Paranormal Erotic Romance Box Set (31 page)

“You would think, but I promise, I did not think that at
the time. At the time, I hated that man after my mother untangled us from that
most embarrassing scene. I hated him for being the reason I fell out of favor
with my mother that day.”

“Wow,” Anthony said.

“Yes, wow,” I said. “Okay, your turn.”

“Can I ask you something first?” Anthony said as he
stacked his butterscotch candies.

“Yep.”

“Do you think we, all of us, are here as punishment for
the bad things we did in life?”

“I don’t know,” I said and sighed. “James seems to think
the magic of this place is the reason we are here and not because we are being
sentenced. Being here doesn’t seem like a punishment to me. It feels like a
second chance to make things right.”

“A chance to right the wrongs.”

“Maybe,” I said and shrugged. “Okay, it’s definitely your
turn now. Tell me your secret. I have to be honest, you don’t strike me as the
type who was a bad guy.”

“I was different then too,” Anthony said and removed his
glasses and cleaned them with his sweater. “I had a rage inside me.”

“A rash?” I said and moved forward.

“No,” Anthony said and giggled, “a
rage
. It was as
if someone tied one end of a cord around my ankle and the other to a metal
spike nailed into the ground. I walked around the spike until that cord was wound
around my body as tight as too small underwear. The rage built and built and
built until I used all of my strength and snapped the cord that tethered me to
the spike. It was then, when the cord snapped, that I did my bad things.”

“What did you do, Anthony?” I said.

Truthfully, I expected sweet Anthony to confess he jacked
off under the covers to his Archie comics and not--

“I tortured animals.”

“What?” I said and pushed away from the desk.

“Am I scaring you?” he said and knocked over his tower of
butterscotch candies.

“Of course not,” I said. “I am--”

“Because you moved away,” Anthony said and pointed at my
chair.

“Stretching,” I said and shook my head.

“I’m not like that anymore, Sophia,” Anthony said and
grabbed a fistful of tissue and tried to shove it back into his pocket. “You
know, Adelaide wouldn’t have given me my job if I was.”

“Job? No, Anthony, I swear,” I said and moved closer to
the table. “Please don’t go. It just doesn’t seem like you.”

“I know,” he said and put his glasses on. “It wasn’t like
me most of the time, they were my only friends. But when the rage came,
well...”

“Yes,” I said and reached across the table toward him.

“Dr. Newlander says it was because of my mother’s
berating. That I felt so powerless and small when she made fun of me, I was
helpless against her and sought to dominate. What else could I dominate, but a
helpless animal?”

“Yes, I understand,” I said. “You know, if you want to
look at a, well, brighter side, at least it wasn’t a child.”

“Oh, that would have come. I have no doubt,” he said and
nodded. “I just happened to die before I did that. See, sometimes abused people
gut themselves and sometimes they gut others.”

“Yes,” I said.

“But, like I said, I’m different now and if I weren’t,
Adelaide wouldn’t have given me my job.”

“What’s your job?”

“I take care of the dogs,” he said and restacked his
butterscotch. “It is one of the most important jobs at the Battleroy.”

“There are dogs here?”

“You haven’t met the dogs, Sophia? Well, it’s not really
surprising, not many have.”

“You know what’s strange? The first night, when
they...anyway, I dreamt of a pack of wild animals pacing under me when I was in
the rafters. I dreamt I was scared to come down because I thought they would
rip me to bits.”

“That was no dream,” Anthony said and brushed another
candy off before popping into his mouth, “that was real. They were absolutely
there.”

“It seemed so real,” I said.

“Because it was real. They were guarding you. They came to
protect you and ensure your safe passage.”

“Passage?”

“Here, dumb-dumb,” Anthony said and laughed. “They do it
for everyone. Always have. And dumb-dumb is just a term. I don’t really
think--”

“No,” I said and smiled, “I get it. Where do they stay?
Down there?”

“In the basement?” Anthony said.

“No, further down, Anthony,” I said and pointed at the
ground.

“With Hades? No. I think he has his own dogs,” Anthony
said and leaned in toward me. “But I don’t think those are the kind of dogs
we’re used to, if you know what I mean.”

“No, I wouldn’t imagine,” I said. “So, where do the dogs
that you take care of live?”

“Oh, on the Fairy Tale Island,” Anthony said and grinned.

“The guests can see them?” I said.

“Good gravy, no! Can you imagine the terror?” Anthony said
and laughed. “No, only we can. Haven’t you been to the Fairy Tale Island?”

“No,” I said and sighed. “Believe me, everyone always asks
me and then looks at me as if I’m insane when I say I haven’t. And then the
look is always followed with--”

“I can’t believe it, Sophia. You have to go to the Fairy
Tale Island,” Anthony said. “It’s magical.”

“Yes, they say that, exactly.”

“Because it is! Don’t you like fairy tales?”

“Um, I suppose they’re starting to grow on me,” I said and
stared Alexander Battle’s journal. “My entire world seems to be a fucking fairy
tale.”

“Well, you absolutely have to go,” Anthony said and closed
his eyes. “It’s a magical place.”

“Yes, as you and everyone else indicate,” I said and
watched Anthony’s thick lips smacking against his candy and thought of the
dogs. “Want to take me?”

“Now?” Anthony said and smiled. “Sure! Hey, you can meet
the dogs too.”

As Anthony and I stood from the table, James walked into
the library.

“Hello, Anthony,” James said as he walked past him toward
me. “I got these great apples from the orchard.”

“Hey, James,” Anthony said and looked at the ground.

James kissed me and stared at the books on the table.

“Working hard, beautiful? Apple?”

“Sure,” I said and James handed me an apple the size of a
giant tomato. “Anthony is helping me with some research.”

“Oh, yeah?” James said and took a bite out of his apple.
“That’s nice of you, man. Hey, look, I can see your tit prints in the table.”

“Lovely,” I said and pushed one of the notebooks over to
cover the impression.

“So, well, I’ll see you tomorrow, Sophia?” Anthony said.

“Wait...tomorrow? Aren’t we going?”

“Going where?” James said.

“You still want to?” Anthony said. “I just figured--”

“Going where?” James said.

“Of course I do,” I said and turned to James. “Anthony is
taking me to the Fairy Tale Island.”

“He is?” James said through a mouthful of apple. “I
thought you said fairy tales were creepy.”

“Did I?” I said and walked toward Anthony. “Well, I should
see it, no? Everyone keeps asking. Besides, Anthony is going to introduce me to
the dogs.”

“The dogs?” James said.

“Sophia’s not met them,” Anthony said and stared at his
shoes. “It’s really best for me to be there when they meet new people. You
know, since I know them best.”

“Yes, you sure do, Anthony,” James said and chuckled.

“We better be going,” I said and grabbed Anthony’s arm.

“Okay, take good care of my girl, Anthony.”

“I will,” Anthony said “Goodnight, James.”

“Goodnight, Anthony. See you later, Sophia? Good luck with
your exploration,” James said and winked.

“See you later,” I said as I dragged Anthony out of the
library.

“A person often meets his destiny on the road he took
to avoid it.”

Jean de La Fontaine

Shiny copper lanterns hung from stakes illuminating our
path as Anthony and I trudged through the snow into the forest.

“It’s funny,” Anthony said as we walked, “I used to be
terrified of the dark.”

“I wasn’t a fan either,” I said.

“When we came here, me and my mother, when I, you
know...well, she tried to get me to walk this very same path the night before.
I refused and she had a darn fit.”

“Even with her beside you, you were scared?”

“Especially with her,” Anthony said and nodded. “I knew if
a homicidal maniac jumped out from the trees, Mother would surely push me in
front of him and run. I guess the only homicidal maniac that was here at the
time, was me.”

“You weren’t a maniac, Anthony,” I said and rubbed his
back. “You were abused.”

“The pines sure smell strong tonight, don’t they?” Anthony
said and took a deep breath.

“Lovely,” I said. “Maybe because it’s so cold?”

“It smells like Christmas,” Anthony said.

“Yes, it does. Oh, look how beautiful the arbor looks.”

Anthony and I came out of the forest and stood at the
mouth of the arbor. A million small, clear Christmas tree lights were strung
through the branches and gave the conjoined trees the appearance of a glowing
tunnel.

Our feet crunched over the gravel as Anthony and I walked
through the arbor toward the lake. I looked over at Anthony and he was deep in
thought and smiling.

“What are you thinking about?” I said.

“I was thinking about the night before...anyway, one of
the reasons I was scared to come out here in the dark was that I heard the dogs
that night. A terrible, terrifying snarling when I was still alive.”

“Get the fuck out of here!” I said and hit Anthony in the
arm.

“Ouch!” he said.

“Sorry, but I heard them too. The day we got here, I even
made a comment to Brandt. Want to know something else that happened hours
before I died?”

“What?” Anthony said.

“I saw James,” I said. “I mean saw, saw him, even before I
was dead. I talked to him.”

“Holy crud!” Anthony said and tried to punch my arm, but
missed and slugged me in the left tit, knocking me to the ground.

“I’m okay,” I said as I tried to get up.

“Oh crap, Sophia! I’m so sorry,” he said and helped me up.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine, Anthony” I said as I brushed off my dress. “So,
did you see James too?”

“No. I saw May Gaspar,” Anthony said.

“May?” I said. “Wait...who?”

“You’ve not met May? She’s very shy, but the most
beautiful girl.
Bellissima
. That means beautiful in Italian.”

“Yes, I know,” I said. “Oh, the girl with the brown hair,
brown eyes and black glasses?”

“Hazel,” Anthony said and shook his head. “Her eyes are
hazel with gold and green flecks. She was the third Mr. Conway’s secretary.”

“Yes, I remember now. She sat on the ground near the
purple rose bush at my ceremony. She is very pretty, Anthony.”

“Beautiful,” Anthony said and sighed.

“How did she di--”

Anthony held up his hands and frowned.

“Don’t you want to talk about it?”

“I just don’t like bad words,” Anthony said. “I like
muerto
better. That means--”

“Let me guess...dead?”

“Right as rain!”

“Well, how did May...
muerto
?”

“Electrocuted,” Anthony said and closed his eyes.

“No!” I said and covered my mouth. “In the bathtub?”

“The bathtub? Why in the world would she be taking a bath?
She was the third Mr. Conway’s secretary!”

“When you think of electrocution don’t you think of
someone taking a bath and then someone else tossing, I don’t know, a hairdryer
into the tub?”

“Peas and carrots, Sophia,” Anthony said and took a step
away from me, “
quelle morbide
!”

“Morbid?”

“Yes, very good,” Anthony said. “No, apparently the third
Mr. Conway was a bit on the obsessive-compulsive side. At the same time every
day, the third Mr. Conway demanded that May turn on a certain program on the
old radio in his office. Then, he’d sit at his desk and sip on a glass of
scotch while he listened. Anyway, on this day, May wasn’t in the office to turn
on his program and he was quite upset. So he starts screaming for her...
May!
May! May!
”

“Sounds like an asshole,” I said.

“Quite,” Anthony said and nodded. “May was a very nervous
type back then and she came rushing in the office nearly hysterical. Well, the
third Mr. Conway was buzzing like a pack of hornets and flew across his office
at her holding his bottle of scotch.”

“He hit her with the bottle?”

“No, Sophia,” Anthony said and rolled his eyes, “he did
not hit her. Geez Louise! No, he poured his scotch and put the bottle on top of
the radio. May starts fiddling with the knobs and the third Mr. Conway is livid
now because she keeps passing the program. Her hands are shaking, you see.”

“What a cocksucker.”

“That’s colorful,” Anthony said. “So, the third Mr. Conway
is screaming his head off and May is shaking. Well, the bottle of scotch fell
off the radio, crashed to the ground and soaked the frayed cord. May gripped
the metal knobs of the radio while she stood in the puddle of scotch and--”

“Zap?” I said.

“Zap, indeed. All the lights in the hotel went out. The
fourth Mr. Conway soon replaced the third Mr. Conway because the third Mr.
Conway was so shaken, he never returned to work.”

“He should have gone home and put a bullet in his brain.
What a motherfucker.”

“Well, he did go not too long after, but not because of
that.”

“Sorry, I’m in a revenge state of mind.”

“Obviously,” Anthony said.

“How did the third Mr. Conway
muerto
?”

“Cirrhosis,” Anthony said.

“Huh,” I said and looked out at the docks as we approached
them. “I tell you what’s creepy in the dark, those swan boats.”

“Yeah, they do look pretty evil.”

Anthony and I walked down the dock toward the boats. In
the dark, their swan faces grimaced.

“Do you get seasick?” Anthony asked as he helped me into
the belly of a swan boat.

“Well, I wouldn’t imagine I do now,” I said as I sat on
the wooden bench inside the boat.

Anthony untied the boat from the dock and threw the rope
in as he wobbled into the boat. He sat down on the bench opposite me and rowed
away from the dock.

“This is pretty exciting,” I said as I looked at the island
to the north. “It’s glowing too!”

“Yep, same lights as in the arbor. They’re lit from dusk
to dawn every day,” Anthony said as he rowed us through the choppy water toward
the island. “I cannot believe this is your first time.”

“I know. For some reason, this area always frightens me.
And fairy tales have always scared me a bit too. I mean, kids in a bird cage
gnawing on a bone, children in ovens, baked in pies.”

“But this is a good Fairy Tale Island!”

“So, no cannibalism?” I said.

“Not that I’ve seen,” Anthony said.

“Anthony, can I ask you something personal?”

“I believe we are at that point in our relationship,
Sophia.”

“Why don’t you ask May Gaspar out?”

“Me?” Anthony said. “Good gravy, I could never! May Gaspar
is a worldly woman, if you know what I mean. She was even married. She would
never go out with me. Besides if I do ask her out and she says no, or worse,
laughs in my face, I’m forced to spend an eternity loving May Gaspar knowing
she finds me repulsive. No way, Jose! That’s just an expression.”

“I know,” I said. “So to be clear, you’d rather spend an
eternity unrequitedly loving May Gaspar?”

“Yes,” Anthony said. “No rejection.”

“Just the fear of rejection, Anthony. That’s worse. You
have to go for it.”

“Is that what you did to get James? I mean, he was quite
the bachelor,” Anthony said.

“No,” I said and chuckled. “What happened between James
and I sort of just happened. Like I said on that first day, before I was--”

“Muerto.” Anthony said.

“No, killed,” I said. “I talked to him and he kissed me. I
fell in love.”

“That must have been some kiss, Sophia.”

“Oh, it sure was some kiss. He was trying to convince me
to leave Brandt so it had to be the kiss of a lifetime to get a bride to leave
her husband on her honeymoon.”

“Maybe it wasn’t James’ kiss,” Anthony said. “Maybe you
just didn’t love the husband.”

“No, it was the kiss. I didn’t love Brandt, that is true.
But if not for that kiss, I know as sure as I’m sitting here with you in an
evil swan boat rowing to a place called Fairy Tale Island to see some ghost
dogs, that I would have stayed with Brandt had they not killed me until the
bitter end.”

“Even though you didn’t love him?”

“Yep, girls do dumb things when they’re slaves to their
egos.”

“But it could not have been James’ kiss because you didn’t
leave Brandt.”

“Well, I was going to. After James gave me that kiss and I
fell in love, I floated back to the room. I was prepared to tell Brandt the
marriage was off, that I made a mistake.”

“So, what happened?”

“Well, Brandt kissed me too. Several times.”

“Then you were in love with him?”

“No, I was still in love with James. But girls also do
dumb things when they’re slaves to their puss--”

“Vaginas,” Anthony said and hung his head.

“Yes, vaginas.”

Anthony rowed the swan boat up to a bright red dock that served
as the red carpet on which guests entered the Fairy Tale Island. He threw the
rope over a peg and secured it and hopped out of the boat and held his hand
out.

“Young lady,” he said, “welcome to the Fairy Tale Island.”

“Why, thank you, kind sir.”

We walked down the dock and the ground turned to a path of
cobblestone as we walked over a stone bridge topped with lights.

“I feel like we’re Hansel and Gretel,” I said as we walked
through a dense apple orchard.

“Why? Are you German? I’m not German,” Anthony said.

“No, metaphorically. I just feel like a different person
over here,” I said as I looked at the benches carved from tree trunks that
lined the path.

“Told you it’s magical. I’ve always wanted a different
name,” Anthony said.

“What name do you want?”

“Tony.”

“Then Tony you shall be,” I said and grabbed his hand.
“Come on Tony, I see the carousel!”

An old-fashioned carousel stood at the entrance to the
village-area of the island. Brightly painted, glossy horses with evil-looking
eyes stared out at the village and glowed under the twinkling lights.

“I don’t know how to work it, else I’d give you a ride,”
Anthony said.

“It’s okay,” I said as I looked in the windows of the
cottage next to the carousel that looked like a giant mushroom. “This is cute.
It’s like
Alice in Wonderland
.”

Anthony and I strolled around the village looking at the
whimsical furniture that was artistically crafted in true fairy tale fashion.
There were giant shrubs sheared into horses and knights, there were buildings
which sold different foods and drinks that looked like medieval castles and
there was even a train ride where the cars were carved to look like toads.

“That’s the Toad Train,” Anthony said.

“Yes, I see,” I said. “It’s very peaceful here, Tony.”

“You don’t have to call me Tony all the time, Sophia.”

The theme of the Fairy Tale Island was reflection. The
quirky seating outnumbered the actual attractions and it was evident that
guests were encouraged to sit and take in the scenery.

“Where do the dogs live?”

“Toward the back, in the abandoned barn. It’s off-limits
to the guests.”

“Take me there,” I said and grabbed Anthony’s hand.

We walked out of the village area and through another
paved forest. The thirty-two benches that lined the forest’s curvy path were
intricately carved from slabs of gray stone to look like books. The stone pages
contained passages and quotes from all types of literature chiseled into the
surfaces.

“Oh, I like this,” I said as I read the passage on one of
the benches. “Tony, listen to this one...‘And let her loves, when she is dead,
write this above her bones: No more she lives to give us bread, who asked her
only stones.’ Dorothy Parker. How fucking fitting.”

“Yes,” Anthony said and giggled. “We need to get off the
path here.”

Anthony and I left the path and walked through an untended
field that looked like a junkyard.

“What’s all this?” I said as I looked around at discarded
chunks of stone and metal and broken attractions. “It’s like the Fairy Tale
Island graveyard.”

“That’s exactly what it is. The janitors drag all the
broken junk back here and leave it. Adelaide said that this place was actually
a real graveyard, you know, for people.”

“Doesn’t surprise me,” I said as I hopped over a rusty,
twisted train track.

“Yes, I guess this whole area was thought of as the leper
colony of Massachusetts. People knew bad stuff went on out here, but as long as
it stayed out here, no one cared.”

We approached the massive barn where the dogs resided. It
was a peeling red structure of wood with great, big doors.

“Do they stay in here all the time?” I said.

Anthony grabbed a shovel leaning against the barn and dug
into a snow bank at the corner of the building.

“No, they come out whenever they want. They are free to go
wherever they want,” he said as he stabbed at the hard snow with the shovel.

“And they go to the main grounds too, obviously,” I said
and watched him struggle to dig into the ground.

“Yes, when summoned,” he said and grunted.

“How?”

“How what?” Anthony said and knelt down and dug at the
ground with his hands.

“How do they get over there?” I said and knelt down beside
him. “Because if you tell me they row themselves over in the swan boats...”

“Sophia,” Anthony said and pushed his glasses up his nose,
“they swim, silly. Dogs can swim. Don’t you know that?”

“Ah, of course. What are you doing?”

“Success!” Anthony said as he pulled a large foil-covered
package out of the ground and unwrapped it. “Look.”

“Steaks,” I said as I looked at the huge slabs of frozen
meat Anthony held.

“Yep, they only eat the best. Come on, you can feed them.”

“They won’t feed on us, will they?”

“Hold this,” Anthony said and handed me the steaks. “Feed
on us? Golly, no!”

Anthony pulled the barn doors apart and walked inside.

“Come on guys,” he called, “come meet Sophia and have your
dinner.”

Deep growling came from the barn and Anthony popped his
head out from the barn’s entrance.

“Are you coming in?” he said.

“Yes, could you just refrain from using my name with the
word dinner, please?” I said as I walked into the barn. “Oh, holy shit!”

I dropped the steaks on the ground and jumped behind
Anthony.

“Those are not dogs,” I said.

They sat majestically in a row, thirteen of them
side-by-side. Black and glossy as finely polished shoes with teeth so white the
glare stabbed at your eyes when you stared at their snarling faces. On each of
their thick necks, a collar of red leather was strapped and from the collar
hung a medal.

“Of course they are,” Anthony said and picked the steaks
up off the ground. “Don’t be afraid.”

“Wolves,” I said. “Those are wolves.”

“Semantics, Sophia,” Anthony said and reached behind his
waist and grabbed my arm. “Now don’t be rude, say hello.”

I stood next to Anthony and tried to think of all the
things my mother warned me about in case of a menacing dog confrontation:

“
Don’t stare into their eyes!
”

“
Hold your hand out slowly so they can sniff you!
”

“
Get on their level so you’re not threatening!
”

I dropped to my knees and held my hand out toward them as
I looked at the ground.

“Hey, dogs,” I said and coughed. “Hello, dogs.”

“What are you doing?” Anthony said and laughed. “They’re
not threatened by you, Sophia. Please, stand up.”

Anthony pulled me off the ground and I closed one eye and
forced myself to look at them. They all stared back at me with the same, almost
amused look on their faces.

“Hello, dogs,” I said a little louder. “Do they have
names?”

“No, they go by numbers--it’s on the medal. You’ll get to
know who is who without looking. They have pretty distinct personalities,”
Anthony said and pushed a slab of frozen flesh into my hand. “Go feed them.”

I held the steak out as I walked toward the wolves. They
all stood at once as if soldiers. They drooled and licked around their mouths
with their long, red tongues and snarled.

As I stared at the wolves, I heard my mother’s voice boom:
“
Don’t hold food in front of you!
”

I flung the steak toward the pack like a Frisbee and hit
poor Number Twelve in the nose.

“What did you do that for?” Anthony said and walked toward
the wolf and rubbed his face.

“I-I’m sorry,” I said and walked toward Number Twelve. “I
got scared.”

I knelt on the ground and stared into the wolf’s eyes. He
brought his face close and pressed the tip of his nose to mine. His hot breath
hit me in the face and I made myself hold the wolf’s stare. I brought my hands
up and rubbed his neck. His thick, ropey muscles tensed under my touch and then
relaxed. He moved his head back from my face, stuck his tongue out and gave me
a big, wet lick from chin to forehead.

“Ugh,” I said and wiped my face. “Thank you.”

“See, he likes you. Pretty impressive since you hit him in
the face with meat,” Anthony said as he walked down the line and handed a steak
to each of the wolves.

Each wolf bit a steak out of Anthony’s hand and then lay
down. But they did not eat, they waited.

“What are they waiting for?” I said.

“The command. Why don’t you give the command?”

“Okay. What’s the command?”

“Uh, eat,” Anthony said. “You haven’t been around dogs
much, have you?”

“No, we were only allowed a goldfish bowl,” I said and
stood up in front of the row of wolves. “Okay guys, eat!”

Eat
is a word too civilized for those wolves did to
those steaks.

Their fangs ripped into the blocks of meat in a frenzy,
tearing the flesh from the bone in strips. Their faces and teeth were covered
with bits of meat and frozen blood. The wolves then ate the bones in their
steaks, splintering them between their teeth and sending shards flying. When
they were done, they licked their faces clean and sat up.

Wolf Number Three picked something up in his mouth and
walked toward me. He sat in front of me and held a piece of bone with some
flesh still attached between his fangs.