Page 17 of The Devil Within

Erika laughs as her talons trail along my folds. I’m dry as a fucking desert. My pussy has absolutely no interest in this psycho bitch and her fucking games. In all fairness to her, some of it’s not her fault. Her father is an evil son of a bitch that abused her—abused both of us when we were young. No kid should have been through what we went through. The difference is, I turned my pain into strength and resilience where Erika let the pain fester inside her, turning her evil from the inside out.

“Daddy isn’t involved this time.” My head snaps to hers. I eye her inquisitively but she continues to grin back at me like a cat that got the fucking cream. Her father has always run the books here. The casino makes good money, but the illegal side of things is where he really gets to take advantage of people and gouge them for everything they have. If he’s not who my dad owes money to then what the fuck is going on here?

As if summoned from my nightmares, a man waltzes into the bar. Cloaked in sin and seduction, he walks as if floating on the flames of Hell. His dark suit is perfectly cut to his body. With slicked back dirty-blonde hair and eyes as dark as the depths of night, he’s a seductive monster. Chills run up my spine as his onyx irises lock on me and a slow smirk pulls at the corner of his lips.

Approaching our table, he stands above us as he assesses me. Something about him sets every instinct of mine into panic mode. I have absolutely no doubt that he’s dangerous. The sooner I can be away from him the better.

“Will, sit with us!”’ Erika whines in her annoyingly immature voice she uses with her daddy. The man seems unfazed as he drops to the seat across from me, his eyes never leaving mine. “Liv, my love, meet Will. He’s taking over some of Daddy’s duties.”

“Your father owes us a good chunk of money, Liv.” Will’s eyes assess me with a predatory fierceness that chills me to my marrow.

“We were just discussing her options to help pay back the debt.” Erika giggles as her fingers slide against my folds again, inviting me to play a game that I have no interest in participating in with these horrible humans.

“So let me guess,” I begin as I refuse to break eye contact with the man across from me. “I have to let him fuck me while I eat you out, Erika? Or let you both take turns fucking me?” There’svenom dripping from every single word out of my mouth but it doesn’t seem to bother either of them. “What are your demands this time?”

“Things are going to be run a little differently around here now. This is a business, after all. So, we want our money back, not a quick fuck.” Will leans across the table, his presence like a suffocating smoke swirling around me and stealing the air from my lungs. “All you have to do is let us film our time together, we sell the video, and the debt is cleared.”

My mouth falls open and I gape at him, completely unable to speak.

“If that’s not agreeable, we can always offer you a little something to be less camera shy,” Erika says as she places a small pink pill in front of my face on her finger. “It’ll make you feel sleepy. You’ll take a little nap, and when you wake up you’ll be debt free and you won’t remember a thing, babe.”

I shove her away from me as I glare between the two of them. “You want me to agree to be drugged so you can assault me, film it, and sell it?” I struggle to keep my voice quite enough as to not alert anyone around us. “Are you two out of your fucking minds?”

Will’s hand darts out quicker than I can react, snaking around my wrist. He holds me in a painfully tight grip. I wince as he pulls on my arm, dragging my upper body across the table toward him. Tears well in my eyes and I dare a quick glance at my dad. He’s oblivious; his focus is completely on the races on the television screens in front of him.

“I will get the money that I’m owed, Olivia.” The irises of his eyes are rimmed with rage. “One way or another.”

“Get the fuck off of me,” I demand in a low and even tone.

He immediately relents, releasing his fingers from my wrist and holding his hands up in surrender.

I rise to stand from the table. “I’ll get you your fucking money,but I’mnotdoing that.” I state far more boldly than I feel.

“Suit yourself.” Will leans back in his seat, crossing his arms over his broad chest. “But just know, lovely, that I always get what I want.”

I swiftly spin on my heels, wanting to get as far away from them as I can. I rush from the table, weaving through the hightops and people as quickly as I can. I’m desperate to get out of here. My dad probably won’t even notice that I’ve left. He will gamble away the rest of the day on that exact same stool.

“Call me, babe!” Erika hollers behind me as I push on the doors and practically run from the building.

I quickly unlock my truck and slump into the seat as I throw the door closed behind me. The door slams with such force that the entire cab shakes. I let out a frustrated groan and lean my head against the steering wheel. Part of me wants to just drive. I could drive away, get the fuck out of here, and just be free.

My phone buzzes in my pocket. The feeling dragging me from my thoughts. Leaning back, I pull the device from my pocket and look down at the notifications.

UNKNOWN: If you want to see your friend again, you’ll do exactly what I say.

ELEVEN

Olivia

WONDERLAND by Neoni

The air is heavy with cold moisture. It’s the type of cold that chills you to the bone and makes you feel as though the marrow deep within is frigid. Gray clouds block out the sun, leaving the world drenched in depths of stormy darkness. It could be early morning or evening. It’s impossible to tell here in the winter sometimes when the seemingly endless stretches of clouded days roll through the Pacific Coast.

Checking my phone, I see it’s five-thirty. The exact time mymasked stranger told me to meet him here. Yesterday, he sent me coordinates and told me to meet him at this location at this specific time. I have no idea where he is or why he wants me here. But if it means getting more information about what happened to Celeste then I’m willing to play along with this game, whatever it is. Which is why I find myself standing in the middle of an abandoned Halloween carnival. It shuts down every year after Halloween and sits dead and decaying in an empty field until the next year. It’s creepy as fuck right now. I’m not sure this will lead to any actual information, but it is for sure causing me to freeze my fucking ass off.

The rides are all off, silent, and unmoving. Dew dipped spider webs hang between the railings, leaving everything covered in a dark and shimmering glow. Once filled with loud music and bright lights is now devoid of life as if everyone here instantly vanished, leaving their ghosts to haunt the space. It’s cold and creepy; why the fuck did he want me come here?

“Hello?” I shout into the empty nothingness surrounding me.

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