Her scalp was on fire.
Slimy spindly fingers alternated between choking the air from her lungs and ripping her hair out as they dragged her across the ground, taking wicked pleasure at her demise. Aura's vision was a blur of cream and darkness, throat closing as she attempted to gulp oxygen in her panic.
She remembered tumbling, her face hitting against a corner, reaching her hands up in a desperate attempt to try to pry herself free from the choke hold that only tightened on reflex.
Ignoring the sting of friction that would surely leave marks on her bare skin, she bit down on her lip until it drew blood and grunted in effort to stall her abductor by planting her feet, willing strength to resist, but to no avail.
Her boots had been left discarded in the corner of her room, meaning she was now subjected to the hot sharp pain of her trimmed toenails curling, digging into stone floors in vain. She vaguely heard snickering above the pounding of her heart as her pulse roared in her ears, vision sparking at each tumble.
Then she rolled, vaguely aware of the awkward angles of a staircase biting into her joints before she collided into something firm. Her body had been discarded into a dark space in such a dehumanising way she tasted the disrespect as strongly as the blood developing in her mouth, spluttering across the floor as she coughed and heaved air as though resurfacing from under water.
Hands splayed on the ground, the room seemed to sway in her minds eye, she tried to force herself to focus and gain enough balance to secure her footing when she felt something sticky slide up her clothed calf. Revulsion was thick and grim on her tongue.
'I would savour you in a single bite' whispered that unearthly disembodied voice.
Invisible hands flipped her onto her back, causing her head to bounce against the floor and vision sway once more, killing her focus and provoking another heave of air as she coughed up another splatter of blood.
The rancid scent of decay infected the oxygen around her, stinging her eyes and brimming them with fresh tears.
Despite this and the sharp stabbing pain at the base of her skull, gradually her focus was beginning to clear until she could push through the smell to get her bearings.
They were in one of the basements in the northern wing, if the cluttered shadowed silhouette of storage cupboards meant anything. Her eyes were fixed onto the stairs in front of her that lead to the door for her escape when a bony grip snatched her jaw, forcing her attention elsewhere.
The silence was terrifying, but she had to breathe.
She was trained for this.
Aura knew demons —because what other abominable creature could this be— fed off of fear and revelled in negative emotion. It was absolutely imperative she stay calm, her pulse had to steady.
Focus. What do I see?
Despite her swaying vision, she knew she wouldn't have been able to see it anyway. She could feel it though, it's sticky essence pressing every inch of her body to the ground, crushing her. Something like a cold slippery finger, hard as bone, stroked her face in a mocking caress. It traced the curves of her features, leaving a frigid trail in its wake before returning to her arm in anticipation of her regained focus.
"Delicious." Aura went taut with the urge to jump at the voices proximity. Against her ear it sounded like a multitude of raspy voices, old and young strung together contained in a single body. Unsettling couldn't begin to describe it.
YOU ARE READING
Don't Let Them Catch You
Paranormal"When the stars retreat, and the moon bleeds blue. When love bows to a pure soul, free of vengeance, and hatred and sorrow," his words were ushered, as if he were telling her a secret, "Is when I'll be with you." At the time, Aura didn't understand...
