Chapter Four
Victoria soaked in her tub, the warm water soothed the residual aches from last night’s encounter with her demon. Cleaning the carpet and the walls took her some hours and she was late to bed. Demon cum left stains if not cleaned up right away.
She sighed and made the tiny flames of her aromatherapy candles flicker. She stared up at the ceiling of her bathroom and wondered what she would do next. She could travel. Now that there was no need to go to the office every day she could get in her car and go. Anywhere. She wondered if she could run away from everything. Last night had been exhausting, and though she had been pleasured, she could no longer look forward to her demon’s visits. Perhaps he meant to kill her, like he did Michael Brand. From Legal.
She glanced at the closed door.
Closed doors never stopped the demon. Was there a place he could not go? What if she stayed in a church? There was a cathedral two miles away. What if she stayed in there? She thought back to all the folktales she had read as a child, trying to remember if there was something that stopped demons. She knew about garlic and vampires, and silver bullets and werewolves. Holy water, maybe, and the big double doors of a church. She sat up, careful not to slosh the water in her tub. Where does one get holy water? From a priest? Victoria was not a Catholic. She wasn’t sure. Then she remembered a movie. A very famous movie from decades ago. Priests performed exorcisms. They were the ones who sent demons back to hell. Forever.
She slowly got out of her bath, her eyes on the door. She suspected the demon could read her mind. There had been several instances when she had thought of something that would increase her pleasure while he was f*cking her, and that thing happened. Sometimes it was a touch, sometimes a lick, but she would think it and he would do it. She wondered if he was watching her at all times. What would he do if he saw her go to the church for help?
He would try to stop her.
She dried herself and fluffed her hair with the towel. He tended to come to her at night. It was morning. Maybe he slept during the day. She wondered if demons slept. She put on jeans and a blue tee shirt and brushed her hair. She slipped on her sandals and got her purse, all the while flicking her eyes over the walls and cabinets and furniture, looking for a flash of light or something to show that he might try to stop her.
In the car she kept checking her rearview mirror. Now that the demon had appeared at her old office building, he could be anywhere, be anything. He could be the man behind the wheel of the car behind her right now.
This thought made her stomach hurt. She knew that if she kept thinking these thoughts the paranoia would make her crazy. She might be crazy. No. The rape kit at the hospital and the somber faces of the policemen confirmed her sanity. She wasn’t imagining this.
She pulled into the parking lot of the church and looked in the mirror again to see if any cars followed her. No. She parked and sat behind her wheel thinking.
She could go into the church and sit down. But then what? Someone might approach her and ask if she needed help. Victoria covered her eyes. How would she explain? She could tell the truth. They might call an ambulance and put her in the psych ward. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. Would she be safe there? She suspected the demon might continue his visits, but be invisible to the staff. She imagined orderlies crowding her doorway while she had her legs spread and was pounded by the invisible demon’s hard cock. She would be locked up for a long time. Forever even.
A tear tipped over her lower lid and she wiped it away. Self pity. Demon visits were preferable to a life in a cage. She glanced around the parking lot. Another car drove by slowly. The man inside turned his head to look at her. Victoria lowered her eyes. The other car parked and the man got out, looking at her curiously before going into the side door of the church. He was probably the priest. Victoria sighed. She would never tell anyone. Even a priest.
She started the engine. As she looked to the left, preparing to merge onto the street, she saw a movement to her right. She pulled out into traffic and as she stopped at the light someone materialized in the passenger seat next to her. She startled, but had the sense to keep her eyes on the red light. She blinked rapidly, thinking. The vision of the psych ward came to her again. As the light turned green, she touched the accelerator with her toes then glanced to her right. Just her eyes. She didn’t turn her head.
He was there, staring straight ahead as she was. He was in the human man form, wearing a collared shirt and jeans. She swallowed and thought about turning around and going back to the church, but he read that thought.
“It won’t help,” he said.
Victoria’s throat tightened. She followed the car in front of her at it made the long curve near the mall. It occurred to her that in this situation the demon could not very well knock her to the side and leap on her. He would crash the car. She frowned. If he wanted sex why not wait until she was alone in the house, or at least at her destination. She watched as the mall slid by. No use pretending that’s where she was headed. But it was a very public place. She turned into the entrance and took the access road that ringed the huge parking lot. Would he attack her in public? Was it his intention to have her committed?
“No. Victoria I do not want you locked away in prison or in the hospital.”
She began to tremble and her knuckles whitened on the wheel. He had never spoken more than a few words to her at a time. Usually instructions. Usually orders.
She swallowed again and whispered, “What do you want?”
He did not answer so she hazarded a glance at him. He was staring straight ahead and actually looked sad. Like he had feelings.
“Pull over and park,” he said.
She did. She put the lever in park and set the brake. Just in case. She kept her eyes ahead, watching shoppers with their bags make their way to their cars. She watched mothers and children and rich ladies in heels. She watched the security cart with its flashing light make its rounds. She watched everything except the seat beside her. He spoke again.
“I need you to come with me.”
“We do that sometimes, if I get enough foreplay.” She turned her head now, to look at him. Her humor was tinged with some hysteria.
“This is not a joking matter, Victoria.”
She took a calming breath. He looked so normal. Handsome, even, in a rough well-used sort of way. He could appear as anything and anyone. Why this form? He could have appeared as handsome and perfect as the well-chiseled models in a fashion magazine. Victoria realized that she was thinking that if she could be a shape-shifter she would look like the models in the negligée catalogue.
But this form was flawed. The nose looked like it had been broken at some point and healed not quite straight. He had that thick scar on the front of his throat. And his ears were too interesting to be perfect. She liked his hair. It was a sandy blond and just the right length to show that it might wave and curl if it ever grew longer to touch his shoulders. The blond looked natural, like he spent a lot of time outdoors, and his dark tan and the squint-wrinkles around his eyes suggested he was rarely inside. He was clean-shaven, but stubble was apparent along his chin and jaw. He was tall and had the strong chiseled bone structure of a Norseman. She frowned, realizing she was thinking about him as if he were a real man. This form is an illusion. No more real than the huge red demon that scraped her ceiling with his massive curling ram’s horns.
“Not really.” He turned to her with those yellow eyes. One side of his mouth turned up in a half smile that quickly faded. Victoria blinked. He had never smiled at her. Ever.
“Who are you?” she asked. “Why do you torment me?” She tried to think of what terrible sin she must have committed. She had led such a boring life. She had committed no atrocities. Once she had hit a squirrel with her car by accident at night. That was probably the worse thing she had ever done. The thing with Michael Brand from Legal…but she did not do that. He did.
She glanced outside the windows, wondering if the walking shoppers would see her talking to an empty seat. They would probably think she had a hands-free phone. She sighed.
He repeated, “I need you to come with me.”
“Why ask?” Her voice was hard with frustration. “You always just come and take what you want. Why be polite? Why even bother to ask?”
The face he was using softened. “Because where we are going is different from this place. Here you cannot escape from me. The church was an amusing idea, but there is no place here you can hide from me.”
She stared at him. His voice was warm and sincere. She took many little breaths, reminding herself that instead of forcing her with a strong grip on her body, he was now forcing her with the hypnotic resonance of his voice. She was determined to resist.
“Why,” she narrowed her eyes at him, “do you think I would ever agree to go anywhere with you?”
He did not answer, and this gave her time to think about what he had just said. There was no place here she could hide or escape. But there? Is that what he meant? There she might be able to escape?
He nodded, reading her mind again. “Yes.”
“Where exactly?” She said that slowly, thinking about the answer. Don’t demons come from Hell? Is that where he wanted her to go?
“Hell isn’t what you think it is.” He moved his hand to touch her knee. She jumped. His hand was warm. It felt like a man’s hand.
“What choice do I have?” She was angry that her voice sounded resigned. Like she had already agreed. She tried to imagine being a strong heroine of her own life, like women in the movies who kicked ass.
He shrugged. “I will keep coming,” his mouth turned up again at his own humor, “until you agree.” His hand moved from her knee to his crotch. He flipped the metal stud at the waistband and unzipped his jeans. He was not wearing underwear. His cock popped out, thick and hard in his hand. The yellow eyes glowed brighter for a moment as he opened his knees and adjusted himself in the seat.
Victoria looked away, wondering just what could be seen through her windshield. He began to stroke slowly, his well-muscled arm clenched and unclenched as he brought it back and forth. She covered her eyes with a hand, embarrassed. She imagined him coming and spurting his cum over the inside of her windshield and heard him give a short laugh beside her as he read that thought.
“You have no idea,” he said, amused. She turned away, looking at the people with their shopping bags meandering though the lot, looking for their cars. She heard the short beeps of automatic locks as shoppers popped their trunks to put away their purchases. She wondered if she should jump out of the car. He couldn’t chase her down with his dick in his hand.
Her hand moved toward the door.
Her seatbelt tightened. She was pressed back firmly.
He said, “No. You cannot escape. Not here.”
She wondered if she should drive away now. Victoria realized she did not want strangers peering through her windows and asking her if she was “all right”. Of course I am not ‘all right’. She moved her hand to turn the ignition and the demon did not stop her, instead he put his dick back in his pants and zipped them up. She turned her head to look behind her as she backed carefully out of the parking space and moved slowly toward the exit. People were looking at her. She accelerated and merged onto the access road. Victoria resisted the urge to close her eyes. She quickly rolled down her side window and stuck her head out to get some fresh air. She was no longer on a street. The little car was parked in the center of a green field of blowing grass. In the distance a low tree-line suggested summertime in the South. Victoria blinked, then rubbed her eyes to be sure. She didn’t want to be rear-ended at a street light.
“You won’t.” She looked at him.
The yellow eyes were soft.