Page 9 of The Devil Within

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” His stale beer breath makes my stomach roll in disgust as he leans down into me. “I said, I wanted to buy you a drink.”

The drunken asshole from the bar grinds his pitiful cock against my ass as he tightens his grip on my arm. I hiss in pain at his aggressive touch. I was so focused on my stalker that I didn’t notice this fucker following me. And now I’m alone with a very different type of monster. His free hand moves dangerously high up the back of my thigh, skimming the bottom of my dress. I squirm and try to fight against his assault but he holds me tightly. My chest begins to constrict as memories of feeling helpless flood through me. Panic and a sudden urge to fight simultaneously take over me. I scratch and claw at his hand but he’s stronger than me. He pins both of my hands in one of his meaty paws. His fat fingers, his disgusting breath, his scent, his aggression, are all assaulting and overwhelming me. My fight or flight response is kicking into overdrive.

“Get the fuck off of me, you drunken asshole!” I shriek, hoping and praying that someone—anyone—will hear me as Idesperately fight against his hold.

“Come on baby,” his fingers slide against the hem of my underwear, threatening to attack where I least want them, “you look like you’re down for a good time.” His thick, sweaty digits slip beneath the fabric and I feel bile rise in my throat. “You’re clearly asking for a good dicking dressed like that and dancing around like a desperate little slut.”

A tear slips from the corner of my eye, streaking down the expanse of my heated cheek as his finger rubs against my folds. I desperately try to buck him off but he’s so much bigger and heavier than I am. I feel the suffocating weight of anxiety crushing my chest as helplessness sets in. I promised myself I’d never be weak enough to be a victim again after what happened when I was younger. I’m not giving up now. If he thinks I’ll give in without a fucking fight, he’s got another thing coming.

“Fuck off!” I manage to grit out between my clenched teeth. I squeeze my eyes shut and ready my head to swing backwards, hoping I can hit him hard enough to get away.

But then, just as suddenly as he grabbed me, his weight disappears. I suck in a desperate breath, air finally filling my lungs. A sudden crash slams into the wall next to me causing me to jump. I’m terrified, confused, and hurt. I take another deep breath and slowly peel my eyes open.

Next to me is my assailant, his body pinned against the brick wall. His eyes are bugging out of his head and his mouth is flailing uselessly open and shut. Around his throat a large hand squeezes tightly. Long, thick, strong fingers hold him in a bruising grip against the wall right next to my face. My attacker looks terrified.

“You donottalk to her that way.” A deep and distorted voice rumbles from behind us. My front is still pressed against the bricks with my head turned to the side, so I’m unable to see the form holding the drunken asshole captive. But I don’t need tosee him. I know it’shim.

Slowly turning my head to look, I’m met with the face of a demon. The hood of his sweatshirt has been thrown back revealing a monstrous facade. His black and gold mask hides his face from me but I can feel his rage radiating off him in waves. A dark god of revenge and ruin holds my attacker against the wall, squeezing the life out of him. Is heprotectingme?

“It’s you,” I manage to whisper, pulling his attention to me. His head snaps in my direction even as he holds the other man firmly in his grip. “You’ve been following me?”

He doesn’t respond. He doesn’t need to. I know it was him. He cocks his head to the side, assessing me.

“Do you know where Celeste is?” I ask as fresh tears prick the back of my eyes.

He conveys nothing. He simply stares at me, refusing to answer any of my questions. White hot anger boils up inside me.

“Why?” I ask as I bring my eyes back to the fucker pinned against the wall. His skin is starting to turn blue from lack of oxygen. His legs kick wildly and his fingers claw at the hand wrapped around his throat, but it’s no use, he’s trapped.

“He touched what’s mine.” The demon’s distorted voice slithers out from behind the mask, wrapping itself around me and causing a shiver to run up my spine. I know he’s a bad man, but in this moment, he’s my savior.

Movement draws my attention back to my demon. When I look back he’s pulling something from his coat. He holds it out to me, the steel blade glinting in the low light of the hallway. A knife.

“This revenge is yours, my siren. Take back your power and show him you’re not to be messed with.”

I stare at the grotesque mask. It’s black and sinister with a long golden tongue slithering out like a serpent from the mouth. The sight of that tongue makes me clench my thighs and pull my bottom lip between my teeth. I know this man is dangerous anda stalker, butfuck, there’s something menacing and salacious about him that makes me weak.

A growl emanates from his chest as he watches me. “I sense your pussy dripping for me, love. But now is not the time. When I claim you, and trust me Iwillclaim you, it will not be with some drunken asshole watching from the sidelines.”

His words leave me as terrified as they do turned on, but he’s right. Reaching out my hand, I let my trembling fingers wrap around the black handle of the small hunting knife.

“I don’t want to kill him,” I whisper as I turn the knife over in my hand. “Just hurt him.”

“Such a violent little thing you are, my sexy siren,” my masked man coos as his hand reaches up to tuck a lock of fallen hair behind my ear before moving to point to the side of my assailant’s paunchy stomach. “Stab him here, not too deeply, and drag the blade only a few inches forward,” he instructs as he points with his free hand. “As long as your cut remains shallow, it’ll hurt like a bitch but won’t kill him.”

I push off from the bricks and fully turn to my attacker. The man who had me helpless and at his mercy a minute ago is now frightened and flailing against the punishing hold containing him. His eyes are full of fear, begging me for mercy—mercy he didn’t show me moments ago as he tried to assault me. I’ve been helpless and terrified before at the hands of a monster. I have no doubt that even if it wasn’t me, this creep would have been someone else’s worst nightmare tonight—a monster hiding in plain sight. I’m ready to show him what he gets when he preys on women.

I shove the knife into his stomach right where my demon instructed. Blood spews from the wound, coating my hand. But I don’t stop. I drag the blade through his flesh. It’s more difficult than I thought it’d be, the skin providing resistance and snapping against the serrated edge of the blade. When I lookup, the man’s face is contorted into grotesque pain and horror. His mouth opens in a silent scream as his windpipe is still held firmly closed. A single tear falls down his face, getting lost in his stubble.

Good; now he knows how it feels to be powerless.

I pull the blade from his flesh and loosen my grip. As it clatters to the ground, blood splatters my shoes and the floor. My demon pulls the man closer, so close their noses touch as he growls, “You ever come near my girl again, and I will gut you like a fucking pig.” His mask must have a voice distorter in it because it sounds inhuman as he finishes threatening the man that I just stabbed. “Understand me, asshole?”

The other man sobs and nods frantically as a pool of blood begins to form beneath his feet while I watch in shocked horror. Suddenly, he’s thrown backwards. His head bounces off the wall as he slides down it then crumples to the floor in an unconscious heap.

The noise and violence seems to shake me out of whatever trance I’ve been in. I realize what I’ve just done, what I’ve allowed to happen, and who I’m left alone with. My masked monster turns to me slowly. Laughing at the violence we’ve just perpetrated. Before he can reach out to grab me, I run. The sound of my frantic footsteps echo off the walls as I flee down the hallway as quickly as I can.

As I reach the end of the hallway, almost back to safety, I hear him call out from behind me, “I’ll be seeing you soon, my sweet siren.”

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