《I Summoned You》


 Chapter One - Girls Night!

    Sleepovers were the bane of Julia¡¯s existence. A bunch of girls gossiping about boys or celebrities and then there were the projects that all the good Pinterest moms had tried to set up. This time, they had to make their own salads and salad dressing. Actually, the fact that Britney¡¯s mom had also made a watchlist of appropriate movies for their age group and made them party favors was worse than the salad tossing part of the party.


    Maybe it would¡¯ve been better with friends, but Julia didn¡¯t know either of the two girls who were here. Britney was her sister''s friend, and Mio was¡­ Julia didn¡¯t know. She knew that she was often bullied at their school, and that was about it. What was certain was that Mio wasn¡¯t comfortable here, probably because Britney had bullied her into coming, and her saddened face was making Britney¡¯s mother try all the harder to breathe life into the party.


    ¡°Holy shit, mom! When are you leaving?!¡± Britney stamped her foot on the ground.


    Her mother flustered over the details. ¡°When you said that you were having friends over, I thought there would be more of them. Now I worry that you¡¯ll be inviting boys over after I leave.¡±


    ¡°... Oh my god.¡± Britney covered her face with her hands.


    ¡°I just don¡¯t want to come back to some sort of,¡± she lowered her voice, ¡°orgy¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh my god! Mom!¡± Britney began to flail her arms about. ¡°Just go!¡±


    Her mother flustered again. ¡°And you have Aunt Mimi¡¯s cell number in case I don¡¯t answer my phone? I put all of the emergency numbers on the fridge, and you have to order pizza by nine-thirty if you want to get it on time.¡±


    ¡°Mom!¡± Britney inhaled sharply between her teeth in order to calm herself down. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the basement,¡± she said to the other two.


    Julia was torn between not wanting to be trapped in the basement with these two or watching Britney argue with her mom more. She chose to silently follow, with Mio lagging behind her. They headed down the stairs and were greeted by an overdose of color. Britney¡¯s mom had put up decorations, and it was like a holographic unicorn had vomited over the room.


    Britney began to toss sleeping bags aside and tear down anything that was in the way. ¡°Just get everything together already, Mio!¡±


    Mio set down a bag that she had been carrying down by the base of the stairs. She began to dig through it and pulled out a jar of red liquid and a paintbrush. ¡°Do you have the paper?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, somewhere.¡± Britney began to look through an old desk that had been abandoned down here ages ago. She retrieved a piece of paper and handed it to Mio. It was of an arcane circle with a three-pointed star at the center.


    Mio took this and began to draw on the floor. While she did that, Britney went upstairs, and Julia lingered nearby. She was watching Britney as she worked. ¡°That doesn¡¯t look like blood.¡± The substance was opaque and the shade of red that comically red rather than blood red.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t have pig blood at the market,¡± muttered Mio. ¡°I think it will work fine. I read everything, and I think I can make it work.¡±


    ¡°Okay, good.¡± Julia nodded a few times to herself before she sat down in a nearby bean bag chair.


    She was the mellow one of the trio. Her sister, Kara, was the one who was outgoing and likable. Julia wore plaid and didn¡¯t bother to wear makeup or contacts, while Kara was a cheerleader with bright and bubbly Britney. Kara drowned her hair with chemicals and dye to keep it straight and colorful, and Julia kept hers natural.


    Mio was similar to how she was. Tiny, mouse-like, and didn¡¯t stand out all that much. While Julia wasn¡¯t someone people wanted to deal with Mio was the type who got ordered about. Black Bear High didn¡¯t have many students, and Roosevelt, Oregon was a small town near the Cascade Mountains. While there were few people of color, there were even fewer Asians. She tended to get bossed about by stereotypes often because of it.


    A thumping down the stairs signaled Britney¡¯s return. She had changed into an old sweatshirt because she didn¡¯t want to make make a mess of her good clothes. ¡°That doesn¡¯t look like blood,¡± she said in a harsh tone.


    ¡°She said that it¡¯ll work,¡± replied Julia in an equally harsh tone.


    Mio nodded in order to confirm Julia¡¯s words. She pulled out a bag of bonito flakes and began to sprinkle them along the lines of the arcane circle. The papery texture and pink coloration made the incantation appear unreasonably festive.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    ¡°... There is no way in hell that that is going to work,¡± quipped Britney.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± hissed back Julia.


    Mio rubbed her fingers together to get rid of the last of the bonito flake does. ¡°I¡¯m done,¡± she muttered quietly.


    ¡°Thank god,¡± said Britney with a roll of her eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s get into position and get this over with.¡± They each stood near a point of the star and held out their hands towards the center. ¡°Sar resh warhi. Bel tamu.¡±


    Nothing happened. Britney shot a glare to Mio, who took a step back away from the circle. ¡°It really should have worked!¡± She put her hands to her mouth as she looked upward.


    The other two looked up and saw that a black dust had begun to trickle down from the ceiling. Each clump was progressively becoming bigger and bigger until it looked like feathers were falling down. Suddenly an explosion of blood began to fall down, and all three girls let out a scream and ducked for cover.


    As it pooled upon the ground, the blood sprouted red tendrils that began to scoop up the liquid and feathers alike. They twisted together and grew upward, forming into the shape of a man. From a distance, he would look average, but the oddities grew when one drew nearer.


    His hoodie was made of small black feathers, and he kept his hands within the pockets of it. On his face was a mask in the shape of a jerboa, and a long, furry tail swished behind him for a moment before he withdrew it into his hoodie and wrapped it about his waist. The large black eyes of the mask weren¡¯t looking at the girls, but rather at the arcane circle below him.


    He stooped down and pulled out a hand from his pocket. His fingers were unnaturally long and boney, and he had black talons instead of fingernails. The pad of his finger swiped at the red liquid before he took a long sniff at it.


    ¡°... Is this ketchup?¡±


    ¡°You used fucking ketchup?!¡± Britney began to flail her arms about the air. ¡°You were supposed to go buy blood at the store!¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t have any blood,¡± squeaked Mio in return. ¡°All the paper said was that there needed to be a sacrifice of flesh, and we had some bonito flakes at home, so¡­¡±


    Britney scoffed at the idea. ¡°Like you¡¯re going to believe whatever something you got off the internet is going to tell you, right? If it was actually correct, don¡¯t you think everyone would have summoned their own personal demon by now?¡±


    ¡°Y-you¡¯re the one who gave me the paper in the first place,¡± whispered Mio.


    Julia looked at the demon, who was still examining the substance rubbing his index finger and thumb together. ¡°What matters is that it did work.¡±


    The realization of this had Britney clapping her hands as joy overtook her. ¡°Exactly! You¡¯re here to serve us now. That¡¯s what the rules said. We each get one wish.¡±


    ¡°You do indeed,¡± muttered the demon. He had a strange, guttural accent. Julia couldn¡¯t place where he could have come from, but he didn¡¯t seem to struggle in understanding Britney¡¯s fast-paced speech.


    Britney looked to the other two. Mio had locked up from Britney yelling at her, and Julia gestured for her to go ahead. ¡°I need someone to take care of mom. Dad¡¯s been out of the picture for years now, and all she does is helicopter me. Something has to be done to distract her.¡±


    The demon reached forward and wiped his hand clean on Britney¡¯s shoulder. She recoiled from disgust but didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°It will be handled,¡± he said in a bland tone.


    ¡°Good,¡± muttered Britney.


    Julia sidestepped towards Mio and put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Go ahead,¡± she whispered.


    ¡°You sure?¡± Mio looked up at her with a set of wide eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± replied Julia.


    Mio cleared her throat, and the demon turned towards her. ¡°U-uhm¡­¡± She began to twist her hands behind her back. ¡°What¡¯s¡­ What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°Are you being serious right now?¡± Britney put her hands on her hips.


    ¡°Let her talk,¡± replied Julia.


    The demon leaned towards Mio, and Mio leaned away. The eyes of the mask were like an endless void, and yet at this distance, they almost seemed to be full of stars. As Mio starred into them, she almost felt like she was about to fall in.


    ¡°Trill,¡± he replied.


    His voice snapped Mio out of her trance. ¡°I want to be more confident.¡±


    Lifting up his hand, Trill placed his thumb on Mio¡¯s forehead. ¡°... Be more confident.¡±


    Mio blinked several times out of sheer confusion. ¡°... Is that it?¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡±


    ¡°... Oh, okay.¡± Mio took a step back, not feeling all that different at all.


    It was Julia¡¯s turn next. Aside from appearing from a pool of ash and blood, she hadn¡¯t seen Trill do anything miraculous. She stood there, contemplating if this was actually going to solve her problem or not.


    ¡°There is no harm in asking,¡± whispered Trill. It was almost like he had read her thoughts. The idea of that was enough to send a shiver up Julia¡¯s spine.


    Julia took a deep breath. She closed her eyes for a moment, if only to gather her thoughts, and opened them again. ¡°I want the people who caused my sister¡¯s death to suffer. Not just a punishment. I don¡¯t want everyone to acknowledge what they did and for them to be judged because of it. They need to pay with pain. Physical pain. Can you do that?¡±


    A glimmer happened deep within the back of Trill¡¯s eyes, as though the stars within them had begun to twinkle with mischief. He took a step towards Julia and examined her closely, but she didn¡¯t flinch away as the others had. She stood her ground and glared at him defiantly. Her actions amused the demon, and his thin lips spread into a cracked tooth grin.


    ¡°Yes¡­ I believe that is a boon I can grant.¡±

 Chapter Two - True Desire

    Trill¡¯s hand formed into a fist, and he opened it again to reveal a wooden egg. This was held out for Julia to take. She took it and began to study it in the dim light of the basement. There was absolutely nothing special about it. All it seemed to be was an egg-shaped kaleidoscope, much like a gift a child would get.


    He grinned all the wider at her silence. ¡°It will be all that you need.¡±


    ¡°... Thank you,¡± she whispered.


    Having completed his assigned tasks, it came time for Trill to take his leave. ¡°Each of you should quickly see the meaning behind my boons.¡± The feathers began to flake off of his clothes, turning into ash as they fell to the ground. ¡°Treat them wisely.¡±


    The girls braced themselves as a gust blew through the room. Ash mixed with air, leaving Mio to have a coughing fit. Julie pulled the turtleneck she wore up from her neck and up to her face, in order to cover it safely, and Britney hid behind the crook of her elbow.


    When the air had settled, there was no sign of Trill or the summoning circle. Julia patted herself down before she started to roll up her sleeping bag. It didn¡¯t matter if it was neatly tucked away or not, but she needed to be able to carry it.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Britney frowned. All the demon had said was that her wish would be granted, but it would¡¯ve been better if she had gotten some clarification in how that was being done. Julia wasn¡¯t the only one that was pissed off.


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving,¡± replied Julia quickly.


    ¡°You can¡¯t leave. My mom will throw an absolute fit if she finds out that this party failed so badly that people started to bail.¡±


    Julia glared at her. ¡°Then tell your mom that I¡¯m still pissed off that Kara is dead!¡± She shouted. Mio immediately retreated to a corner of the room. Loud voices were never something that she was good at dealing with. ¡°You said we could find a way to figure out who killed Kara, and you wasted your wish on your mom!¡±


    ¡°Because my mom is an intrusive bitch who is constantly coddling me and asking me if,¡± Britney¡¯s tone shifted to an impression of her mother, ¡°I¡¯m okay, or if I need anything, or that everything is going to be fine because time heals all wounds and I bought you an aromatherapy machine. Because the essential oil scam is going to fix me, really? Really, mom?¡± She rolled her eyes at the idea.


    ¡°You wasted your wish, and all I got was some stupid toy! I don¡¯t care if magic or demon summoning is real anymore, it doesn¡¯t work! I¡¯m going to go home and figure out who killed her myself, and you better not call me again with any of your stupid ideas.¡± She then turned to Mio. ¡°Do you need a ride home?!¡± The idea of leaving Mio alone with Britney made Julia¡¯s stomach churn, but she asked the question a tad bit more aggressive than she meant to.


    Mio began to shake her head back and forth quickly. ¡°No, thank you though.¡± She didn¡¯t want to stay either, but she had already told her parents that she was going to be away for the night. Returning early would mean that something bad happened, and she didn¡¯t want them asking questions about if she was bullied or if someone tried to force something on her.


    ¡°Fine. Okay then.¡± Julia picked up her belongings and ended up the stairs.


    She never had the intention of spending the night, having told her dad that Britney wanted to talk about Kara for a bit. Her mother¡­ She was staying with her parents, Julia¡¯s grandparents. Julia was invited to go to, but she didn¡¯t have anything against her dad. It wasn¡¯t either of their faults, and they were family. A family should¡¯ve stuck together at a time like this, but¡­


    They said it was suicide.


    It started when Kara failed to come home. She often did after school activities and had a lot of friends that she hung out with, so her parents didn¡¯t think anything of it when she had missed dinner. When she didn¡¯t pick up her phone afterward, that¡¯s when they started to panic.


    Someone on the track team found her the next morning. She had hung herself up from a tree behind the school. Rumors started to go around about why she killed herself, and all sorts of dirt started to surface.


    She had been lined up to be the cheerleading captain for the senior year, but lately, her routine work hadn¡¯t been as good. Her relationship had been full of fighting, she had failed the past two exams, and she hadn¡¯t been eating during lunch in order to lose weight. At home, she had been skipping out on breakfast, saying that she¡¯d pick it up on the way to school. Everyone remained oblivious while she was wasting away to nothing.


    Her parents began to blame each other for not seeing the signs. Deep down, Julia felt like they were blaming her as well. After all, she was the twin sister. She was the one that was supposed to always be by her side and never let harm touch her, but¡­ Julia knew that it wasn¡¯t their fault.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Kara wasn¡¯t suicidal. She was struggling to get through, but she was at a low point. Everyone has their low points. Someone either forced her to do it or hung her up themselves. Julia was going to find out who did it, and she was going to make them pay.


    She pulled up to her house and walked inside. Her dad was watching a movie and didn¡¯t even bother to acknowledge her as she entered. Julia paused if only to watch his back for a moment. Maybe once this was over¡­ No, mom probably wasn¡¯t going to come back, but maybe her dad would stop shutting herself away.


    Julia got ready for bed but kept her time in her bedroom limited. It was the room that she shared with Kara, and no one had helped her move any of her belongings. Her bed, her clothes, her scent, it was all still there. After he dad fell asleep, Julia went to pass out on the couch, but she felt like that wasn¡¯t an option tonight.


    Putting a coat over her pajamas, she snuck out to the backyard. Their house was just outside of town, where nothing was open and night, and even the street lights gave up at some point. This left a sky full of light.


    Stars were one of the few things that Julia loved. Especially on the night of the new moon, when everything seemed so much brighter. Julia flopped down on the grass and stared up at the heavens. She held three fingers up to the sky and used them to measure out where Venus was.


    ¡°Humans have not given up on looking up to the stars whenever they are feeling troubled,¡± a voice rang out from the dark.


    Julia sat up quickly and saw that Trill was sitting next to her. ¡°Go away,¡± she said with a growl.


    ¡°Once summoned, I cannot leave until your true desire is granted,¡± replied Trill.


    ¡°You gave me a toy,¡± she spat back.


    He grinned widely. ¡°You lied.¡± She shook her head. ¡°You lied to me about what your true desire is.¡±


    ¡°I want revenge for my sister.¡±


    ¡°Lies,¡± he replied. ¡°One last chance to admit the truth.¡±


    Julia stood up. ¡°I¡¯m going to figure out who killed my sister. Just go away already. I don¡¯t need you.¡±


    Trill stood up as well. ¡°I was summoned, and I cannot leave until my agenda is finished. Despite your lies and attempt to deny my boon, I have given you exactly what you want.¡± His grin grew all the larger. ¡°That egg contains your sister¡¯s soul.¡±


    A silence hung in the air like a dead weight. Julia stared at the demon, and he stared back. Dark and imposing, more shadow than a living thing. She turned away from him and ran back up to her room, digging around her bag until she found the egg. Once more, she sought to examine it, more closely this time, looking for any signs that it could be special.


    ¡°Kara?¡±


    The glass lens on either side of the egg had a silver ring to keep it in place, and there was brass cuneiform along the edge. She held it up to her eye and looked through it, gems inside rolled about as she moved the egg, creating a cascade of color. There wasn¡¯t anything unusual about it.


    She looked around the room and finally focused on Kara¡¯s bed. The colors were beginning to shift about. As the gemstones faded away, the world turned black and white. Kara was sitting on the edge of her bed, and staring down at the ground. Her face was vacant, she wore a cloak made of gray feathers, but there was nothing underneath.


    ¡°Kara¡­¡± Julia kneeled next to the bed. ¡°It¡¯s Julia. Can you hear me?¡± Kara¡¯s mouth began to move, but Julia couldn¡¯t hear her.


    ¡°It¡¯s an egg,¡± said Trill.


    Julia nearly jumped out of her skin. A trail of dust was swirling about the air, and it twisted together into the shape of Trill. ¡°I know that.¡±


    ¡°The egg has no mouth. It cannot tell you its secrets,¡± he replied.


    Which would explain why she couldn¡¯t hear anything. ¡°I know that,¡± she repeated.


    ¡°She is capable of showing you her troubles, but in a broken way.¡± Trill faded into dust and reappeared on the other side of her. His tail uncurled from underneath his hoodie and began to sway back and forth. ¡°Your sister has been dead for weeks. The deeds of your life have no effect on the underworld. The dead become trapped in darkness, with only stones for food, and they slowly break apart until they are nothing.


    Trauma isn¡¯t good for the mind.¡± He faded into dust once more and appeared at the other side of the room. This time he had his back to her and was looking at family pictures that Kara had hung up on the wall. ¡°She won¡¯t remember any of this.¡± He gestured to the photos with his tail. ¡°All of it has already faded away.¡±


    Julia glanced between him and the egg again. Kara was looking at her. Both of them reached for each other, but neither was able to touch. Her sister was still in there. ¡°How do I make her remember?¡±


    ¡°You remove her pain.¡±


    ¡°How do I do that?¡±


    Trill looked over his shoulder. ¡°That is not how you attain your desire.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is. Tell me.¡±


    Rather than turning around, he shifted into dust for a third time in order to move the distance of a single step. ¡°Giving others the means to grant their deepest wish is my form of worship. In return, you become my priestess, and your role is to ensure that others know of my ritual so that they perform it themselves.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I understand. I¡¯ll post about it on Twitter or something, but this is what I want.¡± Julia cradled the egg gently between her hands. ¡°Tell me how I can make her better.¡±


    ¡°Work it out on your own. I¡¯ll return when you realize how futile it is to continue down this path.¡± He disappeared into dust for a final time, with his tail being the last to vanish in the dark.


    Julia sat down on the edge of her bed. She looked through the egg again and saw that Kara had stood up. Now she was staring at the pictures on the wall. It was like she couldn¡¯t recognize her own face. Kara¡¯s head kept tilting back and forth as she squinted her eyes. Her mouth looked like it would try to form a word, but she would zone out and stand there slack-jawed.


    ¡°We¡¯ll work together,¡± said Julia as she lowered the egg. ¡°I¡¯ll find a way to make you remember, and then we¡¯ll make them suffer.¡±

 Chapter Three - The Black Bear Raindrops.

    ¡°Listen up, you whores! You¡¯re all basic!¡± Britney was shouting with her hands cupped over her hands. The other cheerleaders began to fret. ¡°You¡¯re the ones who can¡¯t tighten up the routine! We all move as one! In unison!¡±


    Early morning cheerleading practice continued on as Julia hid underneath the bleachers. Walking around the school wasn¡¯t doing anything to help out Kara. It had been days without Kara reacting to anything. Not to her classes, her friends, or even the spot where her body was found.


    Julia had settled for stalking her friends. Start with the cheerleaders, go to her boyfriend¡¯s friends, then¡­ She didn¡¯t know what. Looking through the egg, all Kara seemed to be interested in was watching the girl¡¯s dance about, but it wasn¡¯t at all helpful.


    ¡°We are the Black Bear Raindrops!¡± Shouted Britney. ¡°That doesn¡¯t give you the right to fall on your asses! Get up and do it right!¡±


    There was a time where they were the Black Bear Natives, but the mascot had been removed at some point in the nineties due to cultural insensitivity. That¡¯s when the student body made the ¡°mistake¡± of voting for raindrops as the next school mascot. Ever since then, they¡¯ve been called a different name by the other high schools.


    ¡°Get it together, cumdrops! Stop being a bunch of selfish whores and work as a team! Our guys are out there sucking the other team¡¯s cocks and letting them score because you can¡¯t give them the motivation to be real men!¡±


    One of the girls stopped. ¡°I don¡¯t really¡­ You shouldn¡¯t be calling us names. I don¡¯t feel comfortable with-¡±


    Britney blew her whistle in the girl¡¯s face. ¡°Practice is over! Don¡¯t be late to class!¡± She looked over to the bleachers, squinting momentary at where Julia was standing. Julia realized this and quickly began to walk away. ¡°Wait up!¡±


    Julia stiffened as Britney caught up with her. ¡°Don¡¯t you have to change?¡±


    ¡°Pep rally after first period,¡± replied Britney smugly. ¡°You, me, double date this Friday. Tyler and Austin. You in?¡±


    ¡°Tyler..?¡± Her sister¡¯s boyfriend? He was already dating again? Julia was disgusted at the idea.


    ¡°People bond over tragedies,¡± replied Britney in a light tone. ¡°I know you want to give Kara peace of mind in the afterlife, but she¡¯s gone, honey. We move on, and your pussy is a barren desert that¡¯s never been fucked.¡±


    Julia whipped back her hand and slapped Britney across the face as hard as she could. She didn¡¯t even mean to. It was a jerk reaction, but Britney did deserve it. By no means did Julia feel guilty over hitting her.


    ¡°I-I¡­ Sorry.¡±


    She walked ahead, hoping that no one saw that. However, all eyes were on her. Julia hastened her footsteps and went to calculus. Her backpack was dropped on the ground and she hid behind her textbook as the teacher began his lesson.


    A tapping noise from the next desk over caught her attention. She looked over and saw that Trill was repeatedly banging his claw against the desk. Her eyes widened as she then looked around the room. No one else seemed to notice. Class continued on as usual, but she was unable to pay attention for as long as the demon was present.


    Julia rushed from the room as soon as class was over. Everyone was already flooding the hallways to go to the pep rally, but she went elsewhere. She had never been one to pay much attention around school, so didn¡¯t know where the best places to hide were. Outside near where the school¡¯s greenhouse was seemed like the best bet, even though it was freezing outside.


    As she walked around to keep herself warm, Julia could hear the rustle of dead leaves and scratching on wood. She did her best to ignore it and sat on the ramp leading up to one of the portables. They were sort of makeshift trailer classrooms since the school had more students than it did building.


    She pulled out her phone and began to fiddle with it, waiting for the bell to ring so she could head off to her next class. All of her evidence was located in it. Pictures of Kara¡¯s diary, notes about her friends, even a copy of her calendar. The calendar was the most important evidence of all.


    Why would someone keep making plans if they were going to kill themselves? Kara was meeting up with Austin that weekend to work on a school project, and she had made movie plans with Tyler as well. Julia gritted her teeth as that scratching noise became all the louder. Since Kara¡¯s soul egg wasn¡¯t helping her out, she was back to sieving through her evidence again. She needed to concentrate on this.


    A faint mewling sound caught her attention, but once again Julia ignored it. The week before she died, Kara had spent most of the weekend with Tyler, two afternoons working on that project with Austin, and Friday night with the cheerleading group. She hadn¡¯t left the house before that but spent her time in the living room. Even though they were sisters, neither of them spent much time in the same room as the other.


    The mewling sound repeated itself, louder this time. Possibly a lost cat¡­ Julia had read once that cats preferred to give birth outside, and a large number of kittens died of hypothermia as a result. Someplace dark and cramped, like a school portable, sounded ideal.


    She put away her phone and ducked underneath the ramp. There was something furry down there. At least, she could make out the glimmer of a creature¡¯s eyes. Julia began to snap her fingers in an effort to get the animal¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Here, kitty.¡± She tsked her tongue, hoping that the sound would ease the cat¡¯s worries.


    Slowly but surely, the snout of the animal came closer. The eyes larger, the growl deeper, and its massive paw snatched out and grabbed onto Julia¡¯s wrist. She let out a sharp scream as its digits tightened about her limb.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Shh,¡± hissed Trill.


    ¡°Holy shit! Let me go!¡± Julia skittered back as he did so, and began to look around in a panic. She didn¡¯t hear anyone call back or approach, so it was possible that her scream went unnoticed for now. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Trill retreated back into the darkness of the portable, but he spoke loud enough for her to hear him. ¡°I am watching you fail,¡± he replied in a cold tone.


    That was it. She had had enough. It didn¡¯t matter if he was a demon or some other supernatural creature. ¡°I¡¯ve already posted about your ritual online, and I told you that I don¡¯t need your help.¡± Or his distinct lack of help. ¡°Go away.¡±


    ¡°As we gain more wisdom, our desires begin to change,¡± mused Trill. ¡°I have decided to make a deal with you.¡±


    Julia was already regretting the first deal. The main point of it was that he disappear afterward, and yet here he was. Despite her fulfilling her head of the bargain, here he was¡­ Lingering.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°You are unable to remove your sister¡¯s pain,¡± he mused. ¡°Thus you are unable to make her remember the events that caused her death. However, the bond of the womb has blessed you with a special ability. You will remember for her, avenge her piece by piece, and she, in turn, will give you more clues. More answers to your little mystery.¡±


    A silence hung in the air. Julia was too shocked to say anything. The answer had been there all along, and this bastard of a demon had neglected to tell her. She was less surprised and more furious that he had been toying with her this entire time.


    ¡°And how do I do that?¡± All she got as a response was an amused humming sound. ¡°Just tell me already!¡±


    ¡°Ask nicely,¡± he replied.


    Julia tensed up, gritting her teeth as she did so. She got down on all fours and peeked underneath the portable again. ¡°... P-please¡­ Please tell me how I can remember my sister¡¯s memories.¡±


    Silence.


    She repeated the question, only to realize that he was no longer there. Julia cursed to herself as she stood up. Ask nicely¡­ He didn¡¯t specify that it had to be him that she had to ask, but maybe it was Kara? Pulling the egg out from her jacket pocket, she cradled it gently within both of her hands.


    The problem was that she had been talking to Kara this whole time. Reassuring her that it was going to be okay, that she would solve her murder¡­ But maybe that was wrong. It wasn¡¯t about wandering about and hoping she reacted to something. It was about Julia not being afraid to confront her sister. Her fear of Kara somehow going away if she tried to hard to get the truth¡­


    ¡°Kara,¡± Julia¡¯s voice was shaking as she spoke. ¡°Someone, or maybe even a group of people hurt you. It happened right before you died, right? Who was it that hurt you before you died?¡±


    For a moment, it was almost as if the egg became warmer. The world began to twist about Julia, and the warmth spread as she felt herself falling over. Suddenly she felt exhausted. Her emotions were swirling about in her chest, and her legs especially felt weary.


    Something warm and moist pressed against her bare shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ll get you some orange juice.¡± The lips went from her shoulder to her ear, nipping at it for a moment before she felt something move out of the bed.


    ¡°Ah, ye-yeah¡­ Thanks.¡±


    Julia couldn¡¯t move. She couldn¡¯t talk, nor was she in control of her own breathing, but she felt and experienced everything Kara did at that moment. The roughness of sheets, the tinge sting of the cold air against her nude form, and the scent of sex were still in the air.


    Fear hit Julia like a heavy wave. She was aware that Kara had sex with her boyfriend, but that wasn¡¯t something that she had ever experienced. Now she was trapped in a body that was still fully affected by the afterglow. It felt incredibly violating.


    This was Tyler¡¯s room, wasn¡¯t it? It had that feel of a guy¡¯s room that was still being maintained by his mother. The furniture matched each other, and it was proper furniture instead of something picked up from Ikea. Everything was sorted, and there was a pile of folded clothes that were on the dresser. Even the pictures on the walls were organized, but they were dated, interests from when he was a boy and he had been too lazy to take them down.


    ¡°Here.¡± A glass of orange juice was set down on the nightstand. Kara looked up and gave Austin a nod. He had put his boxers back on, much to Julia¡¯s relief.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± she repeated before she picked up the glass. This was chugged at rather than sipped politely. Watching her attack her drink made Austin laugh.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware that I had tired you out that much,¡± he said in an amused voice. His statement earned him a glare, which made him smile all the wider. ¡°You look so fucking beautiful right now.¡±


    Kara set down the glass. She grabbed the bedsheet and wrapped it about her body. ¡°This is the last time.¡±


    ¡°Except for the fact that you¡¯re coming over next Thursday to finish the project.¡± He sounded coy when he spoke. Sitting down next to her, he slipped his hand underneath the sheet and began to rub at her thigh.


    ¡°Except for the fact that we¡¯d be done with this project already if you weren¡¯t so fucking horny, and I¡¯m supposed to meet up with Tyler that day because he wanted to catch a midnight showing of this movie he¡¯s been wanting to watch.¡± Another one of those comic book films, but she couldn¡¯t be bothered to remember which one.


    Austin eased Kara back onto the bed. He used his knee to spread apart her legs while his hand held down one of her shoulders. ¡°I¡¯m trying to be nice here,¡± he said with a warm and open smile. Kara furrowed her brows, clearly not amused. His response was for him to start sucking on her collarbone.


    ¡°No marks,¡± she hissed.


    ¡°I should cover you in marks¡­ You wouldn''t have to explain anything to Tyler, and all he would know is that you¡¯ve been cheating.¡± Austin leaned on her more heavily so that she could feel the beginnings of his erection. ¡°He¡¯ll be mad, but you¡¯ll be with me afterward.¡± His face shifted as he looked down at her, switching from playful to pained. ¡°He doesn¡¯t have to know anything other than the fact that we¡¯re together now.¡±


    She looked up at him with an equally pained face. ¡°He¡¯s not going to know anything. I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll come over after school tomorrow, but I¡¯m with Tyler. I love Tyler. I¡¯m staying with Tyler.¡± Austin¡¯s face became more pained at the remark. ¡°I¡¯m not coming over again after tomorrow. It doesn¡¯t matter to me if the project is done at that point or not.¡±


    They stared each other down for a moment. Nothing was said, and it ended when Austin leaned in to start nibbling on her neck. He forcibly pulled the sheet from her body, with his lips traveling down her chest for a moment before he sunk his teeth into her breast.


    And just as a heat began to build within her body, Julia felt herself staggering back. She had to brace herself against the wall of the portable. Slumping down, she curled her arms about her legs and began to shiver. How¡­ Revolting. Every fiber of her being was screaming out in disgust.


    But¡­


    She had a start. After weeks of trying to figure out why she finally knew at least something. Britney had even unintentionally offered him as a contact in the form of a double date. Either she waits until then, and try to catch him in private, or¡­ No. Julia didn¡¯t want to wait. She was going to talk to Austin today, and find out exactly why he had hurt her sister.

 Chapter Four - He Deserved It

    Lucky for Julia, she already had Austin¡¯s number. It was part of her sister¡¯s contacts. She began to tap at her phone. He should be at the pep rally, and the majority of people were staring at their phones during it. There wouldn¡¯t be a problem starting a conversation now.


    ¡°It¡¯s Julia. Britney gave me your number. She said she wanted to go on a double date with you and Tyler on Saturday, but I don¡¯t know. What do you think?¡±


    She stared at her phone. That was too much at once. Unfortunately, she had already hit send. Shouldn¡¯t she have started off with a, ¡°Hey, it¡¯s Julia,¡± or a ¡°Yo.¡± No, no one said, ¡°yo,¡± she was being crazy. Everything about this was crazy.


    Her phone buzzed. ¡°Not over text. Talk in person?¡±


    ¡°Where are you sitting? I¡¯ll move over there.¡± She could sneak in and maybe move to where he was. If anyone asked where she was, she¡¯d lie and say she was having toilet trouble or something.


    ¡°Not in the gym. Lunch?¡±


    Julia¡¯s chest felt tight. ¡°I¡¯m not at the assembly either. Now?¡±


    Did she really want to go now? She did, she really did, but she had no idea what she would say or do. Maybe it was best that she just try to gather information. See what Austin thinks about what happened to Kara.


    ¡°Room 208.¡±


    She really did want to talk to him, but¡­ Julia shook her head and forced herself to walk. There wasn¡¯t a need to ask why he was sleeping with Kara right now. Even if now was the time to ask, she wouldn¡¯t be able to. The scent of him was still fresh in her mind, the way he touched her skin, or the lustful way he moaned with anticipation.


    Julia stopped. Her face flushed red at the thought. That wasn¡¯t her, it was Kara, and that wasn¡¯t love. He forced her into it somehow. Austin wasn¡¯t a good person. All she needed to do was chant that over and over in her head as she talked to him. He was a terrible person.


    The room he gave her was the woodworking one. She could hear a machine going off within. Peeking through the window on the door, she couldn¡¯t see anything. Julia gulped down her fears and forced herself to enter.


    Austin was working on a lathe. He had a scarf tightly wrapped about his face for ventilation, but he was only doing some polishing on a resin bowl. Noticing Julia had entered, he turned off the lathe.


    ¡°Hey,¡± muttered Julia with a wave.


    Austin took a moment to wipe off his hands and undo the scarf from about his face. ¡°Hey¡­¡± He gestured about the room. ¡°They canceled this class for the pep rally, but I wanted to finish up my bowl today.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I get it,¡± she replied.


    He kept his distance from her, eyes looking her up and down. After an awkward moment of silence, Austin shrugged. ¡°We don¡¯t have to go on a date.¡±


    ¡°... Uh¡­ Yeah. Yeah, of course, we don¡¯t,¡± she replied. This was absolutely embarrassing.


    Austin held up his hands defensively. ¡°Not because you¡¯re not¡­ Well, you¡¯re you, but the point is that this date isn¡¯t about us. It¡¯s just Britney making it about herself and Tyler being an asshole.¡±


    Britney was a bitch, and it did seem like too soon after Kara¡¯s death for Tyler to be going out and having fun on a date. ¡°... Yes, of course. I understand.¡± He stared at her like she didn¡¯t. ¡°Britney has been trying to hang out with me since¡­¡± Her voice trailed off for a moment. ¡°But I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°None of us are fine,¡± he replied. He looked off to the side for a moment and then back to her. ¡°Tyler and I aren¡¯t friends anymore. Britney wants all of us to hang out and have fun again, but it¡¯s not going to happen. Point is that she shouldn¡¯t have dragged you into this.¡±


    Julia stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jacket. She stared off at the wall, mindlessly focuses on a poster while also not being able to concentrate on it. ¡°Were you two not getting along because Kara was sleeping with both of you?¡±


    ¡°Ah... ¡° Austin shuffled about uncomfortably before giving her a nod. ¡°She, uhh¡­ Kara¡­ There was a point where I was in crazy about your sister. Britney knows that, which is probably why she¡¯s trying to set us up, but I don¡¯t think she knows that Kara and I were seeing each other¡­ Like that.¡±


    ¡°Because you¡­ You were blackmailing her into it.¡±


    Austin¡¯s face shifted with disgust. ¡°Is that what she told you?¡± Julia glared at him. ¡°... Shit. You two even have the same death look.¡± He put a hand to the side of his head and let out a sigh. ¡°Kara came onto me. We had sex a few times, we were going to call it off, but she died before we did. I did the right thing and told Tyler about it so he wouldn¡¯t be so torn up that he lost the ¡®love of his life.¡¯ What Kara did to both of us was shitty.¡±


    ¡°Kara wouldn¡¯t have cheated on Tyler,¡± argued back Julia. ¡°You did something to make her.¡±


    ¡°Kara¡¯s dead¡­ She¡¯s dead.¡± Austin shook his head a few times. ¡°I¡¯m trying to give you an out here. You can remember her as your awesome sister and not the manipulative psycho bitch that she was.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you fucking dare call my sister that.¡±


    He scoffed at her anger. ¡°I walked in on her having an argument with someone on the phone, and it sounded like she had already been cheating on Tyler by that point. When I told her that I was going to tell him about it, she told me that we should be partners for the biology project and use that as an excuse to come over to my house and give me a few blowjobs. It¡¯s not my fault that we got carried away. She straddled me, and I was not going to tell her no.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Julia was fuming. She tightened her hands into fists in order to keep herself calm. Austin¡¯s shadow began to lengthen behind him, and Trill crawled out of it. His motions were staticy and disjointed as he did so.


    ¡°You agreed to keep silent because she offered you her body. That¡¯s blackmail.¡±


    ¡°Kara offered me a fair deal.¡± Austin put a hand on his hip. ¡°I¡¯ve got the video evidence to prove she was willing. Throw any accusation you want at me. I know I¡¯m innocent.¡±


    Trill¡¯s tail whipped back and forth behind him in an eager manner. ¡°He had a position of power over her, and he wasn¡¯t afraid to use that to his advantage. Regardless of his claims¡­¡± Trill moved to behind Julia and whispered loudly in her ear. ¡°That¡¯s rape. One that he recorded in order to rid himself of guilt.¡±


    And it wouldn¡¯t have ended. He could have used that recording in order to keep her under him. Julia¡¯s hands tightened to the point where her nails began to painfully dig into the skin of her palms. A lump had formed in her throat as well, and she couldn¡¯t swallow it down no matter how hard she tried.


    ¡°Your sister was a slut,¡± continued Austin. ¡°She wanted it, and when she realized she wasn¡¯t going to be able to keep it, she killed herself. That isn¡¯t on me, or Tyler, or that other guy. This was what she decided for herself.¡±


    Trill¡¯s unnaturally long fingers curled about Julia¡¯s shoulders. ¡°But you know that isn¡¯t true. Someone set this up. Someone wanted her to suffer. This wasn¡¯t your sister¡¯s fault.¡±


    Julia pulled her hands out of her pockets. She lifted her glasses so that she could wipe the tears away from her eyes. Austin took a step towards her but hesitated. He began to shuffle back and forth uncomfortably. This was made all the more awkward as Julia closed the distance between them. Now he was stunned as she began to bawl into his chest.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be fine. You¡¯re going to be okay.¡± He patted her back. ¡°We¡¯re all struggling right now. Killing herself may have been Kara¡¯s answer to getting herself out of a bad situation, but it was also done to hurt us. We can¡¯t be held responsible for her mistakes.¡±


    ¡°I know¡­¡±


    Julia put her arms around Austin¡¯s shoulders and pulled him in for a tighter hug. He responded by putting his hands on her waist. Neither said anything. Not even as Julia took the edge of Austin¡¯s scarf and tossed it towards the lathe. She quickly took a step back and switched the machine on.


    The scarf was caught behind the bowl, and Austin let out a shout as his head was yanked down towards it. His face was marred as the plate sliced its way in, spraying blood, bone, and a part of his eyeball towards the wall. He began to claw at his throat, succeeding in loosening the scarf enough in order to fall to the floor.


    He began to gasp and paw at his face, letting out loud shouts of agony as he did so. Julia didn¡¯t know how to react. His body began to convulse, and she clutched at her chest in order to help her swallow down her shock. Suddenly he was still¡­ At least, parts of him were still, as though he had passed out. There was a wheezing noise escaping him, and blood was flowing heavily from the gash in his face.


    ¡°You¡­ You still hurt her,¡± whispered Julia. ¡°Even if it was her own fault, you didn¡¯t have to choose to hurt her.¡±


    Trill absorbed the scene as it unfolded in front of him. His mouth had spread out into a wide, dry grin, and it was as though the eyes of his mask were sparkling. ¡°What are you going to do now?¡±


    Julia knelt down and began to search through his pockets. She found Austin¡¯s phone and used his bloody thumb to unlock it. Afterward, she deleted the series of texts that they had sent back and forth so that there would be no evidence she was here.


    She let out a horrified gasp as the bell rang. How long did that give her? Julia had splashes of blood on her body, and there could be students showing up within a minute or so. Dropping the phone, she ran out of the room and hid in the nearby bathroom.


    This was terrible. Even if she deleted the conversation in the phone, he could still accuse her. She could say that she had gone to the assembly, but that wouldn¡¯t account for her absence from her next class. Then there was the blood. There wasn¡¯t a change of clothes that she could put on.


    She was absolutely fucked.


    A moment of anger had taken her over, and she had lost her rationality. What she should have done was manipulate him more. Maybe flirt with him, she didn¡¯t know. Julia should¡¯ve found out who that guy was that Kara was arguing with. The one she was willing to sell herself off for so that no one else would find out.


    What was she going to do now? If Austin died, she might be okay, but if he lived? How long would it be before she ended up in jail? How would either of her parents go on with one daughter dead and another one who might as well join her? She hadn¡¯t even gotten a chance to prove that it wasn¡¯t Kara¡¯s fault. That someone had done this to her.


    ¡°You¡¯re fretting too much,¡± muttered Trill. He had followed her in here, but Julia was panicking too much to care.


    ¡°Go away,¡± she whispered. She pulled her legs up so that she was curled up in a ball on the toilet.


    He leaned towards her. ¡°Do you want me to save you?¡± His mouth spread open in that creepy grin again.


    ¡°Would that mean you would go away?¡±


    He chortled at the response. The nerve of this girl. Her concerns wavered between murder, getting rid of him, and avenging her sister with such inconsistency. Yet none of those were her true desire.


    ¡°No.¡± Trill slashed open his left wrist with a claw and held it out for her. Instead of blood, a dust was trickling out of it. ¡°Drink.¡± She looked up at him with a horrified expression. ¡°That boy won¡¯t remember you. If he wakes up, he won¡¯t know what happened. You would remain free.¡±


    Julia focused on his wrist. She grabbed onto his hand and pulled him towards her, sealing her mouth over the wound. It was like taking in a mouthful of fine dust. There wasn¡¯t any flavor, but it turned into a thick paste as it mixed with her saliva. Forcing herself to swallow it, she found that she couldn¡¯t.


    She shoved her way past him and made her way to the sink, taking in handful after handful of water, swishing it about in her mouth, and resisting the urge to spit it back out. The blood that was staining her clothes turned black and began to flake off like ash. Julia looked up and stared at herself in the mirror.


    Her skin had gone pale, but that was probably from shock. Trill approached her from behind. He stood on one side and put his arm about her waist, pulling her towards him. The disgust on her face was apparent, but he found it to be amusing.


    ¡°As you know, I require a trade when it comes to my dealings.¡± The class bell rang again. ¡°We¡¯ll discuss it this evening. Look forward to it.¡±


    Right. She needed to go if she wasn¡¯t going to rouse any suspicions about herself. Julia barely made it to class on time. It felt like no time has passed at all before an ambulance could be heard outside, and an even shorter time had gone by before students were checking their phones underneath their desks.


    Julia couldn¡¯t bring herself to look. She would push it out of her head. It didn¡¯t matter if Austin died or not. He deserved it. He did all of those things to Kara, betrayed Tyler in the process, and he did it without feeling any guilt. He deserved it¡­ He deserved it¡­


    He deserved it.

 Chapter Five - Heart for a Heart

    ¡°Obviously the double date with Austin is out. If you¡¯re still interested, there¡¯s a couple of guys that I can ask, but you¡¯ll probably have to work harder to put yourself out there. Maybe try on some of Kara¡¯s dresses or put on her makeup.¡±


    Britney had called Julia over the phone. The only reason Julia had answered was because she was feeling anxious. News about Austin¡¯s injuries had been traveling slowly, but it didn¡¯t seem like he was dead. However, he might be in critical condition. People tended to blow things out of proportion, it was difficult for her to know what she was hearing was true or spun up lies to cause more drama.


    All Julia wanted was a distraction, but anywhere she looked, she saw Austin¡¯s torn up face. Her father had ordered takeout again, and Julia was eating her pizza in her room. Even Britney¡¯s pushy and bitchy attitude was somehow a welcome change to her evening.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to go through Kara¡¯s belongings.¡±


    ¡°Are you seriously going to let all of that stuff go to waste? I guess it¡¯s for the best. You¡¯re pissy enough as it is. First, your slapping me, and who knows how you¡¯ll act out next? Someone could get seriously hurt if you don¡¯t learn to have some fun.¡±


    Julia frowned. ¡°I was going to wait for mom to come back and we were going to donate most of it.¡± Though she wasn¡¯t really certain when her mom was going come back, if ever.


    A loud gasp was on the other end of the phone. ¡°I¡¯ll send over my mom to do it!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want your mom over.¡±


    ¡°My mother is always wanting to do motherly things, but I¡¯m busy with all of my stuff. I¡¯ll tell her that you need help and that I can¡¯t do it because I¡¯ve got cheerleading practice this Saturday. But really, you¡¯d be doing me a huge favor because I want to bring Tyler over to my house. You¡¯ll be able to clean out your room and I get laid. It¡¯s perfect!¡±


    Julia looked about the room. Even if she wasn¡¯t ready to let go of Kara, maybe¡­ She didn¡¯t know if getting rid of Kara¡¯s stuff would be a healing experience or if it would hurt her more. Either way, she wasn¡¯t ready.


    ¡°Maybe later¡­ I don¡¯t really want to deal with that now.¡±


    ¡°Awesome! I¡¯ll talk to my mom and see what she thinks!¡±


    Britney hung up on her before Julia could confirm that she only wanted to be left alone at the moment. She glanced at Kara¡¯s bed, where Trill was staring at her. The tip of his tail was twitching impatiently, and his arms were folded across his chest.


    ¡°Am I interrupting?¡±


    ¡°... No. I¡¯m fine. We can talk now.¡±


    Trill stared at her for a moment longer, waiting for something else to interrupt. He sneered when nothing happened. ¡°Do you wish to continue down this path?¡±


    As long as there was someone else that had hurt Kara, ¡°Yes.¡±


    His tail twitched with agitation again. ¡°This conflict of interests is bothersome to me. I will require more than I have asked before. Telling others of my ritual will no longer keep my interest.¡±


    And as long as she was going down the path of vengeance, Julia was going to need his help in order to keep herself and her family safe. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°What do you have to offer?¡±


    Thinking about it nearly made Julia gag. What did he want? Did he want her body? She remembered Kara¡¯s memory and the way her body had felt after sex. That wasn¡¯t something she wanted to experience anytime soon, nor would she want to do that with a demon. Other than that, she had no idea what a demon would want.


    ¡°Would you want to drink my blood?¡±


    His ritual required a sacrifice of flesh. She didn¡¯t want him to eat her, but maybe he would take some of her blood instead. Indeed, the idea did intrigue him. His face stayed the same, but the tip of his tail had sped up.


    ¡°Intriguing.¡± He got up from the bed and knelt down on the floor in front of her. ¡°I vow to assist you. You will have to find your targets and punish them on your own, but I will protect you afterward. No human will know of your crimes. In exchange, you will give me your heart, and I will give you mine.¡±


    Julia froze up as he put a hand to his chest. ¡°Oh¡­ No¡­ No, no, no.¡±


    Trill unzipped his hoodie and his claws pierced the skin of his chest. He continued to push his hand in as dust flowed about his wrist, and yanked out his heart. It was a grey and dried out, wrinkled, and ash was flaking out of the valves.


    ¡°Eat,¡± he said in a commanding tone.


    Oh right, because of course that was what he meant. Eat his heart so she could continue her quest. She took it with both of her hands and stared down at it. It was lighter than she imagined it would be, and it wouldn¡¯t be cannibalism, would it? He was a demon. Though, she didn¡¯t know what sort of effect it would have on her.


    ¡°Would this make me a demon?¡±


    ¡°You and I would share some abilities. Nothing that you would find adverse.¡± He smiled. ¡°Either eat it or give up on your sister.¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    She sniffed it. Stale, and yet kinda like jerky. Biting into it, the texture was worse than his ash blood. It broke apart easily but became a paste in her mouth. Snatching up her soda, Julia began to take large bites before washing them down. Even as she gagged and nearly choked on her meal, she continued to devour his heart.


    Trill continued to grin as she reached for her pizza slice next, wolfing it down in an attempt to purge her mouth of the ill flavor. He put his hand to his chest in an attempt to stop the dust from leaking from his wound. Despite his smile, he was faltering. Tearing out a piece of himself had left him weakened.


    Julia coughed a few times. ¡°Right, so-¡± She coughed again. ¡°S-sorry.¡±


    She pulled off her sweater without being asked. There was a sports bra underneath, so she didn¡¯t feel exposed at all. Trill immediately looked at her in a predatory manner. He lunged at her, pinning her down to the bed by the shoulders. Her eyes went wide as his jaw unhinged and clamped down on her chest.


    Her world spiraled about her as pain took over. She couldn¡¯t see, nor could she breathe. All there was was the horrid agony, the crunching of bone, and the heavy scent of blood that filled the air. As he continued to chew, her body jerked slightly, and that sound¡­ That terrible sound of him gnawing through raw flesh.


    The last thing she saw was his mask as he went for a breath of air. Covered in blood, sharp teeth shining in the dim light of the room. He let out a low moan before he dived back in, devouring her more enthusiastically than he had before.


    Julia blinked, and she could make out the sound of morning birds. There were no crashing noises or the gnawing of flesh, simply birds. A heavyweight was on her left side. She tilted her head and noticed that Trill was curled about her. Sleeping peacefully despite his mask. Her only response was to shove away his face with a hand as she sat up.


    She immediately began to pat down her chest. Everything seemed whole again. There was only a white scar over her heart, like a thin incision had been made there. Julia¡¯s next action was to check her pulse. That also appeared to be normal.


    Next to her, Trill began to sit up. He let out a low groan as he put his hand to his temple. His head was throbbing as though he had been up all night drinking alcohol instead of blood. Another groan escaped him as Julia skittered away from him. Instead of saying anything, he flopped back down on the bed and pulled the blanket up around himself.


    Julia stood up and immediately fell back down to the floor. She was lightheaded. Though her chest was no longer ripped open, it appeared as though the blood loss was real. Crawling to her nightstand, she grabbed her phone and checked the time. It was too late to go to school, and her dad was at work.


    That was probably a good thing. She found her sweater on the floor and pulled it above her head. Then she went over to her sister¡¯s half of the room and began to go through her phone. Everything she needed to know about her next target was in here. All she needed to do was find it.


    Austin said that he walked in on Kara having an argument on the phone. After he confronted her, she suggested that they get together as partners for their biology project. That gave Julia a perfect timeline. Kara preferred texting over talking, thus the majority of her calls were with Tyler or girls from the cheerleading squad.


    There were three calls on her phone that Julia had not been able to identify. It was from a number that Kara hadn¡¯t saved. Julia had tried calling it before, but it had already been disconnected. She had assumed it was a burner phone, or at least someone using an app to mimic a burner phone. That had to be the person she had an argument with, but she had no way to find out who that was.


    ¡°Come back to bed,¡± muttered Trill.


    Julia ignored him and went to where she kept Kara¡¯s egg. She sat on the floor and held it in her hands. ¡°There was someone else aside from Austin. They hurt you, and I need you to show me who it was. Please, Kara¡­¡±


    The egg felt cold in her hands. Julia¡¯s face tensed. Was it that bad? Or did Kara do something wrong, and she didn¡¯t want Julia to see? Either way, the silence wasn¡¯t helping. Julia couldn¡¯t help her sister as long as she was being kept in the dark.


    ¡°Even if you ask nicely, there are some secrets that are better left hidden.¡± Trill didn¡¯t move from his spot. His back remained facing her as he took his time to rest up.


    ¡°Then what am I supposed to do?¡± She began to rotate the egg about in her hands. Holding it up, she looked through it and saw Kara. Her sister was sitting in the corner of the room, with her back facing towards them.


    Trill sat up, once again putting his hand to the side of his head as he did so. ¡°You have some of my power. Use it.¡±


    Julia lowered the egg and stared at it. Her hands went from dark to pitch black as she began to concentrate. ¡°Show me the phone call that Austin witnessed.¡±


    That spinning sensation again, and she was in Kara¡¯s body. She was hiding in someone¡¯s room and had a phone held up to her ear. From the way the room was set up, it looked like a guest room. There weren¡¯t any distinguishing markers that it belonged to a person, and the decorations were generic.


    ¡°One time wasn¡¯t good enough for me.¡±


    There was a male voice on the other end of the phone. Julia didn¡¯t recognize him at all, but Kara was livid. She was pacing back and forth while speaking in a heated tone.


    ¡°It was a one time deal. I don¡¯t want to see you again or have anyone know I had anything to do with you.¡± Though Kara didn¡¯t notice, the door opened slightly. Austin was holding his ear up to the gap.


    ¡°I know that you haven¡¯t had enough. I haven¡¯t had enough.¡±


    ¡°Please stop calling me,¡± whispered Kara.


    His voice lowered in a threatening manner. ¡°You¡¯re going to end up like Mackenzie if you don¡¯t do what I say.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to meet with you.¡± Kara¡¯s voice was shaking as she spoke. She looked over at the door and let out a surprised gasp. ¡°Don¡¯t call me again.¡± She quickly hung up the phone before addressing Austin¡¯s shadow. ¡°Who are-¡±


    Julia was overcome with dizziness as she was forced out of the memory. ¡°No¡­ Not yet. Show me who that was. Who were you talking to?¡± She attempted to concentrate on the egg again, but her hands felt like they were burning. The pain was so great that she was forced to set the egg down on the floor.


    Her skin felt raw and sore, as though it had been scrubbed to death from within. Spotty bruises were forming along her arms and hands. Even her nails had turned purple, like she had smashed them in a door.


    Shaking, she stood up and moved to the bookshelf. Despite Kara¡¯s resistance, she still had a clue. Mackenzie. The name wasn¡¯t one she recognized, but that¡¯s what the yearbook was for. Every student¡¯s name was listed in the back along with what pages they were on, and Mackenzie was an unusual enough name¡­


    There. Mackenzie Foster.


    Julia flipped to her picture. Her face wasn¡¯t familiar, but she was in the AP Club. Flipping to that page, Julia found a group of seven students who made up the club. Two girls and five boys. They had a group photo of themselves together on their page, including several of Mackenzie.


    ¡°Mio.¡±


    Julia pointed to the only other girl in the group. Even though she didn¡¯t want to, it looked like she would have to ask for Mio¡¯s help. Her jaw tensed for a moment. If Mackenzie was hurt somehow, as her sister had been, then they might not be the last. This wasn¡¯t about avenging her sister anymore. This was about stopping a potential serial killer.

 Chapter Six - Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese

    ¡°What are you thinking?¡±


    Trill was lounging on the couch and staring up at the ceiling. Where he had gone out of his way to be either creepy or mythical during their previous encounters, he had become rather lethargic. Julia was feeling the same. The lights were too bright, the bruising on her hands had become worse, and thinking about Kara¡¯s egg made her feel sick to her stomach. Currently, Kara was hidden away in a box underneath her bed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know Mackenzie, but I couldn¡¯t name half the class if I wanted to.¡±


    Julia had always gotten good grades, but she had never challenged herself with her classes. Merely getting through was enough for her. There weren¡¯t any big plans for college, aside from moving to Portland. Socializing or joining clubs was never on the agenda.


    Trill rotated along the couch so that he was hanging over the back of it. This enabled him to stare at her while she paced back and forth across the hallway. ¡°This is a conflict of interests for me.¡±


    ¡°Which means you¡¯re useless. That hasn¡¯t changed anything,¡± she spat back. The doorbell rang. ¡°That¡¯s Mio. Are you going to¡­¡± All that remained on the couch was a swirl of ash.


    Julia shook her head and answered the door. What greeted her was a surprising sight. Mio had dressed up in a tight dress, but she had a loose blouse over the top and thick leggings on the bottom. Her hair had been dyed lilac, and she was wearing colorful makeup. The shy girl in oversized clothing was absolutely gone.


    ¡°I brought soup.¡± Mio held up a takeout back. ¡°You said you weren¡¯t feeling well, and-¡±


    ¡°What the fuck happened to you?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right!¡± Mio walked past her and made her way to the kitchen. Despite never being here before, she was moving like she owned the place. ¡°It was the weirdest thing. When I got home from Britney¡¯s my entire wardrobe was replaced with these expensive clothes, but my parents didn¡¯t seem to notice at all. They didn¡¯t even complain when my hair changed color either.¡±


    Julia followed her into the kitchen and leaned against the counter. ¡°That stupid demon hasn¡¯t been bothering you with fashion advice, has he?¡±


    The statement gave Mio pause. ¡°No?¡± She found the bowls and dropped a grilled cheese sandwich on the bottom of each. This was topped with a tomato based vegetable soup. ¡°I did make sure to post about his ritual online the moment it was over. The only time I saw him was when we summoned him. You¡­ You haven¡¯t been seeing him, have you?¡±


    ¡°... No.¡±


    At that moment, a spinning of ash behind Mio formed into Trill. He was looking over her shoulder, examining the food she was preparing. When she turned around, Trill vanished into dust, all without Mio noticing him at all.


    Mio frowned to herself and walked over to Julia. She lifted up her hands and began to examine the injuries on them. ¡°What happened here?¡±


    ¡°I-I have, uh¡­ Lupus.¡± Julia had seen that on a show her mom liked to watch. ¡°It creates bruising like this, and I have off days. Thanks for coming over and bringing food.¡±


    Mio put a hand to her mouth. ¡°Oh god, I¡¯m sorry that I didn¡¯t realize sooner! I¡¯ll be sure to bring over more food for you to eat.¡±


    ¡°... That really isn¡¯t necessary.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ We¡¯re friends, right? I mean, I know that we aren¡¯t traditional friends or anything, but uhm¡­ Well, I thought we were? Was that not right?¡±


    ¡°I uh, thank you.¡± Julia took the bowl of food that Mio forced into her hands. ¡°I wanted to talk to you about someone who was or is in AP club with you. The picture I saw of her was from last year, so I don¡¯t know if she¡¯s still in the club or not.¡±


    Once more did Julia¡¯s statement confuse Mio. ¡°Really don¡¯t know who, sorry. I¡¯m the only girl in AP club.¡±


    ¡°So Mackenzie Foster isn¡¯t a member anymore?¡±


    Mio¡¯s brows furrowed at the thought. ¡°Mackenzie? ¡­ Hrm. Mackenzie, Mackenzie¡­ Oh right! She moved away during the Christmas break. I don¡¯t remember being all that close to her at all. Uhm¡­ Maybe she kept to herself a lot. AP club was supposed to be a study group, but I only joined because it was supposed to look good on college applications.¡±


    Julia stared down at her soup bowl for a moment. She walked over to the dining table and set it down. ¡°... I see.¡±


    Mio joined her and sat down, waiting politely for Julia to also sit before taking a bite of her food. ¡°She had something to do with your sister, right? I don¡¯t think you would be talking to me if it didn¡¯t have anything to do with the ritual or Kara.¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Someone was threatening Kara before she died, and I know they were saying that they were going to do the same thing to her as they did Mackenzie. I was wondering if you had known if something happened to her or if she was still at school.¡± She watched as Mio pulled out her phone. ¡°Do you have her number?¡±


    ¡°I was just going to Google her,¡± replied Mio.


    ¡­ Oh, right. There may have been a social media post that she could find, or a news article if something terrible happened. Julia also pulled out her phone and began to look her up as well.


    ¡°I found an obituary,¡± muttered Julia.


    ¡°I found the same,¡± replied Mio. She set her phone down and began to eat her food.


    Mackenzie died a few days before Christmas, right after the winter break started. She was involved in a car crash. Her vehicle had swerved off a mountain road during bad weather, but there hadn¡¯t been a mention of it at school. There was a memorial service for Kara. That might have been because she was more popular, but that didn¡¯t seem right.


    Julia glanced over to Mio, who was calmly eating. ¡°You¡¯re not even bothered by it?¡±


    ¡°Malorie and I were never that close. It¡¯s hard for me to feel bad about someone¡¯s death if I barely even knew them.¡± Or remember their name.


    Julia found herself pondering if there were adverse effects to Mio¡¯s newfound confidence. ¡°I believe she was murdered by the same person who killed Kara.¡± All she got from Mio was a nod of . ¡°Which means that there¡¯s a serial killer at our school.¡±


    Mio stared at her for a moment. Her face became troubled, then she began to look down at the table between them. ¡°Were you the one that hurt that guy who got taken away in an ambulance?¡±


    ¡°Ah? Well, uhm... ¡° Julia couldn¡¯t think of a response.


    ¡°I heard a rumor that he woke up screaming in the hospital. Something about Kara¡¯s ghost wanting revenge. At least, that¡¯s what the kids at school are saying.¡± Mio¡¯s hands twisted together nervously. ¡°I know you were somehow involved, but I don¡¯t think you would¡¯ve almost killed him if you didn¡¯t have a reason.¡±


    Julia tensed up in her seat. ¡°Well, I-I¡­¡± Her jaw clenched and unclenched. ¡°I don¡¯t really know¡­ I do know that he did something terrible and that someone needed to- I don¡¯t know, Mio. I got mad, and I don¡¯t know if what I did was right or wrong anymore, but whoever this person is may have killed both Mackenzie and Kara. They do deserve it.¡±


    Mio took a moment to consider it before she looked up again. ¡°Then why not join AP club with me? You can say you need help with your SATs, but there would be a file on the teacher¡¯s computer about that dead girl. You could see what college she was trying to get into and any extracurricular activities she was doing.¡±


    That was nice and all, but Julia would rather have mystic help just so she could get it all over and done with. ¡°I¡¯ll consider it¡­¡±


    ¡°Even if it isn¡¯t part of some murder plan, it would be nice to have you there,¡± whispered Mio. All Julia could say as a response was a faint mutter of agreement.


    Mio spent another hour over before going home. Julia went up to her room to mope afterward. Her dad didn¡¯t get home till late some days, and today wouldn¡¯t be an exception either. At least she had a decent sort of meal for once. It made concentrating on her homework easier.


    Occasionally she would glance over to Trill, who was working on his own project while sitting on Kara¡¯s bed. He had a journal open and was writing within it with a long owl feather. As long as he wasn¡¯t talking, it didn¡¯t bother Julia much.


    ¡°Hrm...¡± And of course, he would ruin Julia¡¯s blessed silence right when she had noticed it. He began to grumble to himself while making loud strikes to the page with his quill.


    ¡°When are you going to deal with someone else¡¯s requests?¡±


    ¡°I only answer those who need my interference in order to accomplish their desires.¡±


    Because Mio absolutely needed magic to deal with her self-esteem issues and Britney¡¯s mother was a true horror. Julia shook her head and went back to typing up her report. Another loud sigh from Trill made her entire body tense up.


    ¡°But why are you still here?¡±


    ¡°Because you will no doubt need me when your newfound powers overwhelm you.¡± He blew on his journal for a moment before standing up. This was held out for Julia to take. ¡°I have written down any issues you may come across.¡±


    Suspicious, Julia took the journal and flipped through it. Everything was written in cuneiform. She looked up with a glare before tossing the journal into the corner of her desk, where it would no doubt be forgotten and left to collect dust for all eternity.


    Trill¡¯s tail swished back and forth with agitation behind him. He then tilted his head, and the ears of his mask faintly twitched. ¡°My mission calls. I will return shortly.¡± His body dissipated into a mist.


    Or he could not come back at all. Julia shook her head and put a show on her second monitor. It ¡°helped¡± her study, or at least gave the occasional distraction when she wasn¡¯t feeling like concentrating on her homework.


    Anything she typed, she got a glance at her hands. People didn¡¯t pay attention to her, but they would no doubt be whispering behind her back tomorrow. Kara¡¯s ghost attacking the guy she cheated on her boyfriend with, Julia being absent the day afterward, and then her showing up with horrific bruises on her hands. What sort of rumors was that going to bring up?


    She got up and began to go through her sister¡¯s closet. There was a pair of blue winter gloves that she had gotten for Christmas. Kara never wore them, even though their mom insisted that they were expensive and looked nice. Julia slipped them onto her hands for a moment to check the fit.


    Wearing something of Kara¡¯s didn¡¯t feel right. It felt¡­ Empty. Even if Kara didn¡¯t like them, they still were hers. She¡¯d yell at Julia for trying them on if she was still around, or throw something at her, or yell at their parents that Julia was ruining everything again¡­


    ¡­ Maybe Kara was a terrible sister. If she had something to do with Mackenzie¡¯s death, then she didn¡¯t deserve to be avenged either. But¡­ Julia was still going to find out the truth. Kara deserved to have the truth be revealed, whether or not it painted her as a good person.

 Chapter Seven - Scrapbook

    Once again, it was an empty house.


    Julia got out of bed and began to get dressed, making sure that she put gloves on her hands before she went downstairs. Her father had left for work again, and¡­ That was that.


    Mornings used to be loud. Their mother always got up first. She¡¯d make breakfast while Kara took forever getting her hair and makeup ready. Most mornings, Kara went to school early to jog around the track with the rest of the cheerleading squad.


    Their mother would make a big breakfast, see their dad and off, then wake up Julia so Kara could drive her to school. Music would be blasting on their television, and mom would be singing along while cleaning up after cooking. Julia would eat something light, and then hang out in the library by herself until classes started.


    Now it was¡­ Her. She got to sleep in, so she didn¡¯t need to hang out in the library anymore, nor did she have to worry about the outdated choices of music. But instead of bacon and eggs, she had oatmeal, and she had to get herself a license so she could take herself to school.


    Yet it was terrible. Terrible enough that Julia debated calling her mother to see how she was doing, but she couldn¡¯t. She was scared to. If her mother cared, wouldn¡¯t she have taken Julia with her? Or called her? Or even offered to take her out of here?


    Instead, she left her to be haunted by Kara¡¯s ghost¡­


    Julia leaned against the counter and looked around the kitchen. It already looked like her dad had cleaned up everything belonging to mom. Her favorite mug, the spoon she swore made soups better, and even the placemats for the table. There wasn¡¯t a trace of her left behind.


    Yet unlike, Kara, their mom wasn¡¯t dead. She had chosen to go and leave them behind. When Julia looked around this kitchen, she couldn¡¯t see either Kara or her mom there, and a part of her knew that neither of them were coming back.


    As for how her body felt, Julia was still queasy. Bright lights made her dizzy. Being outside was worse because it felt like the sun was burrowing into her brain. Confined spaces made her feel comfortable, like when she was in her car, or indoors.


    Being around other people was the worse. It was overwhelming. They were just as bright as the sun was. Some sort of sixth sense had awakened in her, and even seeing them out of the corner of her eye was a cacophony of noise and sensations that she struggled to shut out. She had to go to the bathroom in between classes just to get a breather.


    Feeling to sick for lunch, Julia succumbed to her habit of hiding in the library. Though even that place wasn''t empty. There was a table of students eating. Most of them were on laptops, and Mio was sitting by herself.


    ¡°Julia! You came!¡± Mio waved her over.


    ¡°... Uh, yes.¡±


    That horrid glare that was coming off of other people was worse when it came to those around Mio, but less terrible around Mio herself. Julia kept her eyes to the ground and sat down next to Mio. Apparently, this is where the AP club met twice a week for lunch¡­ Where they would LAN games across their laptops during the break.


    Julia slumped across the table as Mio did most of the talking. Something about the AP schedule and all of their group activities. She had trouble absorbing any of it until Mio started to shake her shoulder.


    ¡°Hrm, yes?¡±


    ¡°I said I found out more information about Mackenzie.¡±


    Mio had started her day early and done her research. A little lie saying that she had wanted to put together an obituary for the school newspaper was enough for the teacher to hand over some of the information they wanted. She learned that Mackenzie had been looking at several colleges. Every weekend was spent at her aunt¡¯s in Portland, where she would volunteer cooking at a homeless shelter. Because of her charity work, she had won the town-sponsored scholarship of ten thousand dollars.


    After her death, the scholarship went to Eli Strumm. He was an early favorite, as he did volunteer work within the town itself, but Mackenzie had the higher grades. His father worked in automotive repair, which meant that he had access to tools. Mackenzie¡¯s car was far too damaged, and it was assumed that ice on the roads had led to her downfall. Julia wondered if someone had damaged the car themselves.


    The only problem was that Eli had no connection to Kara. They didn¡¯t share classes, nor did they have the same group of friends. Julia glanced over at the table of boys, and away again. She got a headache looking at them.


    ¡°Is your lupus acting up again?¡± Mio noticed that she wasn¡¯t feeling good.


    ¡°Yes, sorry. I¡¯m going to head to the nurse¡¯s office.¡± Julia stood up. ¡°I¡¯ll call you later, alright?¡±Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll text you after school if I don¡¯t hear from you.¡±


    Julia left and decided to tell the nurse that she was having menstruation problems. It got her the pain medication that she needed for her headache. If it didn¡¯t get better, at least she would have an excuse to go home and skip out on the rest of class.


    She laid down on the bed and closed her eyes. It was easy to ignore the nurse. All he did was wear headphones while working on his computer. When not treating students, he was writing erotic novels that he sold online. Not the highest paying job, but it helped supplement his income.


    It made Julia wonder how she knew about it. It¡¯s not like she had heard anyone talking about it, but it felt like that was his passion. She could sense it. That drive of his to continue writing because barely anything happened at this school.


    Her eyes opened when she heard footsteps walking across the room. A guy had walked in, and he was dragging a chair towards the bed. His hair was brown and shaggy, and he wore worn jeans, a dark t-shirt, and a heavy flannel shirt to keep himself warm. The brightness around him was especially strong, and Julia had to avert her eyes to keep herself from throwing up.


    ¡°Hello,¡± he said as he sat down. There was a notebook that he had placed on his lap.


    ¡°... Hi,¡± she replied.


    ¡°My name is Eli Strumm. I want to talk to you about your sister, Kara.¡±


    Julia slowly sat up. The joints in her back and neck were screaming out in pain, and she gritted her teeth so that she wouldn¡¯t show it. ¡°What about Kara?¡±


    ¡°I believe that she attacked Austin Whitworth.¡±


    A growl of agitation leaked out between her teeth. ¡°What the fuck are you talking about? Austin had an accident due to his own stupidity, and he¡¯s blaming a dead girl, my sister, on it. The only thing he is proving is how big of an asshole he is.¡± She didn¡¯t want to discuss this when the nurse was listening, but a quick glance proved that he was still idly tapping away at his computer.


    ¡°There is a demonic ritual that your sister used to grant her desires. I believe that the three people involved were your sister, Austin Whitworth, and Mackenzie Foster. Every single one of them used it to their advantage, and in the process, turned on each other.¡±


    Julia¡¯s mind went blank for a moment as she tried to process his statement. Kara started to sleep with Austin with little resistance, but that didn¡¯t make sense. The memory that she had forced Kara to show her had someone threatening her while Austin watched. Austin claimed to have used that conversation to blackmail her into sleeping with him.


    But that didn¡¯t mean that Kara hadn¡¯t done the ritual. Though, her life didn¡¯t seem that much different leading up to her death. Mackenzie, on the other hand, was going to win that scholarship. What if she wasn¡¯t a target? What if that was her desire?


    ¡°You don¡¯t have any proof,¡± she replied after a minute.


    Eli put the notebook next to her on the bed. ¡°Mackenzie was going to use the ritual to get herself into the college she wanted, Austin was going to make Kara his, and Kara was going to get rid of you.¡±


    Kara picked up the notebook. ¡°Sophomore Year¡± was glued on using holographic letters. Inside was a scrapbook, with notes and pictures decoratively pasted within. The book appeared to belong to Mackenzie. Most of the pictures were of Mackenzie with others. There were even a few pages dedicated to a party that she had at her house, where most of the AP Club had shown up with some other friends.


    There was Eli moping in the background, and Mio laughing loudly over a bowl of popcorn. Julia¡¯s mind was buzzing as she looked through the pages. Some of them seemed familiar, but¡­ She stared at a picture of her and Mio playing a board game together. It was some weird game with monsters taking over Tokyo that Julia couldn¡¯t remember playing with anyone, yet she knew all the rules.


    She began to flip through the pages more quickly, until she saw a picture labeled, ¡°Musketeers Forever.¡± It was her, Mio, and Mackenzie, with musketeer hats and outfits drawn on them with colorful markers. The pages that followed were a combination of them at different events. Them in Portland for a festival, pictures of them at school, at slumber parties, birthdays, a group Halloween costume¡­


    Julia remembered herself being a loner, and Mio was this girl who got bullied about and was too afraid to say anything. None of these pictures were of those two girls. But how long did they know each other? This was a small town, so was it possible they were always friends?


    ¡°This is a joke¡­ What the fuck is wrong with you to make up such a joke? Why would you waste your time putting all of this together?¡±


    ¡°Because that was your life, and someone took it away from you,¡± replied Eli in a harsh tone. ¡°But what if there was a way to get it all back?¡± He held up his phone. It was an older smartphone, and the screen was cracked, but it was still good enough for Julia to see the drawing of an arcane circle.


    ¡°And what is that supposed to be?¡± Julia¡¯s voice was shaking. That was the drawing that she had put up online the day after she had done the ritual with Britney and Mio. She recognized it immediately.


    ¡°It¡¯s the start of a ritual to summon the same demon that your sister did. He¡¯ll give you back your memories. The memories that your sister took away from you. He could even tell you why Mackenzie and Kara had to die.¡± Eli lowered his voice as the nurse coughed into his hand.


    Julia had to cover her eyes with a hand. He had begun to glow so brightly that it felt like her entire world was spinning. ¡°Even if this ritual did work, why would you want to do it? How do I know that you wouldn¡¯t turn on me?¡±


    ¡°My family is doesn¡¯t have enough to send me to college, and any scholarships I have aren¡¯t going to float me for more than maybe a semester and a half,¡± he replied. ¡°I need to go to a top university.¡± Eli let out a sigh and shook his head. ¡°Maybe you know someone who can be a third, but we need three people to do this ritual. Tell me that you¡¯ll think about it.¡±


    Julia looked down at the open scrapbook, specifically at the picture of Mackenzie and her passed out on a couch together. There were sharing a blanket while cuddling close. Mackenzie had even gone through the trouble of putting heart stickers all around the both of them.


    ¡°... I¡¯m going home.¡±


    She clutched the scrapbook to her chest and started to run towards the exit. Julia had to go home. If Trill wasn¡¯t there, she was going to make Kara answer her. Answer for everything she had done, and explain exactly why Julia couldn¡¯t remember. Because if Kara had anything to do with this, then¡­ Then she was done, and she wouldn¡¯t know what to do with herself at that point.

 Chapter Eight - They Summoned You

    The egg was still in a box underneath Kara¡¯s bed. Julia ripped off her gloves and dug around underneath it until she had it in her hands. It still felt cold and distant, but Julia knew better. Kara was hiding from her.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to show me everything,¡± she growled out. ¡°Right now.¡±


    Everything swirled about her, and Julia was in Kara¡¯s body. She was inside Britney¡¯s house, but it had been decorated for Christmas. Overly so, due to Britney¡¯s mother¡¯s enthusiasm. Everything was choked with shining reds and greens, and potpourri was heavy in the air.


    Britney was sitting next to her on the couch, and they were both drinking hot chocolate. ¡°You can¡¯t prove that Mackenzie was murdered. The roads were a mess that day, and she always heads out every Friday night. All she did was follow her schedule, and it¡¯s not like someone summoned in a storm.¡±


    ¡°No, but that wasn¡¯t her schedule,¡± muttered Kara. She was focusing on the marshmallows in her drink. ¡°Friday was always when Julia, Mio, and her went out, and we changed that. I didn¡¯t know that they were going to all forget about each other.¡± Her voice was wavering, and there was a hard, painful lump in her throat.


    ¡°But do you think he¡¯s going to harass you more?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll handle it,¡± replied Kara.


    Britney set down her drink. ¡°I¡¯m not going to let that stuck up, selfish, tiny dick bastard tell you what¡¯s best for you. We¡¯ll take care of him and put him in the ground.¡±


    ¡°But what if he hurts you? Or Mio or Julia are somehow next? All of this is my fault. I suggested him as the third for our ritual, and he¡¯s ruined everything.¡±


    ¡°You were the one that was lied to,¡± argued Britney. ¡°We¡¯ll sort it out after the new year.¡± Kara frowned at her, with tears already streaming out of the corners of her eyes. ¡°Stop being a whiny bitch about this. We¡¯re going to fix it. What you have to do is pretend to be Julia and get all of Mackenzie¡¯s scrapbooks. Do it before they forget or they try going through her stuff and passing it off to her friends, okay?¡±


    ¡°And we¡¯ll hide them until we find a way for them to remember again.¡±


    ¡°Pfft.¡± Britney laughed, clearly amused by the idea. ¡°It¡¯s just like the old fairy tales, right? You want the witch¡¯s curse to go away, you kill her.¡±


    Julia breathed in a sharp gasp of air as she was knocked out of Kara¡¯s past. She set down the egg and went to the closet. Clothes and boxes were tossed aside as she began to dig further and further in. Underneath it all was a plastic tub. This was dragged out and the lid was torn off.


    Within were piles of notebooks and scrapbooks. Albums of pictures going years back. Both her and Kara being friends with Mio and Mackenzie going back to elementary school. Years of memories that Julia couldn¡¯t recall.


    Julia sat there on the floor and stared blankly at the wall. She couldn¡¯t remember at all. If she tried to, she realized she knew nothing. What did she do during elementary? Or middle school? That¡¯s when her and Kara started to drift apart and hang out with different people, but Julia thought she was alone¡­ Instead, it was a void where she knew something should be.


    There was an unfinished scrapbook underneath it all. It was labeled ¡°Junior Year.¡± Within were memories of summer together, and on the final page, a picture of Mackenzie and Julia in the library. Somehow, that was the one that felt familiar.


    Every morning, Kara would drive her to school, and Julia would go to the library. Yet she didn¡¯t remember studying much or reading. She was there with Mackenzie. Because they cared about each other, right? Were they supposed to be in love? Wasn¡¯t it enough that Julia had lost a sister, but also the memories of her girlfriend?


    She set the lid back on the box and picked up the egg, shaking it violently. ¡°Show me the ritual. I want to see exactly who was there and what every single one of you asked for.¡±


    Nothing happened, so she began to force it. The bruising along her hands spreading up her arms, and her vision was slowly becoming reddened as she concentrated all the harder. A dull pain began to fill inside her head, and she could make out the shadows of trees all around her.


    There was no moon in the sky, and three figures were standing around a flattened cardboard box. Each of them was wearing a robe and hood over their heads. An arcane circle had been drawn out over it in blood, and one of the figures was holding out her hand. She whispered in a low tone, barely audible to the other two.


    ¡°Sar resh warhi. Bel tamu.¡±


    Kara took a step back as the box began to rattle. ¡°Holy shit.¡±


    ¡°Stop kicking the box, Britney.¡±


    Britney laughed to herself and also took a step back. ¡°Just a joke. It¡¯s not like this shit would actually work, right?¡±


    The wind picked up around them, sending dead leaves and snow flying in all directions. As the two girls let out a scream, the box flipped over. A column of ash burst out from underneath it, and began to twist together into the shape of Trill. He batted the floating box aside and stared at each of them.


    After a heavy silence, the boy of the group pulled back his hood. ¡°You¡¯re the demon, right? The one that grants wishes?¡± It was Eli. Trill¡¯s head slowly turned towards him, but he didn¡¯t say anything.


    ¡°If that¡¯s true, then I want my wish of being popular!¡± Britney took a step forward. ¡°I want to be popular enough that even people outside of this town know my name. I want to be famous!¡±


    ¡°And I want to be allowed to go to a school on the east coast! In Boston!¡± Kara was quick to add.


    Eli looked between them and Trill. The demon was quietly watching him, waiting to see what he would say. ¡°I want to be able to get in an Ivy League school and be able to afford it. That would mean that I need better grades and scholarships.¡±


    Trill studied them all for a moment before replying. ¡°Granted.¡± The wind kicked up again, and all of them were forced to shield their faces as ash was blown in every direction.


    Britney was the first to lower her arms. ¡°... Was that it?¡± She patted herself down, got out her phone, and began to fumble with it. ¡°I¡¯m not showing up on Google any more than I was before,¡± she muttered.


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have worked right away,¡± replied Eli in a harsh tone.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    ¡°We¡¯ll wait a few days and see if anything happened,¡± said Kara as she tried to rationalize everything she had just seen. None of it was making sense in her head either.


    The memory distorted as it shifted to a different time. Kara was sitting alone in her car. She was staring at her phone as some number called her. The burner number that she was talking to when Austin called her. With a heavy breath, she answered it.


    ¡°The answer is no.¡±


    ¡°Have you noticed that people are talking less about you?¡± It was Eli¡¯s voice on the other side. ¡°I heard it said that no one is going to complain if Britney takes your spot as head cheerleader next year.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care. I don¡¯t need to be the head cheerleader in order to move to Boston.¡±


    ¡°What about your sister? Do you need people to remember your sister?¡±


    Kara took another long breath. ¡°Julia will be fine. She¡¯ll get over it eventually.¡±


    ¡°But she should be able to remember now. Think about it. We can summon him over and over again. There aren¡¯t any rules against it! We can fix everything, but I need you, Kara. You don¡¯t have to stay Austin¡¯s slut or have your sister be miserable.¡±


    ¡°Mackenzie is dead,¡± snarled back Kara. ¡°And that¡¯s on you.¡±


    ¡°I only wanted people to forget about her so that I would get her scholarship. I didn¡¯t know that she would die.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a liar, Eli. I¡¯m not going to help you.¡±


    ¡°No one else is dumb enough to try out a ritual like this with me. I said that I need you, and I mean it.¡±


    Kara hung up the phone and tossed it in the passenger seat. After a moment, Julia got into the car, moving the phone to the cupholder before sitting down. She adjusted her seatbelt and settled her backpack onto her lap, and when nothing happened, she looked over to Kara.


    ¡°Something wrong?¡± Julia frowned when Kara didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°You and Tyler end up in a fight?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ I¡¯m just tired. That¡¯s all,¡± said Kara as she started the car.


    The images blurred as Julia was knocked back to the room. ¡°That¡¯s not all,¡± she blurted out. She then started to cough into her sleeve, sputtering blood on in the process. ¡°What happened with Eli? Did he kill you? You have to show me the day you died!¡±


    Everything was blurry now, and the taste of blood was filling Julia¡¯s through. Despite it, she continued to concentrate on the egg until she saw what looked like the back of the school. She was there in Kara¡¯s body, standing on top of a ladder and securing a rope to a tree branch.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s everything!¡± She called out to someone but didn¡¯t turn towards them. ¡°They come back here, we make it look like a suicide, and that¡¯s that. They¡¯re just a loner bookworm anyways. No one would say it was out of the ordinary, and then everything will be fixed.¡±


    She started to climb down the ladder, but Julia couldn¡¯t make out what they were saying. Everything was going dark, and that throbbing in her head wasn¡¯t getting any better. Her eyes shut tight against it. Not yet. She needed to concentrate. She needed to see who Kara was with that day, and what happened to cause her death.


    When she opened her eyes, she immediately began to gag. There was something lodged down her throat. Beeping noises were everywhere, and shadows were rushing about around her. Everything was pain. Her entire world was pain.


    One nurse eased the breathing tube out from her throat while the others began to check her numbers. Someone was gripping tightly to her hand. Julia turned her head and saw her father there. He had a worried look on his face, but¡­ She had no idea how she ended up here in the first place.


    After everything was settled, the nurses left as a group. Julia was still confused. She opened her mouth, but her father tightened his grip on her hand. ¡°Don¡¯t talk yet. You¡¯ll hurt yourself.¡±


    A doctor came in and began to speak with him. Julia could barely make it out, but she knew her father didn¡¯t want to be here. He wanted to be anywhere else at the moment. Despite that, he was nodding along with what the doctor was saying without asking many questions.


    Then they were alone together. ¡°I found you in your room,¡± he father began to explain. ¡°They''re still debating whether or not you¡¯ve been poisoned, or if it¡¯s some genetic disorder that they haven¡¯t heard about, but¡­ It¡¯s going to be a while before you¡¯ll be leaving here.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t stay here though,¡± replied Julia in a raspy voice. She needed to hunt down Eli and make him pay.


    ¡°There¡¯s something wrong with your blood,¡± he replied. ¡°It¡¯s not staying in your veins right, and your hearts been damaged. They don¡¯t know if it¡¯ll... Y-you nearly died, Julia. I can¡¯t lose you too... So you¡¯re going to stay here until they figure out how to fix it.¡± Julia looked up at him weakly, which made his expression all the more pained. ¡°We¡¯re not going to stay in Roosevelt, Julia.


    Grandma wants us to go stay with her. That seems like a good idea to me, and there¡¯s a good hospital near where she lives. We¡¯re going to start preparing to move to Virginia as soon as you¡¯re out of the hospital. There¡¯s a private school you can go to, and cousins you¡¯ll be able to make friends with.¡±


    ¡°... No,¡± she said with a whine.


    ¡°There isn¡¯t anything here for us except for poison and bad memories. I¡¯ll have help in packing up the house while you¡¯re here, and we¡¯ll start shipping it over. Your school has already been notified as well. All you need to do is concentrate on making yourself better.¡±


    But that didn¡¯t do anything to reassure Julia. All she had to look forward to over the next few days was a quarantine. After they couldn¡¯t figure out if it was poison or not, they figured it might be virological. Julia spent days without seeing anyone other than her father and staff workers. There wasn¡¯t even a surprise visit from Trill to look forward to.


    At least she had her phone. Mio texted her on a near daily basis, but it was weird. Was she texting because she was hoping to make a friend, or did some part of her somehow remember that they were once best friends? Julia didn¡¯t want to bring it up, and she also ignored Britney¡¯s texts as well.


    Britney, the one who had done the ritual before. If Eli wanted to do it again, why didn¡¯t he pick Britney to harass over Kara? As for Kara¡­ Eli lied when he said Kara wanted to hurt her. Their mother was the one that was insistent that they go to the same college together, and that they stay in Oregon, but that didn¡¯t mean that Kara would¡¯ve hurt her for it.


    Nearly a week had passed before she was allowed visitors aside from her father. A knock at the door and the nurse walked in. She told the person in the hall to wait for a moment before she stepped in.


    ¡°There¡¯s a boy named Eli here to see you,¡± she said in an amused tone, as though she were thinking that Eli was some boyfriend and not the man that Julia was going to murder the next chance she got. ¡°Did you want to see him?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± muttered Julia. ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡±


    Eli flashed the nurse a polite smile as she let him in. It was early Tuesday afternoon, which meant that Eli was skipping school to visit. He likely didn¡¯t want to be noticed by her father or anyone else from school who would¡¯ve wanted to stay nearby. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his jacket as he looked down at Julia, examining her condition first before saying anything.


    ¡°You know, Austin is in the same hospital. You¡¯ve been three rooms down from him this whole time.¡±


    Julia didn¡¯t want to see Austin. Not only because he was an ass, but he probably wasn¡¯t all that pleasant to look at since she had fucked up his face. ¡°I see¡­¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re on a waiting list to see if he can see a specialist for cosmetic repair,¡± continued Eli. When Julia didn¡¯t respond, he took a step closer. He put his hand on the bed railing and leaned towards her as he lowered his voice to a whisper. ¡°Did Kara do this to you?¡±


    There was that annoying brightness again. Eli was beaming... For a moment, Julia wished for Trill to appear, just so she could know what that was about. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I was going to see which of her stuff that I could give to Goodwill, then I woke up here.¡±


    ¡°She is going to kill you at this rate,¡± he quickly replied. ¡°There isn¡¯t a choice but to do the ritual with me. It¡¯s not some made up trick, and it¡¯s the only way that you can save yourself.¡±


    Julia¡¯s eyes flicked between him and the nightstand. There was a pile of homework that she had been doing during her stay at the hospital, and a mechanical pencil sitting on top of it. She sat up and began to reach toward it.


    ¡°I would need to take some notes on it first,¡± she muttered.


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    Eli tried to move out of her way, but Julia¡¯s other hand reached up and snatched onto the collar of his jacket. She yanked him towards him while grabbing onto the pencil. With a swift movement, she made an attempt to stab the pencil directly into his temple. He didn¡¯t deserve a quick death, but any death of him was good enough for Julia.

 Chapter Nine - Youre not ready.

    Eli tilted his head back the moment he realized what Julia was doing. The pencil scraped across his face, stabbing him in the side of the nose. He grabbed onto Julia¡¯s wrist and ripped the IV drip from her hand, forcing her to let go of his jacket. His mouth opened to ask her what she was doing, but Julia had already shoved herself upright in an effort to pounce on him, stumbling over the bed railing as she did so.


    She hit the floor, hard, and gasped for breath. It felt like every inch of her was bruised, and even several days of recovering didn¡¯t make her feel better. Ripping the rest of the cords off of her, she stumbled to a stand as the machines she had been hooked up to began to go crazy with noise.


    ¡°Stop it!¡± Eli sidestepped Julia as she swiped at him. It was easy for him to dodge an injured girl.


    ¡°Shut up! I¡¯m going to kill you!¡±


    Julia charged at him with his shoulder and succeeded in knocking him into a wall. A low grunt escaped Eli, and he shoved him off of her. When she attempted to claw at his face, he kicked her in the stomach, using the wall to brace himself as he shoved her back. As Julia was knocked to the ground again, she let out a spree of curse words.


    ¡°Let her go, Kara!¡± Eli reached over and grabbed a chair, holding it defensively between himself and Julia.


    Julia remained on the floor. She needed a moment to gather her strength before attempting to stand again. ¡°... What?¡±


    ¡°I know you¡¯re angry that you didn¡¯t get what you want, but you can¡¯t start hurting people!¡±


    The door to the room began to shake. Next came pounding as the nurses tried to get in. Both of them glanced over to see that black ash was swirly about the handle, keeping it shut. Was Trill watching them? Julia gritted her teeth with rage. The bastard was treating them like toys.


    ¡°You¡¯re the one that hurt me! And Mackenzie, and Mio, and who knows how many other people! You¡¯re the psychopath th-that needs to be stopped.¡± Julia rubbed her eyes with her forearm. Tears were already falling freely from them. ¡°I¡­ I want my sister back, a-and Mackenzie¡­ But¡­ What did you do to me?! What did you do this?!¡±


    Eli set the chair down on the floor. He still hid behind it, but now he was unsure of what they were doing here. ¡°... Julia?¡± He blinked a few times as he tried to piece together what was happening. ¡°Did you already do the rit-¡±


    The shadow below Julia expanded. It turned soft, like sand, right before it whipped up around her and swallowed her whole. Suddenly she was falling, and she landed hard on a cement floor. She let out a pained whine as she sat up and looked down at herself. Everything was wet.


    She was in a warehouse, and the boarded-up windows only allowed for minimal light to come through. The wetness was dripping from above, and when she looked up, she could see human limbs and entrails hanging from fishing line tied to the roof supports.


    Julia did the only rational thing that came to mind, and let out a long, high-pitched scream.


    ¡°Shh,¡± retorted Trill. He held a digit up to his mouth.


    His warning would come too late. Fishing line shot up from the ground and tied up Julia. She let out another scream as she was dragged up into the air. The lines were cutting into her skin, and it was agony to move or even breathe.


    ¡°Who the fuck is this and why the fuck are they in a hospital gown?¡±


    It was a man wearing an animal mask like Trill¡¯s. This one was of a bird of some sort. One of the smaller ones, like a finch or a chickadee, but Julia didn¡¯t know which. His mask was different from the demon¡¯s. While Trill¡¯s almost seemed alive, his didn¡¯t appear nearly as real.


    ¡°A client,¡± replied Trill. ¡°I multiple cases at once, and she was in need of an emergency extraction.¡± The man flexed his hand as he debated what to do with Julia. ¡°... Put her down.¡±


    Julia fell with another thud to the ground and Trill walked up to her. He sliced open his wrist and held it forward for her to drink. Though she should have hesitated, Julia was suddenly overtaken with hunger as she stared at the ash dripping from his veins. She crawled forward and began to drink, much to the disgust of the birdman.


    ¡°... That¡¯s fucked up.¡±


    ¡°This one is a special case,¡± replied Trill as he patted Julia¡¯s head.


    Blood began to leak out of Julia¡¯s skin and form little tendrils. They tore off the hospital gown and wove about her body until she was wearing a red t-shirt and jeans. The fabric looked normal unless looked closely, then it looked like the individual threads were pulsing.


    Unamused, the man looked around. ¡°Are we done here?¡±


    ¡°Yes, this will be the last time we meet,¡± replied Trill. ¡°Best of luck in your endeavors.¡±


    Both he and Julia were swallowed up by ash again. When the swirl of dust vanished, the two of them were in an expensive looking hotel suite. Trill walked over to the mini-fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. This was held out for Julia, and she gratefully began to chug it down in order to wash the taste of ash and dust out of her mouth.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°I had meant to check in on you, but there were four summonings within close proximity to each other. The man you met was especially bloodthirsty, but I assure you that the people he killed certainly deserved it.¡±


    Julia gasped for air after chugging half the bottle. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me that Kara had summoned you before?!¡±


    Trill didn¡¯t show a response. Her yelling or revelation had no effect on him. ¡°Dealing with your requests is a conflict of interests for me. I am normally not allowed to discuss who has summoned me before or their requests, but I needed to pull you away from that fight before you lost your life.¡±


    ¡°I was fine!¡±


    ¡°You were in a room of shredded bodies, ones that were mutilated by powers that I had blessed onto another. Do not assume that you, an injured, somewhat nude woman, are capable of taking out a teenage boy with a pencil. Even on a good day. Or if he had not also be blessed with powers as well.¡±


    Julia finished off the rest of the bottle and sat down on the bed. After her hospital stay, a high-class suite bed was absolute heaven. She immediately flopped on her side and curled her legs up. Trill, despite being a horrid demon, had a point, and she was going to pout about it.


    ¡°Where are we?¡±


    ¡°Philadelphia.¡± Trill sat down near her and patted her head again, which rewarded him with a low grumble. ¡°The room will not be rented out tonight. You may use it as you please.¡±


    ¡°I need to go home and murder Eli,¡± she replied.


    ¡°I doubt that you have a home to go to.¡±


    Julia attempted to sit up, but Trill shoved her back down by her shoulder. She was feeling too weak to fend him off at this time. ¡°Of course I have a home. Dad didn¡¯t move us out yet.¡±


    ¡°Your father wouldn¡¯t remember that you exist. All he would know is that his only daughter died and that his wife took the opportunity to leave him. He will no doubt be in a daze for a few days, toss out any trace that you existed, and move on.¡± Julia looked up at him, clearly confused by what he meant. ¡°The power I had blessed that boy was memory.


    He has the ability to erase the existence of others from people¡¯s minds but is unable to return those memories. While attempting to erase the knowledge that that girl had won the scholarship he thought he deserved, he nearly erased her existence completely. Your life was caught in the twist, and so was your other friend¡¯s.


    Your sister caught on and had no way to defend herself. That boy knew this and attempted to abuse it to his advantage in order to summon me again. He desires the ability to complete his power. The more he took, the more of himself that he erased, and he wishes to make himself more important to others.¡±


    Julia closed her eyes. That would be why Eli had trouble finding others to do a ritual for him. No one would trust a stranger who ran around asking others to help him cast dark magic. How much of his own life did he accidentally erase? Was that the reason why he went after Kara? Because she couldn¡¯t forget them because they had done the ritual together?


    ¡°Why did he target Kara, and why didn¡¯t Britney mention it at all?¡±


    Trill continued to pat Julia¡¯s hair. Its puffy nature amused him, but she didn¡¯t find it to be all that satisfying. ¡°He had made an attempt to erase her in order to threaten your sister, but her wish for popularity backfired. They instead forgot about each other.¡±


    That would explain why Britney was acting so nonchalant about Kara¡¯s death. Mio had trouble acknowledging Mackenzie¡¯s existence as well. The traces of individuals were still there, not completely forgotten, but others didn¡¯t seem to care about them. Like how Julia felt a need to protect Mio but also didn¡¯t want to socialize with her more than she had to.


    Julia sat up and stared at Trill. He didn¡¯t have that brightness to him. That was to be expected. The only thing he appeared interested in was ensuring that the ritual could be cast over and over again because it was how he worshiped his god. How he got his powers, or if he were even born human, were questions she knew she wouldn¡¯t get the answer to.


    ¡°Is it true that you¡¯ll continue to grant the desires of others if you¡¯re summoned multiple times by them?¡± That was the reason why Eli was trying to be so persuasive.


    ¡°No,¡± he replied. ¡°The ritual itself only needs one person to cast it, however, I will still grant the desires of three individuals each time. If there are fewer present, I will seek out those who have a deeply seeded want buried within them. Taking part in the ritual only helps to ensure that one has some say in the wish that is granted.¡±


    ¡°But Britney already used the ritual. Who did you go after when we did it with her?¡±


    ¡°Her mother, but I did not need to contact her directly. I only needed to alter the needs of those around her. The only thing she seeks is a cure to her loneliness, and her path will not block yours.¡±


    Julia crossed her legs and settled her hands on her shins. ¡°Does my desire have anything to do with Mackenzie? Is the reason why you wouldn¡¯t say what it was before because Eli made me forget her?¡±


    ¡°The answer to that is not a simple yes or no, but the wish is one that I cannot grant for you until you remember what has been taken from you.¡±


    ¡°Is there a way for me to have a toy with Mackenzie in it? Like how you gave me one of Kara?¡±


    Trill shook his head slowly. ¡°Our contract allows me to know where your soul is, regardless of if you are dead or alive. I have no way of knowing where she is or claiming your soul for you.¡±


    Julia looked away. Her hands tightened on her legs. ¡°And the only way to get those memories back is by killing Eli¡­¡± Maybe Britney had a point when she said it. He was, in a way, a witch, and killing a witch is one of the few ways to break their curse.


    ¡°Indeed.¡±


    The news made Julia lower her voice. ¡°But this is all a conflict of interests to you¡­ You said that you¡¯re forbidden to talk about what you have done with others, yet,¡± she looked back up at him, ¡°why be so open with me now?¡±


    ¡°Because by exchanging your heart for mine, you are now less human and more like me. As one of my kind, you have the pleasure of knowing my business.¡± His lips spread into a small smile. There was something about the way he had said it that sent chills up Julia¡¯s back.


    ¡°... And what does that mean for me?¡±


    ¡°It means that you may one day have the power to once again claim your Mackenzie as your own,¡± he replied quietly. ¡°Without the need of my services or help. You, without being bound by my rules, would have the ability to do everything you imagine and more.¡±


    There was a catch. There absolutely had to be a catch. Her soul trapped in that horrid void that Kara had been placed or something she couldn¡¯t quite imagine, but she somehow knew it was worse. She and Trill were no longer dealing with simple contracts. Julia had no way of knowing what the fine print was.


    ¡°.... But I want to see Mackenzie again,¡± she whispered. ¡°Just so I can understand what it was that I felt.¡±


    ¡°Then you and I will have to train,¡± replied Trill. His lips spread into a wider grin, and his eyes were once again like starlight. As beautiful as they were in moments like this, Julia knew it meant something terrible was about to happen.

 Chapter Ten - We deal with desire.

    ¡°Keep it together. It¡¯s only a dead body,¡± muttered Trill.


    The woman was in the nude and lying on the floor of her living room. It was difficult to tell if she was overweight or simply that bloated from decomposition. Her eyes were bulging out of her head, and a various amount of liquid and wastes were leaking out from the various holes in her body.


    Julia was less than thrilled by the experience. She was knelt down in the corner, attempting not to vomit. The smell was worse than the sight was. As Trill continued to investigate, she snuck off to a different corner of the house.


    This woman was one of the ones who had done his ritual. She kept a tidy home and had three cats. Three cats that had been locked up in a room with a bag of food and two litter boxes. At least whoever had killed her had put in the effort to make sure her pets wouldn¡¯t eat her.


    She had been attracted to a coworker. After performing the ritual, he had moved in with her. After some time together and talks of marriage, the man¡¯s brother grew suspicious. He realized that she was controlling him somehow, attempted to seduce her, and poisoned her when she was most vulnerable. His brother was then freed from her curse, and the two fled the place.


    ¡°I am done,¡± replied Trill as he approached.


    ¡°What were we even doing here in the first place?¡±


    ¡°She was a member of a nine-person coven. They are all clients of mine, and will no doubt wish to know what had happened. I merely needed to bait one of them into coming here to check up on her so that she may continue her progress.¡± Ash swallowed the both of them. They reemerged in what looked like a basement, where a group of three were talking to each other. ¡°The powers I grant are capable of turning people into monsters. They have free will to use those powers as they please, but are often taken out by those who have been harmed or are jealous of what they have.¡±


    Two of those present were talking while a third drew up the arcane circle in blood. They appeared to be college students, who were treating this more like a joke than actual black magic. Trill was taking his time to circle about each of them, examining them closely.


    ¡°You appear before the ritual starts?¡±


    ¡°When I have time to notice,¡± he muttered. ¡°I need to make certain that these individuals are worth my time. I also need to ensure that none of them have any equipment that will record our presence.¡± Trill gestured for her to get closer. ¡°And you will need to learn how to read the desires of others.¡±


    That was the overwhelming brightness that came off of others. The unfulfilled wishes that others had within them. Mio glowed more dimly since she was getting the attention she needed, but Eli was brighter due to the frustration of his gifts. Julia¡¯s pain from looking at them had been because she was unprepared to use her newly found six sense.


    She sidestepped toward Trill like a duckling seeking protection, and he put an arm around her shoulder and whispered in his ear. ¡°The girl over there.¡± He gestured to the only girl of the trio, who was the one drawing up the circle.


    Julia attempted to concentrate. ¡°... She had gotten good grades on an essay that she had turned in, but the professor threatened to tear it apart and give her a lower grade if she didn¡¯t sleep with him.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re only looking at the surface,¡± purred Trill. ¡°You see the desire that she wants others to see. The one she presents to everyone. A poor girl who was raped by her teacher, but the truth runs far deeper than that.¡±


    There were glimpses hidden deep beneath the brightness of her will. ¡°She came to this university because of the professor. He spoke at her high school, and she had had a crush on him ever since then. When she came here, she heard a rumor that he forced himself on certain students, because he had a type, and she purposely changed herself in order to become his target¡­¡±


    ¡°And the only thing now that stands in her way is his wife,¡± whispered Trill. ¡°What this one desires is to stand side by side with him, as both fellow researcher and wife.¡± He slipped away from Julia¡¯s side and gestured to the two men. ¡°One here is her boyfriend, who assumes as you have, that she wants vengeance for her rape. The other is a friend from the girl¡¯s class. He has an unrequited love for the same professor, but is unable to act on it due to being a man.¡±


    ¡°Oh god¡­¡±


    ¡°Precisely,¡± said Trill with a gleam in his eyes. ¡°Now what gifts should I impart upon them?¡± Julia shook her head, completely clueless on what to do. She thought maybe it was better to let the situation play itself out, but Trill wouldn¡¯t let that happen. ¡°It simply can¡¯t be anything in the world. We need to be clever. It is dangerous for us to show that magic was involved.¡±


    The statement gave Julia pause. ¡°But what about myself or that man with the razor wire or whatever that was.¡±


    ¡°He is already dead. Taken out by a fellow summoner, and you would be as well if I had not intervened,¡± replied Trill. ¡°That boy has the power to erase the presence of others. He would have made the nurses and your father forget you, and you would have no idea who he was either. If you had managed to escape that hospital, you would be hunted down as a ghost of your sister, or some imposter who claims to be related.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    That is the fate that lays in store for you if you choose to return. That is, unless you choose to kill him. It is only through our shared power that you are able to remember who that boy is and why he is important. You are the only one in the world who has a chance to stop them.¡±


    The girl of the group tossed a dead chicken into the circle. There was no chanting, nor did they hold hands or stand in proper spots. It was becoming apparent to Julia that Trill didn¡¯t care how the ritual was done, not as long as there was a sacrifice of flesh and at least three nearby who had a strong will.


    One was just about to ask what was happening when the lights of the room died out. The boyfriend went to flip the switch. He flicked it a few times before stating that the lights may have died. Though the other man wasn¡¯t as convinced, as he had pulled out his phone and had become alarmed when it was refusing to turn on.


    The girl began to hop backward as the chicken burst into flames. As they began to shout at each other, the smoke coming off the fire shifted into Trill. His presence made them fall silent, and he was able to coax their wishes out from them one by one. The girl wanted vengeance on her professor, her boyfriend shared her sentiments, and the third half-heartedly muttered that he wanted to find someone to ease his loneliness.


    Trill vanished in a swirl of smoke and grabbed Julia along the way. They reappeared in a room where a man somewhere in his thirties was asleep next to his wife. It was a modest room with pictures of the couple from around the world. The two of them were quite the stereotypical married couple with no children.


    ¡°What are we doing here?¡± Julia immediately hid behind Trill as the woman let out a snort. It was a part of her snoring, brought on by her rolling over.


    ¡°I only need to increase this man¡¯s libido and encourage him to take on both men and women.¡± Trill leaned in and whispered something in an unknown tongue within the sleeping man¡¯s ear.


    Letting out a low groan as sleep abandoned his senses, the man sat up. He rubbed at his face before looking down at his wife. A grin appeared on his lips, and he immediately rolled on top of her. She let out a surprised cry, followed by a giggle as he began to playfully nibble at her neck.


    Julia immediately turned away. ¡°We should leave,¡± she whispered.


    ¡°This man¡¯s lust will encourage him to his loins to conquer more of his students, and his carelessness will find himself reported by one of them. The two who wanted him must then decide if they will continue to fight each other to be by his side once his wife leaves him, or abandon him to his misery.¡±


    ¡°We really should leave,¡± she repeated. A satisfied moan escaped the woman as her husband pulled off her pajama pants so he could bite at her thigh.


    ¡°Such entertainment does not come freely,¡± replied Trill amusedly.


    ¡°Then we need to get you a computer,¡± she spat back.


    Trill put a hand around her waist and a moment of darkness overtook them before they were in the hotel suite again. His grip tightened as he spun around her and lifted her up in the air. Julia let out a yelp and began to flail her legs back and forth while her hands pushed aside his face. Not caring much for her resistance, he dropped her on the bed.


    ¡°Stop it!¡±


    ¡°My blood is dust,¡± he replied in a deadpan manner. ¡°Parts of my anatomy will always fail to work no matter how strongly I will them rise.¡± He knelt down in front of her and took her hand into his.


    ¡°You said that I needed training to take on Eli, but all you¡¯ve done is drag me around and tell me that you make people¡¯s lives worse!¡± She attempted to yank her hand back, but he refused to let go.


    ¡°Moment.¡±


    His free hand sliced into the flesh of her wrist, and he sealed his mouth about the wound. As she tried to beat him back with her other hand, his tail held it back. She attempted to kick at him, but that only lead him to clamber on top of her and sit on her thighs. Julia opened her mouth to shout, yet no noise made it past her lips.


    Trill took his time to enjoy his meal, only stopping when Julia began to feel dizzy from blood loss. He licked the wound close before slicing open his own wrist and holding it over Julia¡¯s face. She grasped onto it and began to drink freely while he loomed over her.


    ¡°There is a code of conduct when it comes to my abilities,¡± he explained while she drank. ¡°I am teaching you through example. Our powers are blessed from the beyond, and humans are not meant to know of their existence. The first rule is that only those who have performed the ritual will see and understand these blessings.


    The second rule is that the summoners must be the ones to attain their own desires. We merely provide them the means. They are the ones who will take action. You will be using my powers to deal out your punishments, but by doing so, you must abide by my rules.¡±


    Julia released his arm with a gasp of air. She licked her lips, then frowned to herself. ¡°So if I go after Eli, I need to find a way to have him destroy himself.¡±


    ¡°Precisely. Use your powers to punish him directly, and my blood and heart will tear apart your body from within.¡±


    She already knew that the blood disease that the doctors couldn¡¯t identify was caused by Trill. The only times she felt sick was when she avoided delving into people¡¯s desires, and when she forced Kara to show her her memories. By forcing Kara to do so, she was taking direct action, and thus she began to suffer from internal hemorrhaging.


    ¡°You were the one who told me to force Kara to show me her memories!¡±


    Trill was pleased that she had caught on so quickly. ¡°Humans learn through pain. You would not have heeded my warnings had you not experienced them firsthand.¡±


    That didn¡¯t stop her from being furious. ¡°And what¡¯s to happen to me after this? You said yourself that you only give strong abilities to those who would not live for a long time.¡±


    ¡°My powers were necessary to protect you¡­ As for what will happen to you afterward¡­¡± He leaned in over her, so close that she could nearly feel the coldness of his snout. ¡°I have no idea. And I find that to be quite enticing.¡±


    Julia didn¡¯t have a response to that. She only felt a chill go up her back, which had become a familiar sensation to her by this point. Giving a shove to Trill¡¯s shoulder, he rolled off of her so she could sit up. Just as she was becoming used to being terrified of him, Trill had become accustomed to touching her.


    But he also gave her something to think about. She needed to be clever. Eli had already taken the steps to destroy her and her life. Now she was a nothingness that had been given the free will to do as she pleased. He was someone who wasn¡¯t afraid to take control over other¡¯s lives in order to suit his own needs. The nest possible revenge she could have would be to turn those powers on himself, and relish in the despair he felt as his world crumbled around him.

 Chapter Eleven - Homecoming

    A swirl of ash appeared within Julia¡¯s room, and both she and Trill appeared. She had asked to learn the trick herself, but he had stated that he transported himself using his own blood. Unlike demons, humans tended to die when all of their blood burst out of their body at once and teleported them to a new area.


    Everything in the room was the same as when Julia had passed out, including the pile of vomit and blood. Julia knelt down and picked up Kara¡¯s egg. It seemed fine, even if it felt cold. When she looked through it, Kara was in the corner of the room, curled up in a ball. That also seemed normal for her ghost self, so Julia felt no need to be worried.


    She went downstairs to see how her father would react. Her time with Trill had made her somewhat nocturnal. Trill didn¡¯t appreciate being out in sunlight, and most of his rituals occurred during the night. Either way, her father should be home from work by now.


    Instead, what she found was an empty house. Bread on the counter had begun to mold, the fruit was rotting, and no new leftovers had appeared in the fridge. Maggots were crawling over the trash, which meant that no one had bothered to take it out for at least a week.


    Julia turned around to face Trill, who had followed her. ¡°Where¡¯s my dad?¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t remember you,¡± he replied calmly.


    ¡°But this is his house. This is where he lives. He should still be here.¡±


    ¡°Those who are afflicted by this curse will actively seek to avoid places that would make them remember. As far as your father is concerned, your sister and you were never born. He and his wife were never able to have children, and she, unsatisfied with their relationship, moved out shortly after the new year.¡±


    That was when her mother had moved out. Only a few days after Kara¡¯s death. ¡°That doesn¡¯t explain why he isn¡¯t here.¡±


    ¡°He thought himself justified with your mother¡¯s selfish abandonment and sought to begin a new relationship. Over the past few days, he has been living over at her house.¡±


    ¡°Then take me there!¡±


    Trill took Julia¡¯s hand into her own, and they were at Britney¡¯s house. Britney¡¯s mother and her father were having dinner together, with Britney and Tyler. He was being stern, since Britney had brought over her boyfriend, while Britney¡¯s mom was being happy for her daughter.


    ¡°... The fuck?¡±


    ¡°None of them remember you,¡± he replied. ¡°Or the pain left by your sister¡¯s death. Life is normal. Life is bliss.¡±


    Julia felt herself stumbling back. Trill braced himself behind her, and they were quickly back in her living room. She had to sit on the couch in order to recover from the shock. Her face quickly became buried by her hands as she started to sob.


    Trill stared at her blankly. ¡°... What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m crying, okay?¡± Julia began to wipe at her arms, but she couldn¡¯t stop the tears from falling.


    ¡°... I know what crying is,¡± he muttered. He then held out his arm. ¡°Are you hungry?¡±


    ¡°No! Just go away! I-I don¡¯t need you gawking at me like you¡¯re some idiot or something, I just need to be left alone for now!¡±


    Trill stared at her for a moment longer before he sat down on the couch. He dragged her into his chest and held her gently while she continued to cry. She hesitated for a moment before burying herself into his shoulder. The soft cloth of his hoodie as comprised of thousands of small feathers, which at least made it a comfortable experience.


    Though it took some time, she eventually devolved to a series of hiccups and rubs to her face as she attempted to dry it. Honestly. Crying in front of a sociopathic demon. How stupid could she be?


    ¡°Are you done?¡±


    ¡°... No,¡± she whispered.¡±


    ¡°I do not understand what the problem is.¡±


    Julia let out a long and annoyed sigh. ¡°... I thought I was doing something good,¡± she muttered. ¡°I thought that I could take down Eli and people would remember Mackenzie and me and Kara, and everything would be okay¡­ But they¡¯re happy. My dad, Britney, her mom, they¡¯re all happy and lacking in secret wishes or desires. My mom probably believes she left a bad relationship and is doing fine as well.


    If I kill Eli, then all of them would be suffering again. Lost friends, lost children¡­ It¡¯s nothing but a terrible cycle where people keep hurting each other because they¡¯ve lost someone or can¡¯t attain what they truly want. I should just let them be happy and ignorant forever. It¡¯s not right for me to take that away from them.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Trill let her rant and weep against him, but he didn¡¯t understand her problem. ¡°You exist.¡± He pushed her away and gently cupped her cheek. ¡°You still exist. Would you end yourself now simply to keep them happy?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Then what?¡±


    ¡°I d-don¡¯t know,¡± she said as looked away from him.


    ¡°You would have the option of traveling with me.¡±


    And all she would have to look forward to is an existence of watching people destroy themselves. ¡°I don¡¯t want that.¡± She pulled her arm away as he went to grab it. ¡°I didn¡¯t give you permission to drink my blood whenever you wanted it.¡±


    ¡°It will make you feel better.¡±


    Though it was initially revolting, there was something oddly addictive to the dust in his veins. ¡°You¡¯re only doing it to change me.¡±


    ¡°Because you¡¯ll need that strength.¡± He frowned as Julia pushed him away from her. ¡°You cannot make a life for yourself without taking out your foe. The only choice is to stay by my side, and for that to happen, you will need my powers.¡±


    ¡°Why do you even continue down this path? You said before it was your religion, but I¡¯ve never heard of anything like it.¡± She pulled her knees up to her chest and moved to the far end of the couch.


    Trill smirked to himself. ¡°The god I worshiped fell out of favor thousands of years ago. We fell into a torpor, and it was not until someone uncovered my ritual that I was allowed to thrive again. As long as I continue to do my ritual, my god may yet reward me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a very good explanation,¡± she replied. That was all information she could have easily come up with herself.


    ¡°Magic only appears to be magic as long as it remains mysterious,¡± he retorted in a hateful tone. She replied with a frown. ¡°My god was once a human girl. I do not know how she came about her abilities but became a god of greed. She would help humans achieve their desires, and they would often die miserable deaths once they stepped outside of what was respectable.


    Seeing those suffer did not please my god, thus she chose me to take her place at rituals. I, who was not born human, was given this form. I do not take sympathy on those who perform the ritual. I give them what they desire most without caring about what is best for them. If they were to fall, that is the laws of either nature or society running their course.


    However, the cities were burned to the ground, and the gods were cast out. Without their worship, they faded to the underworld, where all is destined to rot until they are dust before becoming nothing at all. Yet I, a non-human in a human underworld, persisted. I waited until it was time for my ritual to be cast again, and I will continue to perform my duties for my god until she rises again.¡± His jaw tensed up. There was anger in his voice as he spoke, which was unusual since he rarely showed any emotion other than amusement. ¡°I exist. I will continue to exist, and there is no reason for me to abandon my duty.¡±


    Julia watched as he huffed and puffed in an attempt to calm himself. ¡°... You continue, despite your god being dead?¡±


    ¡°There are traces of her still in this world. She may still be out there,¡± he spat back. ¡°What matters is that you and I exist. We should not be forced to choose to return to nothingness when we have done nothing wrong.¡±


    Trill pounced on her, and she would have let out a yelp had he not clamped his hand over her mouth. Ash overtook them, and suddenly they were balancing precariously on a tree branch nearby a window. He leaned towards her ear and whispered quietly in it.


    ¡°Take heed to how loud you are. He has performed the ritual, thus we cannot remain invisible to him.¡±


    Julia glanced over to the window and saw Eli sitting at a desk. He was working at a computer, occasionally rubbing at his face in order to keep himself awake. The house he lived in was outdated. Part of it sagged, the curtains were faded, and Eli¡¯s room was covered in faded wallpaper.


    ¡°Why are we here?¡± She whispered the moment Trill moved his hand.


    His reply was to put his hand over her mouth again. ¡°Look at him.¡±


    She pushed his hand away and looked at Eli. He was still glowing brightly. Despite thinking he was safe from Julia, and getting Mackenzie¡¯s scholarship, he wasn¡¯t happy. Eli wanted more. There was a spot in Stanford that he wanted, and from there he wanted to be a doctor.


    It didn¡¯t matter to him if people got in his way. Whatever field he chose, he would never have to worry about competition. Everyone would simply forget about those who were better than him. Eli would be able to afford to fix up the house for his parents. Better yet, he could have his dad return.


    So many ambitions were floating about his head that Julia began to gag. She felt sick looking at him. Before Eli could notice their presence, Trill whisked them back to Julia¡¯s room. Julia sat on the floor this time, shaking her head back and forth while covering her mouth with her hand.


    ¡°He¡¯s not going to stop¡­ He¡¯s going to keep going until someone figures it out, and even that¡¯s not enough to be able to stop him.¡±


    ¡°You are being given the choice,¡± said Trill. He knelt down on the floor next to her. ¡°You can either let those alive live in bliss, or you can avenge those who are dead. By doing so, you will also save his future victims. Countless others who would suffer at his hands.¡±


    Julia wrapped her arms about herself. She wouldn¡¯t be better than the others that Trill had helped. The man who murdered with thread, the woman who brainwashed a lover, or the two who were no doubt now fighting for the affections of their professor. All of them were terrible people, Eli included, but¡­ She didn¡¯t want to be like them.


    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Mackenzie,¡± said Trill in a cold tone. ¡°How many more will you allow to become like Mackenzie?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± The girl she loved, but could no longer remember¡­ What would Mackenzie say if she saw her now? Julia honestly had no idea, and a part of her was terrified by that fact. ¡°... Alright¡­ Alright, fine. I-I¡¯ll stop him. I think I know how to do it, but I am going to need your help.¡±


    ¡°I am limited in what I can or cannot do. You should know this. You are the same.¡±


    ¡°It will be fine,¡± she said with a nod. ¡°I know exactly what to do.¡±

 Chapter Twelve - Forget Julia.

    Eli woke up early like he usually did most days. He brushed his teeth, grabbed a piece of toast for breakfast, and walked to school. No matter what the weather was, he walked to school. Though if it was really bad, a friend would call him in the morning and ask to pick him up. Unless it was as bad as she claimed it to be, Eli would refuse.


    He didn¡¯t want to be a charity case. People shouldn¡¯t treat him with sympathy just because his family wasn¡¯t doing as well as others. His dad did everything he could to keep them together as a family, his mom did the same, and his little sister never minded a boy¡¯s hand me downs. Life wasn¡¯t as bad as everyone else thought it was.


    After he reached school, he immediately went to the library and sat down at a table with his friends. Mackenzie would drop a sandwich in front of him and go to talking to Julia, the others would filter in afterward, and Mio would always be last. But she also brought rice balls three times a week, so no one ever really cared if she chose to sleep in.


    That was life in AP Club. Well, AP Club and intruder Julia. The one who claimed to be too busy working on other projects, but was always hanging out with them anyways. Eli knew the reason why, because her friends were here, but that is what made it nauseating.


    ¡°I got the Thompson Scholarship!¡± Mackenzie was nearly vibrating in her seat from how excited she was. She immediately dropped an egg and bacon sandwich in front of Eli after saying it.


    ¡°You mentioned it in the group chat five times last night,¡± muttered Eli.


    ¡°Yeah, but Julia isn¡¯t in the AP group chat.¡± Mackenzie forced a big squeeze on him before tackling Julia as she walked in. ¡°Thompson Scholarship!¡±


    ¡°You texted me about as soon as you got the call,¡± replied Julia in a weary voice. Mackenzie replied by pouting at her. She continued to pout until Julia gave her a peck on the forehead.


    The two sat at the table and Mackenzie immediately began to gush and fawn about the scholarship. It took a lot of effort to earn once one was accepted. They acted as the student representative on the local school board. After the year was up, they got the money, which was worth far less than what the work should pay for, but it looked great on college applications.


    It was the one scholarship that Eli coveted. One that could propel him to the school of his choice. Mackenzie did sort of deserve it, but he was the one that was at nearly every single local charity event. The scholarship was a local one, not one for someone who ran off to Portland every weekend. She had only gotten it because she had higher grades than he did.


    ¡°You¡¯re coming over after school?¡± Julia looked over to Eli. When he didn¡¯t respond, she began to snap her fingers at him.


    He blinked a few times as he tried to process what she had said. ¡°Yeah, sure¡­ Uh, why was I doing that again?¡±


    ¡°I need you to record a few voice lines for a video I¡¯m working on. You can hit those low gravely tones I need for a narrator,¡± she replied with a smile.


    Julia made commercials in her free time. She wanted to go into advertising, and Portland had a marketing program. Though helping her out with it made him nervous. He glanced over to Mackenzie, who held up a finger to her lips.


    Mackenzie had recently confided in the AP Club that she was looking at the University of Washington because they had a program focused on social work. She had already promised Julia that she was going to go to Portland so that they could stay together after high school. Eli¡­ Didn¡¯t want to be in the middle of that. They had another year of high school left, and maybe they would break up before then.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ That¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll help out.¡±


    He had been to Julia¡¯s house a few times, so it wasn¡¯t a big deal or anything. The only problem was that they¡¯d have to wait after school for her sister to be done with cheerleading practice before going home. It wasn¡¯t all bad though. Julia often had her laptop and a set of controllers with her, so she could play games while waiting for a ride.


    After they got a ride, he¡¯d spend some time recording lines for a made-up product. This was apparently for a project in Julia¡¯s English class. She gave him a thumbs up and he sat on her bed playing more games until it was time for dinner. That¡¯s how anyone usually paid him for anything, with food.


    Eli wasn¡¯t fat or anything, but most of his meals were the same at home. Mostly lentils, beans, or anything that packed a high amount of nutrition for very little cost. Tonight it was fried chicken, which seemed to be the only thing that he had whenever he was at Julia¡¯s house.


    ¡°It¡¯s because mom wants you to be my boyfriend,¡± muttered Julia. She was sitting at her desk and editing the audio that Eli had recorded for her.


    ¡°But I don¡¯t remember ever saying that fried chicken was my favorite food.¡±


    ¡°I know, but she claims it¡¯s the recipe she¡¯s best at, so she makes it to impress anyone that comes over. Mom, I know we are one of the only black families in town, but that doesn¡¯t mean you have to always serve our friends fried chicken.¡±


    Eli smirked to himself. ¡°It is the best-fried chicken I have ever had.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s amazing, but that¡¯s not the point,¡± she muttered.


    ¡°It might be worth it to be your boyfriend just to get more fried chicken.¡± He started to snicker to himself as Julia turned around in her chair to glare at him. ¡°You¡¯re the one that said you were bisexual.¡±


    ¡°And my mom thinks bisexual means that I¡¯m just in a phase and I¡¯ll settle for a penis eventually. I should have done what dad suggested and lied about being a lesbian.¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Eli was about to say something when Kara peeked her head through the door, asking if he was ready to go home. He reassured Julia that she didn¡¯t need to go with him and got into the car with Britney and Kara. The whole time, the two of them were arguing back and forth. Kara was saying something about wanting to wait for Mio, but Britney wanted it tonight.


    ¡°Settle a bet for me,¡± said Britney as she turned around in her seat. ¡°You¡¯re unhappy, right?¡± Eli glanced up from his phone, glared at her, then looked back down at it. ¡°You know what I mean, right? If you had a chance to fix it, you would.¡±


    ¡°I am going to fix it by having good grades and going to a good college,¡± he replied coldly.


    ¡°Yeah, but what if you can get that Tomtom scholarship or whatever? I know how you can take it away from Mackenzie.¡± Britney grinned as she clearly caught his attention. ¡°It¡¯s a win-win. You and I know that Mackenzie is going to choose the school of her dreams over Julia, but this way you can help keep them together and end up at the school you want.¡±


    ¡°That sounds illegal,¡± muttered Eli.


    Kara¡¯s eyes flicked to his through the rearview mirror for a moment before she looked back at the road. ¡°It¡¯s a demonic ritual,¡± she said in a flat tone.


    ¡°And it¡¯s a no bad cost sort of ritual! All we have to do is tell other people that we did the ritual and that it worked. It doesn¡¯t have to be in person, my cousin got it offline. She tried it, and she lost so much weight at once and became a super hotty!¡± Britney¡¯s eyes lit up as she talked about it. ¡°But it needs three people to do it.¡±


    ¡°Then why not ask your friends? You have plenty of them.¡±


    ¡°Because they¡¯re selfish bitches. Take Austin for example, he¡¯d probably ask to sleep with Kara, right? Then there are all those backstabbers in cheerleading. Anyone of our friends is going to use their wish against us, but Julia¡¯s friends are all free game. Julia would refuse since she doesn¡¯t believe in any of that crap, Mackenzie would end up hurting Julia on accident, so we thought either you or Mio would be good.¡±


    Eli took the time to consider her proposition. He took exactly have a second to carefully process the request. ¡°No.¡±


    Kara interrupted Britney before she could start an argument. ¡°We¡¯ll owe you a favor if it doesn¡¯t work. What would you want?¡±


    Eli needed even less time to think about that one. ¡°I need help talking to girls.¡±


    ¡°Which one?¡± Kara raised a brow.


    ¡°Any girl.¡±


    ¡°No guy asks for help talking to girls if he doesn¡¯t already have a crush on a particular girl,¡± replied Kara.


    Eli down at his phone and began to mutter quietly. ¡°The red-headed sophomore in your squad.¡±


    ¡°Deal,¡± said Kara.


    And that¡¯s how the three of them attempted to summon a demon together. Britney was turning heads at school, Kara¡¯s parents started to fight more, and Eli had the power to erase people from other¡¯s minds. But it turned out to be a terrible gift.


    He only wanted to make people forget that Mackenzie had the scholarship. They instead tossed her out. She left the AP Club, and since she and Julia also forgot each other, neither of them showed up in the morning. Julia even forgot both Mio and the rest of the AP Club. Mio stopped showing up in the mornings, and now everyone there was cranky because there were no rice balls three times a week.


    Eli became riddled with guilt. He was awarded the scholarship, but he didn¡¯t want to break up his friends because of it. None of them remembered each other, and he was starting to believe he was forgetting things too. When he tried to pressure Kara into doing the ritual again, he forgot who the third person was. All he knew was that there was a third person.


    Then Mackenzie died.


    He was convinced that it was an accident, but he often wondered. She had a newer car. It shouldn¡¯t have failed on her, and the rain wasn¡¯t bad enough that she couldn¡¯t have made it to Portland. Eli wondered¡­ What if she did it on purpose? What if loner Mackenzie, with no friends and no ambitions, had decided that enough was enough? And she didn¡¯t want to deal with it anymore?


    When Kara died, he did try to figure out who it was. It could have been the mysterious third person or even Julia. She certainly wasn¡¯t the same since Mackenzie left. But that meant that he needed to keep his guard up. He was the one that had threatened Kara, and that might make him a target.


    His suspicions worsened after Austin¡¯s accident. He thought that it might have been Kara¡¯s ghost, but then Julia attacked him. It seemed like she had done the ritual as well, which meant that he had no choice but to protect himself. There was a time when they could¡¯ve worked it out, maybe she wouldn¡¯t understand it was an accident, but there wasn¡¯t time for that anymore. Eli needed to make certain he wasn¡¯t going to be a target.


    Days passed with no sign of Julia. He didn¡¯t know where she had gone to, but that didn¡¯t matter. She didn¡¯t seem to have special powers other than moving herself around. Eli had attempted to erase her from the world, thus it was likely that she was wandering about with amnesia and no way to get herself home.


    With no worries weighing him down, Eli carried on as though everything were normal. No one asked him about his nose bandage. It was a gift from Julia stabbing at him with a mechanical pencil, but the norm was that people ignored him, so he dealt with it. However, something was off about today. The school was having electrical problems, and the morning announcements stated that classes would be canceled if they couldn¡¯t fix it by lunch hour.


    They should¡¯ve just canceled them completely. The lights cut out during the second period. With no windows in the classroom, everyone was suddenly in the dark. The teacher was telling everyone to remain calm, but the girls were already making a racket. Phones were being pulled out¡­ Then the panic set in.


    ¡°It¡¯s not turning on!¡±


    ¡°The hell? Were we hit by an emp or something?¡±


    ¡°Who the fuck would emp a small town in buttfuck nowhere?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve read that nukes cause electromagnetic pulses.¡± The room fell silent for a moment. ¡°That means emps.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re still in the middle of buttfuck nowhere. No one is nuking us.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a considerable amount of range that the pulse travels from the nuke and-¡±


    ¡°No one is nuking Portland!¡±


    ¡°North Korea might?¡±


    ¡°North Korea. Nuke Portland. Portland. Por-ta-land...¡±


    ¡°Well, they aren¡¯t the brightest country, right? Maybe they thought-¡±


    ¡°They have fucking nukes! Who cares how smart someone is if they have nukes? If someone asks, you say they are smart enough!¡±


    Eli had already pulled out his phone and was banging it against his hand. It wasn¡¯t working. Which meant that Julia was finally making her move. He was more inclined to believe that there were demonic forces at work here over the fact that Portland had been nuked.


    The intercom system let out a sharp squeal, which either forced some of the students to be silent or sent them into a screaming panic. Static cut in. This was followed by several female voices talking over each other in low, melancholy tones. It was difficult to make out what any of them were saying. As the static grew louder, so did one of the women¡¯s voices, till the static cut out completely, and only her voice was the one to be heard.


    ¡°You murdered me, Eli Strumm. You murdered me.¡±

 Chapter Thirteen - Eli Strumm

    ¡°What the fuck did you do, Eli?!¡±


    Eli couldn¡¯t identify who said it. ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything. Someone is pulling a prank.¡±


    More static was heard over the intercom before it cut to what sounded like a phone call. ¡°You¡¯ll do what I want, Kara, or you¡¯ll end up like Mackenzie.¡±


    Eli stood up from his desks, and his hands formed into fists. Was this Julia¡¯s plan? Fake conversations between himself and Kara and play them over the school intercom? Surely she couldn¡¯t be that foolish.


    ¡°Mackenzie? But she¡­ Oh god, Eli. You didn¡¯t kill her, did you? Please tell me that you didn¡¯t kill her.¡± Kara¡¯s voice was shaking as she spoke.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I need you to do what I ask. Pick me up after school. Don¡¯t bring anyone. We¡¯ll talk more then.¡±


    How foolish did Julia think he was? Eli rested his hand on his desk and closed his eyes. There already wasn¡¯t a Kara. Mackenzie had been pushed aside already. All he needed to do was to ensure that neither existed anymore.


    The students around him began to speak up. ¡°Who are Kara and Mackenzie?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. You¡¯d think they¡¯d use real names or something. Making stuff up just proves that it¡¯s a prank, right?¡±


    A smile broke out across Eli¡¯s lips.


    Another phone call started to play. ¡°I can¡¯t do this anymore, Eli.¡± Kara was talking again, sounding more frightened than before. ¡°Austin found out that you¡¯ve been harassing me.¡±


    ¡°It isn¡¯t harassment if you just do what I ask.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the point. He¡¯s¡­ He said he was going to tell Tyler unless I started to sleep with him, and I can¡¯t do this anymore.¡±


    ¡°Then you can keep being his slut,¡± growled Eli. ¡°That¡¯s what you deserve.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t deserve any of this!¡±


    ¡°Mackenzie is dead because of what we did,¡± he let out a laugh as she started to deny him. ¡°No. It¡¯s our fault, Kara. You can pretend that you didn¡¯t have anything to do with it, but you helped to start this. You put her down this path. You helped murder her.¡±


    The students began to speak up again. ¡°Austin? Wasn¡¯t that the guy who freaked out and said a ghost tore off half his face?¡±


    ¡°What? There wasn¡¯t anyone like that at our school.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a story the woodshop teacher made up so that kids don¡¯t do stupid shit around the machines. No one actually believes someone got their face cut off like that.¡±


    Eli didn¡¯t care if people forgot about Austin as well. He wasn¡¯t ever going to come back to the school. No one needed to remember him. There were also multiple Tylers at the school. Nothing to worry about. What was next, Julia?


    ¡°Hello, Doctor Lowry? It¡¯s Eli. Eli Strumm, yes.¡± The voice over the intercom let out a long sigh. ¡°No, it¡¯s not going well. The voices are getting louder, and the visions are coming back¡­ Yes, I know they¡¯re not real¡­ Dad said that our insurance wouldn¡¯t cover the right medicine, this is the only kind they¡¯ll let me take¡­ No, I don¡¯t want to go in and talk about it. I just want them to go away¡­ I need them to go away because I can¡¯t live like this anymore.¡±


    A silence hung over the classroom. Eli could make out the sounds of chairs and people were scooting away from him. ¡°It¡¯s not true! Someone is making all of this up!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I¡¯m going to end up hurting more people if this keeps going on,¡± said the voice over the intercom. ¡°But they deserve it. I know I wouldn¡¯t hurt people if they didn¡¯t do something to deserve it.¡±


    The only sound in the classroom was the door slamming open as Eli rushed out to the hallway. He was going to find the intercom room and punish Julia. Even though the hallway was dark, he could make out a light at the end of it. All he needed to do was make it there, and he could figure out where the office was after that.


    He ran down the hall and suddenly music and voices overtook the area. Eli looked around in a bewildered manner. This was a house. There was some party going on, but he only recognized some of the people. Several were from AP Club, others were also from school, but¡­ There was a girl looking at him. Dark skinned, natural hair, glasses. Something about her was familiar, but¡­


    ¡°... Julia¡­¡± He blinked a few times. ¡°Yeah¡­ Yeah, you¡¯re what Julia looks like.¡±


    ¡°You have trouble remembering already?¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    ¡°It should. It doesn¡¯t bother you that you don¡¯t remember your own past?¡±


    A shadow crossed over the room at that moment, and Julia vanished within it. Eli looked around for any signs of her. There was she was, talking to Mackenzie. The two of them were in the corner of the room together and giggling, but¡­ He couldn¡¯t quite remember Mackenzie¡¯s name or why she was important anymore.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t the past. This is some weird vision that you conjured up to make me paranoid!¡±


    ¡°Is it?¡± Julia appeared in a mirror hanging on the wall. ¡°I¡¯ve been told that this is something that happened, but I don¡¯t have any way of knowing. These are memories that you robbed from me.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    ¡°These are memories that you robbed from yourself.¡±


    Eli looked away from her and saw himself sitting on a couch. He was talking with friends of his and laughing. Though he didn¡¯t remember being friends with those people¡­ What were their names again? He was certain he had seen them around the school or even had a class with them, but he had trouble placing exactly where or when that was.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need a past. I have a future to look forward to. It doesn¡¯t matter how much of me or you or anyone else that is lost along the way, I still have my future!¡±


    Without bothering to look around at the party, Eli stepped through the door and found himself walking down a dark hallway. There was another light at the end, coming from an open door. The shadows next to him shifted about until Julia was walking side by side next to him.


    ¡°Our past is what shapes our futures. Without it, we are nothing,¡± she said while moving her arms about.


    He kept glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. The last thing he needed was for her to jump on him again. ¡°Goals are what move people forward. The necessity to evolve. We see for ourselves what we need in our lives, and we fight to make it ours.¡±


    ¡°Can you tell me where you were born?¡± She stopped walking, but he kept going. ¡°What about the name of your first crush? Or the person you were friends with?¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Eli ignored her and stepped through the door. It looked to be his house, but¡­ Who were these people at the dining table? Wait, no, those were his parents. And the others were his younger siblings¡­ But didn¡¯t he only have one? Were there more?


    ¡°Our neighbor¡¯s hens laid to many eggs again, so they gave me some of the older ones under the condition that I use them right away.¡± His mother set down a large cast iron pan in the middle of the table. It was filled with a tomato lentil stew with fried eggs on top.


    ¡°Is it spicy?¡± The youngest boy crinkled up his nose at the smell.


    ¡°Only a little bit,¡± said her mother. The boy¡¯s nose crinkled all the more. ¡°I said a little bit! Try it! You¡¯ll like it!¡±


    The sound of a door being opened and closed could be heard, and Eli walked through the room. He had his backpack over one shoulder and dark circles under his eyes. Rather than say hi to anyone, he walked past them and up the stairs to his room.


    ¡°Dinner!¡± Called his mother.


    The past Eli peeked his head down the stairs. ¡°I¡¯m meeting up with a friend.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you just come back from seeing a friend?¡± His dad replied sarcastically.


    ¡°It¡¯s a different friend!¡± Called out Eli from upstairs. ¡°I have more than one friend!¡±


    His mother raised her voice. ¡°Alright! Whoever it is, I hope you have fun!¡± She waved to him as he rushed past the dining room again. ¡°I love you.¡±


    He peeked back into the room. ¡°Love you, too.¡±


    The present Eli stood around in a confused manner. ¡°What¡¯s the point in showing me this? I know what my family looks like.¡±


    Julia spoke up from behind. She was leaning against a wall. ¡°People aren¡¯t puzzle pieces, Eli. You can¡¯t make them disappear and expect others to be okay with it. We¡¯re shaped by the connections we¡¯ve made with others. When people we know disappear, we lose everything that they¡¯ve done to help shape us.


    You¡¯ve been doing nothing but tearing apart your friends, and that¡¯s done nothing to hurt you. Do you really remember your family, Eli? Or do you not understand what you tearing yourself apart has done to them?¡±


    He turned away from her, only to see past Eli staring at the dining room table. It was like there were too many plates set up. His little sister had been messing that up a lot recently, but he couldn¡¯t fathom why. The spare bowls were put away, leaving only two at the table.


    ¡°How¡¯s dinner going?¡± He leaned back to look in the kitchen. His sister was staring at the back of a tomato soup can.


    ¡°You sure I¡¯m just supposed to boil the potatoes in this?¡± She looked back at him suspiciously.


    Eli shrugged. It was all they could afford at the moment, but he wasn¡¯t going to make his sister panic by mentioning it. ¡°I think you¡¯re supposed to blend half of it when the potatoes are done and that thickens it up.¡± She cringed at the thought. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    The present Eli looked back at Julia and then over to the scene playing out. This was last night. His sister didn¡¯t know to be careful when blending hot liquid and a part of it ended up on the ceiling. They ended up laughing about it when Eli tried to mop it up. That was a memory, and he still knew it. There wasn¡¯t anything wrong about it.


    ¡°Where are your parents?¡±


    Eli turned back to Julia. She was still leaning against the wall with her arms folded across his chest. His parents were¡­ They were still around. They had to be. Why else would¡­ Why did he think there were too many bowls? Why could he only remember him and his sister having dinner when his parents should¡¯ve been home at that time?


    ¡°Where are your parent¡¯s, Eli?¡±


    Eli looked back at the room. It was empty now, and the lights had dimmed. ¡°They were busy at work,¡± he whispered.


    ¡°What about your other siblings?¡± Julia took a step away from the wall. ¡°Do you remember what they looked like? How old they are? Their names?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re trying to mess with me. You¡¯re making up events that never existed, and trying to get me to admit that I was wrong in using my powers. I never would have erased my own family.¡±


    Julia took another step towards him. ¡°You tried to erase me.¡±


    ¡°I did erase you.¡±


    ¡°I still exist,¡± spat back Julia.


    ¡°Then that means my family still exists.¡± Eli gestured to where the image of his sister had been standing mere moments before. ¡°They¡¯re lost at the moment, but it¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll get them back.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your sister¡¯s name?¡± Julia stepped around Eli so he would be looking at her. ¡°Do you remember her name?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the point,¡± he whispered. He honestly couldn¡¯t remember her name, but there would always be a chance to figure that out later. ¡°What are you doing? Why are you asking me these questions?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m making a point. Unlike you, I want you to understand why I¡¯m doing what I¡¯m doing.¡± Julia reached into her pocket and pulled out a handgun. ¡°I need you to know that I have a good reason for doing this.¡±


    Eli was still confused, but looking at that gun nearly made him paralyzed with fear. That was his father¡¯s gun. He didn¡¯t know how she had gotten it, but he knew what she was going to do with it. Taking a few steps backward, he began to look around for something to block her line of sight.


    ¡°There are other ways we can handle this,¡± he attempted to grab onto the back of a chair, but his fingers slipped through it. This truly was some sort of illusion. ¡°We can summon the demon together. We¡¯ll summon him as many times as necessary until everything is fixed!¡±


    Julia shook her head. She looked down at the gun and attempted to figure out where the safety was. ¡°It doesn¡¯t work like that. Trill only gives you one gift, then you never see him again.¡± At least, normally he doesn¡¯t appear again. ¡°The only way to get rid of this curse is by killing you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not right!¡± He held up his hands defensively. ¡°I¡¯ll find a way to fix this!¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t¡­ You haven¡¯t been fixing anything!¡± Julia switched the safety off, and her free hand went to her chest. ¡°We used to be friends! I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s true or not, because you took that away from me, but we used to be good friends! Do you remember that?


    I have videos on my computer of us, and all of our other friends hanging out and having fun. I have Mackenzie¡¯s pictures of us as kids, and you spending dinner at my house! Do you remember any of that? I don¡¯t!¡±


    Eli shook his head slowly. ¡°I-I don¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°So¡­ S-so was it all an accident? Did you fuck up and not mean for either Mackenzie or Kara to die?¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t my fault,¡± he whispered.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know that! For all I know, you did kill them, but because you erased them from people¡¯s memories, you don¡¯t remember doing it!¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t pick and choose what people remember. All I can do is make their influence in the world smaller, but I wouldn¡¯t have killed my friends. They were my friends. They were our friends. We are still friends, so let¡¯s fix this together.¡±


    Julia scoffed. ¡°You don¡¯t¡­ You don¡¯t remember anything.¡± She held the gun firmly in both hands and pointed it at him.


    ¡°I know that you don¡¯t want to do this,¡± he replied. Eli continued to back away from her until his back was against the wall.


    ¡°Of course I don¡¯t want to do this, but you¡¯re the one who gets out easy. You don¡¯t ever have to remember the pain you caused other people.¡± Julia took a moment to chew on her lower lip if only to keep herself from crying. ¡°But I have to live with this. I have to live with knowing that I couldn¡¯t stop my friend from destroying himself, and I was the one that had to kill him.¡±


    This bitch was really going to shoot him. A part of Eli wanted to understand why, but he also felt like¡­ If they were friends, he would remember. He would never erase his friends. How dare she make all of these assumptions as if she knew him. It made him furious to know that she was blaming all of this on him.


    He lunged at her, aiming to wrestle the gun free from her hands. Julia yelled at him to stop and removed her finger from the trigger. She didn¡¯t want to accidentally set it off. That didn¡¯t matter to Eli. This was his father¡¯s gun, and he was going to use it to take down this monster.


    His father¡­ What did he look like again? No, no this was some trick that Julia was doing. She was the one that was making him forget, and she was telling him lies as though he were the one behind it all. That was far from the truth. Eli was justified in defending himself.


    What he wasn¡¯t expecting was for Julia to be swallowed up by shadows. She appeared next to him, with the gun pressed against his temple. There wasn¡¯t any time to react. All he could do was widen his eyes slightly before the bullet was let loose. His mind went white as his body went slack, crumpling to the ground in a broken heap.


    Julia remained tense as the illusion dropped. They were still located within a school hallway, but Eli was still dead in front of her. His brains splattered against the lockers, and the most surprised look on his face. She quickly put the gun in his hand and darkness overtook her. Suddenly she was in her room again, with Trill sitting on the edge of her bed.


    ¡°Were you successful?¡±


    She wasn¡¯t able to come up with a reply. Julia fell to her knees, and blood began to pour from her mouth as she vomited it up. It was the side effect of teleporting herself to get out of the way of Eli¡¯s attack. That combined with all of the memories rushing back to her was making her nauseous, and the sensation of vomiting was somewhat satisfying as a result.


    ¡°Come on,¡± said Trill as he grabbed her by the elbow.


    ¡°I-I¡¯m fine,¡± she said in a choked voice. She couldn¡¯t stop herself from crying anymore, no matter how hard she tried.


    ¡°We¡¯re leaving here,¡± he whispered. The two of them were swallowed up in shadow as he tried in vain to take her away from her troubles.

 Chapter Fourteen - Mackcheezie

    ¡°Merry Christmas, Mackcheezie!¡± Julia waved both her hands at the camera. ¡°You said zero dollar gifts this year, so you only have yourself to blame for a horrific video compilation that only serves to prove how much I love you. Have fun in Portland, and I¡¯ll see you for New Years.¡±


    Her face cut away to a collection of videos with text labeling the date and location. Most of them were dates that Julia and Mackenzie had gone together. Time spent hiking, or that expensive date in Portland that both of them had spent months saving up for.


    Julia could only watch half of it before closing up her laptop. All of the memories were still fresh. Her and Mackenzie had a rocky start to their relationship. Both of them had crushes on each other but didn¡¯t want to come off as weird for liking their friends. Then Mio decided to set up a sleepover at Mackenzie¡¯s while conveniently forgetting to show up for it, and everything sort of end up spilling out that night.


    It took forever to tell their parents. Mostly because they liked being able to have sleepovers without their parents knowing that they were fooling around, but also because of the whole, ¡°Hey, I¡¯m attracted to girls,¡± aspect.


    But that didn¡¯t matter anymore. Mackenzie was still dead. Julia was confined to a hospital bed because even magic couldn¡¯t explain why she had made a sudden recovery. The world was struggling to sort itself out, but at least her dad came by to visit. Even her mom called her, though it was a short conversation that didn¡¯t seem to go anywhere.


    As for Eli¡­ It was complicated. The hall with his classroom in it was the only one that had lost power, and his class was the only one that had heard the intercom go off. All the students could say was that Eli lost it in the middle of class, ran out, and shot himself with his father¡¯s gun.


    Rumors were flying rampant. He had apparently hacked records or something to discredit Mackenzie and steal her scholarship. Once that happened, people began to wonder if he had something to do with her death. Maybe even Kara¡¯s death too. Austin¡¯s accident was proof to some that an angry Kara was out there, and Julia had been in the hospital the entire time, so she couldn¡¯t have done it.


    ¡°Ms. Morris?¡± The nurse knocked on the door as she opened it. ¡°The doctor is here to discuss your discharge. Would you prefer to wait for your father to be here as well?¡±


    ¡°No. I¡¯m fine.¡± Julia faked a smile as the doctor entered.


    He explained that they couldn¡¯t find anything wrong with her. They were going to put her test results on some sort of public database where medical students got extra credit finding diagnosis for unknown diseases or something like that. Other than that, they were going to give her some medications and send her home.


    Julia knew that they weren¡¯t going to find anything. She didn¡¯t plan on using Trill¡¯s magic ever again. That meant that she should be safe¡­ Other than Trill randomly showing up to drink her blood every now and then, but he hadn¡¯t done so since she had been hooked up to these machines.


    She thanked them, and her father showed up after work to take her home. Julia wanted to relax but was surprised by a party with friends from school. They were people she hadn¡¯t seen in months, mostly because of Eli¡¯s curses, but¡­ The whole experience was overwhelming.


    Dinner, cake, presents, all of it was a blur. What she wanted to be was happy. Happy that her friends remembered her, and that she remembered them. But Eli¡¯s blood was on her hands. He was one of her best friends¡­ And she killed him¡­


    People began to filter out, and soon the only ones left was Britney, her mother, and Mio. Mio had been trying to pull Julia aside all night. She kept whispering that there was something that she wanted to talk about, but Julia was always getting pulled away by someone else.


    ¡°We can go into my room to talk about it,¡± whispered Julia.


    ¡°Oh¡­ Oh, no, not there.¡± Mio started to wave her hands about. ¡°It¡¯s better if we talk, uhm, maybe in the backyard.¡±


    ¡°... What¡¯s wrong with my room?¡± Julia frowned as Mio began to stammer.


    Julia didn¡¯t need to be told what was wrong. She raced upstairs and found that her room had been torn apart. At least¡­ No, all of it had been gone through. Nearly everything of Kara¡¯s was gone, and some of Julia¡¯s clothes were missing as well. Panic swelled in Julia¡¯s chest at the sight. Diving to a knee, she began to dig around underneath Kara¡¯s bed.


    The box was missing. Kara¡¯s soul was gone.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t move around so much!¡± Mio had chased after her, and now she was standing by the door as though Julia might explode at any given second.


    ¡°There was a box underneath Kara¡¯s bed. Where is it?¡± Someone had even gone to the lengths to change the sheets out. There was barely any trace of Kara left in here.


    ¡°They moved most of the stuff to the garage, but- Julia!¡±


    Julia raced back downstairs and into the garage. She began to tear apart anything with Kara¡¯s name on it, digging through frantically. When she couldn¡¯t find anything, she began to let out a series of curses. After what seemed to be an eternity of tearing things apart, she finally found the egg in a box labeled for donations.


    The strength in her legs abandoned her at that moment. Julia fell to her knees while clutching onto the egg. She almost felt like she couldn¡¯t breathe. After murdering Eli, she wouldn¡¯t be able to live if she had somehow lost Kara too. There was a brief moment where she felt someone settle a hand upon her head. She looked up to see Trill there, but he glanced over to the door and disappeared in a flash of ash.


    ¡°What are you doing?! Are you crazy?!¡± Her father was seeing people off when Mio had rushed over to tell him what was happening.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°K-Kara¡­¡± Was all Julia was able to get out.


    ¡°This is trash, Julia,¡± replied her father angerly. He watched her cry on the floor for a moment before kneeling down next to her. ¡°... It¡¯s trash to you. Maybe it¡¯ll do good for someone else, but not for you.¡±


    Julia¡¯s only reply was to clutch onto the egg all the tighter.


    Her father let out a long, drawn-out sigh. ¡°I still need to work. Your mother probably isn¡¯t coming back, and we need all the money we can save up. I¡¯m going to be taking extra shifts, but Miss Grove and Britney are going to be staying here. We live pretty close to the hospital in case anything happens to you, and they can make sure you¡¯ll be alright.¡±


    Having people over may be nice, but Julia was still freshly going through the grieving stages. She didn¡¯t want to deal with anyone right now. All she wanted to do was curl up on a ball and watch videos of Mackenzie and Kara on her laptop while listening to a collection of the saddest songs written by men on Spotify. Someone had to have made one up by now. There were probably hundreds of those to go through.


    ¡°Come on, Julia.¡± Mio knelt down and tried to help Julia up. ¡°It¡¯s cold and dusty in here. We can clean it up tomorrow, okay? Let¡¯s go back to your room and hang out for a bit.¡±


    Mio coaxed Julia back to her room, where Julia immediately sat down on her bed. She continued to hold the egg close to her chest. There needed to be someplace safe where she could put it. Where Britney or her mom wouldn¡¯t find it or accidentally throw it out.


    Britney was sitting on the other bed. She had been fine and perky at the party, but her mood had gone downhill after people had left. There wasn¡¯t even a peep of her as Julia ran past her and to the garage. Great. A meltdown, whatever. That wasn¡¯t going to fix all of the problems that Britney was now loaded with.


    ¡°I¡¯m spending the night too, so if there¡¯s anything you want to talk about, uhm¡­¡± Mio blinked a few times as she tried to gather up her thoughts. ¡°Everything¡¯s been weird, like, we weren¡¯t friends for a while, but I can¡¯t remember why that was, and¡­ Well, there¡¯s lots to talk about.¡±


    Julia shook her head. ¡°Eli, Britney, and Kara had done the ritual before. Eli got the power to erase people¡¯s memories, and¡­ Uh¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, blurt it out and tell her everything,¡± spat out Britney. ¡°Are you going to tell her that you set up Eli to blow his brains out at school? Did you fuck up Austin¡¯s face too, or was that some weird fluke and now I have to worry about Kara¡¯s ghost coming after everyone who has ever pissed her off.¡±


    ¡°The only way to have everyone remember everything again was for Eli to die, and- Hey!¡± Julia kicked her foot out at Britney. She had stood up and was trying to take the egg away from Julia. ¡°What are you doing?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what you got from that demon! What sort of weird powers did it give you, and how do you know that you haven¡¯t used them against us?¡± Britney grabbed Mio¡¯s arm and pulled her away from Julia. ¡°Get away from her! She¡¯s dangerous!¡±


    ¡°She isn¡¯t!¡± Mio yanked her arm free. ¡°There¡¯s just a lot that¡¯s happened, alright?


    A knock at the door silenced all three of them. ¡°Girls? Is everything alright?¡± It was Britney¡¯s mother.


    ¡°Yeah! It¡¯s fine, mom!¡± Britney put her hands on her hips in a huff. ¡°There¡¯s just a lot to talk about, and sometimes people just need to talk loud at each other! Okay?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine, sweetie, but I¡¯m going to make some tea for you all. There¡¯s no point in stressing out your throats by screaming at each other. What did your grandmother always tell you?¡±


    ¡°You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, but they¡¯re looking for shit to fester on,¡± muttered Britney.


    ¡°Exactly! I¡¯ll be back when the tea is ready!¡±


    The three listened quietly for the footsteps to fade away. ¡°I fucking hate her so much,¡± whispered Britney. She then dived at Julia again. ¡°Give me that egg!¡±


    ¡°No!¡±


    Mio shoved herself between the two. ¡°We¡¯ve all done the ritual, Britney. That means we¡¯re in it together. You should let her explain everything from her point of view first before you attack her.¡±


    ¡°You should tell her dad to get his dick out of my mom!¡±


    ¡°That was Eli¡¯s curse at work,¡± whispered Julia.


    Britney flailed her arms about. ¡°Well you murdered him, and he¡¯s still fucking my mom!¡±


    Mio coaxed Britney into calming down and Julia began to explain. Eli was the one that had been manipulating people. He needed to die for them to get their memories back. She didn¡¯t want to do it, but there wasn¡¯t a choice. People¡¯s lives were being destroyed because of him, and it wasn¡¯t fair to let it continue.


    As for the egg, it wasn¡¯t giving her powers. It was Kara. Julia told them how the afterlife is just some void where people lose their minds until they rot. She didn¡¯t want Kara to be trapped in an egg, but it was a better alternative than what she had been through so far.


    Britney slowly nodded and absorbed everything. After Julia was done, she stood up and grabbed her keys. ¡°I can¡¯t be here right now.¡±


    ¡°But we need to be together and work on this,¡± argued Mio.


    ¡°What I need is to pick up Tyler and get plowed like a slut in my backseat,¡± replied Britney. ¡°I don¡¯t want to deal with you,¡± she pointed to Mio, ¡°or you,¡± she pointed to Julia, ¡°until I¡¯ve had some air.¡±


    Britney left and Mio sat down on her bed. She put an arm around Julia¡¯s waist, and Julia rested her head on Mio¡¯s shoulder. They stayed like this for a while, until Mio¡¯s phone began to buzz. It was checked with a frown. Her parents were calling.


    ¡°It¡¯s a school night,¡± she whispered. ¡°My parents want me to be home.¡± Julia kept her eyes to the ground and nodded her head. ¡°I¡¯m going to stop at Eli¡¯s house to see how his siblings are doing.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think they want to see any of Eli¡¯s friends at the moment,¡± whispered Julia. ¡°He accidentally separated them for a while, and they¡¯re probably all confused about what happened¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­ If you think that¡¯s what¡¯s best.¡± Mio gave Julia one last squeeze. ¡°I¡¯ll see you at school tomorrow?¡± Julia nodded. ¡°Great! See you then!¡±


    Though Britney¡¯s mother was surprised to them all takeoff, she left Julia some tea and let her have her space. Time passed, and the lights began to flicker. Shadows overtook the room, forming together into a single point on the floor, and rising up into Trill¡¯s form. Without a word, he knelt down in front of her, took her hand, and slashed open her wrist.


    Julia watched him as he licked up the blood. ¡°Why are you still there?¡± He should have left. Eli was dead. She had her memories back, and Trill had no way of bringing back either Mackenzie or Kara. There was nothing left of her desires that he could hope to give her.


    He looked up to her while licking his lips. His tongue rolled against her wound to seal it shut. Reaching up with his long fingers, he delicately touched her cheek. A grin spread across his lips as his claws gently went along her skin until they reached her neck. Julia felt a sharp pain as they broke through her skin.


    ¡°Wait, n-not there¡­ Wait, ah-¡±


    Trill pulled her towards him and clamped his mouth down upon her neck. She attempted to push him away, but his grip tightened. Not wanting anyone to come into the room, she quietly began to plead with him to let her go. He found her complaints to be ruining his meal. Giving a tug to her hair, he chose to silence her using the easiest method. His lips met hers, and he forced her into a lingering, blood-tainted kiss.

 Chapter Fifteen - Retribution

    There was a somewhat understandable anger that radiated from Julia. People were treating her like she was a fragile doll. They were trying to be respectful towards her, she knew that, but she didn¡¯t like how people gave her her space. She wanted to be treated like a friend and as a person.


    Oh, and there was the fact that Trill had pinned her down and kissed her. That was far more upsetting than how her classmates were treating her. Julia would swallow down that rage and continue on. She just wanted to get on with her life.


    She sat at her desk with her chin in the palm of her hand. The morning announcements stated that there were days where additional counselors would be showing up to discuss student personal problems and that one could sign up in the office. This was merely protocol after all of the incidents and deaths that had happened.


    Later that day, Julia would hear the news that the principal had a screaming match with a news van out in the school parking lot. This, however, was the age of the internet. All the students needed to do was to check their phones to see why they were there.


    Third student death in small-town America. Two of them had the same scholarship offered to them, and now it was rumored that one had murdered the other. Other websites were reporting rumors of cult worship and human sacrifice. They weren¡¯t exactly wrong, but Julia wasn¡¯t going to correct them.


    To distracted by her own thoughts to do schoolwork, Julia was thankful that the bell rang. Britney was following closely behind her as Julia went to her locker. Though initially a bitch, Britney had fully embraced her role as a surrogate sister. She kept people away when they tried to ask Julia about Kara¡¯s ghost.


    But that didn¡¯t stop others from trying to find out information a different way. ¡°... Shit,¡± muttered Julia.


    The door of her locker had been bent open, and her stuff had been tossed out onto the floor. Julia set down her backpack and began to load up her belongings into it. Nothing seemed to be missing. There weren¡¯t any notes to indicate why this had been done at all either.


    ¡°Aww¡­ Some people can be complete bastards,¡± muttered Britney. ¡°Want to store everything in my locker for now?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Britney stood there, looking between the locker and Julia without doing much to help. ¡°You¡¯re still sick, right? Shouldn¡¯t you not carry around heavy shit?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± she repeated. Britney opened her mouth to say something else. ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡±


    There were already students watching her, and randomly shouting at Britney wasn¡¯t going to make them stare less. She put a hand to the side of her head. There was already a headache forming. Julia muttered something about needing to use the bathroom and began to race down the hall.


    The lights in the hallway blacked out and Julia almost fell over as Trill caught onto her elbow. He yanked her towards him as she let out a shriek. Silently, he put a finger to his lips and gestured to the room that they were in.


    It was Eli¡¯s living room. The parents weren¡¯t around, but his brother and sister were drawing an arcane circle on the dining room table. They were using a sharpie, and in the center was a bowl of macaroni cheese and hotdogs.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s going to work,¡± muttered the boy.


    ¡°This was in Eli¡¯s stuff,¡± replied his sister. ¡°Think about all that weird stuff that happened when he was alive. Why you and dad randomly went away without really remembering why, and it was just me and Eli by ourselves for a while. There has to be a real explanation.¡±


    ¡°But you said it wasn¡¯t complete.¡±


    ¡°And we¡¯re going to figure out how to finish the spell and bring Eli back!¡±


    Julia pulled herself free from Trill¡¯s grasp. ¡°You¡¯re seriously not going to help them.¡±


    ¡°Children are unable to cast it,¡± replied Trill calmly.


    Julia let out a sigh of relief. She knew she deserved punishment for what she did to Eli, but his siblings shouldn¡¯t be the ones to have that burden. ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±


    ¡°You are still under threat.¡± He held out a piece of paper for her to take.


    Julia looked it over. It was a photocopy of Trill¡¯s ritual, but a version of it she hadn¡¯t seen before. Parts of it were similar to the one she had done, but she had learned that it changes little by little every time someone put it online. The disturbing part was that someone had added Mackenzie, Eli, and Kara¡¯s pictures to the photocopy. ¡°What really killed them?¡± Was written next to the pictures.


    ¡°Where did you get this?¡±


    ¡°They are being posted around your town and others as well. Whether it is intentional or not, you are being targeted.¡±


    Julia folded the paper and put it in her pocket. ¡°Who is it?¡± He stared at her blankly. ¡°Is this another conflict of interests thing where you aren¡¯t going to tell me?¡± He continued to stare. ¡°I suppose it¡¯s fair, considering what I¡¯ve done, but¡­ Death is terrifying.¡±


    ¡°That is a fact. Death is terrifying.¡± Trill went to pat her head, but she swatted his hand away. ¡°It is a conflict of interests because I need my ritual to spread. All I am able to do is warn you.¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Shadows overtook them, and Julia found herself in the school bathroom next to Trill. ¡°You¡¯re still keeping Kara safe?¡±


    She couldn¡¯t trust anyone else with it. There was the possibility that Britney would continue to try to take it away from her, and she might find her way into Mio¡¯s place to search for it. The fact that her locker had been broken meant that that wasn¡¯t a safe place either. Whether or not that was Britney¡¯s doing was left up to debate, but Julia wasn¡¯t going to risk Kara¡¯s safety to find out.


    ¡°And I have the duplicate that you requested.¡± Trill held up another wooden egg kaleidoscope. It was nearly identical to the one Kara was in. ¡°A simple and soulless toy. One decoy for reward.¡±


    A reward¡­ Thoughts of the kiss Trill had forced upon her was still fresh in her head. The leathery nature of his tongue, the dryness of his lips, and the heavy taste of her blood. Her whole body shuddered with disgust.


    ¡°... No.¡±


    Trill placed the egg within her palm. ¡°Then I will be by tonight to get my due in blood.¡±


    He vanished and Julia made her way back to class. Was it Britney? Britney¡¯s gift was popularity, and Mio¡¯s was confidence. Julia was the one who had gotten Trill¡¯s aid in a more magical sense, but did that make her a force to reckoned with? Eli was dead. There was no one else for her to target. Julia was no threat.


    There hadn¡¯t been any efforts to hide the fact that it was her that had killed Eli. Anyone who knew about the ritual would be able to figure it out quite quickly. Though those who would use the ritual to hurt her would be limited. Someone was obviously spreading the word in hope that she would get what she deserved, and that person was likely Britney.


    But why? She was Kara¡¯s friend. Britney would know that Julia would never want to hurt her, wouldn¡¯t she? Then again, Julia would¡¯ve never viewed herself as the type of person to mutilate or kill anyone. She was different. She had changed¡­ For the worse.


    The final class bell rang and Julia went to hang out in the library. It was both a familiar yet terrifying experience. This is what she would do when waiting for Kara to be done with practice, but Kara wasn¡¯t here anymore. Instead, she was waiting for a ride from Britney. Mackenzie was dead, and Mio had to go home right away for piano lessons. All she had was herself.


    But not her laptop. She had left it at home, which was a shame because she had a mountain of homework to catch up on. Most of her time was spent playing on her phone until it was time for cheerleading practice to end. Getting up, she began to make her way to the gym.


    Honestly, it would¡¯ve been better to have hung out on the bleachers, but it felt weird to sit there watching a bunch of girls jump up and down. There was no hiding the fact that she was attracted to girls, and people would stare at her like she was a pervert if she did it. The last thing she needed was to be accused of being a pervert on top of being a demon worshiper.


    There were no girls jumping around, or anyone, actually. Julia checked her phone and saw that there were no messages from Britney. She began to curse as she realized that she had been too distracted to get confirmation on if there was practice today. Her thumbs worked quickly to send out a text, and Britney was even quicker to get a response.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t find u. Thought u went hom with Mio. LOL¡± This was followed by an emoji sticking out its tongue.


    ¡°I need a ride home.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t. On date.¡±


    Julia let out a sigh. She could wait for Mio¡¯s practice to end and get a ride from her afterward, but it would be another hour. Her home was about that far of a walk away, but her body was still feeling weak. Trill drinking her blood wasn¡¯t helping her regain her strength, even though she was being fed afterward by him. She always felt weakened by the experience.


    She sent Mio a text and began to walk towards the parking lot. The school was in a residential area, but she could walk fifteen minutes to a local coffee shop. Waiting there was easier than getting kicked out of the school for hanging about too long.


    As she made her way through the parking lot, she stopped when she heard someone call out to her. She began to look around and saw someone wave to her standing by a van. ¡°Julia!¡±


    Julia couldn¡¯t quite make them out. ¡°Hello?¡± They waved her to come closer, but she was hesitant. She took off her glasses and began to shine them. Whoever it was could wait a moment while she took a moment to make certain she could see.


    There were footsteps running through the gravel behind her. Julia spun around to see who it was, only to be greeted by a fist to the stomach. The glasses dropped from her hands, but she was kept from falling by another person tugging up on her backpack. They kept a grip on her bag as they shoved her forward, tearing it away from her.


    ¡°What are you-¡± Someone slapped her across the face hard enough to split her lip open.


    The jacket was ripped from her next, and someone was pinning her arms behind her back. She could feel someone¡¯s lips press against her ear and whisper in a harsh tone.


    ¡°Don¡¯t scream. Don¡¯t struggle.¡± Something sharp was pressed against the side of her neck. ¡°This is a knife, and I will not hesitate to slice you open and leave you bleeding to death in this parking lot if you choose to struggle.¡±


    She instantly recognized the voice. ¡°Austin?¡± Everything was too blurry for her to make out who the other two were.


    ¡°Shut up and start walking.¡± Austin began to push her while barking out orders to the guy he was with. ¡°Did you find it?¡±


    ¡°Hold on.¡± Julia could hear them dropping her backpack and picking up her jacket. ¡°Yeah, it was in her pocket.¡±


    ¡°Good. That might take her powers away, but we still have to be careful.¡± Austin pushed Julia towards the van while his partner opened the door for him. He shoved her in and closed the door after himself. ¡°Buckle yourself in.¡±


    Julia was pushed towards the back of the van, where she began to buckle herself into the back seat. ¡°Where are we going?¡±


    Austin buckled himself in. ¡°Let¡¯s get going.¡± His partner started up the van, and Austin turned around in his seat. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter where we¡¯re going. Stay put, do what you¡¯re told, and you won¡¯t get hurt.¡±


    ¡°... Alright.¡±


    ¡°Shut up,¡± he replied.


    ¡°I was just telling you that I understood,¡± Julia spat back.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter! Shut up!


    Julia squinted her eyes. Austin¡¯s face was fine¡­ She was so shocked that she was being kidnapped that she hadn¡¯t even noticed that he had somehow regrown half of his face. This was it. She was going to be dragged someplace and killed by someone who had performed the ritual. Certainly, she was expecting it, but it was much sooner than she had anticipated.


    But she didn¡¯t want to die. Julia curled up on her seat and defensively put her arms around her legs. She thought that maybe if she understood death, she¡¯d be less afraid of it. That¡¯s how it was always supposed to be when it came to fears. Once you knew about it, it wasn¡¯t supposed to scary.


    She was terrified. Her eyes shut tight, silently praying for Trill to come and save her. Yet she knew he likely wouldn¡¯t be coming. That would be a conflict of interests. Like so many that had done the ritual before her, it was now her time to die.

 Chapter Sixteen - Exchange

    They stopped by the side of the road and got out. Even though she couldn¡¯t see, Julia eventually figured out that the other person was Carter, who was a friend that often hung around Tyler and Austin. Her glasses weren¡¯t among the possessions that they had brought with him, but her jacket and backpack had been left in the van.


    Carter had a rope hanging off his shoulder as Austin continued to push Julia ahead of them. They were out in the woods, in a place that Julia didn¡¯t recognize. Roosevelt was at the edge of the cascades. They literally could be anywhere in the mountains.


    After they were a mile away from the road, they tied her to a tree. Austin folded his arms and stared at her. The way that she was squinting about made him realize that she couldn¡¯t see well. Kara had always worn contacts, so he hadn¡¯t considered how bad the twin¡¯s vision actually was, but the way Julia¡¯s face was contorting made it seem bad.


    ¡°Talk,¡± he commanded.


    ¡°About what?¡± Julia had expected to be smacked in the back of the head with a shovel and buried. She hadn¡¯t planned to talk about anything.


    ¡°What¡¯s your endgame?¡±


    ¡°... What?¡±


    Carter spoke up next. ¡°Who is your next target? Are you going to kill me or Tyler next?¡± His voice was quivering from nervousness as he asked.


    The question confused Julia even more. ¡°I¡¯m not targeting any of you.¡±


    ¡°But you murdered Eli,¡± argued Austin. Julia began to stammer, and he didn¡¯t buy one second of it. ¡°Eli didn¡¯t kill himself. Even if he was left with half a brain after you were done with him, he wasn¡¯t dumb enough to bring a gun to school.¡±


    Julia broke down and began to explain everything. Eli¡¯s curses, Mackenzie¡¯s death, the fact that Kara had died too. The only reason she attacked Austin was because he was blackmailing Kara. She had let a moment of anger lead her into making a mistake, but one she struggled to regret.


    Carter frowned at the story and looked over to Austin. ¡°Eli killed Kara?¡±


    ¡°I doubt it.¡± Austin placed a hand against the trunk of the tree. He leaned in close enough for Julia to make out his face clearly. ¡°We did the ritual. The demon wasn¡¯t all that helpful, but we were able to piece together a little of what happened.¡±


    Julia¡¯s eyes flicked between Austin and Carter. ¡°Who was your third?¡±


    ¡°We didn¡¯t feel like we could trust anyone else,¡± replied Austin. ¡°It worked with just the two of us.¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°You can do it with one person, but Trill will pick the other people from someplace nearby. Anyone who has a strong enough desire.¡±


    Austin leaned away from the tree. He folded his arms and thought to himself. ¡°Is that why your mom suddenly became fuckable?¡±


    ¡°You said we wouldn¡¯t talk about that,¡± replied Carter in a deadpan voice.


    ¡°Your mom became a cock magnet overnight and you¡¯re not going to question it at all?¡±


    Carter shook his head. ¡°I never saw a reason to question it, nor am I ever going to question it.¡±


    Austin rolled his eyes before he turned his attention to Julia. ¡°Britney told us that you had Kara¡¯s soul trapped in this.¡± He held up the decoy that Trill had given her earlier. ¡°Your going to pay for what you did to her.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything to her,¡± Julia whispered.


    ¡°You did the ritual with Eli and Mio, and used it to take out your sister,¡± replied Austin.


    ¡°No, Eli did the ritual with Britney and Kara.¡±


    ¡°But that doesn¡¯t make sense,¡± said Carter.


    ¡°I know it doesn¡¯t, but that¡¯s what happened,¡± argued Julia. ¡°He was attempting to force Kara into doing the ritual again with him so he could get more wishes granted, and you heard them talking about it. That¡¯s the guy you thought she was cheating on Tyler with, and you used that to blackmail her!¡±


    Carter took a step away from the pair. ¡°... I think she has a point.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t change our plan,¡± growled back Austin.


    ¡°When did you do your ritual, Julia?¡±


    She had trouble remembering. So much had happened, yet she realized that it hadn¡¯t been all that long ago at all. There was something weird about knowing that. ¡°A few days before I attacked Austin. Less than a week.¡±


    Carter nodded his head. ¡°... Britney lied to us.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t change our plan,¡± repeated Austin in a louder voice.


    ¡°Our plan was to take her out if she had hurt Kara. What if she¡¯s right and Eli was the one that did it?¡± Carter shook his head again. ¡°I-I¡¯m starting to think Britney did it.¡± Austin glared at him over his shoulder. ¡°Think about it. Julia is going after everyone she thinks hurt Kara, everyone gets their memories back after Eli dies, suddenly Britney is freaking out and having us put up those fliers. She¡¯s baiting people into going after Eli¡¯s killer so she doesn¡¯t have anything to worry about?¡±


    ¡°So?¡± Austin turned around and put a hand on his knife. It was still in its sheath, hanging on his belt.


    ¡°What does she have to worry about?¡± Carter outstretched his hands as a sign of peace. ¡°Unless she was the one that killed Kara?¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Austin shook the egg at Carter. ¡°Then we get proof. We stick with the plan and switch out their souls. Kara can tell us who killed her, and then we can deal with Britney if it was her.¡±


    ¡°But we¡¯d be killing Julia,¡± whispered Carter.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter to me,¡± replied Austin.


    Julia was silent as they argued. Someone was with Kara as she was setting up the noose. She closed her eyes and tried to remember. Kara was attempting to keep her out of the memory, but traces of it were still in Julia¡¯s mind. There was someone with her. Were they male? Female? Could it have been Tyler or Britney?


    She opened her eyes up as she felt someone slip her glasses on her face. It was Trill, who was bizarrely outside while it was still light. The trees were dense enough to create thick shadows on the ground. Maybe that was enough to let him feel comfortable here.


    Her eyes were shut tightly again as he leaned towards her face. His dry tongue licked closed the wound on her lip, and he pulled away again. A finger was held up to his lips as he disappeared in ash. Neither Carter or Austin had noticed the exchange. One was arguing that this was a bad idea, and the other was trying to figure out how to get the egg to work.


    A swirl of ash appeared next to Austin, and Trill slammed his fist into Austin¡¯s stomach. Austin was sent flying back, letting out a grunt as his back struck a tree. He fell into a heap on the ground. Carter took a step back, but Trill vanished a reappeared next to him. The demon placed a hand on the teen¡¯s shoulder as his lips spread into a wide grin.


    ¡°I warned you not to take action against her,¡± he said in a low, deathly tone.


    ¡°And I-I.. Ahh.. F-fuck... I said it wasn¡¯t enough that you restored my face,¡± growled Austin as he struggled to stand up. ¡°I am owed a chance to get back at her!¡±


    Trill slowly turned around. The forest grew dark around them, as though night had fallen. A silence hung in the air. No animals made a sound, nor did the wind dare to blow. A darkness overtook the entire area, making it pitch black for a moment, then Trill was suddenly within inches of Austin.


    ¡°I informed you that I needed time to prepare her. Time to make her willing. Such matters are to be treated with delicacy, and you have failed in that regard,¡± he growled back.


    ¡°Trill?¡± Julia raised her voice to get his attention. He shattered into ash and reappeared next to her. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°They are going to murder you because they believe you killed your sister,¡± he said in a hushed tone. His hands cupped her cheeks, taking every opportunity he could to touch her while she was tied up.


    ¡°But I didn¡¯t kill Kara,¡± she whispered back. Her eyes widened. ¡°But you weren¡¯t able to tell them that because it¡¯s a conflict of interest. They assumed that meant that I had done it, just as I had assumed that Eli was directly involved.¡±


    Trill took a step back. ¡°I informed them that it was possible to bring your sister back to life.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s possible, then why didn¡¯t you use it to bring back Mackenzie!¡± Julia began to kick at him. Her feet were hovering just out of reach to strike him. Wisps of blood broke through her skin, flapping around like tendrils and flopping against the ropes that bound her.


    ¡°What the fuck,¡± whispered Carter.


    Trill licked his lips at the sight. He had to take a deep breath to quell the hunger in his eyes. Ignoring her kicks, he stepped closer and leaned in as though he were about to kiss her. This only coaxed Julia to struggle more violently against her restraints. A hushing sound came out of him as he tilted his head and leaned in.


    ¡°I am not able to resurrect the dead,¡± he said firmly. ¡°But you and your sister share a certain resonance. I would be able to exchange your soul for hers, but I am unable to do so as long as you maintain a will to live.¡± He shot a glare over to Austin. ¡°Which is why I was taking my time to bring up such notions.¡±


    Julia¡¯s breathing slowed to the point where she was hardly able to get any air. ¡°But what would happen to me?¡±


    Trill lowered his voice again. ¡°You do not have to consider it.¡± He was taken aback by the way she was staring at him. For once, he appeared to be at a loss for words. ¡°You have this.¡± His hand rested above her heart. ¡°You would never be able to return to the world of men, but you would not forget your life.


    I will keep you safe. You will be able to search the underworld for your fallen love, but I will warn you that you will not like what you see. Locating her will be difficult. Restoring her memories may as well be an impossibility.¡±


    ¡°And Kara?¡± Julia kept her eyes locked on his. ¡°What about Kara? Would she be able to remember anything at all, and would she have to live her life as Julia or can she continue on like she hadn¡¯t had died at all?¡±


    ¡°The only ones who would know that she were dead would be herself and those present at this very moment,¡± he replied. ¡°She will have a human body. Free of the illnesses and strengths that you have. You need not worry of her coming to misfortune due to them.¡±


    That¡¯s at least part of what she wanted, wasn¡¯t it? Julia furrowed her brow. What did she deserve? It certainly wasn¡¯t to live anymore, not after she had killed Eli. She was still on the fence on if Austin deserved his injuries or not. Her eyes flitted from Trill to Austin.


    He was glaring.


    She frowned. Without a doubt, he deserved them. A shake of her head was given as she attempted to consider it. Though there wasn¡¯t much to consider. Her sister¡¯s life for her own, and after everything she had done, Julia knew that she didn¡¯t deserve to be selfish.


    ¡°May I call Mio first?¡±


    The ropes that held her snapped and Julia stumbled forward. Trill caught her. He stabilized her and held out his hand. A shadow passed over it, then her phone appeared. Julia took it and realized that she had half a dozen texts from Mio and two voicemails. Unsurprising, since she had texted Mio saying they needed to talk, then vanished.


    ¡°Thank goodness your okay!¡± Mio still sounded panicked when Julia called.


    ¡°Sorry. Britney bailed on me at school, so I was going to ask for a ride, but I ran into someone who could. We ended up in a no signal place, so I couldn¡¯t tell you it was fine.¡± Julia leaned back against the tree and smiled to herself.


    ¡°That¡¯s great! Sorry, I was busy with practice.¡±


    ¡°I understand completely. It¡¯s fine, Mio.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m done now. If you can¡¯t stand Britney, I can come over and we can do something. Would you like to go out and get pancakes? When was the last time you had those?¡±


    Julia laughed weakly. ¡°Every morning. Britney¡¯s mother is seriously the perfect movie mom. It¡¯s honestly kind of creepy.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to come over and play some board games then? It¡¯s been a while since we¡¯ve done that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Yeah, it has, but I can¡¯t. I¡¯m going to be busy today.¡± Julia smiled all the wider as Mio made a pouty noise. ¡°I¡¯m just calling to tell you that I¡¯m okay. Everything is fine.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good. Are we still going to Portland this weekend?¡±


    ¡°We are,¡± replied Julia. She tensed up for a moment before she continued speaking. ¡°Mio, you¡¯re awesome.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just an amazing friend. The best, okay?¡±


    ¡°... Okay?¡±


    Julia snickered again. ¡°I¡¯ll see you at school tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°See you then.¡±


    Julia hung up and clutched onto her phone with both hands. She took a deep breath to calm herself down. Of course, she was scared. Trill had guaranteed he would keep her safe but had very odd definitions for such things.


    No. Now wasn¡¯t the time to be afraid. Julia was going to find Mackenzie. Trill thrived off of giving people their desires. Her desire was to be with Mackenzie again and to have her sister safe. This is what fixed it, and she knew that he wouldn¡¯t fail her. She looked up at the demon, who was staring at her with such a sad expression. A small nod was given to reassure herself.


    ¡°Do it.¡±

 Chapter Seventeen - Kara Morris

    ¡°They come back here, we make it look like a suicide, and that¡¯s that. They¡¯re just a loner bookworm anyways. No one would say it was out of the ordinary, and then everything will be fixed.¡±


    Kara did one last check on the noose before climbing down. She was still tense. Even though it was almost over, she couldn¡¯t bring herself to relax. A smile was faked as she looked over to Britney, who was positively beaming. Nothing ever seemed to bring her down.


    ¡°Yeah, but Julia wasn¡¯t always some loner. You don¡¯t think she was, right? She¡¯s your sister. There had to be a little party girl in there somewhere.¡± Britney folded her arms and smiled all the wider.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what they think,¡± replied Kara coldly. ¡°I don¡¯t know what Eli robbed from us, but the ritual is out there. He¡¯s going to get desperate, start looking for new people, and Julia is in a dark place. She¡¯s going to end up killing all of us.¡±


    ¡°Or just Eli,¡± muttered Britney. ¡°Why was he important again?¡±


    Kara shook her head. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. His powers didn¡¯t work correctly on you, and we can¡¯t risk yours not working on him. I promise that we¡¯ll find some other way to get back at him. Maybe you can convince other people to do the ritual?¡±


    ¡°And risk losing my popularity?¡± Britney scoffed at the idea.


    ¡°We can¡¯t let him get away with Mackenzie¡¯s murder,¡± whispered Kara.


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know who that is,¡± replied Britney in a careless tone.


    Kara let out an annoyed sigh. ¡°We did the ritual with him, and he¡­¡± She was growing tired of how pointless it was. No matter how many times she had tried to explain it, Britney wasn¡¯t able to retain any of that information.


    ¡°I get it. Julia¡¯s in a bad place now, and we can¡¯t let her come after us.¡± Britney tapped a finger against her chin. ¡°Eli took something from me, and I don¡¯t appreciate that. So he has to pay somehow.¡± She tilted her head to the side. ¡°But the problem is that he doesn¡¯t remember me, and you¡¯re the only one that can tie me to this problem.¡±


    Hesitant to understand what she meant, Kara took a step back. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t tell anyone.¡±


    ¡°And once Eli¡¯s dead, neither is he,¡± replied Britney. ¡°Go up the ladder.¡± Kara stared at her blankly. ¡°Keep your mouth shut and go up the ladder.¡±


    Kara¡¯s mind started to go fuzzy. She slowly went up the ladder, following Britney¡¯s orders as she gave them. The noose was slipped over her neck, and she stood there, waiting for what seemed like an eternity.


    There was something¡­ Bland about this morning. The sky was a perfect white due to the cloud coverage, and that meant that there weren¡¯t any shadows on the ground. Nothing seemed to be stirring at the moment¡­ Even the birds seemed to be sleeping in, as Kara could barely make out the sound of any.


    Julia would say that these days were her favorite. It felt like being in a different world. One where a person to simply settle back and focus on doing something without any distractions. Thinking about it made Kara laugh. Was there a time when they got along? Some simpler time long ago that Kara had somehow forgotten.


    ¡°Jump.¡±


    Kara¡¯s feet slipped from the ladder. The air in her throat was quickly cut off, and she began to claw at her throat in an attempt to loosen the rope from around her neck. It wasn¡¯t a quick death. Pressure began to build up in her head, making her ears ring and tongue swell. Her feet began to kick back and forth as she flailed, making her swing back and forth underneath the branch.


    The rope slipped away from her neck and she found herself falling. She collapsed on the ground and immediately began to hack and cough for air. Her hands clutched at her throat, and she was surprised to find that it was fine. No sensations of bruising or even indents of the rope.


    ¡°... Kara?¡±


    She looked up and saw someone standing over her. ¡°Austin?¡± Her vision was still blurry, but it began to clear enough for her to recognize him. ¡°Austin!¡±


    Austin knelt down next to her and the two flung their arms around each other, clinging to the other tightly. He inhaled the scent of her hair, relished the warmth of her body, and was thrilled with being able to simply hold her again. The two parted so that Austin good look at her face, then the two began to kiss as though a million years had passed since they had last met.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Turning away from the scene, Carter folded his arms and glanced over at Trill. ¡°Sweet scene, huh?¡± So sweet that he felt like vomiting.


    Trill was far from amused. The ears of his mask were twitching in an annoyed fashion, and his tail was swishing back and forth. ¡°We have matters to discuss.¡±


    Austin broke away and hugged onto Kara tightly. ¡°Can¡¯t you let her relax first?¡±


    ¡°How much time do you believe she has?¡± Trill knelt down next to them. His tail was still twitching back and forth behind him. ¡°It will only be a matter of time before your opponent will realize what has transpired.¡±


    Kara took a moment to understand what he meant by that. ¡°Was that not a dream?¡± She blinked a few times. ¡°... Britney tried to kill me?¡±


    ¡°Britney was the one that killed you?¡± Austin¡¯s question made Kara stammer as she tried to comprehend what he meant by that. ¡°You died on January twelfth. They found you behind the school, and¡­ It¡¯s now February 23rd.¡±


    Kara was visibly shaking. ¡°How am I alive?¡±


    ¡°Julia switched places with you,¡± whispered Austin.


    ¡°And you let her do that?!¡± Kara pushed him away and stood up. ¡°Julia didn¡¯t have to¡­¡± She froze up, realizing she could remember everything. ¡°Eli is dead.¡± Her arms wrapped around her torso. She then looked over to Trill. ¡°What is happening?¡±


    Trill felt like he had given enough warning. There was no need for him to linger any longer, and there was other work he needed to attend to. He vanished in a swirl of ash. The forest around them brightened due to his absence.


    Austin stood up and put a hand on Kara¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to my place. My parents are away taking care of my grandma, so it¡¯s only me there. We¡¯ll order your favorite pizza and we¡¯ll go over everything that¡¯s happened.¡±


    Kara was still in shock, but she agreed to go with him. There wasn¡¯t a reason to not trust him. Sure, she had offered to give him blowjobs in order to keep him silent, but all he wanted to do was talk. Talking turned into cuddling, cuddling went to making out, and everything went out of control from there.


    She felt so guilty about it. Austin was Tyler¡¯s friend, and she was Tyler¡¯s girlfriend first. What she was going to do was go back to Tyler, but¡­ Something within her heart didn¡¯t want her to do that. A part of her wanted leave him and start seeing Austin. That would¡¯ve been the wrong choice. The immoral choice. Because of that, she never wanted to try it. Even thinking about it was painful.


    But she had been dead now for over a month. Tyler had moved on with Britney, and she was free to be with Austin. Truly be with him without the guilt of being an ill woman who had cheated on her man.


    The two sat in the back of the van, cuddling together while talking in hushed whispers. Britney had forced Kara to kill herself because she was afraid of Julia. Julia was gone now. Kara certainly wouldn¡¯t be friends with her after this, but there was no reason for Britney to come after her now.


    As for Austin and Carter, Britney had told them to do the ritual and to say that the only cost would be to put up flyers afterward. Summoning a demon sounded ridiculous, but somehow, it made sense when Britney suggested it. That didn¡¯t surprise Kara at all, because Britney had gotten the gift of popularity.


    It naturally drew people to her, and the more they trusted her, the more control she had over them. That¡¯s how she killed Kara, and how she was able to convince Austin and Carter to go through with the ritual. But now that there wasn¡¯t a need to fear someone coming after them, Britney wouldn¡¯t have to try to hurt anyone.


    The ritual had gone smoothly for Austin and Carter. Austin got his face back, and Carter was told that he was immune to magic. They hadn¡¯t tried to test it at all, but that¡¯s what Carter had wanted. He said that he was happier not having to test it at all. He hadn¡¯t done anything to earn a gift and Austin having his face back was enough for him.


    Kara did want to go back to Austin¡¯s place, she did, but she also wanted to see her home. Supposedly she had been dead for a while, and she wanted to make sure her parents were okay. Hearing that they had separated was shocking, but not surprising. They had been arguing more and more as of late, and last Christmas was by far the worst she had ever experienced.


    Austin insisted on going with her. With Kara switching with Julia, the rules of the world had changed slightly. Britney had moved in with her mother because Britney was Kara¡¯s best friend, and she had lost her twin sister. Kara never went to the hospital, but her father was concerned with her spending less and less time at home and felt that having Britney¡¯s mother around would help.


    All of Julia¡¯s belongings had been shoved to a corner of the garage. They were debating donating her clothes to Eli¡¯s sister. Her computer and sound equipment were being kept by Kara for her own at home projects.


    The two of them headed up to Kara¡¯s room and sat on the edge of her bed. She couldn¡¯t believe anything that had happened. Not with her death, or Julia¡¯s death¡­ Or anyone¡¯s death, really. Was she really supposed to move on as though nothing had happened?


    ¡°You can spend the night with me,¡± whispered Austin.


    ¡°That demon told you that Britney won¡¯t remember anything. I don¡¯t think she¡¯ll be a danger to us anymore.¡±


    Austin hesitated before saying anything else. ¡°Are we together now?¡± He whispered. She also hesitated to say anything. ¡°Kara, I¡¯ve been in love with you since the second grade. Ever since you died¡­ I don¡¯t want to go through that again. Even if it ends up not working out in the end, I want to try to spend as much of my life as I can by your side.¡±


    Kara squeezed his hand while studying his face. Everything he was saying sounded sincere, but¡­ No. No, she wasn¡¯t going to hesitate on this anymore. She leaned in to kiss him, and that seemed to be confirmation enough that everything was going to be okay.

 Chapter Eighteen - You have no right to refuse.

    Julia found herself in an old stone building. The walls were covered in colorful mosaics, and judging from the art, it seemed to be a temple. A heavy layer of dust covered everything. That was just what the afterlife was like, though. Dust and ash. For as far as the eye can see.


    She let out a sigh as Trill appeared next to her. ¡°How am I supposed to find Mackenzie in this mess?¡±


    ¡°Through shared pain,¡± he replied. He held out his hand, and she took it. Now that she was dead, his skin didn¡¯t feel as leathery as it had before. ¡°It is still possible to find her within this chaos.¡±


    He led her through the building and to the outside. What greeted them was a city of stone buildings, each seeming as old as the temple she had been in. Unlike the temple, there was no color here. Everything was tones of gray, except for the sky, which was a pitch black. It made Julia wonder how anyone saw anything down here.


    What surprised her was how crowded it was. The city was populated with nude individuals, who were wandering around pretending to have a daily routine. Everything about them, to the way they moved, to their expressions, was listless. Occasionally, one would stoop down and scoop dust into their mouths, but that was as exciting as it got.


    ¡°How long before I become like them?¡± Julia felt tense, wondering if it were better to transform quickly rather than slowly. None of these people cared at all that they had gone full zombie, and that seemed to be working for them.


    ¡°You will stay by my side as my traveling companion,¡± replied Trill. He put his hand over her heart. ¡°In here beats our heart. I will not let it die.¡±


    ¡°That seems like you¡¯re just fighting off the inevitable,¡± she replied.


    ¡°We exist,¡± he said with a hiss. ¡°As long as I do the ritual, as long as those who have been paid spread the ritual, we will continue to exist.¡±


    She looked up at him and gave him a nod. ¡°A full year before Mackenzie begins to fade?¡±


    ¡°To the point where she is unrepairable, yes.¡±


    ¡°Then what can I do?¡± She stepped in front of him as he attempted to carry on. ¡°Tell me what it is that I can do.¡±


    He raised his snout slightly in the air and gave off an aura of superiority. ¡°This is a city of billions. If you somehow know of a way to filter through it within a few months, I will gladly hear your idea.¡±


    She didn¡¯t. ¡°And your sure that Kara is going to be okay?¡±


    ¡°No, she is in horrific danger. Her opponent is clever, and will no doubt decipher what has happened.¡± He patted her head as her face became streaked with panic. ¡°It will work itself out.¡±


    ¡°You say that, but that normally means that people end up dead!¡±


    ¡°Whether they live or die matters not to me. Not as long as you and I exist,¡± he replied flatly.


    Julia¡¯s hands formed into fists. ¡°Then I¡¯m going back there and I¡¯m going to find a way to help her.¡±


    ¡°Your true desire is to be with your love again, thus I cannot help you in that endeavor.¡±


    ¡°Which is what you have said countless times, yet you were more than willing to help me when¡­¡± When he was able to drink her blood, which was a resource that she was lacking in at the moment.


    A faint hint of a smile spread on his lips. He put a hand on her shoulder, and they were whisked away to the world of the living. There were three teenagers in a backyard, and they were setting up the ritual.


    ¡°Not now¡­¡± Julia shook her head. They had to be around the same age as her. ¡°They¡¯re to young, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    Trill began to circle around them. ¡°Though I do not work with children, that does not mean that I do not value potential.¡± He gestured to the only boy of the group. ¡°What is his desire?¡±


    More training¡­ Whatever. It kept Julia¡¯s mind off of the bleakness of the underworld. ¡°He wants to cure his mother of cancer.¡±


    ¡°Those are his surface thoughts. Dig deeper.¡±


    Julia tilted her head slightly. ¡°He¡­ His mother was abusive to him and his sister when they were younger. His sister¡­ She ended up in a bad accident due to their mother¡¯s negligence, but she was never blamed for it. He wants her to die because he believes that¡¯s what she deserves for ruining his sister¡¯s life.¡±


    ¡°And this one?¡± He gestured to the taller of the two girls.


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t get as much time to practice the cello as she wants to but wants to be skilled enough to make a career out of it. What she needs is the talent to make it into a musical program.¡± Julia then looked to the last girl. ¡°And she wants to not be allergic to dogs so that he dad can get a therapy dog for his PTSD.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Trill nodded. ¡°Not all desires end with the ritual participants dying,¡± he muttered. ¡°For the boy, we do what we can to repair his sister while allowing his mother to die of her illness. We rid this girl of her allergies, and bless the other with the gift of being a savant.¡±


    Julia agreed and hid in the shadows while he performed his work. He then took her to a hotel room. This one was less extravagant than the one they had stayed in before. ¡°We¡¯re not going back down there?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± He brushed aside the curtain and looked down at the busy New York street below. They appeared to be near Times Square. ¡°I only return there when it is necessary.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t blame you,¡± whispered Julia.


    ¡°There was a time where she and I had a temple of our own,¡± Trill spoke in a distant tone as he continued to stare down at the street. ¡°I would travel the deserts in search of those seeking to cure their desires, and my days were spent hidden away with her.¡±


    Julia went to stand next to him. She immediately became fascinated by the scene below. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I know you miss her.¡±


    ¡°She gave me her heart,¡± Trill whispered. ¡°I felt it heavy and still within my chest, and knew I had awakened in a world where she was no more.¡± He glanced at her before looking back at the street. ¡°But you gave life to that heart again. She beats within you, and I will continue to fulfill my duties in order to make certain that it will not stop.¡±


    ¡°... What.¡±


    He turned to her and lifted her chin slightly. ¡°You are my god now, Julia. My loyalty is yours and yours alone until the day comes where I am no more.¡±


    Julia slapped his hand away. ¡°Are you crazy?!¡± She said to the literal demon. ¡°I can¡¯t be your god! This was¡­ I only offered you some blood! You weren¡¯t supposed to do anything other than drink it! I never agreed to this!¡± He stared at her as though he didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Why would you do this?!¡±


    ¡°Because I had the opportunity to,¡± he replied.


    ¡°That didn¡¯t give you the right!¡±


    ¡°Your sister died without her desire being fulfilled,¡± replied Trill, ¡°and you, Julia, would have died shortly after, regardless of if you had summoned me or not. I knew this from the moment I had been summoned by your sister¡¯s group.


    Rather than let your sister remain unfulfilled, I opted to plan something advantageous for myself.¡± Trill walked over to the large mirror in the room and placed his hand upon it. The image rippled and shifted to Britney, Eli, and Kara at their summoning ritual. It was focused on Britney. ¡°I started by lying to this one about how her powers work.


    No matter what I said, she would become paranoid and murder your sister in order to steal her status. I told her that her power is based on trust. Rather, it works based on how likely it is for those who are more likely to follow the latest trends. She would be most popular among those her own age, but outcasts and older individuals would be unaffected.


    This began to breed a paranoia in her as she mistakenly believed that those around her, such as her mother, did not trust her completely. Once your sister was dead, the male of their group lessened her influence in the world out of fear of retribution, and the popular one had forgotten she had done the ritual in the first place or the fact that she had killed your sister.


    From there, I needed to place the ritual someplace she would see it. She, who had lost her best friend, would realize that her sister would be desperate enough to try it, and she had someone to boss around who wouldn¡¯t use the ritual against her. This provided another problem.


    You were always destined to perform the ritual, and it would result in your death. Either I allow the boy with lost memories induct you, where he would quickly realize his mistake and murder you, or I allow the popular one. Either, you had forgotten about your desire, but your soul still hungered for the touch of your lost love.


    Because of that, you needed to kill that boy of lost memories in order to regain focus on your desire. I would switch you and your sister, enabling you to join your love in death. That was the plan. I would then be able to grant your sister¡¯s desire and be done with my work.¡±


    Julia continued to backstep away from him until her back was against the wall. ¡°You were going to leave me dead?¡±


    ¡°I had originally planned to do so.¡± Trill¡¯s hand moved slightly on the mirror, and it showed the two of them sharing a kiss. Actually, it was when he forced himself on her, and there was blood dripping down from his mouth and chin as he did it. The sight made Julia¡¯s stomach churn. ¡°I became attached.¡±


    ¡°... Why?¡± He dealt with so many of those who were willing to use him for his services. What made her any different than them?


    ¡°I am not certain.¡± He removed his hand from the mirror, leaving it to return to its silvery state. Step by step, he crossed the room until he was where she was braced against the wall. His hand went on her shoulder, pinning her in place as he examined her closely.


    Julia gulped. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    The bunny-like ears of his mask turned downward as he became troubled. ¡°Julia.¡± He tilted his head and began to sniff at her neck. ¡°Julia¡­ Julia¡­¡±


    She ducked down and went around him. ¡°I¡¯m not¡­ I¡¯m not comfortable with this. Please stop.¡±


    Trill¡¯s ears continued to remain down. He glanced at her over his shoulder as she moved to increase the same between them. His tail was limp behind him. It was like all joy and motivation evaporated for him at that moment.


    ¡°How do I make sure my sister stays safe?¡± Julia settled on keeping a table between them as they spoke. If he tried to approach her again, she could easily circle about it in order to keep him on the other side.


    ¡°You don¡¯t. You are dead.¡± He slowly turned around and leaned against the wall.


    ¡°That isn¡¯t good enough for me. I had the ability to stop Britney before, but Kara is defenseless.¡± Julia clutched her arms about herself. ¡°There has to be something that can be done.¡±


    ¡°There was, but those fools rushed and demanded the two of you be switched sooner rather than later.¡± He grinned in a wild manner. ¡°And they will pay for their impatience through their suffering.¡±


    ¡°That isn¡¯t good enough for me,¡± she replied.


    ¡°You do not understand.¡± Trill vanished in ash and reappeared next to her. As she moved to step away, he grasped her painfully by putting one hand behind her head and the other on her waist. ¡°You are in my realm, Julia. I am the reason you are able to exist. You will become my god, I will serve you, and you will reward me by granting me what I desire.


    You have no right to refuse me.¡± His smile grew all the more crazed and wilder. ¡°Not after everything I have willingly given you. You and I will continue on till the end of mankind. Do not trouble yourself with those who have burdened you in life.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to do any of that.¡± She attempted to push him away, but he was overpowering her.


    ¡°You will come around in time, Julia. Deny it as much as you want, but you belong to me. Now and forever.¡±

 Chapter Nineteen - Forest Hike

    ¡°You hate fried chicken,¡± said Austin as he leaned against the kitchen counter.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t know how to make it,¡± replied Kara. She put the pieces into the cast iron skillet one by one. Leaning back, she made sure no one was no one was around the kitchen before she lowered her voice. ¡°I don¡¯t think mom is coming is back, and it¡¯s my dad¡¯s favorite dish.¡±


    Austin smirked. ¡°You miss your mom¡¯s cooking.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t miss anything,¡± she replied¡­ Except maybe Julia. Austin went to hug her from behind, but she shrugged him off. ¡°Not around a pan of hot lard.¡± His nose crinkled at the idea of lard being in the dish. ¡°It¡¯s the only way to do it.¡±


    A few days had gone by since Kara had come back to life. Britney had been acting like her usual self. She was the Britney that she was before Eli had messed with her head, and Kara was thankful for it. The two of them even told their parents that they were spending the weekend with friends. That actually meant the Britney was going back to her house with Tyler and Kara was going over to Austin¡¯s.


    She didn¡¯t mind playing house with Austin. Sure, there would be sex, but it was more that Kara wanted the time to sort her life out. A month of her life was gone. Her sister was dead. What there was to do with her life now, she didn¡¯t know. At least she had senior year to figure it out.


    They had dinner as a family and she and Austin left. He didn¡¯t pressure her into anything. All they did was watch a movie and go to sleep. The next morning, she made a big breakfast, they went out on a hike, and did nothing but talk about nothing. It was honestly the sweetest date that she had ever been on.


    ¡°Any luck getting a signal?¡± Austin was sitting on a fallen log and eating one of the sandwiches they had brought with them. He tossed a piece of bread to his dog, Winston, and smirked as it was snatched right out of the air.


    Kara was holding her phone up high. There was a waterfall that the two of them wanted to see, and they had gotten their trails mixed up. Her phone let out a beep, followed by a series of beeps as dozens of notifications had come in.


    ¡°Something up?¡± Austin went to stand, but Kara waved him off.


    ¡°Lost signal again.¡± She frowned at her phone and stuffed it in her pocket.


    Austin gestured down the path. ¡°I hear a river down that way. We¡¯ll keep heading upstream and we¡¯ll probably find it that way.¡± She didn¡¯t look like she was certain. ¡°Winston will guide us back if we get lost. Won¡¯tcha, boy?¡± He knelt down and started to shake the husky mix by the cheeks. ¡°Yes, you will, you good boy you.¡±


    Kara shook her head with a laugh and continued on ahead. Her dad loved animals, but they never had any due to her mother not wanting to clean up after them. The most they had were the caterpillars she and her sister kept each summer. They used to love to raise swallowtails, but they ended up getting too busy to do it anymore.


    She and Austin located the river and continued along it until they spotted the waterfall. It was a short thing, barely taller than Austin, but at least there were some boulders around to sit on. They shared one together, both staring at the waterfall and admiring the beauty of nature.


    ¡°There is no way that this is the right waterfall,¡± muttered Kara after a few minutes.


    Austin nodded. ¡°We absolutely fucked this up,¡± he replied. ¡°But this is better, isn¡¯t it? Who needs to see a twenty-foot waterfall that¡¯s supposedly haunted. We¡¯ve got¡­¡± He gestured to the pathetic looking drizzle of water in front of them. ¡°And this is our waterfall.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s ours.¡±


    ¡°I know for a fact that no one would have bothered to name this,¡± he said with a smirk. ¡°So this is our waterfall. Our little place of beauty in the world that doesn¡¯t belong to anyone but us.¡± He put his arm around her shoulder. ¡°What should we name it?¡±


    Kara leaned against him. It looked like a normal waterfall to her. ¡°Disappointment Falls?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    Kara let out a sigh. ¡°Lost Lover¡¯s Falls.¡±


    Austin held up an okay sign with his hand. ¡°Perfect.¡± He pulled out his phone. ¡°Get a picture of me and Winston?¡±


    They took a few pictures and began to head back to Kara¡¯s car. It didn¡¯t take long for Kara¡¯s phone to get blasted with messages again. This time she was able to go through them while Austin packed Winston into the car.


    ¡°Anything happen?¡±


    Kara put her phone up to her ear. ¡°I have a voicemail from Miss Grove.¡±


    Britney¡¯s mother sounded excited as she began talking. ¡°You won¡¯t believe what happened, sweetie. Don¡¯t be mad, but a few weeks ago, I entered you in as a candidate for Spring Queen, and guess what! You won! The package came in the mail today with all of the details in it. Now, you will need to write a speech, but we can get someone to you help with that.¡±


    She continued to babble into Kara¡¯s ear while Kara became increasingly surprised at how long a voicemail could last. The Spring Queen, although sometimes it was the Spring King, was a teenager selected to reign over a major arts festival that happened every year. They represented an issue that concerned their generation, such as last year¡¯s king who discussed climate change.


    Miss Grove had entered Kara without her permission and her social issue was teen suicide. As someone who ¡°had lost her sister¡± to it, she made for a prime candidate. But that also involved performing a speech, representing the issue for a whole weekend, as well as possibly a radio interview at the local radio station.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Are you going to do it?¡± Austin put his arm around her waist and pulled her close.


    Kara was troubled by the idea. ¡°Julia is dead. It would seem like I am profiting off of her and Eli¡¯s death. Not to mention that Julia would say that I was only picked because I¡¯m black. Something something, racial equality, blah blah blah.¡± She rolled her eyes at the idea.


    ¡°If you explain that you weren¡¯t the one that sent in the application, they¡¯ll probably be happy to cancel it.¡± Austin pulled her even closer and wrapped her up in a hug. ¡°You don¡¯t have to force yourself to do that.¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°Are you kidding? Britney is probably livid that she didn¡¯t get picked. I could easily step aside and let her use her powers to get herself fame, but she¡¯s the reason Julia is dead. I¡¯m not going to let her get away with it.¡±


    Austin tightened his grip on her and lowered his voice. ¡°Or, just an idea, love, we don¡¯t piss off the psychopath who had you hang yourself.¡± He kissed the top of her head. ¡°We still have to survive another year with her. Let her have her fun, we don¡¯t start a fight, and we both move to Boston and never see her again.¡±


    ¡°... I do want to move to Boston,¡± she muttered.


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Austin let her go and looked down at her. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to my place, take a few hours to fuck, have a shower, and then figure out if you want to spend the night or not.¡± She frowned at him. ¡°... Kara.¡±


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°... Fine.¡± Kara didn¡¯t exactly mind the plan since that¡¯s what she wanted to do anyway, but he didn¡¯t have to be so upfront about it.


    They went back to his place and have their fun. Afterward, Kara fiddled around with her phone. She was debating which pictures she wanted to put up on her social media accounts when Britney called her.


    ¡°Hello?¡± Kara sat up in bed and instinctively pulled the blanket up around herself.


    ¡°Congrats on being picked Spring Queen,¡± replied Britney. Her tone wasn¡¯t her usual chipper self. She was barely speaking with her usual chipper tone.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Thanks?¡± Kara waved off Austin as he crawled back into bed with her, but he ignored her.


    ¡°So when are you turning down their offer?¡±


    Kara froze up. ¡°Uhm¡­ I-I¡­¡± Something was off. The way Britney was talking was making her uncomfortable.


    ¡°Call up my mother right after I hang up. Tell her that she shouldn¡¯t have signed you up for Spring Queen and request that they find someone else.¡±


    ¡°... No.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Britney was speaking through gritted teeth. ¡°Why would you tell me no?¡±


    ¡°Because I have a chance to do some good with this opportunity,¡± whispered Kara.


    Britney took a heavy breath in order to calm herself down. ¡°I can use this opportunity better than you can. What do you want? Do you want news reports? Trending on Twitter? I can use my powers and Spring Queen to catapult me to an international level. We can set up a charity to help out Eli¡¯s family, or one in Julia¡¯s name. That¡¯s why you¡¯re doing it, right? Because you feel bad for taking part in your sister¡¯s murder?¡±


    Is that how she remembered it? That their plan to murder Julia had succeeded? ¡°...¡± Kara already felt guilty enough about Julia switching places with her. She didn¡¯t want Britney to believe she had taken part in her murder.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you saying anything? Tell me that you¡¯re going to reject their offer.¡±


    Kara felt herself getting angry. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re making a mistake.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care, Britney. You can find some other way to be popular. I¡¯m not letting you use Julia and Eli¡¯s deaths to do it. Both of them, and Mackenzie died because of our stupidity. You don¡¯t get to be rewarded for showing off our mistakes.¡±


    ¡°... It¡¯s a shame, Kara.¡± She let out a weak laugh. ¡°All you needed to do was trust me.¡±


    Kara was hung up on before she could reply. She sat there, clutching the phone in her hands while her mind went blank with fear. Austin immediately sprung out of bed and started to pull on his clothes. He then gestured for Kara to do the same.


    ¡°Go to my closet and grab any of my clothes that you think will fit you,¡± he said. He then raced to the hallway so he could find where the suitcases were stored.


    ¡°We¡¯re leaving?¡±


    Austin peeked his head through the door. ¡°You¡¯re the one that said that Britney has a cult at school who will do anything she says. Hell, she even had Carter and me summoning demons because she told us to.¡± She still didn¡¯t understand what he meant. ¡°We live in Roosevelt. Literally everywhere here owns a gun, and she has a group of my friends under her thumb. Friends who know nearly every place I would go if I needed to hide. We need to leave.¡±


    Kara shook her head. ¡°Where?¡±


    ¡°My parents flew to San Francisco to take care of my grandmother. They¡¯ll think we headed that way, but we¡¯re going north to Washington. I know someone in Puyallup that will take us in.¡± Austin dropped a suitcase in the room and began to fiddle with his phone. ¡°Hey. Code Batshit is a go.¡± He flailed an arm about the air. ¡°Yeah, I know it hasn¡¯t been a week yet. She¡¯s a psychobitch, and I¡¯ve had a bag packed and ready to go since the day after the ritual.¡±


    Kara got up and got herself dressed. She had planned to stay the weekend over at Austin¡¯s, so she at least had some amenities and a change of clothes. A few clothes and sweatpants were pulled out and tossed into the bag, along with her own belongings. As Austin clarified the details with Carter, she went downstairs to grab a bag of dog food and put it in her car.


    Austin grabbed the bags and joined her afterward. ¡°We¡¯ve got a four-hour drive to Puyallup. You¡¯re going to need to turn off your location services on your phone. She¡¯s going to be able to use social media to track where we are. Once we¡¯re in Puyallup, we¡¯re going to store your car in a garage and not take it out. Her next move, once she realizes she can¡¯t get in touch with us, is to report the car stolen.¡±


    ¡°Why do you know so much about this?¡±


    He paused. ¡°Turns out that following the advice someone needs to do in order to get away from a hostile relationship is the same as what you would do when you need to get away from an insane cult leader.¡± Austin slashed his hands through the air. ¡°Since we¡¯re minors, we can be reported instantly. It¡¯s likely we¡¯re going to have an amber alert on us before we reach the border.¡±


    ¡°Oh god.¡±


    ¡°Text your dad and tell him that you¡¯re heading to a concert in Portland tonight and are spending the night there in a hotel. That might delay it, but I don¡¯t know.¡± Austin patted himself down. ¡°I have about two grand in cash. We should be able to last for a while until we can figure it out.¡±


    ¡°You sure you want to do this?¡± She watched as Austin pulled out an envelope from his jacket pocket and begin to count it.


    ¡°I love you, Kara,¡± he replied firmly. ¡°And even if you run off on your own, Britney is going to target me. I don¡¯t want to be tortured to death because they don''t know where you are. That¡¯s why Carter is leaving as well. Neither of us wants to die.¡± He kissed her on the forehead. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll spend some time figuring it out, and we¡¯ll find a way to make sure that we stay safe.¡±


    He gave her a kiss, and she hugged him in return. Lovers on the run. Everything was so sudden, but she knew exactly how quickly Britney acted. Britney had already murdered her once before, and Kara refused to be a victim again.

 Chapter Twenty - Trills Following

    ¡°This is where,¡± Austin struggled to come up with with the right words, ¡°well, it might get weird. Pancham is, uh, he¡¯s very passionate.¡±


    ¡°Pancham?¡± Kara glanced over to Austin and then back to the road.


    ¡°... That¡¯s his online handle. It¡¯s a little panda pokemon.¡±


    Kara nearly slammed her foot down on the brakes then and there. ¡°Please tell me that you know his real name.¡±


    ¡°I actually only met him a week and a half ago. We haven¡¯t gotten to the point of using real names yet.¡± He winced as Kara tossed him a death glare. ¡°There¡¯s a community on the dark web that follows Trill¡¯s rituals. I was trying to research if Carter and I were going to be okay, and Pancham found me.


    He¡¯s the only survivor of his own ritual and has been a part of Trill¡¯s Following ever since. They attempt to track down where rituals have happened, and put together the data on the dark web.¡± She shot him another angry look. ¡°Either way, he thought Britney was going to turn on us, and he said we could crash at his place for a few weeks if we need to.¡±


    ¡°Is there any other place we can go?¡±


    ¡°Not unless we find a way to ditch this car and get a new one,¡± he replied. ¡°Take a left into this culdesac.¡±


    They arrived at a blue house that had the garage open and waiting for them. Kara pulled in and the garage immediately began to close behind them. An Asian man in his early twenties popped his head out of side door. He dressed rather plainly with the exception of the cat-print Hawaiian shirt.


    ¡°Texsex Wolf?¡± He pointed to Kara. ¡°And that¡¯s Lady Alpha?¡±


    Austin winced again as Kara shot him a look. ¡°I came up with that handle when I was fourteen, and I didn¡¯t want to use your name.¡± He then looked over to Pancham. ¡°Nice to meet you in the flesh, Pandam. I brought my PC.¡±


    ¡°Set it up on the coffee table. I¡¯ll put the software on it while you two unpack.¡± He then eyed Winston as the dog popped his head up. ¡°You didn¡¯t mention a dog.¡±


    ¡°My parents are taking care of my grandmother, and someone needed to stay behind to watch the dog. I wasn¡¯t going to leave him behind.¡± Austin frowned as Pancham glared at him. ¡°There wasn¡¯t enough time to get someone to look after him.¡±


    Pancham¡¯s look darkened, but he didn¡¯t complain. He let the two move their belongings into the guest room while he set up Austin¡¯s computer. Mostly it was setting it up so it could connect to the internet and not have it tracked to this location. From there, they had programs that could be used to connect their phone numbers, allowing them to get calls and texts, and they could use email as they needed.


    Their phones were put in a lead-lined safe, so they couldn¡¯t be turned on and tracked, and they were given a list of house rules. First and foremost, no leaving the house. They were minors. Their pictures would be up everywhere and a neighbor would notice. Pancham would handle walking Winston and shopping for anything they needed.


    Aside from that, they were allowed to do as they pleased. Austin was going to make it seem like they had gone to California, and Kara was supposed to pretend to have done the same. They were going to lay low until they either found a way to stop Britney or they found a way to escape into Canada.


    ¡°The only thing I wished for is financial security,¡± said Pancham over dinner. ¡°My Patreon subscribers exploded in numbers, and I make enough that I was able to quit college and put a downpayment on a house.¡±


    Austin leaned towards Kara and whispered in a low voice. ¡°He makes porn games.¡±


    ¡°Erotic visual novels,¡± corrected Pancham. He then looked over to Kara. ¡°Over sixty percent of my patrons are women.¡± He felt the need to clarify as though that made his work any less perverted in nature. ¡°Texsex said you were planning on majoring in music composition?¡±


    Kara leaned into Austin as he put an arm about her waist. ¡°... Yes.¡±


    ¡°Give me a list of equipment and programs you need. I¡¯ll get overnight shipping on them. You can pay for your stay here by composing some music I need.¡±


    Austin whispered to Kara again. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine. You make tunes all the time, and I promise that he won¡¯t make you look at anything weird.¡±


    After they had eaten and gotten Austin¡¯s computer finished setting up, he begun dealing with the fallout of their disappearance. It wasn¡¯t long after they left that someone had shattered the back patio window of Austin¡¯s house. The neighbors noticed it when they got home, and Austin¡¯s parents had a meltdown because he and the dog were missing. He did what he could to calm them down and then it was Kara¡¯s turn to explain everything to her father.


    ¡°You¡¯re coming home right now.¡±


    ¡°I told that I can¡¯t, dad. I¡¯m scared.¡± Kara took a breath to steady herself. ¡°I know that you don¡¯t believe me, but Julia and Mackenzie were murdered. Eli was in on it, and he died before the truth could be revealed. Now they¡¯re after me.¡±


    Her father scoffed at the idea. ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous. The police looked into each of those cases and found no foul play. Are you saying that police are also in on it?¡±


    ¡°No, they aren¡¯t, but I¡¯m the target of someone who knows how to get around the police.¡± She frowned as he scoffed again. ¡°I¡¯m sorry¡­ I¡¯ll come home when I think I¡¯m safe.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    ¡°You are safe. In your own home, with me, and Miss Grove, and Britney. If you have proof that someone is after you, we can get you police protection. Or if you¡¯re scared, I can talk to your mother about staying with her, but you¡¯re not allowed to abandon your family or your schoolwork simply because you are suffering from paranoid delusions.¡±


    Kara had to hang up on him. She took the headset off her head and began to cry into Austin¡¯s chest. Of course, her father wouldn¡¯t understand, but she was not going to risk dying just to make herself seem less crazy.


    She went to go lay down, and in the morning, Pancham went on to explain Trill¡¯s Following. It was a forum on the dark web that only allowed for members that had done the ritual. They tracked how the ritual moved online and attempted to make a database of successful and unsuccessful summonings.


    Less than three people could summon Trill, but he wouldn¡¯t appear if there were more than three. Nor would he appear of the summoners were very young, older than their twenties, or if they had several recording devices setup. The incantation or summoning circle didn¡¯t need to be specific either. All that was needed was the intent to summon him and a sacrifice of flesh.


    How he granted desires had a direct correlation to those who would survive the ritual. Anyone who needed simple changes and wasn¡¯t granted magic had a very high chance to live. No one who was given extraordinary abilities made it past a few months. This was the reason why Pancham had agreed to take in Austin and Kara. Neither had gotten abilities through their ritual, thus he could do so with little risk towards himself.


    From what the group had gathered, Trill was first summoned by a theology student a year and a half ago. They were researching Babylonian religions and had possibly stumbled on the ritual through there. Someone else, possibly another person from his ritual, stole his notes for his master thesis and put them online.


    Others were able to do their own rituals using what had been posted. However, the notes were incomplete. There was mention that it may be possible to banish Trill from this world. It appeared as though the student had died while attempting to do a banishing ritual, and his murderer was currently serving a jail sentence. No one in the following had contact with him to see what he knew.


    That was the group¡¯s true intention. They wanted to banish Trill from this world. Although all of them had benefited from their rituals, their gains did not justify the destruction that others had caused. It was better that no one be allowed to use it.


    ¡°If it¡¯s possible to banish him, wouldn¡¯t it also be possible to get rid of someone¡¯s magic?¡± Kara was hopeful that there would be a way to strip Britney of her powers. She wouldn¡¯t be able to cause any harm, and Kara would be able to go back home sooner than she expected.


    Pancham shook his head. ¡°There was someone in the forums who was looking into this. Her spells had unforeseen consequences, and we were working together in hopes that we could fix her before she ended up dying.¡± He shook his head slowly. ¡°She ended up having an aneurysm before we could do anything.¡±


    Austin chimed in next. ¡°Britney got her powers in early December of last year. How long do you think it will be until something happens to her?¡±


    Another shake of the head was given. ¡°It depends. If she plays it smart, it could be another three months.¡±


    Kara clutched the sides of her head. ¡°I can¡¯t wait that long.¡± She would end up failing this semester and having to do everything over. That would mean that she¡¯d have to say goodbye to her college plans because she definitely won¡¯t get accepted at that point.


    ¡°Then move in with your mom,¡± replied Austin. ¡°Setup for school there, and you can come back after the summer.¡± He gave a reassuring squeeze to her hand. ¡°Britney will give up if you¡¯re nowhere near her.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to leave you to fail,¡± she whispered. ¡°Either you go back and she goes after you, or¡­ I don¡¯t know. Stay here? Stay here and do what?¡±


    ¡°Age of emancipation in both Oregon and Washington is sixteen. They can put out alerts on us, but they can¡¯t force us to go back if we don¡¯t want to,¡± replied Austin.


    ¡°Incorrect,¡± replied Pancham. ¡°Emancipation under the age of eighteen is a court-approved process, and it will unlikely be granted. A lawyer would argue that you are acting under mental duress and that the both of you are neither mature enough or capable of living by yourselves. You will be forced home and lead to your deaths.¡±


    That certainly didn¡¯t appeal to either of them. ¡°Let¡¯s sleep on it,¡± said Austin. He stood up and held out his hand for Kara to take. ¡°Come on.¡±


    ¡°I get up at eight,¡± said Pancham as Kara stood up. ¡°One of you needs to be in charge of cooking meals and cleaning.¡± This was said as he stared at Austin. Kara needed as much time as needed to work for him, and it wasn¡¯t like Austin was going to doing anything.


    ¡°Gotcha.¡±


    ¡°Write me a list of what groceries you need, and don¡¯t answer the door for anyone. Not even for packages. There¡¯s a package box that the delivery man knows to drop them off in, and they¡¯ll stay safe out there in the event that I¡¯ve gone out.¡± He stood up as well, straightening his shirt as he did so.


    Austin wasn¡¯t the best cook, but hey, that¡¯s what the internet was for. ¡°Will do, Pancham. Night.¡±


    He and Kara went back to the room and settled in bed. They¡¯d hand over some of the cash Austin had brought to Pancham tomorrow, and he could use that to buy Kara some spare underwear and other items she needed online. The two of them would be fine. If she wanted to leave sooner and stay with her mom, that was fine too.


    ¡°We¡¯ll email our teachers in the morning and see what work we can do here. Britney had someone break into my house, and the neighbor across the street caught video of people driving up to the place after we left on their security cameras. The police have what they need to sort it out, and maybe your dad will calm down after he realizes it.¡±


    ¡°I hope so¡­¡±


    Staying here for three months though? That didn¡¯t sit well with Kara. She buried herself in Austin¡¯s arms but was instead trapped by her own thoughts. What had Julia gone through since Kara had died? Attacking Austin, murdering Eli¡­ Something had pressured her into doing it.


    Was it Mackenzie¡¯s death, or her own? Kara didn¡¯t know. But she also knew that Julia didn¡¯t back down when she felt threatened. She didn¡¯t run away. She didn¡¯t hide. She took her time, came up with a plan, and took her revenge.


    ¡°Austin?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Kara?¡±


    ¡°I think we have everything we need here.¡±


    ¡°As long as we have each other, we have everything we need.¡±


    Kara sat up. ¡°No, I mean, with Trill¡¯s Following. There¡¯s literally a group of people who can help us figure out how to fight Britney.¡± He frowned at her. ¡°Who else is going to do it? We can wait for her to destroy herself, or we make her do it ourselves.¡±


    Austin sat up long enough to grab onto Kara and drag her back to the bed. When she began to squirm, he tangled his legs with hers and partially rolled on top of her. ¡°We¡¯re not doing that.¡± She let out a whining noise. ¡°... Alright. Take a few days to think about it, and if you can come up with a plan, we¡¯ll do it. Otherwise, promise me that you¡¯ll give up.¡±


    ¡°... Alright. I¡¯ll do that.¡± But Kara wasn¡¯t going to give up. One way or another, Britney was going down.¡±

 Chapter Twenty-One - Spring Queen - Final Chapter

    ¡°You look absolutely beautiful, sweetie.¡± Britney¡¯s mother was fawning over her. She gave random tugs to Britney¡¯s hair and dress in an attempt to make them perfect.


    Britney batted her mother¡¯s hands away and then straightened out her flower crown. ¡°I¡¯m fine, mother. Go enjoy the festival with Mister Morris.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m worried that-¡±


    ¡°I can handle myself, mom!¡± Britney let out an exasperated sigh. She waved as one of her cheerleaders ran up to her. ¡°I¡¯m going to go be with my friends now. Bye.¡±


    If only her powers worked on her two-faced cunt of a mother. She was all smiles and joy, but deep down, Britney knew that her mother didn¡¯t trust her. Why else wouldn¡¯t her powers work? Her teeth gritted together as she followed the cheerleader back to the rest of the group.


    ¡°Your speech is at one. You have to be there fifteen minutes beforehand, and they¡¯ll want you to spend some time at the suicide booth afterward.¡± The girl pulled out her phone and began to go through her checklist. ¡°They also want you at the closing ceremony tomorrow, but you¡¯re free to go about and do whatever.¡±


    ¡°Tell the girls to leave at four and prep my old house for a party,¡± replied Britney. She then stopped and put her hand on her hip. ¡°And you-know-who better not be a fucking prude this time. Those boys work hard for us, and we do what we can to put out because of it.¡± Her eyes narrowed at the girl, who began to step to side nervously.


    ¡°... Y-yes Miss Britney.¡± The girl winced as her phone began to beep, and she fumbled to check the message. ¡°They¡¯ve secured your target.¡±


    Britney¡¯s lips spread into a wide grin. ¡°Absolutely fucking amazing. I only just got here and they¡¯ve already figured it all out on their own.¡± She let out a squeal of delight. ¡°I love my boys!¡±


    They worked their way through the crowd and to a fortified concrete building that was labeled off limits. Britney told the girl to go wait with the others and ducked under the chain barrier. Her boys had cut off the padlock blocking the back door, and there wouldn¡¯t be anyone coming by for a long time.


    Inside was a dusty abandoned building. This appeared to be a storehouse at one time or another. David and Nick, newly released on bail, had Mio tied up with duct tape at the center of the room. Nick had a bat resting on his shoulder, and he did the talking as Britney approached.


    ¡°We found her messing with the stage equipment. She had that with her.¡± He gestured to the smashed up laptop on the ground.


    Great. As always, her boys were the brightest. ¡°Did you even bother checking to see what she had?¡± They stared at her. ¡°The videos! We needed to know how much she had gotten!¡± She tossed her arms in the air. ¡°Whatever! Get that tape off of her mouth.¡±


    Mio let out a yelp as the tape was ripped off of her. They were going to play a tribute video behind Britney as she did her speech, and the plan was to switch out the videos before anyone had noticed. She had sort of been ambushed before she could finish, and now she was terrified that her time had come.


    ¡°I thought it was weird,¡± said Britney in a low, calm voice. ¡°You came over to get the scrapbooks, but how did you know about them? I mean, how did you know that Kara had them unless she was the one that told you?


    Of course, after Eli had died, she could¡¯ve had a chance of conscience. She might have wanted to make things right for you, little Mio, but why would you show up for them after Kara had run off? It didn¡¯t make sense to me at all until I noticed the hidden camera in my room this morning. I know Kara wouldn¡¯t have been clever enough to set them up, but she would know where to put them, and how to get into my old house to put cameras there as well.¡±


    Mio didn¡¯t say anything.


    ¡°Where is Kara?¡± Britney gritted her teeth again as Mio refused to move. ¡°Did you know they hold this festival on the grounds of an old concentration camp? This is where they kept Japs during the war.¡± She gestured to the room around her. ¡°They¡¯d lock your kind up in this storage room during the winter when they acted up. Rumor is that it¡¯s haunted by all sorts of ghosts as a result.¡±


    Mio continued to not say anything. She only looked up and glared.


    ¡°You lost,¡± replied Britney. ¡°You thought you¡¯d go big, but you lost. There is nothing that you, little Miss Confidence, can do to stop me.¡± She held out her hand, and Nick put the bat in her hands. ¡°Say hi to your great-grandfather to me.¡±


    Britney swung the bat as hard as she could, and a sickening crack resonated throughout the room as it made contact with Mio¡¯s temple. This was followed by a rattle as she dropped the bat, and thud as Mio flopped over. Her mouth had gone slack, seeming to be quite dead.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think she¡¯s dead,¡± muttered David.


    ¡°If she isn¡¯t, then use her as a sex glove,¡± spat back Britney. ¡°Or leave her here. Put the tape over her mouth again and make sure she can¡¯t move. We¡¯ll deal with her after I¡¯m done working.¡±


    She straightened out her dress with a quick tug and left the boys to their work. Figuring out the camera situation had eaten up the majority of her day, and she was almost late for her speech. Britney needed to get going¡­ And who knows? If Mio was still somehow alive when she was done, they could use her as the main attraction at her party afterward.


    The two teens began to argue back and forth on if they should tie her up like Britney wanted, of if Britney wanted them to rape her. David was leaning towards taping her up and leaving her be, while Nick thought the other. Neither would get that far into taking action, as they were interrupted by the heavy creak of the door opening and shutting.


    They looked toward the back door and saw Austin walking up. David pulled out a pistol from the waistband of his pants and pointed it at him. Neither said anything as Austin put his hands behind his head and continued to walk towards them.


    He stopped next to Mio and looked down at her. ¡°Guess they never fixed the lock after we broke it last Halloween.¡± Austin looked between the two of them. ¡°Remember that? We were here with the rest of the group, and Kara kept crying that she didn¡¯t want to see any ghosts?¡±


    David glanced over to Nick. ¡°Get on the ground, Austin.¡±


    Austin¡¯s hands went from behind his head to his waist. ¡°Are we really going to do this?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    A laugh escaped Austin. ¡°Sure, alright.¡±


    He whipped out a tranquilizer gun from his waistband and fired it at David. Both of them jolted back as David fired off the gun and hit Austin in the gut. Nick went to tackle Austin but charged past as Austin nimbly stepped aside. Austin grabbed Nick by the elbow, tangled a foot in front of his shin, and slammed him face first into the ground.


    ¡°Wrestling team, mother fucker!¡±


    Austin fumbled to pick up the gun from where he dropped it before Nick had a chance to scramble for it, and fired one off into his thigh. David was already stumbling about like a drunk, and Nick would soon be like him. There wasn¡¯t time to worry about that though. He scooped up Mio and ran out of the building. Blood was leaking out of him fast, and both of them were in desperate need of medical treatment.


    Naive to these events was Britney, who was being given a rundown of everything before she went up to speak. One of her cheerleaders handed her her notes, and she began to mumble to herself as she went through them one by one. She had bothered to get a nice camera team to show up to record the event, and she wasn¡¯t doubting for a second that her speech was going to go viral the moment it hit online.


    ¡°Introducing your Spring Queen for this year, Britney Grove!¡±


    Britney gave off a beaming smile, waving like a beauty queen as she got up to the lectern. A massive crowd had shown up to the field, and plenty of them were holding up signs with her name and face on them. She felt like a rock star. The first real taste of what popularity and fame would get her, and she was absolutely hooked.


    ¡°Thank you all for coming out here today!¡± She waved as the crowd cheered loudly. ¡°My name is Britney Grove, and I am your spring queen. I am here to talk to you about the issue of suicide, and how it has affected my high school and fellow students¡­¡±


    She continued to discuss the impact that those who had died left upon her friends and family, but her eyes became locked on a black silhouette as it walked through the crowd. It was a woman wearing a black lace dress, a wide hat, and veil. Britney instantly realized that it was Kara here to taunt her, but she would not be undeterred. Her speech would go on.


    What she hadn¡¯t realized was that the video tribute behind her had changed. It went static for a second before changing to a silent scene behind the high school. The camera appeared to be hiding between some bushes, recording an argument between Britney and Eli. They had a ladder set up beneath a tree, and a rope was lying on the ground.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    It wasn¡¯t long before the person holding the camera walked up to confront them. Britney¡¯s face had turned red from how angry she was, but it was obvious that she was yelling. She started to yell at Eli, and he decided to attack the person behind the camera.


    The camera was dropped to the ground, and it recorded Britney and Eli dragging Julia on screen. He held her down while Britney tightened the noose about the neck, then she climbed up the ladder and used the branch as leverage. Both she and Eli grabbed onto the rope and began to yank Julia in the air.


    Gasps rang through the crowd, and Britney stopped talking. She couldn¡¯t understand. They should be cheering her, shouldn¡¯t they? Why did they lower their signs? Why had some of them gone pale? Others had started to pull away their children, as some of them had started to cry.


    Britney turned around just in time to see the last seconds of the video. Julia¡¯s legs suspended in the air, growing weaker and weaker by the second before they stopped moving completely. The video went staticy again, and cut to a scene were Julia and Mackenzie were with the AP club. Mackenzie had a pencil underneath her nose, pretending that it was a mustache, and Julia couldn¡¯t stop laughing at how stupid she looked.


    She looked over to her cheerleaders. ¡°Don¡¯t stand there!¡± Her mic had been cut, and she was forced to cup her hands around her mouth. ¡°Do something! Do something about this right now!¡±


    The girls looked at each other. One of them pulled out a gun and pointed it at Britney. Someone shouted ¡°Gun!¡± but people didn¡¯t realize what was said until the trigger had been pulled. Suddenly there was full-blown panic as everyone started to scatter in every single direction.


    Britney put a hand up to her cheek. The bullet had grazed her, slashing partway into her cheek and taking out a large chunk of her left ear. Her eyes widened as the girl lined up to take a second shot. Something was wrong. Everything had gone wrong.


    She took off running, dodging through the panicked crowd as she went. They would assume that she had fled the festival completely and would look for her outside of it. Instead, she¡¯ll go to where David and Nick were. David had a gun, and he would protect her if they somehow figured out that¡¯s where she had gone.


    But all that greeted her was an empty storehouse and a trail of blood from when Austin had fled from this place earlier. She looked around and assumed that the blood was Mio¡¯s and that they had chosen to move her early for some odd reason. There were still plenty of places to hide here. That didn¡¯t change her plan.


    Britney settled herself in the corner and begun to wait. There were crates here that hid her view, but it also meant then no one could see her. She shuddered as she heard the heavy door creak open and close. Footsteps began to echo throughout the room, nearly taunting her to peek around the edge.


    ¡°I know you¡¯re here,¡± said Kara.


    Britney immediately stood up. ¡°You bitch!¡± She started to storm towards Kara. ¡°You just had to ruin it! This was my day! This was my platform to launch me into stardom! I don¡¯t know how you got that video, or where it even came from, but you¡¯re dead. You are absolutely dead.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m already dead,¡± she replied. The hat and veil were removed in a single motion, revealing a poof of hair and a set of glasses.


    Britney scoffed. ¡°You go away for a month, wash the straightener out of your hair, and take out your contacts. You can¡¯t fool me, Kara. Pretend to be Julia all you want, but you¡¯re not going to trick me into being scared!¡±


    A cacophony of laughter against the walls of the room. High pitched chittering combined with low-voiced chuckles. Startled, Britney took a step back. Her falter would only be a momentary one, and she was quick to stand her ground again.


    ¡°So what? You put speakers here or something?¡± Britney flinched again as the shadows of the room appeared to move, almost seeming like a crowd of lost souls forming together. All here to enjoy the show. ¡°... Alright, fine. You¡¯re Julia¡­ Are you going to kill me just like you killed Eli?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve gone into a different line of work,¡± said Julia. Her glasses evaporated and turned into a butterfly mask. She then raised her hands slightly, and the crowd around them began to applaud. ¡°I deal with desire, and killing you would go against your wishes. After all, you should be around to enjoy your fame.¡±


    Britney stared at her, trying to understand if she was serious or not. Then she began to laugh. ¡°Of course¡­ Of course, I¡¯ll still be famous! Julia didn¡¯t have a camera with her, and Eli wasn¡¯t there either! That was all one of your tricks. People will believe me if I say that it was fake. I¡¯ll be free to enjoy my fame and you¡¯ll still be dead!¡±


    ¡°I want my wish of being popular.¡± Julia was quoting Britney¡¯s words from her first ritual. ¡°I want to be popular enough that even people outside of this town know my name. I want to be famous!¡±


    ¡°Exactly! I¡¯ll blame Kara for trying to take me down, and I¡¯ll be even more well known after that! You can¡¯t stop me!¡±


    Julia nodded in agreement. ¡°Austin sent a video of you to the police this morning. They¡¯re still going through them now, and are working to put together a warrant for your arrest.¡±


    ¡°One fabricated video of me killing you isn¡¯t enough to make an arrest,¡± she spat back.


    Julia smirked. ¡°But it isn¡¯t just one video. It¡¯s dozens. You ordering people to steal items for you and the other cheerleaders, organizing orgies, blackmailing students to comply with sexual demands or illegal crime with video you had taken of them. I doubt that they¡¯ll believe what you say after they the blackmail evidence is retrieved from your computer and phone.¡±


    ¡°Of course they will, I still have my powers,¡± replied Britney confidently.


    ¡°I can see the news tomorrow,¡± muttered Julia. ¡°Internet famous teen arrested on suspected murder charges and child pornography.¡±


    ¡°What child pornography?¡±


    ¡°Your blackmail videos, Britney. We¡¯re teenagers, and that footage you got was of minors.¡±


    Britney took a step forward, still holding her ground as she spoke. ¡°I am still going to get away with it. You can¡¯t take away my powers.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re famous,¡± said Julia with a laugh. ¡°Your name and face escaped this town, just like you wished. Everyone is going to know you as the girl who made a deal with Eli. You¡¯ll rig Mackenzie¡¯s car so it¡¯ll fail on the mountain roads, and Eli takes out Kara so you can steal her position as head cheerleader and her boyfriend. People are going to be talking about you for years. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll even get your own documentary on Netflix.¡±


    ¡°... What are you getting at?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need your powers anymore, Britney. You already have everything you wanted.¡±


    Britney¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°You can¡¯t¡­ You can¡¯t do this to me! It wasn¡¯t supposed to be this way, how dare you-¡±


    Julia couldn¡¯t be bothered to hear what Britney had to say. She didn¡¯t deserve to get in one last word. What Britney deserved was to suffer a long and miserable life. That¡¯s exactly what she was going to get.


    She vanished in a swirl of ash and reappeared inside an operating room. Austin had gone into shock on the way to the hospital, and they had rushed him into surgery the moment he got there. Trill was observing the scene with interest. Medicine had advanced by leaps and bounds from what he had seen in the past.


    ¡°He will survive,¡± muttered Trill.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± replied Julia. ¡°It¡¯s done. We can go.¡±


    Trill gave her a nod. ¡°I have a summoning to tend to. Go ahead without me.¡± Julia rolled her eyes and vanished again.¡±


    Another glance at the surgery and Trill also vanished in a swirl of ash. He reappeared in Mio¡¯s hospital room, where Kara was sitting in a chair by the bed. Trill calmly walked over and examined Mio¡¯s condition. Her head had been wrapped and a tube was down her throat, but she stood a chance of recovering as well.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± Kara looked up at him with a heated look in her eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± he replied.


    Kara stood up. ¡°What¡¯s done?¡± She furrowed her brows. ¡°Britney? She¡¯s been arrested? Everything¡¯s going to be fine now?¡±


    ¡°Your desire has been fulfilled. I owe you no more obligations.¡±


    Kara sat back down and let out a breath of relief. ¡°Good¡­ Awesome, yeah¡­ I can go home now.¡±


    ¡°You are mistaken in what your true desire is.¡± Trill knelt on the floor in front of her. ¡°What you wanted was freedom. Freedom from your mother, who would control what college you went to and your career. Freedom from your sister, the twin whom you were always compared to.


    I arrange for your parents to divorce, and for Julia to eventually take your place in death, but was faced with a new challenged. That girl¡¯s mother was destined to marry your father, and you would be given a new sibling. A new danger who would overshadow you and bind you to a miserable life.


    She was allowed to destroy herself, and will now no longer serve to challenge you. You, as a single child, will never be compared to anyone again. A new mother who will let you thrive, and a lover who will always be there to support you. The future is yours to do with as you wish. That was your desire, and I have finally granted it.¡±


    Trill took a moment to bask in the horror across her face before vanishing again. He reappeared in the underworld temple, where Julia was talking with Eli. She was surprised to see Trill so soon. The demon tended to enjoy taking his time when it came to his rituals.


    ¡°Were they not eligible?¡±


    ¡°They were not,¡± he replied. Trill then glanced over at Eli with a noticeable sneer. Eli returned the look.


    ¡°Play nice,¡± scolded Julia. She then picked up a bag and slung it over her shoulder. ¡°We¡¯re ready to go.¡±


    Trill immediately approached her and took her hand into his. ¡°I will not be able to locate you easily once you venture outside of the city. You will still be able to receive energy from the rituals. There is little risk of you losing your sanity because of it.¡±


    Julia maintained her stern look. ¡°And you are going to help provide for Eli¡¯s family and make sure good fortune finds them, right?¡± He frowned. ¡°That¡¯s the deal we have. You make sure his family doesn¡¯t stay miserable, and I have a traveling companion to keep me safe.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not happy about this deal,¡± said Eli, who still wasn¡¯t over the whole being murdered thing, ¡°but can¡¯t say that I hate the sword.¡± He put a hand on his hip, where a scimitar was hanging.


    Trill leaned towards Julia and whispered in her ear. ¡°Your training is complete, and by that, I mean that you are a more competent fighter than he would be.¡±


    ¡°Shh. Let him have this,¡± she whispered back.


    Trill shook his head. ¡°I fully expect you to return here within a year. Either you have the girl with you, and we can begin to do what we can to repair what has been lost, or you have failed. Do not forget that no matter the outcome, you have agreed to serve as my god for all of time.¡±


    ¡°Blah blah blah, I got it.¡± Julia frowned all the harder as he stared at her with uncertainty. ¡°I promise.¡±


    ¡°Very well,¡± he said. Trill then winced as he felt a familiar sensation. An actual ritual this time. He kissed Julia on the forehead and vanished.


    Eli waited for a moment before saying anything. ¡°I hate him.¡±


    ¡°A lot of people do,¡± she replied.


    Eli paused again. ¡°You sure you want to do this? He did say that there were billions of people of out there. We have no idea where she ended up.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be fine. Everything is going to work out because seeing her again is my true desire.¡± Julia grinned widely at him. ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s go find Mackenzie.¡±