The High Priestess - The Darkest Desires Series

XXVIII

A

ll the other beds were empty in Lizzy's room. The Nurse who'd arrived with McQueen gave her a suspicious look and hovered over Lizzy like a mother hen, but her eyes softened when McQueen came in behind her. Echo shivered again as Lizzy's singular fiery green eye, surrounded by mottled yellows and dark blues, watched her every step. The broken prostitute didn't smile, so Echo didn't smile back, and she didn't sit on the edge of the bed. She stopped by Lizzy's feet; not too close but not too far away. She wouldn't act like any normal person would. She still meant what she'd said to the Cadaver Doc; no evidence before her eyes was going to change her mind. Even as Lizzy watcher her now, alive and breathing, Echo thought she was better off dead.

The only sound was everyone's breaths hissing in and out and the repetitive beep of the heart monitor. Echo's eyes flicked to the machine, watching the jagged blips. They were so harsh in their shape but represented a solid testament that Lizzy was still alive and kicking. Echo half wished McQueen would start talking but he had taken a stand further back, leaning on the opposite empty bed. He was just going to wait and see how things played out, the ass. Echo gripped her hands tighter making her nails bite into her skin. The pain was comforting.

"You look like shit." She finally whispered taking in the missing legs, fingers, eye and of course the haunted, dead look in Lizzy's complexion.

The staggered inhale by Nurse Willow, as her ID card read, was harsh against the calm, but she held her tongue perhaps due to a look McQueen gave her, or maybe it was because of Lizzy. Slowly, as if she'd forgotten she could, Lizzy smiled. Then she huffed out a cough which transformed into a beautiful, charming laugh. It was the kind of laugh that turned heads in a restaurant or made you smile right alongside them. Nurse Willow looked like she'd seen a ghost, eyes wide and face pale, and though she couldn't see McQueen, Echo thought he might be smiling too.

Lizzy's laugh quickly turned sour though; her breaths becoming ragged and tears streaming from one eye. Echo moved only slightly closer as the pungent smell of cleanliness wafted from the sheets making her wrinkle her nose. Lizzy slowly found her voice; tired and ragged from screaming but words tumbled from her mouth. "So painful... It hurts Echo." Lizzy's eye pooled again and her entire body went limp in the restraints. "I remember you. Pretty girl, pretty eyes; hair as dark as a raven, skin like fresh snow." She sniffed. "I always liked your smile, never did I see such a beauty. I liked you best in the red lipstick. Made me smile. It made you look... dangerous. Wicked and fun. Like me." Lizzy's soft chuckled turned into a whimper as pain laced through her body. "Like I was..."

Echo didn't know what to say. "Thank you." was all she could think of, but Lizzy was already lost in her head, memories flashing across her face.

"She had a nice smile too, that beautiful girl. Red as a rose like yours. And he, he had smelt like mint... a garden just for me. He made me promises... sweet whispers... They'd wanted me to make them happy, to scratch that itch...; they wanted to return the favour... I've never had a garden. Lavender, Hazel, Rosemary and Thyme. They kept me... keep me like a dress up doll..." Lizzy was speaking nonsense words, mind diving in odd directions. Over her shoulder, Echo could hear McQueen's pen scribbling as fast as it could, trying to get every word down.

"Sounds like a nice plan." Echo replied, but the words sounded strained even to her. It didn't matter though. Lizzy wasn't listening.

"They had a garden, just for me to play in. Games for hours and hours of fun." Lizzy's chest rasped with a sob, "But it was stolen from us. Stole us, in my home. From my safe place. Robbed us, ripping us, ravaging us... The demon!" Lizzy spat, words on fire and spilling from her mouth so fast, so emotional Echo could only just keep up. "Teeth with no gums, no mouth, no voice. Endless screams so loud! Vicious claws and fangs...Make it. Stop! Make it stop! No peace, no peace! I wished for peace! ..." Lizzy let out a ragged sob, her throat swelling with the effort. "'No', over and over, all of them, howling, biting, clawing at the walls. They wanted more, screamed for more... I thought they would help, begging them for help... but no, they werethere, dancing at our feet! Gnashed their teeth, bit their tongues. They laughed at us as we swung. They laughed when no one came. They said it was our fault. Our Sin. Our punishment. Laughed they did, laughed and luaghedlaughedlaughed!!" Lizzy's voice broke into a scream, head wrenched backwards on the pillow.