Devil Inside

Merry Christmas.

*AN - For those of you following the soundtrack to this book, I have chosen Chemical by Kubb to go with the later part of this chapter. Hopefully (if it works) you should find, to the right, a YouTube link to my own acoustic cover of this track, which is the version I hear in my head when I picture the final scenes of this chapter. Enjoy! Oh, and please feel free to vote, comment etc my lovely, lovely readers :) *

The warehouse was empty.

Elsa had returned from Canada three days previously and Kate had told her that there had been no sign of Sebastian in college before they’d broken up for the Christmas holidays. Still unsure of whether or not he had heard her little speech when she had last seen him, Elsa had gone to the warehouse and left him a note to let him know she was back. She’d driven herself insane for two days waiting to see or hear from him and now it was Christmas Eve and she’d given in and gone back to check that he wasn’t ignoring her.

The fact that he wasn’t there yet didn’t really make her feel any better. Ok so he wasn’t ignoring her note but where was he? She knew, or at least assumed he’d not been home as the room she’d left him in was still littered with empty bottles and syringes and the workbench and drums were still exactly where she’d thrown them. For want of anything better to do with her day, Elsa cleared up figuring that the last thing Sebastian needed when he got back from whatever dark place he’d had to go to was to clear up after the dark place he’d left behind. This done, she re-read her note.

Sebastian,

 

I’m home, come and find me if you want some company.

 

Elsa.

 

That was it. Should she write anything else? She took a pen out of her pocket and chewed the end thoughtfully. The note didn’t refer to their last conversation and it didn’t sound needy, but was it too abrupt? She’d meant it to sound light and friendly but now she wasn’t sure. Finally she scribbled the words hope you’re ok at the bottom and placed the note right in the middle of the floor where Sebastian would be sure to find it. She pulled the blankets straight over the mattress on the floor in the corner of the room that served as Sebastian’s bed and hoped she hadn’t over-stepped her boundaries, then left for home.

She opted for a slow walk, even though there was nobody around. She wanted to feel the icy December air on her skin and tried to remember what it felt like to feel the cold. Occasionally tiny snowflakes scurried around in the wind, chasing each other to the ground where they disappeared almost immediately. The sky overhead was heavy, maybe there would be a white Christmas this year.

Elsa phone chirped and she looked at the screen.

Having an outfit dilemma – help? xx

 

Kate was clearly preparing for another date with the dashing and romantic Aiden. Elsa had yet to meet him but she was already inclined to like him. Kate was in a permanent state of delirious excitement and anyone that had that effect on her friend was ok in Elsa’s book. He seemed to have money whoever he was; Kate gushed about his flashy car and the swanky dates he’d taken her on. Tonight was a romantic meal at an Italian restaurant Elsa knew you had to take out a mortgage to eat at and it seemed Kate was in need of fashion advice. Why she was asking Elsa she had no idea.

Elsa picked up her pace and headed for Kate’s. The snow began to fall more heavily, dusting the ground and leaving a fleeting record of Elsa’s steps before erasing them with fresh flakes.