Der Schädelring: Thriller (German Edition)

withdrawal."
    He pressed the gun barrel more tightly into Julia's temple. "Ain't that right, Sister?"
    If they expected Julia to be insane after years of abusive psychotherapy, she wouldn't disappoint them. After all, Dr. Danner and Dr. Forrest had been hammering away at her, building false memories, turning her past inside out, making her believe in monsters. The first rule of victimhood was to have an obsessive desire to please others. If Snead wanted her insane, she'd be glad to deliver.
    "If the Master so wishes," she said, giving a smile that she hoped was appropriately empty.
    Snead pushed her toward the rocks. She nearly lost her balance, her hands still tied behind her back. "Go on," he said to her. "It'll be night soon. I don't want to be out here in the woods with all these idiots running around with guns. A guy could get hurt."
    They started up the narrow trail. Laurel thickets bordered both sides, the waxy leaves dark. The undergrowth was too dense to try for an escape. Snead pushed her forward, and she had no choice but to stumble toward the peak.
    The last of autumn's leaves flapped in the trees, and the air tasted of static. Julia looked for a chance to flee. She almost didn't fear getting shot. At least that would be quick and merciful. But she hated to lose to these Creeps, now that she knew how pathetic and weak they were.
    "Snead!" Hartley shouted, his voice nearly lost in the howling wind.
     As Snead turned, two hooded figures burst from the laurel. One swung a long heavy branch, hitting Snead across the back. The other tackled Snead around the waist and grabbed at his arm. Julia was shoved to her knees in the struggle. The pistol fired twice, and one of the men groaned in pain.
    Julia lurched to her feet. Hartley and Dr. Forrest hurried up the trail. The two men in robes held Snead down. Snead's face was bright with anger, blood seeping from one of his legs.
    "Damn you fools," Snead hissed. "Don't you see what he's doing? He wants it all for himself. He always has."
    "No, Judas Snead," Hartley said, breathing heavily. "Our Master wants it all. Because everything is already his." Hartley pulled a knife from his robe. "Including your sorry soul."
    Julia edged toward the laurels, momentarily forgotten by the Brotherhood. Snead kicked beneath the grip of his captors, but couldn't free himself. Julia noticed one of the hooded figures had a hole in the back of his robe. A dark wetness surrounded the hole.
    Shot through the heart. And still WALKING? What were these people made of?
    Hartley lifted the knife and shouted to the sky, "Accept this sacrifice, Satan, O Master of the world, though this soul be of little worth."
    Hartley bent over Snead, who uttered a string of curses. Julia looked away as the knife descended. Snead's scream turned to a gurgle and was stolen away by the wind. Julia looked at Dr. Forrest. The woman's eyes were hot with a mad inner bliss.
    Hartley stood and cleaned the knife on his robe. "Sorry to taint the blade with his blood," he said, smiling at Julia. "But the Master will forgive you. Are you ready to finish the mark and join us?"
    The pentagram. Hartley wanted to carve the final three lines to complete the scar. Then would come the surrounding circle in her flesh, the knife like cold fire beneath her skin. And at last she would be his, mind, body, and soul.
    And trust fund.
    If Satan owned the world, why did he need three million dollars? Sins were common. Evil was cheap. And spiritual emptiness was absolutely free.
    But she couldn't run, not with her hands bound and her path cut off. If she dove into the laurels, she'd become tangled in the branches. The peaks ahead were too treacherous to navigate with her hands behind her back. And the hooded Brothers had proven their cruel efficiency.
    The best option was to stall for time. Walter wouldn't give up, not while he still had a breath.
    "Join us, Julia," said Dr. Forrest. "Become the whore Judas Stone."
    Dr. Forrest held out her arms. Everything would be fine, all wounds would heal, the Master would forgive Julia's waywardness. Satan was the most compassionate of all the deities ever devised by humans. Satan allowed his followers free will.
    But free will also belonged to those who didn't follow.
    Walter wouldn't want me to surrender. He'd want me to keep fighting. I am a mountain. They can't break me.
    Julia imitated Dr. Forrest's rapt smile. "I don't want to be alone anymore, Sister."
    She stepped forward, between the two