“What is going on down here?”
Lara's head whipped up. She felt the blood drain from her face. Standing up, she tucked her hand behind her back, hiding the knife. Milo vibrated at the top of the staircase; his outline glowed brightly.
“Did you have fun?” she asked, combing bits of glass from her hair.
“Heart attack before I even got to make him murder his wife.” Milo kicked an unbroken bottle. It smashed into the corner, spraying the wall with macabre design of glass and wine. “Pacemakers aren't meant for possession.”
“Noted.” Lara stepped closer, praying Milo wouldn't notice the knife was missing from Cassius' chest. How long could he survive without blood?
“I'm surprised you didn't run.” Milo glided closer, and reached out, picking an errant piece of glass from Lara's hair.
“It did cross my mind.”
“Why didn't you?”
“You always find me.”
“Yes, I do.” Milo's lips twitched into a ghastly smile. “What are you doing down here?”
“Saying goodbye.”
Milo glanced at Cassius, drawing out the silence one full minute, then he sighed, his shoulder drooping. When he returned his gaze to Lara, sadness filled his eyes, like a grey cloud had settled in his mind, dulling his shimmer. “You're never going to stop trying to escape, are you?”
Lara licked her lips, holding Milo's gaze. She shook her head once.
“I was afraid you were going to say that.” Milo slammed his palms down on Lara's shoulders, his fingers digging into her shoulders. Leaning forward, he whispered in her ear. “I discovered a way to keep you here with me, forever.”
“H-h-how?”
“I'm going to take your life and bury your body in the sunflower patch. You must excuse me if I choose not to be buried with you; I can’t risk the police discovering my skeleton and solving my murder.” His eyes flicked to the corner of the cellar, skating over a burlap bag of potting soil, which lay flat on the floor.
“That doesn't guarantee that I'll be stuck here, maybe I'll go straight to heaven after everything I put up with.” She narrowed her eyes. Had he hidden his skeleton inside the bag?
“You and I both know; you're only going one way.” He pointed down. “But you don't have to worry about that because as a homicide victim, the unresolved business of your death will tie your ghost to this house.” His voice dropped to a whisper, “And everyone will think the vampire did it. If he survives the night, they'll burn him at the stake. I promise, your guilt will be devastating.”
“I call your bluff.”
“Pardon?” Milo frowned.
“You heard me. I call your bluff.” Lara stared at him, her gaze unwavering. “If what you said was true, then this house would be haunted by four ghosts, not one. There's been three unsolved deaths in the attic.”
Milo tilted his head. “What makes you think I'm the only ghost?”
Lara gasped. “Do you mean that James is here? And Max? And—”
“Yes, Tyler too.”
“Why can't I see them?” Lara asked, unable to keep the skepticism from her voice. She didn’t trust Milo’s version of any truth.
“They aren't allowed to speak to you.” Milo reached out and cupped Lara's chin. She jerked at his frigid touch. His fingers tightened, pinching her skin.
“I don’t believe you...” The hand clenching the knife tightened. Cassius was too weak to help her, and stabbing a ghost was ineffectual. She needed another distraction.
“I kept them in jars in the attic.” He traced his thumb across the seam of her lips. “So, they won't bother us.”
“Prove it.”
Milo released her, his face unreadable. “You really don't believe me?”
“You've been known to lie on occasion.”
“You want me to go to the attic, retrieve a spirit jar, and release one of the men I murdered, to prove that if I kill you, that you'll come back as a ghost?” Milo folded his arms across his chest. “And you're just going to stand here and wait while I do that... Do I look that stupid?”
Lara shrugged.
There was only one result when she questioned Milo's intelligence, and it was always excruciating, but if she was going to get out of the cellar, she needed him unhinged; an irate Milo made mistakes. He reacted instantly. His hand whipped out, striking her face, and she flew across the cellar, crashed into the wall above Cassius, and collapsed on the floor beside him. The knife skittered out of her hand.
Cassius' head rolled toward her, reflecting her terrified face in his glassy eyes. Before he could speak, Milo grabbed Lara's ankle and yanked, dragging her across the cement floor. The harsh surface carved up Lara's skin, she bit her lip, swallowing a scream.
Flipping her over with a quick movement, Milo knelt, inserted his hips between her legs, and stretched himself the length of her body, covering her in a glowing blue light. He pinned her arms above her head, his lips brushing across her forehead. The tender gesture sent ice flowing through Lara's veins.
“Since I know your plan was to confine me to my grave for eternity, I'm going to return the favor.”
His form fluctuated between solid and translucent, the pressure on her body increasing and decreasing with each pulse. She held her breath, focusing on the pattern. Heavy. One... two... three... Light. One... two... Heavy.
“By morning that bloodsucker will be dead, and you, my love, will be renewing your wedding vows.”
“Light!” Lara yelled as she sat up, ripping free of Milo's flimsy grasp. She rolled to her side and popped up, running for the staircase. As her head cleared the cellar doors, Milo tackled her.
“No more games!” He wound his fingers through her hair and slammed her head against the step. Stars exploded in her mind; her body went limp.
Icy fingers pushed into her back as Milo entered her body. He stretched out, filling her limbs with his essence, then rose and forced her body to walk down the staircase.
“Where is it, Lara?” Milo spoke aloud, using her body to communicate.
“Where's what?” she muttered, unsure how possession fit into Milo's plan to trap her with him.
“The knife.”
“What knife?”
“The knife you pulled from that homewrecker's chest.”
“He's almost dead, what more can you do to him?”
“It's not for him.” He forced her body back down the staircase and made her kneel. Searching the darkness, her fingers touched something cold and hard. Milo made her hand close around the knife blade. He lifted it high in the air and extended her left arm. “It's for you.”
With those words he slashed the knife blade across her wrist, slicing through her skin. Blood spurted from the cut, dripping down her arm. Passing the knife to her bloody hand, he repeated the action to her right wrist, opening a second cut deeper than the first.
The knife clattered to the floor as Milo exited Lara's body. The cellar doors slammed shut, the soft click of a padlock sealed her in the cellar. With Milo's laughter swirling around her, she crumpled, striking her chin on the bottom step of the staircase. Pain exploded in her body.