Page 62 of The Addict

Red. Frightening.

Foreign in color. Like a demon.

He was holding the gun again, but this time, it was pointed at me.

“Well, I suppose we can have some extra fun this time.” Silas chuckled darkly, approaching me.

“Yes, let’s,” Noah sneered.

The escape, the car, seemed to be so far away.

“Why are you doing this, Noah? I thought you were helping me!” I cried, thrashing against his hold.

He pulled me closer, his grip so tight, my arm felt as though it would break at any moment. I wanted to scream but the words stayed stuck in my throat, yelling in my mind but silent to the world around me.

I felt his face close to my ear, and I shuddered, knowing the pain was inevitable. Why in the world would I trust this man? Why had I even stepped into his car?

“Mommy should have told you,” Noah whispered softly. The familiar sound of a zipper going down caused me to stiffen. “Never trust strangers.”

I screamed.

When I opened my eyes, I was sunk into my mattress like a ton of weights pressing down on my chest. Sweat. I was covered in it.

Had everything been a dream?

Or in my case...

...a nightmare?

I remembered the black sedan.

I remembered Silas’s face.

“Delane.”

It seemed as though he knew his very existence frightened me, for my name spewed out of his mouth with venom, fierce and vicious.

And he was right. Standing next to him was like being side by side with the Devil.

I remembered running. For a brief time, I thought that Silas could have been after me as I ran to the car. However, when I was safe, and looked backwards, they were both in the same spot, unmoving. Noah had appeared happy that I was going. He must have been relieved that I was safe. He came to terms with the fact that sleeping with that monster was his fate, and he did that for me without anything in return.

So why was my brain painting him as the criminal? As the one I should be afraid of?

Stranger. My mind threw back in.

I was drunk, and scared, I considered. Noah saved me, kept me warm and safe.

My conscience wasn’t having it. And you practically jumped in his car, admired his beauty, followed him through darkness, witnessed him with a weapon...

I knew he was afflicted. Something about his family was just...off.

And I stayed.

Like a fool.

But I was safe. Noah was the reason I was okay, and my virtue spared. I felt stubborn and grateful at the same time. What if one thing had gone wrong, and he took you back to his house to have his way with you? What if he was worse than Silas?

But the biggest of all...