Page 53 of Unbinding the Demon
“No.”
An excited gleam twinkled in his golden gaze. “You were drugged and almost kidnapped. Whatever they used was extremely toxic. You were coughing up blood and then passed out.” He used a sympathetic tone while caressing my cheek.
And then, all the memories of the night pummeled me like a pile of a thousand falling cinder blocks...Holy fucking dicks on a stick! This diabolical motherfucker went all Freddy Krueger on their asses!I stiffened, and my weary eyes grew wide as I slowly looked up at his face. My blood turned to ice in my veins, and I proceeded to freak the living fuck out.
I screamed and frantically tried to squirm away from him.“You killed those guys! I saw you! You had fangs and claws, and you ripped that man’s fucking guts out!”Ashton swiftly locked my flailing body in a death grip, preventing me from getting away.
“Shhh, shhh, Gwendolyn... Buttercup. Calm down...listen to me!”Tears streamed down my face and my legs kicked wildly as his hand pressed my head into his hard chest. “You were heavily drugged. It’s possible you could have hallucinated some things,” he reassured me in a calming voice while keeping his unyielding grip on my thrashing form.
Oh...
I immediately stilled. He was right. There was no logical way that could have been real. I had hallucinated the whole damn thing! My trembling hands wrapped around him, and I sobbed against his chest. “I’m sorry. I’m just really disoriented. I hallucinated you were an awful, repulsive demon and that you slaughtered those guys. It all seemed so real. It was horrifying. So, so horrifying.” I sniffled as he wiped my tears away.
“Shh, it’s okay. You’re not the one who should be sorry.” He kissed the top of my head and wistfully gazed over at Belzar with an anguished look in his eyes. His hand trembled as he reached over and grabbed a mug from the nightstand. “Here, drink this. It should help you feel better.” He handed me the cup while avoiding eye contact.
“What is it?” I asked, while inspecting the strange-looking liquid. Little bits of small oval leaves and unappetizing yellow chunks of something floated around in the mysterious concoction. I’m pretty sure there was even some dirt in there, too.
“It’s a detox tea to help remove the drug from your system.” He gave me a slight smile with a somewhat sad look in his eyes. I took a small sip and tried not to gag on the bitter taste, thinking I would rather take my chances with the drug.“I’m sorry, I should have never let you out of my sight at the club.” His voice was soft, and he was staring at the wall while rubbing his hand up and down my arm.
“What happened to those guys? The ones who tried to take me?” I glanced up at him.
Silence stretched between us for a moment before he answered my question. “I... took care of them,” he drawled in a vacant voice, followed by another moment of deafening silence.
I swirled the earthy swill around my mug for a moment, pondering whether I should ask what he meant by that or not. “So, um, did you, you know,kill them?” I asked while waving my hand in a circle.
He sighed and ran a hand through his disheveled hair, his fingers trembling. “Yes,” he whispered. “And that’s all you need to know.”
My eyes stayed on his handsome, downcast profile. He didn’t return my gaze and seemed like he was trying to hide how frazzled and upset he was. The only logical explanation I could think of for his distress was that he must have been feeling remorseful for killing those guys. I knew I should have felt scared or even angry because of what he did. Yet, I felt sympathy for him and a strange sense of relief instead. I closed my eyes and squeezed him close. “Thank you for keeping me safe.”
He seemed a bit surprised by my response, but squeezed me back and kissed my forehead. “Aren’t you upset I killed them?” He lifted my chin and gazed curiously into my eyes.
“A little. But honestly, they deserved to die. Just think of how many other girls they might have kidnapped if no one else had ended them.” I knew it was a fucked-up sense of justice that I was feeling, but I didn’t care.
He smiled at me, then pulled me down so we were lying all snuggled up next to one another. Belzar barked and then jumped up onto the bed, too. I let out a loud, unladylike-sounding wheeze as his large body flopped down on top of both of us while wagging his fluffy tail.
“Belzar!Get down right now before you crush her, you mongrel!” Ashton said sternly, while pointing to the floor.
Belzar moved over so his body was next to me and rested his head on my stomach. He pitifully looked over at Ashton with big, sad eyes and let out a little whine.
“Aw, come on, Ashton, just look at him! I don’t mind if this sweet, fluffy puppy snuggles with us for a little bit.” I giggled while stroking his soft ear.
“Alright, fine,” he grumbled, then squeezed me a little tighter and kissed my forehead. “Just for a little bit. But know this, he’s no‘sweet, fluffy puppy.’”He glared over at Belzar.
Belzar seemed to almost give Ashton a taunting look. I’d swear he could understand us sometimes. I laughed as my gaze drifted up to a small, jagged crack in the ceiling while I stroked Belzar’s furry head for a moment.
The memory of my dream with Aunt Elowynn slowly came back to me, and tears threatened to brim in my eyes. I knew the dream felt so real because of the drug in my drink. Still, I wished it had been real. The more I thought about it, the more unrealistic it seemed, though. Like extending mercy to her killer? She died in an accident! And that weird thing about evil needing to defeat corruption for the sake of good?
What kind of wacky hallucinogenic roofies did those crackpots give me!?
My thoughts were interrupted as Ashton began stroking my hair. “Gwendolyn, I want you to know that you really do mean a lot to me.” He kissed the side of my temple. “I care very deeply for you.”
“You mean a lot to me too.” I smiled at his wistful face.
He lovingly smiled back and held me close, as if he were afraid that I might slip away. I was still weak and exhausted, so I allowed my eyes to flutter closed. Then I drifted to sleep, tucked snugly between him and Belzar.
22. Under the Dark Moon
My gothic, high-heeled boots clicked against the cracked asphalt as I descended the dark, forested road with hesitation. My tiny flashlight was useless. Its glow was weak and unimpressive as I shined it over the wavering trees and scattered leaves around me, making me grateful each time I passed a house with the lights on.
