Page 130 of Devil Inside

Cara halts. The words catch in her throat.

Her body tightens. The muscles in her neck constrict, steel cables tightening themselves, until her head yanks back. I watch her eyes roll up into her skull, leaving behind nothing but awake of white. Her lower jaw slings open, almost as if she were about to sing, but the words aren’t there. There’s no music. No sound but the slightest gasp.

Her back slams against the chair, her body racked with an abrupt spasm. The wooden slats creak under the weight of her contorting frame. For a second there, I’m afraid she’s going to fall over backward. The chair sounds as if it’s about to snap—or her spine. Her limbs twist, arms and legs curling inward, as if she’s about to spiral into a corkscrew.

All I can do is watch in horror. Her body begins to judder, hit with a series of G-force spasms, as if she’s rocketing off into the cosmos.

Maybe if I reach out, take hold of her, keep her still, she might wake up.

What if I—

Cara blinks. A certain clarity returns to her eyes—an acuity that wasn’t there before, irises sharpening into fangs—and in that moment, that blink of an eye, I know Cara is gone.

Lilith is back. In control.

“Satisfied?”

what a lovely day for an exorcism

Lilith & Jordan

Jordan’s growing distant. I’ve felt it, that gulf expanding between us, our bodies, ever since he spoke to her. Our host.Cara.So disrespectful of her, getting between us.

That was days ago. We haven’t seen him since.

I’ve been trying to give him space. That’s what he wants, isn’t it? An opportunity to figure out what he’s looking for? What he wants?

So I’ve simply been slipping from body to body, never settling for long. My grip is tenuous, at best. I can’t harbor myself inside forever. That takes a level of commitment I don’t have right now. Not for any of these vessels. They mean nothing to me. If I wish to linger for long, truly take root and possess our vessel, there needs to be a bond between us.

A pact. That requires acceptance. Willingness. We need to reach an agreement. The vessel must shelter us. Open themselves, fully and completely. A consensual possession.

Doesn’t Jordan understand that? Why can’t he just let me in?

We’re losing him. He’s slipping out from our grip. How can we get him back?

A gift. An offering.

That’s it. He’s so focused on the flesh, who we are on the outside... we just need to present ourselves inside the skin of someone he knows. Someone he’s loved in the past.

A familiar face.

If this body is the package and its skin is the giftwrap, then I must be the present nestled inside.

We can’t wait for him to unwrap us.

“...Hello?” The atmosphere is off. I sense it the second I step into my apartment. There’s an odd density to the air. It’s thickened itself. I can feel it on my skin, the pressure.

Someone else is here. “Lilith, is that you—?”

I cut myself off.

It’s Jenn. Beaming. She’s sitting on the couch, arms outstretched, fanning back and forth, hands sweeping across the cushions at either side of her.She’s in my apartment.

I never gave her a key. She never came over.Too much of a mess, she said ages ago, and yet, here she is, sprawled out in my living room like she’s been waiting for me.

When’s the last time we talked? I can’t even remember. “What are you doing here?”

That grin slips, just a fraction of flesh dripping. “You don’t recognize me?”