Submitting your answers does not
guarantee an invitation to
The Feast of the Fallen.
Only a select few will be chosen at the host’s discretion.
If selected, you will be notified.
A good-faith incentive will be deposited into your designated account once the application process is complete, if you are accepted.
* * *
All this for a scam? She scrolled lower, waiting for the part where they try to wheedle her personal information out of her, but there weren’t any more questions. What account did they intend to incentivize if they didn’t even attempt to steal her identity properly? For a scam, it was a pretty stupid one.
“Fuck it.” She clicked submit.
The screen went black, and the browser kicked her out. Clicking the search bar, the history was blank as if she’d imagined the whole thing. She typed the address again, only to get an error message.
“What the hell?” Daisy rubbed her forehead. “I need sleep.”
“Miss, I’ve been more than patient?—”
“Sorry.” She sprang from the desk, bag in hand, and rushed past the librarian. “I’m going.”
Chapter Two
Into the Giant’s Keep
The sleek, black car from the day before returned. It wasn’t scary, but the silent energy radiating from his mother terrified him.
Sliding his hand into hers, he looked up. “They’re here.” She cracked the door and cold wind cut through his clothes. Chills raced over his skin and every instinct of him begged not to go.
They could lock the door and hide. That’s what she’d taught him to do whenever anything reeked of danger. Why weren’t they hiding now?
“Remember what I said, Jackie, be a good boy.” Her grip tightened as her voice cracked.
Something was wrong. Heaviness sank, cold and wild, in his hollow belly. “I don’t feel good, Mum.”
“That’s just nerves.” She kissed his head, briefly running her fingers through his fine, dark hair. “Once you get there you’ll feel better. They’re going to feed you.”
The car stopped and Jackie’s heartbeat pounded in his ears. The windows were too dark to see who waited inside. A tall man unfolded from the driver side, his face arranged into an expression that gave nothing away, his eyes hidden behind sleek black glasses.
Jackie followed his mother down the path to the car where she pulled him forward to introduce him to the man. “This is Jackie.”
The man nodded, and handed Mum a small card. She released his hand, took the card, and stepped back.
When Jackie moved to follow her, the man caught him by the back of the coat. “Not you. You stay with me.”
He looked back at Mum, no longer wanting to go with this man. He didn’t care how hungry he was. The air was too still. “Mummy?—”
“Go with the man, now, Jackie. Don’t fuss. I’ll be here when you come back.”
His chin wobbled and his vision blurred. A door opened and the man waved him inside the warm car.
“You do as I say, when I say, and we’ll get along fine. Understand?”
He didn’t understand any of this. But he nodded anyway, because good boys did as they were told.
