Devour my Soul

Cars blew past in a blur of motion as the taxi driver swerved between the traffic. By the sounds of his bitter muttering, I could guess that whatever language he spoke in, his words were probably not kind. Fortunately for me, it wasn’t directed at me. In fact, the driver seemed to have a particular annoyance at pedestrians strolling casually across the road without a crossing, and on numerous occasions he’d near hit them. I found myself wondering whether he intended to or not.

The taxi driver, who I’d come to know as Shascinski, had maniacally driven me three laps around the entire city in search of my beloved soul mate. The second I’d planted my butt on the plastic back seat of the car, I could feel the guilt rise inside of me. I knew what I would be asking of this unknowing driver, and expected him to resent the moment he pulled up beside me. But as soon as he’d seen the desperate look in my eye, he seemed to understand. He’d smiled and simply asked where to look first.

My patience was wearing thin the longer we drove. I’d already located his home after two hours of frantically tracking his address but it seemed he wasn’t home, and I hadn’t the patience to wait. Instead Shascincki suggested a well-known hotspot we could try. The infamous club, Underworld, which my soul mate just so happened to own. Unfortunately, it was located on the other side of the city, and at this time of day it would take a while to get there.

“It’s interesting to think that the notorious Evan Phillips has a soul mate,” Shascinscki stated, his voice thick with an accent I didn’t know. “And a pretty one at that. You don’t look like those other women. Those street girls.”

I snickered slightly at his category for Evan’s endeavours. They weren’t actually girls he’d picked up off the street. In fact, his most recent squeeze had been a Hollywood A-lister. But I wasn’t going to deny that his comment made me feel that little bit more confident. I could only smile, and nod at him.

An hour and a half later, and we were sitting idly on the curb at Underworld’s front. There wasn’t much to it. At least, not in the daylight. It was a simple brick building adorned with an unlit sign that spelled Underworld, though I was sure it looked tempting after dark.

“Thanks, Shanks,” I smiled, slipping him a few hundred dollars and sliding out of the car.

Already I felt somewhat closer to Evan. I’d felt his slight presence growing the closer we got to the building, and whether that was a soul mate bond, or my mere instinct I didn’t know. In any case, I sent Shascinski on his way and tentatively stepped closer to the club, immediately rounding the corner in search of a side door.

The sun was beginning to set, the city already slightly darkened as it remained hidden behind the skyscrapers. The working day had ended, making way for the nightcrawlers who would emerge in the next few hours. Underworld would be filled to the brink with clubbers inhaling their alcohol and leaving with empty wallets.

My fingers trailed lightly against the brick wall, travelling along the concrete that pasted the bricks together until I came to a black door sitting awkwardly in the centre. My heart thudded as I stared wide-eyed at the black door, not really knowing whether I should walk right in. He was my soul mate, but that would still be trespassing. I was urgently trying to find him, but he wouldn’t be happy to see me.

Biting down on my bottom lip, I made my decision, lightly clamping my hand around the door handle and listening for any sound behind the door. It was quiet, which both comforted and disturbed me, but for the moment I was past letting anything stop me.

Pushing the door open, I silently stepped through the doorway, gritting my teeth at the small squeak as the door closed behind me. Now would have been the perfect time to have had the delivery boy’s power. To slide through doors and walls like a ghost. As I was, I crept down the cement hall, cowering under the flickering bulbs. My eyes were glued to the door at the end, hoping that it didn’t swing open while I was stuck with nowhere to hide, but I made it to the end with no troubles.

The door opened to a wider room, decorated with rows of lockers and painted with various posters and signs. It was clear that this was where the club’s entertainment spent their breaks, munching on the snacks from the vending machines or using the connected bathrooms. The place looked dirty, like it had never been scrubbed, but I imagined that Evan didn’t particularly care for the dirt behind the scenes. His life was probably full of grime behind that shiny exterior.

Keeping to the wall, I tiptoed around the room, eyeing another exit that might lead to Evan’s whereabouts and receiving an odd sense of being lost in a maze when I came out into another corridor.

Unlike the last, this corridor was carpeted with a wine red carpet, though darkened with dirt and wear. The lights were a lot steadier, glowing their golden light a few metres apart, but I wouldn’t need to go far. An eye catching mahogany door stood proudly down the left turn of a crossroad corridor. The wood was a rich red, centred with a glass window with Evan’s name printed neatly across it. It was clearly his office, and the muffled sounds of a conversation led me to believe he was inside.

“Dooley’s needs are none of my concern.”

I knew that rich voice anywhere. The very sound of it sent my heart fluttering excitedly like a child on Christmas morning, and I couldn’t help but creep closer to the door. I wanted to hear more. To feel like he was right beside me, talking to me.

Before I ruined his mood with my presence.

“He’s asking questions, Boss,” another voice answered. “Wondering why you took out Delaney without reaping his soul.”

My brows furrowed at the second voice, a sense of familiarisation reaching my ears though I couldn’t quite pick who it belonged to.

“I told him Delaney got in your way,” the voice continued. “That he thought he’d steal your reap, and he believed me for the most part, but I don’t think it’ll be long before Dooley comes sniffing.”

There was a pause and the faint beat of footsteps in which I assumed would mean that Evan was pacing before the familiar voice. I waited, wondering for a moment if now was the time that I make my presence known. But before I could burst through the door, Evan spoke again.

“Dooley’s an asset, but if he comes sniffing, I’ll kill him,” he answered. “Nobody is to know what happened in that basement, you hear me?” He paused for an answer, and apparently receiving one, he continued. “Good. Not a single soul will ever touch a hair on her head again to get to me, even if I have to rip every single person’s soul from their bodies.”

My cheeks warmed at his words in complete surprise. I’d expected him to behave coldly towards me, but his tone was full of care and love. As if he weren’t tormented with the burden of having to keep me out of trouble, but rather that he was trying to protect me. I grinned to myself, feeling giddy at the thought that Evan might sacrifice his mating power to protect me.

My hand hovered over the door handle, ready to announce myself, when I heard the sigh of an opening door breathe behind me. In the silence of the corridor, it was enough to set me on edge as I crawled my way back to the main hall, peeking sneakily around the corner and hoping it had all been in my head.

No such luck.

At the end of the hall, through the door I had entered, a man stood with his back turned to me as he silently shut the door behind him. Clearly he was as uninvited as I was, and probably looking for Evan as well, which only meant that in a few seconds I would be caught.

The next few seconds, I warred internally, fighting over my intent to reveal myself to Evan or wait for this unexpected guest to expose himself. I chose the latter, quickly darting to the other side of the crossroad, and waiting for the man to appear. I’d hoped his intrusion would overshadow my own. I’d hoped I’d become just one of another inconvenience. But as the man crept around the corner I regretted not alerting Evan to the man’s presence.

Because in his hand, was a gun.