The Drive

I grip the steering wheel, drawing deliberately slow breaths in through my nose and pushing them out through my mouth as though I’m trying to inflate a balloon. It works for a few seconds, but then the chattering starts again, my teeth rattling as hard as the exhaust pipe that’s held on by string and a hasty repair charm.

‘It’s just dark, Nyxia. There’s nothing to be afraid of.’

My lips tremble as I mutter my own feeble reassurances. I know full well that it’s not the dark I’m afraid of. Vassago yowls ominous death threats from his carrier in response.

‘You’re not helping, Vassago!’ I snap.

The mewling hiss that comes in reply is nothing more than I would expect from a prince of hell trapped in the body of a rotund tabby cat.

I keep driving, the flickering headlights illuminating just far enough to make the forest on either side of the track loom over me like the bars of a cage. I had been dreaming of an invitation to the Mabon gathering for years. Usually, only members of the best covens in each county could even hope for an invitation. I wasn’t even in a coven, let alone one of the good ones.

‘You know we shouldn’t be going, right?’ Vassago’s snide remark slides into my thoughts. ‘And you will please slow down, or I will be forced to decorate the rear seats of your car and your meticulously chosen outfit with a re-visitation from my lunch.’

‘Don’t you dare!’ I twist my head, peering behind my seat.

I only take my eyes off the road for a second. By the time I look back, it’s right there. In the middle of the road.

Amber eyes meet mine, piercing through me as I slam a foot hard on the brakes. Rubber and spellwork pinch and twist as my tyres skid a few feet in the dust before the whole car slumps backwards to a tortured stop.

My fingers are white around the wheel, my shoulder aching from the sudden bite of seatbelt as I meet the amber gaze that leers angrily through the windscreen. Fangs glitter in the headlights as an enormous paw rests on the bonnet.

‘Oh, shit.’ Vassago’s presence quickly vanishes from my mind.

‘You told him? You traitor!’ I squeak, staring up in horror at the enormous wolf-like head glaring at me through the windscreen. A self-righteous mew is all the response I receive.

‘Nyxia?’

A chill runs through me as a new presence pushes into my mind.

‘Yes, my Lord?’ I swallow hard.

‘Turn this car around and go back the way you came.’

‘Yes, my Lord.’

‘Now.’

I fumble for the gears, the clutch graunching and grinding as the monster vanishes. A shadow drifts in through the open window at my side and settles in the passenger seat. A taloned hand twiddles with the radio as I turn the car around and begin driving back the way I had come.

Chris Isaak? Really? The irony tastes bitter in my dry mouth. I wish he would keep his wicked games to himself…

The shadow beside me just chuckles and turns it up.