Page 9 of Unbinding the Demon

I struggled to keep the oversized boxers from falling off my ass while I rushed up the damp stone path. One hand awkwardly held the undergarments up, using the other to swing the screen door and then the regular door open. I jumped inside, ducked down, and peered out the bottom of the window next to the door. Red brake lights glowed while the black car rolled down the driveway, splashing through the puddles as it turned to disappear down the road. A relieved breath escaped through my nose, and I slid down against the wall to sit on the floor.

I’m alive!

Pepper Paws pranced over with a friendly little meow, and I swooped him up in a big hug. His whiskers tickled my cheeks while he nuzzled my face, purring with a volume that suggested he missed me alot. I couldn’t believe that I had made it out of that precarious situation unharmed. It felt like I’d awoken from a nightmare, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to handle the burden of knowing what had happened to James. I didn’t even want to know what he did with the body. All I could do was hope that Ashton hid all the evidence well enough so that nothing got traced back to us.

“Well, well, well, look who finally decided to show up.” William stood before me with a scowl, hands on his hips, tapping his foot.

“Oh, um, I—uh, well...” I stared up at him with a mixture of nervousness and guilt.

“You crazy fucking bitch! You sure had a wild time at that party last night, didn’t ya?” His false angry demeanor dropped and was replaced by an amused grin and loud laughter.

“You have no idea,” I replied with a blank expression.

“Oh, you can’t even deny it! I totally saw you getting dicked down by that super sexy beast of a man out in the rain. And the way he passionately whooshed you away... Woo! Girl, you animal! You even lost your dress!” He gestured to the shirt I was wearing.

“Where in God’s name have you been!?” Oliver stormed out of the kitchen, waving a half-eaten bowl of cereal in his hand. “Did you really think it was a good idea to go off with some random guy and not tell anyone where you’d be or who you were with!?” His wavy brown hair tumbled in disarray to the nape of his neck. He and William were wearing their matching light pink pajama shirts, which had “Slut for the Sub” written in bold cursive letters and a picture of a sub sandwich on them.

My cheeks reddened with embarrassment. I knew there was no good way to explain what happened last night or being in Ashton’s shirt and boxers other than having slept with him. “Look, I’m sorry. I had a lot to drink and didn’t really think it through.” I bit my lower lip as a wave of nervousness washed over me. It wasn’t technically a lie, but I still felt terrible about being dishonest with my friends. “I didn’t mean to worry you guys.”

Oliver’s expression softened. “Well, just please don’t let it happen again. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but—”

Oliver was interrupted as Lacey burst out of her room. “Oh, thank goodness you’re home!” she exclaimed in relief while rushing down the hall. I stumbled back and laughed as she bombarded me with a big, suffocating hug. “I’ve been calling and texting you all morning!”

Wait, where did my phone go?

“Oh gosh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you. I think I must have lost my phone at the party.” I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear while trying to recall what happened to it. It had probably gotten lost during all of my drunken struggles with Ashton.

“It’s okay. I’m just glad that you got home safely. William told me you were off with some unknown and apparently rather kinky guy. And I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there was a murder last night.” Worry filled her big brown eyes, and her voice was laced with fear.

“Oh... a-a murder, you say?” My body froze up, and my widened eyes shifted around anxiously.

Oh shit! Oh shit!

“Yeah, you know Allison Reynolds? Apparently, she was found in the woods with her chest cut open and her heart removed,” Oliver stated grimly.

A glorious wave of relief crashed over me. However, it didn’t last long and was quickly followed by a sickening sense of dread that made my stomach churn. “What!? That’s horrifying!” Shock filled my voice and eyes. I reached down to pick up Pepper Paws again, since he was rubbing against my legs and meowing. “What kind of sicko does that to someone?”

“I know, right? Police think it might be a serial killer,” Lacey whispered while shifting her eyes back and forth in worry. “She’s the second one who’s been killed in such a way within the past month.”

“Which is why we were so freaked out when you weren’t here this morning and no one could reach you!” Oliver scowled, pinning me with his blue stare. “I mean, for fuck’s sake, what if you had been kidnapped by a murderer last night!?” He then glanced out the window. “Luckily, that guy had the decency to bring you home in one piece, but still.”

After a few more minutes of Oliver’s berating and learning about the murder, I was feeling pretty freaked out by everything. Ashton suddenly didn’t seem so bad considering that Jack the fucking Ripper was now on the loose. I eventually managed to slip away and scurry up to my bedroom after an uncomfortable interrogation about my wild and crazy “sex-filled” night with a handsome stranger. Despite the whole serial killer scare, they seemed happy that I had let loose a bit and had some fun. Especially Lacey, which made me a little sad.

Am I really so much of a boring recluse that everyone’s shocked by the idea of me having fun?

With a sigh, I slipped out of Ashton’s clothes and put on a boring dark blue dress to match my gloomy mood. I folded the shirt and then grabbed the boxers to do the same. I didn’t know what I should do with them. Sneak over to his place in the dead of night while wearing a ski mask and slide them into his mailbox? Maybe?

I held the large pair of black undergarments in front of my face. The size of them reminded me of what a massive, hunky, muscled-up man he was. I wondered if they would have the same fire and spice scent as the shirt. My hands seemed to move on their own as I brought the crotch of the material up to my nose. I inhaled, and the scent was so deliciously... masculine .

Despite the liquid heat pooling between my legs, I suddenly felt spooked, as if I wasn’t alone again. My body stiffened, and I glanced around the room like a paranoid person. “Hello?” I warily called out. I looked under my bed, in the closet, behind the curtains. Hell, I even checked under the rug... and

nothing . It felt like I was losing my goddamn mind.

The numbers on the large wall clock shifted from 4:33 to 4:34. I inwardly groaned, knowing that I was stuck in my psychology class for another agonizing twenty-six minutes. Paying attention to the monotonous utterance of my professor, Mrs. Esposito, was proving to be quite the struggle. My gaze kept shifting to the empty seat a few rows in front of me, which had belonged to Allison Reynolds.

Thinking about how her heart had been carved from her chest just last night made me shiver with unease. What upset me further was the fact that no one here seemed to care. The class continued on like nothing even happened. There hadn’t even been a mention of her. It was like... poof. .. she never even existed at all.

Luckily, Amelia’s seat was right next to mine. She was dead tired and hungover from the party. Her straight, shoulder-length red hair was pulled back in a sloppy high ponytail. The dark purple lipstick she had on was faded and cracking. Black eyeliner was smudged all willy-nilly around her blue-gray eyes, blending with her dark circles to make her look like a disheveled Ricky the Raccoon on drugs. Looking at her overall decrepit state had me considering how weird it was that I hadn’t woken up in just as terrible of a condition.

I cleared my throat to get her attention. She slowly pried her exhausted eyes away from the wall to look at me. “I can’t stop thinking about Allison Reynolds,” I whispered, still pretending to pay attention to the class.

“Yeah, it’s freaky, right? I mean, if it is a serial killer, who knows who will be next,” Amelia whispered back as she chewed her gum.

“I’ve heard that it takes a few bodies turning up before detectives can track down the perpetrator.” I tried to seem smart and tough, and not as worried as I felt. I had always thought that if a situation like that ever arose, I would be able to go all Rambo on their ass and victoriously fight the perp off. But after last night, I was seriously doubting my strength against a homicidal maniac.

“I’ve heard that too. Do you—”

Amelia was prevented from finishing her sentence as an older, very flustered man burst through the door and rushed over to Mrs. Esposito. He began telling her something that seemed urgent. It looked like he was trying to stay cool, but he was totally freaking out. Judging by the expression on their faces, whatever they were talking about wasn’t good at all. A sickening feeling sank in my gut while we sat there, anticipating what it could be.

“Attention class, everyone is to go home! There has been a terrible accident on campus, and all classes are canceled for the rest of the night,” Mrs. Esposito announced, her hands trembling. Her brown eyes were wide, as though she were haunted by the news she’d just received.

The entire class gathered their things while murmuring in speculation about what could have happened. There was a heavy atmosphere of apprehension hovering throughout the room, silencing even the most talkative students. I glanced at Amelia, who was wide-eyed while collecting her things. After grabbing my stuff, we exited the building without saying a word.

The bright sun blinded my eyes as we stepped out. Strong winds whistled through the trees and blew my hair all around my face. I stepped over one of the few remaining puddles that lingered on the sidewalk. Flashing lights and sirens came from emergency vehicles that surrounded the main study hall across the street from us. It looked like something serious was going down.

“Let’s see if we can get close enough to check out what happened,” Amelia nudged me while eyeing an ambulance.

“ What!? I don’t think that’s a good idea at all! Besides, I doubt we’ll be allowed near all the commotion.” I looked at her as if she were crazy.

“Come on, it will be quick. The worst they can do is ask us to leave.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me across the street before I could object further.

We stepped up onto the sidewalk in time to see paramedics carrying someone out of the main hall’s large stained-glass double doors. The person was strapped down to a straight board, writhing and snarling more like a wild animal than a human. It looked like something straight out of some deranged horror film. I stood on my tiptoes and tried to get a better look at who it might be.

“Oh my god! Is that Cassandra!?”

Her face was distorted with malice and half-covered by her tangled, colorful hair. Black inky veins webbed down beneath her now pitch-black eyes. Something that looked like disgusting gooey tar was oozing out of her mouth and dripping down her chin. Blood-curdling, otherworldly noises were coming out of her. It sounded almost like something you’d expect to hear in a cheesy zombie movie, only far more evil and unsettling.

I was filled with perturbation from the harrowing sight and frozen in shock. Never in had I seen anything so sinister as this before. It was as though she were possessed by some otherworldly dark force and had lost all sense of humanity. I didn’t like Cassandra, but yikes, what the hell happened to her!?

The paramedics and officers looked as freaked out as I was. “The victim seems to have died from bite wounds to the throat,” one of them said. “Yeah, but they’ll have to confirm that at the coroner’s,” another replied.

The victim? Bite wounds to the throat? What the fuck is happening right now!?

A few other people were being treated for what looked like large gashes in an ambulance near us. Blood was soaking through bandages and dripping onto the ground from various victims. People were crying and clearly traumatized. My heart sank to my stomach, and I felt beyond sick. “Excuse me, ladies, you need to leave,” a tall police officer said to Amelia and me while trying to shoo us out of there.

“Come on, let’s go,” I said softly, sounding as distressed as I felt.

The entire gang of Amelia, Lacey, William, Oliver, and I were seated in a circle in the living room, discussing the bizarre horror scene that we had just witnessed. Our story disturbed Lacey and William. Oliver, however, was rather skeptical. I couldn’t blame him, though. It was hard to explain such an abnormal occurrence while still sounding sane.

“Nope, nope, nope! That is some freaky-ass Night of the Living Dead shit right there!” William shook his head in horrified denial.

“I wonder what could have caused that. Do you think she was poisoned by something, or possibly rabid?” Lacey asked with unease. She snuggled Esquire’s plump orange body against her chest while sitting on the couch.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t make any sense at all. I could hardly believe it myself. But I swear she seemed just like a zombie!” I shook my head and held my hands up, feeling overwhelmed by all of it.

“Well, I don’t mean to divert you guys from your insanity-filled zombie rigmarole, but did you hear that they found another body with the heart missing?” Oliver piped in. The look on his face made it obvious that he was sick of our nonsensical conversation.

Lacey gasped and leaned forward, squishing the purring puddle of pudding. He seemed to like it and purred even louder. “Really?”

“So does that confirm it’s a serial killer?” Amelia inquired. She seemed both exhausted and shaken up.

“Yeah, it does. So everyone should be extra careful with strangers.” Oliver sounded like a father talking to his unruly children, but I knew it was because he cared about us. “In fact, I think we should all practice some self-defense techniques in the meantime until the guy is caught.”

“Agreed,” William nodded.

It was getting late. Amelia was frightened about going home alone, so she set up camp on the couch. Oliver stayed over as well and joined William in his bedroom. I ate some mixed nuts as a quick snack and then got ready for bed. I was comforted knowing there were extra people in the house while I flopped onto my bed. As usual, I helped Esquire up, then I petted him and Pepper Paws as we all got comfy. While lying there, I stared numbly as though in a trance at my dark ceiling. It was good to be in the comfort of my bed again, especially since the past twenty-four hours had been so crazy.

I peered out from behind my blanket and over at the shadowed corner of the room. That sinister feeling crept over me yet again. Logically, I knew it was all in my head. I was probably just freaked out and letting my imagination get the better of me. And yet, I couldn’t help but feel as if I were staring into invisible eyes hiding within the darkness. I tried to ignore the stupid feeling and turned to face the wall. As soon as I did, a shiver ran up my spine. It felt like something was standing next to the bed, looming over me with maleficent intent. I peeked just once but saw nothing, causing me to inwardly grumble to myself about how ridiculous it was. I then allowed sleep to take over my senses.