• Figured I'd still show some of the artwork from back then. Cover made by articulateme - still thank you, love! •

As it happened, shopping turned out to be a double-edged sword.

On one hand, it distracted Cara from all the thoughts she had been tumbling around with in her head. Her mother's constant 'try this' or 'how about that one?' kept her busy and as she found herself trying on one flowery dress after another, humoring her mother.

But, as soon as they had found thee dress and her mother turned her attention towards her brother, Cara suddenly found herself a third wheel. Her brother's moodiness and unwillingness to try on suits was only a small distraction from the thoughts that quickly returned. As her brother wrestled with their mother holding up different-colored ties, Cara slipped out of the men's store. She drifted to the outside of the store and granted herself a double of deep breaths to calm her nerves.

The guilt was eating her up. More so, at every turn she made, she was glancing over her back with the constant paranoia that she was being followed or watched. The Devil had proved he could hide everywhere, and so Cara couldn't rest no matter how much she tried. If he showed up with her mother and brother so close by... and with the way she didn't seem able to control herself around him...

A loud shrill nearly made her jump out of her own skin. It was only until she realized it was her ringtone, she took a deep breath and calmed her heart down. Quickly reaching into her purse, she pulled out her phone and glanced at the screen. The caller was unknown. Frowning, she watched the screen for another moment before hesitantly hitting the answer button and holding it up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Cara."

Her heart passed a beat. "Alistair!" She couldn't believe it; It was really him! "Oh, my God, you're alive!"

She didn't know why that was her first concern, but when she heard his deep voice grit out the following words, she didn't regret them. "For now. Where are you?"

When a scooter drove by on the busy street, she switched ear and replied; "I'm in town, shopping with my mom. Alistair, listen—"

"He's coming for you, Cara."

Cara's whole body froze up. "W-what?"

"What has he done to you?"

He knew. How did he know?

"He... he t-touched me," Cara squeaked into the phone. Letting the words out felt like a twist between shame and relief. Admitting the truth out loud was embarrassing and humiliating, but the relief of getting the secret off her chest felt like a stone dropping from her soul. If anyone knew what to do, it was Alistair, and something told her he wouldn't judge her. He was the only one who would understand. "He touched me, Alistair. He... he whispered things in my ear a-and—"

"Fuck." The curse was muttered lowly and confirmed her own thoughts; he wasn't laughing at her. "I feared this would happen."

"Feared what would happen? What does he want from me?!" She didn't care that she sounded desperate by now; She was. "Alistair, please, help me. H-he stopped by the restaurant, he's been asking about you—"

"Did you tell him anything?"

"No! Nobody knows where you are, how could we? You just disappeared!"

"I did what I had to," His voice gruffed into the speaker. "You should, too, if you value your life."

"What?" Cara gaped. Valued her life? She couldn't just up and leave. This was what she wanted to avoid. "I can't leave! I have a life—a family! I just need you to help me," She pleaded again. "I need to know what he is. I know this sounds crazy, but Alistair, that night he stopped by at the restaurant, he had these people with him, and they... t-they vanished into thin air! Vanished, Ali! He did, too, a-and—God, I know I sound crazy," She could hear herself and she wouldn't want to believe a word she had spoken.

But to her surprise, Alistair slowly replied. "You're not crazy."

Cara's heart stopped. For the last couple of days, she felt like she had been losing her mind, but Alistair's words gave her a quiver of hope that she hadn't lost it. It was all real. The Devil was really real. "I-I'm scared, Ali."

"You need to stay away from him. He's dangerous, Cara. You don't know the half of it."

"I want to stay away, but he won't leave me alone!" She forced herself to take another deep breath when her voice turned hysterical. A man crossing the road glanced at her. She lowered her voice. "Just tell me how you lost him—"

"I didn't lose him. Once he sets his claws in someone, they can never escape. Look," She heard him sigh deeply through what sounded like clenched teeth. "I fucked up. I asked his help for something I shouldn't have and promised him something in return for it. I didn't deliver, and now I'm indebted to him. To all of them."

"All of them? Who are 'they'?" Cara pressed on, mortified. Were there more than one Devil? When only silence met her, she let out a frustrated sound. "Alistair, please!"

"Cara..."

"Just tell me this," She begged. She looked around the busy street, then closed her eyes and whispered. "Is he the Devil?"

Another short silence stretched, an unbearable one, but then he finally replied. "No, he's not. He's much worse."

For the first time, Cara felt a true quiver of fear run through her. She had been scared this whole time, but this felt different "Worse h-how?"

"The devil only punishes the guilty."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She couldn't understand what he was telling her. "Alistair!"

"I can't give you the answer, Cara, but ask yourself this," He spoke into the phone. "What comes before the punishment?"

"I—" Cara opened her mouth, but that same second the line went dead. Shocked, she pulled her phone away from her ear and stared at the blocked caller ID; He was gone before he could give her her answer.

What came before the punishment?

The answer struck her like a cold fist to the gut and had her heart quitting its palpitations for good.

The sin.

~~~

It was late after work and Cara had just finished up her shift. She had just left the restaurant and was tiredly headed down to the bus stop to catch the last bus home.

The whole day had been a blur to her. There had been no sign of Sin or any of his henchmen, nor had she seen the shadow of her boss. He hadn't called her again since their talk earlier, and honestly, she wasn't sure she wanted him to. Instead of helping her, he had only given her so much more to think about.

It was hopeless. The answers she wanted all seemed to only be collectible from the one person whom she was scared to run into again. Alistair's words had frightened her. What could possibly be worse than the Devil?

Just as Cara thought that, she felt a warm sensation course through her. Her lips parted and her eyes slid shut involuntarily as the warmth cocooned her.

And then she felt it. His mouth near her ear.

"Good evening, Cara."

Her eyes shot open, but her mouth remained dry as she felt Sin's firm frame behind her. His presence was electric and she could feel him throb through her veins like a separate pulse. When he slowly circled around her and came face to face with her, Cara finally found the usage of her voice as his eyes seared down at her. "Sin."

His lips twitched. "We need to talk."

Defiance built in her throat like a volcano. All of it came back to her, all that he had done to her, and despite wanting answers in all this mess, she didn't want to be near him. Trouble had a new spelling and it was S-I-N.

"I told you to stay away from me," She said, her voice burning with anger. When he did nothing but smirk, that anger intensified. "I want you out of my life! Do you hear me?"

He remained utterly calm. Hands in his pants pockets, he merely watched her pump her voice and clench her fists until she was hyperventilating with rage. He was ruining her life and all he did was smirk about it.

"Do you even realize what you've done?" She whispered. Her hands were trembling, but her body felt on fire. Why couldn't he understand how much he was destroying her whole life? "Because of you, I've brought shame to my whole family. Because of you, I dishonored the sanctity of the God's house and you–" Cara was fuming when all he did was tilt his head to the side, ever so slightly. "–you don't even care. You don't care that what you did was a felony—"

"I gave you a choice, Cara. Don't forget."

"I couldn't think because you were touching me!"

Her voice echoed loudly in the quiet street. Safe for a siren in the distance and the wind rustling a few park trees, it was dead quiet. The silence after her outburst only made the city seem so much more quiet.

Sin finally broke his façade. He took a step forward and looked her straight in the eyes with his dark orbs. "I never did anything to you you didn't want, Cara. You can trust my solemn word on that. But that's not what I came to discuss tonight," He looked away and stared down the dark street when a car turned a corner a few roads down and disappeared around a building.

"Then why did you come?" Cara asked, ignoring his previous words. She had much more to say about those, but whatever had drawn his devilish person out tonight momentarily stole her attention.

His eyes came back to hers and nothing about them were amused anymore. "Alistair."

Cara immediately felt her veins freeze. He was still looking for him. She had talked to him earlier, but he couldn't possibly know... could he?

"I know you talked to his assistant," His eyes blackened slowly and the air seemed to creep away. "And I know he doesn't know where he is either."

"Then it sounds like you already have all your answers," Cara replied, stiff-lipped. "I know nothing more than you just said, so if you think I'm hiding something—"

"I think Alistair talked to you earlier. I know you wanted him to call you so you could ask questions about me."

The way his voice darkened alarmed Cara. She swallowed heavily when her mouth filled with dread. She didn't know why she wasn't scared though...

"He told me nothing," She whispered, backing up when he took a step closer. Where was her bus when she needed it? "He said he couldn't talk about it."

Sin watched her closely, watched her tongue dart out and wet her dry lips. The instant it did, the aura changed. It was as graspable as air, but Cara felt it shift around her and turn... hot. Her hands got clammy and her heart started beating faster. But it wasn't from fear...

Suddenly Sin moved in towards her and it made Cara clam up. She squeezed her eyes shut and awaited the inevitable, but to her surprise, Sin merely pressed his nose to her neck and inhaled deeply.

"God, your scent is so innocent," He breathed out, and the feel of his warm breath against her skin made Cara tremble. "But there's so much sin inside you... Oh, you make my mouth water, Cara."

To prove his point, Cara felt the soft scrape of his teeth against her neck as he teased her with a bite. A jolt of something spiked inside of her, and Cara had to strangle the moan in her throat. Her stomach fluttered, but she couldn't move. Or wouldn't?

When his lips gently soothed her sensitive skin with a warm kiss, Cara melted and felt her knees begin to buckle. She couldn't stop it, but a soft moan escaped her lips as her balance nearly tipped over. She instantly grasped a hold of Sin's suit, gripping on to his lapels to steady herself... or because his body was calling out to her.

"What are you doing to me?" She whispered. She wanted to cry. She didn't understand it. Couldn't... fight it. She clung to Sin's suit as he started backing her up, up against the building wall behind them while the feeling inside her gut intensified. "Wh-why does this keep h-happening?"

"Because you want it to, Cara," He whispered back against her throat. "Because you crave it."

Her back collided with the wall and Cara moaned out as his warm mouth closed over her throat in a fierce manner. She felt his tongue slip out and suckle on her, tasting her. A deep groan grated from the back of his throat. It went straight through Cara's marrow and down into her panties. "Oh, G-God...!"

"Are you wet for me again? I know you are," His voice vibrated against her skin as his hand smoothed up her side and arched her body towards his. "I can taste it in the air. Your arousal... so sweet... so innocent." He hummed lowly and inhaled deeply again. "What I wouldn't give to be inside you right now, Cara."

Cara's body willingly opened up to his onslaught as he exhaled and blew a tantalizing warm breath over her body. She tilted her head back and his hand pressed against her shoulder blades to arch her chest up. The gleam of the moonlight and the dark night sky caught her pale skin and cast a luminous glow on her chest and neck, the two soft swells of her breasts peaking out from under her V-line shirt. Even under the moonlight, her body felt hot all over.

Cara closed her eyes and moaned lightly as she felt Sin press a lingering, burning kiss to the middle of her chest. Right where her beating heart was trying to escape her ribcage, thudding hard under his dangerous lips.

"You are a vision, Cara," He whispered against her sternum. The way his lips caressed the seal of her skin on top of her chest, it felt like he was talking to her very soul. "A vision that doesn't even know it yet... but I can see your future, Cara. And it is right here, with me."

His lips burned against her chest as they kissed away a bead of sweat, but then, in another heartbeat, it was gone.

Cara's eyes flipped open and she found herself alone in the deserted street. Like a dream, Sin was gone and had left only his thrumming imprint on her skin in his wake.

Trembling and pent up with energy, Cara straightened out and tried to put her thoughts in order. What the hell had just happened? God, how many times would she ask herself that question? How many times had she let it happen? And how many more times was she going to?

Not long after his disappearance, Cara saw the headlights of her bus down the street. As it rolled up to the stop, she still felt Sin's lips on her chest, the wet, hot impression of them tingling like a feather.

But even more so, as she stepped onto the bus and drove home, she heard his words resound inside her head like an endless echo.

I see your future, Cara... and it is right here, with me.

• • •

He sees a future in her.