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We reached the edge of the lawn with five minutes to spare. My heart pounded in my ears, and I bent over with my hands on my knees to catch my breath.
The house made a dark silhouette against the starred sky. The waning moon lit some of the corners and planes, and it looked like a movie set, two-dimensional with the shadows painted wrong unless you saw it from a certain angle. No light shone in any of the windows, and the manor seemed desolate and abandoned. I thought back to returning there that first night with Lonna, how we’d been unsure of what we’d find and how Gabriel had come down the stairs to welcome us. Some Lady of the Manor I turned out to be. Both of them were now held captive by mad scientists who would do God only knew what to them.
The usual night noises of the last o
