Page 60 of Presence

“And now?” I ask.

“Now what?” he replies.

“What will you do to me now?”

He chuckles, a low, menacing sound. “Do you really want to know, my Little Soul?” His smile twists into something dark and sinister. “If you do, I’ll tell you everything. The whole truth.” His eyes glint with a predatory gleam. “I could reveal what I’ve done to you during those nights you writhed in bliss. Every agonizing, exquisite detail. But I know how much you savor the doubt, Clarity. You love the suspense, don’t you? The not knowing. The fear.”

My stomach churns as he mocks me with my dad’s nickname for me.

“No,” I whisper. “I don’t.”

“No?” he purrs, a sly grin widening across his face.”Then you do want to know what I did to your real body while you were crying out in ecstasy in your astral form? Really?”

My breath catches in my throat. Real body? Astral form?

“I...” I hesitate, my heart pounding in my chest. If he really was the presence behind everything, then whatever he did to me couldn’t have been good. If only I were stronger, I’d demand the whole truth from him. But the thought of his answer terrifies me. “I just need to know one thing,” I manage to say, my voice trembling, my resolve barely holding together. “Did you ever care for me?”

Why are you even asking about this? You foolish, foolish girl…

The answer is obvious. I must be as much of a masochist as he is a sadist. But I need to hear him say it was all a game. I need to have a reason to hate him as much as I’m scared of him.

“Oh, I did,” he says, stepping forward. The shadows pulse in response, flowing across the ground like inky tendrils. They coil around my ankles, brushing up my legs as if tasting my fear. “More than you could ever imagine.”

The malice in his tone… I couldn’t describe it even if I wanted to.

He reaches out, and an unseen force tugs me toward him, the darkness pressing closer. His power engulfs me, sinking deep into my bones. Suddenly, we’re only inches apart. He leans in, his long hair whispering against my skin.

“Why the worry, Little Soul?” he murmurs, his lips grazing my ear. “I was good to you. Now, you can be good to me too, right?”

He pulls away as quickly as he approached. The shadows around me freeze, and his gaze sharpens, searching my face. Then, his twisted smile widens, and he strokes my cheek, his touch icy against my skin.

“What are you going to do to me?” I ask again, my voice trembling. Facing him feels like staring death in the face. But, hell… Maybe it’s the same thing.

Just as that thought crosses my mind, something in Echo shifts. His smile fades, and he smacks his black lips.

“Don’t compare me to death, Little Soul,” he exhales, his voice cold. “He and I are nothing alike.”

“W-what?” I stammer.

“He takes everyone. I only take a select few. There is a difference.”

“So, you choose who you haunt?” My voice is barely above a whisper, my mind racing to understand. “You chose me?”

His smile returns, and his eyes narrow.

“Sometimes I think that it was you who chose me. Or maybe we just chose each other. What do you think?”

I don’t understand anything. I’m trying, but it’s useless. I chose him? I chose a demon to shadow me, to watch me every day, to embed this primal fear inside me? No way.

“You must be joking,” I say. Then, his black eyes glisten, and the shadow wrapped around my leg caresses me, creeping higher, wrapping my thighs like a blanket, teasing my bare skin. Unexpectedly, warmth blooms in my chest, traveling to my nipples, my abdomen, filling me until wetness pools between my legs.

“What are you doing to me?” I manage to say. “S-stop this.”

“Right. What am I doing to you, indeed?” His voice purrs in my ear, so close it sends chills down my spine. “You tell me.”

His mouth doesn’t move. It stays still in the bone-chilling smile that showcases his teeth perfectly. It’s the shadows themselves that speak to me in his voice. It’s like instead of being just his extensions like limbs, they are him. He is them.

He steps closer, his black eyes boring into mine as the shadows swirl around us, their embrace tightening like a web. The warmth coursing through me spreads, igniting every nerve ending with a dark pleasure.

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