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An extended ending of The Demon Lover by Elizabeth Bowen (1230-1236) Print. 597Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsbEx6CTIAP
The taxi banged and jostled over the uneven ground. They were long past the jigsaw twists and turns of civilization, and Kathleen Drover had given up screaming. Her throat was raw and the taste of copper pennies was on her tongue. She slumped in the seat, her arms limp at her side, her eyes glassy as they stared at the cracked black seat leather.
Where was she being taken? Would she ever see her boys again? Her poor boys. Did he know? Did he know about Edmund and William and wee little Tommy?
“I have children.” She breathed. The left corner of her mouth twitched. 597Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcwh44hPjP8
On and on the taxi went. The sky morphed as gloaming sank in, coral pinks and sleepy oranges bled into the spreading navy. There was no moon.
A great explosion rent the air as if the Earth had rent in two. The taxi lurched, throwing Kathleen from the seat. She caught herself on the back of the driver’s seat before her face collided with the window. Her lungs stuttered from the shock, but her heart thrilled. Car trouble! He had to stop now, and when he did she could jump out and run.
She sat up, smoothed her skirts, and gathered her wits. She was glad she had chosen to wear her good traveling boots today, the thick soles would bear her across the miles well. The taxi shuddered to a stop. The driver got out, and as he was strolling to the left, she slid right, to the door. He bent, as if to check the tire, and the moment his head was out of sight, she tested the door handle. To her pleasant surprise, it was unlocked, and swung silently open. Gravel crunched under her soles, she winced at the sound. With a duck of the head, a slip, and a hop, she escaped the confines of the taxi. Her gaze swept up, searching out a place to flee towards. When she saw what was before her, the blood drained from her cheeks, leaving her pallid and fragile. The corner of her lips twitched.
Devastation.597Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7i0y07YvA1
Scorch marks lapped at the pebbles on which she stood, clods of overturned, dead grass and rubble piled along the edges of a steaming canyon, the uprooted boulders were stacked haphazard, the piles growing larger and larger the further away they were, until at the distant other end of the canyon there seemed to be looming mountains of rock. Bombs, it had to be from a bomb. That was the only thing she knew that could cause destruction like this. Her head whipped up, searching frantically for the plane that had launched the explosives. The reek of sulfur filled her nostrils. She fought the urge to crawl back inside the taxi and hide. She stepped back, still searching for the plane, and bumped into the vehicle.
A sharp pressure pinched her side, her breath caught in her throat. The body that she had mistaken for the door of the taxi pressed itself closer to her. A hand at her waist and a hand curled over her shoulder, pinning her to him.
“Fascinating, is it not?” He whispered, his lips brushed the tip of her ear, his hot breath curled down her neck like a viper. A whimper escaped her parted mouth, the sound had barely left her throat when his finger struck her lips and stayed there, pressing, straight and rigid. “Shh.”
He took a step forward, forcing her along with him. They approached the edge of the canyon, its innards glowed orange with fire. Step by deliberate step he brought her closer to the pit. She dug her heels in, struck his side with her fist, squirmed, flailed, all to no avail. He only gripped her tighter and forced her to take another step. They stopped, perched on a mound of rocky shards. Her toes poked over the edge, and the heat that rose in droves from the bowels of the canyon drew sweat from her brow. What she had thought was a shallow ravine now gaped before her, a bottomless maw from which black smoke and blazing fire emanated. She shrank back, her fingers clutched at the coarse fabric of the taxi driver’s coat. Without a second thought, he broke his hold on her and pushed her into the pit.597Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpPnFEuRpz
