Page 60 of Demons and Debts
I scuttle down the wooden steps of the deck and around the side of the house, grabbing my backpack and throwing it over my shoulder. I don't take the driveway cuz I'm not a fucking idiot.
I go off into the woods in the direction of the road, but halfway there I veer off to the right. I don't know why, but it’s a feeling in my gut that I've learned not to second guess, a part of me knows something that the rest doesn’t and its usually right.
Making my way through the trees slowly because it's dark and I'm travelling by the light of the moon, I wonder if there are ravines out here and if I’d see one in time to stop myself from falling to my death. There’s nothing to do but keep going now though. I’m committed to Plan B.
I'm heading for something, but I don't know what. I can feel a buzz, but it's not electricity, it’s something I'd never felt before until I got to this house and there’s less of it – whatever it is – close by, so that’s the direction I’m headed.
I see the road before I leave the tree line. It’s deserted, but I won't be traveling along the side of it anyway. I just want to cross it to get off the MC’s property. There’s a path in front of me, like a little animal trail, and I follow it, but as I move down it, someone grabs me, covering my mouth.
Not again!
This is fucking ridiculous.
I try to scream, but it's way too late for that. Is it one of the guys from the deck? My body goes rigid as I’m hauled off my feet and into a hard chest.
‘What’s this?’ says a harsh whisper in my ear. ‘A little human girl lost in the forest?’
The grip tightens painfully. ‘I'm not going to overlook the fact that you cameright to this spot,’he growls, and it's not the sound of his voice that I recognize, it's his scent; like leather, and a flower I can't name.
Korban.
His hand is still around my mouth, so I can't say a word as he squeezes me. I let out a whimper as his arms constrict me like a snake. How long before my bones begin to break?
‘Please,’ I cry, the sound muffled by his hand, and he moves it away as he breathes me in deep, making me shiver.
‘No screams, little human?’ he asks.
‘Who am I going to scream for?’ I wonder aloud and I hear a low sound escape from him.
‘Who, indeed?’ he purrs, and I get the feeling I’ve misunderstood something.
‘What are you doing out here,’ he asks.
I tell the truth. ‘Trying to escape. Obviously.’
He lets me go and I turn around to face him. Even in the dim light, he looks remarkably unscathed for a man who was in a fight just last night, but I guess he did win so …
I glance up. The moon is obscured by cloud, and I can't see anything. I take a step towards the boundary, and he takes two.
‘You're not getting out,’ he says, and he sounds so fucking happy about that.
My lip curls into a sneer.
‘Fuck you,’ I mutter.
‘What did you just say to me?’
‘I said, fuck you. Fuck you and the Iron I’s and your supey dicks and your dumb, massive house. Just let me go so I can leave town and my friends will be safe!’
Close to tears, I lunge for the boundary, but of course he catches me. I find myself on my back, the wind knocked out of me as he throws himself on top of me, making my ribs twinge for the first time since I took that clearlymagickallystrong painkiller Theo gave me.
* * *
Korban
I catch her easily,throwing her on the ground and straddling her. She struggles under me until my hand wraps around her throat and I cut off her oxygen.
She freezes.
