Page 108 of Devil Inside

A car passes us on the left and my limbs lock. There’s gravity again, grabbing at my legs, ready to yank me down.

So I steady myself. Pump my legs, regain our balance by pedaling faster.

We’re upright. Steady again.

Lilith holds on. I can feel her so close to me. Her hand runs over the length of my waist, grazing the skin just below my navel. It’s almost as if I can feel the flow of blood in my body reverse course, my circulation spinning, heading in the opposite direction. I’m delirious with her touch. It’s almost too much. Almost. I can feel her pressing against me.

So I pedal faster.

Faster.

“Show me,” she says—and I swear, it’s like she’s riding along with me, her body pumping at the pedals. Our bodies are intertwining. Uniting.

“Show me,” she repeats.What I’m capable of. What I’m made of. What’s inside me.

Nothing but shadows.

Yes. Yes, I will.

Nothing but darkness.

The city is ours. Not just mine, but ours. Richmond is something to share. Its streets, its energy. I’ve never given this to anyone else before. Never ridden with another.

I want to show her. Share this electricity with Lilith. The pulse of it all, its people. Let her tap into that energy—the essence, its spirit—right alongside me. I want her to feel the way I feel when the laws of gravity no longer matter. I want to take her to the very precipice of light, of sound, where colors bend and breath distorts, where oxygen no longer holds us.

Take me home, she said.

This is my home.

Where I live.

We breeze past my block. We have so much further to go. There’s so much out here to see, to experience, and we’re not stopping until we tap into that mainline. Strike the deepest vein and tunnel our way through, all the way to the heart of this blissful city.

“You ready?” I ask her.

“Yes,” she says.

“Hold on tight.” Tight.Tighter.Never let go. “Don’t let go...”

The lights all turn green, offering us up a runway right through Richmond. The artery is ours. There are barely any cars out at this hour.

This city is ours.

All ours.

Lilith lets out a shout right behind me. There’s laughter intermingling with fear, that gasp of air that comes from shock, and I know she’s loving it. The rush of adrenaline.

The downright fire. Feel our bodies burn.

We’ve reached the peak of the city, the very precipice of Richmond, at the intersection of life and death, time and space, heaven and hell.

I know what’s next for us. What’s coming right up...

The Dip.

I haven’t gone this far in months—a year now—but look at me. Something about being with Lilith, showing her this, sharing it with her, gives me the courage to ride again.

To tap into the life I’d lost.