They stared at each other, silently daring the other to speak first.

Credence had nothing to say to him, nor did she care to hear his voice.

The rope around her wrists was rubbing her skin to sore redness, but John made no move to free her.

She squirmed in her seat, impatience and hate mixing inside of her. When she could no longer stand the stifling quiet she gave a heavy sigh.

"The last time I saw you, your hands were around my throat."

John tilted his head, measuring her with suspicion.

"Now we're in a carriage," he said. "Time heals all, I suppose."

"Time...or someone else's command." She paused before asking, "Are you going to kill me?"

"I would like to," came the blunt reply. "I would find much pleasure in hurting you for what you did to me. But my master would see you to him intact."

"Your master," Credence spat. "What a good dog you are."

John turned to the carriage walls, but he had little more to look at than fabric lining.

"I thought you were dead," Credence admitted.

"I'm not. No thanks to you."

"You understand why I had to do it."

John turned back to her, a glimmer of curiosity in his eyes. "How did you break the spell over the cabin?"

Credence shrugged. "I'm powerful."

"Ah, yes. The little witch with strong blood. You certainly fared well against the towns, didn't you?"

"I would have escaped."

John snorted. "You don't have the faintest notion what they would have done to you there. You should be on your knees thanking me for sparing you such a fate."

"Sparing me? You're going to give me over to the Collector for a pat on the head."

"You've grown a lot cheekier. Influence of that old hag, I suspect. Shame what happened to her. He was not quick when he dealt vengeance there."

Credence felt no pity for Lilith. 

"You'll do well to stifle that quarrelsome nature," he continued. "Try such cheek with my master and he'll make sure it's the last time."

"Or maybe I'll marry him and become your queen." She smiled when John paled. "That old hag told me everything."

Tension filled the carriage. Credence's words meant nothing to her, for she had no intention of marrying the Collector.

Fear flashed in John's eyes.

"When you marry him, you will be my queen," he said quietly. "And I will serve you as faithfully as I serve my master. I hope you will remember who saved you from a miserable fate."

From his pocket he withdrew the contract that designated Credence as his property.

"Disgusting," he muttered. "I'll never understand humans." He studied the writing and clucked his tongue, then tore the page into several pieces and dropped them onto the carriage floor. "You're lucky I was there to guard you."

"Guard me? You saw everything then?"

"Not everything. But I knew where you were. I was always nearby."

Credence scoffed. "You don't know a damn thing about what happened in the school."

"I saw what became of it."

"You warned me at the tavern. How did you know about the Headmaster?"

"Doesn't take a wolf's nose to sense a monster, Credence. I knew the second I laid eyes on that thing that he was wearing a disguise—and not a very good one. Amazing how humans are so easily fooled. Almost like they want to be. They'd overlook the threat among them if it means no disruption to their simple lives. But I knew you would cause trouble. You always do. So I bided my time."

"I'm supposed to believe that under your watch I was never in real danger?"

"I didn't say that."

"Why not take me sooner? We could have left when I had work detail—why wait until the Auction?"

"How far would we have gotten, do you think, as a stranger dragging a child in a white tunic through the streets?"

"You could have brought me a change of clothing."

"And you wouldn't have fought and screamed the whole way out?"

Credence bit the inside of her cheek.

"I needed to wait and strike when the perfect moment presented itself. It's just like hunting, you need patience. Something you could learn a bit of."

"Well, I was in danger," Credence said with a pout. "Constantly."

"Does it matter? I got you in the end." He paused. "You really think I would have allowed that monster to hurt you?"

"He did hurt me," Credence said sharply. She touched her scarred arm before adding, "Funny thing for a pathetic beast like you to call him a monster."

John leaned towards her.

"I could hurt you, you know, and say the towns did it. I could place you at my master's feet in such a state that you'd have no capacity to run or argue. But I'm being polite. A tall order, given our past. You should consider extending a bit of courtesy towards me."

Credence laughed bitterly.

"All that matters is you're here now," he said. "On the path to where you were always meant to be." He stretched his legs and groaned. "How I long to be rid of this body!"

Credence didn't hear him, lost in a train of thought.

"You should hope I never take the Collector's hand," she said. "Because I still remember who tore my brother's leg open."

"I'd say you've more than repaid me for that." He tapped his cane against his leg. "It's healed mostly, not that you care. But it left a ghastly limp. For the rest of my life now, thank you very much."

"A leg for a brother. That's not a fair trade."

"I lost loved ones in that fight, too."

Credence raised an eyebrow at him, ready to argue, but decided against it.

"You have to admit, it was a clever trap I set in the cabin," she said.

"And I thought you might have room in your heart for remorse."

"For you? Never."

"Could be why my master likes you. You're remarkably similar."

That remark hit Credence hard. She never imagined anyone could compare her to the Collector.

"I'm nothing like him," she hissed.

John winked at her. "Don't be so sure."

They spent the rest of the ride in silence. John relaxed, content that his prisoner had nowhere to run. Credence stewed in bitterness. Panic pumped through her, urging her to fight, but she knew that if she tried to open the carriage door it would not budge.

Neither John nor the Collector would be foolish enough to give her that chance.

She thought of channeling her energy into a burst of power, but something held her back. Something told her to stay put.

This moment was not the right one.

Just as John said, she thought, I need to be patient.

She wondered if the carriage had been enchanted to keep her calm, though nothing tickled at her senses. In fact, she remained highly agitated, and the ride felt longer for it. Every so often John would look at her with satisfaction, and Credence had to resist the urge to lunge for his face.

The carriage stopped.

"Where are we?" Credence asked, desperate to get out of confinement.

"Home," John answered.

He moved quickly, opening the carriage door to step out ahead of her. He held his hand out to guide her down, but Credence brushed past him, jumping from the compartment and into the new world outside.

And what a curious world it was.

Just as it had been when she encountered the Collector's tree, the world's light was filtered through purple. It was a land caught in perpetual dusk, lit just enough to see, but ever-promising a swift descent into night.

There was neither sun nor moon in the sky, which swirled with the colors of dusk.

No sun or moon would ever rise, Credence instantly sensed. They had no place here.

The air was thick and humid, filled with the low humming of magic at work.

The most unsettling part of all was that the view before Credence was identical to the towns.

There were homes and shops and winding streets of paved stone, and even a raised stage at the center of it, that made Credence shiver when her gaze found it.

There were wells, animal pens, and even a gristmill with its wheel turning slowly by water. Signs hung outside several doors, advertising a range of services, from a baker to a dyer, a candlemaker, and even a florist.

Had they ridden so far only to circle back?

No, this wasn't the real towns, Credence knew, for there were three very important things missing.

The first was the great wall that surrounded everything.

The second was the fissure that cracked through the streets after Credence's battle with the Headmaster.

The third was life.

Wind swept through, swirling clouds of dust and dirt, creating a haunting whistle as it blew in and out of empty dwellings.

Not a single human or animal was present.

"What is this?" Credence whispered.

"My master's work. Every brick and window. Have a look at the shops and houses, meticulously crafted to the last detail. Exactly like the towns."

"I don't understand."

"He made it for you."

"Why?"

"Do you like it?"

"No."

"There are other places to see."

John pointed behind them, towards a cluster of trees that began a large forest.

"This way."

She followed him, shocked into quiet numbness. The imitation of the towns disappeared behind them and they were surrounded by the woods. 

They hadn't ventured far before they stopped—

Credence gasped and John smiled at her, mistaking her reaction as a sound of wonder.

But it was not wonder that took hold of her.

It was horror.

In front of them stood a replica of her childhood home.

"He can give you anything you want," John explained. "If you wish to walk through the towns, you'll walk through the towns. If you want to sleep in the home you grew up in, here it is."

He took her hand and led her further until they came to a serene lake with a short waterfall. The water was clear, revealing aquatic vegetation wiggling on the floor below. The waterfall splashed over smooth gray and white stones, giving a tranquil whispering of sound. Surrounding the lake was a field of flowers and grass, a blanket of softness that looked more inviting than any bed Credence had ever slept in.

"I...don't know this place," she said.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Enjoy it. Leave it alone. Do whatever you like, Credence. There's much more to discover. He built an entire world for you."

She turned to John. "That's it?"

"What?"

"I'm to enjoy it?"

"Yes."

"And what am I expected to give in return?"

John shrugged. "I've one last place to show you."

He led her back in the direction they came from, past the yard of her home, out of the woods and through the streets of the towns, to a field. They walked up a hill dotted with flowers and glowing mushrooms, and when they arrived at the top Credence's eyes grew wide.

In the distance was a long wooden drawbridge, and beneath it was a massive river sloshing under a strong current. The water was too dark to see through, and the thought of what lurked below gave Credence no small amount of apprehension.

At the end of the bridge stood an archway with its gate raised, leaving a peek of iron teeth at the top.

Beyond that archway, completely surrounded by the river, was a mountain of stone and metal.

Four towers reached into the sky, ending in sharp-pointed roofs that threatened to pierce the clouds above. Between those towers sat an equally impressive wall of chiseled rock, with arms of ivy sprouting through a multitude of cracks to blanket the stone beneath.

It was the most fantastic thing Credence had ever seen, but there was a foreboding quality to it, an ominous beauty that both begged her distance and beckoned her inside.

"This is his castle," John said with an air of awe in his voice.

Credence tore her gaze from the marvel and glanced at the empty world behind her.

"Where are all the people? The animals? Where is the life?"

"Do you want some?"

"He can't intend for me to live alone."

"You're not alone."

Oh, she thought, there's the trick.

She'd have no company here, save one.

If Credence wanted someone to talk to, confide in, or simply be around, she would have to choose—

Him.

"Clever," she murmured. "I prefer solitude."

"Whatever you desire."

"But I'll never truly be alone, will I? In this world, his world, he'll always be near."

A blade appeared in John's hand. Credence bristled, but John only cut the rope around her wrists before slipping the blade back into his pockets.

"What if I run?" Credence asked.

"Where would you go? Who would you run to? If you could ever find your way out, that is."

"I can find my way out."

John answered with an amused laugh.

"This is not a room, Credence. This is a world. The walls are vast. Too vast, I think, for you to reach their end, even after years of searching. You are welcome to try, of course. As I said, you are welcome to do anything here."

"Where will you be?" She instantly regretted how pleading her tone was.

"I won't be far."

"I don't mean that I want your company."

"I don't intend to give it to you." He nodded at the castle. "My master has commanded you to dine with him in his castle every night. I'll come to fetch you, to make sure you arrive promptly for dinner." John chuckled. "And we can continue our lovely chats."

"What if I refuse?"

"You eat with him or not at all."

"I might prefer starving."

"Easy enough to say that now. It's my charge to bring you to him, and it's your choice whether we walk together...or I carry you kicking and screaming. You can remain stubborn as long as you like, but it's to your benefit that you accept your new lot." He looked around them. "Not such a bad one, either—Oh! I almost forgot!"

He dug into his pockets and pulled out a book, a worn thing with charred edges and purple covers.

"A gift. To show he only desires your happiness."

He held it out and Credence snatched Ma's book from him. Her grip was so tight that her nails dug into its soft binding.

"He wants you to know that if you ever wish to see him, you need only call his name."

Credence barely heard him, for she was studying Ma's book with fierce interest. Tears stung her eyes at the instantly comforting feel of it.

"What if I—" 

She looked up but John had vanished, and not a trace of his presence remained.

A chill pricked her skin and Credence looked around, searching for any sign that someone was close by.

But there was only a castle.

And a silent, purple world.