THE NIGHTMARE

Chapter 73

I sighed, left the window, and began to prepare to visit Rafael down in the dungeons. My visits to his cell had helped me remain sane because he freely shared his thoughts and we talked about practically everything. I kept those visits hidden from Valerian and Ivan, but I wasn’t stupid. I had stolen enough blood bags from the kitchen downstairs to warrant a report to Valerian. I didn’t really care. I’d already decided to fess up whenever he confronted me about it, but not a moment before. I dressed quickly, went down to the refrigerator downstairs, and fetched some more blood for Rafael.

Then I marched off in the direction of the dungeons. On getting there, I found Rafael to be good company as always. Talks of the day we had met and Valerian’s inadequacies both as a husband-to-be and as a host were no longer routinely discussed in these visits. I had made it clear that I was fed up with that line of questioning, and those days Rafael found new mind power challenges for me instead.

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