Learn your place (book 1)

He who has gold makes the rules

"You do realize I gave you these axes for one reason, and you are abandoning them, to do something else, correct?" Malak asked his golden monstrosities. The one in black nodded. "Yes, sir. The men, you see. They want the lady in the house. Having her here would lighten the load of chores. Give us more free time to hunt down mortals. We have been requesting a maid for the house for a great amount of time." Alexander explained. The demon leaned into the face of the others. "Is that so? A simple maid to clean this lavish manor all by herself and nothing more? I suppose the concept of taking her in as pleasurable is company never crossed their filthy minds." Thomas solidified a tremble. Malak sighed pinching the bridge of his nose. "What do you want me to do?" He asked. "Hold her under that giant vat of melted down gold? Make her into what you boys are?" They gasped shaking their heads. "No, heavens no. We merely... want to move around freely. No freezing when she looks our way. I know you enjoy a fair fight, but if we can bind her, can we keep her?" At the response Malak stared at them and raised a hand. They suddenly felt their bodies loosen up, like they were able to move more freely. "Be fast and don't delay." He said. "If she gets a hold of the ring piece because of this decision, know that you will be severely punished."

~~~~~

"I'm so lucky." Diana thought to herself. She hasn't seen a single one of those dumb statues, and now that she knew their weakness, there was nothing they could do to stop her. She ran out of the first hall she was in, back out to the grand foyer. At this rate, Bierce would have her next ring piece in no time. "Nicely done, Diana. You are doing quite well. At least better than I expected." She could already feel herself taking a long deserved rest in Bierce's ballroom. She just had to keep her pace.

Before turning around, she heard the click of the doors downstairs. The four from before. They made their way in, and they were moving even though she was staring right at them. She thought these guys were supposed to freeze when you looked at them. Now they moved whenever they felt like it?

She bolted down a hall to keep herself away from them. She just hoped they didn't spot her, otherwise there wasn't a thing she could do to stop them. Maybe she could kill one of them with their own weapons. She saw a lifeless statue holding an axe, and lifted it. Well at least she tried to. It was far too heavy for her. There was no way in God's name she could lift that thing up. It was so heavy she could hardly hold it off the ground. The gold men carried two of these? She gave up, putting it down, but it proved to be too loud, and it alerted them to her location. "Up there." One of them hollered. Oh she was so fucked!

She kept running till she fumbled into a giant room. This room was different than the others she was in. A giant melting pot hung overtop of the room. The wall across was filled with gold masks. This was getting far too weird for her. She had to get the rest of the soul shards and get out of here! Hopefully, she could do it without getting caught. She got closer to a more open room. Oh well that's just perfect. The open rooms meant more opportunities to get caught. She ran in and grabbed all that were inside, but heard footsteps. They were coming.

She ran down a hall but found herself face to face with one of them. "Oh, God." She slid to a halt and turned around to go in the opposite direction but another one was there. She was stuck between the two. Without warning she was grabbed by one of them. She wrestled and fought, launching her elbow into the statues ribs, but the other grabbed her and pulled her into the open room. They both grabbed an arm holding her in place. She didn't want to let it be this easy. "You guys aren't supposed to be allowed to move if I look at you. You can't change the rules!" She looked up to see the third gold watcher. He took her chin forcing her to look into his empty eyes. "Darling you are so confused. When will peasants learn? He who has gold makes the rules."

"BIERCE! BIERCE CAN YOU HEAR ME?!" She took a pause in her struggle, to see a fourth gold watcher. He held a bottle, and opened it pouring it's contents onto a white cloth. "THEY HAVE ME, BUT THEY AREN'T KILLING ME! WHAT THE HELL DO I DO?!" She heard her answer in a calm tone. "Stay calm and don't provoke them." Easy for her to say they weren't coming at her with sone mystery fluid. They stuck it in her face and held it there til she stopped struggling. "What you need to do is..." She couldn't catch the rest, since her world faded to blackness.

~~~~~

They let her go, as she dropped to the floor. "Alright, men. Let's see what we've got to work with." He put his axe down, and squat to take a look at her face, and take in her features. Inspecting her as if she was a form of livestock. He lifted her lip to see her teeth, and looked through her hair. He saw James lean closer to get a good look as well, reaching for her. Alexander giving a swift smack on his palm told him to keep his filthy hands off, as Alexander continued. He turned her over to see her shirt size. He would have to remember it for her dresses. Once all the information was taken in, he lifted her up, and carried her to the guest quarters. He laid her down in a bed, and wrote a note down laying it on the bedside table

~~~~~

Once Diana woke she took a deep breath. Where was she? Wherever she was it was quiet. The subway station? She didn't remember falling asleep at the subway station. It must have been night. There was no chatter did the last train just leave. She pulled her blanket closer, but there was something off. She had a pillow under her head. Opening her eyes, she realized. This wasn't the subway. She was in that house! She jolted up and got out of the bed. Did she pass out in here?! "Bierce? What happened to me? Where am I?!" She didn't get an answer. The only sound she heard was the ticking of a nearby grandfather clock. "Bierce?! Can you hear me? Hello? HELLO?!" She began to tremble

"You cannot reach her anymore, mortal." She knew that voice. Malak was in her head now. She demanded answers. "Bierce... you... what have you done with her, Malak?" She said trying to sound more angry than scared. It wasn't doing her any good. "Spare me your attempt at trying to intimidate me. And embrace your fate." She was confused. "What fate? I escaped the gold watchers for now, didn't I?" She heard his laughter, now closer to her, as Malak appeared behind her, sitting on her bed, one leg crossed over the other. "They aren't chasing you anymore dear. There's no escape, and Bierce is far beyond your reach."

This was ridiculous. Malak made no sense. "So you bound me here. What for? So they can chase me around as much as they want until I die?" He sighed. She wasn't getting it. "You don't understand the consolation prize you've been given, meat sack. The boys are not contempt as they are. This big manor falls into chaos, and is incredibly lonesome. I promised that if they caught you, they could keep you." He said

"Keep me?"

Malak stood up from the bed, and opened an ornate wardrobe pulling out a colonial dress holding it up to her torso. "Hmmm yes. Fits like a glove. It may be a bit big, but you can re-sew it to fit you better. Now I suggest you get dressed. The boys will be waiting outside, though they already wrote down a list of tasks for you." Malak held a note up to her, to which she slapped out of his hand. "Fuck your note, and fuck that dress. I'm not going to be some house slave! I'M RUNNING FOR MY LIFE!" Her trembling hands were swiftly working on the locks of the doors desperate to get out. Malak stood there chuckling darkly watching her busting through the door. In the nearby anteroom, the gold watchers all turned in her direction, watching her scrambling toward the door. The more she fumbled with the lock the closer they got. "GET BACK!" They jolted back realizing she was not calm.

Once the door was unlocked she launched herself out of the doors, and ran till she knew where she was. When she saw the big painting, she knew she was headed in the right direction. She made her way down the stairs, and out the door. She kept running past the maze around it toward the portal. Malak couldn't really trap her in this nightmare could he? She didn't stop till she was met with the gates. She opened them, but then saw the source of the howling she heard before. The gate opened up to a pack of wolves. They bared their fangs staring at her like she was their next meal. She was frozen in absolute fear. She knew if she ran they would maul her to death. So this was how her life would end?

Suddenly she felt somebody grab the back of her blouse, and yank her backwards. The wolves charged, but yelped as they slammed against the metal gate. She looked up and saw one of the gold watchers. "Malak saw you were scared when you heard the howling so he put the wolves there to keep you here." She was ready to run back into the maze, but the gold watcher grabbed her arm. "Stop behaving this way. We aren't here to harm you." He said holding her tight, not letting her run. "You should be thanking us. We let you live, and all you can think of is escape." He said cocking a brow wanting his point to be made. "Did you even try to grab the ring piece? If you stay here, and do everything we say, I promise nothing here will hurt you... or you can try your hand at outrunning the wolves. Is it the wolves or us?"

Her body shook as she tried to think of a third option that ended in her getting out of here in one piece. When she realized she was seriously trapped, she took his hand her lip trembling. "A wise decision, young lady. Come along." With that she was led back to the manor.