Untamed Power: Startup - Ch. 11 - Two Demons and a Half a Million - Alpha (Patreon)

“I’m sorry Tommy,” Aaron said. “There’s not a way I can see this working without using your father’s warehouse as collateral or you bringing more money to the table.”

Tommy looked at Mila’s reference, the loan officer at Harrisburg Bank and Trust, and leaned back in the chair. The bright blue-eyed man scratched the twisting horns on the top of his head before straightening his tie. There was no indication that he was lying to Tommy, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t press the issue again.

“So you’re telling me there’s no more money?” Tommy asked. “Nothing for a local startup? The bank is completely tapped out?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. We only have so much money we can lend per quarter. With all the development that Harrisburg has seen in the last few years, we’ve been lending hand over fist. Unfortunately, we’ve already lent our budget. Now, if you want to wait until next quarter, I might be able to be a little bit more flexible. But given how many loans we’ve issued, without that collateral, you’re a high risk. I could issue you a small loan, probably a ten year twenty thousand loan with an eight percent rate. But I don’t think that’s what you want.”

“Twenty thousand wouldn’t even cover the remodeling or the equipment.”

Aaron shook his head. “I’m sorry, but that’s the best I can do. You’ve got a great idea. I think the town could really use the gym. Unfortunately, you’re going to have to look for lending elsewhere.”

Tommy stood up from the chair and shook Aaron’s hand. “Thanks anyway for the conversation. I appreciate you meeting with me and talking me through the option.”

“No problem Tommy. Good luck with everything. And if you decide to change your mind, bring your dad in here and we can look at numbers with him and the warehouse included. And once you’ve been in a business for a few years, there’s no reason why we couldn’t do business in the future.”

“Thanks Aaron. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Tommy exited the all glass office and walked out of the bank. He repeatedly cursed under his breath on his way to the parking garage. It was his third meeting of the day, and each one was a rejection.

He’d spent two hours on the road back and forth for the other meetings before driving back home to meet with Aaron. No one wanted to lend him enough money without leveraging the warehouse as collateral and putting both him and his father on the loan. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe what Mila told him; he was just hopeful that his meeting with Aaron would be different. But it turned out to be more of the same.

When Tommy reached his truck, he opened the door and sat inside. He rested his head on his steering wheel. Only one more meeting for the day, he thought. I just hope it goes better than the others. He put his key in the ignition and started his truck. When he looked at the clock, it was showing almost six o’clock. He almost had nine hours to go until his meeting with the next bank.

Three-thirty in the morning? Why did I agree to that? They’re open twenty-four-seven. I should have just suggested a different time.

Deep down, he knew the answer to his question. Crossroads Bank was the only bank that seemed like they would be able to help. The woman that he’d spoken to the night prior acknowledged his full amount and wanted to speak in person. He wanted the best chance for a yes, so when she suggested three-thirty, he quickly agreed.

Tommy pulled out his phone and double checked his SMS notifications. He still hadn’t received anything from Ellie. It was souring his mood. To try to not allow it to get to him, he swapped contacts with Alanah and texted her. She replied in just a few seconds.

Tommy: Hey! What are you up to? How are you feeling?

Alanah: Hey! :) I’m doing pretty good. I was feeling good yesterday too, but had to work all day. Now I’m studying for a biochemistry exam.

Tommy: Oof sounds rough. I just got done with my third meeting with banks, trying to get funding. So far I’m 0/3. They either want me and dad to be personally liable for the loan or put the warehouse up as collateral which I don’t want to do in case something happens and the gym fails. But I’m hoping this next meeting with a bank goes well.

Alanah: Aw, I’m sorry. Try to keep your head up, yeah? I’m sure everything will work out. This is meant to be. I can feel it. You’ve got this!

Tommy: Haha thanks. I hope so. I was going to see if you wanted to hang out until my meeting, but it seems like you’re busy?

Alanah: Ugh, yeah. I’ve got to study this one. I’m horrible at biochem. I’ll be lucky if I finish the class with C. Maybe we can hang out tomorrow? Maybe we could workout and talk more about the gym?

Tommy: Hell yeah! I’d love that. I’ll message you tomorrow when I’m free. My sleep schedule is fucked, so it might be later in the day.

Alanah: That’s fine with me! I should be free pretty much all day.

Tommy: Awesome, sounds good! One more thing before I let you go, but have you talked with Ellie at all lately?

Alanah: Yeah, a little bit this morning. Why?

Tommy: Well, I tried texting her a few times, but she hasn’t responded.

Alanah: Hmm… yeah she seemed fine. Mostly busy with training. You want me to ask her about it for ya?

Tommy: Nah, she’s probably just busy with training then. It’s not important or anything.

Alanah: Okay… Well good luck with your meeting. I’m rooting for you.

Tommy: Thanks! I’m doing the same for you and your exam. TTYL!

After tossing his phone in the passenger seat, he pulled out of his parking spot and headed home. When he got home, he headed straight for the kitchen. He made breakfast for dinner with some bacon, eggs, and a warm cup of tea.

Once he was finished cooking, he rinsed off his dishes and put them in the dishwasher. He scarfed his food down as he walked down stairs and into his room. With a full stomach, he hopped in bed and scrolled through social media until his eyes felt heavy. Before he drifted to sleep he hoped the next meeting would be more of a success than the others.

***

The cool coastal wind violently blew through old blue’s cabin as he drove through the nearby hills. The orange glow of the summer’s moon and pitch black surroundings created an eerie ambience in the surrounding forest. His headlights lit the way through pockets of fog. A pattern of small thuds foretold each bug’s demise that flew too close to the light.

Tommy double checked his truck’s clock that read 3:27am. He was worried he would be a little late and accelerated a little bit faster. Even though Tommy tried to convince himself not to worry about it, he couldn’t help all the alarm bells that were ringing.

Even though he managed to get a full eight hours of sleep, his body felt groggy and he felt slow. The constant lack of sleep and shifting schedules since he’d arrived in Harrisburg was taking its toll on his body. He shuffled in the plastic bag that sat next to him and pulled out a cold brew coffee that he’d picked up at Doc’s convenience store before leaving Harrisburg. After popping the top, he chugged the liquid, hoping it would help revitalize him.

“In one thousand feet, you’ll arrive at your destination,” his GPS said.

Tommy leaned forward and squinted. He was in the middle of nowhere. The only thing around him were pine needles and toppled over trees. He slowed down when his headlights reflected on an approaching red sign.

When he stopped in front of the stop sign, his GPS echoed once more. “You have arrived at your destination.”

“What the fuck?” Tommy said, looking all around him. “There’s nothing out here.”

As he scoured the surroundings, he saw a small metal chair and a platform with something shiny opposite from where his truck idled. He double checked his phone and confirmed the address he was given was accurate and that he copied into his GPS correctly. When everything looked accurate, Tommy opened his truck door and got out.

He turned his phone's flashlight on and carried it in front of him. The farther he walked from his truck, the more unsettled he became. It unnerved him how quiet everything was. The forest was always loud, filled with sounds of insects, birds, and other animals. But here, there was only his heartbeat.

As he got closer to the chair and platform, he recognized the shiny object as a desk bell. A mounted plaque sat just below it that said Ring for Service. Tommy made one quick glance around him before looking back down at the bell. A thousand scenarios raced through his mind as his finger inched closer.

As the bell rang throughout the surrounding wilderness, a feminine voice called from behind him. “You know, you shouldn’t leave your truck running. It’s bad for the environment.”

Tommy spun in place and pointed his light up at the figure behind him. Two glowing red eyes surrounded by back looked up at him. While he wasn’t sure what flavor of eden planar race she was, he was confident based on her horns, wings, and sharp canines, that’s where she was from, given she didn’t have any scale markings like that of a dragoness.

The woman had blue skin with dark purple hair. Her horns and wings were a shade of blue lighter than being black. Her suit jacket and matching skirt seemed to absorb all the matching light around her.

When Tommy shined the light up at her, she winced and raised her hand. “If you wouldn’t mind, not shining that in my face, I would greatly appreciate it.”

“Oh, uh, yeah, sorry,” Tommy said, turning off his phone. “Who are you?”

“I’m Velatrixia,” the woman said, extending her hand. While she was eye level with Tommy, her horns made her taller. “We spoke on the phone. You’re Thomas Russel. We spoke about you seeking business financing. I said we might be able to help.”

Tommy hesitated before shaking her hand. “Sorry. Yeah, that’s right.”

“Is everything okay? You seem a bit nervous.”

“Um, I guess? That paired with a bit of uncertainty? There’s just a lot of red flags about this whole thing.”

Velatrixia frowned and brought her finger to her cheek. “Oh? How so?”

“Well, we’re in the middle of nowhere. It’s in the middle of the night, and you appeared behind me at the sound of a bell. All things that aren't quite normal for a meeting for a business loan.”

“Are you familiar with cross planar travel?”

“The concept, yes, but I’ve never done it.”

“Crossroads Bank is named as such because it is at a crossroads like this one that allows employees to travel from our headquarters located in the eden plane to locations within the mortal plane. This allows us to service customers all across Vetra.”

Velatrixia paced back and forth as she continued. “As far as the hours we keep, that is another benefit of our bank. We want to provide the best service possible. Making ourselves available no matter the time or day is just one of the unique benefits we offer. And finally, the bell behind you alerts us of any customer currently waiting. If you become a business customer of ours, you won’t even need to travel to a crossroads. You would be assigned a dedicated account representative “

Tommy crossed his arms. “But as I said on the phone, I’m not bringing in any capital or collateral. Yet, you’re willing to give me potentially over a hundred thousand dollars? How? Every bank I’ve spoken to today has rejected me flat out.”

“Well, we’re not your everyday bank. We’re a bit more… unorthodox than most. While many banks are only looking at the financial capital someone can bring, we’re looking more at the individual and their potential.”

“I don’t know,” Tommy said, scratching his chin. “It sounds too good to be true.”

Velatrixia raised her hands. “That’s completely understandable. Our clients all tend to say the same thing during our initial meetings. However, we are one of the largest banks in Vetra for a reason. We service over a billion customers, most who remain customers for life. We’re fully accredited by all the appropriate regulatory bodies including the Kalia Federal Financial Insurance Agency. I’m more than happy to sit down and discuss what we can offer. However, I would never want to pressure you into something you didn’t want to do. We want to do business with people who want to do business with us.”

Tommy chewed on the inside of his mouth as he into Velatrixia’s deep red eyes. He’d grown up with teachings from his childhood that he shouldn’t trust any being from the eden planes. They were all liars, cheats, and tricksters.

But at this same time, he was desperate. Now that his heart was set on the gym, he wanted to make it happen. He wanted to be able to provide his father with a good retirement. The last thing he wanted was to go back and work for another office job. He wanted to control his fate, not some executive padding his pocket off of his own sweat and blood.

Nothing hurts to just listen, Tommy thought. A billion people couldn’t all make the wrong decisions, could they? He cleared his throat. “Okay, I’m happy to sit down and discuss what options Crossroads Bank could provide me.”

Velatrixia gave a toothy smile before she snapped her finger. When she moved out of Tommy’s line of sight, a luxurious solid wood desk stood behind her in between two black wood chairs with tall back rests layered in maroon padded leather.

“Have a seat,” Velatrixia said, extending her arm to the front chair.

“Actually, I need to turn off my truck—”

“No need. I’ll take care of it for you.” The demoness snapped her finger once more, and the truck shut off casting them in shadow. With a wave of her hand, a small desk light appeared, illuminating the surrounding area in a soft yellow light.

Tommy’s jaw dropped. The level of magic Velatrixia wielded was rare in Vetra. Supernatural abilities were more common, such as werewolf shapeshifting in the moonlight or a vampire’s unnatural strength. Seeing the loan officer twist reality with the snap of her fingers made Tommy all that much more unsettled. He hesitated before taking a seat in the chair, which was softer than he was expecting while he waited for his host.

Velatrixia brought the chair closer with a curl of her finger and sat on the edge of the seat. She placed both hands on top of the table before looking over at Tommy. “Now, to get started, I need you to place one of your hands on top of the table.”

“Don’t you need to see my business plan first?” Tommy asked.

“If you’d like me to, I can. However, it’s not necessary. I have a general understanding of your needs. By placing your hand on the table, I’ll be able to see your true value to the company and provide you with your loan estimate.”

Tommy leaned up and placed his hand on the table. When his palm lay flat, a symbol appeared full of circles, triangles, and runes spun along the surface. He jerked his hand back and waited for what was next to come. When the image disappeared, a single scroll sat in its place.

Velatrixia unraveled the scroll and smiled as she read it. “It looks like you’ve got quite the review, Mr. Russel. You’re a former collegiate athlete with several world records still standing. Only one parent is currently still living. Your sins are minimal. You seem to be well thought of and liked in your community. In total, your assets equate to less than twenty thousand dollars. And you have a fantastic credit rating.”

“Those last two points make sense,” Tommy said, leaning forward. “But what does all that other stuff have to do with the loan?”

“As I said, we evaluate our clients based on the quality of the individual, not just the amount of liquidity they bring. We do this based on a tiered scale. From lowest to highest the scale ranges from F, D, C, B, A, and S. Your rating is an A. The only thing keeping you out of an S is the amount of a down payment you would bring toward a loan. But everything else is presenting you with high marks.”

“That’s great, but what does that mean for me?”

Velatrixia rolled the scroll further down. When she reached the end, she looked up and smiled. “You qualify for a loan up to one million point two million dollars with an annual percentage rate of one and a half percent with a due date of twenty years.”

“What!” Tommy shouted, jumping to his feet. “You would give one point two million dollars?”

“With an APR of one point five percent with full payment due within twenty years.”

“That’s insane. I don’t see how your business could sustain that. There’s got to be some kind of catch.”

“Well, it's not like everyone is getting offered these rates. This is only available to members who qualify.”

“Okay… if there’s no catch, then what happens if I don’t pay the loan back?”

“Your soul would become the property of Crossroads Bank,” Velatrixia said unblinkingly.

“What do you mean I would become property?” Tommy asked, sitting back down.

“Your soul would be owned by the bank. It would then be decided on how best to leverage it.”

“So I would die. You would kill me if I didn’t pay back the loan.”

Velatrixia brought her hand to her mouth as she attempted not to laugh. “Oh, heavens no. While your mortal body would eventually decay and wither away, your soul would be intact to be used as the bank sees fit. Think of it like… an indentured contract until you pay off your debt.”

“How long would the contract last?” Tommy asked.

“A year for every dollar still owed.”

“So if I borrowed the full one point two million dollars and never paid it back, you’d own me for one point two million years?”

“I personally wouldn’t own you. The Crossroads Bank would.”

Tommy’s chuckle built to full-blown laughter. “You’re insane. I knew it was too good to be true. There’s no way I would sign that agreement.”

When Tommy stood from the seat, so too did Velatrixia. “Mr. Russel, if I may, there are a few things I would like to share, if you don’t mind.”

Tommy let out a vast sigh and crossed his arms. “Go ahead, but you’re just wasting your time.”

“First, while you are qualified for up to one point two million, but based on our initial call, the number you initially threw out was one hundred and twenty thousand dollars, correct?”

“That’s correct.”

“With the terms that I spoke of earlier, that’s only five hundred and seventy-nine dollars and five cents. I am assuming based on your own projections, that you would be able to afford that payment easily, correct?”

“Well, yeah.”

“And you would be entering into this agreement under good faith. Meaning you would plan to pay the loan back.”

“Of course.”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about.”

Tommy tilted his head and slowly sat back down in his chair. While technically she’s right, he thought. It’s the risk of failing to make a payment and the consequence that shouldn’t be ignored. But only five hundred bucks? Even if I didn’t have any income, I could scrounge together that amount. Hell, with the money in my bank account now, I’d almost have two years' worth to pay that back.

Tommy shifted in his chair. “What happens if I die while I am repaying the loan?”

“Great question. The contract is like any other. It will become null and void upon your death.”

“What about if I accidentally miss a payment? How long will it take before I default?”

“If we do not receive payment within thirty days past the initial due date, we will consider the account in default.”

“Do you have automatic bill pay?”

“We do! We have a bank app that goes onto your phone and sends you notifications. All our accounts come with free fraud detection. All business accounts do come with a free checking and a high interest savings account, which I believe is currently at twelve percent. Once you sign, the money would be deposited into that account.”

“When would I receive payment?”

“It usually hits the account almost instantly. The longest I’ve seen it take is a day or two, but those are for eight figures or higher.”

Tommy nodded his head back and forth. “Okay, I want to read through the contract. Can you show it to me?”

“Absolutely. I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

With a snap of her fingers, Velatrixia summoned another scroll. It unraveled itself, rolled off the table, and continued down the street. By the time it finished, it was nearly twenty feet in length. When he looked at the written text on the paper, the font was smaller than his pinky nail. He looked up at the loan officer and she just shrugged.

Over the next few hours, Tommy scrolled through the document. He was shooting himself for not having a lawyer do it for him, but there was a whisper of his pride telling him that he didn’t need one. Once he began on this path, his subconscious had already decided he was going to go through with the deal.

His eyes grew heavy and cross-eyed from the late hour and so much reading. By the time he finished, the sun was already shining through the thick treeline. He slumped back in the chair and rubbed his eyes.

“Is everything to your satisfaction?” Velatrixia asked.

Tommy closed his eyes and thought for a moment. While he was confident she had been truthful through the entire ordeal, the motives of the company made little sense. He knew they were likely banking on his failure.

His soul was worth more to them than they would make on the deal. It was just the lure to pull him in. So, if he was going to go through with this, he was going to try to squeeze them for as much as he could.

“I’ve hopefully got a long, healthy life ahead of me. I’m wondering if you would agree to a change of terms.”

“I’m listening,” Velatrixia said with a smile.

“I want to do five hundred thousand at one point five percent interest, but for thirty years instead of twenty.”

Without hesitation, Velatrixia responded. “If you sign the document right now, that’s doable.”

Even though Tommy was expecting her to say yes, the speed of the response still caught him off guard. They were playing off of his desperation. He could see it in her eyes.

At the same time, he had to have some kind of faith in himself to make it this far. He believed in this business and that he could do it. Whether or not this was the right call at the time, he was reminded by his earlier conversation with Aaron. If he built the company up high enough, there was no reason why he couldn’t swap banks down the line.

Tommy sat up with determination in his eyes and tapped on the document. “Change the terms and I’ll sign.” As his words left his mouth, a flame rolled over the amount and years, changing them to his requested amounts.

“As you wished,” Velatrixia said, extending her hand to the parchment

“Okay, do you have a pen I can use?”

“Oh, you won’t need that,” Velatrixia said, standing up. She leaned over and extended a hand to Tommy. “If you can give me your hand.”

Tommy placed his overturned palm in her hand. With a tip of one of her sharp nails, she pricked his index finger.

“Ow,” he said, jerking his hand back.

“Sorry about that. It’s a necessity of the binding spell required for our contracts. Now press your finger on the parchment and it will be signed.”

Tommy furrowed his brow and stared at the bead of red that sat on the tip of his finger. He closed his eyes and spoke to his mother. Mom, I really hope I’m making the right choice here.

After he opened his eyes, he pressed his finger on the parchment, leaving behind a bloody fingerprint. Velatrixia followed suit and poked her finger before pressing it into the parchment. The black ink illuminated a fiery red and Tommy felt his chest tighten.

He dropped to his knees as pain radiated through his sternum, as if someone was gripping his heart with their bare hand. The paper floated into the sky and burned, leaving no trace behind. Once the paper vanished, the pain quickly subsided.

“What the hell was that?” Tommy said, stumbling to his feet.

“My apologies,” Velatrixia said with a slight bow. “I should have warned you first. However, it was written in section seventy-three of the contract. When you sign, we bind your account representative to you. That allows them to reach you at any time without having to use a crossroad path.”

“Yeah? And what else didn’t you tell me?”

“I’ve been completely transparent with you, Mr. Russel. My word is my bond. As a contract demon, I legally cannot lie to you, otherwise, the contract itself would be null and void.”

“Well, just warn me next time if something is going to feel like someone is ripping my heart out.”

“Again, I do apologize. I will make a note of that in the future. However, my role in this transaction is concluded. If you don’t mind waiting for a moment, I will return with your account rep.”

“Sure,” Tommy said, rubbing his hand onto his chest.

Velatrixia and all the furniture vanished in a purple cloud. Tommy rested his hands on the top of his head and paced around the road. What did I just get myself into? he wondered. Did I make the right choice?

A sequence of rings echoed from his phone. When Tommy pulled his phone out and looked at what was going on, he noticed several emails in his inbox. They were welcome messages and account instructions.

He spent the next few minutes setting up a username and password to his Crossroads Bank account. When he logged in, his eyes widened. The money was already sitting in his checking out.

His face lit up with a smile as wide as his head. All the fear and anxiety vanished in an instant. He was going to make his dreams come true, and there was nothing that could stop him.

Tommy looked up from his phone when he heard the sound of Velatrixia’s teleportation. As the swirl of darkness cleared, Velatrixia was standing next to a small figure that came up to her waist. Two thin but incredibly sharp horns protruded from her forehead.

Metal earrings pieced down the length of her long, pointed ears. Her short black hair shifted to a bright blue matched her eyes. She had red colored skin paired with a thin frame. A thin tail swayed behind her with an arrowhead-like point.

Her clothes were anything but professional. She wore a black and red leather jacket that covered her arms and small breasts, revealing her slender stomach. Black panties barely covered her plump bottom. Her matching thigh-high socks covered most of her legs before ending into black and red sneakers with flaming, laughing skulls on the side.

“Mr. Russel?” Velatrixia said, extending a hand down. “This is Lilith Asmodeusdottir. She will be your account representative.”

The imp hopped in front of Tommy and extended her hand up. Her voice was high pitched and bright. She bounced with each shake of his hand as if she’d just drank a gallon of sugar. “Hiya chum, it’s nice ta meetcha!”

“Uh… you too,” Tommy said, shaking the girl’s hand. He noticed when she spoke, she had sharp canines and the inside of her mouth was a vibrant blue as her eyes. He looked at Velatrixia who had a subtle grin on her face before looking back down.

“Woah, you’ve got a really strong grip!” she said. “I bet you work out a lot, too.

“Yeah… I do. Lilith was it?”

“Uh huh! My friends call me Lilly, and I can tell we’re going to be the best of friends, so you can too!”

“That’s great Lilly. Would you mind if I talked with Velatrixia for a sec?”

“No problem Chief. I’ll just be right here, waiting if you need anything.”

“Thanks,” Tommy said, forcing a smile before marching over to Velatrixia and pointing behind her. “Can we talk for a minute?”

“Of course,” the purple-haired loan officer said.

Tommy walked across the road, and when he reached the edge, he turned and pointed behind Velatrixia, who stood next to him. “That’s my account rep?”

Velatrixia looked behind her, and when she looked back, she shrugged her shoulders. “Is something wrong? Are you not satisfied with Lillith?”

“I don’t know. I guess she’s just not quite what I was expecting. She doesn’t exactly scream maturity or professionalism. I mean, she’s not even wearing pants.”

Velatrixia let out a short laugh. “I can assure you that Lillith is the ideal account rep for you.”

Tommy crossed his arms. “How can you be so sure?”

“As part of the process, we take all the information on you and use a magical pairing system to match you with the ideal representative. Everything from your race, age, history, and type of business is evaluated against the millions of employees we have. She’s young at only thirteen hundred vetran years old, full of energy, and she knows the gym business. Her last account was Mr. Fitness. Are you familiar with them?”

“Oh… yeah, they have gyms everywhere.”

“Over three thousand across Kalia alone. She ran that account by herself. She worked with them to get them the funding they needed to expand from a family owned, single gym to the enterprise they are today. So, I would ask that you give her a try. If you’re not happy with her, then let us know and we can swap her with someone else that you’re looking for. At the end of the day, your satisfaction is paramount to us.”

Tommy leaned over and gazed across the road. Lilly was hopping between two positions, acting as if she was two ancient martial arts fighters about to do battle. When the fighting started, she bounced, rolled, threw kicks and punches at invisible foes. It was cute and brought a smile to Tommy’s face.

“All right, I’ll give her a shot.”

“Thank you, Mr. Russel. I promise you won’t be disappointed. If you need anything, my contact information is located on all of your documents. Lilly will be your account rep, but I will be your loan officer should you need anything. So don’t hesitate to reach out.”

Tommy reached out and shook the purple-eyed demon’s hand. “Thanks Velatrixia.”

“It’s been my pleasure to serve you, Mr. Russel. Good luck with your enterprise. I’ll be praying to our Holy Father for your success.”

In another puff of purple smoke, Velatrixia vanished, leaving behind the smell of freshly baked blueberry pie. Tommy wasn’t sure how he felt about that last remark, but appreciated her sentiment nonetheless. When the vapor cleared, Lilly stood with her arms around her back, bouncing between her heels and toes. She smiled and waved at Tommy, who did so in return.

Tommy pointed his thumb over his shoulder. “I’m going to go ahead and head home now. It was nice meeting you.”

“Okay!”

Tommy pursed his face and tilted his head at the response. He turned and walked over to his truck. After getting in and starting it up, he noticed that Lilly was gone. He pulled out his phone and entered his home address in his GPS before putting on his seatbelt and doing a u-turn.

Even though it was bright outside, the vibration of his trunk and unending road was putting him to sleep. Tommy scooted closer to the door and leaned on his arm. His hope was that the intensity of the wind would help keep him awake.

A heavy smell of cinnamon and the click of a seatbelt pulled Tommy’s attention to his right.

The twin-horned imp looked up at him and smiled widely. “So, where are we going?”

Tommy screamed. Lilly screamed. Then his tires screamed.