The Devil's Mate

Chapter 3

Unsettled and confused by the passage at the end of the last page, I begin to wonder what kind of prank this is considering so much thought went into putting it together. There's also the 'joke' part that's supposed to come after reading the papers. Am I supposed to go Carrie White after reading all this? 

"This is a coincidence that I did not foresee," A deep unsettling voice says from outside the booth, startling me to drop all the papers. "Fancy bumping into you here."

Looking up to the stranger, I nearly scream when my eyes meet the pair of mesmerising hazel brown eyes that have been swimming around my subconscious the entire day. My throat constricts almost painfully as though I'm trying to dry swallow a giant pill as I take in his appearance which my imagination throughout the day did no justice to.

"I see you've read the papers I gave you," He smirks at my reaction to him, leaning into the booth so that I have to tilt my head backwards in order to maintain eye contact with him. "The man at the cashier counter gave me this. I'm a regular here."

Passing me a pizza box and an aluminium tray of lasagna in a giant plastic bag, I am silent as the smell of his clean aftershave scent wafters through the air in the booth which suddenly feels extremely tiny. Unconsciously, I find myself no longer backing away from him. Catching the tail end of an almost sadistic smirk on his face just as he leans towards my shoulder, his lips gently brushing the shell of my ear, making a shudder run through my body at the sparks that ignite from the whisper of his touch.

"Take a deep breath and follow me out of here," He instructs darkly, making my muscles clench southward of my abdomen. "Don't run. It'll save me the trouble of finding you again. Go."

My nerves are all over the place as I follow his instructions. Plastic bag in hand, I head out of the booth, sweating profusely. The beating of my heart is so loud that I can barely hear the loud chattering of adults and the screaming of children in the parlour and I'm certain that if it weren't for the cold hand that rests on the middle of my back, steering me towards the entrance/exit of the resturant I would have already tripped over the many children running around barefooted.

The second we exit the pizza parlour, however, I impulsively make the decision to make a run for it.  Running all the way down the street, my food swinging all over the place as my lungs and legs burn from the exertion. I am almost at the apartment complex when I make the big mistake of turning around and slowing down. He's nowhere in sight.

A feeling of relief rushes through my body at the thought of being home free. Turning back to the apartment complex, a scream tears its way from my throat as I fly backwards having run into something, landing with a loud thunk on the concrete pavement. 

Above me stands the silhouette of a man with crossed arms with glowing red eyes and a massive pair of midnight black wings spread wide behind his back. W...Wings?  I have got to be hallucinating...there is no way...its impossible!

"I told you not to run. Now, look what you made me do," He sighs heavily, the wings closing and melting into his back.

Ignoring the pain spiking through my body, I spring to my feet wincing when my tailbone protests at the quick movement. How he has wings and red eyes or how he ended up in front of me when he was so clearly left in the dust I don't want to know but the momentary wince on my face clearly throws him off as he takes a step towards me, resulting in me in taking one back in fear. 

For a bit, we do this you-take-one-step-forward-I'll-take-one-back dance until he's cornered me against the back door of a silver Mercedes. His hands are planted on either side of my waist as he looms ominously above me. His eyes are no longer a hazelnut brown but rather a deep red that reminds me of a pool of blood.

Like a predator preparing to eat its prey, I tremble in his hold as his lips descend, landing on mine in a rough but delightful way that lights me up like a Chrismas tree from the tips of my toes to the last strand of hair on my head.

He doesn't falter in the kiss as he presses harder, rubbing his lips against mine, parting my lips with his tongue making my knees go weak. Supporting me by holding onto my waist, he pulls me against the length of his body, making my head tilt backwards so as not to break the kiss.

Breathless once he detaches his lips from mine, I don't even get the chance to figure out what just happened when a woman yells out.

"Victoria! NO! YOU VILE BEING! STAY AWAY FROM HER!" 

One moment, I am seeing my mum running to me from the distance, screaming profanities at the man who holds on to me tightly, the next a tall column of blue flames rise from the ground, engulfing the man and me. When its gone, mum is nowhere to be seen and I am no longer on the sidewalk near the apartment complex which I've stayed in for the last five months.

A falling sensation overcomes me for a few seconds before a loud whooshing sound catches me mid-fall, peeking an eye open to see whether or not I'm dead. The shock that I receive from peeking open that one eye has me opening both as I am carried over blue rivers of fire and pointed red rocked structures that have flat tips. 

Tears leak out of my eyes from the strong wind against my face, making my eyes dry out. Out of self-preservation, I lean my face into the warm chest in front of me as I see ground approaching in the near distance.

Our landing is gentle which is unexpected since last I checked no human can fly. 

Turning to the guy who just, if I'm not wrong, kidnapped me, I whisper shakily, "What are you? Tell me. Please."

"You are a smart girl, Victoria," He responds coldly, taking my hand in his as he walks towards the glass castle-like structure that stands on this ground. "I'm sure you've already figured it out. Whether or not you want to believe it."

Oh my God.