-Zoey’s Pov-

  Tick, tick, tick. The only proof that time was passing through the dull atmosphere of the cabin was the analog clock sitting on the wall a few feet away from me. The atmosphere of the dimly lit room had taken some getting used to, but after about an hour of quietly taking it in, I roughly understood the dynamics at play. The large man at the work desk, Peter, was, at least so far, utterly uninterested in everything going on in the room. Though he was tasked with assisting in keeping me here, he seemed more preoccupied with whatever he was working on at the desk. The woman, Jude, was also distracted by her tablet further away, and did not pay me much mind. Judging by the dialogue filtering through the speaker, she was probably invested in some sort of foreign language show or film.

  As for the last man, James…

  His eyes never left me. The hand holding his handgun was tapping his up-ended knee as he sat atop a nearby desk and glared my way. He was obviously trying to get a read on me. It appeared that if no one else was taking the job of looking after me seriously, at the very least he was.

  I was strapped to a wooden chair by my feet and my torso. My hands were tied behind my back using the chain link holding my torso in place, all neatly held together by a newly purchased padlock. Naturally, all I could do during that time was observe. Observe their personalities, their habits, and of course how seriously they were taking this little job of theirs. However, I had recognized that merely observing would only get me so far in such a situation. To truly understand which cards I should play, it was past time that I broke the silence.

  “You’ve been staring at me for a very long time, James,” I said, tilting my head playfully. “Do you like what you see?”

  His eyes didn’t change at my provocative question. He merely kept glaring my way with the cold glare of a man on the clock peeking through the holes in his deer mask.

  “Are you being serious?”

  “I am. What else am I supposed to think when a man eyes my body for such a long time?”

  He seemed to size me up for a moment, but he eventually gave up and sighed. “If I’m being frank with you, the reason I’m doing this is because I don’t exactly understand what it is I’m looking at.

  “Meaning?”

  “You’ve been kidnapped and kept captive here for over an hour now, but you somehow carry the disposition of a girl taking a morning stroll through a park.”

  “Oh, is that the kind of girl you want me to be, James? The helpless damsel, eyes wide with fear, mouth leaking with panicked breaths, calling out for help in a futile fervor...” I leaned my head back in the chair. “Ohh, someone… won’t you please help me? Please save me from these brutish cultists! Please!!”

  James could only scratch his mask with his gun-touting hand in confusion. “Is this situation funny to you?”

  “No. To be honest, I’m quite terrified. Today is the first time I’ve seen someone die, I’m bounded and surrounded by strange people in masks, one of them armed with a gun, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to leave this room alive.”

  “So then,” James continued. “Why are you smiling?”

  I pulled my head back down to meet his gaze. “Because ever since I’ve arrived, there’s a cute guy who’s been giving me his undivided attention.”

  The sound of the melodramatic dialogue coming from the tablet’s speakers finally went off. Then came the sound of her thunderous footsteps drawing closer. And before long, the imposing figure of the girl on the tablet was now standing before me.

  “You little bitch, what do you think you’re doing?” she asked with such disdain that I could feel her expression through her mask.

  “Oh, you’re here. Say, I’m a bit hungry. Do you think you could get me and James something nice to eat while we chat?”

  “The fuck?!”

  “Jude, babe, let’s take it easy,” James said. “Don’t get taken in by her provocations.”

  “Oh, of course you would say that.” Jude folded her arms and pouted.

  “What do you mean by that?” he asked.

  “Nothing.”

  I felt my own elation bubbling up inside of me. “James dear, could you get her to get me something to eat? I haven’t had so much as a bite since noon.”

  “Get it yourself, whore.”

  “Well, that wasn’t very nice,” I said.

  “If you want something to eat then why don’t you just tell us who the host is? Hmm? Or are you going to keep pretending we’re all friends in here?”

  I glanced at her, then shifted my gaze back over to James. “I think I’d like to be friends with you at least, Jamie.”

  “Jamie…?”

  The barely disguised anger had come bubbling out. From just the utterance of the nickname, James found himself hurdling towards her to hold her back from getting her hands on me.

  “Hold on Jude, relax!”

  While James did his best to hold her back, scooping under her arms to hold her back, she still attempted to fight through his grip in order to rush me.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “She’s fucking with me! She’s fucking with me and she knows it!”

  “If you know it then don’t play into her hand like this. She’s trying to piss you off.”

  “Ugh!” She yanked herself free from James’s grip the cast me a long, hard glance. I could tell that she was trying to suppress her rage now that James had brought her back to reality.

  “James, can you get her to prepare me something nice now that she’s calmed down?”

  At my words, she chuckled. “I will enjoy killing you once this is all over.”

  After offering me those kind words, she walked back over to the other side of her room and the audio of her show once again filled the room. It seemed like she had calmed down for the time being.

  “You said you were hungry?” James said, as I turned back to face him.

  “Is there anything to eat here?” I asked.

  “There’s some leftover tacos on the counter.”

  “Ah, sorry. I’m vegetarian.”

  “Oh really? Well, I’m sure we could get you something else…”

  “No, I’m joking. I’m fine with tacos,” I said.

  “That wasn’t a funny joke.” He rubbed his temple with the side of the gun.

  “Hmmm, maybe not. Still, I think it’s sweet that you’d cater to me even though I’m your captive. You have a cute side to you, don’t you James?”

  The audio coming from the tablet across the room suddenly came to a halt once more.

  “Jude, stay over there,” James said.

  The girl clicked her tongue and resumed her video. With a sigh of relief, the man before me picked himself up and walked over to the kitchen area where he slid two tacos onto a paper plate.

  “Do you have a drink of preference?” he asked. “Coke, OJ, beer… wait, I guess you can’t have the last one, huh?”

  “Water’s fine, thanks,” I said.

  James shrugged and filled a glass up with tap water. Electricity, running water, and heating. Setting all of this up out in the woods would certainly require assistance in multiple different fields and departments. The thought that the cult’s control over the inside of the city was that grand was a terrifying prospect, but not exactly unsurprising considering the fact that the leader was using Dream Paralysis. No, it isn’t the same as Dream Paralysis. Oliver, or the prophet as they know him, can use his power to read the minds of others. In a conversation with someone else, all he’d need to do is ask very specific questions to stimulate their minds and extract the information he needs to manipulate them.

  In a way, it’s a power even more terrifying than Tristan’s. Whereas anyone could tell when their body is being manipulated against their will, it’s difficult to prove that someone has read your mind. In fact, one could easily convince you that you’re mentally ill before you convince yourself that you were the victim of some sort of psychic attack. Or, in this case, you could be convinced that it was the work of a Great Prophet.

  Once James had gotten everything ready, he walked over to Jude who was still seated and watching her tablet. His presence above her caused her to pause the show she was watching once again and look over to face him.

  “What?” she asked with a scowl.

  “Go feed her.”

  “Wh-Why? Why should I do it?”

  “Because I don’t trust you with the gun, and I don’t trust her to be unchained more than what’s necessary.” Having said that, he thrust the plate of food and the drink into her face. Her scowl only grew as she recognized the importance of her role despite her aversion to the task, and she reluctantly accepted. Her neck creaked like an old door as she turned to meet my smiling visage.

  “Judie dear, please do hurry up. My food is getting cold.”

  “I swear I’m going to make her suffer,” she said.

  James sighed, and Peter continued blissfully tinkering with whatever he had on his desk as Jude walked over towards me. I leaned back into the chair with a grin. Having her wait on me filled me with a sense of joy. And so did every excruciating second of her shamefully walking back over to my side of the cabin so that she could eventually come up to me. That expression of frustration on her face as she submitted to her role of my servant and held the taco out for me… oh my God.

  “Open your mouth, whore.”

  I leaned forward to take a bite out of the taco. Beef. A favorite of mine. Once I was done eating, I looked back up at her and smiled.

  “Judie Judie, the taco is delicious, but I could do without the attitude. Could you turn it down a notch, please?”

  My words seemed to get under her skin. She flinched as if she was about to say something, but she decided against it. Instead, she flipped the taco open and spat on the inside of it, before closing it and holding it out for me.

  “My apologies your majesty. Here is your next bite.”

  My eyes met hers. She was grinning now. She must’ve gotten some sick pleasure out of spitting in my food. In fact, it came to her so naturally that I imagined she must have worked in food service prior to this.

  But without pondering it for too much longer, I took a large bite out of the taco without any hint of whatever reaction she was looking for. I neither rushed to throw it down, nor did I take slow bites filled with disgust. I savored the taco as if it were just another good meal.

  “Wha-“

  I pulled myself back after devouring the entirety of my first taco, licking my lips then grinning back up at her.

  “Mm, not bad,” I said.

  “You’re so nasty! Ew ew ew.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “What? I’m not going to waste a perfectly good taco because of you. For all I know it’s the last meal I’ll get. Now hand feed me the second one already.”

  “You little!!”

  “Jude,” James interrupted as she lifted the plate as if to throw it to the ground.

  “Wha- but James, this is humiliating! She’s just… she…”

  “I understand. How about this? Once you’re done feeding her, we’ll tie her mouth shut. How about that?”

  Her head seemed to perk up at the idea. “Hmmm…”

  “What, don’t like what I have to say, Jamie?” I asked.

  “Oh, the Prophet already warned me about that mouth of yours. But after hearing it for myself, I think it’ll be for the best if we kept it shut until we need it.”

  I opened my mouth to respond, but the second taco was immediately stuffed into my mouth before I could get a word out.

  “Yeah, so enjoy this freedom while you can you little freak,” she said.

  The juicy beef textured by the rice and sauces oozing out of the taco as they filled my mouth almost made me forgive her for such a fatal transgression. My love for tacos is only surpassed by my own spitefulness, after all. Perhaps that was why it didn’t take me very long to throw it all down my throat.

  “A drink for our Lady Irma?” She held the cup above my head and poured it out with such little care that some of the water wound up splashing across my chin and the sides of my face rather than going down my mouth. My face felt messy, and my clothes had gotten wet. There were bits and pieces of taco ingredients clinging to my jacket. But none of that matters here, does it? I’m just the key to Dream Paralysis to them.

  “You overdid it, Jude,” he sighed.

  “What, you’re upset that your high school girlfriend got treated unfairly, ‘Jamie’?”

  He sighed, walking forward with what appeared to be a small towel in his hand.

  “I’m going to gag you, okay?”

  “Wait,” I said, my head hanging down.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “She’s gonna apologize,” Jude said. “Watch. Bitch finally learned her place I bet.”

  If there was anything I learned from talking to these two, it’s that I could definitely make this work. My options aren’t many, but there is a chance to manipulate them and set myself free. All I need to do is pit them against one another, and the opportunity will eventually present itself. I just need to come up with something realistic for when that time comes. But for now, I’ll keep playing into driving a wedge between them.

  “I won’t be mean to her anymore Jamie, I promise. Please don’t gag me up.”

  “You mean it?” he asked.

  “Don’t believe her,” Jude said. “She’s lying.”

  “I’m lying?” I asked. “I’m doing you a favor. Or what, are you excited at the idea of James stuffing my mouth full?”

  Jude flinched in surprise, and James sighed once more.

  “High schoolers…” He placed the gag into my mouth.