S.H.A.D.E. [{ Completed }]✔ (#Wattys2018)

First Blood

Warning: potentially unsettling implications of sexual assault in this chapter. 

19.

Mr. Gregson is practically passed out on top of me as we enter the elevators.

I do everything right; I giggle, I stumble, I leave my hand on his chest.

Still, the stare of the Demons stays on us as the brass doors close.

I push Richard off me, and he all but crumbles into the corner, laughing at something.

"God, he's really drunk."

"You nearly funneled the wine down his throat, of course he's drunk."

"Do I have to... like...?"

"What? No. Wait until we're in his room, I'll get a better picture of what to do then."

"You don't have a plan?!"

"Settle down, it'll be fine."

Gregson tips over to me, and his hands are around my waist in an instant, pulling me into him, his slurring lips on my neck. I'm starting to get anxious.

"Ebony, don't worry. I will keep you safe. Just listen to my instructions when we get to his room."

"Okay."

The elevator dings open, and Gregson unsteadily leads me by the arm down the hall and to his suite, number 34.

He swipes his key card and the door clicks before he pushes it open. I am caught up in his arms again and he is kissing me hard and drunkenly, his gums scraping against my lower lip. A surge of fear swells up into my gut, but I feel it wilt away just as quickly as it came, Copper keeping me under control.

"There's a lamp on the night stand, beside the bed. The cord is easily accessible. Hit him over the head with it. "

"What?" I ask him, bewildered, but my thoughts are tossed away from me when Gregson hurls me onto his bed. I grunt when I hit the stiff mattress, but try to push myself away.

He grabs my legs and pulls me toward him, my dress bunching up around my waist.

A shiver of fright runs through me, one that cannot be suppressed, and I frantically look to the night stand, seeing a bit of the lamp cord sticking out. As Gregson's hands sliver up my thighs, I yank the cord out of the socket, causing the lamp to crash my way.

Gregson looks up stupidly to see what caused the racket when I feel a rush of adrenaline and bring the bottom end of the lamp down smack between his eyes.

He straightens for an instance, but then falls back to the floor with a noisy thump.

I twist off the bed, as far away from him as possible, fixing my dress back to rights. I am surprised by the feeling of a tear rolling down my cheek, and I wipe at it, glancing down at the moisture stain on my shaky hand.

"... Ebony? It's okay. It's alright."

I don't feel the way my body is reacting. I don't feel the fear that brought on the shaking or the tear. It's been dulled.

I move around the bed and look down at Richard Gregson, laying on the floor, a crooked streak of blood running from between his brows, down his cheek. My first blood.

I don't feel anything towards that either.

"So security is next?"

It takes Copper a minute, like he doesn't know what to do, but he snaps back into Sync mode, saying, "Yes. There are quite a bit up here. This is the top floor of the hotel. The weakest point in the building's security are the middle floors, since there are no entrances or exits there. We will work our way down, because by the time we reach the ground floor, the security that is guarding Micheal Benson will not be able to summon backup except from those outside."

I nod to all of this, walking slowly past Gregson's motionless body, but never taking my eyes off him.

"He's alive Ebony."

"Mhm."

"We only kill Demons and Psychics."

I ignore him, exiting the bedroom and looking around the suite for some kind of weapon.

"Take a knife from the kitchenette and the fire poker over there by the fireplace mantle."

I do as he says, finding a sizable Knife and grabbing the fire poker from the modern looking fireplace.

I move towards the door. "How many are out there?"

"On this floor... three I think. We'll sneak up behind them one at a time. I will increase your strength."

"Are they Demons?"

"Yes, hence the sneaking."

"Alright." I go to creep out the door, but pause, my hand tightening around the knob. "Copper?"

"Yes?"

"Never put me in that situation again."

"... understood."