Page 68 of Unbinding the Demon
Well, thank fucking god... But still, what secret, upsetting things could he possibly have to tell me?
Despite the uncertainty I was feeling, I was relieved to know we weren’t breaking up. The fact that he had just told me he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me had my heart wanting to leap for joy like a little Mexican jumping bean inside my chest. However, the look of trepidation in his eyes swiftly stomped that poor little jumping bean to death before it could even get off the ground.
“Alright, very well then. Let’s go to the cliffs tonight.” I got up and grabbed my plate to clean it.
Ashton grabbed my upper arm and looked at me as if he were about to say something, but changed his mind and didn’t. It seemed like the words got stuck in his throat, so he gave my arm a light squeeze instead and then began cleaning up too.
Bright beams from the headlights illuminated the uphill gravel road as we whooshed by countless rugged trees. They reminded me of mighty guardians protecting the dark inner forest. Their gnarled branches stretched overhead like the skeletal limbs of the dead ready to menacingly ensnare poor wandering souls.
I stared out the window with apprehension, trying to distract myself from the awkward silence between Ashton and me. The only sounds were the eerie screams and overly distorted, heavy riffs of an obscure black metal band pouring softly through the speakers, the gravel crunching beneath the tires, and happy panting coming from Belzar.
The chilly night air crept its way straight into my bones, causing chills throughout my body. My shivering hands grasped my jacket as I wrapped it around myself a bit tighter in an attempt to warm up. Ashton’s eyes glanced over as he watched my small action; then he turned up the heat. He glanced at me with a small smile and reached over to put a warm hand on my thigh, giving it a gentle rub. Even though I could feel the anxiety radiating off him, his small action still comforted me.
I took that as an opportunity to break the suffocating silence. “Belzar seems happy to have come along,” I stated, while popping open a tube of vanilla chapstick. I applied it to my lips and then smooshed them together.
Ashton glanced through the rearview mirror at him for a second, then shifted his eyes back to the road. “He’s always happy to tag along, but he needs to come with us this time. I haven’t been honest with you about what exactly he is or where his species is from.”
“Oh, are you talking about how he’s clearly a fucking wolf?” I smiled and gestured behind me at Belzar’s panting, fluffy face. “Because if you are, you should know that I never bought into that‘he’s just a dog’bologna you tried to sell me.” I made finger quotes as I spoke about Belzar being just a dog.
“You’re right. He’s not a dog. However, he’s not your average wolf, either.”
“He’s some kind of rare Scandinavian wolf, isn’t he? That would make perfect sense, considering his massive size and the fact that you’re from Finland.” I reached behind me to scratch under Belzar’s chin. “Look, I honestly don’t care if he’s an illegal breed. I’m not going to—”
“Gwendolyn...” he interrupted and turned to me with a stern expression. “Please, just let me explain all this when—”
“Oh, fuck!”I screamed as I turned back around to see a mysterious figure walking across the road.
Ashton’s eyes shot ahead, and he slammed on the brakes. A loud cracking and thud echoed as the figure violently slammed into the hood, jerking the car. My face contorted in horror as they fell limply out of sight beneath the front tires. Their pale hand dragged down across the smooth black surface of the hood in a weak attempt to hold on, and then it slipped down below.
“Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!”I grabbed my head in panic and disbelief, as my wide, wild eyes shifted back and forth between the blood-stained hood of the car and Ashton.
Ashton sat there, cool as a cucumber, his narrowed eyes fixed on the windshield with suspicion.“What are you fucking doing!? We need to go help them!”I shouted like a crazy lady, then I tried to jump out of the car frantically. He swiftly grabbed my upper arm and held me in place while keeping his eyes up front.
I stilled and glanced forward as movement caught my eye. The beaming rays of the headlights illuminated the mysterious figure as they slowly began stumbling back up into view. Blood dripped down their head in thick streams. It obscured their face and stained the weird white cloak they were wearing. The crimson droplets mixed with large splotches of dirt from the road. They turned and looked through the windshield toward me with a wide, unsettling grin.
“Whoops, guess they’re not dead yet,” Ashton stated flippantly, with a murderous look in his eyes.
He threw the car into reverse and quickly backed up. Then, despite all my horrified screaming, he maniacally stomped on the gas, driving full speed ahead, and slammed right back into the cloaked figure. A gruesome symphony of a loud wet thud from their head smacking against the hood, the violent cracking of bones, and a gurgled scream rang through the air.
“What the actual fuck are you doing!?”I screamed and held my hands up as if I were about to clutch my face.“Are you insane!? When you run someone over, you’re supposed to help them! Not run them over a second fucking time!”In a fit of hysteria, I made frantic gestures toward the windshield.
“Just trust me,” he said as he jumped out of the car. I rushed out right after him, pausing only to hold the door open for Belzar, who hopped out behind me. A dizzying spell fell over me as I ran around the hood and gasped at the horrifying scene.
Ashton towered menacingly over the crumpled-up, mangled figure, which I could now identify as a thin, middle-aged woman. Her stained white cloak was embroidered with a royal blue cross on the right upper chest and had matching blue trim sewn around the hem of the hood and sleeves. She had normal-looking sea-green eyes, but black sludge was oozing out from the side of her mouth. It slowly dripped down her pale, hollow cheek, mingling with the blood that poured out from her broken, hooked nose and caked into her curly, sandy-brown hair.
She glared up at Ashton with venomous hatred in her eyes. He scowled back down at her as if they were enemies at their very souls. A pathetic, gurgled growl began coming from her black goo-stained lips. “Azzaaath—”
CRACK.
I gasped in horror as Ashton angrily cut off whatever she was trying to say with his boot. He kicked her face in with brutal force, breaking her neck and nearly decapitating her. The wind rustled through the trees, and an owl hooted in the distance as she laid there, cold and lifeless, with an unrecognizable, bloody, mangled face. I muffled my scream and fell to my knees in distress, with tears welling up in my eyes. My hands trembled, and it felt like I was suffocating. Belzar gave my cheek a comforting lick while letting out a small puppy dog whine. I didn’t even register Ashton walking over, but he was suddenly crouching with his arms wrapped around me.
“Shhh, it’s okay. You’re safe,” he reassured while stroking my arm.
“Wha-what the fuck?Ashton, she had that black goo in her mouth...” I pointed at the mangled corpse, my hand unsteady. “It’s the same as that girl! The one from the house!”
“I know. That’s why I killed her.” He casually gestured towards the woman, then looked me in the eye and held onto my shoulders. “Listen, I need you to take a deep breath and calm down for me. I have to get rid of the body, and I don’t want you straying far from my side. Can you handle that?” he asked while helping me to my feet with care.
I did my best to compose myself and nodded. “Yeah, I can handle that.” I looked at him with wide, terrified eyes. “How are we going to get rid of her?”
