Dancing With The Devil

Chapter 40

"Let them go." I hissed out, still standing outside.

I was holding it together but barely. The false calmness that had washed over me before was long gone now. My hands were clammy and trembling at my sides.

"Come now, Camila, can't we settle this inside?"

"I want to know my friends are safe." I retorted.

"The only thing that will ensure their safety is you agreeing to come inside."

I knew what I was doing. I knew the choice I was making. It was completely undeniable.

I was handing myself over in the hopes that Josh would then release the people I loved. I was sacrificing myself in the hopes that I would save those who had given up everything to keep me safe.

Part of me wondered if I should've screamed out, tried to get the attention of a neighbor or even someone just driving by. I thought that I should give up now, call the police and hope for the best. Someone in this world would have to step in to prevent this atrocity from continuing.

But the reality was that too many people had stepped in already. And each one was burned worse than the good Samaritan before them. This was my battle now. And Josh was stronger and faster than I was. If I made one wrong move, if help didn't come fast enough, Sophie and Alistair would be killed.

All because of me. Because I had run away from the man I was supposed to marry.

So if giving myself up meant all of this would stop than it seemed like the only reasonable option.

I stepped into the condo that no longer felt like home.

Josh pulled the front door shut behind me with his bloodied hands.

"I want to see them." I whispered.

"I want them to see you too, pet." Josh purred.

He didn't speak like his hands were covered in blood from a crime he was currently committing. He wasn't acting like he had just kidnapped two federal agents who had been actively working to take him down. He wasn't concerned or even frazzled. The smooth way the words rolled off his tongue would've been suitable in a gala or a press conference and his blue eyes didn't reveal any other emotion aside from triumph. Josh was forever unwavering.

But I saw the crimson substance on his hands. And I knew that had happened to the last person who had crossed him. A single headline was published in the paper about the man being found brutally murdered. A day later he was forgotten and my fiancé progressed on like nothing had happened. I had been a coward then, I could not be a coward now.

I followed Josh upstairs.

The place that had once been my beautiful home, my sanctuary, was now a perfect example of a personal hell. My skin crawled as I sucked in each tight breath. Nothing was physically different from the last time I had been here, but the whole place reeked of evil now.

The first area I assessed was the living room. After the first break in I had to replace much of the furniture from the brutality my pricey couches had received. I expected to see the new couches slashed open in the same fashion. I thought the coffee table would be turned over once more and the now empty bookcase would be on its side. But at first glance, the living room looked untouched. Starkly clean and completely unlived in.

However, my grey eyes narrowed in on a small framed photograph that hung on the wall. It was so small that it was almost unnoticeable and it had been ignored during the first break in. It was a picture of my favorite place. A small town in southern Alberta that had an amazing landscape, unlike any other I had seen and the unique scenery harbored thousands of fossils, making it one of the most astonishing places I had been to. My trips were always filled with such wonder and happiness. Every time I glanced at the picture I was reminded that I was so lucky to be living in such a beautiful and safe country.