Allure of Sins

Chapter 4

Eden

I was having such a good dream. The golden unicorns finally accepted me as one of their own and forgot about my pirate upbringing. It was beautiful. Then I had to pee, so I reluctantly got out of bed. My headphones were laying next to me on the nightstand.

Erica's door was still shut, so I snuck across the hall to the bathroom. When I was finished I tried to wash my hands, but the soap was empty. I looked under the sink for some and saw one way in the back. On my hands and knees, I reached for the soap. The door slammed open behind me. I jumped in surprise hitting my head on the sink.

Erica stood in the doorway. I sighed in relief. "Erica. What the Hell is wrong with you?" I laughed nervously while rubbing the back of my head. She just stood in the doorway staring at me, so I ignored her and washed my hands.

"If this is you wanted to talk about how much fun you had with what's his name, save it. I don't want or need to hear about your sex life," I said at Erica's reflection.

This seemed to wake Erica up a bit. "What's like up, bitch?" Erica asked in a sing-song voice.

The fuck. "Not much?"

"Is your night like totally lit or what?" she said. I dried my hands and scooted past her into the hall.

"What is wrong with you? Why are you talking so weird? Did that guy give you drugs?" I motioned to her now open door where her paramour for the night lay asleep on her bed. Red mottled her sheets. I looked closer at Erica. Her hair was covered in blood. More of it oozed through the flimsy club dress she was wearing earlier. "Oh my God!" I screamed.

"Let's not bring him into this," Erica rolled her eyes.

"We need to call 911," I raced toward the kitchen to grab some towels. My phone was plugged in next to my nightstand, but I'd have to get Erica to hold pressure on her wound first and then call.

"I'm totally fine," Erica followed after me.

"No, you're not! We're going to the hospital." I grabbed her arm and dragged her to the door. She pulled back.

"Fuck it," she said. "Listen carefully, mortal, your friend is dead, murdered actually. She's gone."

The coldness in the voice wasn't Erica. "Who are you then?" I asked quietly. My heart thundered, but I tried to stay calm because my brother always said that it's better to stay calm in scary situations.

Erica or whatever she was now, broke into a big smile. She gave me a deep bow. "I'm Leon."

"Okay? And why are you here, Leon?"

"You know it's kinda a long story that I cannot tell you due to certain stipulations, but long story short. You're coming with me." Leon grabbed my arm and dragged me to the window. I pulled and scratched at my abductor. He didn't even flinch. With one hand he pushed open the window with a long squeal and jumped. The only bad thing is he still had a hold of my arm so I fell out the window despite my best efforts to stay inside. A dark purple could enveloped me. My body felt like it was being hurtled two hundred miles an hour into space.

The movement suddenly stopped. My stomach lurched. I found a wastebasket next to a high back chair and empties my roiling stomach.

"I forgot how delicate you mortals are," a distinctly male voice said behind me I turned to see, not Erica, but the most beautiful man with sharp lines and dark brown hair. The only absurdity was the violet eyes, so purple they almost glowed. That's not natural. "Leon?"

The man clapped his hands together and smiled, "Yes! At least I found myself a smart mortal!"

Deciding this was a dream because anything that happened couldn't be real I played along. "Why do you keep calling me mortal?"

"Because that's what you are. Perhaps I was too presumptuous about your intelligence level."

"Where am I?"

"Hell, darling."

"Okay. Why?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that—" he paused and looked me over. I was still huddled over the wastebasket while he towered over me. My hair was mussed from sleep and my pajamas weren't exactly decent. His demeanor shifted. A switch had been flipped in him because I suddenly felt very much like a mouse trapped by a cat. "What's your name, love?" he said with a charming smile. His long legs folded until he crouched next to me arms rested on his knees.

I swallowed a lump in my throat. "Eden."

"Oh fuck me!" he dragged a hand over his face and rolled his eyes. He shot to his feet and held a hand down to me. "Very well then, Eden. Let's get you changed."

I took his hand and we vanished again. This time appearing in a luxury closet. The clothes were all so fancy I was afraid to touch them. Leon looked at me expectantly. "Pick something," he motioned to the racks.

"I don't need anything," I shrugged. I always hated when people tried to give me things. Leon sighed deeply and tossed me a dark purple dress. It wasn't my style, but I put it on anyway. No sense in making him angry. He smiled once I was changed.

He grabbed my hand and started to drag me out of the room. "Where are we going?" I asked. His grip was loose enough I could break it if I wanted, but firm enough to warn me that if I did he wouldn't allow it a second time.

"To meet the others."

My heart sank. Others. This needs to be a dream. I didn't know if I could handle more people like Leon. This was going to be a long day until I figured out how to wake myself up or if this wasn't a dream, escape. How do you escape a teleporting demon?