Runaway Devil
52

"What did he look like?" The space behind my eyes started to ache as Beth spoke. She rattled off about how he barged into the shop, demanding about me, but I cut her off. "Beth," I took a beat to compose myself. "What. Did he. Look like?"

"Tall, broad, brown hair, a beard that looked a couple days old." She stopped like she could see my face and knew that I needed a moment. He could've been anyone. It probably wasn't him. How could it be him? I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead, trying to work the tension out with my fingers. "His accent was strange, I couldn't place it." It still could've been anyone. "He kept calling you Karau," she said. Her accent was atrocious, but hearing my true name coming from her mouth was jarring. "He was... persistent. Said something about your family and how they needed you. You never talk about your family, so..."

I didn't hear whatever she said next, she sounded like she was underwater. A solid rock of tension settled in my stomach and I felt my heart pulse in my ears. It was him, he was trying to find me. It would explain my recent dreams, hearing his voice so clearly. It was him, he was here, and he was close. He mentioned my family, they were all still together. If they were together then they were okay. My family, I had tried not to think of them much while being topside. But they were okay. My chest tightened and my shoulders pulled inward.

Alec was guiding me towards the car, I hadn't remembered leaving the diner. Everything was blurring. I was moving, or the truck was moving. I craned my neck to look at Alec, it felt like my head was being held up by a twig. His lips were moving, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. He looked concerned. For me? His eyes kept glancing my way then back at the road. I could tell he was cursing, and it was colorful.

"He's here," I felt myself say.

Dusty (Jareth)

My Karau would come to me.

She was not one who made friends easily, but if she had, she would come back for them. As I sat in her old apartment I could still smell that human from days ago, the one I left dangling from the wall. His body had been taken care of, disposed of and the area cleaned. I did not care enough to find out who did it, I was just glad it was gone. By the time I got back, it would have been ripening to the point of intolerance.

I sat at her dining room table, one of the few pieces of furniture untouched by the looters. Unable to help myself, I straightened up. I had been searching for weeks on end, and now all I had to do was sit and wait, I didn't know what to do with myself.

I folded my arms across my chest and found my knee bouncing as I watched her front door. I had searched this dwelling from top to bottom, I knew every crack, every crumbling corner. I had nothing to do but wait.

Just as I was about to take another walk through the apartment, the door handle screeched. The wood of the door groaned as it was forced open, having warped within its frame. My whole body was taut as a bowstring, ready to snap in an instant. I clenched my jaw and stood, preparing for anything.

They smelled male but reeking of youth. I supposed all the humans smelled of youth, but these were children. They froze and stared, eyes wide, mouths ajar. They looked like a mismatching, patchwork quilt of a group. One was small in stature, with glasses and a strange flop of curls upon his head. He stood halfway behind a taller one, with fare hair. He looked closer to manhood, but the third was the tallest. His features were sharp, and his shoulders the broadest of the group. If anyone would attempt to attack, it would be him.

I watched as their masculine upbringing told them to take a more aggressive approach, but their intelligence resisted. I stood in silence and waited, watching.

"Who are you?" The small one was the first to speak. "Did someone send you? 'Cause she's not here," he said.

"I know. I'm waiting for her."

"Why?" The fare-haired one spoke next. His voice was purposefully gruff, an attempt to puff his chest at me.

"Do humans always ask endless questions? I'm noticing a pattern." I felt a twinge of annoyance behind my left eye and resisted the urge to rub it.

"Why are you in her apartment?"

"I feel as though we've already gone over this. I'm waiting for her."

"Look around you, dude. She's not coming back," The tallest finally spoke. I had never been referred to as "dude" before, and I immediately knew I did not like it. They did not take their eyes off of me, they had already seen the disarray of the apartment. They looked almost tired of seeing it.

"She will. She's close, I can feel it."

"What's your name?" The small one with the glasses stepped forward, the fare-haired one grabbing his arm. "Ben, let's go. It's fine. He knows Kara."

"And you think everyone that knows Kara is safe?" He had a good point. Karau did not know a single harmless creature, as far as I knew. I looked at the humans before me and reconsidered. "Where are you from anyway?" He asked. "And how do you know Kara?"

"She is not Kara where we come from. And I am here to bring her home," I said, emphasizing their human tongue for what they called her. "What are you doing here?"

They glanced at each other, hesitant to answer. They were not as stupid as they looked. The small one opened his mouth to speak, but before he could utter a single sound a wave of energy washed over me.

I blinked, hard, and felt a deep pull in my chest. I braced my hand on the table as a coldness washed over me, chased out by a burning heat that reminded me of home. My heart beat against my ribs like a bird fluttering in his cage. I laid my palm over it and felt its pulsing. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Are you okay?" The boy with the glasses approached slowly with caution in his eyes. A shiver crept up my spine and gripped the back of my neck like a gauntlet. The boy's voice felt like a stab behind my eye. I sneered and grabbed his face, my hand engulfing the lower half of it. I felt his panicked breath on the back of my hand, reminding me of the woman at the inking shop. His grasp on my wrist felt like that of a child, weak and scared.

"Something is wrong. Someone is here, someone powerful," I spoke out loud, muttering more to myself than anyone else. I felt the other boys' hands on me, their labors were futile. Pushing the boy away, I stalked to the window, avoiding his fallen glasses by a hair.

My breath came out in shallow, grumbling growls, I paid no mind to the children trying to get my attention. I thought of Karau and wondered if she felt it.

She needed to move quickly. They were already here.

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