Vanessa knew she must have slept through all that day for when she awoke it was night. She awoke from a fitful sleep that had been filled with grotesque dreams. The images still danced macabre in her head: the gargoyle faces, the grotesque and grinning red lips of a fat woman she had never seen before, and the monstrous phallic shapes that seemed to permeate every setting. The walls of her dream were a dark red, like dried blood, and nowhere through her dream world was there any space of light or peace.
Lily had appeared in her dream, at first as an erotic figure which had aroused Vanessa, though with a horrible kind of passion which seemed to reek of death. Even Lily's face, which had seemed so innocent and peaceful in reality, had seemed, in her dream, to be completely vacant, zombie-like, a being who had lost her soul. And then there was her uncle's voice, echoing through those dark red chambers of her dream, her uncle's deep and resonant voice, a voice of utter power and confidence, saying over and over again: "You belong to us, now. There is no way to return. There is no other world for you anymore. You belong to us."
All through her sleep, she remembered now, she would wake when it all grew too horrible, only to fall asleep and resume the dream exactly where it had left off. There is no way to return… there is no other world.
Vanessa sat bolt upright in her bed. She had to escape. She knew with a sudden certainty that worse things lay in store for her… knew that ultimately she would die in this house, be it a real death, or the kind of death of self that Lily had obviously fallen victim to. Hadn't she completely lost her will – even to move her own limbs twice since she had arrived here! She had to try to escape! She was astonished now at her own fearlessness. And proud of herself. She had made a decision, and now she would carry it out.
She dressed quietly, then took the money from her purse, stuffed it in the top of her bra, took a deep breath and opened the door. She had half expected to find Billy Butter standing just outside, but there was no one there. She looked both ways down, the hallway. It was empty. She listened for a human sound. It was totally silent.
She walked cautiously towards the dark wooden staircase and peered down into the living room. The lights illuminated the room, a fire was burning in the fireplace, but there was no one there. Her heart was pounding wildly in her chest now. Her knees trembled, but she continued on her way. Slowly, listening after every step, she went downstairs. She leaned flat against the wall and held her breath to listen. She heard the fire crackling, heard the screech of brakes outside the house.
The outside world! It was the first sound from the outside she had heard since her arrival. It gave her courage to continue. She walked by the open doors of the living room, then down the long mirrored corridor towards the door. Finally, her hand was on the knob. She turned it. It was locked.
She was disappointed, but only for a moment. She regained her resolve and set out to explore the rest of the first floor. There must be a back door somewhere, she thought. But, just then, she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. It was Uncle Aleister, followed by Billy Butter.
"Good evening, my dear," he said. "So glad to see you up and about again."
"Good evening," said Billy. "Glad you are up and about again." He had a childlike grin on his face as he echoed his master.
"Won't you join us for a little aperitif now? And, of course, tonight you will dine with us."
"Why-why thank you," she said, having no other choice now but to go along with it all until another opportunity to escape came along. She was certain he did not know she had tried to leave, since she had taken no purse and no suitcase.
They sat around the fire in the living room, while Billy brought them each a glass of sweet vermouth. "We were quite worried about you," said Aleister. "We thought at first the fever would never break, and of course, we were all overjoyed this morning when Lily told us you had awakened and had put away a hearty breakfast." Suddenly Vanessa felt bold.
"I had no fever," she said, looking him straight in the eye. "Well, you could have fooled me," he said, laughing jovially. "The doctor injected you with plenty of antibiotics… said she had no idea what kind of flu you had. Sometimes of course, great stress alone is enough to make the body do strange things…"
He seemed so friendly, so easygoing. Was it possible that she had been ill, that everything she imagined had happened were only dreams and hallucinations caused by the fever. My God! Of course. It was really the only thing that made sense!
She laughed then, suddenly understanding everything. And she felt a great sense of relief. Nothing had happened to her. It was all a dream. She had not been raped; she had not done anything illicit with Lily. It had all been imagined in her fevered state.
"I'm sorry," she said apologetically. "How awful you must think me. Your houseguest arrives… your long lost niece… and spends all this time being not at all amusing… just ill. By the way, how long was I ill?"
"Six days," he said. "Today, the seventh, you are well."
"Enough time to create a universe," she said, smiling to herself. For indeed that is what she had done. She had spent those days creating a disturbing and nightmarish world.
"Tell me," she said suddenly to Aleister, "my mother never spoke of a brother… when was the last time she saw you…"
"Ahhhh, yes," said Aleister, leaning back in his chair and rolling his glass in his palms. "It is no surprise to me that I was never mentioned… I was quite the black sheep. I lost touch with my family when I was seventeen and joined the merchant marines to see the world. Your mother was only a child at the time. And no doubt I was not often discussed after my departure."
"Where did you go?"
"I saw the world, my dear child, and learned many of its mysteries. I slept on the streets of Bombay, and climbed the Himalayas. I learned the dark secrets of the Casbah, and the mysteries of the pyramids. In Japan, I learned how to make money. I had quite knack for it, though it's an amusing game for me, no more no less…"
"What secrets?" she asked. "What mysteries… or is that just a figure of speech?"
"Oh, no, my dear. Not at all." Then he leaned forward. There was a strange look in his eyes. "You are my only living blood relation. That is why I have invited you to live with me. You will receive my knowledge… you will have a son…" for a moment Vanessa had the strangest feeling he was going to say "my son" but he did not, "and pass this knowledge on to him." Vanessa was silent. It was as if for a moment she was living in the nightmare again. But no. That was ridiculous. The fire crackling and the smell of wood was good and real.
Then, as if he could read her mind he said, "Tell me about the dreams you had."
"How… how did you…" He laughed. "Fevers always bring strange dreams don't they?"
"Yes," she said. "They were awful. Please… Please I'd rather not…"
"What are dreams, my dear? Can you answer that question?"
"I-I don't know. Your subconscious mind… something like that." He smiled in an almost arrogant way. "Ah yes," he said, "but what is this thing you call the subconscious mind. And who is the dreamer and who is the dreamed." Vanessa smiled, "I was never very good at this sort of thing in my lessons, I'm afraid."
"How can your mind create things that never existed?"
"This is all way above me, Uncle."
"The man with the bat wings, for instance," he said suddenly, staring directly into her eyes, "well, he…" Suddenly her eyes opened wide and her hand flew to her mouth. "How do you know about that?" she cried. "How do you know?"
"I have many secrets," he said. "I will teach them to you."
He touched her knee and a sharp current of electricity ran through her body. She recoiled from him in fear. "It is only energy," he said. "Do not be afraid of it. If you are, anyone can have mastery over you."
His hand remained on her knee and she sat there frozen with fear. Those feelings, those awful feelings were starting again. Was she still asleep? Was this still a nightmare? "Do not worry," he said. "Much will be revealed to you tomorrow night. For at midnight, we hold mass for the Church of Earthly Desire."
"Dinner is ready!" Billy Butter announced, entering the room. "Come my dear. You will eat a good meal and rest well tonight. For tomorrow is a very important day."
Never in her life had Vanessa known such utter terror as at that moment… an inexplicable but powerful terror. She had to escape. She was losing her reason. Aleister had lightly touched her arm to lead her to the dining room, and now she pulled away from his grasp and made a mad dash from the living room. She started to the front door, remembered it was locked, and ran as fast as she could in the other direction down the long hallway.
Then she felt a cold hand grab her arm. She tried to struggle free, to keep running, but he held her fast. "Little chicken don't run from the fox." She turned to see Kurt, the black chauffeur with the shaven head, his white teeth grinning at her in cruel amusement. Aleister was just behind. "Make sure, Kurt," he said, "that my dear niece will be available for the ceremony tomorrow night."