Tainted, Book One: Possessed

42. To Whatever End It Takes Us

Kerry

"And that one? Can anyone identify what was happening there?"

Mr. Snyder was showing video clips of evil creatures and quizzing us on which was which.

This one was an imp, but I didn't raise my hand. Mr. Snyder and I had "talked" about giving the other students a chance to answer first, since I was already far ahead of them on evil recognition. So I sat next to Gemma and watched her watch the clips.

"That was an imp," said a boy named Jan. He always sat in the front and spoke with a heavy Spanish accent. "Tiny, fast, light green glow. They play pranks to cause trouble."

"Right, Jan!" Mr. Snyder beamed. "Mischievous, troublesome, hard to dislodge once they make a home. They are solitary and sneaky. Best to get rid of them as soon as you notice them. Smaller ones can inhabit the body and cause physical ailments. Let's try another."

He played the video, and I glanced at it, then shifted uncomfortably. I knew all too well what was wrong with the girl on the screen. I forced myself to breathe slowly until the screen went dark.

"Okay. Anyone have a guess?" Mr. Snyder scanned the room. "No one?"

He waited, but no one seemed to know. I sighed.

"A demon has her," I rumbled and looked out the window

In a flash, Mr. Snyder stood next to my desk, blocking my view.

"I apologize, Harker. I should have skipped this one or talked to you beforehand. I wasn't thinking."

I shrugged and looked down. Gemma's small hand slipped into mine, and I squeezed it gently.

"Um, what did you see that gave it away?" A girl with pink hair turned toward me.

"Look at her eyes." I shrugged. "The dead center of her pupils turned bright red. And look at her face. She doesn't want to do what she's doing."

"Harker, this is a rare opportunity for us to hear a firsthand account of possession." Mr. Snyder's eyes were concerned. "If you could share with us, it would help us all understand better, but I don't want to make you feel threatened."

"It's okay." I tightened my hold on Gemma's hand. "I can answer some questions."

"Were your sensory faculties disrupted?" asked Jan.

I turned wide eyes to Gemma.

"What is he asking me?" I whispered, then turned my head for her answer.

"Were your senses dulled when, uh, when the demon drove?"

"Why didn't he just say that?"

She shrugged, her eyes sparkling with humor, and I turned back to Jan.

"I was spared nothing."

"How often was the demon in control?" asked a dark-skinned guy named Treyvon. "I mean, what percentage of the time would you say?"

"When it first happened, hardly at all. A few minutes here and there. As I got older, it's hold tightened and, truth be told, I was physically able to do more things it wanted to do. Rob a store? Hard for an eight-year-old to be threatening enough to do that. By the time I was sixteen or so, it was the other way around."

"Because the demon was stronger or because you were weakening? Ten years is a long time to be possessed." Treyvon raised his eyebrows. "Most people would have died long before then."

"The demon was working on it." I smiled with the good side of my mouth. "I was at my limit when Gemma found me. I was fighting for minutes by that point. My body was giving out. That girl in the video, she couldn't have been a victim for very long. She looked way too healthy. Gemma can tell you what I looked like better than I can."