Page 36 of Demon's Desire

“C-can I turn on the light?” I whispered. “So I can see what’s going on?”

“You can in a moment,” he answered. “We’re going to talk first. I’ve been waiting to talk to you… I made some mistakes this past week, like with Mica. That was dumb. But I wanted to see you again, and you weren’t leaving the house. I needed to be close to you…”

“You… Wait, what?” I furrowed my brows. “What the fuck do you mean?”

“I got too close…” I felt it again, the blade against my cheek. It was gentle, though, almost more of a caress. He was keeping his distance with it, maybe even using the dull edge. Of course, I couldn’t be sure until he let me turn on the damned light. “It was a bad idea, I know, but I haven’t been able to get you off of my mind…”

That gave me pause. That sounded familiar. That was familiar. Where had I heard that?

Mica… He mentioned Mica…

“M-Mica said that to me yesterday,” I whispered. Suddenly, I started shaking. This couldn’t be possible. “When he said it… he was possessed…”

“You’re such a clever girl.” He chuckled again. Mica had said that yesterday too. “You didn’t even need me to tell you.”

Out of nowhere, two red lights turned on over my head. I tried to blink them away, but they stayed in place. As my vision adjusted, I could see them clearer. They were both shaped… shaped like eyes… One of them was only red, just a pure, solid light. The other was… more human. The edge was white, and it had a black pupil in the center, but the iris was red.

“You’re the demon…” As I spoke the words, my voice trembled. I wished that it didn’t. I wished more than anything that I could look this demon in the eye and be brave and demand the answers to my questions. But honestly, I was petrified.

“Suldeargan,” he said, leaning closer. Once in a while, the red eyes would disappear, then reappear, so I assumed he was blinking. “Say it.”

“S-say… What?” I asked. “Sull… What does that mean?”

He chuckled again. “Mia, that’s my name. I want to hear you say it. Suldeargan.”

“Why?” I pressed. “What happens if I say it? Does it… release you from some curse or something?”

At that, he let out a full-bellied laugh. “No, little one. That would be fun. I’m already cursed, and I’m going to stay that way. But hearing your beautiful voice utter my name is something I’ve been dreaming about all week… I’ve been waiting for it to send me over the edge…”

“That is so fucking gross,” I muttered, turning my head to the side and closing my eyes. I took a deep breath, staying as calm as I could. Truthfully, I was freaking out. But by this point, I knew that if I screamed, it would just put Kelly in danger. I needed to know what I was up against and how to make it stop before I did anything drastic. “You want me to say your name?”

“Yes, Mia…” His breath grazed my ear again.

I shivered at the deep sound and turned my head back to face him, opening my eyes. All I saw were his, glowing through the darkness. “I’ll say your name as many times as you want, if you answer my questions.”

“Ohh…” I swear, I could hear the grin in his voice. “You’re more than clever, little one. Very well. If you say my name, I’ll answer every question you can think of.”

“Answer my questions first,” I insisted, trying to seem more confident than I was. “You have your hand on my neck. You’re on top of me. If I try to go back on a deal, you can make me comply. I don’t have that luxury. So you answer my questions first.”

He laughed again. “This is fun… All right. Ask.”

I took a deep breath. That was one small victory at least. “How are you here? We trapped you in that glass. You’re not supposed to be able to get out…”

“No, you didn’t,” he corrected. “You tried. In fact, you almost succeeded, but you gave me just enough of a toe-hold. You held the glass, you spilled the wax on yourself, they all touched you…”

I gasped, and my body went numb for a second. “You… You mean–”

“You didn’t bind me to the glass.” He stroked my cheek again. “You bound me to yourself.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” I spat, feeling my heart speed up.

“Hm… It means a few things. It means I now exist in your world. Before, I didn’t. I was on a different plane. The closest I got to this place was possessing people. But now that I’m bound to you, I exist here, fully. It also means I can’t get too far away from you. It causes some kind of physical distress. I wouldn’t know what exactly. I’ve never been bound to a human before.”

“Is there any way to fix it?” I whispered. “To… disconnect you? Me? U-us?”

He leaned closer. “I only know of one way. I could kill you and set myself free.”

For a moment, I swore my heart stopped. I expected him to do it. I expected those hellish red eyes in the darkness to be the last thing I saw. Yet… I kept on living.

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