Page 14 of The Devil and His Goddess

None at all.

She followed me into the kitchen to brew herself a quick cup of coffee while I snagged some water from the fridge. We parted ways from there, Aiysha retreating to her room and me to the home ballet studio.

Before I got started, I called my mom.

“My baby!” she squealed the moment she answered. “Frank! Todd, Mitch! It’s Harper.”

Laughing, I heard my dad and brothers stomping through the house as she put me on speaker so that everyone could hear me. “Were you guys busy?”

“We’re never too busy for you,” Dad answered.

“Hi, Harper,” came a sing-songy teenager’s voice. I instantly recognized it as Ryan, one of Todd’s friends.

Rolling my eyes at his flirtatious tone, I replied with a lighthearted smile, “Hi, Ryan.”

“Don’t talk to my sister like that,” Todd snapped at his friend.

Mom cut the boys off to demand excitedly, “So how was it? How was the work party? How was your first day back?”

Before I could answer, Ryan leaned into the speaker to say, “You looked great in your costume, Harper.”

“Hey!” Todd growled. “Do you wanna die?”

A scuffle broke out on the other end of the phone, followed by my mom’s unamused sigh. “Todd, we don’t put our friends in head locks. Let him go. You can’t help that our sweet Harper is pretty.”

“Verypretty,” Ryan shouted from somewhere farther away, which was followed by more yelling from both of my brothers now.

I laughed, just picturing my baby brothers scowling at Ryan and trying to wrestle him into giving up his flirtation. Even though Todd and Mitch were younger than me, they were fiercely protective and had gotten into plenty of arguments with their friends who tried making passes at me.

Only after the chaos settled on the other end did I tell them about the party and my first day back. They hung on my every word and were eager for my first show of the season. They never missed an opening night, not even my brothers, who didn’t care a thing for ballet.

When I hung up with my family, my heart clenched with longing. It had only been a few days since our visit, but I missed them already. I had to shake off that somberness to focus on the task at hand, though.

My body was already primed for dancing, but I stretched and rewarmed-up to the silence of the room, which was even more pronounced after hearing the chaos of my family. I had the blinds of the window shut, so I felt nestled in my own little world. These four walls made up my sanctuary, and I basked in the comfort of being here. I didn’t care how exhausted I got or what injuries I sustained. Dance would forever be my world.

After preparing my body to work on the bit of dance we’d been given today, I turned my back to the wall of mirrors to grab a drink. With the open water bottle now in my grip, I turned back around but froze mid-breath. The bottle slipped from my suddenly weak fingers. Water splashed onto the floor and my dance shoes, but I couldn’t give a damn. Not when my heart had fallen into my stomach and fear pumped my blood furiously.

Leaning against the mirrors was a large man dressed all in black. His arms were crossed over his chest in the picture of calm, and his masked face was tilted slightly as he regarded me. The mask hid everything behind a white skull face painted over black cloth, and two dark horns jutted up from the top of his head like some sort of monster or demon.

There was a fleeting moment where the two of us stared at each other, locked in a seemingly never-ending battle of stillness.

Then reason smashed into me with the weight of a dumbbell, making me spin on my heel to run for the door, a scream tearing from my lips. My heart raced harder than the organ should, and I grabbed the handle of the door to yank it open. Only, the door didn’t budge. I grabbed it with both hands and futilely pulled on it, but it was like the door had been jammed in place.

“Aiysha! Aiysha, run!” I screamed as I pounded my hands on the door, praying she could hear me. “There’s someone here!”

With a quick intake of breath, I spun back around and pressed my back as far against the wall as I could. The masked man hadn’t moved from his place against the mirrors, and he watched me with an amused tilt to his head. He didn’t seem like a man trying to stop me from escaping or getting help. In fact, he acted like he wasn’t worried at all, as if he knew something I didn’t.

My breathing came out hard and fast as I looked around me for something to use as a weapon. Aiysha’s dance trophies perched on a shelf over all of the framed photos, and some of those were sharp. Were they far out of reach across the room and too high for me? Yes. But I didn’t care. It was my best option in the face of danger. With a panicked glance in the man’s direction, I pushed away from the wall and ran for the trophies.

The stranger didn’t chase me. He studied me from his place against the mirrors, totally relaxed as if he were watching a movie. He showed no urgency in stopping me as I jumped and struggled to grab onto the built-in shelf near the ceiling. It was pointless, though. I couldn’t reach it. Giving up on that method of defense, I opted for fleeing again. There was no alarm in his demeanor as I spun around and ran for the window.

I shoved the blinds aside and used every bit of strength I had to pry it open, but like the door, the window didn’t give. Not even an inch.

I was trapped.

Intense fear swelled to life inside of me, causing my limbs to shake and my head to spin. I turned on wobbly legs to face the man and slinked along the wall, back in the direction of the door.

“W-What do you want?” I demanded. “Has it been you? You’re the one—”

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