My demons (book 1)

Come back to me

She sat up and looked at the trio, not sure if she was going to throw up, scream or cry.

Alina looked at her with wide eyes as her face went pale. Lucas pulled her onto his lap, holding her with both hands and gently rocking her as she turned to bury her face into his chest, shaking ever so slightly.

Claire kept her distance from Aisha, knowing she needed some time to process what she just saw. Assuming Claire could handle it, she held her hand and looked her in the eyes, making her intent obvious. She nodded, ignoring the dread that had creeped up at the prospect of seeing anyone getting tortured, and let Aisha show her the scenes of terror she had witnessed.

"Days like this I'm glad we can't sleep," Claire said softly after she was done watching. "I bet you would have nightmares after this." What she failed to tell her was the fact her demons were more than capable of making her have nightmares. She was well accustomed with that side of them. But having lived through the actual nightmare, she could dream through all the other ones that followed. That didn't mean she would want anyone else to have such troubling nights.

"What a great girlfriend," Lucas rolled his eyes. "Rather than worrying about nightmares you clearly can't have, because you don't sleep... tell me how are we planning to save the loverboy?"

"Well, since you are being so smart you sure have at least five ideas ready?" Claire snapped at him.

Lucas knew how much he was hurting her whenever he talked about Aisha and Jay, but as usual, he didn't care, or rather he did care and did it because it hurt. Aisha gave him a dirty look before she voiced her own idea, not sure she would like to hear Lucas' retort to Claire's jab. "I can try to get to him again; if I can find out where he is we can actually try to save him. For now, we have nothing."

Claire gave her a concerned look, her eyes begging her not to do it.

"I'll go get some fresh air to calm myself down before I try again," Aisha decided. "Care to join me?" she turned to Claire who inclined her head and followed her out of their hotel room and down the street.

"I haven't been out for days," Aisha remarked as she took Claire's hand in hers without even looking at her. Claire remained silent and just walked by her, but at least she let her hold her hand.

"Claire, you know I have to do this? This is not about me and Jay; this is about saving his life. They are torturing him, Claire," she said, begging her to understand.

"Isn't it weird how you are the only one who can get to him?" she asked coldly. She knew she was being irrational, focusing her bad mood on something so bizarre she would usually hit herself for it. but it was easier to pretend this was about her jealousy than think about her dead lover who had been tortured in front of her. She couldn't let those memories out of their box. "I know you have to do it, fine by me. But don't pretend this isn't about you and him."

"Claire..." Aisha started but she cut her off. "Don't. It's okay. I have been called for some business across the town. I'll escort you back to our place and then I'll leave for a few days. Meanwhile you can figure this connection out and also find out where he is and how we can save him, I'll be back before you notice I'm gone," she smiled, but her smile didn't reach her eyes.

"You know I love you, right?" the brunette asked weakly, her heart breaking.

"I know," she nodded, her voice soft.

"Can I kiss you before you go?" Aisha asked, her eyes pleading. Claire gave her a smile, visibly filled with pain, as she cupped her face with both hands. "I wish you didn't have to ask," she whispered before pressing their lips together for a few seconds.

After that she escorted her back to their hotel without saying another word. "Please come back to me," Aisha pleaded as Claire started leaving. She turned back around to look at her and nodded.

After Claire was out of sight, Aisha got back inside and plopped herself down on the bed.

"Let's try to call Jay then," she sighed, closing her eyes. She opened them back seconds later. "I can't feel him," she revealed, dread creeping in slowly but steadily.

"Do you think they killed him?" Alina asked, her voice just above a whisper.

The answer hurt her too much to say it out loud. Jay was dead.