Page 206 of Lost in the Dark

"You can't—"

"I fucking can. I'm not the person you told me I was, and this is over. This is done."

Karl clenched his hands, knuckles going white. I felt the compulsion to run, to cower, to curl up into a ball and wait until the beating was over, but I set my shoulders back and kept my head high.

Never again would I be that person.

He was so fixated on me that he didn't notice the darkness spreading into the room. Ash seemed to seep through every crack in the wooden slats, every empty nail hole in the tin roof. He blocked out all exterior light, looming behind Karl, those purple cracks in his body flickering as though they represented the storm in my heart. Ash's eyes locked to mine for just a moment before he swarmed over Karl, covering him in black.

My ex let out one long scream before he was silenced. Ash's tendrils of shadow locked him tightly, binding him in the ways I had been bound so many times.

Ash stepped from the shadows then, his form more humanoid than not. He knelt before me, fingers, so many fingers, undoing the rope that tied me, cupping my face and engulfing me in his warmth.

"You came." My voice broke and I finally let a sob tear loose. I threw my arms around him, let him hold me until my body stopped shaking.

"As soon as I could," he whispered into my hair. "I crept through the shadows and bushes, finding pockets of darkness. I thought he might kill you before I got here."

I could hear the relief in his voice, feel it in the way he held me tight.

"But you're here. And I'm safe." I drew in a shaky breath, finally pulling back so that I could look at him. "Thank you."

"Always." He kissed me then, soft and tender, a promise to back up the word he had spoken.

"What are we going to do with him?" I asked as he drew me to my feet. My legs were shaky, but I leaned on him for strength.

"You are going to step outside, and I am going to make sure he can never hurt you again." Ash gently pushed me towards the door, the tendrils of his shadow drawing away to reveal a path, but I shook my head.

"No. I want to see it. I want to know."

A flash of panic crossed Ash's gaze.

"You're doing this for me," I said, leaning close to him again. "I will never not be grateful. And I promise it won't change the way I look at you." As I said the words, I knew it wasn't a reasonable promise, and from the look on his face, Ash knew it too. Still, he nodded and kissed me one last time before he slipped away from me.

I leaned against the wall, wrapping my arms around my body for warmth. Ash might not be right next to me, but even as he dispersed into shadows I could feel him in the room, feel it as he ratcheted up the tension, directing it all at Karl.

My ex squealed, high pitched and terrified, but I couldn't see whatever scared him. From the outside everything was black and purple, clashes of Ash's internal lightning flickering sporadically.

And then there was a wet sound, a squelch, cracking like brittle bones. My stomach roiled, but I held myself firm, not letting even a single tremor of fear escape.

He was doing this for me.

Making sure that I would always be safe from the monster that was Karl.

The darkness pulled back, dispersing in the air as Ash emerged. He flicked his hands as though shaking off the mess of Karl, and then stood in front of me, waiting for my response.

I flung myself at him, wrapping my legs around his hips and crushing my lips to his. He kissed me back, hard, sharp teeth grazing my lips, one hand threading through my hair.

"You are everything I need," I murmured against his mouth.

"And you are everything I crave," he whispered back. I lost myself in the feel of his touch then, for just a moment, until my back hit the wall of the shed and I remembered where we were.

"Not here." I put a hand on his chest and let myself stand. My breath was ragged as I threaded my fingers through his and led him from the shed. "You're going to have to show me how to get back to my cabin, though." I looked up at him then, a wry smile on my lips. Relief buoyed my mood. To know that what he was—what he had done—hadn't changed a thing about how I felt.

If anything, it showed me he was exactly the right 'man' for me.

The End