The Dark (DEVON) // ✔️ // [NEWADULT]

|| Chapter Ten - The Beginning Of The End ||

   "What do you mean?" I whimpered.

   Devon stood up and began doing laps up and down the room, "I mean, I think he feels he has some unfinished business with you." My hands were no longer shaking, they were fucking quaking. It was as if someone had sat me on top of a rogue electric chair. Fitting comparison, I know.

   "Isaac wouldn't have unfinished business-" I tried- and failed- to sway him.

   "Listen, when a gang member- especially someone like him- loses a girl he didn't claim, it's embarrassing." Devon countered, "Was it that he didn't want to have sex with you or you didn't want to have sex with him." I frowned at the unhappy issue in front of me.

   It's sort of pathetic that a guy would chase a girl down just to have sex with her, even if it is for his pride. "So, you think he's trying to find me, to have sex with me?" I said pathetically.

   "Claim." He said clearly, "Claim is different to sex. There are other motives that could be driving him, I didn't insinuate that sex is his driving factor to find you..." he said, almost disgusted by my assumption.

   If that wasn't his motive then what was? Isaac wasn't a pleasant boy but he wasn't even physically violent towards me, or anyone. The only time he over stepped his boundaries was when he tried to use me in a dodgy negotiation. Gain her trust and then throw her into a brawl. He did protect me for the most part...

'If you are ever in danger. You run for the most tangled place you can find. There is nothing a predator hates more than when they are forced to play with their food."

I recalled his comment again, it was plausible that both Isaac and Devon saved my life that night. However, why would Isaac warn me of such a thing if he didn't expect me to run into some kind of danger along the line? That was his plan...

"If you are ever in danger..." I mumbled.

"Huh?" Devon said, stopping his pacing and looking to me.

"I'm in danger..." I said slowly, it was almost as if saying the words confirmed it. There wasn't any other explanation, Isaac warned me before the chase had even begun.

"What do you mean you're in danger? What danger? Clarify Aria!" He shouted.

Tears fell from my eyes, "Isaac warned me... he warned me that I'd be in danger, he knew what he was going to do. It was calculated, it was a plan, he-he he's going to come after me...Devon he is probably already here... a tangled place..." I was breathing raggedly, the tears soaking my cheeks and falling from my face. I was in full blown panic mode now.

Devon rushed over to me, "Calm down, for fucks sake, chill." He placed his hand on my back as I tried to normalise my breathing, "What do you mean he is already he-" he was cut off.

A loud bang resonated through the library. Shouts and screams erupted from the other side of the door, the noise pulled me back to last night at the mall. There was a familiar shout among the rest, it sounded like him...

It sounded like Isaac.

Devon swore under his breath and marched over to the door, he opened it slightly and watched through the crack. The noise burst through the door and stunned me, people were panicking but the one thing I focused on was his voice.

Shouting orders that glued me to my seat, "Shoot", "Finish off", "Scan".

Devon shut the door and locked it, pulling the chair he was originally sitting on and securing it under the doorknob, he scanned the room, his chest heaving.

"Isaac is here." I stated, my voice void of any emotion, "Isaac is here." I said again.

"Yes, I know." Devon hissed, "Be quiet!"

He marched over to the far side of the room and stood on his toes to unhinge the vent. It was large enough for me, but I was concerned about Devon being able to squirm in between the space...

"Come on!" He ordered, holding his arms out. I tried, but I couldn't move. Shock had cemented me to my seat, I whimpered as the shouting became clearer.

"Find her!" Isaac called out, his voice muffled by the closed door separating us, but it was still undeniably him.

"FUCK, Aria!" Devon exclaimed, I jumped at the sudden ferocity of his tone. With a courage I was certain I couldn't muster, I rose from my seat. Driven by the sheer dread and trepidation I felt.

Devon grabbed my hips like he did in the supply closet, I hissed at the ache that resonated from the bruises he left there, Devon didn't budge. He merely launched me upwards, I grabbed onto the sides of the vent in order to pull myself up, he gave me the final nudge that had me skittering through the vent. I paused and waited for him to follow, he didn't.

The banging got louder as the time went on. It felt like forever before I saw his head appear, the sheen of sweat on his head had turned into a full blown leakage. His face contorted as he lugged himself up and into the vent.

I covered my mouth and sobbed into my hand as he slid the cover back into place and secured himself over the top so he had a clear view down. My sobbing turned into wheezing as my lungs protested. I was in utter dismay.

"You need to move..." he whispered, "they'll get in here soon." With that, he began to push me further down the vent. I pulled myself along with my hands and allowed the whimpering to flow freely.

Devon followed behind me, manoeuvring his body to fit the ventilation system. I should've known he'd have been able to adjust to something like this, after all, he snuck in behind me at the mall when there was barely any space for myself.

Pretty soon, the clunk of the door flying off its hinges sounded. I jumped and began to frantically pull myself along. A scream left my mouth when Devon clasped a hand over my leg, he was panting, "Stay...still..." he wheezed.

I squeezed my eyes shut as I heard him speak.

"Aria..."

He's found me.

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I'm proud. I feel like a proud mom.

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