Riley Bukes
This had to be some sort of sick joke. What in the FUCK was he doing here?
Riley's thoughts turned caustic, burning through every bit of rational calm she had left. Her therapist called it spiraling.
"Well I'm definitely spiraling, bitch!" Riley spat between heavy breaths. Her chest heaved as she sprinted down the decrepit hall. Next to her, a younger woman was struggling to keep up, dark hair flagging behind her.
The young woman was stunning. She was a striking combo of full lips, sparkling eyes and the kind of quiet mystique Riley couldn't nail if she had a hammer. She carried herself with confidence; a subtle maturity. Or at least she tried to. It wasn't long ago that Riley was that girl, dressed up in suits and smiles to try and impress the boys club. It was how she met him. Those suits marked the end of her last life and her rebirth into this one.
"You're sure it's him?" Silvia, the woman who had connected herself to Riley gasped out.
Riley had spotted him through the crowd. He was impossible to miss. A lighthouse that guided her rage. She had bolted after him, nearly catching him before he slipped into one of the halls. A pair of doors marked with a skull. The snake slipped into the shadows and slithered down an old spiraling staircase.
"Trust me. You don't forget the tiger that took your hand."
Silvia's eyes narrowed at that, taking a moment to examine Riley. She wasn't who she used to be. Not by a long shot. Reborn from the ashes of her ruined life, she lost her soft curves and smiles. All that was left was sharp edges and grit.
Wiry muscles covered her from head to toe, her hair was cut short and rough as though by a knife and her face absorbed her frown like dirt absorbs water. She wore a tank top and a pair of gray sweat pants, a fashion yin to Silvia's business yang.
The two came to a T Junction, dark hallways disappearing in either direction. They paused considering their options.
"You don't have to help me, you already have your arcane whatever. Besides, this isn't even about that. I'd rather lose knowing I dragged him down with me." Riley barked, chewing the end of her sentence through gritted teeth.
Silvia reached out, touching her arm and smiled. "Oh babe, I wouldn't miss this for the world. You'll have to tell me the story later, but… this," She observed, giving Riley an exaggerated appraisal, "This look works on you. You're radiant."
There was a glow in Silvia's eyes that Riley couldn't quite identify, but her words lifted her spirits a bit. She didn't smile, but she frowned less at the girl.
"Alright, let's go before he gets away," Riley snarled before leaping the hall to the right, following her gut.
This wing of the castle leaned hard into the doom and gloom, but what did she expect with a skull?
Riley had already gone through a few of the other wings looking for a catalyst. She went into the shield, but found the catalyst too well protected, behind heavy vault doors or guarded by powerful sentries.
She spent some time in the hall with the three wavy lines. It became quickly apparent that this was the illusion wing. She met Silvia here, but found the wing too hard to navigate. It was like a giant funhouse, but instead of mirrors, there were images that looked so real she swore she could smell them.
Silvia had slotted her catalyst in quickly when Riley found her, she mentioned she had come into a room with a hundred fake chests. Only one of them contained what she was looking for. The rest were illusions, and some were filled with nothing but teeth and lashing tongues. Riley wasn't sure how she had gotten through that challenge, but she'd have to ask her later.
"Us ladies have to stick together." Silvia had purred, linking her arm with Riley's. They had been together since
The hall opened up into what felt like a crypt. Spiderwebs clung like streamers to the ceiling. It wasn't entirely clear if they were for decoration or from neglect. The walls held glass cases with long dead people splayed out in them. Their ribs were pried open, organs displayed on metal sticks, little labels attached to each.
The walls groaned. This wasn't a metaphor. A dull, endless groaning emanated through the halls like an idling engine.
Silvia looked around with abject disgust, and Riley could hardly blame her. This place didn't just give her the creeps, it infested her with them.
Halls branched off in every direction, and Riley had discovered some normalcy amongst the decay. Classrooms and bathrooms interspersed between the horrors.
They came across a massive skull that jutted from the wall like a spear. Its mouth was open and within was a door, not with a handle but with a skeletal hand that reached and grasped as though trying to ask for payment.
"Where did he…?" Silvia started, but the words died on her tongue. A crash came from down the hall. They exchanged a look and sprinted towards it.
Riley rounded the corner and came to a stop at a door leading into a classroom. At the back of the room she saw a book case had swung out from the wall revealing a hidden door. It was framed in skeletal arms all entwined with each other. A skull at the crown smiled down at her. She stumbled as she entered the room, almost sent sprawling. A vase was smashed in the entrance, white dust spilling from it.
Harvey Bukes, her ex-husband, stood at the far end of the room. He leaned on a stone table. Behind him was a massive skeleton that looked like it came from a giant that wasn't entirely human. It erupted from the wall like a man jumping through water. It had ruby-like eggs in its eyes and held a massive ax over its head. A fireplace crackled behind him sending shadows dancing along the walls; an umbral audience.
Well Riley didn't want to disappoint. She would have to put on a show.
Rage overtook her. She became wrath. After years of abuse, torment, belittling, condescension and bitter resentment, he was here again, right here, smiling in her face . Riley felt bile rise up in her throat. She started trying to cycle through the various breathing techniques she had been taught in her head. Useless. What good were they when you could barely breathe?
The last time she had seen him was the last time she saw her kids. He stood in front of them, the dutiful protector, guarding them from their mother. Their own mother! Her son hid behind the dirt-bag's legs, peering out at her as though he had never seen her before. Her daughter, older–more mature, but not mature enough to see through his lies–glared at her with hate filled eyes.
The words echoed back at her. She could still hear them bouncing around her skull as though she was back in that moment.
"It's ok kids. I've got you now. She can't hurt us anymore." he whispered to them. "What're you doing here Rye? Haven't you taken enough from us?"
"What the hell have you told them?" She said, only vaguely aware of the knife hanging limply from her fingers.
"Only the truth. I spent years building this family! Gave you everything! You threw it all away." He shouted, affecting mock rage, but his lips couldn't help themselves. They curled in a smile, so subtle, a normal person wouldn't notice it. Someone who hadn't spent nights tied up in the corner of the room while he explained why she had to be punished would never see it. But Riley had, and Riley did.
"I even offered you peace Riley. Take the money and go. We just want to be left alone."
Something in her mind snapped. She had devoted her life to this man, abandoned her career, her talents, all to further his career. She had suffered humiliation after humiliation at his hands.
Riley's eyes squeezed shut as those memories came flooding back. It wasn't until the kids came that she had any semblance of safety. But even then, their weekend "get-aways" were things that she couldn't get away from. The things done there would land a poorer man in jail.
But she did it because she loved him. Or thought she did. Then she found his stash. A locked suit-case, tucked away in a hidden crawlspace. Photos of the other women. Videos of the things he'd done to them. It made her own fate seem like a walk in the park. The worst part? She knew these women. She had even talked to them at parties. She assumed they avoided her eyes because they were scared, or jealous. Ha. They were scared, but not for the reasons she thought.
"Leave before I call the cops." He pleaded with his tongue, but gloated with his eyes. With a gesture he pushed the kids further behind him. As though protecting him. Like he was the GOOD guy! It was too much. She remembered screaming and blacking out. When she awoke she was restrained in the back of an ambulance. Psychotic break they said. Unfit mother they said.
Riley had spent a year in prison and more on probation since then. She lost everything. But despair wasn't her bedmate. Riley reforged herself, rising from the ashes. She struggled, cried, and fought to gather the strength she had.
She would get her kids back.
She was almost ready when she was approached by a stranger. An older woman, Asian, with kindness in her eyes. She told her that they were holding a secret competition and that the winner would earn power like she couldn't believe. Riley had watched as she turned water to liquid gold, made lightning dance between her fingers and morphed her body as though it was made of clay.
Riley couldn't agree quicker.
There was no mention that Harvey would be here. She would have only agreed faster.
"You never knew when to back down."
His voice brought her back to the moment. Harvey leaned against the back wall, arms crossed. His white dress shirt had the sleeves rolled up, revealing arms that had originally drawn her eye and eventually earned her fear. A sadistic smile carved a mocking fissure between dimpled cheeks. "Just leave before you get hurt."
"I'm gonna kill you." Riley gritted out. She stepped into the room and was quickly grabbed.
A man, hiding on the other side of the door wrapped arms like logs around her. She screamed, bit down on flesh and tasted blood. The guy yelped, dropping her, but before she could run, a fist caught her in the gut. She was launched off her feet from the blow and sent reeling back.
The shadows dispensed another man. She looked up through blurry eyes and almost laughed. The two looked like they were ripped from some B reel action film. Bald, beady eyes, and sloped foreheads you could ski off of.
"You're not the only one who made friends here. Put her on the table boys. This will be enough for all of us."
They dragged her across the room with little effort. The fight had been knocked out of her. She cursed herself. Months of training and still she was swept aside; she was nothing, just an inconvenience.
"It's poetic really." Harvey Mused as his new "friends" threw her unceremoniously on the table. She was vaguely aware of shackles securing her in place. "Every good thing in my life is somehow traced back to you. You know, part of me is sad that things went the way they did. I wish you weren't so nosey. But, it was bound to come out at some point. I just hoped you'd be a little more mature about it. You should be happy that I took my stress out on others. Honestly, I thought I was doing you a favor."
Riley attempted to lunge up at him, but was stopped short by the restraints.
"Oh sweetie. I like this new side of you. Perhaps if you had grown a spine sooner we'd still be together. You were such a wet rag before." Harvey cooed, stroking her hair. He turned towards one of the goons. They really did fit the term goon perfectly. "Do it."
Goon A walked over to a lever next to the fireplace and pulled it. Riley looked around, trying desperately to figure out what was happening. Her eyes caught a flash of blue, and saw three blue stones hanging from the skeleton's neck. The two hands holding the ax began to rise up.
"I'll fucking kill you!" Riley screamed. "Silvia. Help me. Please."
Riley looked over towards the entrance and saw the girl standing in the door frame, eyes wide, pale hands clasping each other.
"Silvia…" Riley pleaded, but the girl just stared, unmoving.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure to tell the kids what happened when they get older. You overdosed after you tore apart another family. A tragedy. But at least they've still got their father."
Riley let out one final scream before the ax slammed down, tearing her in half. A final gurgle escaped her. She looked down in horror at her legs, now separated from her torso.
Cold seeped through her body, infusing her to the very bone.
There was a clink and the blue stones dropped, landing in Harvey's outstretched hands.
The last thing Riley thought of were her kids' smiles. Back when things weren't so bad. She smiled, a tear running down her cheek.
Harvey placed a final kiss on her forehead.
"Silvia was it? Are you looking for a team? We're better off working together if we're…"
Riley didn't hear why it was better to work together. Her awareness left her body. She tried to speak, but nothing came out. She rose, as though falling in reverse, and got one last look at the room below before everything became a blur.
The castle rushed around her in every direction, its smooth stone, her highway. Its rooms, her rest stops. She was catapulted through a multitude of tableaus, a room filled with beasts, a library with living worlds within its pages, and even a room with robed fingers watching her death through the faces of a crystal.
Riley finally came to a stop, out of breath, or as out of breath as she could be in her current state. She looked down at water-colored hands and turned around to see a world out of a Van-gogh fever dream. In front of her was a window framed in gold looking out into a plush den. Inside a man stood in front of a safe, yelling at… his watch?