Chapter Two

I shook my head, the cold chill of my wispy skin growing more intense.

"Why?" I asked, thumping my chest to try and get movement in my heart. "How?"

He cocked his head to the side and smiled, his sharp teeth so white and viscous that they made me shudder.

"You were murdered, babe," he said. "So now you have to deal with me."

I looked at him, my expression blank.

"Murdered?" I hissed, my voice constricting in my throat as the flood of memory came rushing back.

There'd been a knife.

It had been so quick I almost missed it, the slice of the blade, the way it pierced my heart. My knees buckled as I felt it all over again, but this time for longer as the memory kept playing on repeat, an endless loop of torture.

"Yeah," the monster said. "It was pretty bad… Sorry about that."

"It was you?" I asked, looking him up and down. "You killed me?"

He smiled and shook his head sympathetically.

"It wasn't me," he said. "And the good news is, it doesn't have to end that way."

"End?" I asked, staring up at him. "I'd say death is pretty much the ultimate end, wouldn't you?"

A little smirk tugged the corners of his lips.

"I wouldn't, actually," he said with amusement. "In fact, it's my job to ensure the opposite for unfortunate souls like you."

I stared at him with my mouth agape and at how he stepped forward, his hooves clomping against the rocks, sending echoes into the void. He was such a big creature, his waist wrapped with a loin cloth and his skin a ferocious red. It was all so absurd; surely it had to be a nightmare.

I wracked my brain for the last thing I could remember.

Was I tucked up in bed?

Was I at work, snoozing at my desk while my boss was out over lunch?

No.

A ripple of fear gripped me as my memories started to return, the knowledge dawning on me like a slap to the face.

I'd been out at a bar with Jax.

The monster watched me with curiosity as I leaned back against the cave wall and held my hand to my face, cupping the thin, wispy sensation of my cheek.

Jax had picked me up on his bike, and we'd ridden across town to the dive bar his friend owned. I hadn't wanted to go, but Jax said we only had to stop by for a minute before we'd go to eat somewhere and then head back to his after. I remember my hands gripping his hips as he maneuvered the bike around the country roads, the headlights cutting through the dark, and the smell of stale smoke that was deeply seeped into his leathers. I knew I shouldn't have been with him, but I'd always been drawn to trouble. We'd been dating for around two months on and off, but we'd started to spend a little more time together, and it felt like I was finally getting to know him. He may have been dodgy, but once I was involved, it was becoming harder and harder to pull myself away.

As I pondered on it under the gaze of the monster, I tried to piece together what happened.

At the dive bar, Jax had drunk tequila and smoked nearly a full packet of cigarettes. He got agitated and into a fight with his friend, who didn't seem much like a friend at all. He'd grabbed me by the upper arm and dragged me out of there, smoke pretty much shooting out of his ears he was so mad.

I remember him pushing me towards the bike and screaming at me to get on. When I'd refused, he'd slung me over his shoulder and slammed me down on the seat before climbing on ahead of me and revving the engine, speeding off into the night.

Jax had a crazy temper, and I remember knowing that I was going to be on the receiving end of it.

"Oh man," I said aloud as I looked up at the monster. "It was Jax… he did something to me, didn't he?"

The monster's lip curled as I said his name, and he flexed the tendons in his hands, extending his claws.

"These low lives always have names like that," he said with a shake of his head. "Does it add to the appeal?"

He looked disappointed in me, and I found myself blushing, embarrassed.

"It must have," I shrugged, a new pinch of cold working its way through my broken body. I shivered, and my teeth began to chatter as the darkness behind the monster seemed to grow thicker as if it was coming closer, creeping like a threat.

Jax had driven us out the other side of town, in the opposite direction where I'd thought we would go, taking me up into the hills and coming to an abrupt stop at the old lookout.

I tried to swallow, but it wasn't a function I had anymore. My mouth was dry and empty, not feeling like anything.

The monster took another step closer to me and reached out, his claws stroking my arm, and it felt warm. I leaned into it, enjoying the sensation.

"Jax stabbed me," I said, looking at the monster with wide eyes.

He looked down at me with pity and nodded slowly.

"I'm afraid so," he said. "You're another statistic. A homicide victim."

It felt as if I'd had the wind knocked out of me all over again.

"But like I said before, it doesn't have to end that way, not if you don't want it to."

I pushed the memory of the blade out of my mind, refusing to focus on it all over again and re-feel the pain. Jax had pulled me from the bike and driven the knife into my side before I even had a chance to realize what was happening. He'd taken his anger out on me because I was an easy target.

The fucking coward.

"How?" I asked, looking at the monster whose eyes were so black and engulfing I found myself getting lost in them like I was being put under some kind of spell.

"You've been murdered and you're in limbo," he said. "It's a strange predicament to find yourself in. I know you must be feeling confused."

"Just a bit," I half-laughed, looking around at my surroundings.

I was in some sort of cave. The darkness was so enveloping that it should have been terrifying, but the presence of the monster made it feel somewhat manageable, even considering his appearance. He touched my arm again, and I felt a pulse of warmth. When I cast my gaze down to where his fingers connected with me, I could see that the translucency there was fading, my skin coming back slowly to its full thickness.

"Woah," I gasped as his touch moved further up my arm.

"In real-time, back in the land of the living, you've only been unconscious for a split second," he said. "I can help you go back…"

His fingertips trailed higher, and I felt my pulse thump, blood moving.

"I can help you survive," he said with a wry smile.

The sensation of blood beginning to move through my veins was delicious. A warm flood of life that made me hungry for more.

"What do you mean?" I asked him as I stared at my veins, the skin slowly becoming opaque on my arms.

"I mean, I can get you back to your life so you can go seek your revenge," he smirked. "You don't have to stay dead."

I blinked, my eyes suddenly dry and scratchy.

"You've heard about near-death experiences?" He cocked his head to the side. "Well, this is yours."

My brow crunched into an intense frown, the feeling that this had to be a crazy dream rushing over me again.

"When people have those near-death experiences, doesn't it mean they see light at the end of the tunnel? Here, there's only darkness…" I trailed off, waiting for his reaction.

"Sure," he said. "If it was a freak accident or a medical emergency."

My limbs were beginning to get sensation back in them again, the weight of them returning slowly.

"Everyone sees something different, but like I said before, you're in the murder limbo, babe, you need to listen and catch on quick, or you'll be out of time."

I stared into his wicked eyes.

"I might be a demon of the Underworld, but I'm here to help you," he continued. "You deserve something nice after all that, and I can bring you back to life in a unique way."

"Really?" I asked. "How?"

He smirked, the menace in his eyes glinting.

"By giving you pleasure."