Chapter Thirty-Five
Wandering Aimlessly
When I exit the chapel, I look up and down the empty hallways, searching for the first exit sign I see. It glows at the far end of the corridor, and I run to it, desperate to get away before Dr. Z sends another search party after me.
Darkness envelops me when I step outside and the air chills me to the bones. I wander around the parking lot for several minutes, wondering where I parked my car before remembering that I didn’t drive; Dr. Z did.
Fuck.
I slosh through a puddle on the sidewalk that runs parallel to the hospital. Tears blur my vision and sting my face. I wipe them away and press forward, determined to walk all the way home. I stop walking and stare ahead. Home. Do I really want to go there?
Where else can I go? I can’t call my parents; they wouldn’t believe me.
It’s not like they could protect me anyway.
Not from this. Not from Mastyx. Water soaks my feet with a penetrating cold, curling my toes.
Goosebumps race up my arms and stop at my neck.
I rub my upper arm above my cast, trying to generate friction to warm it.
Raindrops trickle down from the sky, landing softly on my head.
I continue walking. The faster my legs move, the harder the rain falls.
A lightning bolt dances across the sky, before traveling down to earth, and I swear I see Mastyx’s face in the black clouds.
A car passes me, and the faint sound of a single word unnerves me.
“Mine.” I watch as the car continues down the road and the driver flicks the end of his cigarette out the window, dispelling his ashes.
Soon, that’s all I see. One car after another drives by me, the word ‘Mine’ filtering from each person who holds a cigarette in their grasp.
“Help me,” I murmur.
Mine…Mine…Mine…Mine.
The cars keep coming. It’s like I’m stuck in an infinite loop.
“Mine!”
A cigarette butt flies through the air and lands in front of me, the end of it still on fire. I stop in my tracks, staring down at it as the tip gets brighter and darker, brighter and darker as though it were breathing.
“Miiiiiine.”
I scream and run through the park beside me, darting around the slide, slapping the chains of the swings out of my path, sprinting into the dark, far away from the street.
My feet barely feel the ground beneath me as I veer right, adrenaline and fear guiding me who the fuck knows where.
I just know I can’t stop. I have to keep running, staying in the dark, keeping to the shadows.
I keep veering right until I run into a row of buildings.
I jog along until finally the row of buildings vanishes, and I realize I’m standing in the hospital parking lot, right back where I started.
Shit. I just did a complete fucking circle.
“Contessa!” Someone calls my name.
I spin around and see Dr. Z idling by the curb, waving his arm out the window. “Come on, get in my car, you’re soaking wet.”
In that moment, I realize how heavy my clothes feel, the weight of them, pulling me toward the soggy, wet grass. I shake my head slowly, turn away from him and take off in a sprint.
Man, I wish I had grabbed my boots before I left the hospital room like a crazed patient escaping the psych ward.
Tires peel, and I know he’s chasing after me with his car.
I work my way back to the park, staying once again out of the illuminated spaces, trying to find my way back to a familiar place so I can make my way back home.
When I reach the street, I see his car fishtail round the corner and barrel toward me through a curtain of rain.
Fuck it. I stop running, sit on the curb and hold my knees, sobbing. He’s just going to follow me all the way to my house.
His car skids to a stop, and he pulls to the curb, his headlights blinding me. An umbrella pops open over me, and he grabs my bicep, pulling me off the ground. “Get up, Contessa. Your cast is getting ruined.”
I pull my arm away and put my hand up, keeping him at a distance. “You can’t be here, Dr. Z. It’s not safe.”
“Joshua,” he says, taking a step closer. “Just call me Joshua.”
“Fine, Joshua, whatever, you have to stay away from me.” I take another step back as he moves forward.
“Contessa, why am I not safe? Who keeps hurting you?” He holds the umbrella out toward me, letting it hover over my cast arm.
Tears burst from my eyes. “Please, Joshua, just let me go home. It’s the only way to keep you safe. I have to face him—let him take me.”
“Who?” He drops the umbrella, letting the wind take it across the street, where it smacks into a storefront window. “Tell me…” he says, grabbing me by both arms and pulling my face close to his. “…so, I can protect you.”
I drop my head, ashamed to gaze into his eyes. He wants so desperately to help me, but being involved with me threatens his life, and I can’t have that.
“Why?” I ask, my eyes meeting his. “Why are you so fucking determined to help me, to save me? Don’t you see, I’m trying to keep you safe, trying to keep you from getting hurt or worse?”
“Safe from who?” He places a palm on each side of my whimpering face. “Tell me.”
I slap his arms away from my cheeks and yell, “Mastyx!”
“Mastyx? Who’s that, your boyfriend?”
If I’m ever going to get him to leave me alone, I need just to tell him the truth. Maybe then, he’ll go away.
“He’s the demon who saved me the night of the accident. He pulled me from the car. I made a deal with him to save my life, and now I belong to him.”
Joshua furrows his brow. “Saved you? Demon? No, Contessa, I think you’re confused.”
“I’m not confused!” I scream at him.
He holds his hands up in front of him and says, “Alright, calm down. Why don’t you get into my car, and we can go back to the hospital? There’s a warm fire in the lobby and—”
“No!” I shout. “No fires. He travels through the flames.”
His arm slides around my lower back, guiding me toward his car. “Fine. Just get in. We need to get out of the rain.”
I hesitate at first and then give in. I’m going to hell either way, I might as well make it worth it. My wet clothes soak into his seats the second I sit down. He drops into the seat beside me and cranks the heat inside the car. “Where to?”
“I don’t know.” I lean my head against the window beside me and sob.
Joshua sighs. “Well, I don’t think you should go home if this demon may be waiting for you.
” He pulls away from the curb and twists the windshield wipers up to high.
They slap back and forth across the window, doing their best to flick off the pounding rain.
“I don’t think you should be alone, either.
Besides…” He glances over at my cast, “…I think I’m going to have to rewrap that.
” We pull up to a traffic light, and he gazes over at me. “I can take you to my place.”
“No. That’s not a good idea.” I wipe my runny nose with the side of my hand, then wipe my hand on my sopping wet sweats.
“There are tissues in the glovebox.” He reaches in front of me and pulls it open.
I snatch a few and blow my nose. “Where are we going?” I ask as we pass the last traffic light in town and breeze by the sign that reads Sassafras Mountain, fifteen miles.
“On the other side of the mountain, my family owns a small cabin. You’ll be safe there.
It has an electric fireplace, no real flames, food in the cupboards, and no one around for miles.
” He steers toward the exit ramp and takes a left turn.
“I have medical supplies there, too, in case your cast needs to be redone.”
I squeeze the wet, mushy cast with my fingers. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.”
For the next fifteen minutes, we say nothing to each other. I can feel the stale air between us and the unspoken thoughts emanating from him. I know he has more questions, but his eyes and mind are trying to stay focused on the road so we don’t hit any deer.
When we reach the top of the mountain, we coast down the other side for several minutes before turning onto a wide gravel-coated road that leads to a muddy path.
The car splashes through puddles, bouncing me around in the car.
It rocks side to side, snapping my neck before finally coming to a halt outside a quaint cabin.
Solar lights illuminate the landscape running the length of the low front porch.
We pull around the side, where there’s a side door with two steps leading inside.
I grip my pants on my lap, squeezing the fabric with one hand, whitening my knuckles.
Joshua turns off the car, rests his hand on mine, and says, “Don’t be afraid. You’re safe here.”
“I’m not safe anywhere,” I say matter-of-factly before climbing out into the rain. I stand by the side door, waiting impatiently while he fumbles with his keys.
After trying three different keys, the lock turns, and he pushes the door open.
He gestures for me to go first, but I shake my head, not keen on entering a dark, unfamiliar space.
His hand slides inside and moves up and down the wall until finally a light flickers on, illuminating the space.
I peer around the small but efficient kitchen, an apartment-sized electric-coil-top stove set off to one side.
Beside it, rests a chest freezer that vibrates noisily.
“Deer meat,” Joshua says, removing his coat and hanging it on a hook by the door.
“The fridge is there, although there are probably only condiments and bottles of water inside. But in the cupboard…” he grabs the knob of an upper cabinet and swings it open.
“…we have canned beans, raviolis, Ramen noodles and such. You know, easy stuff.”
A shiver runs down my spine, and I tremor violently. Joshua rubs my chilled arms and says, “Let’s get you some dry clothes. I’m sure my mom has something here for you to wear from the last time we came.”
Mom? Great. Hopefully, they aren’t pleated pants and a wool sweater.