I took a deep breath.

“Okay,” I whispered and moved into a crouched position, “you stay here.”

“Wait!” Stacy said a bit too loudly, grabbing onto my arm, “you can’t just leave me here to die!”

I felt my heart pang. That hurt more than I thought it would. She really thought I’d just leave her.

“I’m going to lure it away,” I yanked my arm away from her, still stung from her words. I was probably about to die. 

Sucked to know how she truly thought of me, right at the end. 

“Take care of Rini for me.”

I sprang from around the counter and dashed towards the broken window, the farthest exit from the demon. I grabbed a black flail from the wall and threw it at the demon. It passed through its body, landing on the floor behind it. I’d been secretly hoping it would damage it, if just a little bit…

“Hey! Demon!” I yelled as I grabbed a fallen sword. The weight in my hands gave me some nieve comfort.

The demon whipped around to face me and without missing a beat, started crawling creepily towards me, stumbling across the weaponry, its head almost touching the ceiling. I felt both relief and terror—relief that it had moved away from where Stacy hid, and the fear that I was about to die.

I ran to the window and climbed over the broken glass. Sharp pain dug into my stomach as I lunged over the edge, reminding me that one of my ribs might be broken. Sudden white dots broke out across my vision. 

No. No. No. I can’t pass out now. Not yet. 

My mind raced. Where should I go? There was another store next door, but it was also covered in glass. But I wouldn’t make it very long running down the hallway. My ribs ached, the pain growing with every step. I could feel my sight dimming. I needed somewhere I could lay down and hide, if just for a little bit…

I turned into the storefront next door, silently cursing myself. What good was I to Stacy? I couldn’t even make it far away from where she was hiding. I barely drew the monster away at all. If anything, it could easily turn around and go searching for her again.

The store I’d rushed into was full of glass candles and other smelly things. Of course. More glass. I carefully walked around the display shelves to the back of the store, ducking behind the checkout counter again.

Maybe the demon would go somewhere else…

I saw movement from the corner of my eye and practically jumped out of my skin.

A boy around my age stood in the corner of the room near me. His arms were crossed in an imposing manner. He wore all black and had unnaturally dark hair that didn’t seem to reflect any light. His sharp angled jaw and high cheekbones told me he was quite muscular beneath his gothic looking clothes. 

No one should be allowed to be that handsome. He reminded me of Lucius. Despite his dark appearance, he was practically glowing with beauty.

He looked at me with a frown, his brows furrowing in… annoyance?

He didn’t say anything.

“Hey,” I whispered, suddenly wondering if he was as dim-witted as Lucius too, “get over here. You need to hide. The demons right outside.”

He stared at me for another second and then looked away, ignoring my words. He didn’t look afraid… which unsettled me.

I could hear the demon outside the store, slithering. The boy might be standing in the back of the room, but he was standing out in the open. There was no way the demon couldn’t see him from there.

I didn’t go through all this just to let some stupid boy get me killed in the end. 

Fine, if he wasn’t going to move, then I’d make him.

I crawled over to him, trying to be as quiet as possible. His eyes shifted to watch my movement. He looked at me suspiciously, but didn’t budge.

I expected him to at least try to move once I reached him, but he just stood there, towering above me.

He looked at me like one might look at a fly on the wall.

“Get. Over. Here,” I said.

I braced my feet against the nearby wall and grabbed his ankles and tugged, hoping to catch him off balance and bring him to the ground. 

He didn’t move an inch. Not one. His ankles felt like steel bars in my hands.

He stared at me.

“You aren’t one of the smarter humans, are you?” He said, voice deep and warm like honey. He had an accent similar to Lucius, but it wasn’t quite the same.

Why did I like his voice so much? He had just insulted me.

I gritted my teeth and tried tugging harder.

‘Really? Because I thought the same about you. Now keep your voice down and come hide.”

He stood firm and scoffed at me.

“I don’t need to hide. Now leave me be, lest you want the—“ he hesitated, “demon to show.”

“It’s going to find us because of you,” I said angrily, giving his ankles a few more helpless tugs. It was useless. I couldn’t move him.

Maybe I could knock him out somehow…

My phone suddenly vibrated in my pants pocket. I’d forgotten all about it. Maybe Rini had heard the news and was worried?

I checked my phone, my stomach dropping immediately at the words on the screen.

"It's coming back," Stacy texted. Her next message was even shorter.

"Pls help."