“Leave us,” Perdita ordered.
Seal’s former companions, now her betrayers, left. Creighton’s eyes lingered on her. Was he concerned for her? Seal could not tell. The heavy doors shut behind them, leaving her to the mercy of the Perdita.
Beth remained in the corner, cowering. Seal wanted to yell: Beth, run as fast as you can, jump out of the hole! The doll would survive the fall, and maybe she could escape. But Seal knew Beth wouldn’t abandon her, and she knew she needed Beth.
“What an interesting thing,” Perdita said.
Beth turned and ran as the woman approached, but the Paleskins moved swiftly, appearing almost to float towards the small doll. She grasped Beth around the waist and lifted her to eye level. Beth noticed blackened stains on the evil sister’s teeth. Perdita held the doll close to her nose and inhaled.
“Quite interesting,” she said.
“Put her down,” Seal yelled.
“I promise to be gentle. This is a prize.”
She looked under Beth’s sewn-on clothing, scrutinizing it. Squeezed her, first gently, then with more force, testing to see if the living buckskin doll could feel pain. If the buckskin doll had working eyes, they would have been wide and staring in terror.
“Don’t worry, I will keep you as a pet,” she said.
“I’m not a pet,” Beth shot back.
Perdita dropped Beth, and the doll ran over to her sister, who picked her up and tucked her away.
“You arrived three weeks ago? We knew the moment you arrived.”
“Did you bring me here?” Seal asked, hoping to learn more.
“If I said yes, would that change things? No, it would not.”
The Paleskin walked over to the Spiritseeker and pressed her fingertip down on a single spike, tilting the ball back and forth.
“Still, no harm in telling you we had nothing to do with your arrival. Someone foolish brought you here. But fortunate for us. The way out has been sealed for a long time, and you… you will help us open it.”
“Why would I help you?” Seal couldn’t understand.
“Because you have no choice! You never had a chance. We sent William after you. It was no accident that he led your kind to you.”
As Perdita spoke, another Paleskin entered, led by a servant. She was obviously blind.
“Let me introduce you to my sister, Merrivale,” Perdita said.
“Hi, Sister,” Merrivale greeted her. “So, this is the girl. She smells filthy.”
“Oh darling, Sister, we will clean her when it is time,” Perdita said. “But let us continue. Along with William, we sent Karl in case William could find you. We knew you would be too afraid to leave the road, and if all else failed, it would lead you to Creighton. We needed to make sure you came directly to us, and that you didn’t make it to the cursed Hollow Lord.”
Seal realized they did not know she had met Pavel Sted, who they called the Hollow Lord. She wondered what he had done to earn that name. Maybe there was still hope. Maybe Pavel could save her.
“Just one of them would have been enough to lure you here. Imagine your luck to run into all three.”
Perdita grabbed her chin with her pointy fingers to keep her attention.
“You came with another,” the blonde vampire spat out. “A boy. He is of no use to us, and we sent our best tracker to kill him. Your friend is either dead by now or his plaything. It does not matter to us.”
“No, not Javin!” Beth cried against Seal. Her sobs vibrated on Seal’s shoulder.
“It’s okay to cry, dear. We understand losing what you love.”
“I don’t think you’ve ever loved,” Seal said. “Ever!”
“You are mistaken,” Perdita said angrily. “We all loved deeply, and that love made us what we are today. We are a product of great love. It made us weak, then it made us strong.”
Seal understood that all the Paleskins were once human. These two could have been nice once.
“You will not turn me into one of you,” Seal said.
Merrivale huffed. “That would be a waste.”
“We need you for another reason,” Perdita said. “We brought you here because you had the power to enter this world, and you have the power to leave this world.”
Perdita held the Spiritseeker in her hand. Her long fingers fit in between the sharp spikes. She held it delicately and moved it towards Seal. She felt its pull and retreated against the wall. Perdita rushed in and grabbed her by her shoulders. Her sour breath was close to Seal’s neck.
Perdita pressed the Spiritseeker close to Seal’s cheek, not quite touching it with the pointy ends. Energy buzzed through the thin, sharp spikes.
“Soon it will taste you, but not yet,” Perdita said.
The sister fastened a long chain around Seal’s waist, fastened to the wall.
“We use this to call on lesser spirits of your people to tell us secrets. That is how we knew about you. It is how we sent a message to William and the others to look for you. All it takes is the energy and blood of your kind. The animals tell us things, against their will. A snake told us about you. Do you want to know what he told us?”
“How I can beat you?” Seal said defiantly.
They both laughed at her this time.
“You? You have no powers.”
“The black snake told us you will summon our enemy. The Lady of Light traps us here. You will be the one that forces her to set us free.”
Perdita tucked the Spiritseeker into a thick-walled leather bag, and the buzzing quieted.
“The dead are too weak to bind someone powerful. The living, however…”
“I will not help you,” Seal told them.
“You will! You fool!” Perdita yanked on the chain, forcing Seal down into a sitting position. “You are the key to bringing forth the Lady of Light. She hides like a coward. She is weak. You will make her physical, and then we will feast on her power. The gates that close us off from the world will break, and we will triumph. We will slaughter the slaves and use the strength they give us to enter the world above.”
“And rule it,” Merrivale added. “Our other sister prepares for your ceremony. We will put you on public display in front of your people to break any spirit they have left, and then we will kill the Lady of Light. We will feed on all of you. Then we will enter the world above,” the blind sister said.
“You have lost. Stay here with your doll. Say your goodbyes. At night, we will prepare you for your sacrifice,” Perdita said. Then she pointed at Beth. “And she will become our pet.”
Seal knew they were trying to rob her of all hope. The two sisters left and locked the door behind them, taking their Spiritseeker. Seal heard them give commands to guards outside the door. The room stayed empty except for the two living Lakota sisters.