Page 34 of Dancing With Darkness

Whatever.

I guessed that was my life.

13

Slay My Demons

Isobel

“I don’t like this,” Trenton complained for what was likely the twenty third time in half an hour.

“No shit, brother,” Simon whined. “This place is nothing but bad juju. You’d think they both would have learned their lessons about this by now but nooooo. Here we are.”

They were both relentlessly whiny bitches who’d refused to help Ariel and I but also refused to allow us to go off without them.

Which is how Ariel and I found ourselves traipsing through the woods while carrying a body between the two of us. One of the guys could have easily carried him but, again, they’d refused to help.

They mostly just followed behind us, all the while whining and moaning about how stupid this whole thing was. Not to mention, how stupid they thought we were.

The whole thing was annoying but Ariel had actually refused to come without them and she’d refused to let me go on my own.

It hadn’t been like I’d asked her to tag along but I kind of needed her. No one would tell me where my keys were. I had used them for a ride and now I was paying for it.

Between Ariel and I we’d been able to bind the man from using his magic and knocked him out cold for a while. I would probably panic, lose my grip on my sanity, and light the forest on fire if he were to wake up right about now.

The longer I was in his presence the more I danced with the darkness residing in my mind.

The clearing came into view and I sighed in relief because the fucker was heavy. I couldn’t carry his weight for much longer, even with Ariel helping with the load.

For the first time since telling me she was coming with me Ariel hesitated just as we crossed over the threshold into the clearing “Isobel… are you sure you want to do this? None of us will think badly of you if you tell us you’ve changed your mind. We’ll take you home and this will be our little secret. We’ll never even speak of it again amongst ourselves.”

I shook my head and kept walking. She sighed heavily but kept pace with me. I didn’t care if she was disappointed or didn’t approve. I had to do this for me and I’d come too far to turn back now.

I didn’t take the time to enjoy the shitty view this time. That had fucked me over once already.

“Drop him,” I grunted at Ariel as I unceremoniously dropped the arms I had been holding onto. She made a relieved noise as she let go of his legs.

His body hit the ground with a heavy thump. I had no sympathy for the man whatsoever.

“So what exactly are we planning on doing with him here?” Ariel asked me curiously.

I was happy to hear there was no doubt or censure in her voice. She was merely curious and happy to follow my lead now that we were here.

Instead of answering her I put my boot on the man’s back and rolled him over with my foot until he was at the very edge of the hole.

I had no idea how far down the hole went, just that it got very dark and extremely cold down there. The last time I climbed down the ladder I’d lost all sense of everything when I’d made it about halfway down.

“I want him awake for this,” I told Ariel as I bent down and snapped my fingers in the man’s face. The magic was immediately broken and his eyes popped open.

I didn’t know how he did it but his eyes latched onto mine as if I were the only person he could see. It happened every time we were in the same space together, I was always his only focus.

“You can’t escape me,” he slurred. “Your fate will forever be tied to mine for as long as I live. I’ll never let you go until I’ve had my fill of you and I’m going to enjoy destroying you.”

I nodded decisively. Yeah, I’d thought it was something like that. “That’s not really going too work for me, asshole. I’ve had more than enough of your bullshit to last me a lifetime, so I’ve decided this ends right here right now. I was told I need to slay my demons if I want to be rid of my nightmares, so here goes nothing.”

I stood up, drew my foot back, and kicked him in the chest with all my might. He wheezed and choked as he flew backward.

I watched in sick satisfaction as he dropped down into the hole. The sheer panic on his face brought me pleasure. I stared down into the hole as the darkness swallowed him up. I heard his body hit the dirt but it was his screams that were music to my ears.

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