Where the Lost Things Go

The Den of the Lioness

Pippa was dreaming of falling through an endless hole, nothing at the bottom. Was there even a bottom? She was lost forever...

 She woke with a start in a dark room. For a moment, she thought that she was home, in her own bed, and the Lost World had been a dream. But when she tried to sit up, she found that her hands and feet were securely tied together. 

 She was a prisoner. A prisoner of Morgan, Master of the Lost. Caught helping Daisy escape. 

 She was toast.

 Pippa wondered where she was, exactly. Surely not a shelter, because those were never soundproof and she would have heard her captors outside. The musty air suggested she was underground, and she could tell that she was quite alone. 

 "Damn, damn, damn," She whispered. This was far more secure than the place Daisy had been tied. There would be no rescue this time. 

 Above her, a circle of light was opened, and Kyle, Morgan's henchman, peered down. "Hey, you're awake," he said, looking pleased. "We knocked you out, so you wouldn't fight us. Wasn't that clever?" he grinned, and Pippa was reminded that he wasn't a hardened killer, just a kid. 

 Morgan was the killer. 

 "We're supposed to take you to the Master," he said, climbing down and hoisting Pippa to her feet. "I'm going to untie your legs, but no funny business, okay? You're just a little girl, and I'd hate to hurt you."

 Pippa didn't answer as Kyle hoisted her out of the hole and into the daylight. The Master's clan was big, with twice as many tents as in the Tiger camp. Children of various ages stared at her curiously as Kyle hustled her to where Morgan sat, in front of the largest shelter.

 She wore a ragged sundress, and a floppy hat that had a bright flower on it. Her black hair lay on her shoulders, long and glossy. She looked, in a word, beautiful.

 But her eyes, predatory and calculating, reminded Pippa that this harmless-looking, graceful young woman was probably if not certainly flat-out insane, however well she hid it. 

 "There she is," Morgan said, smiling. "Well done, Kyle. She looks a little battered, but intact. Bring her inside."

 Kyle pushed her inside the Master's shelter. Pippa realized that she was shaking. The interior was lit with a few candles placed carefully around the room. In the corner was a mattress heaped with pillows, a rack of dresses next to it. 

 "Leave us for a bit," Morgan told Kyle. He grinned again, and left. Morgan turned to Pippa, who was now shaking like agitated gelatin. 

 "I know you," Morgan said, gazing at her. "You're one of Naomi's little bitches. Phillippa, wasn't it? Naomi stole the baby bitch, left a bigger bitch to die, isn't that it?" 

 Pippa was silent. She stood quivering in the center of the room, Morgan circling her. 

 "The boys always do what I want, you know." Morgan was behind her, a situation Pippa did not enjoy in the slightest. "Do you know what I do to make them do that?" 

 Pippa whispered, thinking it might be a good idea to cooperate, "What?"

 "I sleep with them." Morgan sounded amused. "All of them. They'll do whatever I want, because they know if anything happens to me, they won't get their turn to have their way with me." Morgan touched Pippa's cheek. "Control. Give them something they want, and they'll do anything for you." 

 She was in front of Pippa. "Your Naomi, she sleeps with Judah, doesn't she?" Pippa didn't answer. "She can control him now, I expect. Only little Naomi was always so much sweeter than me, of course. She really loves him. Fool."

 "Were you seeing him?" Pippa asked. She wanted to be certain. 

 "Oh yes." Morgan laughed, but she didn't sound very amused. "Only boy who ever rejected me, even though he was the first to touch me, to take my virginity. He loved to be with me, oh yes he did, too blinded by our nights together to be bothered by anything else, until I became Master."

 "You killed a child." Pippa was shocked that she was even able to speak. 

 "I sacrificed a child," Morgan corrected her. "You see, there is a god in this world, a god who takes children from their homes. Some go back, but some must be lost forever, to feed him." her voice dropped. "He's really very hungry, you know." 

 "Hungry?" Pippa whispered. Naomi had told her about the god, that the lost world was alive. 'I don't think he requires sacrifice," she had said. 'I believe that he opens his doors to children out of mercy and loves them like his own.' 

 "Very hungry, Phillippa. I normally take the little ones, the innocent ones. I was like them once, you know. I barely remember the other world, I was so young. So naive. I thought I would see my mama soon, but I never did. Do you have a mama, little bitch?"

 Pippa nodded, feeling a stab of pain at the thought of her mother. Her mother, who had never even told her who her father was. Did she even feel grief that her daughter was gone?

 "The first girl had a mama," Morgan said softly. "She was small, Latina, with big brown eyes that would melt your heart. The night after she died, Judah came to me in the dark as he had so many times before, but this time, he was different. He asked me if he had ever really known me, if I could really be such a monster." she leaned in close to Pippa's face, her soft hand cupped around her chin. "I agreed, he had never really known me. He was a companion when I was a child, glad to have someone to scavenge and laugh with who was his own age. When we grew older, we became lovers, satisfying each other's developing needs. But he wasn't important. I can have any of these idiot boys to have sex with. He wasn't special. Now, he's got a girl who has been mooning over him since she got here, a weakling. Naomi." Morgan sounded disgusted. "But he can't forget me. No matter how many times he pushes that idiot into himself, I'll be there."

 Pippa swallowed. Morgan smiled, a predator eyeing her kill. "I'm sure they'll both be sad when you're dead. You're a little old, but you'll do."