“Go!” Kitty urged her sister and stood up from the stool after her. The torchlight was still at a distance, so perhaps there was still time to sneak out and behind some rock or some corner or—the door swung open, tripping her sister over, and a wicked presence appeared in the doorway. Kitty barely avoided the wooden door as it swung and stood right by the wall and the doorframe as the man took a step inside.<br/><br/>“Such loyalty!” he spoke out loud at the sight of the green-dressed girl on the floor, "Already she shows her respects!”<br/><br/>Before Kate could crawl away, he descended on one knee and laid the bare hand of his coated arm on her delicate shoulder, from where the fleshy fingers took a solid grip around the back and side of her neck. Kitty squealed, but Kate was in peril, so her instincts sent her into a violent pounce towards the man, only to be stopped by his other hand that took a choking grip around her throat.<br/><br/>“This one, not so loyal,” he laughed and raised his head to gaze at the girl on the stairs while pulling Kitty closer to her twin, “How about you, young warlock? Have you been loyal to me?”<br/><br/>“Yes,” the girl whimpered and curled into a tighter ball under her robe. The twins were forced up onto their feet as the man ascended into full posture and straightened his arms in front of him, each hand now in an identical grip around a neck, the girls faced directly at him.<br/><br/>“You’ve done well, warlock,” he spoke and idly eyed each twin in turn, “As promised, I will not touch you today.”<br/><br/>“Thank you, master,<i>I said, relieved, and wished he’d go away,</i>” the girl replied, and the man responded with cold laughter.<br/><br/>Kitty’s entire body shivered as she made every effort to pull off the fingers on her throat, but they remained strictly unmoved. Her legs were too far away to kick him, and even though she tried, maybe just to sting him with a heel, the dress kept getting in the way, and his tightening grip diminished any chances of success.<br/><br/>“Please let us go,” Kitty’s voice spoke but was too weak for him to even note its existence. Behind him in the doorway, the torchlight in the distant background got obstructed by the silhouette of a hooded figure, then by another two, and it suddenly became much darker in the room.<br/><br/>“Unfortunately,” the man spoke at the warlock again, “We are not to harm the innocents, so my<i>men</i>must find their release elsewhere. I will not touch you, but they are not bound by any such obligations. Next time, choose your words wisely, young warlock—or don’t, all the more fun it is for me.”<br/><br/>The girl at the stairs was already crying, and as the black-hooded men passed by the twins, a disgusting, pungent scent forced in through Kitty’s nostrils even though she tried to control her breathing. When the doorway was clear, the skinless oppressor took steps backwards until he’d dragged the girls outside. At a short distance in front of the house, there were half a dozen more hooded figures, two of them holding a torch, and the rest of them wielding metal blades that glinted in the orange light.<br/><br/>“As for you,” the hoodless man spoke at the sisters, now with a less dominant tone, “Consider this the first of your many trials. If you have the slightest of an idea of what is about to take place in this house, you might want to consider your answers carefully.”<br/><br/>There was desperate banging of the upstairs door and then a scream that came out clear through the open door behind the twins. There was a chorus of deep laughter of the three men and then the ripping of a heavy piece of clothing, which Kitty pictured in her mind’s eye as the dark-brown robe on the freckled, brown-haired girl. There was another scream, and then the skinless man stared straight into Kitty’s eyes.<br/><br/>“You,” he said and chuckled at the sight of her fear, “I am not allowed to harm you, but with your permission, my tongue will have a little taste of your pretty face. If you do this, I will call off my men.”<br/><br/><i>What?!</i>Kitty’s eyes spread in shock. There was a loud, heart-tearing<i>aahhh-aaaaahh!!</i>from inside, and so she could think of only one answer on the spot.<i>Trial?! What kind of trial is </i>this<i>? Is he just making things up?</i><br/><br/>“Yes,” Kitty mumbled, and the otherworldly light in the lidless eyes shone brighter. The muscle-coated jaw parted open and a large tongue extruded from the dark depths of his mouth. It was a human tongue, but the color was all wrong, and there was a smell that made Kitty whimper in repulsion. The moment the wet tip touched her skin, she burst into a muffled crying, which she barely managed to swallow by the time he was done; it was quick, just a short lick up along the cheek, but the foul saliva remained as a reminder.<br/><br/>“There,” he said and pulled back, “That was not so bad, was it?”<br/><br/>When the monster of a man turned to face her sister, Kitty convulsed in a horrid realization that this test of hers had been a trick.<br/><br/>“You!” the man grunted and stared Kate into her pale blue eyes, “After I have called off my men, unless you agree to my request, I will send them straight back inside. They will continue to do—”<br/><br/>A desperate<i>hnn-aaaaahhh!!</i>carried out through the door and the open window.<br/><br/>“—this, until every last one of them is satisfied. It’s a simple request, really,” he said, released his grip of the girl, and gave Kate a small push backwards on the porch, confident with the sister still as his hostage, perhaps even regardless of the fact. From the pocket of his long coat, he produced a large vial of turquoise liquid, offered it to Kate, and said, “Drink this.”<br/><br/><i>“Run,”</i>Kitty squealed, and the man reacted merely with a laugh.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>