Sinner (Discontinued)

6

• Figured I'd still show some of the artwork from back then. Cover made by articulateme - still thank you, love! •

As it happened, shopping turned out to be a double-edged sword.

On one hand, it distracted Cara from all the thoughts she had been tumbling around with in her head. Her mother's constant 'try this' or 'how about that one?' kept her busy and as she found herself trying on one flowery dress after another, humoring her mother.

But, as soon as they had found thee dress and her mother turned her attention towards her brother, Cara suddenly found herself a third wheel. Her brother's moodiness and unwillingness to try on suits was only a small distraction from the thoughts that quickly returned. As her brother wrestled with their mother holding up different-colored ties, Cara slipped out of the men's store. She drifted to the outside of the store and granted herself a double of deep breaths to calm her nerves.

The guilt was eating her up. More so, at every turn she made, she was glancing over her back with the constant paranoia that she was being followed or watched. The Devil had proved he could hide everywhere, and so Cara couldn't rest no matter how much she tried. If he showed up with her mother and brother so close by... and with the way she didn't seem able to control herself around him...

A loud shrill nearly made her jump out of her own skin. It was only until she realized it was her ringtone, she took a deep breath and calmed her heart down. Quickly reaching into her purse, she pulled out her phone and glanced at the screen. The caller was unknown. Frowning, she watched the screen for another moment before hesitantly hitting the answer button and holding it up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Cara."

Her heart passed a beat. "Alistair!" She couldn't believe it; It was really him! "Oh, my God, you're alive!"

She didn't know why that was her first concern, but when she heard his deep voice grit out the following words, she didn't regret them. "For now. Where are you?"

When a scooter drove by on the busy street, she switched ear and replied; "I'm in town, shopping with my mom. Alistair, listen—"

"He's coming for you, Cara."

Cara's whole body froze up. "W-what?"

"What has he done to you?"

He knew. How did he know?

"He... he t-touched me," Cara squeaked into the phone. Letting the words out felt like a twist between shame and relief. Admitting the truth out loud was embarrassing and humiliating, but the relief of getting the secret off her chest felt like a stone dropping from her soul. If anyone knew what to do, it was Alistair, and something told her he wouldn't judge her. He was the only one who would understand. "He touched me, Alistair. He... he whispered things in my ear a-and—"

"Fuck." The curse was muttered lowly and confirmed her own thoughts; he wasn't laughing at her. "I feared this would happen."

"Feared what would happen? What does he want from me?!" She didn't care that she sounded desperate by now; She was. "Alistair, please, help me. H-he stopped by the restaurant, he's been asking about you—"

"Did you tell him anything?"

"No! Nobody knows where you are, how could we? You just disappeared!"

"I did what I had to," His voice gruffed into the speaker. "You should, too, if you value your life."

"What?" Cara gaped. Valued her life? She couldn't just up and leave. This was what she wanted to avoid. "I can't leave! I have a life—a family! I just need you to help me," She pleaded again. "I need to know what he is. I know this sounds crazy, but Alistair, that night he stopped by at the restaurant, he had these people with him, and they... t-they vanished into thin air! Vanished, Ali! He did, too, a-and—God, I know I sound crazy," She could hear herself and she wouldn't want to believe a word she had spoken.