With all her things packed in one medium-sized duffel, she waited for that break in dawn. The peacefully still moment when earth allowed every creature good and evil to walk without fear or war. The moment was brief. She hoped to God that upping her fennel intake and the stones Jared had told her about would be enough to get her out without Asmodeus seeing. Jared said the car would be in town again, outside the small general store.
She moved with purpose.
Elizabeth made her way through the town. The anxiety pitched and she could barely breathe as the sleeping town came into sight. The small Toyota Corolla came into view, black and unnoticeable. She made her way to it on a jog. Dropping to her knees at the front right tire, she reached around until she found the little hide-a-key box. She unlocked the car, jumped in, starting it before she was even settled, and took off. Dust and tires squealed as she hit the gas, fighting to put distance between herself and the evil beast that wanted to steal her from herself. Corrupt her and own her.
She would have to wind back through past the convent, and as she did she could tell—he knew. Lights were on everywhere, and as she watched the convent start to fade in the distance, an explosion caused her to swerve. The car fishtailed into the side of the road and she jumped from the vehicle. She heard her name blasted from the flaming walls of the once stoic place she had called home. The roar was violent. Elizabeth started to back toward the car, her hand reaching blindly behind her for the door opening when something huge exploded from the inferno.
Elizabeth cried out and tripped over her stumbling feet. Her ass hit the ground hard, but the pain was nothing next to the shock at seeing the large beast that roared out towards her.
“You are mine! We are one! Connected, Elizabeth. You will never find a place to hide that I can’t find you!”
He was standing a good ten feet tall. His body looked charred, horns protruding through his now enlarged skull. She watched as a thick tail that tapered at the end flicked around behind him, crushing the remains of the convent. Shaking her head, she crawled into the car. Jagged teeth opened on a roar mixed with sharp deep laughter.
“Run, little rabbit, run. You will be fun to capture.”
Her heart thudded in her chest as she fumbled with the gear shift, and gunned it back onto the road. She dared one more glance in the rearview mirror. The beast was gone and replaced by the handsome Asmodeus that she had grown to deceptively believe was something other than pure evil.
I never said I was anything but, little rabbit. I’ll give you this head start. But know, when I find you, and I will, you will be punished, and your tears of pain and pleasure will be so sweet... for both of us.
Elizabeth clenched the steering wheel and screamed at the top of her lungs, and still the seductive rumble of his laugh corrupted her to the very core.
To be continued...