Page 40 of Wicked Flavors

Five.

Then silence.

The question now was, did she open the door and face what was behind it? Or should she follow the impulse radiating from her hand? She knew what old Gwen would have done, but she was unsure as to what this version of herself would do until she did it.

Gwen raised her hand into a fist, knocking back twice in a pattern that was meant to finish the tune. Slowly, she dropped her hand, eyeing the door.

Silence.

I’m losing my mind.Gwendolyn thought.I’m losing my mind to a demon.

Gwen wanted to step away and go back to cleaning her kitchen. She wanted to mop her floor, but she couldn’t. Something inside was demanding she open the door now. That she couldn’t do it before, but now she needed to.

Terrible things came to mind when she thought of what could be behind the door. Had the spiders taken over her bathroom completely? Would she open the door to find that they had infested every inch of her bathroom? Would she find a giant spider web waiting for her? Would the colony eat her the way the kids from her childhood said cats would eat the little old ladies who owned them? Gwen supposed there were worse ways to go, especially if she was no longer in her body. But Gwen had no intention of being eaten by spiders today.

The smarter decision would be to leave the door. A smarter decision would be to leave her apartment completely, perhaps even find a new place to live—a new city. But even if she did run away, Gwen knew Ambrosius would still be able to find her, no matter where she went.

Maybe it was better to confront the thing that she’d been trying to run away from. Before she could lose what little nerve she had left, Gwen grabbed the doorknob and opened the door as quickly as she could.

To her shock and horror, leaning in the door frame was the very demon that Gwen hated more than anything. She had only a moment to register his teal corduroy jacket before he opened his mouth.

“I knew you’d answer, my bitter—”

Gwen shut the door.

“…sweet,” she heard him finish.

Fuck.

FUCK!

Panicked, Gwen darted to her front door, clumsily shoving her feet into a pair of sneakers as she went. When she yanked the door open, she nearly ran her nose into the silver chains around Ambrosius’ neck. Gwen gasped, jerking back to look up at him in disbelief.

“Really, Gwendolyn, is this—”

She shut the door.

“…necessary…”

The balcony!

It didn’t matter that she had no exit strategy once she got to the balcony. All that mattered was getting as far away from Ambrosius as possible. Gwen wasn’t much of a runner—though, a younger Gwen would have argued that skating was a form of running—but she crossed the distance to the balcony in no time. She reached for the handle, sliding it open along with the vertical blinds, only for her eyes to widen.

Ambrosius was sitting on her patio chair, legs folded, as if he had been waiting for her the entire time.

“You’re being—”

Gwen didn’t bother sliding the door closed this time. She sprinted to her bathroom door. When Ambrosius wasn’t there, Gwen slipped inside, shutting the door with a slam behind her. She locked the door and stepped away, anticipating that he would be right behind it.

Her mind raced as she tried to figure out how to get out of her bathroom. There were no windows, as her studio was pressed against another. Most of the apartments mirrored a neighbor’s. Even if Gwen could smash through the wall like a sentient jar of sugar water, she would only end up in her neighbor’s bathroom.

Stop thinking about nonsense and start—

Suddenly, the door lurched as something slammed into it, causing her to jump involuntarily. Gwen swore the wood had cracked as she backed further into her bathroom. Was he…

Was he going to break the door?! Gwen would never get her security deposit back! Not to mention how much it would cost her to replace—

Another loud impact sent her stumbling backward. She had definitely heard the wood crack that time.

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