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.