A Deal With Dark

Eight

Chapter Eight

(Back to Maddy's POV)

A knock on my bedroom door startled me as I was watching an episode of Ghost Hunters on my bed. Allison had gone out to lunch, so I didn't expect there to be anyone around. Plus, it didn't help that I was watching a somewhat spooky show.

"Yeah?" I cautiously asked, ready to grab the lamp on my bedside table to use as a weapon in case it was some kind of intruder. But it wasn't. A familiar deep voice spoke from the other side of the door.

"Can I come in? It's me."

I got up off my bed and opened the door, smiling when I saw Dark on the other side.

"I knocked this time," he said.

"How considerate of you," I retorted. "So, what are you doing here? Allison could have seen you."

"I saw her leaving when I showed up. It's not as if I would mindlessly teleport into the hallway without figuring out if she's here or not first," he explained. He almost seemed offended that I would ever think he would be that stupid or reckless.

"Smart. Yeah, she left to go get lunch with friends. And once again, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I was hoping we could spend some time together. I would say we could go out, but with Allison gone..."

"She won't be gone forever, you know. She'll be back in an hour, I'm sure," I reminded him as he looked lustfully at me.

"An hour is plenty of time."

"Plenty of time for what, exactly?" I asked, even though I knew what the answer was. He already had me backed up against the wall.

"This." His lips collided with mine and he grabbed my wrists, holding them against the wall so I couldn't get away - as if I wanted to. He bit my bottom lip roughly, and I tasted blood. As okay as I was with lip biting, I didn't exactly enjoy bleeding from it, but I decided to brush it off - surely it was just an accident.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to draw blood," he apologized. "I just really, really want you. And I always get what I want."

I practically melted as he kissed my neck, nibbled my ear, completely eliminated the space between our bodies...but then he pulled something out of his pocket - something shiny - and I didn't have time to scream before he sliced my neck with a knife.

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I was sweating when I woke up, horrified by my dream that had turned into a nightmare. I hadn't had a nightmare since my last one about Dark and his coin toss game with Mark and I, back when we had first made our deal. I was glad that this dream was less disturbing. At least Mark wasn't brought into it, and I didn't have to let him die right in front of me this time. But it was a scary dream, either way.

I didn't get a whole lot of sleep after that, so I decided coffee was necessary - more specifically, iced coffee from my favorite shop. I showered, made myself look presentable, and headed out a bit earlier than I normally would. Even so, I managed to be there at the same time as Mark, who I hadn't seen since my last downtown date with Dark. I didn't know what had happened since then, but today he had two nasty-looking black eyes, so whatever it was, it couldn't have been good. Either way, he seemed to be in a decent mood when he saw me.

"Hey Mads," Mark greeted me, his happy expression quickly changing when he realized he had called me Mads like he used to.

"Hey! Before you say anything, don't worry about it. I don't mind being called Mads," I assured him, and he instantly looked a lot less worried.