Without waiting for permission, Horous brushed past her, sniffing the air like a predator tracking prey.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Catherine cried out. “You have no right to barge into my house like this!”
Horous stopped and faced Catherine with the cold eyes of a predator, he merely replied.
“You'd be so quick to dismiss news of your daughter?”
Catherine discerned his distinctive accent but couldn’t place it.
“What do you know about my daughter? Tell me, is she safe?”
“Your daughter has been taken. “Horous stated bluntly.
Fear rose in her chest. The fear that Tilly’s father had finally tracked them down. He’d vanished once before without a trace; what if he’d returned for Tilly and done it again? Insanity ran in that side of the family, and they’d spent years trying to shield her from it.
The room spun around, and Catherine gripped the arms of her wheelchair for support, feeling faint. “My God! Taken by who? Is it her father who has taken her!”
She fumbled to dial 999. Even as her fingers touched the keypad, the battery drained completely. The phone became useless in her hands.
“The police can’t help you,” Horous insisted. “No one from this village has the power to find her. I’m your only hope.”
Catherine’s confusion deepened. “What are you talking about? Stop talking in riddles!”
Horous’s expression darkened. “She’s been taken by men who won’t release her. She’s become their property. If you want to see her again, you’ll tell me what I need to know.”
Desperation clawed at her.
“Why should I believe you?” she demanded, struggling to maintain composure. She desperately wished Dennis were home and felt vulnerable in the presence of this strange and frightening man.
“I lost seven men trying to stop her abduction,” Horous said, his glowering eyes never once blinking. “Your daughter is in grave danger. She has been hunted down by The Elysium Order. They may appear handsome, but do not be deceived. They are masters in manipulation, trained in the dark arts of seduction and deceit.
He stood tall, he continued.
“Their charm is but a façade, a means to ensure those endowed with unique souls, like your daughter. These brothers will weave a seductive tapestry of lies and half-truths, creating a temptation that few can resist”
Leaning closer, Horous’s voice dropped, ensuring the severity of his message was not lost. “But their goal is far more sinister than mere control. They will feed on her essence, drawing from her vital energies that give them the power to rejuvenate themselves, to extend their cursed existences.”
Horous paused, his expression sombre as he gauged Catherine's reaction.
Each moment they spend with her, they are draining her, slowly weaving their essence into her being. If left unchecked, your daughter will not merely lose her way, she will lose herself entirely, becoming nothing more than a shell, a conduit for their continued mortality.”
Horous’ head swivelled as another loud thud resonated from above.He rushed toward the stairs.
“Where are you going?”
“I need something that belongs to your daughter,” he said, mounting the steps two at a time.
Panicked yet determined. Catherine maneuvered.
Catherine maneuvered toward the stair lift installed next to the staircase. With shaking hands, she secured herself into the seat and pressed the button to ascend. As the lift carried her upwards, her heart pounded with a mix of fear and urgency.
Upstairs, Horous looked in each room as he strode down the hallway so vigorously that the floor shook. He stepped into Tilly’s room and looked around at the bright and colourful floral decor and charming chalk-painted country furniture. Artwork filled every available space. Gauzy pink curtains blew toward a frilly canopy bed covered with lace-trimmed satin cushions from a window open to the aromatic fragrance of the garden and woods beyond.
Upon reaching the top, Catherine hurried off the lift, the mechanical buzz of the chair echoing behind her in stark contrast to the pounding of her heart. She followed the sounds of Horous’s movements, her breath catching as she rushed in behind him. She choked down a sob at the sight of Tilly’s room and gasped when she noticed that several of her belongings had been taken.
Horous headed toward the window and peered out. His nostrils flared as he inhaled the air. The trees rustled in a rising breeze.
“The Elysium Order have been here. I sense their presence.”
