Is she… is she one of them? I mean, is that even possible? To change into one? I ask Cameron, not wanting to trust him, but I don’t have a choice at the moment. I can’t even feel my legs and arms anymore.
She’s possessed, yes, but she’s not one of them… yet. Yes, it’s possible, though. To die and become a Reaper if under the possession for too long.
I manage to glance down at my arms, noting that they’re shaking from the fear I’m sure I feel, yet the coldness inside me blocks it out.
You won’t die, princess. Relax.
That’s not what I’m upset about. Well, not the only reason.
I hate thinking about how Asher risked breaking the rules to save Raven. On the night I first met Asher, he was supposed to collect Raven’s soul after Landon tried to rape and kill her but instead he killed Landon because he said he saw in my eyes that Raven meant a lot to me. And now look at her; possessed and fraternizing with the enemy. Asher’s risk was all for nothing and now he’s being punished for it.
Is she… are they going to hurt me? I ask Cameron with my eyes fixed on Raven while she throws her head back and laughs as the cashier guy leans on the counter eyeing her with want.
No, but they’re going to fuck with your head. That’s why they brought you here. They’re trying to break you down quickly and hopefully get you arrested for the murders.
I swallow hard, frozen in place even though I want to run. That’s why they sent Raven to get me today? She’s setting me up, right? But I don’t get it. Why would she ever think I’d come with her when she knows I know she’s under the control of the Anamotti. Isn’t she even a little suspicious of why I just came with her without much of a fight?
Well, I think, if you didn’t willingly come here, he says. Then they probably would have forced you to. He pauses. And here’s the really crazy part of all this; I’m going to need you to play along with whatever they try to do to you. Let them think they’ve got into your head, like they did back at the Halloween dance, let them think you’re caving to them so they’ll let their guard down… let things slip. Make mistakes.
I try to inch towards the door, but to no avail. No. Way. I need to leave, Cameron. I can’t get arrested again.
You can’t go yet. I need you to find out… He trails off.
Cameron, I need more details if—
“Hey, Emmy.” Raven appears in front of me with a pair of shoes in each of her hands and a fake smile on her face. “You ready for this?”
I clear my throat several times before Cameron lets me speak again. “Absolutely.” I take the shoes she offers me and then weave through the crowd towards a bench at the back near the cubbies, practically skipping.
Cameron, please tone down the skipping. I don’t walk like this.
He laughs, but then sighs. Yeah, you’re right. That’s more of a Raven thing.
My feet slow as I reach the cubby area in the corner. I fight to breathe as hundreds of deaths pour through me like liquid fire, scorching my skin, as I walk through the crowd. Fire. Drowning. Hanging. Pain. Blood. Solitude. It singes the back of my throat as I taste each one, but I inhale through my nose and feel Cameron trying to help me stay calm. When I sink down on the bench, I breathe freely as the crowd parts and opens up. I hear balls rolling down the lanes behind me, crashing against the pins as I slip off my boots and tuck them into a cubby.
Raven drops down beside me and slips her foot out of her boot. “So, what do you think?”
I glance up at her as I tie my shoe. “About what?”
She kicks off her other boot and then wiggles her foot into her shoe. “About this place, duh.” She rolls her eyes at me.
I shrug as I tie my other shoe. “Looks like the bowling alley we’ve had in town since I was six.”
She grins at me, and for a second, she looks like my real best friend. “Remember how my dad used to take us here?”
I nod, genuinely smiling, and Cameron lets it through. The memory is a good one and deserves the credit. “I do. It was a lot of fun. Probably the most fun I ever had at the time.”
Her grin expands as she slips on the other shoe and laces it. “It was, wasn’t it?”
“It was,” I agree and then the conversation stops as I sit there, waiting for whatever comes next.
Raven finishes putting her shoes on then pulls me to my feet and drags me over to the lanes, stopping in front of two guys. They both are tall with the same black hair styled to the side, but their eye color is different and their features slightly vary; one’s are sharper than the other’s. Still, the resemblance between them is freakishly strange.
“Emmy, I’d like to introduce you to Geldon and Emerson.” Raven gestures between the two of them while I attempt not to stare at the X’s branded on their foreheads.
“It’s great to meet you,” I say with a smile.
They smile back, but there’s darkness behind it and then Geldon reaches out to shake my hand.
“And you are?” His voice purrs out like a cat ready to pounce on a mouse and devour it.
I think he likes you, Cameron jokes, but his amusement falls flat.
“Ember.” Holding my breath, I wrap my fingers around his hand. Screams. Blood pouring like a river. I can’t see. Where did you go? Fall. Fall. Fall. “Ember.” He continues to hold my hand with his gaze fastened on me like I’m a piece of candy he wants to taste. “That’s a unique name.”
“So is Geldon,” I reply, trying to pull my hand away, but Cameron has taken over again and all I can do is helplessly stand there, feeling his horrid death. I can’t go alone. Come with me. I need to breathe. Fly. Do you trust me? No!
Finally, he frees my hand and thankfully Emerson seems more focused on Raven than getting to know me. I wonder what happened with Garrick, the member of the Anamotti she was dating the first time she was possessed. Just a few weeks ago Raven was under his possession, but now they act as if they don’t recognize each other.
Raven is obeying orders from someone else, Cameron clarifies. Her connection with Garrick doesn’t exist anymore.