded him.
“Shoot!” We all three released an arrow in his direction, which sent him hurdling through the brush behind him. Too bad for him, the shrubs that enclosed the area offered no recourse, but we watched as he ran into them, knowing the hell he was going to face in the next few seconds.
His screams grew in volume as he tore at his skin, only making it worst. The deadly mix of Comocladia Dodonaea, Acacia retusa, Manchineel, and Pencil Euphorbia each served a different purpose. From skin irritation that was more horrendous than it sounds to blindness, the little garden shrubs that we had planted with great care were being used for the first time.
If Daddy knew what we had done, he’d have a fit, even more so when the uncles returned with the new species of plants we’d sent them after. By the time he returns, they’ll be in the ground, and if I can’t talk him around, there’s always Uncle Hank.
We spent the next ten minutes tormenting the good doctor in no hurry to give him relief. Elena Gianni had been trapped in her mind for a very long time because of him and his so-called treatment. What’s a few measly minutes that he can’t bear?
“Again!” Each time he found an opening or thought he had, we shot a barrage of arrows at him, which sent him scurrying. The only places he had to run were either into the death shrubs or the snake den. His screams sounded more and more desperate. “Nia, did you bring the candy bars? I’m famished.”
I handed out the bottles of water I’d brought along for the small trek, but it was needed because this time of day on the island is extremely hot, which is why we chose now to carry out our little game. Between the excessive heat, the snakes, and the shrubs, the good doctor would start to slowly lose his mind.
“How long are we going to leave him out there?”
“Why, Nia, are you feeling sorry for him?”
“No, but it’s hot as Hades.”
“Ah, speaking of Hades, we have to talk Daddy into taking us to the Acheron River in Greece, don’t forget.”
“And what pray tell are we going there for?”
“I told you, Lily, it’s one of the gateways to Hades.”
“Can we stick to one thing at a time?”
“We can, but that place is suspect along with the other three so-called gates to Hades. I think they all play a part in this. Remember what the notes said?”
“Don’t mention the notes. If your dad finds out we took them, there’s going to be hell to pay.”
“We put them back, Nia.”
“After you copied them.”
“Well yeah. But anyway, the notes said that in the fourteen and fifteen hundreds, it was those types of places the monsters used for their rituals and sacrifices. Who says their offspring isn’t still doing the same?”
“I don’t know; that seems like a bit of a stretch.”
“Why, Lily, aren’t we the offspring of the ones who’ve been hunting them down for centuries? Who’s to say they haven’t inherited the same information and are now carrying out the same evil? Children have never stopped going missing and being subjected to all manner of horrors at the hands of these beasts.”
“Uh-oh, pay attention; I think he just rubbed his eyes.”
“Good, now he’ll be blind. Time to move in.”
***
*Lyon*
“Look at this shit. I hope your wife is watching the weather, Flanagan; this Hilary bitch is about to show her ass. I told you fucks some shit was going to wipe this place off the map.”
“What’re you a meteorologist now?”
“No, but who dafuq ever heard of a hurricane over the desert?”
“We’ll be flying over the North Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea; there’s no danger to us.”
“We gotta get outta here first, Mancini, you ass.”
“Whatever, I think we’ve got bigger problems than the weather. I did some digging, and the doctor’s missing.”
“What doctor?”
“The one who they paid to mess with Elena’s head.”
“Shit, does Mengele have him?”
“I think so.”
“Well, he’s fucked.”
“Knowing her, she wants to pick his brain.”
“Yeah, after she fucks him up. That’s what I would’ve done.”
“So you do admit that she’s just like you. That’s what scares you, isn’t it.”
“I’m not admitting shit, and don’t lump me in with that nut.” I thought I told her not to play with her food. Damn, fucking kid has gone rogue.
I always threaten to pack her off somewhere, but maybe I should be the one to find myself a monastery somewhere to hide. I’m sure I can pay one enough to let me bring Kat along with me. I need to get the hell away from Mengele before she unleashes whatever the hell she’s got cooking on the world.