Page 56 of Greed

“Do it!” Morris barked out at Syliss, the sound turning very much into a deep rumbling growl. Syliss turned forward in his seat, the snakes retreating into his head. He stared directly at her as those eyeballs slid closed once more, leaving him with perfect-looking green eyes. His tongue snaked out of his mouth and stretched up far enough to lick at his eyes, and she covered her mouth as she forced herself not to throw up.

She turned her attention to Morris, who seemed to be the one in charge and somewhat sane. “Please, Morris, I’m begging you not to do this. I don’t want Riker. I just want to go back to my life the way it was before all this craziness started.”

“Mammon,” he said, and she stared into the mirror, her blank expression likely giving way that she didn’t understand. “His name is Mammon. Respect must be given to the sin of greed.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that I needed to address him like that. This is what I mean, I just want to go home, and if you let me, I’ll move, as far away as I can get. Just please don’t kill me.” Minetta clasped her hands at her chest as she begged. “I have an ill mother counting on me. There is no one else…I…” Tears clogged her next words.

“You should’ve already been dispatched. This was inevitable,” Morris said.

She had no idea what he meant, but she did know that she didn’t have much time and there was no way out. She felt her pockets and groaned as she remembered leaving her cell phone on her desk.

She couldn’t die yet. She hadn’t experienced so many things. She’d barely started to scratch things off the bucket list she’d made with her dad just before he’d passed. Hot tears slid in streams down her cheeks as she thought about never seeing her mother again. Even if her mom didn’t know who she was anymore. She didn’t want her in some home alone with no one going to see her, and what would happen to her once the payments stopped because there was no money in her account? Her bottom lip trembled, and she sucked in a strangled gasp as the fear morphed into something else. Other than Toby and Penny, would anyone even care if she disappeared?

Conserving her strength, she leaned her head against the glass and watched the landscape pass her by—she’d taken it for granted. It would be dark soon, the setting sun painting the sky with beautiful reds, pinks, and oranges. It was quite possibly the last sunset she’d ever see, and she stared at it with a renewed appreciation as she prayed.

She didn’t think God would be bothered with her pitiful plea. He hadn’t listened when she begged for her father’s life. And he hadn’t bothered to listen when she prayed for her mother’s diagnosis to be wrong or to make the disease go away. He hadn’t bothered to show up for her the night two boys decided it would be fun to take advantage of her while at a college party. She’d prayed through the tears that night, too, and it didn’t help. No one came. It was an embarrassment she’d never told anyone. This so-called Father or God or whatever he was, had left her to fend for herself even though he had infinite power to help—her faith had been shaken long ago.

Where was this Michael, the master of manipulation now? Pushing the resentment aside, she closed her eyes and thought of her dad. He’d made sure she had survival skills, and she was going to need everyone to make it out of this alive. And if not, then at least she went out fighting.

The car had been unnervingly quiet the remainder of the drive. There was no music or two-way radio to listen to as a distraction. She’d watched the sun set, and the further they drove, the darker the night sky became, with only the stars and the sliver of a moon, lighting the surroundings. They’d long ago left behind any sort of help. The farms were few and far between, and for the last half hour, all she’d seen were trees. Nothing looked familiar, and it became glaringly clear that even if she did manage to escape, she had no idea which direction to head or if she’d survive the elements, but it didn’t matter. If running were her only chance, then she’d take it.

The car slowed and turned off the dirt road they’d been traveling on, opting for an unkempt driveway. She couldn’t see anything in the car’s headlights other than tall trees, overgrown grass, and weeds. The shaking in her body started up again, but she worked hard to push it down. She could be scared later. Right now, she had to keep her wits about her. It felt like her teeth were going to rattle right out of her head as the car bumped and shook going over the rough terrain. They rounded a bend, and a dilapidated cabin lay before her, but what had her attention was that there was already a light on inside the place.

The front door opened before they came to a stop, and the tiny bit of courage she’d built up vanished as three other men walked out.

“Behave,” Morris ordered, making her jump. His booming voice felt like a shot to the face. The two demons got out of the car and went to go speak to the other three men. She leaned forward and felt around frantically, trying to find anything that could be used as a weapon. Her hand brushed something under the seat on the floor. Wrapping her hand around it, she realized she had a pen, it wasn’t much, but it was something. She shoved it into the pocket of her pants and sat quietly. The only thing that she could hear was the thumping of her own heart as it tried to pound out of her chest.

Morris turned and walked toward her door. Unable to help herself, she scooted to the other side of the car.

“Don’t be a pain, and get out,” Morris said as he held open the door.

She didn’t move. She wasn’t going to make this easy for them. His lumbering figure bent and reached into the car, and she screamed and kicked at his hands and face. He growled as her foot came into contact with his jaw. She screamed louder as his hands turned into claws wrapping around her legs. His strength was immense, the pain instant as he squeezed her calves, a whimper escaping her throat as the pain paralyzed her struggles.

With a hard tug, she was dragged out of the car, her head hitting the seat and then the frame of the car on the way down. She landed on the uneven ground, her tailbone screaming with the impact. She tried to flip over and pull at the ground as he continued to drag her along by one leg. As Morris reached the small group, he dropped her leg, and she lunged for freedom, but he was so much faster and jarringly strong as he jerked her back and upright to her feet. His clawed hand wrapped around the back of her neck and lifted her until her toes brushed the ground.

“Well, well…so this is the thing that is causing so much trouble,” one of the new men said. He, too, was most certainly a demon, either that or his mother was a cat. His eyes looked identical to a tiger’s, the yellow color glowing in the dark.

“I haven’t done anything. All I want is to go home, and I will leave Ri…Mammon alone. I told them I’d move to the other side of the planet.” She couldn’t turn her head but pointed toward Morris and Syliss. “Please, don’t do this. I will leave.”

The demon cocked its head to the side as it stared at her. “How do you know so much,” it asked.

“I only know what my friend, who happens to be a demon, told me. That I need to stay away from Mammon, and I will. I don’t want anything to do with him. I don’t even like him. He’s an asshole, a complete jerk. I mean, who would want him?”

The demons erupted in laughter like she’d said the funniest thing ever. This was her life, and they were all laughing at her. She sucked in a deep breath and crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at the demon.

“You’re certainly unique, but no matter, you need to die,” he said calmly. He leaned in toward her, and she tried to back up, but Morris tightened his hold on her neck, keeping her in place. His nose touched her neck softly as he made little noises.

He was sniffing her?

His body was overly hot. It radiated off him like she was standing too close to a campfire.

“No worries, little human, you are going to get your chance to run,” he whispered in her ear, making her shiver.

He took a step back and smiled, producing a pair of sharp fangs that turned the shiver into an all-out shaking throughout her body. All she could picture was those teeth sinking into her throat and ripping it open.

“We will give you say an hour head start—no, I’ll be nice since you made me laugh, which is rare. I’ll give you an hour and a half, and then the fun will begin.”

Morris shoved her away, and she tripped, landing hard on her hands and knees, the stones biting into the soft skin. She stared up at the men as they walked toward the cabin. The one with the disturbing yellow eyes turned back to her, his eyes looking more disturbing, reflecting the light coming from the cabin.