Page 7 of Love & Monsters
Until two glowing yellow eyes opened in the back left of the darkness. I felt talons of fear clutch me and unknowingly took a step back. When I bumped into Baron, I gasped and slapped my hands over my mouth.
A low growl rumbled through the shadows of the dungeon, sucking all the air out of the room. The shadows seemed darker. My knees wobbled as that devastating sound flooded my body with terror.
“Have you brought me dinner then, Knox?” The growl turned to words and the glowing eyes grew closer. The outline of a man became clearer. I wanted to seep into the stone and vanish.
“Not yet. Something’s gone wrong, and the manor is in turmoil.” I saw Knox glance at me from the corner of my eye. “And there’s this.”
“Is that a human?” His voice was deep, gravelly, and his tone held a hint of interest. He took another step out of the darkness and I bodily shuddered at the sight of him.
This demon was several feet taller than me. Perhaps eight feet tall easily. The two horns on his head that bent out, up and then back in, almost reached the dungeon ceiling. In the dim light, I noticed his skin was dark blue, like the sky at midnight. White did not surround those glowing yellow eyes, but black. His ears were pointed and so long they went to the back of his head, and his hair was as dark as a raven’s feather, falling in soft waves to his shoulders.
Massive and predatory.
I was going to be trapped down here with him.
“It is a human. Glad you noticed, but we have other matters to discuss.” Knox shoved at my back, and I stumbled through the door into the dungeon.
The blue demon’s eyes followed me as I pressed myself against the dungeon wall, sliding to the right and hoping to vanish into the stone. My heart raced a mile a minute and my breathing turned into quick gasps as panic swelled in me.
“Something more important than the first human in hundreds of years?” He took another step into the light near the dungeon door, gesturing at me with one clawed hand while speaking to Knox.
I couldn’t peel my eyes from the impressive yet frightening size of him. His shoulders were wide and under the black leather he wore, there was no mistaking the obvious sign of muscle on every inch of him.
He’s going to eat me for sure.
“Actually, yes.” Knox rubbed his forehead, his face creasing with irritation. “There’s been an insurgency in the south.”
“The south?” Those yellow eyes finally snapped away from me to look at the pale demon. He took another step, and I heard another low growl.
“Yes. I know it’s early. I distracted Rykan for as long as I could, but it’s started. There might only be another week before the next movement.” He cast me a side eye while huffing. “The manor is in a frenzy, so if they forget to feed you have the human, I suppose.”
“One more week?” I felt those yellow eyes in my very being when he looked at me again. “I’m sure I’ll have enough entertainment until then.”
“Hm,” Knox groaned, looking between me and the blue monster. “It was meant to be a pet for Rykan to help distract him, but he’s already rushed out with his sword to defend his stolen title.”
“I’m sure. Has there been word from the north then? What of Ilya?” On the last question, his tone became gentle, whispering the name.
“She made it safely.” Knox frowned, and I couldn’t tell the emotion rolling in his eyes as he glared at the floor. He rubbed the feeling from his face. “She’ll be fine. But there’s no time to talk more. I have to leave the human here and go spread the word.”
“Yes. Go. We’ll speak soon enough.” The larger, blue-skinned demon waved his hand at Knox. The Baron nodded, almost in a slight bow to the monster he was leaving me with. That was strange.
I didn’t stop inching along the wall until I made it to the corner. From there, I watched Baron Knox close the door and ascend the stairs back to the manor. The blue demon remained in his place, dragging a hand through his hair as I sank to the floor.
In the cold dungeon, I felt my tears now more than before. They were warm on my cheeks but cold quickly chilled the path they left until another fell. And they didn’t stop falling while I pulled my knees to my chest and hugged myself tight.
As scared as I was, I couldn’t tear my eyes from the demon-man the pale demon abandoned me with. Alone in a dungeon with a monster and a manor full of other creatures that were sure to forget about us in the turmoil. Whatever was happening, I was hopeless and frightened.
I couldn’t make sense of anything. My world turned upside down and in that instant of silence, it was like the stark reality of my situation was well and truly sinking in. Like claws digging into my brain and tearing away the curtains to reveal my new world.
The world with the red sky and monsters.
My thoughts flooded with my parents and grandpa wondering where I was. Of my friends not knowing what happened to me. I would die here in this nightmare realm, and they would never know.
A sob slipped free of my lips and that opened the floodgates. I couldn’t stop it now as I cried, and sobs wracked my body. My world crashed around me. All I could do was curl into myself and wait for one of these horrid creatures to make me their dinner.
“Fuck.” My ears registered the familiar curse, and it startled me. I looked up to see the blue demon approaching with his hand out, watching me as if I were a frightened animal. A cornered kitten in a barn.
I released my legs and pushed my body back against the frigid stone wall. My hand went up, as if that could stop him, and I whimpered. “No, please. Don’t hurt me.”
