Page 167 of Lost in the Dark

I lose myself in this cat and mouse chase until I end at a doorway that makes my hackles rise. The Cajun has his back to me, sitting on his bed. I quickly turn around and march back toward the direction of my room.

Fuck this demon. He can leave me forever for all I care.I hate the feeling he evokes in me. Hate that he puts me through this. I’m pissed beyond reason by the time I reach my room and punch the door before shutting it with the heel of my foot.

Walking a few more paces, I stare at the bed, and then at the wall. The cogwheels in my mind begin to turn, and my smile turns deviant.

I’ll show him. I’ll win this little game he’s playing.

Marching right back out, I go straight into Mrs. Aquino’s office and slam my hand on her desk. She jumps and rearranges the reading glasses on her face that have become skewed.

Smiling, I say, “I think it’s time you and I have a little conversation about my stay here…”

Lying on the bed with my feet crossed and my arms behind my head, I let myself lull to sleep. I never did find Astar, and I couldn’t care less. It’s time that I check out of this crazy hotel and go back into the real world.I need a breather.

My mind drifts to the in-between and I open my eyes to find the wastelands. The sun is high in the sky, but I don’t feel the warmth I usually expect when I find myself here.

A screech in the sky has me looking up and a winged creature dive directly for me.

Something shoves me before it can hit, and the sound of a battle ensues. My head aches from smashing against a boulder I was thrown against. By the time I shake it and reopen my eyes, the scenery changes.

Flames, everywhere. The heat is unbearable, and my eyes burn every time I open them. Little creatures chitter chatter around me, dancing in the fire like they are one with it.

A monster roars and my senses heighten into survival mode. Honestly, these nightmares are becoming tiresome.

Maybe if I jump into the flames, the dream will end.Do deaths in dreams reflect reality?

“No! Dare not!”

Astar’s voice booms, and I find myself irritated by his presence.

“If it rids me of you, then it’s looking like a good alternative, after all.”

His body expands and his spiked spine extrudes. He’s posturing, and I’ve stopped caring. He’s played with me too many times.

I need to go home.

Astar thrashes his head, and the little demons screech and roll away in fear. I stand there, watching him throw his little tantrum as the temperature around me cools to a bearable heat, despite the physical flames only growing higher.

Curious.

I turn my back on him, walking toward the flames with determination, when something tackles me to the ground.

I have to admit, I tire of being tackled constantly as well.

His snarls and growls do nothing to cool my ardor against him. I punch him right in the fang and kick him off me. Rejecting his gaze, I refuse to look at him while I stand up and turn around to walk away.

This needs to end.Now.

“You are bound to me!” he roars.

My shoulders tense. I turn and snarl right back at his face that’s inches from mine. “And yet, you chose to jump intohim! Tell me, demon, how this backwards plan of yours works, hmm? Because if you say that I am bound to you, make no mistake thatyou are bound to me!”

We both heave in exertion at our anger for one another. His fangs are exposed as his skin melts off. I bare my teeth right back at him. Both of us refuse to be the first to back down. Flames lick up higher and higher with our combined tumultuous emotions.

It’s then that I see it. My eyes zone in, and everything gets out of focus, except for that one detail glinting in front of me.

There’s blood on his fang.Human blood, I just know it. My head feels tight, my chest hurts, and I want to explode out of my skin in fury…in fuckingretribution.

My fists snap before I can think and land on his face in succession. I jump onto his solidified form with more hatred that I’ve ever felt in my entire existence. All of the emotions he’s put me through seep through my pores as I continue to fight and grapple the demon that haunted my days in this wretched place—the facility, and in my own damn mind.

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