Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55109 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55109 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 220(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
“Oh. Bryn! This is Elise!” Anita introduces me to the man with the shaggy dark hair and the deep, hollow eyes.
“Yes. Cosmos’ wife. Congratulations, and welcome.”
“At three o’clock this morning I was woken by someone trying to stab me, and then I was dragged to an altar to be married. I don’t know if it is congratulations that are in order. Maybe a mental health assessment for your friend, and some help for me to return home.”
Bryn listens with a concerned expression on his face. “You do not want to be married.”
“No. I don’t. And I don’t want to be here. Thank you very much for the hospitality, but I have a life and people who depend on me, and I can’t disappear into a den of fucking cultists.”
I’ve lost my temper. That’s unfortunate. But it has been a very long day, and I am very hungry, and frankly, I’m at the end of my tether. Those present look at one another and there is the sort of long and poignant silence that doesn’t bode well, until a burst of amusement breaks the tension.
Anita laughs. “Fucking cultists. She’s not wrong.”
“Yes, thank you, Anita,” Bryn growls. “I’m sorry your arrival here wasn’t easier on you,” he says to me. “Cosmos is not the easiest man to get along with and I can well imagine the kind of trauma you may have suffered in coming here. But I can’t let you go.”
“You can’t keep me against my will, either.”
“Well….” He tilts his head and gives me a slight shoulder shrug. “That’s slightly more debatable, but not the ideal outcome. We will deal with any practical matters that need to be handled. You’ll be fine.”
“Oh, I’ll be fine? Oh, well, that’s alright then, isn’t it. I didn’t know that I would be fine. If only I’d known all along that I was just going to be fine!”
My sarcasm is not lost on those present. Bryn looks displeased. I see Nina reach out and put a calming hand on his arm and watch as he takes a self-soothing breath. I’m impressed at the influence she has over him. He must love her a lot.
“I know you’re unhappy,” he says. “But Anita and Nina will help you.”
“Thank you, but I don’t need any handmaidens to show me how to integrate into the cult. I’d just like to know where the front door is.”
Bryn’s jaw tightens again. He probably wants to hit me. That’s how Cosmos deals with a sassy woman, after all. It’s probably customary in their cult to beat their women into submission — though to be fair, neither Nina nor Anita come across as beaten-down women.
“Crocombe, is there any popcorn?” Anita chimes in with a loud hissing whisper that does nothing to defuse the situation. Mrs Crocombe aims a swat at Anita, along with a promise to box her ears, which I can only hope means smack and not actually encase in cardboard. Anita dodges the swat with a big grin. She’s quite likable, actually.
“Where is Cosmos?” Bryn asks the question impatiently. He’s reached the limit of his patience with me, I think.
“Cosmos and Thor are beating each other up downstairs.”
“Because that’s a sensible thing to do when we have a new arrival,” Bryn sighs.
“Cosmos would quite like to kill me,” Anita says cheerfully.
“A sentiment shared by many, no doubt,” Bryn replies, though he does so with a wink.
There is real warmth here among these people. Pity they’re all wildly delusional and almost certainly murderously criminal. And brutal. And unpredictable. And awful.
At that moment, Cosmos and Thor come up from the basement dungeon, both of them sporting bloodied faces.
Anita looks at Thor and bursts out laughing. It’s not exactly the reaction I would have expected from someone seeing her romantic partner beaten up. I don’t know how I feel about seeing Cosmos’ face with his own blood trickling down it. When I was stuck in the trunk of his car, I wanted to punch him in the face myself. But I don’t feel good seeing him hurt. I just feel uncomfortable and a little sad because he deserves people around him who don’t punch him in the face over a disagreement about demons.
I cannot get out of here soon enough.
5
Bryn has business with Cosmos. Presumably of the kind that doesn’t involve having his face punched in again. Probably. Who knows. Apparently violent physical actions are unremarkable around here. This appears to be a cult of hyper-aggressive men and their unfortunately brainwashed female partners. I have no intention of becoming one of them. I’m leaving.
To my surprise, nobody actually stops me from walking out of the manor. I don’t seem to be a prisoner here, at least, as far as everybody else is concerned.
The outside of the manor is as impressive as the exterior. These old English places are impressive. There’s a particular mental and emotional weight to them that comes with their grim architecture. I should be used to old grim buildings by now, but Direview has a special ambiance all of its own.