Devlin UnLeashed(45)

I was here to control shit—handle the things he needed done with a sensible head. And I needed a clear head for this one.

She’s just a job.

I kept reminding myself this over and over as I watched her walk down the road, her arms crossed and head bent like a lost child who’d given up on finding her parents. Only, I knew she wasn’t lost at all. Stupid and naïve, yes—but not lost in any sense of the word.

She was a rich, entitled princess with a dad who handled her with kid gloves. He sheltered her from the real shit that went on in his life. But he was no better than I was; he just used his affluence to hide his jaded soul.

Juliana Callahan.

I’d uttered her name a million times in my head. Pretended I had the right to do so. Like we were somehow intimate—connected—because I’d become quite fanciful in my fantasies of the blonde-haired angel.

I’d spent over a month tracking her every move. I was there when she flicked her lights off at night, only to return before she stepped a foot out the door. She spent a lot of time with a preppy blond who drove a flashy sports car. They lived the kind of teenage life I’d only witnessed in movies. Fast cars, football games, movies, dinner, and sex.

They were perfection. They’d get married and live happily ever after with two point five kids, whatever the fuck that meant. I imagined the ‘point five’ referred to me, because I’d never felt whole, but people like them didn’t have kids like me. Their kids would be well-adjusted, showered with love, attention, and encouraged to reach for the sky. I never even noticed the sky. I knew it was there, but it didn’t give me hope or inspire me with its ever-changing beauty.

On clear days, the sun illuminated my imperfections. I often felt people stared at me as I walked down the street. Everyone was aware I didn’t fit in anywhere, not even with a man who wanted me to be his replica. But the night sky was my haven. I felt comfortable moving around in its shadows, never once detected as Juliana carried on with her life. Unaware I stalked her—lived and breathed her for over a month. So much so that I knew when I caught her, I’d have to fight the beast within me that wanted nothing more than to devour her.

She’d attended a party with her dick of a boyfriend that night. I lurked in clear sight. There were so many drunken teenagers at the party that no one even noticed me as I stood on the outskirts observing her prick of a boyfriend get overly friendly with a brunette, who looked determined to skewer Juliana.

They’d gotten into a huge argument, which was my cue to exit. Juliana lived right beyond the brush that surrounded the back of her boyfriend's house. I knew she'd take the dark wooded path as a shortcut home because she usually did. My heart thudded violently as I followed a trail behind the huge house into the wooded area. I knew my Julia.

And yeah, I’d also made her mine in my fantasies.

I knew she was stubborn and prideful, and in no time, she’d storm out of the party determined to find her own way home. My frivolous pursuit was over. I’d had other opportunities to capitalize on her being alone and vulnerable, but I’d chickened out like the little shit my dad thought I was.

Tonight was the end of the line. Damien was livid with me for not capturing the girl yet. If I procrastinated any longer, he’d do the job himself. My stomach churned with the thought of how Damien would handle Juliana. I didn’t allow myself to think of what would happen once I’d captured her, but I knew I had to grab and transport her quickly. If I let my personal feelings prevent me from doing this job, she’d be dealt a worse fate.

Why I cared what happened to her, I didn’t know. But when I looked at her, I felt things I had no right to feel. She made me hope for a life I’d never have. In my mind, she was the angelic savior to my dark sins. She’d cleanse my soul and show me happiness. I had to have her. I had to save her—from Damien was what I told myself—but I knew in the back of my mind that my growing obsession with her was just as dangerous, if not more so.

My hands shook as I pulled the chloroform soaked rag from a plastic bag I’d stuffed in my pocket. She passed the cluster of trees I’d hidden behind, and I quietly stepped out onto the path.

Stupid fucking bitch.

I was angry at her for walking alone down a dark road with no one in sight, and her eyes glued to the pavement. Never mind that she shouldn’t have her head hung for that asshole she called a boyfriend. Didn’t she know there were predators out here? People so fucked up they salivated for an opportunity like this.

People like me.

The anticipation grew so incredibly, I felt high with the power I had over the situation. She never heard the few steps I took behind her. Never even had a chance to scream as I pressed the moist cloth over her nose and mouth with her back pressed to my front as she weakened. Her fingernails dug into my forearm, but it was too late for her. She crumbled in my arms. I hoisted her up over my shoulder and vanished into the woods. A short hike down the path brought me to the car I’d hidden in the brush. I laid her out in the trunk and hesitated before shutting it. Her blonde hair was knotted, dress hiked high up her thigh, but her breathing was steady. I wanted to put her in the back seat, but the risk would be high. If I was pulled over, I could talk my way out of most situations, but I couldn’t explain a drugged up, disheveled girl splayed out like a rapist’s wet dream.