Not so Imaginary // On Hold // GxB Paranormal Romance

Part Fourteen | Welcome to The Underworld

F O U R T E E N 

"It's the moths," I said. "They're following us."

There were hundreds of them, maybe more, in what had first appeared to be a cloud. But as my human vision faded, I found that the moth monsters were all I could see. Even in the darkness, their eyes made them hard to miss.

"Oh really?" said Charlie. "Alrighty-then. Hold on tight!"

To my surprise and horror, I felt us speed up. A lot. Like, enough that I was pressed back into the seat from the force. I couldn't decide if it was better or worse that I couldn't see.

"They gone yet?" he asked.

I turned toward his voice, surprised. "What--you can't see them?"

"Nope."

Yeah, of course he couldn't. All he could see was the human world.

"Well, the good news is that we're opposites right now," I said, "Guess we can watch each other's backs or whatnot." You know, aside from the fact that this guy was technically my kidnapper and all. Details. Gotta make do with what you have, I suppose. "But to answer your question, nope. They're not gone."

In fact, I think our little speed-driving stunt had only made them angry.

They swept ahead on long wingstrokes, circling around our car before sweeping low in front and around us.

"What do you think happens if we hit one?" This was Charlie, sounding somewhere between excited and concerned.

"Maybe, let's not try it. How fast are we going? How about you give me my sword back instead."

"Don't have it," said Charlie, "But here. If you think there's something you can do, try this."

I couldn't see what he was doing, but I heard rustling around the console between the seats (bad enough he was doing this while driving, let alone speeding) and then the handle of something heavy pressed into my hand.

"That's a dagger. Try not to cut yourself."

Sure enough, beneath its sheath was a blade--and a sharp one at that.

"Uh, I mean I appreciate your confidence and all," I said, "But there's like a thousand of them out there. And you want me to kill them with a dagger. What, while we're driving?"

He laughed. "Yeah, sorry. Got a better idea?"

I really wished I could say I did.

"Alright," I said at last, "How about the ol' 'step on the brakes' trick? They'll fly right by."

I was kind of joking, mostly. Except clearly Charlie didn't think so, because suddenly we were veering off to the side of the road with the kind of roar that meant we were surrounded by gravel. I could feel that he was fighting to stay in control of the car by the way it was pulling at our tires. It was a good thing I was wearing my seatbelt, or I might have flown right out the windshield.

I'm pretty sure I may have let out a lot of choice words in that moment, except everything was so loud that I doubt Charlie heard.

Then, as quickly as the roar had come up, everything went silent. The wheels had stopped moving. The only thing I could hear was the shaking of my own breath.

"Please tell me the road was empty," I said at last, then, when Charlie was still silent, "Hey. Are you okay?"

I leaned over and felt where I thought his arm would be, but to my horror, his seat was empty. I unbuckled my seatbelt and crawled across. His door had been ripped completely off.