“That's rich coming from one of Satan’s spawn,” I interjected spitefully.
“Secondly, dear old Jack hasn’t come back a-knockin’. If he was still conscious in here, I’d know about it. Also, if I hadn’t come along when I had, he would have been six feet under in Arlington’s local cemetery since last fall.”
“Well, if he’s not dead, then where is he?”
“Think of it as limbo, a permanent dream state if you would. At least until this body dies anyway. Then his soul can go knock on the Pearly Gates, or to the place downstairs, which I’m guessing is more likely.”
“And you think that’s fair, to hold him hostage until then?”
“He’s in a coma. He doesn’t know what’s going on. And trust me, a sixty-some year nap is still far more kind than the hell others have to endure in this life.”
“Like those poor girls you murdered?!”
“You’re still on that?” Jack huffed, releasing his grip on my arms. “No, I didn’t kill them.”
“But one of your kind did.”
“Annalisa and Veronica? I seriously doubt that.”
“You really expect me to buy into that? Oh, of course, a satanic serial killer coincidentally happens to strike wherever you settle down. How convenient.”
“Again, if you had done your homework, you would have realized that those symbols were part of a resurrection ceremony,” he replied. “Yeah, Cassie, we needed those girls alive. None of us were out to kill any of you. We were sent to protect to you. Unfortunately, my co-conspirators were too late to recover the others.”
“What do you mean by ‘any of you’?”
His features went frigid.
“What the hell have you gotten me involved in here?” I bellowed.
“Nothing that you weren’t already part of.”
“Cut it with the wordplay! What aren’t you telling me?”
“All in good time, dearie. As I said before, I’m not a fan of clichés. So if you’re expecting me to be the hackneyed villain here and divulge my master plan to you, you’re gonna be waiting quite a while.”
“Just as well. I wouldn’t be able believe you anyway, given the fact that you’ve lied about everything else.”
“I didn’t lie. Not about everything. Just about my past.”
“So just everything that garnered you any of my sympathy,” I scorned.
“I didn’t need your sympathy for you to like me.”
“Is that a fact? So my liking you had nothing to do with the supposed loss of your parents, or the humility found in you having dyslexia-”
“The dyslexia thing is an unfortunate truth. See, when one of us takes over a body, we still inherit their faults. Granted, our surplus in strength makes these traits weaker, but I do still suffer from his vulnerabilities.”
“Like a skull fracture,” I sneered.
“Yeah, like that,” he chuckled with a low growl. “Remind me to thank Callaghan for that little souvenir back there.”
“Should I be afraid of another one of your outbursts?”
“Not as long as you don’t hit me there again. I can’t control the reaction it would have. Your friend’s blunt interference upstairs kind of exposed my Achilles heel, but unfortunately as you just witnessed, it also has some external rebound effects. Not particularly good for anybody nearby.”
“That’s comforting. So you’re an unstable bomb?”
“Only at the time of the initial impact.”
“Forgive me for not finding much comfort in the sentiment, because you look like shit.”
“Yeah, well, throwing people around like sock monkeys does come with a price. I’m not nearly as strong as I once was, and this vessel isn’t exactly fit for the expense of energy it takes to do such things. But I’ll be fine.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. The police are going to be here any moment, and I doubt you’ll have an explanation for the peculiar state you find yourself in,” I said.
He laughed. “The police, huh?”
“That’s right. We called them when we were in the library.”
“And the call went through?”
I nodded.
“Well, either your message wasn’t received, or they’re a bit more occupied at the moment, because they’d otherwise be here by now.”
I looked at the clock on the wall. He was right. Too much time had already passed, and it was only a couple minutes after five. The officers who were supposed to be shadowing me weren’t anywhere close to coming back.
“You said before that you were sent to protect me. Protect me from what?”
“That’s for me to know,” he replied.
“Tell me,” I said, strolling right up to him. “Was seducing me part of your job description, or was that extracurricular?”
“As you just said, you’re my job. So what does it matter?”
“It matters to me.”
“Why?”
“Because you kissed me,” I said. “And you have some explaining to do. If you were only meant to protect me, then why did you kiss me last night in my house? And if you were supposed to do more, then why did you leave me when you came to the bar?”
He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. The smallest give in his eyes said it all.
“That’s what I thought.” I turned from him, but his hands took hold of my waist, sending an anomalous surge of warmth through me.
When he whirled me back around and pulled me in close, I immediately grabbed hold of his jaw.
“Don’t you even think about it,” I sneered, pushing his face away.
I ripped his hands off me and left him where he was as I scoured the floor for the paper Ian had printed out, seeing Jack’s face lose all color.
“Don’t do it, Cassie,” he pleaded.
I read the first line.
“You do this, and Jack will die."
“He already did. You just haven’t let him go,” I replied before continuing.
“What about your family?”
I looked up, but didn’t wane from the passage.
“You do this, and you’ll never know what happened that night,” he declared. “January 17th?”
I stopped.
“Don’t you want to know what really happened to your mother and sister? We both know damn well that it wasn’t an accident.”
“You don’t know shit.”
“How do you think I knew about what happened to you?” he said. “I didn’t need to learn anything about that night, because I was there.”
“That’s a lie!”
“Who do you think called the police on you?”
“...What?”
“We got a tip that you guys were in danger, so my colleague went to your house and I tracked you down, only he got there too late. I knew someone else was already closing in on you, and I needed to ensure you’d be safe. So I called the police. It was the only way I knew I could get you out of harm’s way without ruining my cover. You weren’t supposed to meet me yet. I couldn’t risk it.”
Red and blue strobe lights flashed through the distant windows by the office, and a glitch from a siren pelted out a singular chirp. It was a cop car.
“Police!” called out an officer as he pounded on the front doors after failing to open them up.
“Cass,” whispered Jack.
I had no choice. I grabbed his knife off the ground and scratched through one of the drawn lines, allowing Jack to step out.
“Hurry,” he said, running over to the janitor’s bucket in the corner.
He pulled out the mop and started dampening the floor, trying to wash away the drawing. I grabbed a towel slung over the front of the container and vigorously scrubbed into it as well until everything was gone.
“Police!”
“Help me with him,” I said, grabbing Ian’s legs.
Jack picked him up under his arms and we carried Ian into the gym.
“Wait,” I said. “He wasn’t here when this happened.”
<
br /> “No one’s gonna remember anything anyway,” said Jack.
“You don’t know that, and I don’t want to take that chance.”
“Fine,” he said, dragging Ian across the gym to the opposite side and into the other hallway. “Satisfied?”
The front door burst open, and Jack and I went into the entryway of the gym, immediately dropping to the floor.
“Hello?” called out the officer. “Anybody here?”
His footsteps echoed in the vast space of the gymnasium as he entered.
“10-74, I need backup at the high school!” he demanded.
His radio chirped. “State your emergency,” replied a woman on the other end.
“I don’t know! Just bring backup! And ambulances!” He raced across the gym, eventually coming up next to me. His autumn stricken fingers pressed coldly against the side of my neck, and he breathed a small sigh of relief. “Cassie?”
I wasn’t sure how long to remain incapacitated for, so after he called out my name a second time, I finally opened my eyes wearily.
“Cassie, what happened?” asked the officer. It was one of the cops from my security detail.
“I- I don’t know,” I said, slowing sitting up with the help of the officer. What was I going to say? How could I explain this?! “I was feeling a little faint, then...”
A student some ten feet away groaned. Then another. Everyone gradually started coming to.
“I need to get you kids out of here,” said the officer, helping us to our feet. “There could be a gas leak or something.”
Purple spots burned over my vision as a paramedic continually shined a light into my eyes, but I could still see well enough though to notice Ian staggering out of the building a couple minutes later alongside Jack. The entire parking lot was swarming with cops, ambulances, and some other officials that I wasn’t exactly sure who they were.
“I don’t remember,” Gwen told the officer questioning her. “We were all working in the gym one minute, and the next... who knows?”
“So you don’t remember anything strange beforehand? A weird smell, perhaps? Did you hear anything?” asked the cop.
Gwen looked at me. “Last thing I remember was getting a phone call from Cassie. She said something about Ian. She sounded scared.”
“Are you Cassie?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Who’s Ian?”
“Our friend.”
“Do you remember this conversation?”
I nodded again, thinking the gas leak theory was the safest bet to go on. “The two of us were in the hallway not too far from the gym, and he started getting lightheaded. I panicked and called her as I raced back to the gym to get help.”
“Why didn’t you call 911?” he inquired firmly.
“I already tried, but it wouldn’t go through,” I replied. “I don’t remember anything after reaching the gym.”
He asked a few more questions before moving on, and the moment he left, I pardoned myself from the paramedic who actually hadn’t finished checking me out yet. I pushed my way through the roaring crowds of teenagers, hysterical parents, and all the badges to find Ian in the back of another ambulance with Jack nowhere in sight.
“Could I have a moment?” I asked the paramedic. “It’ll only be a sec.”
I helped Ian out of the back of the vehicle as another student stepped up for examination.
“Are you okay?”
“Been better,” said Ian, rubbing the back of his head tenderly. “What about you?”
“I’m fine.”
“What about Jack? Is he... you know?”
“Still... Jack? Yeah, he’s the same.”
His eyes widened. “What?! You didn’t get rid of him?”
“It’s hard to explain,” I whispered, “but he’s not here to hurt us.”
“Like hell he’s not,” Ian sneered, trying a little too late to lower his tone.
“He knows what happened to my sister and mom that night,” I said. “It wasn’t an accident.”
“You know how he knows that? Cause he’s probably the one responsible.”
“No, he’s not. He’s here to protect me. It’s a long story. I don’t even have all the details myself, but as far as things go here, I told the police that I was with you in the hallway when you passed out. I tried to find you help, but I passed out in the gym as well. They think it’s a gas leak,” I said, seeing Ian take his phone out of his pocket as it started ringing. “Is it your mom?”
“No, it’s your dad,” he said, hitting the answer key. “Hello?... Yeah, she’s fine. She’s right here.”
He handed me the cell.
“Dad?!” I called out over the static that still muffled his voice. “Can you hear me?”
“Yeah,” he shouted. “I’ve been seeing a bunch of cop cars and ambulances roaring through town, and someone said something happened at the school! I’ve been trying to call your cell, but you haven’t been answering. I didn’t know if it was because of the networks being down or something else, so I’ve only been imagining the worst!”
“It’s okay, dad. It was just a gas leak,” I assured. “Everyone’s fine.”
“Oh, thank God,” he sighed. “I’ve been trying to get to you, but the traffic’s backed up all down Main Street and I can’t get my way to the back roads. Everybody’s going crazy out here.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll get a ride,” I said, looking up at Ian who nodded in agreement. “Just try to get home.”
“I’m probably gonna be trapped out here for a while.”
“Well, drive safe.”
“You too.”
Chapter 32
My Side of the Story
Between all the medical examinations and police questionings, it was well after eight o’clock by the time Ian and I pulled up to the front of my place. My dad must have still been caught in traffic, because the Buick wasn’t in the driveway and the inside of the house was pitch-black. I had spent the whole trip wanting to speak my peace, but every time I opened my mouth, the inner defeatist in me kept the words from coming out.
I unlatched the passenger door, kicking it open. “Are we going to talk about what happened earlier?”
“About how one of Satan’s own almost killed us while having possession of a junior athlete? I’m really not sure what else there is to say,” said Ian.
“I mean... about what happened in the art room.”
He looked down at the bottom of the steering wheel, showing no sign of replying. After what had been the most awkward moment of my life, I finally stepped out of the truck and headed up to the house.
“Wait!”
On the first step of the front porch, I turned to Ian, our eyes meeting evenly as he got out and came up to me. His approach was nervous, every part of him from his uneasy footsteps to his fidgeting hands only making the lump in the back of my throat expand. Thankfully, for both our sakes, he kept his distance by a couple yards.
“Okay, I need to say this now, because I may never have another chance...” he spat out, clearly already losing his nerve. “I would never do anything to ever hurt you, or deceive you-”
I opened my mouth, and that proved to be enough motivation for him to regain his self-will in getting his words out before I had the opportunity to interject.
“-despite what you may have seen back there.”
I couldn’t wait though, for my eyes burned and my throat only tightened all the more. “Ian, I’m never going to find a way to repay you for everything you’ve done for me-”
“And I don’t want you to... Cassie, I don’t want you to view me as a debt you need to atone. I don’t want you to write me off.”
“But what happened back there changes things. It changes everything. That wasn’t an accident.”
“It was, Cassie. Please, believe me. It was.”
“You don’t just accidentally kiss someone.”
“In all fairness, you kissed me first.”
“Beca
use you weren’t you!” I pinched my jaw closed, trying to regain any sense of composure I had. “I’m sorry, Ian, but there’s no way that you can honestly justify these actions. I still feel... violated, by everything.”
He turned his back to me, his fingers clawing tensely through his hair as he too tried to calm down. “You don’t get how this works!”
“Then, for Christ’s sake, explain it to me!”
He took a deep breath before turning around again. “You know what this getup is, right? The clothes, the magic tricks, the whole enchilada? It’s a front. People know me as a freak by my own freewill. So when I have a slipup and they witness me doing something unexplainable, they can just shrug it off as another one of my weird illusions I invented. But the mind is far more hard to manage than that. Why do you think I’ve never been close to anyone before, Cassie? Because there are things about- whatever this is that’s wrong with me- that I can’t control. I know how to do magic, but some of it is actually just an illusion my mind can conjure up, because I want to it appear. Relationships, they’re far more complicated for me to handle, and you just saw for yourself why.
“You know how for years all you wanted was for your mother to look at you the same way she did Nikki, how you fought through it all with the best of intensions to please her? In your heart, you wanted to her to see that you were every bit as capable as she was. In your mother’s eyes though, the only person gifted enough to live up to that standard was your sister. Now if you were like me, simply wishing to be that person means all your mother would have ever seen when looking at you would be Nikki, because that’s what you were trying to project.
“By me merely wanting to be the person to comfort someone else, to be their shoulder to cry on, that causes the other person to see me as whomever in their life means the most to them. My mind wants it, and that’s what appears. If I don’t concentrate to ensure that that doesn’t happen, when only my purest of intensions are in it, it puts me at risk for being exposed for the freak I really I am! I’ve made so certain to put a safe wedge between me and everyone else in my life, to not allow myself to get too close to anyone, until you.
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