Fear the Reaper [malexmale]

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. At least, according to Albert Einstein. The dictionary definition was the state of being seriously mentally ill to the point of madness.

Einstein would've called me insane. Wandering around the corridors of the castle, weaving in and out of courtyards, trying to find a way out, trying the doors that didn't budge now. Trying to use magic that I knew wasn't going to work.

The dictionary probably would've called Viviana insane. Perhaps in another life, she'd be diagnosed as a sociopath or borderline. I had no idea; I wasn't a psych major. I just knew there was something extremely off about the female. She smiled, she wept, she laughed, she danced, she sang, she snuggled, and she acted like any mother should. Maybe that's what her problem was; she was just a regular mother with a little too much power. I just wasn't sure since I'd never had a mother.

Either way, the castle was just one big shitpool of insanity.

Me trying to escape and Viviana asking me to have dinner with her, Rowan, and Tatiana.

Which I did not want to do, but what else was there to do?

Well, from a frat boy's point of view, plenty. There were video games of all kinds here, movies of all genres, music of all flavors, a gymnasium that called my name, several pool tables just waiting to be used for hustling. There was plenty of things to do, but I wasn't interested in playing games or relaxing. I wanted to get the hell out, but that wasn't an option.

So dinner at Tiffani's it was.

I just wasn't going to enjoy it.

It'd been three days already. No word from Alaric or anyone else, not even Xiphrus. This place must've been completely cut off from the outside universe, because no one came and went, unless Viviana permitted it, and every so often, it would be Rowan or Tatiana. Me? I just wandered. Tried all the doors, tested all the windows, went to the courtyard and wondered if I could scale up the side and roof it to the other side, but the stones were slippery and cold, iced over from the winter weather that seemed to be a constant here.

It was always a snowstorm on the outside of the castle, and in the courtyard, just a little flurry.

The castle was lax, quiet. The only time I heard music was when groups of the shadows gathered in the lounges to hang out and chat. Laughter and jokes and deep conversations. It was like a club that you weren't invited to. Well, Rowan and Tatiana invited me, but no thanks. Conversing with the enemy didn't seem like a good idea. Besides, I had nothing in common with these people.

They were tortured souls. Come together to share each other's pain, joy, sorrows. It was like group therapy or some shit. They knew each other, knew each other's pain. They were kin.

And I was an outsider.

I sighed, resting my forehead against the tiled wall of the gigantic shower case. You think I'm lying when I say gigantic, but the thing was big enough to fit another five people inside. Glass doors that slid open and closed, a ceiling that poured water down like heavy rainfall, electronic temp changes and whatnot. Like something out of a sci-fi meets goth. Because it was all dark in here. Even with the lights on, it still felt too dark.

I washed off and stepped out of the shower, rubbing my head with a towel as I came into the bedroom, only to pull up short when I saw Rowan seated in one of the black leather armchairs that faced the windows. He sat with one leg folded over the other, elbow on the armrest, hand propping up his head, and he looked like he was far away in thought.