The Sorceress by Allison Hobbs Page A

looked around. None of the creatures seemed to notice the wonderful overpass that could lead them all out of hell. Stealthily, she stepped onto the bridge, her bare feet slapping against the wooden planks, hurrying along before the ghouls tried to follow her out of hell.
    Her level of joy bordered on euphoria.
    â€œStop rushing. Walk slowly. You’re going to draw unwanted attention.” Xavier’s voice, filled with disgust, hissed in her ear, ending Eris’s euphoria.
    â€œAm I going in the right direction?” she asked worriedly. She didn’t want to relive the experience she’d had on the last bridge he’d constructed for her.
    â€œNo!” he spat. In his tone, there was strong insinuation that she was an incompetent fool. She loathed his arrogance but was at his mercy.
    Obediently, Eris stopped. She turned around.
    â€œHurry!” he whispered. “Someone’s coming.”
    Below her, she saw a young woman staring at her in horror. Eris glared at the woman.
Busybody!
    All color drained from the gawking woman’s rosy cheeks and then she took off; stumbling and running in the opposite direction.
    That’s right. Scat!
Eris hustled along. Midway across the bridge and in what seemed like only a matter of seconds, thewood beneath Eris’s feet became creaky and swayed a little as if unable to support her.
    Daring to look over her shoulder as she fled, she saw to her horror the expanse of wooden planks and side rails beginning to lose depth. Like a phantom, the bridge was slowly evaporating—disappearing before her very eyes. Eris ran as quickly as she could. She had to make it to the other side.
    But the bridge cut off abruptly. Too late to halt her swiftly moving feet, she tumbled off the edge of the bridge. Out into the open air and into the abyss. Outraged that she’d been duped again, she screamed, outraged. Her strident scream that pushed from her throat blended perfectly with the nearby cries and howls.
    Disoriented, she tried to collect herself and make out the shadowy environment. As her senses adjusted, she could smell the foul odor, she could see the thick, vaporous swirls that impersonated air, and she heard the demonic wails and the scratching and scraping sound of hooves trampling upon obsidian and soot.
    Looking down, she saw all too vividly, the hoofed-like footprints made by her fiendish compatriots.
    â€œAgh!” she cried. Unbelievably, she was back in the dank and putrid confines of her abominable prison of the Dark Realm. Her head turned left and then right, looking for the conduit out of hell. But try as she might, she could not locate the bridge. It was gone. She shook her fists! Xavier, the louse, was having mischievous fun at her expense.
    Her abandoned sex partner was still sitting in the soot, murmuring in discontent as he scratched the scabs and barnacles that covered his now flaccid penis. Noticing Eris hovering over him, he looked up and gave her a cold grin; assuming she was gazing at his phallus with renewed interest.
    Reaching for her with a clawed hand, he groaned an indication that he was ready to resume their macabre sex play. Spittle gathered in the corner of the beast’s mouth as he speedily began to stroke himself to erection.
    His cupped hand moved up and down his bumpy shaft, creating a friction that ruptured old wounds and bumps. Sticky yellowish secretions oozed, coating his gnarled hand, but the uncaring creature continued to work on a mighty erection.
    But Eris, disappointed and furious, aimed a harsh beam of blue light at his prick, scorching it and adding another well-deserved lesion to his lumpy, scarred shaft.

T he little boy sat in his booster seat at the dining room table. Scrambled eggs, pancakes, and turkey bacon filled a sectioned scoop-plate. Jen sat across from him, drinking coffee, and feeling agitated by his eerie presence as she turned the pages of the morning newspaper.
    â€œMore coffee?”