The ringing of the pharmacy's alarm system rang throughout the store as I rummaged through Sally's purse. My hands finally reach the keys at the bottom of the bag and pull them out, jingling them. I also open her wallet and take all the cash she had. I can't believe I'm stealing money from a dead person. I look over the counter at Sally's deceased body, laying at the back of the store.
It's sad that this Pharmacy has no security cameras, they could have caught Michael soon. I told my dad a couple years ago to install them, but he just replied with, "Sahara, this is the safest town in America, we don't need them, it would be a waste of money" then hit me with a dad joke. Look who need needs them now, dad.
"I should get out of here before the cops get here, they might question me later," I tell myself, taking one last glance at Sally before heading out the backdoor, "if i'm alive."
I walk over to the only car in the parking lot, Sally's old jeep, unlocking the door to get in. I adjust the rear view mirror to my height before turning on the ignition and driving off. After a couple blocks, I hear the sounds of police sirens behind me. They must have just got the alert from the Pharmacy's alarm system right now.
As I drove closer to my house, I realized those sirens never left my ear. It echoed all the way down near my neighborhood. I turn the corner on a street and the stench of burning wood filled my nostrils. Oh god, a house must have caught on fire around here.
I turn another corner into my neighborhood and looked up in the sky. There was a cloud of smoke... directly over a my neighborhood. If I look past these houses and see that it's house on fire... I don't know what i'll do.
I slam on the brakes, parking the car down the street and open the door, stepping one leg out and popped my head out, my arm leaning on top of the car door. The red flames from my home were reflected onto eyes. Neighbors ran out of their houses and stared in awe as the firemen did their best to spray the house down the street , but the damage was already done. The two story house was now just rubble on the ground.
"It's such a shame that Jeannette and Augustine's house burned to the ground, it was the most expensive property on this block," a man cough out, hitting tiny particles of debris away from his face, "someone should call their daughter."
I try to make out their face in the dark. It was the old couple who lives in the corner six houses down, Mr. and Mrs. O'Neil.
"Yes, the daughter, what's her name? Sophia..? Sahara! Yeah that's it, I feel bad for the poor girl, she lost her parents, then their house burned down." Mrs. O'Neil says to her husband.
"How'd it even start?" Another neighbor intervened into the conversation.
"I heard one of the firemen say something about a gas leak, a pipe must have broke and it was just waiting to blow up," Mr. O'Neil replied.
I didn't want to be here anymore. I got back into the car and slammed the door shut before reversing out and back onto the Main Street. I drive to a motel on the outside of town, built perfectly next to a busy highway.
I didn't know Michael would go the extra mile and burn down my fucking house. No point of trying to get away from him now. He knows everything.
As I walk over the damaged pavement that has grass growing out of the cracks, I realize how shabby this motel is. The Coral pink paint chipping off the outside walls. One of the rooms with its entire window smashed, barricaded with wooden planks. Or the pool with slimy green water that's taped off with caution tape.
I open the door to the check in. Damn it's even worse in the inside. It just screams the 70s, with its wood paneled walls and yellow fuzzy carpet which I'm guessing used to be white. No ones here. I ring the bell on the counter and wait. I didn't realize a lady walked out from wherever she came out from because I was too interested at the moose head plaque hanging on the wall.
"I see you took a liking to ol' Gerald up there. My husband made him on our first date fifty years ago" a middle aged lady spoke, filling my gaze towards the wall, "isn't she a beaut?"
I wouldn't call a taxidermy of a dead animal's head beautiful, but to each is their own.
"Uh, um, yes it's very nice... fits well with the decor..?" Okay that came out more of a question, but she didn't notice. She reminds me of Sally with her big nice toothy smile. But that soon turns into shock once she got a better look at me.
"Oh sweetcake, what happened to you? Are you okay?" She pointed out the blood that's soaked on my clothes.
"Oh this? Don't worry, I'm fine, had an accident at work with some... watercolor paint. How much for one room?" I fake a smile, trying to change the subject.
"Regular ones are fifteen. But the cleanest one is thirty," she stated.
"I'll take the clean one," I mumble, taking out twenty and ten dollar bills, handing them over. She put them in locked box under the cabinets and went over to the display case with keys in them.
"Here you go, sweetcake. Have a nice night." I reply with a 'you too' and walk back outside. I look at the tag on keys.
Room 111
I walk the same path down the cracked pavement, passing the different rooms to find mine. I soon found it and unlocked the door. The lady wasn't lying, it actually looked decent. I closed the door behind me and pulled my phone out my pocket. What I'm about to do is something I should have done when I first got to this town. I press the call button and with one ring he picked up.
"Angel."
It took me a couple seconds to figure out what I really wanted to say. There was a lot I wanted to scream at him about, but I felt too numb to even say a word.
"M-Michael, can you come get me?" I stutter out, "and c-can you bring some clothes too?"
"Of course, anything for my girl," I imagine him smirking right about now, "did you miss me?"
"That depends."
"Well I did," there was a pause, "I love you, Sahara."
Right when he said that I hung up. I can't lie and say I hated his guts. Well I do now kind of, but over these months of knowing him I grew to love him. I'm starting to accept the fact that I might get murdered tonight, my whole life was going to shit anyways. Why can't he just leave me alone?
I throw my phone and keys onto the bed and slip off my shoes and heading off to take a shower. I let the water run, stripping from my blood soiled clothes, throwing them into corner. I put the slip of paper with Michael's ex wife's phone number inside my phone case so I wouldn't lose it. I get into the shower and the water washes away all the dried blood, sweat, and tears from my skin. I close my eyes, not wanting to waste this moment of peace that I may never have again. Soon the curtains were pulled and cold hands come in contact with my wet skin.
"You didn't say you love me back on the phone, babygirl," his face nuzzled in the crook of my neck, dragging his lips up to my ear, gently biting the lobe. He closed the space between us with his bare front against my back. His hands that were once on my waist moved up to cup my breasts.
"How did you get in?" I trembled.
"God, not being able to touch you for days killed me," he whispered in my ear, not answering my question. You weren't killed, you killed.
His left hand now trailing down to my intimate area, teasing my outer labia with his fingers. I moan, raising my hand behind me to caress the side of his face. I shouldn't be wanting this. Not right now... but I can't help it.
He turns my body around and pushes me back up against the cold tile wall. Both of his hands were pressed against the wall by both sides of my head and the water was now wetting his curls, making them stick to the front of his face. He stared into my eyes slowly leaning in to kiss me. I close my eyes and wait for him to do so, but he doesn't.
I open my eyes back up in confusion only to see a smirking Michael crouching down onto his knees. His hands moved to grip my thighs, spreading them apart, not once breaking our eye contact.
"I've had dreams of what it would be like to get a taste of you," he said, sliding his fingers all over my wetness. I let out a small gasp. Why was he making me so wet at a time like this?
"But, sadly I'm only going to be getting a taste test today," he whispered before placing his fingers in his mouth, sucking my wetness off, "sweet like candy."
He gets up from his knees and pulls back the shower curtain. Before he gets out he takes one last look at my body, biting his lip, then closes the curtain again. Did that really just happen? I took a couple more minutes to scrub my body, harshly to the point that my skin was turning red. Even if all the blood was washed away it still felt as if it were still there.
I turned off the water and stepped out, taking a towel off the racks and drying my body. I wrap the towel around my body before heading out to the room. Michael was standing in front of the mirror in a clean suit, his fingers combing through his wet hair.
"Why are you doing this to me?" I ask.
"Your clothes are in the bag on top of the bed," he says, dodging my question.
"Answer my question, Michael," I demand, clinging onto my towel.
"I'll answer your questions when you tell me you love me back," he says, fixing the cuffs on his dress shirt.
"You know even through all the shit you put me through these past couple of days, I'm not lying when I say I love you," I say, tears threatening to fall out my eyes, "but I wish I didn't."
"Close enough, we will work on it though, now my darling, ask away," he smirks, turning around and leaning back on the dresser.
"Why are you doing this to me?" I ask again.
"You're my girl, I would do anything to have you with me forever," he said looking into my eyes, "if I can't have you then no one else can either."
"D-Did you actually mean what you said, when you said you wanted to kill at first?" I stutter, shaking at the thought,
"Yes, I did, right at your doorstep. You looked so easy to kill. You were so innocent and pure, I knew I couldn't take a soul like yours. You're the love of my life," he states.
"Why did you kill your parents?" I ask. He crosses his arms and thinks about it for a second.
"My father was rewriting his will, he wrote that the entire business would have been split between my older brothers, and not me because I was too 'wild'. I was furious, so I killed him. My mother was in the way so I had to kill her too," he explained, now facing away from me.
"I know you're lying to me... I found that paper you wrote," I gulped. He clenched the corners of the dresser so hard I could see the veins popping out his hand.
"Fine, if you want to know so bad, I sold my soul to the devil," He gritted so heartlessly, "I had to sacrifice my father to get the company but the devil had it in for me. It was my fault though."
"What do you mean?"
"He can sometimes control me, I'm unconscious in my own body and when I wake up I don't remember a thing. Then, he started murdering people," he turns around and smirks, "and the killings grew on me sweetheart."
"Why did you burn down my house?"
"Angel, I'm sorry about that. You just made me so mad, I couldn't hurt you so I had to destroy something you loved," he grinned, walking over to me. He tried to kiss me but I resisted.
"Fuck you, Michael, you took it away too far," I argued. He roughly got a hold of my chin and made me look him in the eyes.
"I'm going to let it slide this time, Sahara. Now go get ready, we have a long trip home ahead of us," forcing a kiss on my lips.
"Can you like turn around please?" I ask him, making a twirling gesture with my finger.
"You act as if you didn't just spread your legs for me twenty minutes ago," he smirks, turning around to face the wall. I open the bag he left on top of the bed to see what clothes he brought me. Black ripped skinny jeans and a black hoodie with his initials on the chest part. What's up with all the embroidery? Can this man not tell the difference on which clothes are his or what?
"Really, Michael?" I ask as I pull out some lacy lingerie out the bottom of the bag. He turns his head over his shoulder to see what I was talking about.
"I need to make sure my girl looks sexy at all times," he smirks, "now hurry up, we have to leave as soon as possible."
I nod and quickly put on the clothes. As I put on his hoodie his heavenly scent flows through my nostrils. Same as the day I first met him, expensive cologne with a hint of vanilla, but this hoodie also has a hint of... smoke? That's surprising, I didn't know he even owned normal clothes or that he smokes cigarettes. Probably does it secretly I suppose.
I sit on the edge of my bed and slip on my shoes before getting up, "I'm ready now."
"Took you long enough," Michael says, turning around, "but it was worth the wait, you look hot, I wish I could fuck you right now, but we have places to go."
He opens the door and motions me to go first, "Ladies first." I walk out and he follows behind me, closing the door behind us and holds his hand out for me.
"Wait what about Sally's car?" I ask before taking his hand. He leads me to his car and opens the door for me.
"I'll have it all covered up," he says and walks to the other side to get in, "don't worry about it."
━━━
"Michael, you passed my apartment," I look out the back window.
"You won't be living there anymore," he says, continuing to drive off to the hotel. That's all he's going to say?
"Um, I didn't agree to this," I raised my voice a little.
"You didn't have to," he says, taking a glance at me before focusing back on the road, "I moved most your stuff to the penthouse, so need to worry about moving."
"Why couldn't you let me leave like you did with Lisa," I mutter not thinking. My eyes widened when I realized. He glared at me from the corner of his eyes.
"Don't mention her ever again, don't even say her name."
The rest of the ride was in silence, and it wasn't a good silence. The minute we got in front of the hotel I opened the door and ran outside.
"Sahara, stop!" Michael yelled out after me. He throws his keys to the valet and tries to catch up to me. I rush to the elevator dodging people along the way. I get in and push the penthouse floor button and look out to see Michael getting closer. Before they could close, he stuck his hand out, making the elevator doors open again and steps inside.
"Why in the hell did you make a scene? Did you not see all the people staring at you?" He grits through his teeth. By the time my answer came out my mouth, the elevator doors opened.
"Why are you acting like everything is normal Michael? You killed one of the few people left in my life, burned my house down, and let's not forget that you're basically the fucking devil!" I scream, slamming open the front door of the penthouse, "you're a fucking psychopath. Were you planning on not ever telling me this, no the real question is why the hell did you drag me into your life?"
"I was planning on telling you at some point I don't exactly know when, and I didn't drag you into anything, babygirl, you chose to be in love with me. But that doesn't matter you're stuck with me forever," he says.
"You let Lisa go, why can you let me go? Tell me about her," I said, knowing it will rile him up.
"We're going to talk about her just this once and never again," He clenched his jaw, "understood?" I nod my head.
"She found out about the room when we came back home from our honeymoon. But she didn't know that I sold my soul, just the killing. At first she broke down and wouldn't talk to me for weeks and stayed in the guest bedroom... she was afraid of me," he whispered the last part, "and after a while she just was a drunken mess even at events. And then one day she packed her bags and left, she couldn't handle me."
I didn't know what to say so I just kept quiet. I don't blame her for leaving. At least she got the good ending.
"Divorce papers soon came in the mail... I wish I fucking killed her, I don't know why I didn't."
"You let her go because you love her," I say in a low voice, fumbling with my hands.
"I loved her. Past tense and letting her go was probably the best thing I did because I have you now, I love you not her," he says walking over to me, putting his hands on my waist, "and I'm never ever letting you go."
I push him away, "What about him? The devil? Were you lying about that?"
He sighs, "I wasn't lying about that, baby, I wish I was though." It stays silent for a while. My minds racing with fear. My boyfriend or lover, whatever you want to call him, turns into the devil temporarily. That's fucking amazing.
"What if he kills me? Are you not thinking about my safety?" I start to yell, "you're literally trapping me here with Satan."
"He's no-," he starts.
"No, just stop talking. Leave me the fuck alone for the rest of today," I angrily tell him, walking over to the living room and lay on the sofa. He follows me.
"Angel, I'm sorry," he says, trying to kiss me. I dodge them, "I'm serious, Michael if you don't leave me alone right now I might have a mental break down."
"Fine," he huffs, and goes upstairs.
━━━
For the next hour I was laying on the sofa, surfing through the channels. I sighed and threw the remote on the couch next to me.
"Sahara, it's a pleasure to finally meet you," I hear Michael behind me. I roll my eyes. What is he up to now?
"Michael, I thought I told you to le- oh my fucking god!" I scream as I look behind to see him. It wasn't Michael. Well, it was his body but with black eyes. He was wearing an all black suit with his hair gelled back. Totally different from what Michael was wearing an hour ago.
He just stood there, on the top of the staircase, staring me down. I got up from the couch, looked at him and froze. I don't know what to do. After what seemed like hours of fearful eye contact, he slowly went down the stairs. Each step he took made my heart beat faster.
I felt as if I were paralyzed when he came closer to me. I wanted to run but my feet were glued to the floor. And then, he was in front me. The scary part was that we never lost eye contact. He takes my hand and kisses it. He's charming just like Michael.
"So you are as beautiful as he says," he smiles. A lump formed in my throat and it took forever to say something back.
"Y-You talk to him?" I asked, still trembling.
"No, not quite recently. But, I do know his thoughts, everyone's thought actually," he smirks, "even yours."
"Are you going to kill me or something? If you are then just do it now," I say in fear, "what's the point of me living like this?"
"Darling, is that what you're worried about? Relax, I'm not going to touch you," he laughs, "unless you want me to of course."
"No thank you," you sigh, "I'm confused, do you want something from me?"
"No... not right now at least, I just wanted to meet this 'Sahara' he could not stop thinking about... oh I'm sorry, how rude of me. I didn't even introduce my self," he gasps, "I'm everyone's worst nightmare, Satan, but you can call me Lucifer if you'd like."
This is the most awkwardest, spaced out conversation I've ever had. I don't even know what to say, he just keeps looking at me with that creepy smile of his.
"If you don't mind me asking... when do I get Michael back?"
"Hmmm... just about now."
His black eyes rolled to back of his head and returned back to Michael's brown ones before passing out on the floor.
Dramatic much?