Devour my Soul

Lauren’s concentration was faltering. I could see the hesitation shivering through the shadow master’s body the longer her eyes remained on Mitchell. She was studying him, just as I had studied Evan the first moment I had seen him.

I’d glanced him over, my eyes travelling the contours of his body and the shape of his jaw. I was attracted, but not because he was my soul mate. Evan Phillips was handsome; even with that light scar splitting his brow. Meticulously shaven, and always dressed in a well-fitted black suit; he screamed dark and mysterious, despite constantly being plastered on the news and decorating magazines. I had stopped dead in my tracks to take in the man who had stopped and started my heart, all at the same time. His green eyes glittered behind his beautiful blonde hair, tempting me to approach, and for a moment I thought he looked right at me.

It was then that his name snapped me from my trance. His infamous name that held the deaths of so many others. My soul mate politely accepted the arms of the two girls on either side of him. So suave and gentle, he seemed. Not the monster I would have imagined. I knew he had seen me. I’d been staring for long enough before I finally turned away and left him. A girl on both arms, and an amused smile tugging the corners of his lips.

I watched in utter sorrow as Lauren warred with her instincts. Muttley was tempting her, teasing the delicate thread of love that bonded their souls together.

“Lauren,” Mitchell pleaded. “Don’t do it. You have to go. You have to run.”

Desperation tinged the boy’s voice, signifying a love deeper than any that could be known in existence. My heart shattered at the sound, cursing their unfortunate fate of meeting one another before cruelly being ripped apart. It had barely been minutes, but after this, they would never be the same again.

“I can’t, Mitch,” Lauren whispered, her tears glittering in the sunlight. “I can’t leave you.”

Her words stabbed my heart with an icy dagger; twisting painfully as Mitchell continued to beg frantically through the blood spurting from his throat. I winced as Muttley clicked his fingers again, ordering Mitchell’s captors to land another blow to the boy’s mottled face.

The crunch was sickening. Ripping through my ears in a squelching slurp as Mitchell finally slumped to the ground motionless. Lauren’s scream chimed across the water, splitting my eardrums painfully. Throwing her two guards roughly to the side, the shadow master’s grip on the men snapped as she flung herself at the limp body on the deck.

“Lauren, no!” I screeched, but it seemed her grief and anger was too far gone to listen to much.

Stepping into the shadow of the man who killed her soul mate, Lauren deliriously forced the puppet to attack his own body. I watched in complete horror, on top of my own captive as he too stared wide-eyed at the attack.

Digging chunks of flesh from his body, the man was eerily calm, being completely controlled by the distressed girl. Bile was rising in my throat as blood flung across the deck in splatters, painting the wood in its crimson liquid. The man tossed his flesh carelessly away, barely wasting a second as he dug into his body for more, beginning to start on his organs.

Finally my stomach threw up its contents, smearing over the blood already caking the floor. Fumbling away from the man beneath me, I ducked as a lung hurtled towards me. Slipping through the wet floor, I scrambled as far as I could go before my captive suddenly grabbed my ankle and yanked me towards him.

Squealing in terror, I kicked back at him, whimpering desperately as I tried to escape but failed. He was strong, and I’d lost my concentration on my pink fire. Before I knew it, I was trapped in his arms, facing the horror scene unfolding on the boat. I knew I would never forget it. I could never un-see the man ripping himself apart under the influence of Lauren. I could do nothing to stop it.

We would all die at the hands of the man who watched Lauren with strong desire.

“Your manners have clearly been lost on you, Dooley.”

My heart skipped a beat and my head whipped around desperately for a voice I suspected was a figment of my imagination. But I knew my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me. Evan leaned casually against the railing of the boat with his arms folded across his chest. A sigh of relief breathed through my body at the sight of his relaxed posture. The wind blew through his hair, brushing his locks away from his striking green eyes.

Entranced by his presence, I almost missed the two men standing at post before him. Jack’s arms were folded casually behind his orange head; the casual attitude and Cheshire grin reminding me of his youth even in his smart black suit. The cute light bulb guy from work stood off to the side, turned away slightly as he peered at the scene from over his shoulder.

“Evan,” I whispered, and though I could barely hear myself, Evan still turned his gaze to me.

“Ellie,” he answered, a cocky smile stretched across his face. “I see I’m forced to save you yet again.”

And just like that, he’d ruined the moment. Huffing in frustration, I sent him an unamused glare. “Thanks,” I replied haughtily. “But no thanks. I can take care of this, myself.”

Shaking his head, Evan gave a short bark of laughter before pushing away from the rail. Clearly I didn’t have the upper-hand, and he knew very well that I had no way of getting myself free. I knew I was being childish. Only moments ago I’d wanted to hear his voice, and now I was pushing him away again. The problem was that he frustrated me with his stupidly gorgeous face and kind eyes.

I had barely turned away for a few seconds before a gasp of air breathed into me. The man holding me had released his grip and I turned to see Evan holding him over the boat’s railing. I gawked at the strength he possessed as he effortlessly tossed the man into the distant water before appearing beside me a second later. The abrupt warmth of his body pressing up against mine startled me, and I shivered in pleasure as he leaned in close.

“But, you see,” he whispered, his lips brushing warmly against my cheek. “I want to save you. I want to keep you safe. For as long as I live.”