by Layna Snow
The impact rattled her bones. She felt it in the ache of her body and the snap of her head.
Sophie couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t seem to suck air into her lungs. And panic started.
Without air, she’d die. She wouldn’t get into Hell. She wouldn’t do what she needed. And Annie would die.
Her twin would be gone and it be all her fault. And she’d be here dead. Suffocated. Because there was no air.
Get yourself together, Soph! There has to be air. You’re just having a panic attack!
It took her a moment, and quite a few deep breaths, to pull herself together, but when she did she noticed a few things. First: her body was no longer on fire. Second: she was laying on her backpack. And third: it was darker in here than it had been in the other part of the cave.
And it was unnaturally silent. Even the crackling was gone.
Sophie looked up to the hole and found only a blackness that was so complete, there was nothing shining from the other side. It was like the hole wasn’t even there. It had been there, right?
She hadn’t hit her head and imagined the whole thing? She wasn’t still laying in that hospital bed?
Oh darn! There goes my escape plan.
Not that she would go through with it. But knowing that it was a possibility was always nice. Now, she was stuck in here, in the dark. And where was her flashlight?
Sophie scrambled up from the pack and dug around, feeling until she grasped the hard plastic of her backup light. It was the kind that could be concentrated into a beam, or transformed into a lantern, and Soph decided to change it into the second option.
All the better to see the caves with, my dear.
She thought, and then laughed. In her head the laughter was rich, but slightly—or a little more than slightly—hysterical. What came out was a weird expelling of air. And the noise immediately leeched all the humor from her.
Sophie put the lantern down, carefully placing it so that she could see most of the corridor. There were little patches of hidden darkness, but she felt good about how much it lit up. At least she felt relatively safe.
It was nice knowing what was near you, especially when Demonic creatures could sneak up on her at any time.
She examined the pack, and noticed the old cracked light. Yepp, broken!
As nervous as she was about staying here, she was more nervous about entering into Hell.
At least here, there was a wall at her back, as well as on two sides. Things could only approach from the wide path that led further on.
Which is why she moved in that direction to settle the lamp about 10 feet away. If she could see the something coming for her, maybe she could reason with it.
She’d probably need help. What a great idea! She thought sarcastically. A great hypothetical thought, but as she heard a scurrying noise, she immediately regretted it.
I take it back! I don’t want to meet anything or anyone!
The noise was so quiet, she had almost missed it. But it was terrifying nonetheless.
Was something out there? God, she kind of hoped not.
Soph put the light down, turning back to her backpack to get her gun. Or the pen. Anything really!
And why did I move so far away from the pack in the first place?
It was then she noticed a tiny creature. It was about the size of a three year old child. Its body was covered in hair, little fur that was only an inch or two long and sparse. There were several bald patches on its back. And its head was bald as well. Its body vibrated as it dug into her things, making little chuffing noises.
Sophie’s immediate reaction was to run away. She wanted no part of the creepy little thing. It was something out of a nightmare, or a scary movie.
It was nothing like what she pictured a Demon to look like. She thought maybe someone handsome and evil. Or a scantily clad girl with a tail. But watching this being move, jerking slightly as it went, she couldn’t quite control her shiver.
It took out some food, a sandwich, and started eating it.
Hunger she could understand. It was something all beings felt. She almost felt a connection to it, until it turned, showing her its profile. A profile that had no nose, just big eyes, and large fangs coming from its thin mouth. It growled, a sound full of menace. And Sophie saw large claws digging into the bread. Claws that had blood on them.
Oh no, no, no!
That wasn’t good. She couldn’t fight that thing! It would probably bathe in her blood in no time! She’d probably fall and hit her head! And since fighting was out of the equation, Sophie did the only thing that she could do, retreat.
She stood up slowly, leaving the flashlight on the ground. She took a cautious step back, only to bump into something.
Something warm and hard. Something alive.
Oh, gosh!
But even now she couldn’t scream, even when her instincts told her to. She needed to fight, to act, to run!
But she didn’t have time to fight. Not when that thing behind her wrapped a firm arm around her waist, pulling her back against his hard chest. Not when he covered her mouth with a rough hand. Not when his warm breath whispered—a low growl—into her ear. “Ah, ah, you don’t want to scream. Make a sound, and you’ll regret it.”
She would have screamed, wanted to, but ironically, she couldn’t. He wouldn’t hear her. No one could hear her. She didn’t have working vocal cords anymore.
2
Oh, gosh. No.
She was so screwed! How did that saying go? Out of the frying pan and into the fire. That about covered it. But was she even out of the frying pan? Or had the whole thing caught fire?
This situation sure felt like it was going up in flames.
But no, she knew better than to let someone get the better of her again. She had almost died because of some jerk. She wouldn’t do that again.
If only she had her gun!
Geeze, she was not having a good day!
She could hardly think. And it didn’t help that the…thing behind her was giving off pheromones. It smelled amazing. Its touch was hot too, almost like a brand. Her body didn’t even seem to mind that it held her so close that it was difficult to take in a full breath.
Her body was also tightening for another reason, other than lust.
Fear!
It was swamping her, pulling her under its control. It tensed all her muscles, and made her heart beat faster.
She knew fear, was used to it. She knew that it made you freeze, made you protect vulnerable parts of your body. She had been in similar situations before. And now she knew how to push it back.
At least a little.
But still, she couldn’t think of a tactic to use. Couldn’t think beyond that instinct that yelled at her to struggle, escape.
The creature behind her was tall, his chest flat, hard, like bone. Its arms felt Human enough, but was definitely more dangerous than the thing in front of her.
She’d take it on any day, if she could be away from the one at her back.
The Demon in front of her had puny arms, no muscle at all. She could hurt it, if it didn’t claw….
Aaaannnd, her brain started working again.
At least a little.
Thinking of a plan, any plan instead of how she felt. How much she quaked inside.
Sophie had her arms free and realized that she could take advantage.
She hooked her fingers into claws and scratched at the arm in front of her. At the same time, she stomped on his feet.
The man just grunted, not even bothering to yell. His only other reaction was a tightening of his grip.
He didn’t even loosen his hold? After all that? Come on, dude.
That plan was flawless! With the tiny flaw of failure? Sometimes Sophie hated her inner voice.
“Stop moving!” he growled, and tried to get control of her arms with one of his.
But now she knew where his head was, knew that this might be her only hope.
Soph reached back and clawed
at his face. Nails digging into skin.
This time he cursed, the sound loud enough to draw the attention of the being who had finished the sandwich.
It turned its little, bald head towards them. Its milky eyes not focusing on anything, but constantly moving.
And then its lips drew back, and Sophie shivered.
Shoot! This was not good. Not good at all.
The thing behind her took the opportunity to readjust his grip, this time taking both her arms at the wrist and crossing them over her waist.
The movement was so slow that she was unaware it was happening. Heck, she wasn’t thinking of him at all, too focused on the little monster coming towards her.
Because she realized that she had underestimated it. Just a tad.
It walked on four legs, although it didn’t seem to need to. It reminded her of a monkey. But not one of those cute little ones at the zoo. No, this thing was demented and malformed. And it was missing a tail. Not that she wanted it to have an extra appendage to torture her with. If she had her way, it wouldn’t be there at all!
But the thing kept coming, its halting pace eating up the ground between them.
And she was laid out like a buffet. The creature behind her had crossed their arms over her belly, which protected it, but she was still in front of him.
Like a weird Human shield. She’d die first, while he was able to get away.
Heck, it was probably strong enough to kill this little being in front of her. But it didn’t fight.
No! It just held her there like an offering. Darn, she might just be an offering. And she was standing there letting it all happen?
Come on, Soph. Do something!
But there wasn’t anything else she could do. He didn’t mind the pain of a crushed foot, and she couldn’t get her hands free to fight.
No, she was held tightly, and securely to his body.
Well, isn’t this awesome!
She was between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Well, the hard place was right. The rock… more like a tiny cannibalistic monkey boy.
Now’s not the time to get sassy, Sophie. You need to get out!
Yeah, her subconscious was right. She needed to find a way out of the situation, not comment about it!
Just as she was about to redouble her efforts on his feet, the tall thing squeezed her harder, as if in warning.
Darn! He must have felt her tense to attack.
But by now the thing was right in front of her. It must have been only a foot away. No! It was still closing in.
Inch by inch.
Darn! She did not want to be dinner! She didn’t even like dinner! But she knew that it was about to attack. She could feel its putrid breath on her arms as it closed in. She could see its eyes move this way and that.
Soph held her breath, her eyes closed, as if that would stop it from happening.
Just waiting for the pain.
Pain she could handle. She had enough of it in her 24 years of life. But, the thing didn’t attack. It didn’t use those yellowed, bloodstained teeth on her skin. No, just as she opened her eyes, too wound-up to wait any longer, it turned quickly and loped off down the tunnel and back into the darkness.
She should have been relieved, but she wasn’t. One monster down, one to go.
As Sophie was gearing up for another attack, the guy gave her one last squeeze and then let her go.
It was so abrupt that she stumbled forward, catching herself just as she was about to go down.
Shoot, didn’t the guy have any decency? But why would he? He was a Demon after all.
As if that jumpstarted her fear again, she turned and started towards her pack.
She had to get her gun! She needed to get it!
She ran as fast as possible but her legs didn’t move quickly enough. She barely made it to the bag when she was tackled from behind, her body tensing, waiting for the impact into the ground. But it never came.
Well, she did fall, but she didn’t hit face first into the rough stone. Instead the back of her head hit the guy’s chest. Hard.
Darn, but it still hurt!
Her second thought was: had he turned in midair?
But who could do that? And of course, her mind had a ready answer. Demon, remember?
As if she could forget. She was in Hell after all. Wasn’t she? She had to have crossed over.
The question was why did he do it?
But before she could do anything—Like fight back? Against a Demon? Yeah, okay Soph—he maneuvered her onto her back, and rolled onto her. The move was so quick, that Sophie didn’t even have time to catch her breath, or even follow the move really. One moment, she was laying on top of him, and the next she was looking into the Demon’s face.
Although, he didn’t look like a Demon.
While adrenaline worked through her, her mind absently assessed him. He had a surprisingly Human face. His skin was a smooth, creamy color that reminded her of melted brown sugar. His aquiline nose, while maybe being a little too long, drew her attention to the brightest, most intense blue eyes she had ever seen. Even his lips were nice, the perfect size for his face, and plush enough to detract from the harshness of his expression.
Oh boy!
If he wasn’t an evil monster, she was sure that she would be lusting after him.
Heck, it didn’t seem to matter what he was. She could feel her body softening under his tall, trim shape. She didn’t care that one of his legs had fallen between hers, pressing just slightly against her core. And her breasts seemed to swell, her nipples hardening, against the… wait?
That hard thing wasn’t his chest? There seemed to be some sort of armor over him. But why was it warm? Why was it skin consistency?
None of that matters!
Of course. She knew that she shouldn’t be eyeing this thing. But it did seem awfully Human. Even his hair, which was shorn close to the sides of his head, but lush and full on top, cascading to the side, looked normal enough. Well, normal for a fashion model. The color was dark, rich and delicious, the same as his slightly large, bushy eyebrows.
Wait! Could this be a Human? A person who was trapped down here, just like herself? Maybe he could help her. It would be great to have someone down here with her.
If only she could ask him.
She opened her mouth. To do what? But closed it again. She needed to get to her pen and paper. Then she could communicate better.
But how to ask?
“You did well on that quiet thing. But, I don’t appreciate the scratches,” the male said, drawing her eyes back to his mouth. Oh gosh, even his teeth were attractive. Nice and white. She didn’t see any sign of injury when she had looked at his face. There were no red lines, no torn skin, nothing. She couldn’t have actually hurt him. Had she even gotten his skin at all? It didn’t look like it. But she thought she felt… well it didn’t matter too much now.
She looked towards her bag; it was only a few feet away. She could get it. But as she tried to raise her arm, the man cursed and grabbed her hands, forcing them down to the ground beside her.
Oh gosh, even that was hot.
But why? She didn’t want to be held down. She didn’t need this maybe-Demon to turn her on. Obviously it had been too long since she had sex. Yeah, about six years. But she had never been turned on by anything like this. Of course, no one had tried it before.
“Nuh uh, baby. You think I’d really let you get to your stuff?” His lips lifting in amusement as he talked. And well, obviously she did. Or she wouldn’t have tried! “You could have gotten a knife and tried to stab me. Or, used your nail file. Or whatever else you girls use for protection.” Unfortunately, she didn’t have her gun on her or he’d really be surprised!
Nail file? Really?
When she was silent, he studied her a little more. “So, what’s a hot girl like you doing in a place like this?” he asked, showing his teeth in a lecherous smirk. And still, it wasn’t a turn off.
Darn her hormones!
Soph shook her head, she didn’t know how to answer him! Without her paper, or her voice, she couldn’t do anything! The man even held her hands down, so she couldn’t even try sign language.
But maybe…Sophie flexed her hand until her middle finger came into contact with his hand. She could barely reach, he was gripping her wrist, but it would have to do. Once that contact was made, she managed to trace out some letters. I AM MUTE. NEED TO GE- but she didn’t get to finish because the man just chuckled and pressed his body close to hers.
Now his face was just inches from her, his breath minty fresh.
“Coming onto me, huh? Well, that’ll have to wait, baby. We have to get out of here before the Lesser comes back. He’s just a scout. You don’t want him to bring in his buddies. But… once we get to a safer place, how ‘bout I do some caressing, huh?” the wiggle of his eyebrows was suggestive. And might have been funny, if his eyes weren’t burning up.
Oh, and if she couldn’t feel something hardening against her leg.
Damn! She hadn’t been flirting with him! How could he think that? Okay, so he didn’t know that she was mute. He couldn’t know that she was drawing letters. But still. If ignorance wasn’t an excuse in court, she wouldn’t let it excuse his behaviour either.
So, she showed him what she thought the only way she could. With a glare.
Oh, she understood what he was saying. They needed to go. For whatever reason, he seemed to be helping her. But it still didn’t sit well. This guy could be a Human. He could also be something else. They were in Hell and Demons were known to trick people.
But, this guy spoke English, even if it did have a slight accent. Did he know that was what she spoke… er understood? And if so, how?
All she knew was that she would feel a lot better with her gun. So when he let her up, she immediately went for her pack. Again.
She was ready, waiting, to be tackled again. She didn’t lunge for the bag, simply moved towards it. But he didn’t take her down.
Instead, she felt him grab her wrist. When had he gotten so close? She had moved a few feet away, but he stood right behind her, his armor slowly leaning into her back.
