Chasing Death

Chapter 39

"Your adversities are a test of your strength. There's nothing that you can't get through if you just believe in yourself when the world gives up on you."

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"You know I'm not human, right?" My voice was far from steady.

"But you smell awfully like one." He made a deep sound at his throat, a sound of satisfaction. My eyes darted frantically all around. There must be something, a passage, anything.

Look to the left always

But unfortunately, there was only darkness. The clouds were closing in, obscuring the moonlight, and the demon in front of me was becoming a shadow again. His eyes started glowing in strange amber light. It wasn't frightening. Rather, those eyes were calming down my senses. They felt safe. My body instinctively took a step forward. My hands were numb.

"Wake up Tora, the predators have hypnotizing powers." The saner part of my brain slapped some sense into me. I tried to look away, anywhere but those eyes, which made my head go fuzzy.

"And even if you aren't edible, I could as well enjoy you in other ways. I bet you'd like that." The voice was now closer than before. There was no mistake in the insinuation.

"I'm under the protection of Death," I blurted as the last resort.

He guffawed. "I recognize Death's mark when I see one. Did Death abandon poor girl?"

I gulped.

"I'm a hundred times more dashing than Death anyway," he chortled, clearly enjoying his uncontested victory. I was only human. I had no powers.

Being human is your superpower Mrithun had said. But at that moment, being human wasn't helping me in any way.

I took another step backwards, and I hit the wall. I had nowhere to escape. There was a shuffle of footsteps before the shadow pounced on me, pinning me to the rock.

I tried to wriggle out of his grip, but his fingers were crushing my wrists. His entire body was holding me against the steep rocky surface. His putrid breath blew over my face. He reeked of blood and sweat like a feral animal, hungry for flesh. Without warning, he dived his head into the crook of my neck. His lips started tracing circles on the exposed skin, his tongue joining the motion, lapping me up like a piece of dessert.

I squirmed, trying to free my hands. He clamped down his teeth on my skin. A sharp pain coursed through my body. He raised my arms above my head, locking both my wrists with one hand, violently grabbing my chin with the other.

I opened my mouth to scream.

"Scream as much as you want. No one is coming to save you. People here mind their own business," he jeered.

One massive hand grabbed the top hem of my dress, tugging it hard enough to rip out a big chunk of fabric. That was it. He would tear my dress bit by bit and tear apart my flesh next.

It brought forth a flashback of when Nikhit would force himself on me against my will, and I would concede, just because he claimed it was love. My body was ready to give up, ready to surrender to the stronger force. But my mind refused to give in without a fight. Not anymore.

Being human is your superpower

Without a warning, his lips collided on mine, his tongue trying to force its way in, to violate my sanity. And I bit his tongue hard. He yelped, clamping a hand down on his mouth. His hold on me relaxed for a moment when I used the full force of my weight to throw myself at him. He staggered back and one of my hands came free. Getting some room to move my legs, I aimed my knee between his legs, hoping that he had human anatomy and human weaknesses too. The way he bellowed and let go of my hand, made me realise that I was right after all.

And I sprinted towards my left, knowing fully well that in putting my back to him, I was giving him the advantage. But I ran, ran without direction. My aim was to make a circle and go back by the same route that I came.

A blood-curdling howl erupted from the figure on the ground who was dragging himself back up. I knew if he got me this time, it would all be over. I increased my speed, only to realise that there was another shadow at the entrance. The clouds parted again, revealing orange skin.

Another Pisacha.

I stopped short in my tracks. Escape was impossible. My knees shook, thinking about my fate. Would Mrithun or Mani even know what happened to me? Being immortal guaranteed you from not ageing or dying naturally. Didn't mean you couldn't be killed.

But wasn't death what I wanted? Death or death? What or whom did I actually want?

Something glinted in the dark suddenly, like the quick flame of a will-o'-the-wisp. It went out with a pop but left a lingering ray of hope. It felt as if an ancient force like a magnet was pulling me towards it.

I quickly changed course and headed for the wall. The wall seemed impenetrable, but I could not have mistaken the flare. The deep growling coming from behind me made me aware that the predator was up on his feet again. It's then that my prying fingers found a gap in the wall, a little cove hidden so perfectly that it was almost invisible.

I didn't know what hid beyond the wall, but that was my last chance to escape. I squeezed myself in with full force, the jagged edges of the rock scraping against my soft skin. The moment I rolled over to the other side, the rock shook behind me as the savages crashed against it. I could see scaly fingers with sharp talons, trying to pry away the rocks.

And as much as I trusted the little gap, I didn't stick around to see if they could actually break it down. I gathered myself up and ran into the never-ending darkness again.

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