Eric looked numbly at the corpses in the road. He could feel the people behind him whispering with fear, but he couldn't hear them. He was numb. He had failed Shelly, he had lost Sarah. Eric shook with anger and then threw back his head and screamed. He let it all go and then he fell to his knees, conscience of nothing more than the rain that rolled down his face.
Eric kicked over one of the bodies and grimaced. Long finger nail gashes made fleshy trenches across the man's face. Eric shook as his mind morphed the dead man's face into Sarah's. He moved to another, a blonde woman. He couldn't bring himself to turn her over.
"What did this?" Eric turned and looked at a man who had dared to come near the bodies. Eric sighed.
"A savage." He said gravely. He looked down the road and sighed.
"How much farther to the city?" He asked the crowed. He could see the orange glow in the night sky, but that could mean it was five or fifty miles away. A woman stepped forwards.
"A sign a little ways back said twenty-five miles." Eric cursed. He looked up at the crowed of frightened people.
"Can anyone drive that bus?" He asked. He saw skepticism flicker on people's faces.
"I'm not getting back on that thing." Someone in the depths of the crowed shouted, and there were mummers of agreement. Anger boiled in Eric and he jammed his fingers into his hair.
"Look. He...that thing, only was able to do what he did, because he was on the bus to start with. He's gone, he's not going to get anyone else." He turned and started walking away.
"And he's already got what he came for." Eric looked up to a branch where the crow sat, waiting for him.
"Find him."
The only thing Sarah knew for sure, was that her head really, really hurt. She refused to open her eyes, for then everything would become real. There would be no choice but to accept that Colin had won, that she had been captured and Eric would never find them. And Sarah used to be so optimistic.
"I know your awake." A voice whispered in her ear. Sarah twitched and curled tightly into a ball.
"It's no use. You can't sleep forever...not yet anyway." Sarah cracked an eye and saw a very dim room. She fought to keep her breathing even, but she was quickly giving into fear. She pushed herself up on one elbow and looked around. No one was there. She pushed herself to her knees and looked around. She wasn't in a room. She was in an earthy hole, for now she could see the texture of dirt and roots on the walls. Well, one wall wasn't dirt. It was made of bars. Sarah rolled to her knees and stood. A single candle flickered weakly beside her. She rolled to her knees and pushed her sweaty palms into the dirt floor, fighting to stand. Half way up her vision exploded into stars and she fell back to the floor. Laughter filled her ears.
"Come now, my little one. Stand up, stand if you would...for me?" Sarah swallowed thickly. Her mouth was very dry. Her throat was closing and she felt tears prickling under her eye lids.
"I can't." She whispered. The laughter filled her ears and mind once more. She feebly clapped her hands over her ears.
"Stop it! STOP IT!" She cried out. The laughter ceased abruptly.
"It takes a happy, healthy child to like the sound of laughter. When was the last time you laughed Sarah?" Sarah peered, trying to focus her eyes in the darkness, looking for the voice that taunted her so easily.
"Where are you?" She hissed. Her mind was clearing now, and anger was replacing fear. Arms snaked around her middle and yelped. She fought, but he held her tightly.
"Don't struggle my darling Sarah, don't struggle." Sarah ignored him and thrashed from side to side. Suddenly, a cold hand gripped her throat and Sarah's eyes widened. She stopped thrashing quite quickly. The hands loosened their grip and lost the violence and tried to feign romance. Chilly fingers slipped down her neck and across her cheeks. Sarah fought to hide her repulsion. He chuckled.
"I know, I upset you, I know." He whispered. He suddenly stood and pulled Sarah roughly to her feet. He let her stand alone, and though she swayed, she clung to the bars and remained standing. Her head throbbed with pain.
"What do you want?" She asked, her throat thick. Colin smiled, and moved to her; Sarah found she couldn't find the strength to inch away.
"Isn't it obvious?" He was only a heartbeat away. He pressed himself against her, pinning her to the bars. She felt tears and he brushed them away.
"Do I look like a whore?" She asked harshly. Colin looked bewildered. Then he threw his head back and laughed. It was an ugly laugh, it sounded like the way a dog would laugh.
"Oh Sarah, you underestimate me, more than you will ever know." Sarah groaned.
"Then what do you want...with me?" She asked between clenched teeth. Colin tilted his head to the side, as if he didn't understand, then slipped his fingers under her chin.
"I want you Sarah." Sarah lolled his head to the side.
"I don't understand." Colin framed her face with his hands and looked into her eyes.
"I want...your pain Sarah." Sarah stared at him, totally and utterly confused.
"What?" She whispered. Colin sighed and backed away from her, letting her drop ungracefully to the floor.
"I thrive on something you will never understand. I thrive, I live and breath...pain. I feed on the souls of the living that can't bear to take it anymore, who are so dark and full of pain and hopelessness, that they are this close to taking their own life. I'm not human Sarah. I'm a demon, I'm a demon from a place you will never imagine. And I eat, lost souls." Sarah looked at him blankly. She let her head fall onto the bars.
"Your Death." She said dully. Colin smiled widely, amused at the thought.
"I have far more fun than Death." Sarah felt tears again; she hated for him to see her cry.
"How do you find them?" She asked.
"It's easier than you would think. But I can sense them and oh Sarah...you couldn't imagine the things I felt when I sensed you. There was such...will for the end. I couldn't even begin to understand." His eyes were lit by a wild insanity and Sarah was drawn to it. He inhaled deeply and looked over at her.
"I knew I couldn't feed off you. You were worth more than that." Sarah scoffed.
"Thanks." She scoffed. Colin scowled.
"I don't think you know just how lucky you are." He lunged forward and grabbed her, dragging her roughly to her feet. He brought her out of her cage and down a long hallway. They hurried down, twisting and turning and finally going through a open doorway. Colin pushed her onto a earthy balcony. She caught herself, jamming her hands onto the low earthy wall, feeling dirt crumble at her fingers. She looked up and around at the red earthy walls, reluctant to look down at what lay at the bottom of the earthy cavern. Colin came from behind and grasped her wrists tightly.
"Look down, Sarah, look down at what you could become. Look at what you would become if you refuse me." Sarah gasped for breath and looked down.