The Reaping

CHAPTER SIXTEEN





If I’d thought the pain I’d felt earlier was devastating, it was nothing compared to the excruciating heartbreak that I felt now after reading his words.

Although I knew very little about Fahl and his mysterious deals, I knew that they were extremely expensive. And when Derek said he only had one thing to bargain with, I knew what that one thing was.

An image of him standing in the woods, pointing the way to Leah filled my mind. Now I knew why he was there. He’d given his life to Fahl. For me. Derek was one of the dead.

Love and agony bled from the giant, gaping hole in my heart. He was gone, really gone. He was gone from this world, he’d traded his life, his very soul, for me.

I sat there, chest so tight I couldn’t breathe, certain that I couldn’t stand the pain of it. Thinking he was gone and that I’d never see him again was bad enough, but knowing what he’d sacrificed for me was unthinkable and unbearable.

I crumbled to the kitchen floor, my insides twisting and churning painfully. I felt on the verge of bursting, like my body couldn’t contain the anguish. That’s when the red haze of a blind rage came upon me. There was one entity responsible for almost all my sorrows, on source—Fahl. All my emotional angst focused on him until it suddenly exploded into a bottomless black hole of hatred.

I couldn’t hold the scream inside. It radiated from my throat and my chest and my heart. It roared through every cell of my body like a forest fire, burning away logic and reason.

And then I was on my feet, heading to the car. I drove to the forks, my hands trembling with my efforts to control my powers. They swirled inside me, begging for release, but it wasn’t time. Not yet.

I slid onto the shoulder of the road and slammed the shifter into park and jumped out of the car. I took off at a dead run for the trees, racing through the forest at breakneck speed.

I burst through the laurels and into the clearing, screaming at the top of my lungs, “Fahl! Fahl, come out here! Fahl!” Over and over, I cried his name in every direction, turning circles in the middle of the clearing.

I scanned the tree line looking for him. I saw faces emerge from the deepest shadows to hover around the edges, just beyond the low light of the moon.

And then I saw her. It was the blonde I’d seen in the woods that night with Derek. It was Fahl.

“I knew you’d come,” she purred as she stepped out into the clearing and moved toward me.

The instant she spoke, I felt flames burning on my fingertips. My cheeks grew hot and damp. I heard the trees throughout the forest creak as they bent toward me. I saw leaves rise from their place on the clearing floor and drift into the air, spinning and twirling wildly all around me. I felt the earth shake beneath my feet, the deep rumble a warning that it was about to split wide open. I was on the verge of losing control and everything around me could feel it.

“Everyone has a price,” she said, her voice to me like gasoline on a fire. “I—”

I couldn’t listen to one more syllable, not one more lie, not one more rationalization. My control snapped and I was helpless to prevent it.

“What have you done?” I cried, launching myself at her. I felt the wind on my fiery cheeks as I ran. I heard the pop and whoosh of trees as they burst into flames all around me. The earth opened up in two huge cracks, running alongside me on my left and right, heading for Fahl, threatening to swallow her, to drag her to hell.

And then I was weightless. I was on my back, spinning in the air like I was on a clock face and I was unable to breathe. It was as if all the oxygen had just vanished. My insides started to burn like I’d swallowed acid then the pain slowly made its way to the surface.

My skin felt like it was being peeled off, inch by agonizing inch. Then an intolerable pressure began to build inside my head. My vision blurred and my eyes felt like they were being forced out of their sockets—from the inside.

I gasped and flailed, fighting for a breath and writhing in pain. I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t utter a single sound.

In the silence, I heard her cluck her tongue at me and then I was inverted—feet in the air, face down and falling. My body jerked to a halt and I floated in the space in front of her. We were eye to eye. Only it wasn’t a woman anymore, it was a man. It was the Fahl I’d seen the first night in the woods. Even upside down, I could make out his emaciated form and black wispy hair.

“Now, are you going to be reasonable or am I going to have to be mean?”

I shook my head, in no way ready to do anything less than tear his head off.

Suddenly, I was upright again. Fahl turned and walked toward the trees and, like a balloon tied to a string, I trailed helplessly along behind him, floating several feet off the ground. The pale faces in the shadows grew closer and closer, clearer and clearer until I was upon them.

Their mouths yawned wide and I could hear the clicking of their teeth as they snapped their jaws at me. With their arms outstretched, they clutched and clawed at me, but only so far as the darkness went. I hovered just outside their reach.

I scanned the gruesome faces and tattered clothes, fear rising inside me.

“I could let them have you for a while. That might change your mind,” Fahl crooned happily, stepping into the forest, pulling me along behind him where I could feel greedy hands grabbing at me. I kicked my legs and lashed out with my arms, but there was no resistance, no contact so I drew my legs up out of their reach.

I scanned the ravenous crowd and then I saw him. Derek stood at the back of the crush, arms crossed over his wide chest, staring at me, an inscrutable expression on his face. His eyes were dark, onyx beads in a pale face, just like the rest of them.

I felt the pain of my wound again as the chasm in my heart grew, widening as the loss of him became more poignant than ever. Bitterness began to churn in my stomach. Derek held my gaze for several long seconds before he looked to his right. I followed his eyes. And the bottom dropped out of my world.

I existed in a vacuum of pain and suffering, the most incredible sorrow I’d ever felt rushing in on me, occupying all the space around me. I was certain it would suck me into oblivion and I would cease to exist. And, for a moment, I wished for it.

Standing on the other side of the crowd, to Derek’s right, was the pasty, weary face of my father.

When Derek suddenly moved, my attention was drawn back to him. He rushed toward me. For an instant my heart soared, but it was short lived. Though his expression never changed, he raised his hand and lashed out at me, striking my cheek. More than the sting of the slap, I felt the painful burn of my flesh tearing. There was something in his hand.

I looked at him, dumbfounded, my eyes drawn to where his brother’s medal dangled from his fingers. When I raised my eyes to his face again, he was mouthing something to me. My confused brain struggled to make sense of it, rational thought beyond my capability. And then I saw him raise his arms like he used to when he was wielding fire. I looked back at his lips and saw him say, “Fight.”

I looked down at the mob reaching for me and I relaxed my legs, my feet quickly falling to within their grasp. One woman who’d obviously suffered a fatal wound to the side of her head took my foot in her hand and yanked. When my body dipped, I saw her intentions in slow motion. Her mouth opened and she bore her teeth, aiming them toward a spot on my calf just below my knee. Her eyes glazed over with the anticipation of pleasure and her lids drifted shut. And then I kicked her.

My foot made contact with her face and she fell back into the crowd. Frenzy broke out. The faces of the dead twisted into wicked snarls. They turned on each other, biting and jabbing at one another in their efforts to get to me.

Quickly, I scanned as many faces in the crowd as I could. Closing my eyes in concentration, I pictured them in my head and then imagined them all on fire. I heard a loud whoosh and then a blast of heat smacked me in the face.

When I opened my eyes, most of the dead were aflame. They thrashed and danced in pain, shaking their heads and limbs in a futile attempt to escape the blaze. One receded into the shadows, the fire retreating as he sank further into the darkness. It didn’t take the others long to follow suit, falling back as the pain overcame their hunger for my flesh, their thirst for my blood.

My feet touched the ground and I turned toward Fahl. He clapped his hands together once, twice, three times then he picked up the pace as he approached me. A mirthless smile tugged at his lips. “Very good. Even better than I expected, actually. You and your sister are naturals,” he declared cheerfully.

“What have you done to her?”

“I haven’t done anything to her. She’s my reaper.”

“Your what?”

“My reaper. She’s already been very valuable. She has a natural…dark side that you don’t share. But you, you’ve shown your worth, too. You’ve brought me two souls without even trying.”

I knew to whom he was referring. Derek had insinuated that was what he planned to do and seeing my father there left me to draw only one conclusion—he’d made a deal with Fahl, too. “How? How did you get them?”

“They made their own deal, of course, but you were the inspiration. They were both willing to give up their lives to help you, regardless of the…discomfort,” he said.

“Discomfort?” I probably shouldn’t have asked because just then I saw my father grab his throat as if he couldn’t breathe. He gasped and sputtered, his arms flailing and clawing at the air. I looked to Fahl and he was smiling. “Stop it!”

I turned my eyes back to Dad, his expression was one of panic. He fought and kicked at some imaginary force, all to no avail. The veins in his forehead stood out sharply against his pale skin.

“Please stop, please!” I wasn’t afraid to beg. I would’ve done anything at that moment if he would agree to stop whatever he was doing to my father.

Dad shook his head and craned his neck, like he was trying to catch his breath. Finally, water began to spew from Dad’s mouth and his struggling weakened. It was like watching the life drain out of him as he fell to the ground, out of sight behind the crowd.

“What did you do to him?”

“It’s what’s already done. He has the pleasure of reliving his demise over and over and over again. Forever.”

I felt the blood drain from my face. “What?” My father was going to have to drown over and over again for…eternity?

“That’s not to say, however, that certain things can’t be undone,” Fahl taunted.

Undone? Desperation struck suddenly, fueled by the little glimmer of hope offered in that one word. “How? Tell me how?”

“I can make a deal with you, too, you know. You can decide who goes free. Your sister, your father, Derek. It’s all up to you.”

“You can’t make me choose,” I cried, a wave of nausea rolling through my stomach.

“Too hard, is it?” Fahl pressed one finger to his lips as if he was reconsidering. “How about dear sister or father and beau. Is that easier?”

As soon as he restructured the options I felt the weight of the choice pressing in around me. And, though I knew that I had to at least strongly consider each alternative, I already knew what my choice would be.

Miserably I asked, “What do I have to do?”

“It’s simple. Take your sister’s ‘life’ and I’ll let her go free. Your sister takes your life and your father and Derek go free.” Fahl smiled as he said the last. I think he knew which option I would choose, too. “Are they that important to you, Carson?”

I had to think. Was he tricking me somehow? Derek said you could never really win with Fahl, but there was so much on the line, what choice did I have?

I knew I would have to make a decision very soon, so I stalled as long as I could. “What about Leah?” Though I did want to know what was to become of her, unfortunately, she wasn’t foremost in my mind and heart.

“She’ll decide her own fate now.”

“But Grey said she’d go to hell for being a murderer.”

“That’s one possibility. But, again, it’s up to Leah.”

My mistake was in believing that either of them, Grey or Fahl, was capable of being completely truthful. Like any business dealing, there was always fine print, some hidden clause or consequence that you weren’t expecting. I knew it would serve me well to keep that in mind. I never thought I’d look at Faust as a relevant cautionary tale in my life, but...like Derek said every hell has its devil.

“What are her choices?” It always boiled down to choices, but just like Dad had reminded me in his letter, there was always another option.

“Well, if she controls herself and manages her thirst, she could make different decisions in life and end up going to heaven. Or…”

“Or what?”

“She can control herself and remain undecided.”

“Undecided?”

Fahl pursed his lips as if he was searching for the right way to explain. “Think of it this way, no space is ever empty. It is always occupied by something. Now think of a person’s heart like a space. If Leah kills then her heart darkens to…let’s call it gray. That’s the area where I like to play, where black and white meet in the shadows. Now,” he paused, obviously enjoying his lesson. “People have been known to come back around to the light after killing, but it’s not a journey for the faint of heart. But it could happen.

“On the other hand, if she continues to kill, her heart will continue to darken and it will eventually be occupied by the ruler of the natural world and hell will be her resting place. And, of course,” he said, his tone dropping as if he were glossing over the last. “If she believes in the one who died for her, then her heart will be occupied by the light. But,” he said, his animation returning. “If she remains undecided…”

“Then?”

“Then she’s fair game and Grey will have another chance to reap her. For me.”

“When will- how will I- how will all this happen?”

“You’ll know,” he said, his malevolent tone freezing me from the inside.

I thought about his words for a long time before something occurred to me. I felt selfish for even considering it, much less asking, but I had to know.

“And what about me? What will become of me?”

Fahl’s smile was pure delighted evil. “Well, that depends on what your choice is, Carson.”

In a way, I was glad he didn’t answer me too directly, with too many specifics. I didn’t want anything to falsely influence my decision. I had to have a singular focus and I couldn’t do that if I was thinking of myself at all.

“Alright,” I said gravely, instantly feeling the heavy mantle of doom as it settled on my shoulders.

“Is that a yes?” Fahl was all but salivating over my agreement.

“Yes, that’s a yes.”

As soon as the words left my tongue, Fahl’s thin lips twisted into a smile of great pleasure, so much pleasure that it made me wonder what I’d really just agreed to. But I quickly reminded myself that no price was too high for my father and Derek.

“I’ll be in touch,” he said mysteriously and then he was gone and I was alone in the woods.

I stood in the clearing for a long time. The tempest of emotion that thrashed about inside me finally died down into a strangely welcomed numbness. I felt…nothing. Maybe it was the peace that comes when the end is near. Maybe it was that I’d faced a difficult decision, made a choice and now I knew my path. Or maybe there was just too much to feel, therefore I felt nothing. Whatever the cause, I was thankful for the reprieve.

Quietly, I moved out of the clearing and picked my way through the forest toward my car. Once I looked up and thought I saw Derek watching me from the deepest shadow of a tree, but when I blinked he was gone. I couldn’t even be sure he’d really been there at all. I certainly didn’t feel any comforting presences. I just felt…alone.

********

That night, I lay on the couch, trying to go to sleep, but my mind was plagued with questions—millions of them. Strangely enough, one of the most recurring ones was about something Fahl had said earlier, about each of us being “occupied” with something.

Could it be that Dad had been right all along? I’d scoffed at Pastor Mike’s sermons for the last year and a half, and dozens of other preachers before that. Where would I be now if I’d believed?

It was that troublesome thought that ushered me into a fitful sleep. The up side was that when I finally relaxed enough to dream, I dreamed of Derek.

I was on a huge flat rock that was anchored in the side of a cliff and stretched way out over a slow-moving river. The sun was shining brightly straight over head and I was in a bikini working on my tan. I could smell the sweetness of coconut oil mingling with the crisp freshness of running water. The heat of the rock at my back and the sun on my face was like a tranquilizer, lulling me into a semi-comatose state of relaxation.

A cool fingertip on my stomach forced me to crack my eyelids the tiniest bit. It was Derek, leaning over me, a beatific smile on his face. Immediately, my insides warmed faster and hotter than my outside.

“You’re here,” I said breathlessly.

“I’m here,” he said softly, his fingertip drawing lazy circles on my belly.

“I’ve missed you.”

“And I’ve missed you.”

“Can you stay?”

“Not very long. Your dreams aren’t safe. A part of you already belongs to him.”

“But I haven’t done anything yet.”

“No, but you made the deal. That’s all that matters. There’s no backing out now,” he said sadly.

“But I did it for you.”

“I know. And I wish you hadn’t. I did what I did to set you free. But now…”

“Why? Why did you do it? We’d have been fine if—”

“No. I led him to you, Carson. I-I was so selfish and I had so much guilt and he used that. He knows every weakness, every single one.”

“But if you hadn’t, I would never have met you. And I wouldn’t trade that for…well for anything.” I paused, love spilling out of my heart and trembling on the tip of my tongue. Then I realized that I had nothing to lose; it was only a dream. “I love you.”

A tender expression came over Derek’s handsome features and my heart melted. “I know.” He dipped his head a few inches further toward me until our lips met. His were cool and firm and he tasted just like I remembered. Then he pulled away. “The only thing I would have traded meeting you for is your soul. I’d give anything to know that it’s safe, that you are safe.”

His silvery eyes were like warm, shimmering pools, swirling and hypnotic. I could’ve stared into them forever, gladly drowning in the depths. But then they hardened and he said, “He’s coming. I have to be quick.”

“Who’s coming?”

“Fahl. This is where the undecided souls separate from their bodies. You picked a bad spot to sunbathe,” he mentioned wryly. “Listen, Carson,” he began, leaning up and pulling me into a sitting position. “There are some things I want you to know, things that will help you. He’s going to use you as a reaper, like Grey. You’ll be able to see them right before their time is up. If you can find them, you can warn them, maybe save them.”

“But how do I find them?”

“Now that you’ve made the deal, there’s a house you can use. I’ve never been there, but I’ve heard others talking. Some black house that has a bunch of doors. They’ll take you to the marked. Just be careful. Watch out for her. And watch out for the others.” He stood to leave, looking out across the water, scanning the shoreline.

When he mentioned “the others”, it reminded me of something that I had wondered about, something that had bothered me. “Wait!” I said, grabbing his arm. “Last night, why did you hit me?”

Derek turned his attention to me, a pained expression on his face. “I had to do it. That’s something else I found out over here. When your skin is broken, what’s underneath is like…it’s like…” I watched him struggle for the words. Rather than the disgust I would have expected him to feel over my creepy white layer, he features showed nothing but wonder. “light or something. It’s powerful. I don’t know what else it can do, but I know it makes the dead vulnerable to you.”

Oh, great. So I could literally repel people with my freak-show skin. Just what I always wanted. All I had to do was slice off my epidermis and, presto bingo! Fan-frickin’-tastic.

Hurriedly, Derek bent over and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. “He’s coming. He can’t know I can find you in your dreams,” he whispered. And then he was gone, disappearing into a cleft in the rocks.

I looked back across the water and I saw a young girl appear at the shoreline. There was something familiar about the curly copper hair that shone in the sun. Then I looked at her clothes. She wore a beige A-line dress with a green sash decorated with patches. It was the girl selling cookies at Leah’s house.

Just then, she looked up at me, smiling and waving as if I were her favorite aunt. A chill spread over my skin as I watched her. She picked up rocks from the water’s edge and threw them toward the middle of the river. I thought at first she was trying to skip stones and I snickered internally. She’d never manage that in moving water.

Then I saw the white belly of a fish break the surface. It bobbed lifelessly in the current. I looked back at the little girl. She was giggling gleefully, clapping her hands. I watched as she picked up another rock, a bigger one this time, and hefted it over her head. She scanned the water briefly then lobbed the rock. Seconds later, another white belly floated to the surface. Again, she giggled and clapped, thrilled with either her aim or the result, I didn’t know which. Either one was bothersome.

I looked back to the fish and discovered that it wasn’t a fish’s white belly at all. It was a person’s. A woman’s to be precise. I could see where the water lapped at her naked breasts. I looked at her face, but I couldn’t make out any detail. Where it was covered with water, the glare of the sun obscured her features. I could, however, make out a tangle of dark hair floating out around her head. And there was something familiar…

A warm breeze ruffled my hair just then. That’s when I caught the scent, the stench of death and decay. The stench of Fahl.

Just then, the girl looked up at me, meeting my eyes from across the river, and she smiled again. I felt a hand at my bare thigh, gently stroking the inside, rubbing the pulse that beat there. I looked down, but no one was there. I looked back at the girl and she smiled wider.

With a start, I awoke on the couch, the nauseating smell of Fahl still in my nostrils. I was relieved to see the familiar ceiling of my living room hanging over my head. I sat up and looked down at my legs. The covers were pushed up to my waist and my bare legs were sprawled out in front of me.

The smallest disturbance of the air alerted me to her presence. It was almost like a sigh drifting across my skin. I turned my head and there, sitting crossed-legged on the floor next to where my head had been, was Leah.

My leg tingled again, right where I’d dreamed that someone was touching me. “Leah, what are you doing?” I pushed the covers back down to my toes. “You scared me half to death.”

“I could hear your heart beating all the way in the bedroom, like drums pounding inside my head,” she said absently, her eyes fixated on my throat. She seemed dazed, dreamy almost, like she wasn’t quite awake. “It got faster and louder and then I could smell…” She paused, her brow wrinkling delicately. “Fear.”

I couldn’t imagine that babysitting a shark would’ve felt any different. Perilous. “I, uh, I had a bad dream. Sorry I woke you,” I said, swinging my legs around to put my feet on the floor. I felt too vulnerable lounging on the couch. I had to be able to move. Quickly.

“It’s ok. I need to be getting home anyway. It’s Christmas. Mom and Dad will be opening presents soon.” Her lips curved into the faintest of smiles. She was like a talking doll or something, robotic and distant, her voice very childlike.

“Do you, um, do you think it’s a good idea to go home when you’re…you’re…like this?”

“Like what?” She still had that dazed, faraway look in her eyes.

“Leah, you’re obviously going through some, uh, changes and it might not be the best time, the safest time for you to be around your family. You think?”

“I’ll be fine. Look,” she said, holding her spread hands up in surrender. “Am I trying to hurt you?”

No, she wasn’t. Not now, anyway. But what if I hadn’t awakened when I did? I shuddered at the thought.

I looked into her oh-so-innocent eyes, but I was not deceived. I had the distinct impression that Leah was unstable—in a big way. And I was no help. I had no idea what to expect, what she was capable of or how her “condition” would progress. I mean, I didn’t think that having seen a few old 80’s vampire movies and Twilight made me any kind of an expert on bloodthirsty creatures.

“No, but—”

“I’ll be fine,” she reassured me mechanically.

I didn’t know how I could keep her here if she really didn’t want to stay, so I decided to take another tack. “Hey, maybe I could come with you. I mean, this is my first Christmas without Dad and I really don’t want to be alone.”

She looked at me blankly for several seconds before she said agreeably, “Alright.”

“And then maybe we could come back here together so I don’t have to stay by myself,” I added, hoping I wasn’t laying it on too thick.

“Alright,” she assented once more in her sing song voice.

“Good,” I said rising to a standing position and backing a safe distance away from her mouth. “Do you want to shower here or wait until you get home?”

“I’ll wait.”

“Ok. I’ll be quick and then we’ll go,” I said, hoping she’d be alright while I bathed. “Why don’t you make us some coffee?”

Almost as if she were unaware of doing it, Leah made a face that said coffee didn’t appeal to her in the least. Yet, she agreed. “Alright.”

I left the bathroom and bedroom doors cracked hoping I’d be able to hear anything amiss. I was somewhat relieved when the smell of coffee wafted into the shower.

As I was hurriedly smearing lotion on my skin, I caught sight of my shoulder in the mirror. It looked like the “tattoo” had spread. A lot.

I took a small handheld mirror and turned my back to the sink so I could see my entire posterior. I was right. The markings had exploded since my tryst with Fahl in the woods last night and the configuration had changed as well.

A single flame started at my tailbone. It spread upward in a v-shape, widening as it went, licking its way toward my head in shades of pale orange, red and blue. As it neared my armpits, it spread from left to right all the way across my back. But then the flame tips twisted into twirling translucent vines with tiny green leaves and delicate purple flowers. That pattern decorated the upper half of my back and my shoulders then tapered to a point at my neck, disappearing into my hairline at the base of my skull.

They were lighter than before, like a soft stain on my skin, beautifully colored and shimmering. Some spots were so pale they were almost undetectable. But as I watched, they appeared to move, like living, breathing flames and flowers. The colors swirled and faded and shifted. It was like watching a Chia Pet grow.

For a moment I was enthralled. Then it occurred to me that the designs were a result of my dealings with Fahl, that they served as a constant, physical reminder that my time and my life were limited. That’s when my anxiety rose.

To my amazement, as my distress increased, so did the vividness of the colors and shapes. It was like they raged as I did, thriving on my anger, becoming darker and darker, pulsing with color





I lowered the mirror and closed my eyes, trying to calm my tumultuous feelings. I used Dad’s old trick and counted to ten. When I felt a little less agitated, I picked up the mirror and opened my eyes to look at my back again. The markings were already fading back to the translucent hints of color on my skin.

I lowered the mirror again. I couldn’t stop the squeal that erupted when I saw Leah standing in the bathroom door staring at me. She’d moved so quietly I hadn’t even heard her push the doors open wider or come into the bathroom. That or I was just that preoccupied. Either way, not good.

“Leah, you scared me,” I said, breathless all of a sudden. I pulled my towel up to cover myself. Then irritation set in. “Don’t you knock?”

“I heard your heartbeat speed up again. I came to see if you were alright,” she said matter-of-factly.

On the one hand, I was relieved to hear her sounding more like Leah than a talking baby doll. On the other hand…

“I’m fine. Sorry to have worried you,” I said sharply.

“When did you get that?” She was looking behind me, at the mirror over the sink, at my tattoo.

“A few months ago,” I answered casually.

“Lucky for you tattoos are in,” she snorted then turned and walked out of the bathroom.

I turned toward the sink and put the handheld mirror away, saying to no one in particular, “I don’t know if my nerves can make it through the holidays.”

Less than an hour later, Leah and I were walking through her front door. We hadn’t called ahead. Leah wanted to surprise her parents.

When we rounded the corner into the living room, it was empty, but I could hear Mr. and Mrs. Kirby talking quietly in the kitchen just beyond. Leah stopped suddenly, her arm striking out, lightening fast, to grab my wrist as I continued on in front of her. The grip of her hand was like silk-covered steel as she pulled me back to her side.

“What is it?” I asked as I turned to Leah.

She was sweating and panting, saliva pouring down her chin in thick rivulets. Her eyes were wide and they darted around the room nervously. Her nostrils twitched as she smelled something and I could see the tips of several teeth, extremely pointy teeth, peeking out from below her upper lip.

“Carson, they smell so good,” she said, closing her eyes in ecstasy. Her fingers squeezed even tighter around my wrist. She moaned and threw her head back, lifting her nose into the air and inhaling deeply. “Ahh,” she breathed, her chest heaving.

When she opened her eyes again, she looked right at me, but I could see that the person looking out from Leah’s face was not Leah at all. Something else had taken over, something wild and dangerous, something deadly and thirsty.