Dex slipped inside me, literally and metaphysically, lying in wait.
Right now he’s in the passenger seat and I’m driving the Highlander, just in case. I’m the one stable in my own body, but he isn’t.
And he’s awfully quiet, even for him, just watching the buildings pass us beyond the rain-streaked windows.
You okay? I ask him.
His presence brightens inside me for a moment, like a growing flame. In response, he slumps a little in his seat. Yeah, this definitely isn’t a party trick. I look forward to not having to do this again.
I’m fine, he says from inside me. Just nervous.
I can tell. About Ada?
No. About Samantha.
You’ll be fine.
I’m worried about you, kiddo.
We’ll be fine. You’ve got this.
Of course, I’m naturally nervous too. I don’t want to see her or the demon again. Or Victor for that matter. Or Atlas or anything and anyone to do with that house. I just want to go in, get Max out, and leave.
Never step foot in or even look at that place again.
But for now, we have to face it head on.
I pull the car up outside the house and turn off the engine. I glance at the time. We’re supposed to meet Lana here in five minutes, which gives us just enough time to get ready.
“So, what happens next?” Ada asks, leaning forward and wresting her wrists on the backs of our seats. “When does he totally possess you?”
I twist to look at her. “When I want him to.”
“He can’t just do it?”
I probably could, he pipes up.
“I don’t want to test it,” I say firmly to the both of them.
“Shouldn’t you do it now?” she asks.
“I’ll do it when we’re ready.”
I’m ready.
I glance at him, his head against the window. He already looks like he’s sleeping. I wish we didn’t have to leave him in the car like this, but we aren’t sure yet how far he can be from his body and we don’t want to find out the hard way. Also, he needs to be able to get back into himself right away if needed.
I’m ready, he repeats himself.
“Okay,” I say. Jeez.
I close my eyes and lean back in my seat and feel that flame inside me getting brighter and bigger, the rest of me being pushed aside to make space. Such a weird otherworldly fucking feeling, I can’t fully describe it.
And there he is.
Hi, I tell him.
Oh hey, he says. I like what you’ve done with the place.
Shut up, I tell him but I’m smiling.
“Okay, what’s going on?” Ada asks. She leans further forward to peer at me. “Is he in you now?”
“Yes,” he says, but he’s saying it through my voice. “I’m in her all the way.”
Oh my god, don’t do that again, I tell him.
He’s laughing. It makes my skull vibrate.
And stop laughing!
“Perry you look insane,” Ada says, breathless in awe. “And one of your eyes is now brown. Oh that’s so weird and creepy! It’s like when you were possessed by the demon lady, except now it’s Dex. Man, that must be so annoying.”
“Yeah it is,” I manage to say before he does. “That’s me talking, not him. He’s having a ball.”
Headlights flash past us and a Lexus pulls up ahead. That must be Lana.
“I think that’s her. Time to go,” I say, getting out of the car.
We lock Dex’s body in the car and take the keys, hoping he’ll be safe in there.
I’ll know if something is wrong, he reminds me. I can always hop right back.
Good to know.
Lana meets us on the sidewalk, wearing a camel-colored trench coat, her blonde hair braided to the side. She’s like the antithesis of Atlas Poe.
You got to wonder if they know each other, Dex says to me. With all his talk about destiny and witches all that fucking jazz.
Lana smiles at me. I’ve never met him, she says inside my head. And I plan to keep it that way.
“Okay,” I say loudly, throwing my hands out. “Can we all stop talking inside my brain for a second?”
“Sorry,” Lana says. “I just wanted to check in on you. I see Dex has made himself comfortable.”
Do I say hi? he asks me.
I ignore him as Lana goes to Ada, sticking out her hand.
“I’m Dr. Leivo,” she says to her. “But you can call me Lana.”
Ada shakes her hand. “I’m Ada. But you can call me Demon Slayer.”
Lana eyes her up and down. “You’re certainly dressed for the part. You’re not cold?”
Ada shakes her head, oblivious to the freezing rain. “I’m fucking pumped. Let’s do this thing!”
Oh, she’s going to be a handful, Dex comments. And stop telling me to shut up. I can’t turn off my brain.
Fair enough.
The four of us walk down the path to the house (though to anyone else, it would look like only three of us), and then up the front steps.
The house thrums with energy, stronger than I’ve ever felt it.
So this is what it feels like to you, Dex says. That’s quite the pull. I think your fillings are rattling around.
“What’s the plan again?” Ada asks, rubbing her palms together while we stand by the door.
“We go straight to Max,” I tell her. “In the basement. That’s where he should be. Granted it’s been weeks since we talked, so I really fucking hope he’s still there.”
“And I’ve already started working on blocking spells,” Lana says, her hands moving inside her coat pockets. I wonder if she’s got some crystals or witch shit in there. “I’ll keep those going, so that Samantha doesn’t see us.”
The both of them look at me, waiting for my signal.
“Let’s go,” I say, admittedly a lot less enthusiastically than Ada would have.
Dex takes control of me, which I fight for half a second before I relent, and he puts my hand on the door, opening it.
The door creaks open, the black beyond it suffocating.
Yeah, this is much worse being inside your head, Dex says. We should make this as fast as we can, I feel like it’s doing your body some harm.
Maybe you’re not used to being in a body that’s not invincible, I tell him, feeling a little defensive. We can’t all be Declan Foray 2.0.
Yeah, yeah.
I have to say, the fact that I’m sitting back and letting Dex control this ride makes things a little easier. His devil-may-care attitude prevents me from freaking the fuck out, even if the literal devil does care and may hunt us down at any moment.
Stop it, Perry.
Sorry.
I close the door behind us, sealing us in the house.
We turn on our flashlights and step further into the hall, shining it on all the corners.
Lana spends some time standing at the base of the stairs, staring up, saying something under her breath over and over, occasionally closing her eyes.
Think she’s doing witchy stuff? Dex asks.
Obviously yes, I tell him.
You’re an expert now?
“What the hell is that?” Ada cries out, breaking the silence.
I immediately tense, sucking in my breath, as Lana and I look down the hall to see Victor.
Dragging himself out of the dark cavern of the dining room, the path of blood trailing behind him.
And Ada starts walking off toward him.
What is she doing?! Dex yells.
Oh, so now you see how annoying it is?! I yell back at him.
“Ada, stop!” I shout at her.
She does stop, back to us, facing Victor. She raises her arm out at an angle, signaling for us or for him to halt.
Then she walks to one side of the hall, then the other, pacing, keeping her eyes on him the whole time.
Then she walks backward toward us a few feet and puts her hand out at Victor, motioning for him to come forward
.
“Come and get me,” she says.
What is she doing?
And Victor starts to move.
Fast as hell.
Coming straight for her.
“Ada!” I scream.
She doesn’t budge.
She crouches down instead, watching him as he comes at her, staring right at him. His hands are turning into claws, ripping up the carpet on the floor as he frantically drags himself along, mouth snapping, about to throw himself at her.
A scream gets caught in my throat as Ada suddenly springs into action, leaping up into the air sideways, her boots making contact with the wall like she’s in the fucking Matrix, and then she’s pushing off the wall, twisting around until she lands right on top of Victor, facing us.
“Ha, you little bitch!” she yelps, bending down and snatching Victor by his throat, pulling him off the ground with one hand.
With her other hand she puts her palm flat out toward the wall until a hole appears in thin air, showcasing the grey world beneath. Her fingers dig into Victor’s neck, his mouth snapping, trying to get at her, but she pays him no attention.
With a quick flick of her wrist, the hole starts to swirl, turns from grey to burning flames and ash, a roaring sound of hellfire and anguished cries filling the house, vibrating through my cells.
And then, like she’s tossing a paper ball into a wastebasket, she chucks Victor through the air.
He goes flying right into the hole, igniting in flames, and then she brings her palms together, swirling them counterclockwise until the hole closes, sealing shut.
The sound stops, the energy disappears, the house returns to normal.
She smiles at me and Lana, dusting off her hands. “Okay, now where is Ginger Balls?”
I glance at Lana, both our mouths are open in disbelief.
Oh my god.
Holy fuck, Dex exclaims. How the hell did she do that?
Ada saunters over to me in her little catsuit, grinning like she’s got the canary. “I told you,” she says sweetly.
Told you what? Asks Dex. Told you what?
She said I have no idea what she can do, I admit. She was right.
No fucking shit we had no idea, he says. I’m just glad your body has better bladder control than mine does.
Dex, please.
“That was…impressive,” Lana says to her, looking awed. Then she glances up at the ceiling. “But very loud. I’m not sure how well my spells will have worked through that. We should hurry.”
Dex snaps out of it faster than I do, and he leads us, via me, down the stairs to the basement.
I knock on the door, feeling more confident about this now. After seeing what Ada is capable of, I feel foolish for even doubting her to begin with. She’s a fucking badass.
You’re also a badass, Dex reminds me. Don’t you forget it. A beat passes as I wait for Maximus to open the door. Shit, it really is hard for you to accept compliments. It feels like you’re deflecting it, like it’s not even sticking. You need to work on that, baby.
Not now, I tell him, trying the door. It’s locked.
“Shit.”
“Is he not there?” Lana asks.
“I don’t know,” I say, trying not to panic. “It took a while last time. I think maybe he sleeps or zones out, I don’t know…”
Maybe we can kick the door down? Dex asks hopefully.
Wrong body, Dex.
I look over my shoulder at Ada. “Do you think you can kick down this door?”
She raises her brows. “Doubtful,” she says. “But I’ll try anything once.”
Lana and I step out of the way while she moves back, steely determination across her face. It’s at this point that I really have no idea what her training with Jacob and Jay actually entails, but it seems to be a lot of physical shit.
“Here goes nothing,” she says, and from the way she positions herself, full of both bravado and uncertainty, I’m reminded of myself, the way I kicked those doors down in my uncle’s lighthouse.
I was thinking the same thing, Dex muses.
But as Ada flies forward, the door opens, revealing Maximus, and she collides with him, kicking him right in the crotch.
He falls to his knees with a groan, while Ada screeches an apology.
“Oh my god!” I cry out, but then Dex takes over and is making me burst out laughing, clutching my stomach. I can’t even straighten up. Why is it always your first instinct to laugh when someone gets kicked in the crotch?
Dex is still laughing inside me and I glance over at Lana who is wide-eyed and unsure of the dynamic here.
“I’m so sorry,” Ada squeaks, dropping to her knees and putting her hands on Max’s shoulders. “But it’s really so nice to see you, Big Red.”
He tries to look at her, wincing. “The fuck?” is all he can say, breath catching. Then he looks up at me, then Lana. “Who are you?”
“Lana Leivo,” she says. “It’s nice to meet you. But we need to get inside because the spells are officially broken.”
OH SHIT.
We go inside the room, brushing past Max and Ada, Ada putting her hands underneath his arms and trying to haul him to his feet.
Lana closes the door behind us, locking it, then faces the door, mumbling those words again, her hands moving in her pockets.
Maximus gets to his feet, a bit unsteady, looking around. He blinks at Ada who is smiling at him apologetically. “Really sorry about that,” she says.
He seems to do a double-take and then looks her up and down, his eyes lingering everywhere.
Fuck that, he’s checking her out, Dex growls.
Dex is right. He’s literally checking her out, admiring her legs, her ass, her boobs, like a hot-blooded, undead male, his gaze pausing at her mouth, then her eyes.
“Ada?” Maximus asks as he stares at her.
“In the flesh.”
“Shit,” he says. “Wow. This is the first time I’ve realized how much time has passed. You’ve changed. You’re like…a whole woman now.”
And then she actually blushes.
Oh this is so inappropriate.
“Max,” I warn him.
He looks to me, clearing his throat, not even looking a little bit caught that he’s been ogling my nineteen-year-old sister. “Where’s Dex?”
“I’m right here,” Dex says through me.
Max blinks again at me. “The fuck is going on?” he says. He looks to Ada. “Dammit Ada, how hard did you kick me?”
“I don’t know, are your brains in your dick?” she asks, putting a hand on her hip.
“I’m possessed,” I tell Max before he has a chance to answer that. “On purpose. It’s the only way we could do this, just in case Samantha shows up.”
“And she might just show up now,” Lana says, still facing the door. “I can sense her. She’s coming down the stairs. She’s not alone.”
Oh fuck.
“You let Dex possess you?” he asks incredulously.
“Yeah, you jealous, douchenugget?” Dex says through me.
I roll my eyes. My god this is not the time!
“This is so fucking weird,” Maximus says, running a hand through his hair.
“You think you’d be used to weird by now,” Ada says. “You’re dead.”
“Thanks for the reminder, Blondie. Now you gonna get me out of here or what?”
“Wow,” she says, her other hand going on her other hip, full of sass. “You’re awfully impatient for someone who just went to Hell. Better be nice to me, or I’ll send you back there instead.”
He gives her a crooked grin. “I reckon I’d like to see you try.”
Please stop their bantering, Dex says to me.
But Lana stops it for me. “You guys,” she says, voice growing higher. “She’s on the floor above. Hurry the fuck up.”
“Who are you again?” Max asks.
“Ada,” I bark at her. “Come on, we’re counting on you.” I point at Maximus. “You shut up and do
what Ada says.”
His brows go up, intrigued. He nods, staring at her.
Ada steps back from him, and I take a few steps back too, not wanting to be anywhere near this Veil. “You’re so close, you’re pretty much here already,” she says absently, as she examines the space around him. “I wonder why Perry and Dex weren’t able to do this.”
“Maybe this is your destiny,” Maximus says to her.
She gives him a small smile. “I doubt you’re my destiny.” Then she frowns, concentration coming over her face. She waves her palms in front of him, side to side, top to bottom, until a line appears.
It burns in the air like the edges of paper, forming a jagged doorway around him.
She waves at him, motioning for him to go to her.
“Come on through,” she says. “Step over the line.”
Max looks down, about to step over the burning flames when suddenly I spot a black flash behind him, getting closer.
Closer.
Closer.
It’s the demon.
“Hurry!” I scream. “It’s behind you!”
Max jolts and rushes through as Ada waves her hands around, quickly attempting to close the portal.
But it’s too late.
As the burning lines collapse in on themselves, the demon snakes forward, all black malevolent energy, with the intention to kill.
Maximus stumbles toward me, pushed by momentum from the collapsing Veil, then stands in front of me, putting himself in front of me and the demon.
Willing to do this for me, for us, all over again.
Tell him to get out of the way, Dex says. We don’t need his sacrifice. I can do this.
But to be honest, I’m not sure he can.
Because now the Veil is closed and the demon is on the ceiling above us, its long oily black body hanging there, that leathery tail whipping back and forth. I’m so horrified that I’m mesmerized as I stare at it, and from the way Dex has gone quiet, I know he feels the same way. My god, those claws. Those claws should never exist.
I swear I feel it smile at me.
Its tiny white eyes find me, pin me in place.
Came Back Haunted: An Experiment in Terror Novel #10 Page 29