I obeyed without a second of hesitation. My nerves were tingling with the anticipation of his touch. I was shaking, I wanted it so bad. My brain had gone completely lust-drunk: no thoughts, just need.
His eyes flickered down to my spread legs, then back up to my face. He was shaking his head. “Oh, Rae. Poor pathetic little human. Are you going to beg me?”
“Please…” God, I did sound pathetic. I didn’t care. He’d wound me up like a little clockwork doll, and I couldn’t stop. “Leon, please.”
He laughed, and pushed away from the chair. It was as if he snatched the air from my lungs at the same time, a cold slap in the face as he put distance between us. “It really is too bad for you that I enjoy seeing you suffer. But frankly, thinking of you having to get through your next class with your panties soaked and your pussy still begging to be filled just gives me the warm fuzzies.” He smiled happily, and turned away with a little wave of his fingers. “Au revoir, petit jouet. I’m sure you’ll suffer beautifully for me.”
He left me like that, hot and shaking in my chair. God, I hated him. I hated him.
Deal or no deal, I knew he wasn’t done with me yet.
It was nothing short of torture to get through the rest of the day. I already hadn’t been in the headspace to concentrate, but Leon had shattered my brain into pieces and I likely looked like a zombie through my next two classes. I kept expecting him to pop up again and make good on those filthy threats, but when I left campus and he still hadn’t made an appearance, I had to accept that he’d meant it.
He wanted me to suffer. He was probably watching me from somewhere, laughing and jacking off like the absolute pervy dick that he was. He’d even managed to stop me from getting my video ready to be uploaded, which was probably his plan all along.
But his dirty-talk distraction wasn’t going to convince me to go along with his little bargain.
Pulling up in front of my house in the dark brought a sobering dose of reality. I parked close to the porch, but I still sat there for a minute, the engine turned off, staring into the shadows under the trees. My porch light had popped on from the movement of my car, but the light didn’t go far. If a monster was lurking in those trees, waiting, I had no way of knowing.
I exited the car and pressed the door closed as softly as I could. My body said run, my brain said no sudden moves. My keys jangled as I pulled them out at the door, my heart pounding so hard it hurt. The night air was cold. In the corner of my eye, the darkness pressed close as the trees slowly creaked.
I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until I was inside. I locked the deadbolt, staring out through the glass door at the yard as Cheesecake mewled hungrily around my feet. Never in my life had I been scared of the dark, but now the thought of what could hide within it almost made me feel sick. At least tonight, as I slowly scanned the yard, nothing was there.
Until my eyes reached the porch, and there, just off the side, beneath the railing, a skeletal canine head with a gaping mouth stared back at me.
I flung the curtain closed so fast that Cheesecake sprinted away in alarm. I backed away from the door, hands pressed over my mouth to hold back the scream that desperately wanted to come out. The porch creaked, and there came the slow scratch of claws on the wood.
The morbid stench of rot seeped into the house. It was sniffing at the door, its breathing rough. I was backed into the living room, torn between running into the kitchen for a knife or barricading myself in the bathroom.
I’d seen one of those things fight. If it wanted to break through the glass, it could do it easily.
A sharp cry, like a fox screaming, made me jump and nearly trip backward onto the couch. It was so loud, but somewhat muffled, as if its mouth was pressed right up against the door. Softer, as if it was distant, a longer cry answered.
Then another.
And another…
Until it was a cacophony of howling screams in the night.
My limbs were locked up with fear. It was calling the others. It knew I was in here. They all knew.
I had to call the cops. I had to get a weapon. I had to —
There was a hoarse growl, a bang and rapid shuffling. Then…silence. Utter silence.
A minute passed, and then came the slow thump, thump, thump of footsteps across the deck. They creaked on the top step, then came the crunch of dirt.
The footsteps were gone. The night was silent. After another minute, I heard the crickets begin to chirp again.
Leon had been watching after all.
I slept horrible that night. I used up the rest of my cinnamon and rosemary, leaving it to smolder in a bowl just inside the door because I was too terrified to unlock it. At least it made the house smell good. In the morning, I chugged down two ibuprofens with my coffee and got to work, editing my footage. Leon had arrived just in time the night before, but I couldn’t depend on a demon to keep saving me. I had to get this evidence out to people who could help me, and fast.