Encore of the Avenging Muse (Sylvia and Rupert)

The Red House

The house was beautiful inside, but there was something undeniably eerie about it. Every corner seemed to hum with an uneasy chill.

Warren, who was used to being waited on hand and foot, had only left two maids to look after Fiona.

Sylvia was sent upstairs to a room.

When she opened the door, the room was pitch black. Before her eyes could even adjust, someone shoved her hard, and she tumbled to the floor.

She scrambled up, desperate to escape, but the door slammed shut and locked behind her.

The darkness was suffocating, bottomless, like she'd been dropped into a well. Fumbling along the wall, Sylvia finally found the switch and flicked on the light.

When she saw the room, she froze, her face draining of color.

Before her brain could even process it, her body reacted first. "Urgh-"

She bolted into the bathroom, retching violently until there was nothing left. Leaning over the sink, she finally caught her breath.

When she looked up into the mirror, her own pale, numb face was slowly merging with another-one she didn't recognize. It was as if a shadow was leaning over her shoulder.

Sylvia spun around, heart pounding.

was nothing just a stark white

the bathroom and looked around at the bizarre, almost indecent furnishings. She felt a wave of

dominated the center of the room, a mirror mounted above it. The cabinets lining the wall were all mirrored,

looked like anything you could sit in, or lie on. Even the window seat was covered in some kind of waterbed pad, and she could picture exactly how someone might move on it. The whole setup practically

suggestive-the tub was oddly shaped, and there

off the bed, and wrapped herself in it, curling up in the smallest

idea how much time passed before the

I asked the maid to make

make sense of this man.

at the mug, steam curling up from the surface. Her voice was flat and cold: "No thanks.

set the mug down, towering over

hair spilled over her shoulders, making her skin

Her face was beautiful and alive, but her

kind of woman any man could lose himself in-just one look was

knelt beside her, brushing her hair gently. "Sylvia,

sent a chill down Sylvia's spine.

he grabbed a fistful of her hair, yanking

have any idea how much it hurt me to send

get what you wanted? Please. Even if I'd thrown myself at Uncle Rupert, he wouldn't care about me. He'd never sacrifice anything

Warren sneered. "Do you know how many women have tried to trap Rupert? None of them made it out.