Page 29 of Demons & Damnation

As she sat down in the passenger seat of Kyla’s Audi, Kyla raised an eyebrow at the rather daring keyhole neckline of her friend’s dress. Stretching from the bottom of her neck to the bottom of her cleavage and yawning over the side of both boobs, it was more than a little tease.

“That’s a little more revealing than normal for you,” Kyla said.

Sam glanced down and patted the yawning oval shaped hole baring her chest. “I know but the rest of the dress is perfect. Maybe it’s time I switched up my fashion a little. What do you think?”

Kyla tore down the driveway, the sadistic part of her wishing for the stones to hit Dylan’s impeccable car. “I think you look hot as always. You could wear a bin bag and somehow make it look hot.”

Sam giggled and took in Kyla’s choice of dress for the evening—a forest green wrap dress with a slit up one thigh, currently revealing her left leg as she worked the clutch on her car. With a deep sweetheart neckline, it didn’t leave much to the imagination for her chest either.

“Someone looks dressed to kill tonight,” Sam said, winking at her friend. “Anyone would think you were on the pull.”

Kyla laughed. “When you see those two, no amount of rich old men will take your interest, trust me.”

Sam tipped her head back and laughed. “There is no man on this earth hot enough to pull me away from rich old men. Trust me.”

Kyla grinned. “With how those two look, I’m tempted to say they’re not of this earth. Just wait and see.”

“Well, I came dressed for the part,” Sam said smoothing her dress down. “So we’ll see if they’re Sam Mohun worthy.”

“Oh they are,” Kyla replied, clicking her tongue. “We just need to agree who takes who.”

“What if they both want me?”

Kyla laughed. “Then you get both. I can find my own entertainment for the night.”

Sam bit her lip. Now would be the perfect time to tell her friend she knew about her and her brother, but seeing Kyla as her normal self, not a word mentioned of her horrific day, Sam knew this was not the time to pick her battle.

“Ky,” Sam said, keeping her voice quiet and calm. “Can I ask you a question?”

Kyla frowned and looked at her friend out of the corner of her eye. “Why are you being all serious? I hate it when you get like this.”

“Just humour me. Please.”

Kyla pressed her lips together and sighed. “Ok. Go for it.”

“Do you ever think about the future? You know, old age, and wonder what it holds?”

Kyla held her breath as a shot of adrenaline burst free from her heart. “Why are you asking me that?”

Sam swore at herself mentally. She should have just kept her mouth shut. Trying her best to be casual, Sam replied, “I was just thinking about things, you know? We’re thirty and—”

“I can do maths, Sam,” Kyla said, her tone sharp. “And I’m perfectly aware of how old I am.”

“Well, I was just thinking it would be nice to actually settle into a stable relationship, none of this chasing around on a Saturday night, looking for the next euphoric hit. Do you know what I mean?”

Kyla fixed her eyes on the road ahead, her heart pounding, her veins tingling, and her mind racing. Pressing her foot down further on the accelerator, she hurled them around the country road corners, her tyres squealing as they scrabbled for grip on the damp roads.

“I just wondered,” Sam said, trying to fill the awkward silence. “If you’d had any thoughts about your life going forwards?”

Without warning, Kyla stomped on the brake pedal. Both of them jerked forwards, their seatbelts snatching back at them as the car skidded sideways across the road, its headlights pointing out over flat, empty waterlogged fields.

Glaring at her friend, Kyla stared Sam straight in the eye, and asked, “Where is this coming from?”

Sam sucked in a deep breath, trying to quickly figure out the best answer here. Ignoring the rising fear in her body, Sam mustered up her most innocent voice and replied, “I’ve just been thinking about things. I scrolled through Facebook earlier and saw some posts from our old school friends, Jenny, Nicole, Becky, remember them?”

Kyla scanned her eyes across Sam’s face, trying to guess her next move. “Yes, of course I do.”

“They’re all married now. Jenny has three kids, Nicole has just gotten married in Dubai, and Becky has two kids with a doctor.” Sam shrugged her shoulders. “It just made me wonder about life in general and why neither of us have that. It made me reevaluate things shall we say.”

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