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I began walking towards it, listening for any noise coming from below.

“Alaric?” I called out, getting no response.

A shudder ran through me as I stood in the doorway. As I’d suspected before, the air was cooler downstairs. I reached out and grabbed the bannister, descending slowly. At the bottom of the steps a large mahogany desk came into a view. The setup around it reminded me of a fancy therapist office.

Alaric clearly wasn’t down here, and nothing looked all that strange until I saw the left side of the room. Brows furrowing, I walked towards an area that strongly resembled an OR.

Carpet turned to linoleum. Soft lighting became almost translucent. Medical equipment was neatly put away, all the things someone would need to perform a surgery.

The two tables in the center of this part of the room gave me pause.

It wasn’t possible.

Couldn’t be possible.

Along the back wall was another door, metallic silver and heavy weight. I approached it with caution. My hand shook as I reached for the round knob.

It wasn’t locked.

I pushed it open expecting to find Alaric, hit with a strong smell of bleach and disinfectant. He wasn’t in here. The room was much smaller than the previous with a dirt floor. Two large deep freezers were running.

On the left was what appeared to be a sewer grate. A machine that resembled a metal tub was to the right, making a gentle whirring noise. A thick piece of plastic stretched over the mouth of it.

A shelf lined with liquid above it. Each carton was affixed with a skull and cross bone symbol. Jugs of bleach were on another shelf above them.

Feeling a tightness in my chest and dryness in my mouth I brought my fingers to my face. None of this felt right. I jolted at the sudden sound of the piano.

For a moment the chords sounded distorted and out of sync, but then the unfamiliar melody turned to something beautiful and haunting. Vivid too, as if I was in the same room as the pianist.

Torn between returning upstairs or seeing what was beneath the plastic, my curiosity got the best of me.

I walked to the tub feeling as if I were floating on air. Taking hold of a corner piece of the plastic, I pulled it back carefully.

A decent amount of liquid was inside. It was clear with a light-ish brown tint, being moved in a gentle current by something I couldn’t see. There wasn’t much of a smell to it. Noticing some type of mass submerged within the bottom, I peered closer trying to determine what it was.

It looked almost skeletal. In fact, the longer I stared at it the more I began to see the shape of a human mouth, all the skin and tissue gone. I blinked rapidly but I couldn’t unsee it.

A lump formed in my throat. I shuffled away not believing what was in front of me.

I turned towards the freezers and rushed to open the one nearest me. I caught one glimpse of what was inside and brought a hand up to cover my mouth. Goosebumps slid along the back of my neck.

Caught between abject horror and starry-eyed awe, I let the lid slam shut and stepped backward, a sense of light-headedness nearly making my legs buckle.

The haunting melody of the piano continued to resound through the air. I fled from the room, stumbling back up the stairs and into kitchen, pulse pounding so loud I could hear it in my ears. I followed the music to the great room, both my heart and my legs stalling when I spotted Alaric at the piano.

My mind spun trying to come up with some logical explanation for what I’d just seen.

The piano melody came to a jarring halt. Alaric twisted around and stared at me before rising slowly from the bench. I swallowed thickly, remaining where I was as he approached.

“Downstairs,” I breathed, still attempting to make sense of it.

“You weren’t supposed to go down there.”

“The door--.”

Before I could finish my sentence, he was in front of me, crowding into my personal space. I made to move away and like the night before his hand snaked around and gripped me firmly by the back of the neck.

Without warning he moved me to the sofa, forcing me down onto the chaise lounge.

My limbs felt like mush. I attempted to sit up, being imprisoned by his abrupt kiss. It was steeped in carnal desire and something sinister.

His hands seemed to be everywhere, tugging at my tank until my bra was showing, then pulling at the cups to free my breasts entirely.

He moved his lips to my neck, suckling and nipping the flesh. My head was swimming, resistance crumbling away and leaving behind nothing but the sensations rising inside me from Alaric’s touch.

“How badly do you want to be fucked, Catalina?” His hips settled between the legs I hadn’t realized he’d parted, creating a friction between our bodies as he pressed against me.


Tags: Natalie Bennett Coveting Delirium Romance