Page 35 of Demon's Desire

“I… It’s not… possible.” I muttered. “There’s no way we would feel an earthquake up here, and she wouldn’t feel it down there. We’re only one floor higher than she was, and that thing was intense.”

“So you think she just didn’t notice it?” Kelly asked.

“I guess so?” I shrugged nonchalantly, but I honestly wasn’t sure. That was strange, and it put me on edge. “Either way, I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s over now, and nothing got broken. Just chalk it up to her being old and let yourself relax.”

“Yeah… You’re probably right.” She let out a sigh of relief and grabbed her toothbrush as well. We took turns using the sink. Once my teeth were brushed and my face was washed, I started heading for my room.

“I’m gonna head to bed,” I told her. “Night!”

“Night!” She waved as I left.

I went to my room, shut the door, and turned the lights out. I was exhausted. I crawled into bed, pulled the blankets tight, and closed my eyes, ready to fall asleep and wake up to a normal world tomorrow.

When I laid down, it was around ten-thirty. It didn’t feel like long after that when I felt pressure at the bottom of my mattress. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, reaching for my phone. I must have been asleep because the screen said it was past midnight.

“Kelly?” I muttered, rolling over to sit up. Before I could even push off the blanket, I felt something hard wrap itself around my throat, pushing me into the mattress as it fell on top of me. My eyes shot open, but I couldn’t see anything in the dark. I reached for whatever was holding my neck when something similar grabbed both of my wrists and forced them above my head. I was about to scream when I felt warm breath graze my ear.

“Hello, Mia.”

9

I tried to scream, but I couldn’t seem to make much noise. The thing around my throat wasn’t really putting much pressure against it, so I could breathe fine. It was just… fear, I suppose. I tried to scream, and all that came out was a weak whimper.

“Wh-what–”

“Shh…” the voice above me cooed. It released my wrists and moved what I assumed was a finger against my lips. “You don’t want to wake Kelly, do you?”

My life flashed before my eyes. Kelly had locked the front door when everyone left. I’d seen her do it. But then, she went to get food… She must have left the door unlocked and someone had snuck in. There was no other explanation.

“L-leave Kelly alone,” I choked out.

“I have no intention of bothering her,” the voice scoffed.

It sounded masculine. Very masculine. It was the kind of deep, gravelly tone you might hear in one of those thirst trap TikToks the bookish girls went nuts for. It was a voice that sent shivers down your spine and, under the right circumstances, a flood of warmth to your private parts. But that wasn’t the feeling I got right now, or at least not the strongest one. Now, I was just afraid.

Since my attacker let go of my hands, I reached up to grab his head, or where I thought his head would be. Instead, my good hand hit something sharp that cut my skin.

“Ow!” I winced, drawing my hand back. What the hell was that?!

The voice chuckled above me. It was low and condescending, and in any other context, it would have been sexy. Now it just terrified me.

“You’re so cute,” he cooed. “Tell me what you think is happening right now.”

“Wh-what?” I whispered. “What do you mean? I think you snuck into the building, and you’re here to… to hurt me…”

He laughed again. I felt something stroking down my cheek. At first, I assumed it was his finger, then I realized it was sharp. It wasn’t cutting me, but the way it dragged across my skin, I knew that it could if the right amount of pressure was applied. Whatever he was here to do, he had a knife.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Mia,” he said.

“Please don’t kill me…” I whispered, balling up my hand. At least it wasn’t bleeding nearly as bad as my other one did.

“Mia, I need you to listen to me.” His voice was firmer now. It almost sounded annoyed. “You aren’t in any danger. Not from me, anyway. Now don’t you want to know what’s going on?”

I swallowed hard. When I did, I could feel the pressure from his hand against my throat. I started to nod when I realized that he could probably see me in the dark as poorly as I saw him. I was about to say ‘yes’ when he spoke.

“Good,” he purred.

Had he seen me nod? Was he wearing night vision goggles or something?