Roses Manor, Weston Chapter 26
The champions moved toward the stairs and Gabriella fell into line, images of cows to the slaughter coming to mind. She walked up, sliding her hand along the railing, tempted to turn back and look at Graham. But no, they couldn’t know she was nervous.
“This way!” Daniel Ford said as he stood at the top of the stairs, waving them all past. He did a double-take as Gabriella approached and she braced herself. He knew who she was and why she was here.
“Jesus, hope that didn’t happen from our game!” he said jollily as she passed, motioning toward her face. “I’m just playing! Come on!”
Apparently he didn’t know anything. Good. She was too busy to tell him to get fucked as they went down the hallway to a small door, where the crowd of probably twenty champions was carefully led through. The room within was dark and drafty, and as she looked up, she realized there were two large, open skylights cut into the ceiling above them, letting in the occasional snowflake. Beyond them was the heavily clouded night sky, cut in half by the remaining ceiling between the skylights. Inside, an eerie blue light spilled forth from a pool in the center of the floor.
“Make a circle,” Daniel Ford called. “Don’t be shy, we’re all friends here. Check out that pool, it was made especially for us. No swimming, at least not right now. But we think you’ll be impressed.”
Impressed. The word kept coming up, and both Madelyn and Graham were absolutely right. These guys were desperate to impress the champions. But why? Was it just ego, or was there something more? She kind of wished she’d packed her sneakers, or stuck with the original hair. Just something to show that she thought she was above all this to test that theory. But it was too late, she only had what was already in this room.
“You’re all the reason we’re here tonight,” Daniel Ford continued as he and Charlie Jackson climbed onto a small platform by the door. Gabriella followed one of the few other women here and got into the circle, further from the door than she’d like. She could tell the comms had disconnected her from Graham and James, but she had no idea if her heart monitor was still recording. Unlikely, but she could track it for herself. She’d probably need to.
“You’ve been working hard,” Jackson said in a reedy voice. “Fighting for your princess. As video game lovers, we wanted this to be a fun trip. Some little nostalgia points, some new, exciting technology. And it has led us here today. To our princess. No, to your princess.”
There was an excited hum of chatter around her that ended with the soft swishing of the water and the hum of electricity. She glanced over at the man beside her, who looked excited in the blue glow. The energy in here was sparking, crackling just under her consciousness in almost the same way the game had, with the Princess’s tuneless song drifting around them.
It was a summoning. Fuck, this was a summoning. The possibility she’d liked the least.
“Now, there’s one more thing we want you to do before we all go celebrate with some dinner and dancing,” Jackson said. “We have to bring our princess into the world. She’s in her own realm, patiently waiting for us to save her. So, I want us all to hold hands-”
There was some grumbling at the suggestion, and Gabriella watched the two men carefully to gauge their reaction. “Alright, no holding hands,” Daniel Ford said immediately.
Interesting. “But we need you to recite these words. ‘Come forth, my beloved, come forth.’ Can you do that?”
That didn’t quite line up with any summoning she’d done before, so there must be more to it. What was the princess? There was no way it was the beautiful blonde woman eating cheeseburgers in an upscale Los Angeles restaurant, but that woman had already shown up tonight. So what was she?
The chanting began with Jackson awkwardly starting them off like a conductor who couldn’t keep time. The group started in mumbling unison that gradually grew stronger as Jackson threw encouragement at them. Gabriella didn’t join in, but she mouthed along, hoping to fly under the radar.
The water began to churn, and she looked around at everyone else, all of whom seemed to think this was part of the game, another fun interactive element. They were good, she had to give them that. If everything else had been so interactive, then why wouldn’t this be? It was a natural next step. The game had left the internet already, so of course there would be a summoning.
Fucking assholes.
The chant seemed to go on forever, then broke as something flickered in the air just over the pool. “Keep going!” Daniel Ford called down from the platform. “You’re almost there.”
He and Charlie Jackson exchanged a look as she tried not to get caught looking at them. As she shifted, she felt the iron under her bracelet move slightly. That was why this was taking so long.
“Keep going!”
The encouraging voice behind her made her jump. Jackson stood there with a smile. “It’s not going to work if you don’t believe it will,” he said. “Come on, keep chanting.”
He waited as she thought frantically about her options here. But she settled on an icy chill as a bolt of inspiration hit her and she prayed it worked. “Did you really have us come all the way out here to play pretend?”
Jackson’s smile faltered. “You’re not enjoying the game?”
“Am I enjoying standing here in the cold, ruining my shoes, to play a game?”
This was the performance of her lifetime and she knew it. If she got caught as whatever this was was flickering into existence, Gabriella knew that things were going to get a hell of a lot harder. She was sweating now as the chanting continued behind her, her heart speeding up with more than just nerves.
She thought of James in his office with Elliot the other day. She thought of Bradley every single day of his life. And she pushed that disdain into her tone as she spoke to this man, ignoring the chanting and the faint music behind her.
“I left my coat at the coat check, my date is probably bored, and we drove through Friday night traffic to be here. When will this part be over?”
“Soon,” Jackson said quickly. “But hang on, this part is going to be great.”
Gabriella scoffed, pleased when none of her terror came through in the sound. The chanting continued and the water flecked up onto them, the air humming with that familiar eerie song as whatever was being summoned made its entrance. Nausea tore through her and her heart was hammering, but she stood up straight, feeling for the iron filings on her wrist. Where was Graham, was he alright?
In an instant, the water was sucked up from the pool, forming a dripping, wobbling ball seven feet in the air. A scream reverberated through the room, bouncing off the walls in an echoing, terrifying wave. And now, in the center of the shimmering ball of water and light, was the princess, twisting in agony. Whatever this entity was, it had taken the shape of the woman from the pictures. Her face wasn’t visible, but her body was perfectly proportioned and her flowing blonde hair trailed behind her as she curled into herself and screamed.
There was a murmur of unease, but not enough to break the chant. “Keep going!” Daniel Ford exclaimed, his eyes wide on top of the platform. “She’s almost here. She’ll grant your wish. Once she’s here, she’ll do whatever it is you want.”
Why were they still chanting? Most of the people in the room still looked excited, though a couple of the men looked at the woman in front of them with fear and concern. Maybe everyone else still thought it was a game? Some kind of elaborate illusion? The entity screamed again, her pain humanlike as she writhed in the glow from the pool, and Gabriella twisted her hand, trying to reach for the baggie under her bracelet. The iron wasn’t strong enough to stop the summoning, but it could slow it down enough for her to think of something else.
But as her fingers brushed the bracelet, she felt eyes on her. Daniel Ford was watching, so instead, she reached up and tucked her braid back into place.
“Something wrong, Miss McManus?”
She could hear the pleasure he took in using her name. But instead of shivering, like she wanted, or throwing up, which was inevitable but could wait a little longer, she carefully smoothed her hair. “This is it?” she asked. “A light show? You brought people all the way from Europe for a light show?”
Even in the dim light, she could see his face flushed with anger.
“Gabriella,” Daniel snapped, stepping off the platform and approaching her. “We’re talking about unlimited power. Power you can barely comprehend in your beautiful, talented, spoiled little mind. When the princess comes through, she can grant any wish you want.”
As though on cue, the princess moaned. One man moved as though to dart toward her to help, but Charlie Jackson moved forward, stopping directly in front of him. “Keep going!” he called cheerily, raising his arms to conduct his choir. “The final level won’t work unless we all do it together.”
“She’s-” the other man started.
“She’s fine, keep going!”
Charlie Jackson kept walking toward the man, forcing him to back out of the circle to avoid getting knocked over even as he continued to protest. Gabriella scoffed, looking up at Daniel with cool indifference. (Madelyn shrugging as Gabriella asked if Elliot deserved a second chance.) “It’s fun,” she said. “You’re all great at making these games. But that’s all it is, isn’t it? Just a game. You summon a pretty blonde with a perfect body to do your bidding? That’s a fantasy.”
A fantasy that had killed at least twelve people. And they knew it. “It’s power,” Daniel said, so close now that she could smell the wine on his breath. “It’s power like nothing in this world. And all you have to do is help us pull her through. You’ve already done the hard part. You showed us you’re worthy of her.”
So that was it. The game was a test. The energy, it was planted there to bring in the people who could handle it as it emanated off the princess. And the rest? Well, they didn’t matter.
“Yeah? And who’s Kenzie?” Gabriella asked, forcing her voice to stay haughty and cold. “An ex-girlfriend? Some woman who wouldn’t give you the time of day?”
Ford spit on the ground at Gabriella’s feet, then spun back to the platform. She took her chance, pulling the little bag of iron out from under her bracelets, then letting it fall. Looking at both men, one currently occupied trying to walk up the platform and the other cornering the man from before by the shadowy edge of the room to keep him from reaching the princess, she kicked the bag toward the pool with the side of her high heel. The iron scattered and disappeared (Her dad’s shout of triumph as Mario got a star, flying past every obstacle in his way.).
The screaming woman flickered, a visage of stars filling her space for just a second. She saw the concern on the two men’s faces as they turned back to her. The iron would interfere with the summoning, but it wasn’t going to stop it. And if they were smart enough to know what it was, then they were going to know who put it there. So she had to hope they didn’t find it.
Her legs were shaking in her heels, and her heart was going too fast again. This wasn’t going to work. She didn’t have any of the tools she needed for a full cleansing, just the iron filings, oil she couldn’t reach, and her wavering focus. If she pushed much further, she was going to pass out. And Gabriella didn’t want to be unconscious in this room.
The entity continued to cry, sobbing in the same way it had on the phone, screaming for Kenzie. This was one piece that confused her, but she needed to focus on getting away from that and get the Princess out of here. The ritual wasn’t going to plan, both because of the Princess’s own fighting and the iron filings scattered around the pool. So what next?
“When are we done?” Another voice called from the circle.
“When the Princess is through!” Daniel said, his voice forced with cheer. “When you see her, she grants your wishes. Think of what a success this will be for us all! A princess as part of Sixteen Roses! And we have you to thank when she arrives. As does she.”
The princess didn’t seem like she would be thanking anyone. But Gabriella was quickly running out of options here. And as she felt that flicker of despair, that was when the fire sprinklers came on.
