demon - camren

ten

A tangle of briars scraped across Camila's bare shin and she grimaced, bent down to rub it, then continued on. Moving through this little patch of forest had been easier as a demon – her red skin, even without the scales, was a lot hardier than the tanned flesh she usually wore. She felt the damp unpleasantness of her clothes more acutely now, too, as she did the embarrassment over a stranger seeing her naked. Both these sensations were washed away when she remembered what she'd done to that woman in the restroom.

She could have killed him. She had wanted to kill Niall. Camila forced herself to move on. Emerging from the tree line further up from where she went in, she walked along the road back towards the truck stop. She kept her head down, really wishing she'd thought to grab the baseball cap as she ran from the restroom. The throaty growl of the Charger's engine caught her by surprise, and she turned to watch it pull in sharply behind her. Lauren got out. She looked mad. Camila walked to the passenger side and she threw her the baseball cap.

"Found this in the restroom, " she said. "It was lying next to a woman who swore blind she'd been attacked by the Devil." Camila put it on. "Um. Thanks." They looked at each other over the roof of the car. "I got you a sandwich, " she said. "You can eat while we drive." "It wasn't my fault, "Camila said as Lauren ducked to get in. "I shifted and she walked in. She pulled a knife, for God's sake!" Lauren straightened up. "She's fine, by the way." Camila winced. "A few nasty bruises. A dislocated shoulder. Maybe a fractured cheek. Definitely a concussion. But your concern over her wellbeing is touching."

"I get it, okay? You can stop now. I feel guilty enough as it is." "I'm sure you do, " said Lauren. "But it isn't all bad. She's going to have a great story to tell, about the time she was attacked by a genuine, bona fide devil. A red-skinned devil with horns, no less. She's going to get some mileage out of that one. The cops have already been called, don't you worry." Camila glared. "I just wanted to see what I looked like in a mirror. Is that so bad?" "Not at all, " said Lauren. "Doing that in your bedroom mirror behind a locked door, no problem at all. Doing it in a truck-stop restroom, however ..."

"Can we just go? Can we? Before the cops get here?" "Sure." She hesitated, then looked at her again. "But I need you to understand something, Camila. This will catch the attention of your parents." She blinked. "I'd ... I'd ..." "You hadn't even considered that, had you?" She frowned. "No. But I should have. What the hell?" The expression on Lauren's face softened. "What did Imelda tell you? Your demon side is more confident. You can take that to mean arrogant. And you can take that to mean self-centred. You're not going to be thinking too much of the consequences of your actions when you've got your horns on. That's what makes it so dangerous."

"Do you think they'll come here themselves?" "I would, if I were them." A van passed on the road beside them. "We've lost our advantage. Up till now, they didn't know you were running; they just thought you were hiding. Now that they know, they'll be coming after you." "I'm sorry, " she said. "I'm so sorry." She shrugged. "Come on, the sooner we get away, the better. At least no one here knows where we're headed." Camila winced, and Lauren froze.

"What?" she asked. Dammit. Dammit, dammit, dammit. "Someone might know where we're going, " she said. Lauren blinked at her. "I don't understand. Who did you find to talk to around here?" "A guy. His name's Niall. I met him in the woods, " she said. Then she added, "He's Irish." "Oh well, he's Irish, " said Lauren. "That's okay, then. The Irish are renowned for how tight-lipped they are. What the hell, Camila?"

"I'm sorry, all right? I wasn't thinking." "Some random guy in the woods?" "He's not random, " she responded, a little hotly. "He's like us. He's, you know ... cursed by darkness." Lauren actually laughed. "He's what?" "They're the words he used, " she said, scowling. "And they're not too far away from what you said about the blackroads connecting points of darkness, whatever the hell that means. And, y'know, he's dying, actually. Niall. He's got the Deathmark."