“Son, the greatest trick the Devil pulled was convincing the world there was only one of him.”
― David Wong
Her absence is felt
like a knife to my dead heart. Hannah Vale is the very air I yearn to breathe, and I will retrieve her at all costs. Yes, she defied me, but she’ll learn soon enough. No one has ever seen my face, no one but my father.
Sniffing sulfur in the air, I sense he’s nearby too, most likely up to his old tricks. He won’t stand in my way, and neither will that little prick that follows her around, Jesse Shaw
. I know he wants Hannah, and I know I’ll kill him on sight.
This should make for an interesting night, indeed.
Stepping foot outside, I don’t bother shifting. I’ll track her down on my own two feet, although I’ll admit to being surprised at how quickly she shifted. I hadn’t realized that my mother’s shifter genes would carry over through my blood. I only knew that, according to my father, she would become immortal.
Deals with the Devil are always complicated.
Sucking in a deep breath, I look up and smile at the glory of the night, and I know the stars are on my side.
The sky bleeds with me, taunting my enemies.
They don’t know what hunts them.
And just like her…it’s too late.
With one last look around, I take off running, reveling in the power of my own speed. I’m a monster, a villain, and I’ll gladly murder half the town to get to Hannah, my beloved.
The wind that once helped her escape, now helps me, its fierce bluster pushing me onwards. That’s one thing about being a creature of the night; we’re one with it, and the night with us.
Speed is one of my greatest strengths and the dirt beneath me recognizes its master, gripping my boots with magnetic gravity.
I’m here,
at her dormitory, and I know she’s inside with that little psycho. My breathing is even and my footsteps silent as I walk up the stairs with sick determination.
Pausing outside the door, I listen with my heightened senses and wait, the anticipation trickling into my veins like morphine.
“You’re Jesse Shaw...” I hear her say with disdain. “So, you killed your own uncle all because you didn’t like the way he looked at me. That’s so wrong, Jesse,” she tells him, obviously distraught. “So wrong, and I don’t want any part in it.”
I grin, thinking of her looking at him like the little worm he is. About time she saw it. The boy has ‘creep’ written all over him, yet somehow all the stupid, little girls on campus love him for it. All but Hannah…
“Wrong?” Jesse’s voice mocks my sanity. “You think I care about wrong and right, Hannah? All I care is that I get you, and now thanks to some universal shift in luck, I’ve got you. Pack your shit, we’re leaving, now,” he orders.
His voice on the other hand, makes me want to smash his skull in instantly.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she tells him calmly. “You need help, Jesse.”
That’s my girl.
“I need you, that’s it, you’re all I need,” he says, his voice cutting my patience in half.
“No-,” she starts to say something but is cut off by the smashing of his mouth against hers.
Smack
, she slaps him!
That’s it, enough, time to end this little fucker’s existence once and for all. No one touches what’s mine and lives to tell the tale.
I burst into the room, ripping the door of its hinges. “Hannah, back away from him,” I demand, so that I can kill him without accidently harming her in the process.
“Ethan,” she gasps, pushing away from him with her newfound strength. “Please, let’s just leave; you don’t have to do this.” Her dark hair is windswept and sexy as hell.
I’ll need to rip his eyes out first, for having seen her like this. She’s mine and no one else’s.
“Ah, ah, ah,” my father’s voice interrupts the scene with a snap of his fingers. “You don’t want to go making a bad impression on your bride do you, ssson?” Hannah backs up until she’s against a wall while Jesse just stands there with his mouth hanging open.
I knew that bastard was close by.
“Who the hell is this?” Jesse asks incredulously, glancing around the room wildly.
My father is dressed to kill, wearing a black business suit. The black business suit always means one thing, he’s come to collect. “Oh, sssorry there, young man, I’m guessing you don’t remember me.”
“I’ve never met you before in my life,” Jesse retorts with a huff. “What’re you supposed to be, some kind of gangster?”
My father laughs. “I like your sssense of humor, boy.”
“Enough with the games. What do you want, Father?” I ask, positioning myself to protect Hannah if need be.
“I know you,” Hannah says suddenly, looking at my father with recognition. “You were in my dream.”
That cheat. “Stay the hell away from her, we had a deal!”
“Yesss, our deal is ssstill good.” His voice slithers with evil malcontent. “I’m here for him, not for her.” He jerks his head towards Jesse Shaw.
Jesse recoils. “What the hell, man? I just told you, I don’t know you. You must have me mixed up with someone else.”
“I guess you don’t remember that chat we had about a month ago, after you made your firssst kill,” my father says with mock-sadness, inching closer. “You were pretty drunk, but ssstill.” He smiles wickedly. “You sssaid the words…I’d give my soul for just one kiss from Hannah Vale.”
“Dude, you heard that? I didn’t think anyone was listening...” Jesse trails off, staggering back in fear. “I mean maybe I did, but….”
“Oh, you know, I sssometimes pop in when leassst expected.” He snaps his fingers and just like that him and Jesse Shaw are gone, nothing but a puff of smoke left in their place.
“What just happened?” Hannah asks, inching away from the wall and preparing to run.
She’s a fast learner
.
“My father just stole my kill, that’s what happened,” I answer angrily, advancing on her like the predator I am. “That prick put his mouth on you…fuck, I need to kill something.”
“Where did he take Jesse?” she asks tremulously. “Is he…dead?”
I sigh and then laugh because I can tell she’s more curious than concerned. “Probably to hell,” I tell her the truth, even knowing how ridiculous it might sound to her unlearnt ears.
“I see,” she says softly, her eyes darting back and forth between me and the opened door. “So, your father is what, the Devil?” She laughs nervously.
“That’s right, Hannah.” I prowl closer still. “Now you know the truth about me. I’m the son of the most ancient, evil thing on earth.”
She nods her head slowly. “I believe you, but please, I’ve never done anything to deserve this.” Her eyes widen when a hiss escapes my mouth. “Maybe with time, we could get to know each other, since we’re both, you know…dead?”
“I’ve waited all my life, hundreds of years now, and I’ll wait no longer.” I hold my hand out in invitation. “Come, be with me willingly,” I entice softly, clenching my fist. “Or by force, it’s your choice, Hannah.”
“I won’t just blindly follow you, I’m not cut out for that life,” she warns, and I can tell she’s about to shift again.
Her arms pop, next her legs give way until…
An unnatural breeze followed by a mad cackle slams the dormitory door closed, effectively blocking her second escape. “Never sssay, I never gave you anything, ssson,” my father’s voice fills the space again. “My wedding gift,” he laughs, dropping a birdcage to the wooden floor with a loud clank.
Flap, flap, flap!
Caw, caw!
My love, Hannah, scratches at the wires, her obsidian eyes furious from inside the birdcage. I smile at her feeble attempts to peck her way out. She’ll learn with time.
There’s no escape.
“By the way, ssson, I just love that tune,” my father says, his red eyes popping with enthusiasm. “Maybe it can be your firssst dance, you know, if you decide to invite me to the wedding…”
“What tune is that?” I ask, curious despite myself.
He taps his head with a long finger nail, singing, “Life could be a dream, sssweetheart…”
I grin, remembering the song she kept singing, “Hello, hello again.”
