Demon ∞ l.h.

∞ Chapter Nine ∞

∞

It has been a week since I was taken. I am still trapped wherever Luke had taken me, his constant watching eye not allowing me to do so much as think of escape. I had yet to venture outside of my room and further down the hallway than the dining room- it seemed that anytime I got close to walking any further than that someone would pop up and ask me what I was doing. My 'new bedroom' was beautiful, but a person could only spend so much time in there until it became claustrophobic.

Luke had tried to get me to speak to him, but I was yet to speak a word to the King of Hell. If he thought that I was going to marry him he had another thing coming for him. My refusal to speak to Luke clearly had clearly angered him, and I could see the tension rising every time he forced me to spend time with him. He hadn't had an outburst since a week ago, but I knew that he had to be taking his anger out on something, or someone. And I began to fear that it was Ashton.

I hadn't spoken to Ashton since the day that we had almost kissed. It's not like I hadn't seen him, he was constantly around, whether it be walking me to the dining room or bringing me fresh clothes, but he never spoke anything other than my 'formal title' and what he was doing. I was already missing his company, despite having only met him once. But his face had a small smattering of bruises and the occasional busted lip or cheek and I could only imagine how he had gotten them.

I often had to pull my wandering thoughts away from Ashton and his injuries to focus on the possibility of my escape. Escape, Escape, Escape was the only word running through my mind every time I was alone. I was worried about my friends and family. Were they alright? Did they know I was missing? Were they even looking for me?

They had to be looking for me, I mean, what kind of family wouldn't be slightly worried about their twenty four year old daughter going missing for a week or more? Yes, I wasn't exactly close with my family, but I call often enough for them to know I'm okay. My friends would be worried sick, especially my best friend Kiara, I mean, we lived next door to each other and saw one another at least three times a day. I would be astounded if any of them hadn't noticed my absence.

Right now I sat bored in my room, waiting for the inevitable Ashton to walk through, address me, and announce that he had to walk me to dinner with the devil. I lazed on one of the plush couches, sitting and watching the fire that never seemed to go out. The amazing thing about the fire that captured my attention so much, was the fact that the fire was always changing colours, Red to purple, purple to blue and from blue to a green so deep it was almost like staring into a forest.

I had no idea as to how much time had passed since I was exactly taken, but my internal body clock and the set times for eating had indicating approximately how time passed. I stared around the room for what felt like hours, and yet, Ashton still had not arrived. My eyebrows began to furrow, and I lifted myself slowly from the couch.

Padding softly to the door of the room, I hold my breath, waiting for the inevitable pop up guard. I open the door and cringe at the high pitches squeak it makes when I do. Looking into the hallway that always seemed to be dark no matter the time, I came to the conclusion that no one was near me. Checking both ways once more I step out of my room and into the hallway.

With no one imprisoning, ahem, watching over me I deemed now to be the perfect time to go exploring the rest of the dark hallways in this dreary place.

I feel myself shiver at the coldness of the stones underneath my sock-covered feet as I walk, and I wrap my arms around myself in an attempt to retain the little body warmth I had. I was only wearing a leggings and a singlet with a light cardigan that had seemed perfect as I sat in front of the warm fire, but now I was left breathing out small puffs of white clouds and shivering.

If I had any sort of brain, I should have gone back and gotten some shoes, to keep my feet warm but as I walked further and further down the hall a deeper, darker presence pulls me towards it. I got colder and colder as I walked but I still didn't turn back.

In my subconscious I knew I should turn back, that this would only end up badly like every horror film I had ever seen, but I continued on. My feet padded down the hallway, almost silent against the greying stones. I continued walking for several minutes, the only sounds being my shallow breathing and my heartbeat. No one came and stopped me, no one asked what I was doing. That was almost enough reason for me to stop my exploration, but I had been waiting for this moment for too long and I didn't know when I would get another chance like this.

Eventually I was brought to a fork in the hallway, the left one seemed to be the easier choice- it was brightly lit and carpeted, obviously leading to an area that people often used. The other I was more interested in- dimly lit and mysterious, it left me wondering what could possibly be down there. And in a typical horror film moment, I choose to go with the creepy ass hallway. Wow, shocker.

∞