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me.” Moon held out a document and a pen.
    “Well, I’ll need to read it first.”
    “No need for that, Miss Black. I can assure you everything is all right. It’s only full of the usual legal mumbo jumbo, nothing to concern yourself over.”
    “If she wants to read the document, then let her.”
    Moon eyed Jane pensively. “Drake, why don’t you take this young lady and show her where the refreshments are.”
    “I’ll go when I’m ready.”
    Drake grabbed her elbow to steer her away, but Jane shrugged him off.
    “Miss Black will join you in a moment. Don’t worry, I’m not going to bite her.” Moon gave a hollow laugh.
    “It’s okay, Jane. I know what I’m doing.” Even though she knew Jane was only trying to look out for her, Chase was embarrassed. Jane was making it seem as though she couldn’t think for herself. “Honestly, go on. Get me a drink ready, I’ll be over in a moment.”
    Jane bit her top lip. “Just you be careful girl.” She eventually turned away, obviously unsure whether she should leave her friend.
    Chase watched Jane and Drake walk toward a small bar at the far end of the room before she turned back to Moon and accepted the document and pen. She quickly scanned through the long text, noticing words like: relinquish, binding, waive, terms and prize. She tried reading it, but it went beyond her comprehension.
    “If you would just like to sign at the bottom, where it says signature,” Moon said, visibly agitated.
    Chase didn’t know what to do. She felt as though she was being rushed, as though everything was happening too quickly. She saw Moon watching her, impatient, and she thought about her house in the city and before she knew what she was doing, she signed on the dotted line and Moon snatched the document and pen back from her.
    “Welcome to Paradise , Miss Black. I hope you will be very happy here.”
    “Yes, I’m sure I will,” she said, her head spinning and her nausea returning.
    “Well, here are the keys to your new house. And now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some business to attend to. Drake will be available if there are any problems. There’s food and drink available for you, and please, enjoy yourself.” Without another word, Moon walked away and left the building.
    Chase watched him go before looking at the keys in her hand. She couldn’t believe the house was really hers. She felt like jumping up and down and screaming with joy, but she thought better of it – she didn’t want the locals to think she was mad. Hurriedly, she crossed the room, jangling the keys in front of Jane who shook her head.
    “So you’ve done it then. Well, I hope it makes you happy, I really do.” She passed Chase a glass of wine. “Here’s to the future.”
    “Cheers.” Chase clinked glasses, a toast. “By the way, where’s Drake gone?”
    “I don’t know, he just made some excuse and wandered off.”
    Chase looked around the hall and spotted Drake lurking near the man with the knife.
    She looked away, smiled at a pleasant looking old lady with grey hair tied up in a bun. The lady barely nodded in response as she continued to converse with a short, grey haired old man, stealing furtive glances when she thought Chase wasn’t looking.
    “Well this is fun.” Jane shook her head.
    Chase ignored the sarcasm, too concerned by the sly glances she was attracting. She felt as though everyone was talking about her.
    She noticed Drake ushering the man with the knife out of the room, and she relaxed slightly. Knives made her nervous. As she stared at the gashes he had made on the wall, she noticed there was an order to them, the semblance of a word: hell .
    She shivered.
    Outside the window, the fog obscured the view, and for a moment, Chase thought she saw a ghostly face at the glass, peering in, the features pained and forlorn, the eyes dark and foreboding. Thinking it was a reflection, she looked around the room for the source, but couldn’t find it. When she turned back