Unable to answer, I watched my abuelo accept a microphone from someone.
He cleared his throat to get the room’s attention, waving down at us proudly. I could hear blood rushing in my ears, my mind racing to make sense of what I was seeing.
This couldn’t be happening.
It wasn’t real.
I tore my eyes away from the balcony and looked around room, gaze coming to rest on two gilded double doors. Two words were displayed above them, both eroded and large as if they’d been here for quite some time.
“Goetia will lead you to the Devil’s Playground.”
How ironic was it that we’d been brought here by the devil himself?
This wasn’t the end of anything.
It was the very beginning.
PRELUDE
It’s a penitentiary full of rhymes and riddles. Where dark and light go hand in hand. Blood and sin will drench your skin.
Fuck.
Kill.
Sacrifice.
Those are your only options.
Countless heirs have come before you, they’re rotting corpses shall be your sole companions.
Trust no one.
Question everything.
Pyscho vs psycho let your true self emerge.
Servatis a Maleficium, something wicked this way comes.
Welcome to the Devil’s Playground…
CHAPTER ONE
The nights we had together should’ve been impossible to forget, but it’s not her fault she doesn’t remember.
It was them that made sure she forgot.
They eradicated me from her mind, not doing shit to ensure she was gone from mine.
And that’s where they fucked up.
As if that wasn’t a death worthy violation in itself, they went a step further and destroyed one of their own. The Serpines and everyone in their inner circle deserved everything that was coming to them.
But where was the fun in letting them off easy?
For years we’d been watching.
Learning and plotting.
We remained obedient and kept our distance. All of that was now a thing of the past. I had the only permission I needed to keep Liliana by my side.
The two of us together were a nightmare in the making. What could be more beautiful than a bond formed from blood and chaos, blessed by the ones that worshipped everything below?
I was ready to take this game to a higher level. The clock was ticking and when it hit zero nothing was going to be the same.
It was time for my puppet to wake up and remember who she was.
CHAPTER TWO
PRESENT--2029
Life is notorious for throwing curves.
It’s always the ones we never see coming that do the most damage. We’re completely unprepared for the havoc and chaos that follow behind them.
As my world tilted, I struggled to process what was happening. I felt as if I were engulfed in the center of a raging storm, unable to do anything but watch as everything I’d ever known blew away right before my eyes.
I hadn’t been expecting a rainbow with a pot of gold to be awaiting our arrival.
Happily-Ever-After was reserved for fairytales and chick-lit romance. My life was more of a comedic horror movie directed by Tarentino. And this wasn’t anywhere close to being the end.
Taking in the massive doors with Devil’s Playground eroded above them, I knew a major shitshow was about to begin. I didn’t know what to do to stop it--how to get out of this. I couldn’t run. There was nowhere to go. I had no one to turn to. The two people that always lifted me up whenever I was down, were standing right by my side--stuck in the same hellish reality that I was.
Being brought to this place by someone I’d begun to think of as somewhat of a partner paled in comparison to seeing our families smiling down at us. I thought they would’ve been doing everything in their power to get us out of this madness.
Instead, they were playing dress up and drinking champagne, seemingly waiting to see which of us lived or died.
The whole city of Goetia was splashed across multiple mounted flat screens in vivid 4K definition for the gathered crowds’ viewing pleasure.
An onslaught of utter confusion, fury, and rising sense of betrayal turned the inside of my head into a messy battlefield. I’d already figured out that what we were going through wasn’t random or a stroke of bad luck. I knew whoever was responsible for this had to be incredibly twisted and just as equally brilliant. But even knowing all of that I never once imagined an outcome like this.
I stared up at my abuelo, who continued to address the various socialites within the room, not once speaking to me or the girls. In fact, no one spoke a word to us at all. We’d gotten a few waves and smiles tossed our way but now it was like we didn’t exist.
It wasn’t as if we’d managed to blend in or anything.
Quite the opposite.
We looked like we’d just survived a super fucked up version of Jumanji. No one seemed too concerned about that, though. Totally unbothered by all the lives that’d been taken in albeit creative, horrific ways.