CHAPTER 45

Oliver's yellow eyes flashed. "Magical dissonance. Whatever is holding us here is struggling to contain us. We are hearing a physical manifestation of a magical ripple effect."

"Oh." She realized she hadn't meant to ask the question. "So you don't know what's causing it?"

"No. You asked what that noise was, and that's all I got." He stood from his imaginary chair. "And you remember that I cannot lie."

"That I do." But what if the rules had changed?

"You would have no way of knowing." He grinned, his teeth on display. "I've decided that I want to play a game."

"And what if I refuse?"

"Well, such a refusal would indeed be your choice, but consider this; I have no idea what will happen to me when you leave this place, if I will live or die, but now I wonder what would happen to me if I were to find a way to dispose of you instead. Perhaps my fate would be the same, or maybe I would be allowed to go free in your stead."

"You have no idea how much I fucking hate you."

"I have some idea. While I don't remember existing before this moment, I do have access to those shared memories." He licked his lips. "It's a weird thought, isn't it? If not for my memories, perhaps I would be a different creature, yet here I am, ready to make the same mistakes all over again."

"So what's the game you wish to play?"

"Hide and seek."

"There's nowhere to hide. We're surrounded by darkness."

"Then I think I will let you hide first. If I find you, you have to ask me the question of my choosing."

"What's the question?"

"How do I get out of here? We could skip the game and you could simply help me."

Beth swallowed the lump in her throat. There was no way she could let him out. "And if I refuse?"

Oliver fanned out his fingers, revealing long talons. "I spend whatever time I have left shredding your skin off your body, or maybe even bite pieces of you off until I'm full. Maybe find a way to curse you to the same fate I suffered."

"Why even give me a choice?"

His eyes shone. "Because we are tied together. And you know how much I love my games."

Shit, shit, shit. Beth backed away from the lamp post. "I'm not going to agree to anything."

"Doesn't matter. I'm going to count to twenty to give you a fair shot." He winked. "And when I catch you, we'll see who comes out on top. This time, you don't have your friends to bail you out. It's just you and me here, and whatever lies in the darkness."

"But I—"

"One." Oliver covered his eyes with his hands, then let out a scary laugh. His fingers were now triple their original length, with inch-long talons. The scene was almost comical because his head disappeared in his over-sized palms. "Two."

Beth bolted out into the darkness, her body disappearing. The little island receded behind her, and she chanced a look back. Oliver stood beneath the light, but she could no longer hear him.

Realizing that she could move backwards just as fast, she turned to keep an eye on him, then drifted sideways a bit. It would be no good traveling in a straight line, especially if he could move faster than she did.

The island was tiny now, and the universe buzzed again.

The demon lowered his hands and leapt toward where she had been, slapping the light out of the lamp post. Flames scattered into the darkness, creating a weird pattern of visions to emerge as unseen objects caught on fire. Her mind twisted about in an effort to understand what she was seeing. The entire world briefly looked like a crystalline lattice, then exploded with light.

"Oof!" She had fallen hard onto the ground, rolling on a patch of grass.

"Beth!" A voice from her past called out to her, and she looked up to see that she was lying on a soccer field. She now wore a jersey and a pair of gym shorts. Scanning the area, she stood and brushed herself off.

"What are you doing over there?" The voice asked again, and she rolled her eyes. It was Janine Lucillo, her best friend from middle school. Her family had moved away the summer before freshman year, and Beth had been devastated.

She turned around to see the plucky brunette running toward her, arms waving in the air. Beth surveyed the area. Yep, it was her former middle school. However, from where she stood, the middle school looked like it had been painted on the wall, and even the clouds above were suspect.

It was like a giant soundstage. Anything farther than a hundred feet away was clumsily made or just painted on the background.

"Hey, I've been looking for you." Janine grabbed her by the hand. "I needed to talk to you about something."

Janine looked so small.

"What is this place? Why are you here?"

Janine frowned. "Um, so, like, my dad found a new job."

"Uh huh." Was this some sort of trick? She didn't see anybody else nearby, but needed to keep moving.

"It means my family has to move." Janine's eyes were watering up now, and Beth looked at her again.

"Oh." This was a memory. In fact, this was the day that Janine told her she was going to have to move. The two of them had cried all afternoon, then ridden their bikes to the mall for ice cream. But why this memory?

Janine was crying now, having the other half of a conversation that Beth wasn't participating in. She wandered away, leaving the distraught teen behind her. The school was the only building that was nearby, but it had been painted onto the horizon. She wondered if the door to the building might work. If so, the school would have plenty of places to hide.

The whole world rumbled again, and Beth looked at the sky. Other than the birds that had been painted over the clouds, everything seemed fine.