Chapter 2
Chapter Two
KIERAN
By the time I reach the parlor, having stopped to lock the front door and gates and grab a laptop for any research we might need to do, Skye’s reclining on the chesterfield, propped up against some cushions, and Josh is handing him a glass of water.
Skye tosses back a couple of pills, drinks half the water, and smiles gratefully. “I heard something about chocolate?”
Relief makes my knees saggy. Between that and the comment about being carried, Skye is clearly himself… just a little worn. Which, given he has some kind of creature hitching a ride in him, is only to be expected.
“There wasn’t any chocolate, but I found these. I think they were supposed to be part of dessert tonight.” Josh presents a plate of mini tarts… caramel, based on the color. Skye grabs one and takes a giant bite.
His eyes change so quickly, Josh drops the plate.
“I like this,” the creature says in that voice that induces instant rage within me.
“Get lost!” Daniel growls from where he’s hovering behind the chesterfield.
Ewan comes forward. “Have you tried quartz?”
“Yes,” I answer as Josh takes Skye’s hand.
“Skye, can you hear me? Fight it, please!”
“Don’t be foolish.” It’s so disconcerting how monotonous the thing’s voice is. There’s no inflection at all. I never realized how important intonation is to give words meaning until this very second.
“What are you?” I demand, trying to sound calm. “Why are you possessing Skye?”
The thing lifts Skye’s hand with the tart in it and takes another bite. It’s so creepy. That’s Skye’s body, but the movement doesn’t look like him at all. “This is much better than that liquid,” it announces, ignoring my questions.
“Bring Skye back!” Maisie’s shout surprises us all. She’s dressed conservatively today—for her—in a glittery cocktail dress, wimple, and combat boots. “You don’t just take over someone’s body—that’s so rude!”
The thing doesn’t blink, but the red eyes disappear.
“Skye?” Daniel asks.
“I’m getting really sick of this.” He looks at the last bit of tart in his hand. “I don’t think I want any more to eat.”
Yeah.
Josh picks up the scattered tarts as I come to sit beside Skye. “We’re going to sort this out,” I promise, wishing I knew how the fuck to do that. “Josh is going to email the demon expert and get some tips.”
“Right now,” Josh adds, putting down the plate and grabbing the laptop I abandoned on the sideboard. “I’ll bet they know exactly what to do.”
Please let that be true.
As Josh types, Daniel gets Skye more water. So far, that seems to be the only food or drink that doesn’t cause the thing to… rise? Take over? Whatever. Which could be a big problem, because Skye needs to eat.
“What do I do?” he asks me. “What if I’m driving and it decides to take over? Or at home? I don’t want to be alone with it.” Tears form in his eyes, but he blinks them back.
“You won’t be,” I assure him. “You and I will stay here tonight. There are no guests, so it’ll be fine. I’ll stay with you the whole night.”
“You won’t,” Ewan corrects mildly. “We’ll take it in turns so we all get some sleep—including you, Skye.”
“What if it waits until I’m sleeping and then fully takes over and uses my body to murder you all?” Skye’s eyes are wide, and the rest of us exchange glances.
“Please,” Daniel scoffs. “Not even when you’re possessed by an entity from the spirit world could you take me down.” He takes the water glass from Skye and ruffles his unicorn hair. “Chill, kitten. We’ve got this.”
Skye visibly relaxes, unable to see Daniel’s tense expression.
The two of them usually fight like cat and dog, made worse lately because while Daniel was recovering from surgery after the demon thing, Skye morphed into a drill sergeant and threatened to tie him up and knock him unconscious if he didn’t follow doctor’s orders to the letter.
As though reading my mind, Daniel adds, “Maybe I’ll get to knock you unconscious and tie you up.”
Skye’s laugh is only halfhearted, but still a relief to hear.
“Kier, wanna read this?” Josh asks quietly as the others begin bickering over who deserves to be tied up. He swivels the laptop toward me, and I lean in.
Subject: URGENT HELP NEEDED
Hi,
You helped us banish a soul-eater demon a few months back, and I really hope you can help us now.
My friend has been possessed by something and we don’t know what it is or how to get rid of it.
When it takes over, his eyes turn red and his voice changes, and it seems to be able to seize control at will. Quartz has no effect on it.
Please help us. You can email or call anytime.
Thanks,
Josh
“You’ve gotta add your number,” I point out, and he curses, turning the laptop back to do so. “That’s good. Hopefully they see it and call right away.”
“Fingers crossed,” he mutters, then hits Send.
All we can do now is wait.
“Did you send it?” Skye asks, a faint tremor in his voice, and we look at him. I pat his arm reassuringly.
“Yep,” Josh declares. “So now let’s figure out what we’re going to do while we’re waiting.”
“Avoid having that thing take over,” Ewan suggests.
“I vote for that option,” Daniel adds.
“Me three.” Skye raises a hand halfway. “But how? I can’t even tell when it’s about to, much less stop it.”
Josh gestures to me. “Swap.” I obediently get up and let him take the spot next to Skye on the couch.
“Here’s the deal,” he says, taking Skye’s hand and studying his face intently.
“I can sense that thing is in you. The way it feels doesn’t change whether it’s in control or you are, so that’s no help.
It doesn’t feel dark or violent, but I get how that might not reassure you too much when it’s taking over your body. ”
“Not much,” Skye agrees. “I mean, it would be good if it didn’t turn me into a monster who murders his friends, but overall I’d still rather it was just not there at all.”
Nodding, Josh says, “Yeah, that’s reasonable.
It does feel separate from you—the inside you, I mean.
Your personality… your soul. It’s just sharing your body.
So I’m pretty sure there will be a way to get it out, but I don’t want to start prying and probing without having any clue what I’m doing, just in case I accidentally damage you. ”
Skye sucks in a deep breath, then lets it out. “So how long do we wait? Not gonna lie, Josh, I don’t want to share my body with this thing any longer than I have to.”
“You won’t,” I promise. “We’re going to start researching right now.
Hopefully our online friend will be in touch soon, but even if they aren’t, we’ll work this out.
” Somehow. I try to pretend my blood pressure isn’t going up at the thought of an unknown being possessing a member of my staff—possessing Skye.
“In the meantime, let’s see what we can do to keep it from popping out too often,” Josh continues, sounding calm and soothing. I’m almost fooled. “It seems to react a lot to food—the coffee and the tart.”
“To flavor?” I suggest. “It didn’t like the coffee, and it liked the tart. But it doesn’t seem to care about water.”
“I can survive on just water for a few days.” Skye sounds brave but doubtful. And honestly, having seen the way he enjoys food, I’m doubtful too.
“Bland food,” Daniel suggests. “You have to eat to keep your strength up, but we could try plain foods with not much flavor. And no seasoning.”
“Who’s this ‘we’?” Ewan asks. “You can barely burn toast, and the kitchen staff are all gone.”
Daniel screws up his face. “Arissa’s the only one we could trust with this anyway.”
For the love of… “I can cook for Skye,” I announce. It’s no secret around here that Daniel and Ewan can only manage the basics, and I want Josh to be focused on Skye. “Plain food is no problem.” I wince in commiseration. “It’s going to be boring to eat, though.”
“I love boring,” Skye says emphatically. “Especially if it keeps that thing from using me as a meat puppet.”
“Okay, so food is handled.” Josh pats Skye’s arm. “When else has it taken over?”
“What actually happened?” Ewan asks. “All Josh said on the phone was that something had possessed Skye. Should we be guarding the vortex? Are more of these things likely to come through?”
“No.” Joe speaks for the first time since we got here. The ghosts have all been unusually quiet… guilt, maybe? Since I spent a few grand buying them a big-screen TV and giant sectional in return for them guarding the vortex, and this thing still managed to get through.
This is not their fault, I remind myself. I love the ghosts. I truly do.
“We’ve got the block back up,” Joe continues. “Now that we know where the creature is, we’re going to go guard the room, but I don’t think anything else is going to come through.”
There’s really nothing to say to that, because four months ago, after the demon was banished, we were all pretty sure nothing else was going to come through the vortex. We made sure it was blocked off anyway, but it looks like that effort was useless.
“Could one of you stay with Skye at all times?” Josh asks. “Maybe you’ll be able to sense something? I don’t know.”
“Of course,” Hattie assures us. “Carter will take the first shift.”
Carter, who used to be the farm manager here back when the estate had more land and was self-sufficient, folds his arms across his chest and nods reassuringly. He was a solid man when he was alive, and it’s oddly comforting even now that he’s dead.
The other ghosts come forward one by one to pat Skye, hug him, or in Maisie’s case, kiss him noisily. She knows he’s gay, and he’s not her type anyway, but Maisie’s a kisser. Then they leave.
“Ewan and I still don’t know exactly what happened,” Daniel reminds the rest of us.
“Okay,” I say, dragging my thoughts away from the ghosts. “I don’t know much either. Apparently, while we were all watching the guests brawl in the hall, the block on the vortex fell over and something came through.” I nod toward Skye. “That something.”