Page 57 of Ever After

Something terrible is going on with Levi. Maybe this is the answer to the puzzle.

I drag my jacket on and open the back door, stepping out and shutting the door quietly. The rain and wind immediately hit me. I don’t want Levi to see me, so avoiding the lounge windows, I turn and take the long away around the back of the house.

A border of shrubs and flowers line the path by the side of the cottage. They’ve been lashed by the wild weather. Tall flowers are drooping their heads over the stone path, and the air is full of the scent of wet soil and brine. The wind tugs at my hood, blowing it back and raindrops splatter my face. I’m quickly soaked.

“Don’t turn around.”

The voice sounds in my ear, making me jump a foot in the air. “What the fuck? Are you trying to kill me?” I hiss.

“Not me,” Branok says grimly.

“What do you mean?” I turn my head.

“I said don’t look around,” he snaps. “You wouldn’t be able to see me anyway, but you must not look as if you are talking to someone if it spots you.”

I glance to my left. There are no windows on this side of the cottage. “It?” I ask.

There’s a beat of silence and his voice is curiously gentle when he speaks. “Aye. It. You know that is not Levi, don’t you, Blue?”

I’m more scared than I’ve ever been, but my fear is suddenly mixed with a huge splash of relief. I knew it wasn’t Levi. I rub my cheek, feeling my bruised skin. I can deal with anything now I know that’s not my Levi.

“Who is it, then? What’s happened to Levi?”

“Your husband has been possessed.”

The fear comes raging back to front and centre. “By who? How?” The next question comes in a smaller voice. “Will it hurt him?”

“I do not know.” His voice is full of frustration. “There is so much I do not know, apart from that the answers lie in my death. Whatever it is, ’tis a powerful spirit. I could not find my form in the house and that hasn’t happened since I was a young spirit.”

I blink. “It’s keeping you out?”

“Aye.”

“And it’s possessing Levi. Why?”

“If I were to offer an opinion, I would say it would be to either scare you away, or to gain information for someone.”

“Levi—or whoever it is in there—has been reading the diary.”

He curses. “That is it, then. Do you know what’s in the diary?”

“The answers,” I say softly. “He’s taking notes.”

“Then we are done for. The spirit will obliterate anything that might help us to aid Xander.”

“Focus,” I say harshly. “My husband is in there right now with an entity possessing him. He’s shoved me over and been a trifle rude to me this morning, which is not Levi. So, we need to get that fucker out of him before it hurts him. Then, and only then, should we be bothered about that bloody diary.”

There’s a beat of silence and then a sigh ruffles my hair. “Agreed. I apologise.”

“Apology accepted. So, what do we do?”

“I do not know the method of possession. Usually, it requires a transference of something—an object, a physical item of some kind—from the entity to the victim which facilitates the possession. Possession cannot happen without that item. Where did Levi go today? Who did he speak to?”

“He went running.”

“And that is it?”

“I think so. He came back and had a bath.”