After a while I was woken up by a gentle touch. Before I opened my eyes I had the slightest delusion of hope that it might be my parents, but deep down I could sense that it was him. Nice, warm and delicious smell roamed the air as I was getting up.

I didn’t plan on falling asleep, especially next to a murder scene, but apparently I was too exhausted to stay awake.

I made my way to the table and he was already there holding a chair for me. At that moment he proceeded to sit on the other side, far away from me. The table was full of food, as if it was prepared for the whole family rather than just for the two of us.

“I wasn’t sure what you enjoy the most, so I made a bit of everything I’ve learned to cook so far. I hope you’ll like it.” He smiled. I kept quiet as I rather felt disgust than hunger.

“You may eat now, I didn’t do anything to the food.” He smirked.

Now I believe that he actually did something to the food…Do I have to eat? Maybe I don’t even have a choice…

I took a deep breath and swallowed up before deciding what to eat. There was, as it seemed, a chicken soup, that was probably cold by now. A very large bowl of mashed potatoes and some unrecognizable meat with vegetables on the side. Everything else was appetizers.

After what I saw on that couch, I don’t think I’d be able to eat any kind of meat.

When I glanced at him, my whole body froze in place as I caught him staring at me for who knows how long.

“Are you enjoying your food, Eleanor?” He asked with a serious expression.

As his stare made me lose any will to even try the food, I put the bowl of mashed potatoes down with my hands shaking in the process, trying not to break anything as I felt unexplainable fear traveling through my body.

“I-I do. It’s…really good.” I lied.

For how long has he stared at me?

As he made his way to grab the toothpick, I flinched as I was expecting anything to happen any second. I caught him smirking as he placed the toothpick at the corner of his mouth. He laid back in his chair and placed his dirty shoes on the table, purposely pushing the plates and utensils off of it.

“Well, I think IT IS time for me to tell you something about myself. “ He said as he was twirling the toothpick between his fingers. “For example, I hate when someone even dares to try to lie to me.” He sighs as he gets up.

“And that’s exactly what you did.” He continued to speak as I instinctively

looked at the knife closest to me on the table.

It’s not that sharp, but I’ll probably be able to protect myself.

“I mean, I’m not mad. I’m just very hurt, Eleanor. You barely even touched anything! And I was trying my BEST to impress you with my cooking skills!”

For a split second he turned around, looking away from me. I took my chance and grabbed the knife, fearing for my life not to get caught.

“I-I’m sorry.” I said quietly as I tried to sound truthful. Without noticing his movements, I twitched when I felt his hand near my head and almost screamed out when his fingers started twirling and playing with the strands of my hair. He moved it behind my ear and got his lips as close as possible to my neck all way up to my ear.

“Drop it.” He whispered in stern voice. Adrenalin took control of my hand and without thinking I found myself on my way to stab him. Luckily he grabbed my arm mid way before I could reach him.

How did he read my moves before I could even plan them?!

As I tried to free myself, I felt how his other hand was pushing me down, making me hit the floor in such speed. Instinctively, I closed my eyes from the ache, but when I opened them, he looked completely different.

His appearance matched with one I saw when Ava was here. His grayish skin was flawless. Empty and plain. His devilish horns were gracefully showing and appeared to be different than Ava’s. They were long and dark. Although, they didn’t go behind his head, but rather to the sides, getting closer to each other at the ends. His eyes were already the familiar endless void of pitch darkness that I’ve seen before. All I could see in that clear reflection was my terrified face.

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What scared me the most was his mouth that extended all the way to the middle of his cheek, exposing that newly torn stretched skin and jaw. At some point I thought how he ironically and constantly looked as he was smiling…

“I don’t think that you are aware with whom you are dealing with, darling.” A huge grin was formed as he spoke. He licked his sharp teeth with a long, weirdly thin bloody red tongue and got his face even closer to mine. Out of discomfort I moved my head on the side, trying my best not to make another eye contact with him.

Suddenly, I felt a warm breath falling onto my cheek, followed by a few drops of his saliva.

“What’s wrong Eleanor, not so reckless now, huh?” He took the knife out of my hand and threw it on the other side of the kitchen. He slowly shifted back to his human form and casually, as if nothing happened, offered me a hand to get up.

With the remaining silence I refused the ironic help and got up myself.

He clicked with his tongue and made his way upstairs.

Huh? Where is he going? Is this my chance to escape? Will he hear me if I move from this spot?

I had the questions roaming through my head as I was planning to escape, but quickly figured that those questions won’t be answered and that I was just wasting probably the only chance I had to run away from here. From him.

I swallowed up and grabbed another knife on my way while trying to make as little noise as possible.

Already familiar with the sneakiness of his, I peaked through the front window, assuring that nobody was outside. When I convinced myself that it was time to get out I slowly and carefully opened the door. As I exited I didn’t look behind as I feared that I’d might see him. I ran as fast as possible through the woods, not caring for the twigs that were scratching my skin and ripping my dress. After a while the grass turned into a concrete and as soon as I stepped on it, I heard the engine in the distance.

A car? He probably won’t catch me if I’m in a car!

I went on the middle of the road, waving aggressively, begging and hoping for the cat to stop. Luckily, it stopped in front of me and I ran to the window. There was a quite dead-ish looking elderly man sitting at the steering wheel. He rolled down the window just enough for me to speak.

“Hello sir, thank you so much for stopping, I really appreciate it. Can you please drive me to the town? I’m begging you. I’m lost, I was kidnapped, please!” I said as I was desperately trying to form a straight sane sentence through all the rampant shaking. He didn’t even say anything or gave me any reaction, but rather just unlocked the doors and waved me to enter. When I entered the car, the strong smell of cigarettes roamed the air. I tried to buckle up myself, but the buckles didn’t seem to be working.

In any other circumstances I wouldn’t even dare to enter in stranger’s car like this. But do I even have a choice right now…?

As I moved myself near the window, the guy broke the silence.

“So miss, how old are you?” He asked confidently. “I-I’m 21.”

Should I have had lied about my age?

His silence after that question made me uncomfortable, so I glanced at the rearview mirror at the front and saw him now staring back at me and smirking. When our eyes met, he quickly turned away, focusing back on the road. Scared and skeptical, I held tightly to the door handle just in case if he tries something.

This is my only way out from that house. I have no other choice at this moment.

After some time of driving, tiredness caught up with me. I refused to sleep as I was in quite shady situation.

I can’t sleep now! Wake up!

I tried to keep myself awake by constantly blinking and pinching my arm. It worked for a some time, but the silence and the peaceful green exterior made my eyes slowly shut. The last thing I saw was his eyes in the mirror as I drifted away.