Bleeding Misery (Threatening Souls Book 2) Page 15

  Ava shook as her rage overtook her fear. Despite what Rhiannon said, she would go to Munich, and she would try to put a stop to Henri’s new plans.

  CHAPTER

  ELEVEN

  Mandy: Munich, Germany

  T

  he day of the first quickly dawned on Mandy—the day of the writing portion. Her day. The day where she would be showing, in front of everyone, the only talent she possessed, and yet, she didn’t feel up to the task. Especially not in front of someone like Jason.

  Only an hour remained before she was expected to make her way to the ICW stadium in time for attendance. Showing up would mean the exposure of something so personal to her for the entertainment of people she had never met before, and not showing up led to the disqualification of Eternal Division for the writing portion. As much as Mandy did not want to publicly show off the rough draft of a story that had not been properly edited, she knew that in the world of the ICW, Jamie’s needs came first. And Jamie would go ballistic if she found out about Mandy’s disqualification.

  Therefore, Mandy decided it would be best to go. Carefully placing on her nightstand a copy of Bleeding Misery—her first ever novel that was published a little over a year ago that she had brought to the facility for luck—she started to head out of the Eternal Division assigned room, carefully making her way down the hall. On her way to the ICW stadium, Mandy thought about her novel Bleeding Misery and how it was inspired by a dream she had a year before its publication. Back then, she felt as if her dreams were just dreams with no specific meaning, but that was before she found out she was a Foreseer. That was also before her visions had been blocked.

  When Mandy reached the entrance to the ICW stadium, she wasn’t surprised that she was the last participant to arrive. Quickly, she checked in and waited for Jason’s instructions.

  Yet, Jason wasn’t there.

  Instead, who stood before them was Jeffery, his eyes briefly scanning over the heads of each participant. “My father told me to lead you into the stadium when it’s time,” he started to say. “He also asked me to run through the rules with you.”

  “Rules, rules, rules,” a girl Mandy remembered was introduced as Heidi stated. “Is that all your family knows?”

  Jeffery turned to her, confused. “Every competition has rules in place.”

  “Please,” Heidi huffed. “I’ve been watching this competition for years with Giselle, and up until this year, there were never chaperones, nor was there any need for them.”

  “Unless you wish to face disqualification, I suggest you comply with my father’s demands,” Jeffery threatened, turning towards the rest of the group. “Now, this portion will be spent in silence. For an hour, you will write your work on a topic that will be provided. Each topic will be different, so there will be no sharing of ideas. You cannot trade your topic for another one unless you want a point deduction. Your work can be fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose, but cannot stray away from the topic. Do I make myself clear?”

  No one said anything further. Mandy stole a glance at Heidi, who glared at Jeffery. Shuddering a little, she turned to face the authority in front of her.

  “If you all will kindly follow me, we will begin the writing portion,” said Jeffery.

  The eight participants followed him silently into the enclosed area that was the stadium. Mandy surveyed the huge stadium, surrounded by the screaming crowd, most of which were presumably teenagers. To the right of the stadium, where the crowd was separated by two fences on either side, was an area dedicated to the Speirs family, and upon closer observation, Mandy noticed that the chaperones as well occupied that area. In the center of the stadium were eight desks, each having several pieces of paper and a pencil on them. How is this supposed to be entertaining?

  The eight participants were led to their desks. Mandy occupied the one that was farthest from the Speirs family, awaiting further instructions.

  “Hello, and welcome to the writing portion of the ICW,” Jason boomed, and the screaming crowd went silent. “Now, will each participant stand up when I address your name? First off, we have Bianca Moretti from Italy.”

  Mandy watched as Bianca stood up, gave the cheering crowd a wave, and then sat back down.

  “Second, we have Heidi Geisler from Germany.”

  Heidi quickly stood up, keeping her hands by her side. Instead of surveying the crowd, Mandy noticed Heidi’s eyes narrow coldly at Jason.

  “Third, we have Keiko Takumi from Japan.”

  As part of her introduction, Keiko offered the crowd a small curtsey before reclaiming her seat.

  “Fourth, we have Liisbet Peetre from Estonia.”

  Slowly, Liisbet rose to her feet, smiled a little, and then sat back down.

  “Fifth, we have Anzhelika Eltsina from Russia.”

  When Anzhelika rose, she had no problem expressing her confidence. As part of her introduction, she twirled for the crowd before taking her seat.

  “Sixth, we have Julie Duvall from France.”

  With one look at Julie, Mandy knew that was the girl Jamie was glaring at yesterday. But what did she do to Jamie?

  “Seventh, we have Amanda Palmer from the United States.”

  Mandy knew this was coming, and the last thing she wanted was to be exposed in front of the entire world. At that moment, she wished to be sucked into another dream by Henri. At least that way, she would be safe, but here in front of Jason, all she felt was fear. Reluctantly, she stood up for the entire world to see, but that was all she did. Once she had stayed like that for a few seconds, she shot back down.

  “Lastly, we have Lola Alvarez from Spain.”

  Lola rose with as much shyness as Mandy. After she deemed the crowd got a good look at her, she sat back down.

  Next, Jason went over the rules one more time, which for the most part, Mandy tuned out. “Jeffery will come by to give each of you your assigned topics,” he continued. “Once he leaves the stadium, you all may begin.”

  Mandy watched as Jeffery handed out tiny strips of paper to each participant. Not surprisingly, she was one of the last ones to receive her topic, and when he handed one to her, she instantly read it: insanity.

  Mandy was about to ask Jeffery what was meant by the vagueness of that topic, but when she looked up, he was already gone, about to exit the arena.

  The clock started ticking, counting down a full hour, and Mandy had no idea what to write. What kind of insanity? she thought to herself before answering her own question as to what she could do. The kind of insanity where fiction becomes reality.

  She soon started to jot down her opening sentence, envisioning a woman with flames dancing on her arms, licking at her flesh. With disheveled, brown hair and smeared black eye makeup, Mandy decided to call this character Serena Ross.

  Until the hour was up, she did not stop writing. Right when the finishing bell rang, she ended it on a cliffhanger and handed Jeffery her product when he came around to collect the writing pieces for his father. After he collected each piece, Jeffery ran up to where his father was, who had announced that he was going to read to the world each piece and give them a score.

  Mandy’s head then started pounding with a headache that she did not have before. Liisbet’s writing piece was picked first, and Mandy barely heard the entire thing and its rating—which was a three—before being pulled into unconsciousness.

  ~~~

  Mandy found herself in a dark castle, stretched out on a bed. A warm washcloth was placed on her head, and she held it there. Yet, as to who placed it there, she did not know.

  “You had quite a fall,” a male voice said from across the room, “when I pulled you from the other world.”

  Other world? Mandy questioned as she glanced towards where the voice came from. In the doorway to the room, she saw Henri Anderson—and her mind started to relax.

  “I told you I would visit you again sometime in December,” Henri stated, walking further into the room.

  “I was unaware it wo
uld be so soon,” said Mandy. “As far as I’m concerned, the only thing I have any knowledge of is Dimitri’s death.”

  “Unfortunately, I already know all I need to know concerning that…incident.” Henri paused briefly. “What about Holly? How is she?”

  Mandy flinched when Holly’s name was mentioned. She had not spoken to the mortal witch since Marywood, not since she found out the truth about the mortals. “She’s fine.”

  “And Rebekah?” Henri prodded.

  “Also fine,” Mandy replied. Though she didn’t have the same animosity towards Rebekah that she did towards Holly, the two of them were always so close to each other that Mandy decided to avoid them entirely.

  Henri pursed his lips together as he studied her. “I believe there’s something you’re not telling me.”

  “I—” Mandy gasped as what felt like claws sunk into her mind. At first, the sudden penetration was painful, but soon, the pain faded into the background as memories began to surface, all of them centered on her lack of interaction with Rebekah and Holly for the past few weeks.

  Within a moment, the claws retracted, and a faint look of disappointment crossed Henri’s features. “You haven’t spoken to them for weeks.”

  Mandy shuddered at his cold tone. “They hurt me, so I want nothing to do with them.”

  “Foolish!” Henri spat as he rapidly approached her, and for a moment, she thought he was going to hit her. Yet instead, he suddenly stopped by her side and gazed at her with those scary, yellow eyes. “In order for this to work, you need to pretend nothing is wrong.”

  “How can I do that when they—”

  At that point, Henri did hit her, and anything she was about to say died on her lips. “You will make amends, and you will fix this.”

  “Yes, Henri,” Mandy said as she rubbed her stinging cheek.

  “And you will have something of value for me next time,” Henri added. And then, he leaned in close to her, so close that she could feel his breath on her face. “I can be a very valuable ally, Amanda, but I can also be your worst enemy. It’s up to you which you prefer.”

  “Mandy,” Mandy choked as she shivered. However, it wasn’t fear that made her shiver, but the fact she disappointed him. She hated that she disappointed him. “Call me Mandy.”

  “Mandy,” Henri repeated as if trying the word for the first time. Then, he placed a comforting hand on her scalp and rubbed her forehead with his thumb. “Next time, I will expect more from you.”

  And then, Henri released her back to her conscious state…and into the eyes of the Speirs family.

  “She’s awake!” Jeffery called to the others, which turned out to be a lot more than just the Speirs family. The chaperones were crowded around her as well, including the two chaperones for Eternal Division, Courtney and Andre.

  Mandy was still lying on the floor of the stadium. The other participants as well as the crowd were long gone.

  “You were out for about two hours,” said Jason, stepping towards her. “I had to finish—”

  “D-don’t come near me!” Mandy bellowed, sitting up abruptly.

  Jason stopped dead in his tracks. “What has gotten into her?” he demanded to the two Eternal Division chaperones.

  Andre sheepishly looked at Jason. “Her aura. It’s wrong.”

  Jason turned back to Mandy and concentrated on her trembling form. Whatever he saw or sensed was enough to widen his eyes, and he took a step back. “When were you going to tell me about this?”

  “After I found more information,” Andre said, and then something akin to realization dawned on her face. “You know what the warps mean, don’t you?”

  “You are not to allow her out of your sight!” Jason commanded, this time addressing both Andre and Courtney. “At least until I figure out what to do.”

  “Jason.” This time, it was Courtney who spoke, and she cautiously approached the mortal king. “What did you sense?”

  “Her aura has been corrupted by dark magic,” Jason explained. “I don’t know how, but I think Henri cursed her.”

  ~~~

  Jamie: Munich, Germany

  “Why can’t he delay the competition?” Holly bellowed at the sight of Mandy falling into a state of unconsciousness. “Can’t Jason see that someone has fallen?”

  On the small television set in the Eternal Division room was the broadcasted ICW, which Jamie forced everyone in the room to watch.

  “Holly, shut up!” Jamie called over her shoulder as she absorbed every rating that Jason gave after he completed reading a written piece. A nine for France, and an eight for Russia, she thought to herself, feeling competition with those two teams in particular. Her competition with Julie had stemmed from a feud between the two of them that had been brewing for a little over a year. Tatiana, however, became a recent threat the moment she struck a conversation with Rebekah without Jamie’s consent. We can do better, can’t we?

  Suddenly, Mandy’s writing piece was finished, and the score was announced: a ten. At the sight of that, Jamie started to grin, fighting the urge to jump up and down in excitement. Soon, the portion concluded.

  “Rebekah, come with me,” Holly said afterwards, and Jamie saw the two of them lock themselves in their bedroom. Odd.

  ~~~

  Rebekah: Munich, Germany

  “Does Jason even care about her?” said Holly in an angry tone. For the last two hours, Holly ranted about Jason and his choice to continue to run the writing portion after Mandy had passed out, most of which Rebekah tuned out.

  “I’m sure he does, Holly.” Rebekah sighed. “Can’t you just let it go?”

  Holly was silent for a moment, dumbfounded. “No,” she said finally. “No, I cannot.”

  “Holly, please,” Rebekah pleaded right when four people walked into the room. Among them was Mandy, along with the two chaperones, and…Jeffery?

  Mandy was led to one of the beds by Courtney.

  “What happened?” Holly demanded, her eyes narrowing at Jeffery. “This was your father’s doing, wasn’t it? Why wouldn’t he stop the competition?”

  “The show must go on,” Jeffery said calmly, mocking her a little. “Besides, this is Henri’s doing, not my father’s. He bewitched her.”

  Rebekah froze when Jeffery mentioned Henri. Suddenly, Mandy’s weird behavior and aura made sense, and she stole a glance at Holly to see if the witch came to the same conclusion, but Holly was no longer paying attention to them. “Mandy,” said Holly, running to her friend, “how could this happen?”

  But Rebekah didn’t pay attention to the rest. Instead, her eyes were fixated on Jeffery—who gave her a quick nod of acknowledgement in her direction before turning to exit the bedroom.

  “Wait!” Rebekah followed him, blinded by the bizarre behavior that he exhibited towards her. As she closed the bedroom door behind her, she searched for Jeffery, who stopped suddenly in the living room.

  “What do you want?” he demanded, glancing at her and sending shivers down her spine.

  “I just,” Rebekah paused, searching for the right words, “wanted to know why Jason didn’t postpone the rest of the competition. You know, for Holly.”

  “I suspect he thought it would be easier to wait until the end before he went down there to examine her. Perhaps he didn’t want to raise alarms,” Jeffery explained. “Did Holly…ask you to talk to me?”

  “No, she didn’t,” Rebekah admitted.

  Jeffery motioned for her to take a seat on one of the couches. “What is the real reason you came after me?”

  Rebekah sat next to him. “That…was the reason.”

  Jeffery stared at her skeptically. “You amuse me, Rebekah. You and Holly are the reasons my father degraded himself to hosting a human teenage competition.”

  “Is that why you kept staring at me whenever you saw me?” Rebekah wondered.

  “That’s what you wanted to know, wasn’t it? You were just using Holly as an excuse,” said Jeffery, avoiding Rebekah’s question. Taking her han
ds in his, he continued, “The scars on your arms are scars from Roseway, am I correct?”

  Rebekah jerked her hands away. “Is Roseway the only reason you feel intrigued by me?” Her eyes briefly landed on Jeffery’s missing pinky finger, but before she could ask about it, there was a commotion behind her, caused by Teri tumbling out of her own bedroom.

  “I thought I heard you come in,” she said to Jeffery, squeezing herself in between him and Rebekah. “We never got a chance to talk.”

  Jeffery’s eyes landed on Teri’s hand, which became entwined in his good one. “I need to get back to my father,” he said.

  “But you just got here,” said Teri, flashing him a charming smile.

  Jeffery stood up quickly, ignoring Teri. “Rebekah, I’ll talk to you later, okay?” he said before leaving in a hurry.

  Once he left, Teri narrowed her eyes at Rebekah. “What are you doing?”

  “Talking,” Rebekah said matter-of-factly. “Obviously, you scared him off.”

  “Back. Off,” Teri warned before going back to her room.

  Confused, Rebekah watched Teri leave, her eyes eventually settling on Holly, who appeared in the doorway to their mutual bedroom.

  “Don’t worry,” Holly spoke calmly. “It’s obvious he’s not interested in her.”

  “Why would I worry about that?” Rebekah questioned.

  “You’re so blind.” Holly laughed. “Look, Teri sees you as a threat.”

  “But she has no reason to.”

  “Yes, she does,” Holly persisted, taking a seat on the couch, “because he’s interested in you!”