Seri may have been pregnant, but he could still move faster than he’d been letting on. Adrenaline pumping, he avoided Leal’s uncoordinated bull rush by jumping out of the way, using the end table nearby to help keep himself stable. While he may have been faster, he was not very coordinated at the moment.
Seri scurried over and then around the back of the couch, until it was between him and the other man. Leal spun, no doubt intending to try again, but the Cryptid’s knees suddenly buckled, his eyes rolling back before toppling forward with a hard smack onto the marble floor.
Even so, Seri held on to his control, sweat beading on him as each second drained more of his energy away. Heart beating like crazy, he grabbed the lamp on the side table with shaky hands and yanked its plug out of the wall.
Seri slowly approached. He stopped a foot away from Leal’s head. Taking a calming breath, he snapped his fingers again. The water rushed from the man’s mouth and nose—and nothing happened…
Seri began to fear he had killed him, when Leal’s body suddenly jerked. The man coughed up water and began taking gasping gulps of air.
He signed in relief before slamming the lamp down on Leal’s head. It made a satisfying thudding sound as it connected but didn’t break, so Seri did it a few more times for good measure. When there wasn’t a single peep from Leal besides his breathing, he let the slightly bloody lamp slip from his hands, and tried to take a few deep breaths through his mouth to calm down. With each pass of air through his gills, his heart started to slow.
Trembling from the exertion, and his own violent actions, he swiped some tissues off the coffee table and cleaned the blood off his hands. As much as he hated Leal, hated everyone who kept him here…he hadn’t enjoyed that as much as he thought he would.
But it was done…and he had more to do. Shuffling closer to the unconscious man, Seri tried to lean over, intending to go through his pockets. He huffed in frustration on finding his belly wouldn’t allow it.
Sighing, Seri crouched down instead—oh, he so hoped he would be able to get back up.
Patting the man’s chest, he found Leal’s car fob in his front jacket pocket, along with his wallet. Pocketing the fob, he removed all the cash he found in the coin pouch of the wallet but left the cards behind. He didn’t have any pins for them, so they’d be useless.
The fob really was all he needed to escape at this point anyway. At least, he hoped it was. Having been in a few of the guards' cars before, on the very rare occasions he’d been dragged out of the house, each of them seemed to have a remote to automatically open the gates on the property. Seri could only hope that Leal kept his remote in his car. He was not looking forward to ramming the four gates standing between him and freedom the man didn’t.
Crouched, he attempted to stand and found he could not. “Fuck a duck!” he cursed with a huff.
Getting down on all fours, Seri crawled around Leal to the closest end table. Latching onto the edge, he used it to hoist himself up.
Taking a calming breath, and trying to not feel put out about what he’d just done, Seri slowly backed away.
He stopped right before the man would be out of sight…staring hard to make sure that Leal remained there unmoving, before toddling around and rushing back to his room. He put on a fuzzy black winter coat over his dress, and slipped his boots on. He wasn’t sure why Preston had bought either of them, since Seri had been outside maybe five times over the last five years, but they’d come in handy now.
Prepared for the unusually cold Kansas November, he grabbed the small black suitcase full of clothes, and his original mini backpack purse that he had taken back from Preston filled with his stolen loot.
Marching forward, Seri didn’t dawdle and went straight to the side door off of the living room—the one that led to the elevator into the garage. Punching in the code he had seen the guards use time and time again, he glanced down at his large baby bump and gave it a gentle pat. “Time for us to get the fuck out of here.”
“Wake up!”
Leal Craft groaned as the words yanked him from sleep—they seemed to echo around his throbbing head. Opening his eyes to a mere squint, he thought about telling whoever it was to fuck off, until he realized it was not just anyone, it was his boss.
Preston Chanway’s blue eyes were completely black with fury, his jaw clenched—a muscle twitching. It was a look one did not want to see on such a man, as usually what followed required a lot of cleanup.
That was when Leal remembered what had happened. For the first time in his life, fear washed through him, his body trembling with it.
Eyes widening, Leal sat up, throbbing head be damned. “I?—”
He would have said more, but at that moment, his very own shadow slithered up from the floor and wrapped a hand around his throat, cutting off his air. Leal instinctively tried to grab at the shadowy hand, to rip it off, but one couldn’t really grab something that had no physical form.
Preston unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat down on the couch, crossing his legs. The anger had disappeared to be replaced by a terrifying smile. “Do you remember what I said to you when you first joined my employment?”
Leal desperately tried to answer, but nothing came out. His vision was already starting to cloud. He flopped back on a wordless croak.
“You don’t? That’s fine. I don’t mind reminding you.” Preston laughed. “I told you that I could make you rich beyond your wildest dreams. Which I have. If you think about it. I kept my end of the bargain quite well.” The Dweller tsked. “This is the part you forgot. I would make you rich, but in exchange, if you ever fail me, your life is mine to do with as I please.”
Preston stood again and crouched down, the man’s face hovering over his. “And Leal,” the demon of a man growled. “You. Have. Failed. Me.”
Those were the last words he heard before the shadow’s grip tightened, and then there was nothing. Nor would there ever be anything again, as the shadow had wrenched Leal’s neck.
Seri took a deep breath as the van lowered to the ground and beeped, letting him know he was parked. Gaze flicking around the parking lot, looking for anyone who seemed suspicious or familiar, Seri slowly got out of his vehicle. Though the speed was more because of how hard it was for him to get out, rather than the paranoia.
His frantic search for danger continued while he pulled his hood up and wrapped his scarf around his face. Clutching the closure of his puffy gray coat, he started to make his way towards the restaurant.
