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The demon.
A flicker of something untamed in his eyes. This isn’t Tommy…he’s a stranger—the monster chasing my soul to trap me.
Blood, darkness… Death.
I recoil, gasping. “Get away from me. I don’t know who you are.”
“Didi, it’s me, baby,” he pleads, his voice slow and calming as his features soften back to a semblance of familiarity. “Let me help you through this.”
My head rests comfortably on his lap, and I stare up at his beautiful face. Rainbows suddenly shine around him. I don’t say anything; my mouth gaps open, and I admire him. My head slips from my body.
A scream…
My scream…
“Didi, you’re tripping out. Just focus on my voice and count to ten.”
My head rolls back, and I see him, but there are four of him. A mirror. A memory. A grave.
“Why would Talia do this to me?”
I can’t understand his response. All I can see are his teeth, which have become razor blades.
He rubs my forehead, and I focus on his scent. His spicy scent is the only thing grounding me. “What you’re seeing is not real right now. You’re hallucinating.”
Tears start to pour out of my eyes. “It is real, Tommy—that’s the problem. I need to find peace within this darkness; it’s always been where my mind resides.”
TOMMY
Didi’s hair is whiter than I remember, especially as the dim light flows over her perfect features. She’s prettier than I remember, too, if that’s even possible. Because my firefly was an image of perfection in my brain.
A few hours have gone by, though I’m not sure how many, but they were brutal for Didi. Now we’re sitting cross–legged, facing each other in the middle of my bedroom deep in the basement, and she finally understands that I’m not going to kill her. After a few minutes of having her alone, I pulled her wig off so I could see her.
She sensed something in this house…something ancient and powerful; she saw death in every shadow.
This house has secrets, lots of them. I shudder to think of all that’s gone on here over the years. My father lived here when he went to school, too—after he slaughtered Mary Swinton.
Didi rolls to her side and starts pawing at the beaded curtain like a kitten, laying her head on the pillow I put out for her.
She looks up at me, her eyes flickering as she stares at me curiously with a halo shining around her head.
The room’s colors are so bright, but my trip has mellowed, and now I’m just babysitting Didi for the rest of the ride. There is no coming down from an acid trip, there’s is only getting through it.
It comes in waves. One minute I see her, sense her all around me, and the next, I’m somewhere else entirely. My emotions are jumbled, and judging by the way Didi grimaces one moment, then smiles the next, laughing at nothing, she’s going through it, too.
I reach over and wipe a tear that falls down her face. “It’s okay, Didi. I’m here.”
My heart blooms having her in my room, and while she’s spent the entire night in shambles, I’ve spent it falling in love with her all over again.
I smile down at her, and she frowns and rolls to the side, watching me with the same fascination and attention she’s given those beads the past twenty minutes.
“Tell me what’s wrong?” she asks, propping her head on her elbow.
A pit rolls deep in my stomach. I grab her hand, rubbing the spot between her thumb and forefinger. “Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s perfect.”
She purses her lips, sits up slightly, and rubs her hand down my face, petting me.
I ease myself down to the floor beside her, and we both gaze up at the lava lamp on my dresser as it flickers. I gently trace my finger along her arm, and she turns, resting her head in my lap, her big, beautiful white eyes gazing up at me.
