Page 188 of Evil Hearts

CHAPTER ONE: MARYSSA

“ R yse, your mom is going to flip her shit when she finds out you looked at a possible store location two hours from Black Falls.” Lisa shimmied around in her thick winter coat, doing her best to get her cell phone in her back pants pocket without thrusting her hand out into the freezing air prematurely. The small device continued to vibrate persistently. “What the hell was Andy thinking about showing you a place this far out?”

Her steps drifted to a halt, leaving me with no choice but to stop on the sidewalk to avoid leaving her behind in a city neither of us really knew.

It was times like this that I was grateful that I had chosen to wrap a thick, soft scarf around my face to help keep the cold temperatures at bay. Especially when it allowed me to watch my best friend move around like a fish out of water with my coy smirk carefully hidden.

A strangled groan escaped from her lips when she realized there was no way to avoid having such an intense brush with the winter air, not when her jacket didn’t extend long enough to cup over her bubbly ass. Her head fell back with those blue eyes rising up toward the overcast sky above us. “Don’t think I can’t sense that smirk. I know you’re laughing at me.”

“Who said I was laughing ?” I teased. Tugging one gloved hand free from my jacket pocket, I leaned over and snatched the device out of her back pocket for her. I was quick to shove the device up her jacket before tucking the end against her body, effectively controlling how much cold air slipped inside.

The noise evolved into a loud squeak. “God, it’s fucking cold! ”

I didn’t hesitate to grin behind my scarf. There was really no point with masking my amusement when she knew me too well. One slight twinkle to my eyes gave me away every time. “You’re welcome.” With a slight shake of my head, I put effort into twisting my tone into a more annoyed one. “I don’t know why you’re bothering to check. The last five calls have been Jerry trying to convince you to give him a second chance.”

“I know.” Lisa rolled her eyes and wiggled around a little more to grab the buzzing device. “But I’ve gotta run with the slim possibility that it might be my uncle asking me to stop by the store on the way back. Dani is running a low grade fever. She might’ve caught a cold.”

My lips pressed into a tight line. “Or her dad brought the usual yearly bug home and doesn’t want to admit it. Why don’t they just ask the baby daddy to watch over his newborn for a few days so she can rest?”

She shot me a hard glare. “Because Jonathan is currently sleeping on his best friend’s couch until they wise up and realize he’s slumming at their place. It’s a bachelor pad, Ryse. There’s no room for a baby.”

Touché…

The buzzing continued and my best friend was soon heavily distracted by the fight to reach the small device sitting at the rim of her jacket. It didn’t take her very long to wrap those delicate thin fingers around it, not when there was no more struggle against everyday movement to counter. She wiggled it up to the top of her jacket and stuck it out of the neckline just enough to take in the name displayed on the screen. “Aha!”

I watched her expression shift from a slightly panicked one to a glare that could literally kill. Shaking my hand, I jammed my gloved hands back into my pockets. “Call number six?”

Lisa blew out a heavy breath, letting the call go to voicemail rather than openly rejecting the call. “Call number six…” she confirmed softly. “I’m starting to think I need to get a restraining order against Jerry. It has been non-stop groveling and ‘ oh, woe is me ’ shit since I found those pictures on his phone.”

“I don’t understand why you haven’t just gone down to the police station and gotten that done already.” It took every ounce of strength that I had not to succumb into the urge to roll my eyes. I turned on my heel when she finally pried herself loose from the sidewalk. We continued on down the block with a surge of rage swirling around in between us.

Those deep blue eyes swung over toward me. She wrinkled her nose at me. “Black Falls has less than a thousand people in it. We’ve only got six blocks of businesses. All of our houses are tucked up nearby. It’s not possible to keep that man a hundred yards away in a town that size.”

“He could move.”

Lisa threw back her head and cackled. “If only! That boy dropped out of high school. He’s shown no interest in getting his GED. As long as daddy owns the only garage in town, he’ll have a job with a steady income. He wouldn’t have to leave town just to accommodate that restraining order.”

Shrugging, I surveyed our surroundings. “Well… If this place ends up having the space that I need, you can move out to Saint Valencia with me. I could use a roommate until I get on my feet.”

The bubbly energy shrank, almost as if an invisible force had sucked in a lungful of air and sent it back into the little vial that it had come from. Her expression grew solemn. “You know I would if my uncle didn’t need me here. It’s just him, Dani, and the baby. I have to be there to help out when he’s gotta work.”

I could feel my own excited energy beginning to diminish. How could I push forward with that argument when I knew it wasn’t an excuse woven together?

Dani’s pregnancy had been unexpected, especially since she hadn’t quite graduated high school yet. Her father had been stunned to the core that Dani had been fooling around with Jonathan without some protection. That didn’t mean she hadn’t shied away from her new responsibilities. That kid was willing to stretch herself thin just to put herself through school and ensure that her baby was a content one.

That was where Lisa fit into the puzzle. She’d already graduated. Her uncle would pay her to babysit every school day so that Dani could finish her education. A lapse in judgment wasn’t going to stop him from ensuring she had an escape route from that town, should she desire it.

My lungs expanded with a fresh wave of cold air rushing in. “I know…but you can still come stay with me on the weekends. It’ll give you a chance to recharge.”

The edges of her lips curled into a small smile. “Really?”

“Sure.” I grinned back at her. “You’re my best friend, Lis. Why wouldn’t I be there for you like you were for me when Dad died?”

Lisa’s expression softened. “As much as I hate to change the subject and flip this back on you…but where in the hell is this place? Saint Valencia is fucking huge compared to back home. It’s bigger than I remember from our trip. I feel like we’ve been walking forever without actually gaining any ground.”

She wasn’t wrong.

We’d come into town to find most of the parallel spaces either occupied or marked by a sign that would only give us half an hour before there was a risk of tow. So we had been forced to find a parking garage that would give us a little more time. We did find one that wouldn’t charge an arm and a leg, but the downside was that it was at least six blocks away from the vacant space that Andy wanted to show me.

Clicking my tongue, I pulled my hands free from the pockets and tugged my right glove off. The dramatic temperature change was enough to leave a violent shiver tearing down my spine, pushing me to quickly retrieve the folded up piece of paper that I’d left in my front jean pocket. The stiff sketch paper was in hand when a familiar sensation of being watched decided to graze me. I froze. The hair stood up on the back of my neck.

Not again…

I whirled around, my eyes flying from one shadow to the next. My heart had skipped a few beats before it threw itself into a frantic melody that was becoming a little too familiar. I even found it difficult to maintain a proper airflow.

This had been going on for four months now, ever since Lisa and I had decided to spoil ourselves with a girl’s weekend. We’d come to Saint Valencia, snagged ourselves a cheap hotel, and spent most of our cash on life experiences we’d never get back in Black Falls. There was even a club visit thrown into the mix.

If I’d known that I would end up catching the eye of someone who was even shadier than Jonathan and Jerry mixed together, then I would’ve passed up on the spur of the moment decision to walk my adrenaline ridden ass into Haunted Dreams . It was the only place out that suggested the possibility of crossing paths with such a suspicious character like Ryan.

Neither of us could come out with another location where a young man still locked in a heavy goth face wouldn’t look out of place.

It had started with some drinks that he’d paid for us out of pocket, which quickly escalated into Ryan growing the balls to approach us himself with the request that only I dance with him. I’d politely declined and we made our way upstairs to enjoy one final round of drinks. He hadn’t hesitated to follow us. The ten minutes we’d spent on that balcony, he’d been tucked into the corner with those hazel eyes glued on me.

When I’d spotted a cell phone out with the creep no doubt snagging some pictures of me, I called it quits. We hauled our asses downstairs to pay the bill before we took off right back to the hotel. It left the last four locations we’d planned on hitting up prior to our return to Black Falls untouched.

Going back home was supposed to be the end of that strange chapter of my life, but leaving the big city only seemed to leave things spiraling out of control. Not even two days had passed before black roses started showing up on the doorstep, mostly when Mom wouldn’t be home until late in the night. I was even getting phone calls during the early hours of the morning from a private number.

There was never anything spoken, just a lot of heavy breathing.

I thought I could challenge Ryan in a game of his own making by ignoring every attempt he made to gain my attention. If he had the patience to drag this shitfest out, then I could maintain the strength required to wear him down. He’d give up on me eventually and decide that my small town ass wasn’t worth his time.

I didn’t think he’d take things to another level by leaving a bloody deer heart on our front porch with a note pieced together by large letters cut out from magazines.

Lisa was finally successful with dragging me down to the police precinct and ensuring that I filled out a restraining order. The judge didn’t even need Ryan to be in the room for that court date just to approve my request. I’d saved every damning piece of evidence until I had a trunk full of proof of his toxic obsession.

Ryan had made it painfully clear that a piece of paper declaring me off limits wasn’t going to be enough to keep him away. If anything, it encouraged him to find routes that were much sneakier than those he’d used before. He couldn’t be thrown into jail for continued stalking if I couldn’t grab photographic evidence of him doing it.

It had become a case of my word against his. As far as the police were concerned, his paper trail had led back to Saint Valencia and he hadn’t left the city since.

To feel the hair standing on the back of my neck left me with the immediate urge to turn back around and march my ass back to the car. The only thing that prevented me from succumbing to that intense desire was my refusal to allow such a fucked up bastard from controlling my life.

I needed a building with specific requirements. There had to be two stories involved, with the ground floor acting as the business everyone would see while the upstairs served as my creative haven where I could create those masterpieces out of silk and cotton. Having an extra space from either an attic or a basement would certainly go a long way with allowing me to stock up for the holiday seasons.

Lisa didn’t need to vocalize her concern for her to recognize the panicked expression painted on my face. She immediately fell into the same motions of taking in our surroundings to look for the one horrible soul that was out of place. The edges of her lips were pinched as she searched.

She came up just as empty as I did.

“Come on, Ryse…” My best friend slipped an arm around my shoulders. “We’re probably just so cold that our minds are imagining something that’s not there. You know, so we’ll quit lingering out here in the freezing ass cold.” A gentle nudge encouraged me to keep walking.

“Probably.”

My mouth took on a foul taste. It was almost like my soul could sense that we were both lying our asses off from the desperation to fool ourselves about the actual reality. I pulled the folded paper open. The way my skin was crawling from this eerie sensation was enough to leave me sneaking a quick glance without completely smoothing it out.

How could I convince my paranoid ass that Ryan wasn’t lurking up in a vacant second-floor apartment without a pair of binoculars? If he was armed with one of those, then I certainly didn’t want to give him the chance to see where we were heading. He wasn’t against the idea of pushing on ahead to our destination when he figured it out, just so I would be slammed with his cold face once we got there.

I shoved the paper back into my pocket with my gaze flickering between the labeled buildings. Between it and the nearby street signs, I realized we were closing in on the address Andy had sent me fast. “It should be near the end of the block, I think.”

“Ooo, a corner address?” Lisa’s voice cracked. She was doing her best to brush the eerie sensation of being watched aside, but it was difficult to ignore the fact that my stalker had followed us back to the big city. “Please tell me that he’s giving you a location with at least a small parking lot. Not many people like to chance these parallel spots — myself included.”

“Your guess is as good as mine, Lis.” I eased out my left arm, allowing her to weave hers through the gap. We quickened our pace and hurried down the sidewalk, eager to get out of the cold. Not to mention stripping Ryan of any visual he might have of us.

I just needed the chance to regain a clear head so that I could assess my next step. There wasn’t any chance in hell of beating his fucker at his own game if I was making rash decisions. Not to mention that I wasn’t going to allow his presence to influence my decision with this building if it truly met everything I required to get my business from online to physical.

Fortunately, my gut had hit the nail on the head. The location Andy had set us up to meet was indeed located at the end of the block with a similar building on one side and a main road on the other.

“Is he here yet?” Lisa’s lips curled into a heavy frown when she took in the same covered windows that I did. Her gaze rose toward the thin tap near the very top, which showed absolutely no light eager to escape.

I followed her eyes. I was so used to having that knot rest in the pit of my stomach that I barely noticed it was there anymore, only that sharp pain pulsing through my body was enough to get my attention. The smart thing to do was acknowledge what it was trying to tell me. My urgency to snatch the reins of my life back from Ryan left me willing to brush that silent warning aside.

Her blue eyes dropped down to me.

It took so much strength just to raise a shoulder in a half-assed shrug. “Andy texted me an hour ago, saying he had come by to look at the building to make sure no one had snuck in and fucked shit up. Insisted he was going to have the heat turned on.”

“Well, thank fucking God for that.” Lisa blew out a sharp breath. She tugged her arm free and made a beeline for a small hole in the paper keeping the interior concealed. Cupping her hands, she leaned against the glass and squinted through it. “I can’t see anything… None of the lights are on.”

I ventured along the front of the building, making my way over toward the door. “He’s probably upstairs.”

She threw a glare in my direction. “I’m not seeing lights up there either, babe.”

A snicker escaped me before I had the chance to stop it. Only a part of it truly held any amusement. The rest of it had slipped free from the weight of all the frazzled nerves dancing inside my soul. “They don’t cover second-floor windows, Lis. He probably doesn’t need to turn on those lights just to see. You still get some natural lighting on an overcast day.”

My best friend pushed her face against the glass again. “I’d call him to make sure we didn’t beat him here.”

There was a trickle of irritation leaking into my veins. It was more from the fact that I found myself in full agreement with what she had to say rather than that little voice in my hand insisting that she was overreacting.

Not when we both knew better.

I shook my head and reached out, testing the doorknob. The cold metal sent a strong tremor through my body, more intense than any actual shock could provide. Despite the powerful urge to recoil away from it to a safe distance, I curled my fingers around it and tugged it down.

The door slid free with eagerness.

“It’s not locked,” I remarked. “Andy’s probably already here, checking out upstairs.”

Lisa turned her head slightly with those glossy lips still weighed down with a frown. “Is it at least warm in there?”

“Uh…” I hovered in the doorway for a moment. My real estate agent had insisted he would arrive over an hour prior to our arranged meeting to throw the heat on. That way he could ensure it was working properly and to help soothe my frazzled nerves over the idea of checking out this location. The fact that I wasn’t getting slapped with a breeze that felt like it was coming straight from a sauna was a little concerning.

Her frown deepened.

My cheeks grew hot with embarrassment. “Well…it’s warmer than out here, so…”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Lisa pulled away from the window and wrinkled her nose at me. “I don’t trust it, Ryse. That man swore up and down that he’d have this place feeling like an actual thriving business rather than a vacant building. My gut is telling me not to go in yet until we hear from him.”

That irritation dancing inside my soul exploded into a full-blown annoyance. I curled my upper lip. “Fine. Then you call him.” I tugged my cell phone free from my jacket pocket and tossed it at her. “I’m going to head inside and check the place out.”

Her jaw dropped. She scrambled to catch the phone before it could slip through her fingers. Panic broke out across her face, especially when she noticed I was already tugging the door open further. “I don’t think that’s a good idea! We need to wait until—”

“ No! ” I cut her off before she could ramble on about all the reasons we needed to play this carefully. It didn’t matter that she was speaking utter truth splashed with a coat of common sense. I was freezing my ass off. My temper had been riding high for months now from the way Ryan had changed how I did everything.

Just for once, I wanted to pretend like everything was normal.

Keeping a hand up to ensure those lips didn’t push out anything, I glared at her. “I’m going to explore the building. You can stay out here to call Andy. I’m willing to bet lunch that he’s already inside and I’m going to watch him answer that phone call.”

A touch of hurt swirled around in those deep blue eyes. “Ryse…”

“Don’t ‘Ryse’ me. I’m sick and tired of letting that sadistic bastard control my life! I want to move on from the constant fear. So I’m going to treat today like he doesn’t exist.” I blew out a sharp breath, shaking my head as I tuned my best friend out. With one more tug on the door, I slipped through the waiting gap into the muggy air waiting for me inside.

A part of me expected for Lisa to abandon the idea of giving my real estate agent a call. The bell was filthy as hell, but it still worked perfectly well. It didn’t ring again to signal her emotional arrival right after me. One peek over my shoulder revealed that she hadn’t strayed into view either.

So be it.

She could stay outside to continue playing Ryan’s game cautiously while I shifted gears and took back my life.

I only managed a few steps into the main space before I drifted to a halt. Most of the store windows had been covered up with a few layers of paper to prevent prying eyes from realizing it was a free building to squat in. It might’ve aided with keeping the walls from getting tagged and trash not getting left behind by unwanted guests, but it didn’t offer any of that natural light inside. I had to stand still while I waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness.

While the vast empty space slowly revealed itself to me, I raised my gaze up to the ceiling and listened for the sound of pipes turning on. Whether it was from the heat kicking into gear after so many months of dormancy or the waterline being turned back on, I didn’t care. I just needed some type of noise to assure me that Andy was here.

There was nothing for several long minutes. No footsteps from the floor above or shuffling in the back room. It didn’t help ease the tension of that painful knot in the slightest bit.

“Hello?” I jammed my hands into my jacket pockets. It took so much strength to pry myself free from my spot, especially when it was still difficult to make out most of the room. The idea of exploring this darkness left the hair standing on the back of my neck, so I opted for following the light trickling down from upstairs.

With any luck, I’d find Andy hustling around up there. Perhaps he didn’t hear me because he was so caught up with proving to me that the two-hour drive out here had been worth it, especially when it already checked off several things I required for my business to get off the ground.

My footsteps were the only sound to shatter that silence. It did absolutely nothing to ease my nerves. The frazzled energy continued to run rogue inside my soul as I crossed the main space and started up the steps. “Andy?” I tried again. “Are you up there?”

Silence answered me.

I tightened my grip on the railing. “Oh, for fuck’s sake…”

There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that I was overjoyed with this space. It was certainly worth the journey here. Granted, it did foul my mood up a little bit to walk into muggy cold air rather than the promised warmth. I could let it slide if Andy had a valid reason for not owning up to that part of his word.

I just hoped it didn’t mean that the heat was broken. Just because I was coming into this business deal with a nice cushion didn’t mean that I wanted it all used up to ensure I didn’t freeze my ass off. I wanted to maintain that healthy amount for problems further down the line.

The sound of buzzing off in the distance was enough to leave me halting on the top step. Every single muscle in my body went tense as I listened to it continue. It took a little too long for me to realize that it was a phone. From the way it seemed to echo around me, the small device had probably been left on a wooden surface.

Gritting my teeth, I immediately pressed on with a sense of urgency in my steps. “I told her that he’s here already. There’s no reason for him not to be, not when he’s so convinced—” The rage had pulsed through my veins with so much strength, joined by the familiar mixture of impatience and raw adrenaline, that I couldn’t even process the sight that waited for me once I emerged back into the daylight.

It was the heavy smell of iron in the air that drew me to a halt first. That odor sliced through the strange haze that had consumed me, leaving my steps to slow to a full halt. I blinked a few times as my gaze strayed around the room. I don’t know what I had expected to find on the second story, but I didn’t anticipate finding plastic tarps hanging from every single inch of wall space up here.

Even the floor was completely covered.

That should’ve been my first clue to turn right back around and haul my ass down those stairs. Yet I stood there with my mind struggling to take it all in. I couldn’t figure out where the strange odor was coming from until my eyes swung over toward the corner on my right. Only then did I finally see all the wet crimson lines painting the tarp.

Andy lay amongst it all with his entire chest air stained red and those brown eyes staring up at the ceiling. It was difficult to tell through the pool of blood that had gathered there, but I could spot little bits of silk poking up with shredded skin peeking through the massive hole. Long trails of blood carried on well past his body. There were even some lines on the tarp that looked like arterial spray while the rest didn’t look natural.

It was almost like someone had dipped their fingers into his blood and started painting various things. Messy messages glared back at me with hearts filling up the space in between them. Hearts with chillingly familiar initials inside.

His cellphone lay nearby, the screen still lit up with my number displayed on the screen.

Nausea swept through me. It struck so hard that I was helpless against the way it weakened my knees, leaving me to stumble back against the doorframe. My vision grew hazy. Every single one of my senses were left completely overwhelmed. I could do nothing more than slide down with a whimper.

Shock evolved into confusion, only to give away to an intense tsunami of utter horror.

The cell phone kept vibrating for another thirty seconds before the vibrating ceased, leaving that surreal echo to continue on around me without the source.

“Do you like it?” The voice was so soft that I almost missed it entirely. Footsteps headed in my direction with the tarp wrinkling under each one. “I wanted to give you the perfect gift…to celebrate you coming home.”

Was that what this was? Where I had seen this location as a chance to write a brand new chapter in my life — with a fresh start that I desperately needed — Ryan believed it was a sign that I was accepting his twisted love. That I was choosing him .

Oh my God, I’m such a fucking idiot. I should’ve never accepted Andy’s location proposal.

I didn’t have to raise my gaze from those black combat boots, not when the man who had spoken left horrified chills ripping down my spine. It was the same sound that had initially left me dismissing him as a harmless love struck city boy. Only that velvet touch was misleading, like a venus trap encouraging the gorgeous butterfly to drift closer until it was stuck. “W-What did you do?” I rasped.

Ryan’s movements faltered for a moment. He seemed flustered by the fact that I wasn’t springing up into his arms and pelting him with kisses. The fact that I seemed to press myself back into the doorframe seemed to shatter the illusion he’d made for himself.

He was desperate to cling to it despite the truth.

The air shifted as a mixture of emotions tore through him. He resumed walking, each step now pulsing with a touch of rage. The heavy weight behind it all threatened that, if I didn’t play this dangerous game, then he would spiral out of control even more than he already had.

I shrank away with a whimper as the tall man stooped down before me, forcing me to take in the sight of all the blood that coated both his exposed skin and his black clothing. The smell of iron had become so much stronger. It was enough to leave my eyes blurry from the disgust washing through my veins.

Confusion broke out across Ryan’s face. He raised a hand with every intention of running his fingers along my jawline. Each one was covered with Andy’s blood, no doubt from when he’d decided to use it as his paint for the tarp. His movements ceased when I jerked from the sight. Those bushy eyebrows furrowed. “Don’t you like it, Ryse?” His voice was hoarse.

The way Lisa’s nickname launched off his tongue left a foul taste in my mouth.

Andy’s phone started to vibrate again.

My gut warned against telling the truth, especially when it would only eat away at the time I had to spare until Lisa realized no one would be picking up. How many calls would it take before she was convinced that something had happened and she came running in to find me?

I couldn’t stop my lips from parting. “No.”

His hazel eyes widened. An entire hurricane of emotions ripped through him. There was the initial shock and disbelief, something he’d already been slammed with when I didn’t jump in joy from the gruesome sight. It soon shifted into frustration. He lashed out a hand, catching me by the throat rather than my jaw. “I don’t think you understand what I’ve done for you, Maryssa. I saved you from that wretched man. Did you know he came here today with condoms in his pocket? He was going to fuck you! It was going to be celebratory sex once you signed the lease.”

I jolted from the intense pressure. My basic instinct drove me to throw up my hands with the desperation of tearing his away. I curled my fingers, desperate to use the pain inflicted by my nails to loosen his hold.

His eyebrows furrowed even more. “You’re a virgin. Giving away that part of yourself is something that’s supposed to be sacred. I can’t allow you to waste that beautiful moment by giving it away to someone like him .” He shook his head with the edges of his lips curling into a smile.

The warmth never reached his eyes.

“That’s something that would be reserved for someone who deserves a part in that special moment,” he continued softly. “It should be more than a one-night stand.”

My lungs were beginning to burn from the lack of proper airflow. His grip was tight enough that I was struggling to suck in a full breath. The restriction was leaving my eyes coated with a thick layer of mist. My heart thudded in my chest. It drove me to slide my back along the doorframe with my weight shifting over toward the open doorway.

Ryan was quick to jerk me forward and slam me back against the doorframe where I was supposed to remain.

Stars broke out across my vision, leaving me stunned. Not only did it shock the hell out of my senses, but it also loosened my hold on my smartass tongue. I grimaced from his grip. “What..gives you…the right…to decide…that…for me?” I managed through clenched teeth.

His fingers tightened, cutting off my airflow completely. “No one understands you like I do! Who else has taken the time to learn all your quirks? Your likes or dislikes? Did that man even stop to consider that you were saving yourself for marriage? I did . I’ll get down on one knee right now for you, Maryssa. I’ll even make you a ring from his organs to slide it on your finger. Then I’ll fuck you beside his cold body.”

Adrenaline was pushing its way into my veins, driving back the dark haze that was creeping in on my vision. I pushed my fingertips underneath his palm, working them in enough to loosen his hold. A deeper breath pushed its way into my lungs. I curled my upper lip at him. “You…will never…have me!”

Those wild eyes widened for a moment. It didn’t take long for that rage to completely consume the shock that had slammed into him. He released a loud roar as he snapped me forward before sending me straight back into the doorframe, far harder than he had before. It was enough to send pain radiating down my spine.

I whimpered when he lashed up his free hand, tearing mine away so that he could tightened his hold again. Andy’s blood coated the back of my hand from the brief contact.

His other hand started straying up my leg with the impending promise of venturing where it wasn’t allowed.

Ryan took up so much of my vision that I didn’t think anything else in the room would process except for Andy’s phone, which was still vibrating away beside his limp body. Yet I found movement over his shoulder that snagged my gaze away from him.

It was almost like a burst of smoke had flooded the room, except it was confined to such a small portion of it. It rose from the ground with small black trails of it idly dancing in the air. Only a few seconds had passed by the time it seemed to stand at least seven feet, which left it towering over us.

The presence of it brought with it emotions that didn’t make a lick of sense. Not only did I feel a small piece of myself feeling called by this strange sight, but I felt peace break out inside my soul. Almost like that small speck inside me knew it was here to help.

That just made it official — my oxygen deprived brain was making shit up just to survive this. Still…why did it feel so familiar? Like I recognized it?

The fact that something else had caught my attention was enough to leave Ryan shaking me like a rag doll. He released an infuriated snarl. One more push against the doorframe had me stunned enough to where he could take a quick peek over his shoulder. The rest of his body stiffened from the sight of the smoke, although he didn’t get the chance to process what it meant.

I seized the chance to draw a leg up in between us before I rammed my snow boot right into his dick. The distance between us was so small that I couldn’t do as much damage as I wanted, but the initial shock of getting a blow delivered to somewhere so vital was enough to loosen his hold on me. I immediately threw the rest of my body weight against him, sending him tumbling back onto the floor.

Once his hand was ripped free from my neck, I twisted around and threw myself toward the open doorway. The shock of having someone try to squeeze the lift out of me forced my unwilling body to snap back to reality. My legs felt heavy beneath me, refusing to fold so that I could lunge up onto my feet.

I was forced to crawl out of that room with my fingers hauling me the next foot towards the steps. Pieces of the aged wood dug into my skin and left each tip stinging. The pain couldn’t slow me down, not when I could hear him howling in a feral rage. It echoed off the walls around me, leaving me to scurry toward the steps with everything I had.

My vision grew blurry from the layer of tears coating my eyes. Every time I dragged my knee along the wood and wore down the cotton material, it would paint a fresh layer. With the lower level engulfed with darkness, I was forced to depend on my sense of touch to feel out that top step.

The edge of his combat boot dragged along the wood seconds before the beams groaned under his shifting weight. His rage poured out of the room, coming down on me with so much weight that it threatened to squeeze all the air from my lungs. “Why won’t you understand that no one else can worship you like I can? You are mine, Maryssa! No one else can have you. No one else is worthy of you!”

His body slammed into me from behind behind. There was no need for him to lunge at me, not when I was gunning straight for the stairway. That didn’t leave his fury dissipating long enough for that common sense to click back into gear. He pushed on despite the impending danger, using all of his weight to knock me over onto my side.

The impact left me paralyzed with my senses going completely haywire. I could do nothing but watch the dark room spiral around me as we rolled over toward the railing. There was enough force packed into the impact that the wood snapped once we struck it. The little poles gave away and let us sail straight through them.

My entire world became so light that none of it felt real. I could still feel his hands digging into the back of my shoulders with his knee brushing along my ass. It didn’t seem to matter, not when the rest of me felt completely free. Cutting through the air didn’t feel so bad — until we collided with the floor below.

Ryan landed on me, pushing me even harder into the wooden beams that groaned under our combined weight. My body might’ve acted like a cushion for a good chunk of him, but there was still the painful fact that he stood over a foot taller than me. There was nothing to stop his head from smacking into the floor. It was enough to leave him dazed enough to immediately roll off of me.

I couldn’t find it within myself to launch myself back into movement, not when I’d struck the floor hard enough to leave my vision hazy. It was joined by the agonizing pain that now rippled from two different parts of my skull. If that wasn’t enough to render me still, then the horrible snap I’d felt somewhere in my ribcage was enough to finish that task.

God, the next breath I sucked into my lungs was so much harder than it had to be. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Not when I’d gotten the air knocked out of me a few times during my childhood. This didn’t feel anything close to those terrifying moments.

It was certainly enough time for Ryan’s adrenaline to shred the shock that had kept him still. He released another feral snarl. One hand lashed out, catching me by the rim of my pants. He jerked me down toward him until he hovered over me.

“ Maryssa!” Lisa’s shrill voice came from the other side of the front door.

I raised my head, barely able to process that I was staring at my best friend. It didn’t even dawn on me that the door had been triggered to lock behind me, which was now keeping us apart with a sturdy piece of wood that had withered far worse abuse than her weak fists.

Just… Just open the door…

My vision went hazy again. I blinked a few times, desperate to drive it away enough to pass that silent message along through my horrified expression. There was no telling if she processed what I was trying to tell her. Had I even spoken out loud?

Ryan grabbed a fistful of my jacket and whipped me around onto my back. Smacking the same spot on the back of my head three times in a row was enough to leave me limp on the floor.

“Oh my God! Someone help me! Please, help !” Lisa’s voice ventured away. She was probably racing away from the store with the feeble attempts to grab someone’s attention from down the sidewalk.

I could do nothing but stare up at him as he succumbed into that rage completely. My mind refused to process what was going on. It didn’t matter if he was straddling me or that the adrenaline allowed him to rip my jacket wide open. The fragile connection between my mind and body had simply severed.

Despite the fact that it was much darker down here with limited light filtering down the stairway, I couldn’t ignore the massive smoky cloud that seemed to drift down those same steps. The way it flowed along the cold air worked completely against the laws of natural order. It was moving with its own sense of will.

It was gunning straight for us and the air around it was heavy with rage.

My chest rose sharply with a strained breath seeping into my lungs. The weight resting on my chest only got heavier, although it wasn’t coming from Ryan’s abrupt movements. No, it seemed to gain strength from the fact that I could now see a pair of glowing eyes peeking through that darkness.

The shadows continued to part until more firm features broke past that haze. This strange, surreal being stood a head taller than Ryan, who already towered over my petite height with one that teased six feet. A Venetian Day of the Dead skull mask concealed whatever face they might’ve had, but it couldn’t obscure my view of a large body of firmly defined muscles. The fingers had already curled into balled fists by the time the shadows pulled apart completely.

There was no reason for me to take any comfort in a being that seemed to be made out of the darkness itself, especially when my mind knew that couldn’t be realistic. Yet the sight of this strange man leaning forward with a guttural growl leaking into the air flooded my body with a sense of peace that I hadn’t felt in months.

I felt relieved to see that blood thirsty look swirling around in those stunning silver eyes.

Ryan fumbled down his leg toward his boot. “If I can’t have you…” His voice was strangled. He jerked slightly with the sound of metal rubbing against leather gracing my ears. As he straightened up, the light from above reflected off the blade. “...then no one can have you.”

Seeing him raise that knife in between us should’ve been enough to send me right back into a panic that fueled the adrenaline. It quickly became clear that my body was done fighting. I had used up all that excess energy. My injuries now surpassed what I could physically handle. Every single muscle remained loose with no desire to prepare for a final surge of resistance.

The willingness to embrace that black abyss beyond this pure agony offered a numbness that I couldn’t decline had only grown stronger, especially when the being’s body was lit up with a strange, eerie silver glow.

Tattoos covered his entire upper body with the ink kissing all the way down to his finger tips. Images nestled underneath his jawline with edges teasing at more to discover over on his back. Every single neat line dipped down into his waistline. It was all a stunning canvas of black and silver ink.

This stranger dipped down with movements far more fluid than anyone could manage. The breeze was enough to leave Ryan paused with the knife pointed straight at my chest. He barely turned his head to see who had the balls to interrupt such a beautiful moment before the being reached around and seized the knife handle.

One jerk was all it took to redirect that blade straight into Ryan’s neck.

Blood spurted down on me, coating my shirt all the way up to my face. I couldn’t bring myself to do anything more than stare as the droplets evolved into a steady flow. The fact that I could feel the heat from his body wasn’t even enough to jolt me back to reality.

My terrifying knight in shining armor drew close, pressing his chest against Ryan’s back. The mask tilted slightly with the mouthpiece brushing right up by his ear. “You cannot stake a claim on something that has already been marked. Her body…her essence…her soul is not yours to take.”

Ryan thrashed in those thick arms with everything he had despite the blade deep in his throat. It didn’t even seem to dawn on him that the wild struggle was only causing the wound to be pulled open wider. The blood flow was pouring out on me at an alarming rate.

There couldn’t be that much left inside his body — not enough to keep him alive.

The mask nestled against the edge of Ryan’s face. “Because she’s already mine .” One more jerk was all it took for the being to slice through the front of his neck and rip the weapon free of flesh.

My world slowed down to a painful crawl as Ryan jerked above me with that final bit of fight struggling to keep every organ functioning properly. It seemed to take his body far longer than it should’ve just to slump sideways. When the man drew his right arm back, allowing him to sink over onto the floor beside me, it was a slow dance that teased at the possibility of taking eternity to weave.

I couldn’t hear any noises from outside the building now. If Lisa was still screaming on the sidewalk, her voice had become so muffled that it was lost to the sound of my own strained breathing. Not even the knife crashing down onto the ground emitted anything.

This is it…

I was going to die because of my own stubbornness and stupidity. My attacker had been slaughtered right in front of me, but I was far too gone to feel any relief from his death.

That didn’t stop the stranger from slamming a hand down beside my face to support his weight as he hunched down, bringing that intimidating skull mask closer. Elegant black and silver colors wove together unique shapes. The holes for the eyes soon lit up with the strange glow that his skin had emitted only minutes prior.

The air lingering in my lungs began to squeeze out, almost as if Death himself had me in his icy claws and he was eager to extend my suffering. I couldn’t find it within me to tremble. I was already so cold that most of the intense pain had been muffled.

I was numb. My soul was more than willing to walk into his waiting hands.

Only a weak tremor worked its way through my body when he shifted his weight above me, using his free hand to seize the bottom of his mask and push it upwards.

Long auburn brown strands strayed down along my chest as he came closer. That mask inched out of the way until a long pale face gazed down at me with those piercing silver eyes digging a hole to my soul.

How odd… This man looked human, despite all the shadows kissing at his skin.

Perhaps he wasn’t human at all, but rather an ancient deity that had been seeking a claim on me since I had first made the decision to storm into the building and straight into Ryan’s rage. He had to be Death himself. So I closed my eyes and prepared for him to sever that one little thread that kept me contained to this plane.

“ We’re losing her! ”

“ Clear! ”

Electricity pulsed through my veins, branching off into every single part of my body that — for a brief second — I felt alive . It was enough to leave my back arching from the intense strain. My eyes fluttered open. I was slammed with a bright wall of light that left me blind.

“ Go again! I’m not reading anything! ”

“ Clear! ”

The odd heat didn’t begin to fade, nor did that light dissipate in the slightest bit until that second wave of electricity worked its way through me. Only then did it begin to pull itself apart, allowing me to see a mixture of faces surrounding me.

The masked male had retreated back, though those piercing silver eyes had yet to leave me. His velvet voice sliced through my mind more clearly than the panicked men hovering over me. “ Mine. ”

My lips parted, but I couldn’t get a single word to launch off my tongue.

“We’ve got her back!” The blonde male that had pressed the paddles against my chest tossed them aside. “Let’s get her on the gurney before we lose her again. She’s probably got some internal bleeding and we need to get her to the hospital to get that under control!”

D-Don’t… Don’t take me away from him.

My soul wept at the idea of being separated, even if my mind couldn’t make sense of this strange yearning.

I could feel my eyes rolling up into the back of my head as they carefully pulled me onto a blanket. The promise of being kissed by the searing pain remained in the far off distance with the strange masked male lurking even closer. His powerful presence promised to soothe all the agony I would endure.

The offer to erase it all away was enough to leave me sinking back into that black abyss. Whether he truly walked this Earth as Death himself or he was simply a figment of my imagination, I didn’t hesitate to lose myself in those strong arms. I didn’t care what he did with me as long as he honored that promise.

I’m yours…