Page 48 of Devil Inside

We will be seeing each other once again. Soon enough, little one. All in due time.

You’re going to do terrible things one day, sweetie. Just you wait...

I planted a seed of sin. I absolutely cannot wait to watch it bloom. Let it flourish. I can practically picture all the heinous acts. The atrocities blossoming. What a lovely garden of delights you’ll have in your future. And I’ll be there to clip that bouquet, killer...

The baby begins to wail, and we are off once more, slipping into the crowd. Wandering amongst the innocent. The corruptible. The guileless.

There is so much, too much, to experience. To savor. We want to taste more. Eat more. Devour all that we can. We are hungry for what this world has to offer. Craven for it.

What’s this?

Something lingers in the air. A hint of familiarity. A scent we know, distinct from all the rest. It teases us, this intimacy. What is it? It’s there, at the very tip of our tongue.

There. Amongst the others. We see him now.

Jordan.

His void calls to us from across the parking lot. Through all these people, he shines. The darkness that radiates out from his soul distorts the very air around him, feeding on it.

His heart is a black hole. He’ll never get his fill.

What a vast chasm. What an abyss. It’s beautiful.

We call out his name.

He hears us—his name—but he cannot find us. Not quite yet. We are nothing more than a lone voice calling out from the crowd. He searches for the source. Searches for us.

He doesn’t see. We call out once more to him, louder this time.

“Jordan!”

He turns our way. His eyes have yet to settle on us. They cross over our body as he turns his head, and in that moment, we feel the heat of his stare against our chest.

And yet... he still doesn’t see.

See me.

Can’t breathe.

The panic attack comes quick. The crowd closes in all at once. I’m already feeling that first finger of anxiety press against my chest, inserting itself into my solar plexus.

All these faces. So many people. Too many.

Some stare back. Some even smile.Who the fuck are these people?

I need to level my breathing. Need to get out of here.

Now.

Lys is drawn toward a stall selling eggs while I keep walking, losing myself in the crowd.

Look at all these people. Look at the couples. The families. Everyone going about their lives. Their happiness. Sipping coffee or fresh juice. Some little girl in a summer dress covered in sunflowers dances to the bluegrass. She can’t be any older than three. Her balance is off, so she falls, clapping. Those sunflowers seethe, burning so bright, I squint.

There is a life here. I see it all around me. I want to be in it. A part of it. Don’t I? That’s what I should be wanting right about now, right? To re-enter society? Be normal again?

Their faces are melting,drip drip drip, like ice puddling on the sidewalk.

I feel so outside of everything. I can’t find my way back in. I can’t seem to—