Well here I am! Finally back. Anyways, I hope you guys are ready for the next part of the Devil's Trap! I already have a few chapters ready to go so expect those for the next few week.
I am sorry about the lack of uploading though... life's been difficult and I lost my creative drive for a while... But! Thanks to my little bro, I've slowly been getting it back! So, without further adieu... enjoy!
o0o
I took a deep breath, shuddering from the leftover pain of… whatever the hell that was. The crickets chirping sounded like the screeches of the damned and I put my hands over my ears. Cicadas sang and it was like someone was driving an icepick into my eardrums. Everything felt muffled, yet hypersensitive.
"Kid…?" I vaguely heard LJ, wincing at how loud his voice sounded. I groaned and hunched over, trying to calm the storm inside myself.
Kid, you okay? LJ asked.
Everything's a mess. I replied. Think I'm gonna be sick…
For fucks sake don't throw up. I'd rather not deal with your sick ass right now.
I huffed at his statement, but there was nothing to stop the rising bile in my throat as I keeled over, emptying my stomach onto the grassy floor below.
"God-fucking-dammit kid—" LJ groaned and I felt a hand on my back. The events that transpired before this came rushing back with a force. The blood, the metallic smell, the organs. Again, I heaved, coughing at the burn in my throat.
"…feel any better yet?" LJ asked quietly as I nearly collapsed onto the ground, but the entity acted quickly and caught me before I landed in my own vomit. "Taking that as a no." He propped himself against a tree, laying back and setting me in his lap.
"Just relax, kid." He said. "I'll look out for you." I nodded and leaned back, using him as a pillow as I closed my eyes.
o0o
I had no idea how long I slept for, but it was around midday when I woke up. I blinked and rubbed my eyes before stretching, feeling my back pop in several places.
"Oh, you're actually awake." I heard LJ mutter. I turned and looked up at him with a squint.
"Yeah, good morning to you too." I grumbled while the entity rolled his eyes.
"It's the fucking afternoon now, kid." He retorted. "Now, you gonna get up or are you just gonna puke everywhere again?"
"Oh, shuddup." I snapped, getting to my feet to brush myself off. A wave of dizziness hit me as I stumbled, only to be caught by LJ and set back on my feet.
"Will you quit being a stubborn asshole?" He snapped back.
"After you." I countered as the monochrome entity growled at me. "What? You're a stubborn asshole too."
"Shut up kid. We don't have time for this." He sighed and rubbed a temple. "Fuck, where are we?"
"Wow, you don't know where we are?" I asked sarcastically. "I thought maybe you went on a shopping spree while I was out."
"Oh for fucks sake kid." LJ huffed and glared at me. "I wasn't feeling too hot either since you had to get sick. Fucking soul bound bullshit…" I rolled my eyes and looked around.
There wasn't anything of real interest, besides us being in a forest. I frowned and looked back at LJ.
"Any chance there's a town nearby?" I asked.
"What do I look like kid, a road map?" He replied irritably and I shot another glare at him.
"You're a fucking entity dickwad. Can't you like, I dunno, sense people or something?" I snapped at him.
"Oh, I dunno," He mocked. "Lemme just tap into some psychic bullshit and see what I find, huh?"
"You don't have to be such a fucking asshole about it!"
"I'm not your goddamn mother, what'd you expect? Want me to hold your hand while I'm at it?"
There was a sharp snap and we both stopped our heated argument, heads snapping towards the sound with our guards up. The bushes beside us shifted and rustled as something hidden moved through them. I nearly jumped out of my skin when a small cottontail rabbit hopped from the bushes, sniffing the ground before hopping off.
LJ and I stared off after the small rodent before looking at each other. He looked highly disappointed and I narrowed my eyes at the entity.
"What?" I asked.
"You were about to shit your pants over a rabbit." He pointed out dully.
"Shut the fuck up, asshole."
o0o
There was a small town.
We wandered for a bit, still on edge, until we stumbled across a highway. This highway had led to a town by the name of Cold Springs, New York. Looked about as dead as a graveyard, in all honesty.
"Are we really doing this?" LJ asked grumpily while I shot him a glare.
"Yes, LJ." I grumbled back. "Not like we have much of a choice."
"We could go somewhere else."
"Like where? A cave?"
"I was thinking a ditch."
"I fucking hate you."
A car drove by, probably going about sixty miles an hour and I glared at the metal box as it faded from view. I took a breath before walking down the street, heading deeper into the small town.
Shops and small stores where spaced pretty evenly as we passed, a cold breeze biting at my skin as I shoved my hands into my pockets. A terrible attempt to warm up really.
I shivered and LJ glared down at me, but I shrugged of his glare and continued down the street, looking for anything that could maybe help. Downside was we were alone, no money, nothing. Not even sure if we were in our same timeline honestly.
I confirmed this as I saw what seemed to be a HD billboard advertising some hotel. The pixels were sharp and the picture was so clear it was disorienting. Distracted, I nearly fell onto my face as my foot snagged the lifting concrete, stumbling before gaining my balance back.
"Nice." LJ mocked as I resisted the urge to flip him off. Didn't need everyone thinking I was nuts too.
Fuck off, asshole. I snapped silently.
Oh, I'm terrified kid. LJ returned. You're what? Three pounds?
I grumbled to myself and continued forward, head down to make sure I didn't trip again like an idiot. LJ seemed pleased with himself as we walked down the suddenly busy street, avoiding contact with people as much as we could.
Before long, the sun was beginning to set, dying the sky with oranges and purples. The temperature was dropping as the sun began to disappear.
"I'm cold." I muttered dully.
"No shit," LJ returned. "You're shaking and you're getting goosebumps."
"Wow, thanks for letting me know, captain obvious." I snapped, getting a strange look from a pedestrian. I flipped them off, watching them begin to walk faster away from me with slight triumph. "Now I look like a fucking psychopath."
"You are a fucking psychopath." LJ pointed out and I hissed at him about to make a comeback when I looked across the street at an antique store. Oddly, I looked around before approaching the shop, pushing the door open and hearing the tingle of the bell. A guy with black hair, edges dyed an electric blue looked up and connected his blue-grey eyes with my greens.
"We're closing soon." He deadpanned, not looking too surprised at my sudden entrance. I frowned and shrugged, walking in.
"Eh, that's fine." I replied. "Gets me out of the cold for a bit." The guy raised a brow at this and shrugged back, going back to whatever the hell he was doing. I began looking through all the knick-knacks and random things people got rid of at one point, raising a brow at some… pretty strange looking things. I swear to god one of the lamps was made from human flesh…
"Avery, did you—oh." I snapped my head up as an older woman came into view, looking at me in surprise. "I didn't realize we still had some customers."
"Just the one, mom." The guy, Avery, muttered. "She just got here." I narrowed my eyes at the two. Family? Must've been one of those businesses.
"Oh," She replied before smiling at me. "Well, welcome to Anelle Antiques!"
"Anelle Antiques?" I echoed looking around. "Huh, neat." The woman nodded and began spinning a tale of how her husband and her started collecting things and eventually opened this shop, running it along with their two kids.
"Addison is a little bratty at times," Mrs. Anelle chuckled. "But she's a good girl. And Avery does what h-they can, they're a good help around the shop." I tilted my head curiously at her phrasing for Avery and glanced over to the other.
"They?" I asked, referring to the pronouns as the black-haired individual looked at me.
"I'm agender." Avery stated. "I go by they/them pronouns, if you don't mind." I nodded in understanding.
"Nice." I replied while I heard LJ snort.
"Agender… the fuck is this Tumblr shit..." He muttered, mostly to himself. I did my best to ignore the monochrome entity as Avery shrugged.
"I'm whatever." He returned dully and I couldn't tell if he was trying to make a joke or not. Mrs. Anelle looked at the wall clock behind the checkout counter, a small frown on her features.
"Well, unfortunately it looks to be closing time…" She said softly as she turned to me. "It was very nice to meet you…?"
"Allie." I greeted. "My name's Allie and it's nice to meet you too." I frowned a bit before continuing. "Hey, are there any places open for people to like… sleep? That don't cost anything… I'm kind of broke." That cause the woman to look at me curiously.
"I… I don't think so." She replied hesitantly. "Why? What about your home?" I laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of my neck.
"It's…. it's complicated Mrs. Anelle." I stated vaguely. "I don't live around here and I… if I go home my family will be in danger." Avery and their mother blinked and looked at each other before looking back at me.
"Should I call the police…?" She asked softly and I couldn't help but scoff.
"Police can't help me, ma'am." I drawled. "Not even if they wanted to. My problem is a bit… too complicated to explain."
"Yeah, tell the whole damn world kiddo." LJ snorted. "Why don't we just call him here to fuck us up while we're at it?" I glared at the entity from the corner of my eye.
Shut up LJ. I snapped.
"Is-Is it a gang problem?" The woman fretted. "Do you need a place to stay? Please, if there's anything I can do, let me help." I looked at Mrs. Anelle and froze for a split second, seeing my own mother for a moment before I looked away and shook my head.
"I-No, I'll be fine." I replied as I headed for the door. "Thank you, ma'am. Good luck with your business."
Before they could say a word, I turn and ran out of the shop and into the bitter night, fighting back the emotions that threatened to unfold.