Page 63 of Tempt Me

“Please…” I prayed to whatever god would listen. “I will never search for any other story. I’ll lay down my fucking camera and die a boring, mundane life with Ferdinand. Just…don’t kill me.”

A rumbled laugh came from behind the death box, and I screamed, chancing a peek over the lip of the edge and seeing the deep red masked man standing in front of me. I jolted upright, trying to jump out of the swinging rollercoaster leading me straight to Satan, my foot getting stuck and my knee bashing into the hinges of the lid.

A weird mechanical noise and a clicking sound started up. The masked man followed the clicking and dove into the death box with me.

I didn’t have time to scream. He covered my body with his, wrenching the lid shut around us, and we fell. The coffin tipped sideways, my body rolling with his like a horrible carnival ride coming off its hinges.

I understood the meaning of six feet deep as we fell. The snapping and tearing of the fabric surrounding the wood was deafening.

God, this really was Satan’s rollercoaster.

The man didn’t let go of me, his body taking most of the brunt of bashing from side to side as we careened down further and further into the bottomless void. A hard smash landed us at the bottom, and my brain and heart felt utterly rattled.

I was shaking like a leaf. I was flipped upside down, molded into the mud that stuck to the wooden box tomb like plaster or glue. The masked stranger unraveled his arms. His mask was slightly jarred, and his hood had fallen off.

I squinted in the dim light, sliding my hand into the thick, dark locks and using my fingertips on my other hand to trace his lips…

I know those lips…

“Professor…” I pushed the mask off his face. He reached forward and began grabbing my arms and legs. “What are you doing to me now?”

“Checking you for injuries. Are you okay? Are you hurt?” he said, his voice a whisper on my skin.

He nudged my chin with the tip of his finger until my eyes were focused on his face.

I opened my mouth. This crazy ass man chased me down in a cemetery in a devil mask, caused us to fall in a fucking grave hole, and then asked me if I was okay.

I didn’t know what to say, but a laugh left my lips instead.

Starting low and turning into a full-blown belly roll that had me holding my stomach.

This was ridiculous.

He was ridiculous.

He looked at me with concern. His green eyes lit up with confused amusement.

Finally, he started laughing with me. The holes in the coffin had us soaking wet, covered in mud, with the water dripping in.

We stopped laughing at the same time, the sound tapering off, and I looked at him.

Truly looked at him for what felt like the first time.

He was so beautiful. His black hair, black hoodie, and gray sweatpants were wet with the rain and covered in the same mud I was.

I wiped a smudge mark off his cheek, revealing the beauty underneath.

“You’re...pretty,” I said absently, dropping my hand.

He picked it up, chuckling and rubbing it on his face. “No, you are breathtaking.”

I smiled and blushed. My life had been over-the-top weird ever since this man showed up in my life. So weird and so…thrilling.

He was still holding my hand, and I gasped when he yanked me forward. My body fell into him, and his lips met mine.

Twenty Three

Dream: Thoughts, images and emotion brought upon involuntarily to the mind during sleep.