Page 31 of A Dance With Devils
Who’s that? Where? I recognise it. It’s part of me, like it was before.
I peer into the white noise around me, trying to find the black I was in. All white now, though. White and greys, fog and murky visions. Black smoke starts weaving through it, all of it swirling and turning in the wind. Windy? I laugh and let go of the rough surface to push myself into the smoke as it ebbs and squalls. So pretty, all mine. Just for me. Like eyelashes softly fluttering.
Laughter peels into the smoke. Not mine. Another laugh. Someone else’s. I stop and search for it, captivated by the sound of its rich, low tone. It sways through me like the eyes did, like the bass still does. He’s here with me. Part of me.
“Malachi?” Another laugh, this time trickling off to a near soundless chuckle. Rich, though. Like velvet churning in the wind, licking my skin. “Where are you?”
“Here.” My head snaps left, but there’s nothing but more smoke. “There.” To the right this time. I turn and spin through the smoke and fog, arms reaching for him in the mist. “You’re getting colder, Ally cat.” I am. He’s right. So cold. Alone, too, but for the sound of his voice drawing me. “Move that pretty ass before I forget I’m supposed to be chasing you down first.”
I’m shoved suddenly, pushed in a direction I can’t see. Thick fog now. Blankets of it like waves coming at me and only the slightest hint of black weaving through it. I stumble, hands out in the hope that I can see my tunnel and lightning again. I’ll find him then, be able to reach that feeling inside of me and cling to it.
Black suddenly, a thick ghost of it on my skin.
My hands bat it away, body turning to run. It doesn’t move, won’t clear. I can feel it all over me. Hands, heat, and heartbeat. Doesn’t make any sense. Nothing does. A kiss? I halt, surprised by the feel of weight on my lips again. No one there, though. But there is. I can feel the warmth, the sense of pressure. And the taste as it licks inside me – oh god the taste. Salty. So hot.
My fingers draw lines over my lips, then drag downwards to my neck, chest, breasts. “Please,” splutters out of me. I don’t know why. I just need to feel him. To find him. “Where are you?” I don’t like being alone now. Alone feels vacant and hollow. We’re not like that here. We’re one, two parts of one entwined.
Another sensation sends me sideways, and then another to counter that. Over and over the feeling lands on my skin. Pain starts following it. Real pain. Enough pain that my eyes begin watering and the world begins clearing of fog. My vision sharpens again to find trees and snow in the darkened gloom, millions and millions of trees towering so high in the sky I can’t see the tops of them. I’m outside, snow beneath my feet, and it’s as black as coal above me.
One final blast of pain and I spin in place to look at where it came from, my hand shielding my face from more. He’s standing there, about eight feet back, a smile on his face as he watches me cowering backwards.
“You taste nice,” he says. Taste? “Ripe.” What does that mean? “Ripe things get crushed. Split open. I want blood, Ally cat." I back away, hands reaching for another tree so I can use it as a barrier. He seems to move with me, his boots moving over the ground without him actually walking. The hell is that about? “Wake up, Ally cat. It’s not real. None of this is. You should run, try to escape me before it’s too late and you fall in love.”
Love?
I snatch glances around me, trying to work out where I am in this brain fog. I was inside, watching him dancing. And then he told me to run. And I was running – with him. He held my hand, made me feel safe and warm. And now I’m here – fearful. The castle?
Where is that?
Scanning the dark again, I start to see the shadowy imprint of it behind him. Solid walls. But towering so high. How did we get down here? There’s a ledge. A ridge half way up. Trees and lights glinting gently. Gardens maybe. I need to get there, get back to the warmth and the walls.
The thought makes me move sideways, ducking behind more trees in the hope that I can evade him.
“You think you can get home before me?” he says, quietly.
My head whips right, eyes focusing on a new place he seems to have appeared in. So black against all this white. Tanned skin, dark eyes. Dark boots inching over the ground towards me. “Outwit me, little Alice. Try.”
I grit my teeth, shift this damn dress up, and then I run.
I run blindly, all the time trying to keep my eyes glued to the light on that ridge. Stones and rocks pinch at my feet under the snow, branches whipping by my face as I navigate without any real sight to guide me. I’m laughing, though. Why am I doing that? I’m laughing and running as if it’s a game, sending quick, snatched squints behind me to see if he’s close. He isn’t that I can see, but I can feel him nonetheless. And the quicker I run, the more speed I pick up, the louder the laughter gets. I don’t even know if it’s my laughter, as I begin to climb. It could be his for all I know.
Everything’s a blur of sound, almost drowning out the beat inside me drumming so loudly. Branches crack, birds call, howling noises in the distance somewhere. I can hear them all vaguely, as my fingers scramble on tree trunks to pull me up a hill. Wind rushes by carrying more laughter. But all I’ve really got is the sound of this bass inside me and feet hitting the floor, his and mine. So close. So close I can nearly feel him on me, feel those lips again. I’m not falling for it, though. Can’t. Won’t. It’s not real, like he said. None of it is.
Another scrape of branch hits my legs, tearing a line through the skin. It doesn’t hurt, as I keep powering through the snow. Nothing hurts. I’m not even out of breath. The ridge and this deep bass, that’s all that matters. Get there before him. Win the game.
Run.
The fence line is in front of me before I know it, a gate swung open as if waiting for me to cross the threshold and prove a point I’m not sure of. Is there a point? I don’t know, but I’m through it and aiming at the side of the old stones before I analyse that thought anymore. I’m here. Back. On the ridge before he is. Outwit him, he said. Get home first.I got home first.
Chapter 14
Malachi
Iwatch as she scrambles the last of the paths up to me, her hands clawing at the stone to bring her closer. On the edge. Very close to it. I smirk and gaze at her small feet navigating effectively, watching as she shivers against the cold that keeps grinding in further in each next minute. Should have got her a coat really before I dragged her out here, but the thought was on me too quickly and the need was too strong. So many colours still. Bright and vivid against all the snow here.
Pretty.
Pretty little Alice with her cunt in someone else’s mouth. I was annoyed about that. Rage filled and malevolent. He felt it too. He felt it in his jaw first, and then in the stomach, as I followed the instinct that flowed seamlessly because of these pills inside. No calm. No consideration for what these people around me want or need. Just reaction.
