Devour my Soul

Antheon’s rumbling growl moved against my skin as I crouched into position. Determination and anger flowed from my body in a furious wave of heat that I was surprised the man slowly creeping towards the mahogany door hadn’t felt it. I was now glad that I had returned, but I was even more thankful that my body was completely healed because what I was about to do was probably absolutely insane.

Adrenaline rippled through my muscles as I prepared myself to launch at the intruder. I could already feel my face stretched into a furious disgust at this man, with his slick black hair and cheap leather jacket. Unfortunately for him, he hadn’t expected someone standing on the opposite side of the corridor, lurking outside the janitor’s closet.

Just as the man took one more step, I faltered. Through the window of the mahogany door, Evan had appeared, his face twisting from his serious thoughts to confusion at landing on my crouched form. In a split second his brows furrowed, questioning my presence as if he was seeing things, then his eyes fell on the other intruder.

Realisation seemed to dawn on him as he eyed the loaded gun held tightly in Slick Hair’s hand and returned to my position. Giving a short smile, I launched at the man, effectively ignoring Evan’s cry of outrage, and focusing solely on pushing the man from his place.

I honestly hadn’t thought my plan through. I hadn’t asked myself what I would do when I surprise attacked the intruder. I hadn’t considered what to do about the gun still held in his hand. And I flinched as the sound of a single shot suddenly rang through the narrow corridor.

Flying through the air, I didn’t have time to react to anything, landing squarely against the man’s back and successfully knocking him sprawling to the carpeted ground. The gun flew from the man’s hand, flinging off into the now open doorway of Evan’s office but just as I thought I’d saved my soul mate, the man beneath me bucked.

Jumping off him slightly, the man twisted, catching me by the throat and squeezing tightly. The motion was hard and fast, my eyes were rolling around to the back of my head, but before I could lose consciousness I swung my leg. A satisfying thump reacted as my shin connected with his manhood, and the immediate release of pressure around my throat was in sync with a groan of pain.

I grinned, feeling somewhat powerful as I launched myself onto the man again and pinned him down with as much strength as I could muster. Which wasn’t much, and soon Slick Hair’s fury was overwhelming me. My grip was faltering, and the echoed shouts of voices screamed around the grunted struggles of me and my opponent.

“Boss, no!” cried the familiar voice. “If you do, she might get hit.”

A growl snarled through my ears in a beautiful melody as I struggled for dominance over the man. We were rolling back and forth now, slamming painfully into the walls, and I had already hit my head hard enough to see stars.

“Do not forget your place,” Evan snarled and for a moment I felt relieved as his face swam into my vision. But then I froze, and Evan’s eyes widened.

Somehow, during the struggle, my hand had slipped through a torn hole in Slick Hair’s singlet. Straddling his body, I was looking down at his face. At his thick brows as they suddenly merged together and his deepening frown that stretched the scar that trailed from his ear to his chin. He had frozen as well, immobilised in complete astonishment as an electric shock shot through my fingers.

Colour drained from the man’s face, his body slumping more and more by the second as his energy to fight faded. My own strength was weakening too, as a steady thump rippled through me, pounding like the beat of a heart. I could feel my eyes fluttering closed the longer I sat on top of the man, but I remained frozen in place. Only when a final hard bump pummelled into me like an earthquake did I collapse wearily to the wine red carpet.

“Ellie,” Evan whispered, anger lacing his comforting tone as he brought me into his lap. “What the hell were you thinking?”

Okay, I hadn’t expected that. Maybe an, ‘are you alright?’, or perhaps a ‘thank you’. Certainly not the disappointed look his eye, and the firm line of his mouth.

“I was thinking I was saving your life, asshole,” I muttered weakly, brushing out of his grip but only managing to slump to the floor. “But I see I’m yet to receive a God damn thank you.”

Evan sighed in frustration, moving to gather me up again, but I swiped at him in annoyance. I’d saved his life, and all he could do was get angry at me? I could feel Antheon shifting again, crawling up my spine to the nape of my neck as he circled a slight tingling sensation buried there. Recovering slowly, I scratched at the itch, taking a sharp inhale of breath when a bite of pain shuddered through me.

“Ellie,” Evan began, but I pinned him with a stern glare, shuffling to my knees as I steadily regained my strength.

“What?” I snapped.

My soul mate rubbed a hand over his face before gracefully standing and signalling forward whoever he had been speaking to earlier. I glared suspiciously, still too weak to stand on my feet just yet, but as I turned to look at the man with him I guessed I’d probably have fallen over in shock anyway.

“You,” I seethed accusingly at the acne faced boy. “You!”

It seemed that was all I could say as I decided to try my luck at standing. My feet wobbled, but my gaze never faltered on the boy who had walked through my office door to deliver me roses. This boy, who had only just been referring to Evan Phillips as ‘boss’. My hands were shaking now, but not from weakness. No, it was the sheepish grin plastered across the delivery boy’s face as he nervously scratched at the back of his head.

My eyes darted between the two men. From Evan’s exasperated look to the delivery boy’s excited chuckle and landing on Evan again.

“We need to get her back to my place,” Evan muttered to his sidekick. “God damn it. If anyone asks, I reaped him.”

Confusion steadied my hands as I awkwardly turned my gaze to the man on the floor. He was limp, and I was surprised I hadn’t thought of him before now. I hadn’t given him a second glance after our moment barely five minutes ago, but as my eyes travelled over his torn singlet, his scuffed leather jacket and pale face I knew that something was wrong.

“Hey,” I mumbled almost incoherently, nudging the man’s body with my foot. “Hey, get up.”

Of course he didn’t move. I knew that I had killed him from the fear that began to well inside of me. I’d killed him. I’d killed a person. And the horrified look on his face only seconds before his death would now haunt me forever.

“Do you think she knows?” the delivery boy asked, but he was quickly silenced by Evan.

“Take her to my place,” he ordered. “And Jack? Do not let her out of your sight until I get there.”

Stunned into silence, I didn’t object when an arm wrapped lightly around me, turning my body away and leading me back down the corridor. The man’s eyes stamped my memory. My hands feeling as though they dripped red with blood even though they were clean.

Words were repeating in my head. His words. Jack’s. And I couldn’t help but ponder the question as I numbly walked alongside him.

“Do you think she knows?”

The question was; did I know what?