Unbinding the Demon

Under the Tantric Moon

I sat at the small round kitchen table, under the pale yellow light fixture, superstitiously picking the almonds out of the mixed nuts that I was snacking on. The house was quiet except for my crunchy chewing and the pitter-patter of kitty paws prancing around. William had just gone to bed and Lacey was still sleeping on the couch, making the atmosphere somewhat lonesome feeling. 

My disheartened gaze looked up at Lacey's fancy blooming tea kettle that was placed on the table. The beautiful flowery brew was a lovely shade of light amber, but I felt too disquieted to admire it. I got up, grabbed a glass from the cabinet, and poured myself some anyways. The sweet floral tea would have been much more delicious and enjoyable under different circumstances.   

A sigh escaped me as I limply leaned against the sage green counter. I couldn't seem to shake the feeling of dread that lingered in the pit of my stomach. Breaking up with Ashton would be the most logical thing to do, but my heart wanted to give him another chance. I was a conflicted sulking emotional mess. 

I was mid-sip, when there was a sudden gentle knock on the front door. My eyes widened and I glanced over at the digital stove top clock, which read 11:38... Who the hell would be knocking at this hour on a Wednesday night?        

Just in case it was a burglar ..or the serial killer.. testing to see if anyone was awake, I ruffled up my hair to make it look all chaotic, and grabbed both a frying pan and a chefs knife. My feet tip-toed warily into the living room and over to the door. I tried to peek through the peek hole, but it was too dark to see anything. So I flung the door open like a mad woman, with the pan held above my head in one hand and the knife in the other, ready to strike.

"...Hey?" Ashton stood calmly in the door way, with a slight smile, while using his foot to hold the screen door open. He tilted his head and lifted a brow with a confused but amused look on his face as he eyed my 'weapons'.   

"Ashton? What the hell are you doing here so late!? I thought that you were possibly a bandit or the fucking serial killer!" I harshly whispered since Lacey was sleeping near by, and awkwardly placed the frying pan and knife down on an end table.   

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you." He gave me an apologetic look. "I wanted to see if you'd be willing to come back to my place tonight?" He held out his hand for me to take. I noticed something quickly flicker in his eyes, as if he was worried that I might reject his offer.

"Why?" I asked with suspicion, while not taking his hand.

"Well, um, there's something I'd like to do with you." A coy smile danced on his lips. "But don't worry, it's nothing like what we did earlier." He quickly clarified.  

I stared at him for a minute, unsure if I should go or not. Then in a moment of weakness or possible insanity, I glanced back down at his hand, and hesitantly took it. His fingers instantly wrapped around mine and a look of ease flashed across his face.

"Excellent, lets go then." He gently pulled me closer and kissed the top of my head. 

I quickly glanced over at Lacey's curly black locks that peeked out from the side of the couch, and then followed Ashton out the door. 

-: ✧ :-✧-: ✧ :-

The car ride over had been fairly quiet. I felt tense and anxious the whole time. The fact that he had mentioned he wanted to do something with me had me even more on edge, considering I didn't want to do anything similar to getting dangled over a fucking cliff. Plus, I really shouldn't be stringing him along if I wasn't sure whether or not I was going to break things off. Ashton seemed to notice my uneasiness, and tried to lighten my mood with small talk about the various Halloween decorations we'd pass by.