guessed was now the day before. Whatever had caused me to drop had kept me under for almost an entire day.
My stomach knotted at what predicament I’d landed in.
"Well, no reason to just sit around and wait for a demon contract to come through," I hissed sarcastically, collecting my backpack, annoyed that I so carelessly walked into his trap. Why hadn’t my auntie warned me when she visited my dream? Or had that been a normal dream after all? I didn’t know or care to find out for now.
There were only a few changes of clothes in the carry-on, which was still in the car.
Nope. I looked back in the room and realized that all my stuff had been brought up out of the car, preventing my hasty escape.
"The... car." I shook my head, returning to the window, looking out for the entrance where I'd left the car. I wasn't sure why I was surprised that it was gone. Rog the blood demon had clearly already taken the keys to get my luggage into the room, so he’d either returned it to the rental agency or he'd hidden it somewhere on the grounds, and there would be no time for me to go hunting for it. Crap.
Especially considering that I didn't know what he would be capable of if he discovered that I was trying to escape.
I only took my backpack and my purse, making sure that nothing was missing from them before making for the door.
It was slow moving out the door of the bedroom, looking out over a dimly lit hallway. The house was no real maze, and I could see the front door down on the next floor down from where I was standing. The walls were white but the railing and wooden beams across the ceiling were a dark cherry red. It might be interesting to explore, if I wasn’t here tricked by some kind of demon.
Before long, I was looking down the steps, feeling and hearing them creak with every step. If Rog was anywhere in the house, he was bound to hear my footsteps. So either he was playing some kind of game by letting me do my own thing, or he just wasn't around. I wanted to think that it was the latter, but there was a nagging sensation in the back of my head that said it couldn't be.
He had to know that a witch would not just sit around and let herself be imprisoned by a demon.
Still, if he wasn't going to stop me, I wasn't going to hang around and wait for him to change his mind. I got out the door and broke into a jog, heading for the gate, keeping my head on a swivel, trying to pick up on any sign that I was being followed.
The running lasted until I was a few hundred yards away from the vineyard sign. I paused, sucking in a deep breath, thanking the good gods that I had never put cardio aside during my semi-regular gym visits. A little out of breath, with a little burning across my legs, but none in my lungs. I could probably keep going for another half-mile or so before I needed to stop and rest.
But there was nothing coming after me, and what looked like miles and miles of farmland all around. It wasn't like there was anywhere for him to hide. Blood demons couldn't make themselves invisible, not in broad daylight.
I let out a nervous laugh, clearing my throat and wiping a hint of sweat that had collected on my forehead. It felt a little too good to be true, but I wasn't going to wait around just because of a suspicion.
As the fears that filled me when I'd been in the house started to fade, a sense of awe over the landscape started touching me. Under any other circumstances, I would have found a leisurely stroll through this place nothing but relaxing and inspiring. It looked like a place straight out of the Lord of the Rings' version of the Shire, and the place sure had a way of calming me down.
We were far away from any of the major cities, although I could see one of them in the distance, but the farmland was what filled this area of the place, with grazing cows, sheep, and even a few goats dotting the rolling hills.
A small herd of sheep wandered close to the road, looking at me curiously before deciding that I was