Page 103 of Black Hollow: Awakening

“No, he wasn’t,” he protested firmly. “I’ve seen pictures. You know,” he explained, seeing Oscar’s surprised look. “I did some digging after what you told me. Anyway, I look nothing like him.”

“I don’t mean in terms of looks.”

“So, personality?”

Oscar thought for a moment, studying Will with a piercing gaze.

“Not that either,” he finally decided.

“Then what?” Will snorted.

“Actually… I don’t know,” Oscar admitted, a bit helplessly. “There’s just something similar about you two.”

“That’s not very specific.”

“I guess I just feel as safe with you as I did with him,” Oscar finally said. “I remember our first time.” He glanced at Will as if to make sure he was comfortable with the topic. Will offered an encouraging smile. “We were at his place, late at night. His mom was at work, but I had this feeling she was going to come back any second and catch us. She didn’t know yet,” he added, seeing Will’s surprise. “Nobody knew. And just as we were about to get to it, all the lights went out. There was some kind of power issue. For some reason, I took it as a sign. That we shouldn’t be doing it. And that thought got so stuck in my head that I literally wanted to run away. He stopped me at the front door. He said if I didn’t want to, that was fine, but that I shouldn’t leave. The thing is, I did want to. I was just scared. But he made my fear go away, so… We did it. And after I got home, I finally told my mom. And it turned out I really had nothing to worry about.”

Will smiled tenderly. He’d missed out on talks with his parents, for obvious reasons, and his grandparents… They had probably known forever, but the topic was never discussed too openly.

“I’m going to get something to drink,” Oscar said, then brushed his lips against Will’s and stood up. “You want something too?”

“Water, thanks,” Will replied.

Oscar headed to the kitchen, and Will watched him with great interest. Oscar stopped at the window, however.

“There’s a girl standing in front of your house,” he noted, surprised, and Will froze.

“What?” he whispered weakly.

“I think it’s Christine Ellis. What’s she doing here?”

Now Will was certain. He hadn’t been mistaken, not in the woods, not the last time. That demon really had been hanging around all this time. But why?

“I have no idea,” he answered, his voice distant.

“Is she in love with you or something? Does she not know you’re a lost cause for the female population yet?” Oscar joked.

Will didn’t react.

“Will?”

“Hm? Sorry. It’s nothing.”

Oscar gave him a searching look, then smiled hesitantly and walked into the kitchen.

Will shot up from the couch and ran to the window. Oscar was right, of course. Christine was standing in the exact same spot as before.

She was smiling unsettlingly.

February 15 | Saturday

Since then, Will had seen the demon several more times—sometimes near his house, sometimes on his way to or from school. Each time, the creature vanished before anyone could react. Will had consulted Norma, and Norma had brushed off the subject, which pissed him off. How was he supposed to focus on his life when that thing was clearly following him around?

Finally, Norma invited him over for the evening. Will thought they would resolve the matter. He expected to find only Norma, maybe Abby and the rest of the team, but when he arrived, he found himself in the middle of a full-blown party. It threw him completely off balance.

He found Norma dancing with her new boyfriend, John.

“Norma,” he said gruffly.