Psycho Love: Falling in Evil

Ch. 8 - Monstrous Company

Chapter 8 - Monstrous Company -

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Raven woke up after achieving only two solid hours of rest. She felt nauseous, and her caffeine withdrawal was kicking in. The mornings sunlight coming through the thin curtains blinded her, worsening the migraine she already possessed. She moved her hand to shield herself from the cursed light before realizing her hand wasn't cuffed, and Hunter was nowhere to be seen.

They say the devil comes when you think his name, and right on cue Hunter came strolling through the motel door, bag in hand.

"Ah, good. Your up, and you look like crap." Hunter commented when he saw her squinting at the sun like a vampire would.

"My head is pounding," Raven groaned, "I need coffee."

She sat up in the bed and gathered the blankets around her. At some point during her nap the towel had been lost to the layers of bedding.

"Ghost and I found an espresso machine in the diner, but neither of us can figure out how to get the damned thing working. You'll have to go over and make some yourself if you want it." Hunter informed her while setting his bag on the edge of the bed and pulling out a bright red summer dress, "Shadow found this is a room and thought it might fit you. There's some shoes in here too."

Raven was going to snatch the dress away and quickly dress under the protection of the covers. Then she remembered the plan she made during the night, and thought now was as good a time as any to begin. She stood slowly from the bed, leaving the blankets behind. Standing bare in front of Hunter, she reached out for the dress and lingered for a moment before taking it.

"Thank you." she managed to say. Raven thought the simple phrase would induce more vomit, something she'd done frequently in the last couple days, but the words sounded believable even to her.

Hunter smiled, "You're welcome."

Raven slipped the dress over her head and asked Hunter to zip the back. Once he was finished she turned around and asked him how it looked.

"Stunning." he answered, "And the shoes?"

Raven slipped the matching red heels onto her feet only to find they were miles too big.

"How can such a petite woman have such monstrous feet?" she pondered allowed.

Hunter chuckled at her comment before ushering her towards the door. Raven only made it a few steps before stopping again.

"I can't wear these. They'll rub my feet raw within moments." she complained while hastenly kicking them off.

It didn't take long for her to regret leaving the shoes behind. The parking lot was paved, but old enough to have cracked and left chunks of gravel and jagged rocks behind. Her feet seemed to find every painful flaw. They didn't even make it more than a quarter of the way before Hunter swooped her up from behind and carried her bridal style the rest of the short journey.

Instinct told Raven to push him away and she put her arms on his shoulders to do just that. At the last moment however, she reminded herself to play along, and wrapped her arms around his neck, confirming Hunter's suspicion. She was up to something and he had a pretty good idea as to what.

Stopping at the entrance to place Raven back on her feet, Hunter felt it necessary to warn her about what she was going to see inside. She seemed to be doing better that morning. In fact, her entire attitude towards him took a 180° turn. He knew it wasn't normal but didn't want her going back into shock either.

"I need you to remember something before we go in." he began, "They're only bodies now. There's no reason to let them get to you."

Raven nodded her head in understanding, and Hunter pushed the doors open. She was faced with the sight of Shadow looting the business man she'd been forced to kill in front of the door. He glanced up to see who'd disturbed him, before nodding at Raven.