Devil Inside

Fractured Reflection.

*A/N - For those following the soundtrack to this book, I chose 'Turn It Up' by Robots In Disguise for this chapter :)*

A good fifteen minutes later and not even out of breath, Elsa reached the park and stopped running. The sun was slowly setting but she still felt its warmth. Or maybe she was getting a temperature because the air around her and her skin felt cold. She had never been running in her life and she'd just run as fast as she could for over two miles and hadn't even broken a sweat. She sat on a bench shaded by a large oak tree and placed her head in her hands, closing her eyes. If only she could switch off. Maybe she had a head injury they'd missed and she was going slowly mad, right now she couldn't think of a better explanation.

Somebody sat down next to her silently and she caught her breath as the smell of them immediately sent her mind reeling more than any other person had until this point. She steeled herself and looked up.

“Sebastian!” she was genuinely shocked not only to see him, but that he had voluntarily sat next to her.

“You okay?” he said gruffly.

“Not really,” she surprised herself by answering honestly, she swore she could actually hear his heart beating and tried not to watch his pulse in his neck. She had thought about him a lot this week, during the hours she lay awake each night. No matter how rude and ignorant he'd been, she was still ridiculously attracted to him and right now, the smell of him was sending her over the edge.

“I heard about your car accident.” he said, “You weren't hurt?” she thought she heard an actual note of concern in his voice. Elsa looked at him again, trying not to focus on his scent. She could sense a definite danger about him but she didn't feel scared, there was something she felt much more deeply than danger. Despair and sadness poured from Sebastian in waves that crashed against her heart and made it feel as if it would shatter.

“Are you all right?” she asked, turning the question to him and searching his grey eyes, which were darkly ringed. She realised that since last week he had become gaunt, his cheekbones prominent with a shadow of stubble along his jaw line. He visibly tensed and suddenly his emotional tidal wave on her senses ceased, it was as if he had realised she was reading him and closed himself off from her.

“I was asking you,” he said, no longer looking her in the eye, “It's cold and getting dark, you should go home.”

Elsa stared at her hands, gritting her teeth and pressing her finger tips together hard, resisting a growing urge to pounce on Sebastian and ... well she wasn't sure what she wanted to do. “I'm fine here,” she said, “I just need to be alone for a bit.”

Sebastian sat in silence and she wondered if he could feel the electricity she could feel between them. She wanted him close to her so badly but also wished that he would just go away so she could find some peace in her mind and her body, just for a little while. She stole a sideways glance at him; he looked like he was having an internal mental struggle of his own.

...stay away...

Elsa head snapped up, “What did you say?” she asked.

Sebastian looked confused, “I didn't say anything.” he said, “Look, it's really getting dark quickly now, you can't walk home on your own, can you get someone to come and pick you up?”

“I'll walk,” Elsa said, “I didn't bring my phone out with me.” She was sure she'd heard him speak but she could somehow tell he wasn't lying.

Sebastian sighed as if he was being forced to something he really didn't want to do, “I'll have to walk you back then.” he said with resignation.

Elsa felt offended, for a moment she'd hoped he was warming to her but it was obvious he just felt some obligation to ensure she got home safely so he didn't have it on his conscience if he left her and something happened. She stood up and started walking, “Don't bother,” she said, “I'll be fine on my own.”

Sebastian jumped up and followed her, “I'll walk you back,” he repeated but he stayed a couple of feet behind her.

Elsa stalked off in silence, now he was behind and down wind of her, his scent was not as over powering and she could concentrate her mind on being annoyed at him. Eventually she couldn't hold it in any longer. She stopped abruptly and turned to tell him exactly what she thought of him. He was watching his feet as he walked and didn't notice, walking straight into her. She gasped as he touched her and she felt as if she had been punched in the chest, as if he had given her some kind of electric shock.

“What are you doing?” he asked, suddenly looking angry. His eyes flashed and for just a moment, Elsa could see the real danger that lurked below his sullen exterior. She saw it and it scared her, but not enough to tear her away from him and certainly not enough to stop her confronting him once she had recovered her breath.

“What are you doing?” she asked back, “You obviously don't like me so why are you walking me home? You won't even walk with me, you're two metres behind me! I don't bite you know. What is your problem? No, I'll tell you. You're moody, ignorant and rude.” She stood facing him, staring him defiantly in the face and as she did she saw the anger in his eyes peak then disappear, to be replaced with the sadness and despair she had felt from him before. She swallowed suddenly feeling terrible as Sebastian looked down to the floor.

“You're nearly home,” he said, “You'll be fine from here.” and with that he turned and walked away into the night.

Elsa's shoulders slumped, “Good one Elsa,” she said out loud and turned to walk the last five minutes home. There was a note from her father in the hallway saying he'd popped to get milk for breakfast. She marched up the stairs to her room and slammed the door behind her. With a crash her mirror fell off the wall and smashed against her desk. Cursing her day once more, Elsa lifted the mirror and leant what was left of it back against the wall then knelt down to pick up the broken pieces. She hadn't felt it but she smelt blood and saw a cut on her finger which she immediately and instinctively brought to her mouth. As the taste of her own blood hit her tongue it was like she had been given a drug. In that split second she realised what she'd been craving for days. The sweet, metallic taste of blood was what she wanted, for that moment more than life itself, and the taste of it now made her feel euphoric.

Suddenly she caught sight of her fractured reflection in the broken mirror, her eyes glowing, a spot of blood on her lips. She pulled her hand away from her mouth in disgust with herself. What the hell was happening to her? She looked at her cut finger and froze. The cut oozed blood gently for a second then began to dry up. The cleanly sliced edges of skin drew back together and the cut became a silvery scar before finally disappearing all together. Holding her breath, Elsa grabbed another piece of glass and drew it painlessly across her palm. Once again she watched the cut dry up and disappear in just a few seconds. She clenched her fist then opened it again. Still no cut, her skin was completely smooth and unbroken.

Slowly and deliberately, Elsa cleared up the rest of the glass before picking up her MP3 player, putting the earphones in her ears and turning it up as loud as she could bare. She lay on the bed as she had every night since the accident, staring at the ceiling and trying to block out the screaming in her mind that told her she must be going mad.