BOOK 2 of the Running With Devils Series
It's been three weeks since Coralynn Bennet was dragged down to Hell and it was nothing like how she imagined it. It was a kingdom of skyscrapers but no sky. Demons ran amok, but limited their bloodthirsty te...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I slipped further and further away from my body. I tried to fight my way back, to reconnect with it, but nothing I did seemed to work.
It was all pointless. All of it a waste.
I could see myself, unconscious against that metal table. The glass I lay within was filled with that sickly green liquid the other creatures swam aimlessly around in. A mask had been placed over my nose and mouth to facilitate my oxygen flow.
Small flickers of electricity ran over the metal prongs in waves. The sound of it buzzing filled the quiet room.
What were they trying to do? What was their end goal with this machine?
"Increase voltage," the maester ordered simply. "We need to be able to reach all Seven Circles with her power."
There used to be a time where the worst thing that could have happened to me was scraping my knee after falling off my bike. I missed that. I missed the simple innocence of living a truly mortal life.
Not some half way existence between human and demon.
I was never cut out for complicated. I had failed so many innocent people by acting like I could handle this.
And I had too much time to think of my shortcomings. I watched staff come and go, connecting more wires and ensuring the fluid was at a stable temperature. My body was just an empty vessel floating limply inside, only sometimes would it twitch slightly from a stray volt of energy that passed through.
I could feel it from the opposite side of the room where my consciousness remained separate from its only source of shelter. It was painful. It felt like I was playing with a power outlet. Quick sharp zaps ran through me, sometimes in quick succession.
I had no idea how much time had actually passed.
But someone new entered the atrium this time. Someone different from the normal triad of scientists that came to inspect their specimen.
He stood at the door for a moment, taking in the sight before him. He wore a hood that shaded the majority of his face. Then he moved toward the machine. Each step was slow and cautious, careful not to disturb his surroundings. He approached the monster that held me in its jaws, moving up the stairs slowly until he stood right before the glass.
Then, he placed a hand on it. It was a gentle touch that almost seemed to be reaching through the glass and towards my sleeping form. It was a touch meant for my cheek.
I watched the male lower his forehead to the glass.
"Hello, my darling," he whispered. "I'm here to hold up my end of our deal."
I could feel my skin prickle from the in between. That voice... it was so soft and sweet to my ears— like a brush against canvas. The low soothing timbre of his words seemed to create a sense of serenity within.
