One. Two. Three. The bloody rags were piling up. Lord, she was still bleeding and the light, tentative shake Kyle had given the woman did not wake her. Briefly, in a moment of weakness the boy tucks his head in his hands, ignoring the aching in his body. Taking the slightest of seconds to breathe. The pursuit was still on, and he could sense the ‘thing’ very nearby and approaching– a predator locked onto his location. Sniffing him out, far too close for comfort. Like a deer in the headlights he was frozen, hands shaking, breath coming out in puffs.
Kyle had always been good at navigating his location and seemingly the location of others. Always knowing when someone was approaching and what their intentions were. It worked great for the jobs he liked to do. Deliveries and transportation. But at this moment he wished he did not know. Wished desperately this feeling would go away. That the pinging on an invisible map would blot out and relieve him of the adrenaline and hyper awareness of every muscle in his body. Primed to spring forward and find yet another escape.
As it drew near, the tension built in his body. Near leaping out of his skin at the bang against the door. It’s here.
It greeted him rather casually through the metal, introducing itself. Cherry. What a pretty name. The voice was raspy and worn like he had never heard anything before. The image of its bloody body flashing across his vision sent him into overdrive.
It’s demon is a bitch. They could kill me. They do in fact want the girl. And they can teleport??
Kyle felt faint. So this wasn’t an angle but a harbinger of doom. A spark of pride welled in him. He had been right about this feeling all these years. Right about running. Right about the inherent danger. If it could teleport, why exactly was it blocked by a door? Why wouldn’t the thing just magically poof into the room? Or portal or whatever the hell it could do. The teen wouldn’t trust it for a second. And he doesn’t trust the promise of a deal. Spine feeling as if it would wiggle itself from his body and escape first if he did not act quickly.
There is some deft fumbling on Kyle’s part as he attempts to sling one of the girl's arms over his shoulder to lift her from the ground, but an unconscious body was difficult to move without all the momentum he had been utilizing.
“God damn it.” Kyle jolted, whipping around to see the source of the voice. Shocked that he had not noticed anyone coming down the steps from the dining area. “I knew you were going to be trouble.” Randall in all his middle aged, pissed off glory was approaching quickly. The thick graying brows near jumping off his face at the battered woman Kyle was attempting to hold up.
“You behind the door. Stay thy hand and open not the portal. On your soul the beast will devour you if thy passage is opened.”
Kyle looked between Saucy’s owner and the door, shooting the man a weak worried smile. “Wasn't planning on it!” The teen shouts back.
Randall, as if sensing the waves of tension rolling off his new employee, slipped a shoulder under the woman's other arm, practically lifting her off the ground with the height difference. The man led the two up the stairs into the dining area. Kyle was washed with a wave of relief. Happy to let the man half drag the girl up the narrow steps. Taking in the checkered floors and the drawn blinds.
“Start talkin’ kid.” Randall muttered. Lip lifted in an almost animalistic display. As if his agitation would spill over at any second.
“I found her like this, some-” Kyle hesitates. “Some dude had roughed her up pretty bad in an alleyway.”
“You are so lucky I haven’t opened shop, else I woulda tossed you out that back door to whoever was on the other side.” There is a scolding, almost fatherly way Randal was eyeing him. Pointing a thick callused finger at him. “Hurry up. I’m not letting my dough overproof because you went and brought a battered housewife to the shop.”
The two men make quick work of getting the girl into the back office, past the kitchen and bathrooms into the back. The Owner of Saucy’s grimacing when they set her in his worn leather chair. Randal is still muttering as he looks the girl over, finding her pulse, tapping her face lightly with the back of his hand.
“Lucky.” He’s spitting under his breath. “Lucky kid. I’m too damn soft. Lucky you’re officially hired. Should have ya both escorted off my property and charged with trespassin’.”
Kyle is the visage of a nervous kicked puppy with his head slightly lowered. Nodding quietly. Watching intently as Randal works, eyes flicking to the door every few moments. Fingers twitching, foot tapping.
“You think she ODed?” Randall asked. Taking her arm and inspecting it, noting the bruising in the crook of her elbow.
“Shit, I hope not.” Kyle says, suddenly studying her arm too.
“Whelp, can’t for the life of me-” Randall is popping the lid off a bottle of rubbing alcohol. “Understand why ya brought her here. But if her waking up gets ya both out of my shop that’s good enough for me.”
The scent of the alcohol pulls a rush of heat to the teens ears. Overwhelmed with the strength of it. Plugging his nose. And Randall is waving the bottle under the girl's nose, tapping her face again.
“Come on hun, wake up.” Randall calls almost softly.