AVALANCHE
“The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heaven of Hell, a hell of Heaven.”
John Milton
I’d heard that there’s a feeling one gets when one senses death, but I didn’t feel it.
Although I was freaking out and desperately wishing I hadn’t left the party, I still didn’t have the intense emotion that was supposed to make me fight for my life, even if for another second. I was too overcome with shock to feel anything else.
Instead, I started to wonder if they had books in Hell. I’d surely need something to pass the time there. I could order them, I thought. Surely, Hell must have a good Internet connection. Besides, what were the chances that Satan didn’t allow phones in Hell?
Maybe I would go to Heaven when I died. I figured there I’d have everything I wanted with just a wave of my hand or the blink of an eye. Wouldn’t that be great? All the pizzas I could eat.
The next thought that crossed through my mind was all the training I’d had, and for nothing. Every fight instinct I’d learned was lost in the wave of panic and shock.
As I tried making sense of what was happening, I realized that I was still screaming for my life. I didn’t understand. A few seconds earlier, I was riding with a hot guy to the bus stop, and now I was in the car with a murderer.
“What…?” I muttered, unable to string together a complete sentence.
“I told you I killed him,” he said, and the next thing I knew, he was beside Ben on the front seat. “And stop screaming. I haven’t even hurt you yet.”
Finally, my senses kicked in. I yanked on the door handle in an attempt to escape. Locked. There was no manual unlock button for me, either. My chance of survival dropped drastically with each passing second.
“Who are you?” I demanded.
“If you’re looking for Satan, you’ve found him.”
He swiftly appeared beside me, and I flinched. I had no idea how he was able to move that fast. He was more than human, that much I knew.
He took my hand. “You look scared. You want me to stop the car?” he asked and then smiled charmingly.
I swear if it weren’t for the fact that I was on the edge of doom, I might have continued to find him attractive. Instead, I wanted to shout, “What does it look like?” in answer to his question, but I was too focused on getting away from him.
“It’s really too bad,” he said, cupping my chin in his hand.
I tried to wrench myself away from him, but he held my chin rigid. Chills invaded my whole body as fear took over. I felt a deep loathing for him.
“Tell me how you feel.” He stared into my eyes. “Is your heart jumping out of your chest? Are you terrified? Bad for you and good for me, because your fear and pain are what I feed on.” He pulled my face closer to his so that we were mere inches apart, and I felt as though he were siphoning energy from my body.
I felt my body rapidly weakening. I couldn’t tell what he was doing to me or why I couldn’t pull away from him, but there was one thing I knew for sure: I was losing my breath, and fast.
He laughed. “This is fun.” Then he shoved my body against the door. I gasped.
With my eyes brimming with tears, I gulped air into my lungs. The car rushed onward at top speed without anyone noticing. I couldn’t speak or move. I felt like a stake had been shoved through me. Gideon’s dark eyes pierced me. I wanted to shout, to scream for him to stop, but I felt helpless against his will.
“Abigail Cells.” He leaned forward and gripped my face with his hands again. He smiled beautifully and my breathing became slower. “I am going to kill you.”
My eyes widened, and a second later, there was a deafening crash as we collided with something solid. My body flew from the seat and hit the dividing wall that separated the driver from the rear compartment. My head slammed against the hard interior, causing dark spots to dance in my vision.
Gideon acted as if nothing had happened. I pushed myself off the limo floor with shaky arms and winced as I gingerly touched the side of my head. When I glanced out the window, I saw the front end of the car smoking. Before I knew it, Gideon was outside the limo, standing beneath the tree the limo had crashed into. Flames erupted from beneath the hood. This time when I yanked the door handle, it opened, and I fell to the ground outside. I crawled away from the car, coughing.
“It’s nice out, isn’t it?” he asked.
We were in the middle of nowhere. The highway was gone, and all I could see were hundreds upon hundreds of darkened trees. I coughed violently and surveyed my surroundings. Taking off my high heels, I stood upright.
“Do you know where we are?” He walked to one of the shaded trees and leaned against it with his hands clasped together. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”
I turned to the limo. Ben.
Gideon approached me. I tried to move away, but as soon as I took a step back, I bumped into something and whirled around, only to gaze into Gideon’s now deep-gold eyes. I trembled as fear raced through my heart.
“I’m going to kill you one way or another.” His dark, untidy hair fluttered in the breeze and his dazzling golden eyes turned molten red.
“Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
Before I could respond, he stood beside the burning limo. I looked around the forest. Run, Abby, I told myself as tears cascaded down my cheeks. I sprinted toward the edge of the forest as fast as my legs would carry me. I didn’t know where I was running to, but I knew I needed to get as far away from Gideon as I could.
I knew it could be a matter of seconds until he caught up to me, but I couldn’t let that happen. Panic built in my chest. My heart thumped, and I struggled to remember all my training lessons with Logan.
Twigs snapped beneath my feet and more scratched against my skin while I ran. I didn’t try to protect myself from the raking branches—they were the least of my worries. I stopped momentarily, sucking in air. There was a cold and uncomfortable voice whispering all around me. The voice shifted constantly. I turned left and right, and I still couldn’t see what called to me.
I squinted in the darkness. The voice grew louder, and then I saw it. A shadow without a face. I rushed on, my bare feet crashing onto roots and stones. The branches slapped against my arms and face and my fatigued body dripped with blood and sweat. My lungs burned. Suddenly, I stumbled over a tree root and crashed to the ground.
There’s nowhere to run to, Abigail. But I could stay and fight, Logan had taught me that much.
“All right!” I shouted, ignoring how my heart jumped uncontrollably. “I’m not scared of you.” That was a lie. “Where are you?” I yelled.
I had no weapon to fight Gideon, but I was determined to do whatever I could to survive.
“I’m not afraid!” I lied again, pushing myself off the ground and standing.
My lungs burned from my panicked exertion. My feet throbbed with cuts and blisters. I limped a few steps and then stumbled again. I tried to stand, but this time the pain stopped me. I tried to crawl, but my hands were raw and bleeding.
“I’m still not afraid of you,” I said through my tears.
I was about to shout out to Gideon again when I heard footsteps. I thought about giving up, but I realized I didn’t want to die in the middle of nowhere. My body was still, streaks of blood oozed from scrapes and scratches on my skin. I sat on the hard soil, tears running down my face.
“Don’t ever entertain strangers, Abigail,” I heard my father’s voice say in my head. I wished I’d listened to him.
I felt movement around me. Someone was coming forward, closer and closer, step by step. I turned around and there he was, standing in front of me as if he had been there the whole time. Without warning, my body flew into the air and then slammed onto the ground. Pain raced through my limbs, and I groaned.
Gideon approached me. “You’re a brave one, aren’t you?”
I struggled to catch my breath.
“Still not scared of me?” he asked.
Before I knew it, my body was forcibly lifted again. This time, Gideon’s right hand clenched my neck. He choked me, and his blood-red eyes fed on my pain. I struggled uselessly. I folded my fingers around his hand, but I had no strength left to stop him.
“Let me make it easier.” He threw me into a tree. I cried in agony as my broken body crumpled to the ground.
I couldn’t stop coughing as I fought to regain my breath. I shifted my eyes back to his. As I stared at him, his hands began to glow with red-hot fire, and without warning, he hurled a ball of flames toward me. I cried out as I saw my own refection in the flames, and then—
I died.