“I was defending myself from the four guys trying to grab me.”
“Come on, Caspian,” Ben said. “You’re a siren. What exactly were you doing when you grabbed me, hmm?”
“I’m not a siren you fucking idiot!” Caspian yelled and then I passed out. I had to agree with Caspian though, these people were fucking idiots.
* * *
Ava
“You can’t ignore me forever,”Makwa said in my head.
“Shut up,” I mumbled, pacing back and forth in the cabin. The storm was starting to let up and I was shocked to see the sun sinking back down in the sky. It was afternoon, where was Caspian? It had been too long, hadn’t it? How long did a phone call take?
“What did you tell Caspian?” I asked. A dark shape materialized in the corner. It looked like a shadow with glowing eyes and a smile. My head whipped around to Brandon but he wasn’t looking in the corner, he was looking at me. He looked very concerned.
“I told him to kill Ben,” Makwa said.
“What?” I asked loudly.
“Are you okay, Ava?” Brandon asked. I looked over at him and nodded a little too fast.
“I’m fine. I’m just worried.”
“You’re talking to yourself,” Brandon said. I looked at him in shock. Had I? “Did you really tell Caspian to kill Ben?” My mouth dropped open. Everything was being said aloud? Raspy laughter bubbled up from the dark shape in the corner. I swallowed.
“Can you see that?” I asked, pointing towards Makwa’s shadow. Brandon shook his head slowly, a sad look on his face. Makwa laughed more, the window’s glass vibrating in their paneling. I looked at them, seeing my reflection. My mouth was cracked open as I laughed. I slammed my hands over my lips.
“Accept me, Ava. You’re still fighting. Even after that lovely time we had together.”I shook my head.
“No,” I said, removing my hands from my mouth.
“We can’t keep going on like this,” Makwa said calmly. “Neither of us is having a good time.” When I didn’t respond he made a sound of rage.
“I can fix all of this!” He yelled.
“You’ll take over,” I countered.
“You need to learn to share your meat,” he huffed out.
“Ava!” Brandon yelled and I jerked my face up to look at him. “What the fuck is going on?” He asked animatedly, his blue eyes wide. My mouth hung open as I considered what to say. The truth sat on my tongue and there seemed no way around it.
“I’m possessed,” I said for the first time aloud. Brandon looked at me in shocked confusion.
“Knock knock,” Ben said as he opened the door, popping his head into the room.
“Come on, let’s kill him,” Makwa hissed in a whisper. What the fuck? And he wanted me to let him take over? He was going to murder people. Brandon stormed towards Ben, grabbed him by the shirt, and dragged him in close.
“What the hell have you done with our friends?” He snarled.
“Wow,” Ben said with a nervous laugh. He held his hands up in surrender.
“I don’t know where your trench coat friend is. Caspian was in the main office, talking to people on the phone.”
“It’s been hours,” Brandon grumbled.
“He was calling family, your band manager, the forest rangers had asked for one of you to call… But he’s almost done and it's lunch so I’ve told him to meet us at the dining hall when he’s done.” Brandon dropped his shirt and backed off. He was angry but no longer seething.
My eyes flicked back and forth between them. I couldn’t tell what was suspicious and what was us on edge and hypervigilant from everything that had happened.
