Chapter Twenty Two

"Leave us," Perdita ordered. Seal's former companions, now her betrayers, exited as ordered. Creighton's eyes lingered on her as he exited. Was he concerned for her? Seal could not tell. The heavy doors shut behind them, leaving her to the mercy of the Sister. Beth remained in the corner, cowering. Seal wanted to yell to Beth: Run as fast as you can, jump out of the hole! The doll would survive the fall and maybe she could escape. But Seal knew Beth wouldn't abandon her, and she now knew she needed Beth.

"What an interesting thing," Perdita said. Beth turned and ran as the woman approached, but the Paleskin moved swiftly, appearing almost to float towards the small doll. She grasped it around the waist and lifted her to eye level. Beth noticed blackened stains on the evil sister's teeth. Perdita held the doll close to her nose and inhaled. "Quite interesting," she said.

"Put her down," Seal yelled.

"I promise to be gentle. This is a prize." She looked under Beth's sewn on clothing, scrutinizing it. She squeezed her, first gently, then with more force, testing to see if the living buckskin doll could feel pain. If the Buckskin doll had working eyes, they would have been wide and staring in terror. "Don't worry, I will keep you as a pet," she said.

"I'm not a pet," Beth shot back. Perdita dropped Beth, and the doll ran over to her sister, who picked her up and tucked her away.

"We have special plans for you. You arrived three weeks ago? I lost track. It is difficult enough for us to track in the living world, and it is that much more tedious where nothing ever changes. But we have eyes all over and knew the moment you arrived."

"Did you bring me here?" Seal asked, hoping to learn more.

"If I said yes, would that change things? No it would not." The Paleskin walked over to the Spiritseeker and pressed her fingertip down on a single spike, tilting the ball back and forth.

"Still no harm in telling you we had nothing to do with your arrival. Some foolish power brought you here. But fortunate for us. The way out has been sealed for a long time, and through you, we will change that."

"Why me?" Seal didn't understand.

"Have you ever played chess?" Perdita asked.

"Only a few times." Her grandfather liked to play it with the entire family.

"And you lost often, I suppose?"

Seal remained quiet. She never won against her grandfather. After she lost, they'd play Battleship, where she had a chance of winning. Sometimes she thought he let her win, but he always played hard at chess.

"Chess is a favorite of mine. We've been playing the game with you since you arrived. We put our pieces in play, William the Patchwork man. He had been our spy in the wilderness. He travels with unsuspecting groups that are not strong enough to survive in our camps. We let them escape hoping they will lead us to our enemies and they become our eyes and ears. William listens to their news and when they stop proving useful, he kills them and finds a new group. He led that group to you. If they survive, it is only because of you." As Perdita spoke, a servant led another Paleskin in. Seal assumed this was the blind Sister. "Let me introduce you to my sister, Merrivale."

"Hi, Sister," Merrivale greeted her. "So, this is the girl. She smells filthier than I expected."

"Oh darling, Sister, you know she has been living hard for the past three weeks," Perdita remarked. "But let us continue. Along with William, we sent a messenger to Karl. We did not know if William could find you. But we knew the road would attract you. And then we come to Creighton. He only had to make sure you came directly to us, and that you didn't make it to the cursed Hollow Lord."

Seal realized they called Pavel Sted the Hollow Lord. She wondered what he had done to earn that name. Creighton also hadn't done his job at all. Maybe there was still hope. Maybe Pavel would save her.

"Just one of them would have been enough to lure you here. Imagine your luck to run into all three."

Seal knew she was trapped in a Wizard of Oz story. The last Wašíču story her father read to her. It had been obvious to her the night she slept at Pavel's house, when she still had hope that her three companions would help her get home. But they were no scarecrow, tinman or lion. Instead, it all went wrong. How would she save her sister and Javin now?

Perdita grabbed her chin with her pointy fingers to keep her attention. "You came with another," the blonde vampire spat out. "A boy. Unlike you, he has no value and we sent our best tracker to kill him. By now your friend is either dead or his sustenance. It does not matter to us."

"No, not Javin!" Beth cried against Seal. Her sobs vibrated on Seal's shoulder. Seal wouldn't accept that Javin was dead.

"It's okay to cry, dear. We understand losing what you love."

"I don't think you've ever loved," Seal said. "Ever!"

"You are mistaken," Perdita said angrily. "We all loved deeply, and that love made us what we are today. We are a product of love and it made us weak until it made us strong." Seal realized that all the Paleskins had been like her, once human. These two could have been nice once.

"You will not turn me into one of you," Seal said.

Merrivale huffed. "That would be a waste."

"We need you for another reason," Perdita said. "We brought you here because you had the power to enter this world, and you have the power to leave this world. Do you know why you are here?"

Seal remained mute and shook her head. A small lie.

"Do you know what this does?" Perdita asked. She held the Spiritseeker in her hand. Her long fingers fit in between the sharp spikes. She held it delicately and moved it towards Seal. She felt its pull and retreated against the wall. Perdita rushed in and grabbed her by her shoulders. Her hot sour breath was close to Seal's neck. Seal could feel that the Paleskins did not want to wait. She wanted to steal her blood now.

Perdita pressed the Spiritseeker close to Seal's cheek, not quite touching it with a pointy end. Energy buzzed through the thin, sharp spikes. Seal stopped struggling under the threat.

"Oh soon, but not yet," Perdita said. The Sister fastened a long chain around Seal's waist, secured to the wall.

"We use this to call on lesser spirits of your people to tell us secrets. That is how we knew all about you. It is how we sent a message to William and the others to look for you. A spirit bird can cover distances quickly. All it takes is the energy and blood of your kind. The animals tell us things, against their will. A snake told us about you. Do you want to know what he told us?"

"How I can beat you?" Seal said defiantly.

They both laughed at her. "You have no powers and no magic." Seal's eyes widened. Did this mean the Sisters had magic too? Maybe stories weren't just stories. With all she had seen, nothing seemed impossible.

"You are a mere pawn. You will help us complete the Lakota Rites so we can escape into the living world. Your bleeding. That completed one of the rituals. At the end you will catch this and you will help set us free. That is another ritual. Yes, we know them all." Perdita tucked the Spiritseeker into a thick-walled leather bag and the buzzing quieted. "Your dead ancestors are too weak to bind someone powerful. The living, however, can. Do you know who you will summon?"

Seal knew the answer: the White Buffalo Calf Woman. But she lied, not willing to play their game. "Is it Iktomi," she said instead. Iktomi the trickster spider, the one that reminded her so many times of Javin.

"No, you fool." Perdita yanked on the chain, forcing Seal down into a sitting position. "You are the key to bringing forth the White Buffalo Calf Woman. She hides like a coward. She is weak. You will make her physical and then we will feast on her power. The gates that close us off from the world will break and we will triumph. We will slaughter the slaves and use the strength they give us to enter the world above."

"And rule it," Merrivale added.

"She is stronger than you," Seal yelled out in defiance.

"Stupid girl. All of this is because of us. You are here because we chose you. Your sister inhabits this doll because we sent her back to complete the keeping of the soul. All that has happened is because of us." Perdita kicked Beth's doll body, causing her to fall flat against the floor.

The blonde Sister looked at Seal, tilting her head with mocking concern.

"You will meet our other sister soon. She prepares the ceremony. We will put you on display in front of the Lakota dead. You will complete the remaining rituals and then we will kill the Buffalo Woman and there is nothing to stop us," the Dark Sister said with finality.

"You have lost. Stay here with your sister. This doll. Do what you know you must. At night, we will take you down to prepare for your sacrifice." Seal knew they were trying to rob her of any hope she might have. The two Sisters left and locked the door behind them, taking the Spiritseeker. Seal heard them give commands to guards outside the door. The room stayed empty except for the two living Lakota sisters.