STRANGULATE | Markicest

18 | LESSONS

Mark startled to the sound of pounding, shooting up from his bed as Equinox slammed the door open.

    "Wake up," she ordered, and Mark grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck.

    "I didn't fall asleep to begin with," he grumbled, swinging his feet over the bed. He stood up, and Equinox rushed over to him, knocking her leg through his knees.

    Mark yelped, falling forwards on his hands and knees, quickly stumbling to his feet.

    "What the hell?" he demanded.

    "Lesson one," said Equinox, moving to trip him again—Mark flinched. "Always be aware of your surroundings."

    Mark stumbled to his feet, dusting himself off with a look of distaste. Equinox only stared back, a smirk playing the edges of her lips.

    "Get dressed," she said. "It's time for breakfast."

    She walked out the room and closed the door, leaving Mark tired and perplexed. He blinked, shaking his head, and obeyed her orders.

    "How did I end up in this mess," he breathed, dressing himself and heading out the door. He gave an audible sigh as he faced the looming hallways, which had shifted in the night.

    "Voxe, I swear," cursed Mark, pinching the bridge of his nose. "If you shift this house just for fun—"

    "Not always," a voice said, and Mark whirled around with a shout.

    "Jesus," he huffed, meeting Voxe's slender figure gazing down at him. Ze grinned, beckoning Mark to follow with a finger and heading down a hallway.

    "I thought I'd drop by to let you calm down from Equinox's wake-up call," ze said, zir hands moving gracefully as ze talked. "But I'd also like to teach you about the house."

    "What's the point?" grumbled Mark. "I'm leaving this place, anyway."

    Voxe ignored his comment, and they stopped in a grand hall—the same one that Mark lingered at the day before. Stained-glass windows made up an entire floor, curving from the floor to the ceiling. This time, he could take in the beauty, all of the room's ornate, dark jewels glimmering down at him. His mind whirred, and Voxe led him up the sloping, shadow-basked staircase. No barrier kept them from going higher, but they stopped halfway.

    "This house is a product of an enchantment gone wrong," said Voxe, lifting zir hand, zir movements flowing like water. "My parents were the ones who built this house, though they died during the enchantment, binding me by blood to this place. This is how I feel everything."

Voxe kept zir gaze over the grandiose room, tightening zir fingers in the slightest. "As Evolveds, we still live by the properties of nature. However..."

    Voxe lifted zir hand higher and gently moved zir wrist. Mark's eyes widened, unable to process what happened before him.

    Through the grand openings, the hallways shifted and turned—like he were looking into turning cogs. Shadows shifted across the floor of the grand room, and Voxe dropped zir hand, smirking over at Mark.

    "One rule of the house," said Voxe, "is that the main rooms never change." Ze walked down the stairs, and Mark followed, still stunned. "This ballroom, the dining hall, the living room, the great halls... they all stay in the same place."

    "Then why move the hallways?" asked Mark, brows furrowed. They headed down the newly-shifted hallways, and Mark glanced at his surroundings, the walls speaking of age.