CONDEMNATION ✓

Chapter 4

Brushing your hands against your face, you wiped the sleep from your groggy eyes. Black eyes as heavy as boulders, your movements sluggish and slow. Everything hurt, and it felt like you were suffering from the hangover of the decade. What in god's name did Mono give you? Pressing your hands into the memory foam mattress, you pushed yourself up. Restless legs under silky sheets topped with a heavy brown and gold comforter that kept you warm as you slept. Grabbing the blankets, you threw them off your legs as if they had offended you and slid your feet off the bed. Your vision was still a haze. You felt the cold sting of the marble floor against the bottoms of your feet. Missing your shoes, you were dressed in your evening clothes from the party. Your dress filling uncomfortably tight after sleeping in it.

All of the lights in the room were on, two end table lamps and a fifteenth-century chandelier hanging from the fifteen-foot slanted ceiling. You felt the winter radiating from the wall. An old drafty home hidden as luxury. Kneeing your palm into your eyes, you cleared your vision, first noticing the dancing flames off in the distance. An electronic fireplace emitted heat into the cool bedroom. Each burning bulb served to amplify the exposure of your eyes. Rapid blinking helped only slightly. While surveying your surroundings, you saw that the bedroom was decorated in warm beige tones, along with the stark white marble floor beneath your feet. You slapped your hand on one of the four carved bed posts that framed the king-sized mattress on which your drugged-up body had been placed.

The room had a historical flare in how the four-post bed was intricately carved. Still, the electric fireplace and beautifully embroidered comforter showed the taste of the modern era. The room was more significant than the burnt-out garage you had been operating out of. High-class, it was nice, you couldn't deny it, but the fact was that you hadn't come here of your own free will. "Mono!" You yelled; staggering off the bed and onto your feet was more challenging than you would have liked. You inched closer to the rounded door you could see just to the right of the artificial burning fire. You passed the window decorated with off-white drapes, with frilly tassels that looked like something out of a museum. Though the window itself caused you to pause. You saw nothing outside, not a single thing. It was pitch black. Moving closer, you pressed your hand against the glass and scraped it with your red nails. It was painted over and blacked out so that no one could see in or out. What the hell was the point of the drapes?

"Mono!!" You bellowed again, pushing yourself off the window as you continued toward the door that swung open as soon as you got within reach, nearly slamming you directly in the face. You stumbled back, almost toppling over the nightstand as none other than your dearly beloved brother waltzed in.

"Calm yo tits, lil' sis. 'm here." Nonchalantly he announced himself, barely taking note of your unstable state. He carried a pile of folded clothes in his hand and walked right past you as he carelessly threw them onto the bed. "Where the fuck am I?" Demanding answers, you used the nightstand as a crutch to keep yourself upright. Whatever he gave you was clearly coursing through your veins and causing the room to spin like some crappy carnival ride. "Halcyon Hall," Mono said, turning around to face you as he flopped his back onto the lush bed and began fumbling through his pockets.

He was in a fresh set of clothes, those his hair remained uncombed and unruly. Leaving you to question how much time has passed since the party. "Why?" You asked, finding that a better fitting question as you had no idea what or where 'Halcyon Hall' was. "Cuz I brought you's 'ere?" He pulled out a pack of Marlboro Reds and shook it to release one of the cancerous sticks, quickly tucking it between his pierced lips as he reached for his lighter. He knew he was being a smart ass, but Mono cloaked it with a relaxed demeanor as he set the end of the cigarette ablaze.

Having your fill of his bullshit attitude, you quickly reached for the sturdy lamp that rested on the nightstand and took it into your hands. Shifting it to one hand, you promptly flung it in his direction, intending to hit him. Due to your blurred vision, you missed him by a considerable landslide. The lamp crashed onto the ground a foot from his feet.