CHAPTER TWENTY“What are you doing here?” I demanded. I was so angry I was shaking.Sparkles laughed. “Oh, darling, you never cease to amuse me. You’re always so quick to lose your temper. You realize that’s why you’re always alone, don’t you? Nobody can take your attitude.”“Shut up,” I bit out. “Tell me where she is.”She smiled. It was reptilian. I saw demonic appendages waving in her hair and hatred emanating from her skin. She and the demon had become one, alright. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to hit her. I wanted to hit Reed Taylor, who was standing there looking more angry than I had thought possible.“Whatever are you talking about? Everybody knows you’re touched in the head, talking to things that aren’t there. Do you really think you see them? Or do you simply lie? Nobody would blame you if you do. What a tragic childhood. What a horrid, difficult girl.”A dark tentacle slid out of her mouth and went up through her nose. Her eyes looked like they were leaking oil.“T

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWOThe shower was always a place where I could think. It was a place where I was truly alone except for once when I caught something peeping out at me from the bathroom mirror. Seth had come running when I had screamed and had assured me it wasn’t a demonic presence but only a particularly bad case of bed head. As if.I let the water cleanse everything away. The leftover malice, the hurt and despair. I tried to imagine the water had healing properties that could wash away all of the misery. But really, I simply had to push it all to the back of my mind. I couldn’t afford to waste my energy feeling crushed. It was time for action.I dried off, got dressed, and combed my hair. I stepped out of the room to see Mouth leaning against the wall, waiting for me.“Hello, Mouth. You’re being particularly stalkerish and creepy this morning.”“Really? I thought I was always this way. Maybe you’re just ultra-sensitive.”“Shut up.”He followed me down the stairs. “You look kin

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOURMy stomach lurched when the doorknob turned easily under my hand. I expected the door to creak, but it opened silently, and I stepped inside.Hazy light filtered through the windows, making it difficult to see the sparse furniture and filthy red carpet. It looked like the carpet had been ripped up, snapped out by a giant hand, and left to lie where it fell.“Hello?” I called. I didn’t expect an answer, but it seemed abnormal to simply saunter in unannounced. My mama didn’t raise rude little girls. That’s what I told myself, anyway. Honestly, I was trying to restore some sense of order to the place. Maybe it would keep me from flipping out.Stop. Get a hold of yourself. I released the breath slowly and realized my fingernails were digging into the palms of my hands. The sound of water echoed, a sickly trickle that inexplicably filled me with thoughts of taint and decay. I was as drawn to the sound of the water as I was repulsed by it. My imagination was already s

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIXI woke up with something long and leggy skittering over my mouth. I sat up, spitting and sputtering, and the dark thing faded into the darkness. There’s nothing like tasting demonic viscera when you’re coming to. My life rocks.The hateful necklace of death was charred, blackened, and crumbling around my neck. I tore it free and threw it against the wall. Whatever that thing in the other room had been, it apparently didn’t have any hold here. Now whether that was because the prize truly was behind Door Number One or because there was something even scarier in here, I had to find out. I staggered to my hands and knees, still unable to get to my feet. My head was killing me, but the frantic pounding in my chest hurt even worse.It seemed quiet enough. I squinted through the dim light, taking in the small room packed to the gills with junk. Old bureaus and broken chairs were covered in so much dust that I instinctively covered my nose and mouth with my arm. Several m

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHTI have to admit I was taken aback.“Help me, huh? That’s a new one. And why would you want to do that, demon? Picking up some brownie points for the afterlife?”He snorted. “That’s a good one. It would be nice if I could do that, but no. Truth is, I was a friend of your father’s.”Now it was my turn to laugh, but it sounded ugly to me. “A friend, huh? I’m sure you were. You were all lovely friends, weren’t you? Hanging around Dad until he couldn’t stand it anymore. Taunting him and luring him until it was easier to take his own life than to listen to you any longer. Some friend. No thanks.”I dropped the picture on the ground and turned away. Although I was loathe to head back into the room with the burning girl and the two doors, at least it was better than being here with this nutcase who claimed to pal around with my father. Ho ho, that’s rich.“Luna!” he shouted from the floor. In his desperation and fury, all former trace of my father’s voice had disappe