Escape {COMPLETE}

~Chapter Nineteen~

A beautiful riverside, small trees surrounding a secluded area. A young woman--seeming to be around the age of 24--was walking to the edge of the crystaline water. She had very dark brown hair with an auburn tinge to it, shimmering in the sunlight. There was a boy already standing near the water, sitting in front of a tree and reading. He had dark brown hair and glasses. The woman's brown eyes shined when she saw him, and she ran over to him.

He didn't seem to notice her standing there, and was still intently reading. She grinned and leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Hey, baby," She said, and kissed his cheek gently. He grinned as well, closing his book and brushing her cheek with his fingertips. "Vanessa!" He smiled cheerfully. "I missed you,"

The scene suddenly changed. A dark room, seeming to be someone's bedroom. Vanessa was asleep, and then the door slowly creaked open. It was the man; he looked exhausted. The little black circles under his eyes were evident even in the darkness of the room. Vanessa slowly fluttered her eyes open, no longer unconscious with sleep. The man seemed to softly curse under his breath and gently closed the door.

"Brad...?" She murmured, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Is that you?" He snuck over to the bed. "Yeah, babe, it's me. Listen, I..."

"You're late again," She sighed sadly.

"I-I had to work late." He stammered. She noticed the stumble, too, and became instantly suspicious. "Doing what?"

"You know my job is top secret. If I tell you what I was doing....well, let's just say you'd be safer if you didn't know."

"But I WANT to know!" She cried. "I hate having to think that you're with some skank at a bar trying to get in some other girls' pants 'cause I'm not good enough for you-"

"Don't talk like that!" He growled. She instantly closed her mouth and remained silent. "You know I would never do anything to hurt you, especially become unfaithful!" He sat down on the bed beside her and took her hands in his, gently stroking them with his thumbs. "And that means....I have to tell you a secret."

"What do you mean?" She wearily asked, sitting up in the bed and scooting closer to him. He sighed heavily. Standing back up, he let go of her hands. "Just...warning you, you won't like what you see..." There was no doubt in his sorrowful voice. He gritted his teeth together and clenched his fists, his back to Vanessa. His back started to morph and twist, growing longer and longer as his legs grew taller. His spine was easily seen through the skin on his back, and his shirt ripped off from the pressure.

His skin had turned red. There was a giant black tattoo on his back of a skeleton, burning fire surrounding it. It had spiked wings and empty eye sockets that seemed to bore a hole through my unwavering eyes. I had completely forgotten where I was and what I was doing--I was too lost in the story, the appalling change the boy was making, to remember.

His skin had turned red all over, and he seemed to grow more muscle as well. His arms were completely buff, and his hands had grown larger and stronger. He unclenched his tightly-held fists, and his fingernails had turned into black claws. His pants soon became too small to fit his now-huge body, so they eventually ripped to shreds as well as his shirt. He had a tail; a long, red tail with an ironically classic arrowhead-shaped tip.

His legs were sculpted muscle, appalling and ghastly in this demonic form. He turned around to face her, and horns popped out of his head. Wings burst their way from the skin on his back, creating a tearing sound. They were black and had spikes on them, similar to the skeleton tattoo on his back. "So now you see..." His voice had become familiar by now. It was the voice of our captor. "What I really am. My true form...." He opened his eyes, which had turned blood-red like his skin, with black slits much like a cat's in the middle for pupils. It was a horrible metamorphosis.