The royal city of Port Cressida has a new King.
Casper Ashe.
After spending years chained to the floor of a dungeon, haunted by visions of a beautiful woman, Casper is finally free. As Port Cressida's new King, he has two priorities: restore peace t...
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Mountain Road
Sophie Reese
The further we traveled into the mountains the thicker the dark became. Up here there was no street lightening to reveal the scenery we were passing through. All we glimpsed from the back passenger seat was what the car headlights shone on... which was miles and miles of empty road. Outside of that was inky impenetrable blackness.
It had been a good hour or so since we had passed a gas station, a house, or even a passing car. It scared me to think of how remote this place was. At one point I tried asking Nico where we were, but he casually brushed off my question by replying, "We are thirty minutes from the lodge."
I had tried to keep track of which direction we were heading but the car had twisted and turned so many times, I was no longer sure which way we were facing. Although, I guess it didn't matter really. It's not like we could go back to our apartment and resume our old lives again.
I sank down into the leather seat, leaned my head against the glass and listened to the rhythmic sound of the window wipers swishing back and forth. The car slowed and turned down a narrow dirt track that veered right into a steep incline. The car crawled up the mountainside and as it did so the light rain outside transformed into a delicate flurry of snow.
We turned down another dirt track which climbed upwards several hundred yards before leveling out. Nico slowed the car down as two dim amber lights appeared on the horizon.
"Is that the lodge?" I asked.
Nico shook his head, "No, those are the gates."
I peered into the darkness, struggling to see past the drifts of snow that strayed across the path like white ribbons. Shapes and shadows played with the what little light there was up here and I struggled to see the gates Nico was talking about. But as we drew closer and the two amber light became brighter, I made out the shape of a long stone wall that ran across the open ground ahead and disappeared into the tree line. In its center was a pair of imposing wrought iron gates that were painted black and gold.
This wasn't the secluded lodge I expected to find at the end of the dirt track. This was a whole different ballgame.
The car slowed down and stopped short of the gates, next to a metal intercom post. Nico wound down his window letting cold air and snow blast into the cabin. He leaned out the window and pushed the intercom button.
A few seconds of silence passed, then the intercom crackled into life. "Yes," a clipped male voice came out the speaker.
"We are here," Nico said.
"Take them down to the guest lodge by the lake, then come up to the main house when you are done. I want to speak to you about all of this," the man instructed.
Nico paused. "But the plan was for us to come to the main lodge."
"There's been a change of plan, Nico. Drop the ladies off at the guest lodge and get up here. I need to speak to you about this whole goddamn mess."
