Page 122 of The Devil and His Ghost

He was holding me.

He was staring at me.

He was—

“You can calm down,” his hot voice whispered into my ear. “You aren’t my type anymore.”

Bile rocked violently through me. I barely managed to stumble away as vomit sputtered out of me and onto the balcony. Tears streamed down my face, and I blearily strumbled to the balcony railing as more vomit choked me and rained over the edge onto the closed street below.

“Kendyll!” Terrance cried. “Everyone, please go. We’ll—We’ll do more photos later, Trish. Please, everyone, give my sister some space.”

My breath ran away from me as I fell to my knees with one hand still grappling onto the railing. My nails dug into the rough stone, tearing up my nails until I felt the burn of them bleeding. I gagged and sputtered around another wave of puke just as a metal trash can appeared in front of me with Terrance’s worried face hovering beside me.

“Fuck, Kendyll,” Terrance whimpered. “Are you alright? What happened? Are you sick? No, don’t answer that. Just wait here. I sent everyone out. I’m going to run downstairs to grab you a water, ginger ale, crackers, all of it! Just wait here. Don’t move.”

He might as well have been speaking another language, because I didn’t hear anything he said. I could barely hear my own sobs as I retched into the trashcan. All I could hear was that voice.

Be good for daddy, Princess.

It’s okay. This is normal. You trust daddy, don’t you?

Shh. Don’t be scared. You know I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. This is because I love you. My pretty little girl. You love daddy, too, right? So do this for me. This is how you show me that you love me.

I covered my ears with both hands, wailing for the voice to stop. But it kept going. It kept playing over and over, growing louder and louder.

“Meow!”

Through my tears, I caught sight of Catsper restlessly pacing all around the air in front of me. He tried rubbing his spectral body all along me, but the ghost cat passed through. Still, he was an anchor that brought enough sense back to me to search my dress pocket for my phone.

Xander.

I needed my Mr. Monster, my shadow, my demon.

I shook so hard that the device was nearly too blurry to see, but somehow, I managed to unlock it.

“Don’t you think this is a little overdramatic?”

I whipped my head around to find the beast standing in the balcony doorway, regarding me with a tilted salt and pepper head and hands shoved into his tux pockets. His frame filling the threshold was a clear message—he was there to block me, to trap me with him.

He shook his head and tutted like he was addressing a child. “You couldn’t cooperate for one photo for your brother? You were much more amiable when you were little.”

I peeled my lips back in a snarl as I screamed, “Stay the fuck away from me!”

Catsper’s back arched with raised hair as he stared at the stranger.

“Is that any way to talk to your father? We haven’t seen each other in so long.” His frown twitched with a growing grin. “And we were so close when you were little.”

“I said stay away!” I raged, grabbing the trash can and slinging it in his direction. I was so flustered and drained that the metal can merely tipped and rolled his way, my vomit slowly pouring out. Catsper leapt between the man and I, hissing in warning, but the man was oblivious to the ghost’s efforts.

Edwin Cartwright sighed. “How old are you now? Twenty-four? Can’t you act like it, Kendyll? We’re adults and can talk as such.”

“Adults?” I gritted out, my panic now mingling with more hatred and anger than should’ve been possible for one human to feel at once. My hand clenched around my phone, which reminded me of its presence.

This man had ruined me. This twisted man had fucking violated me. This man had tried to make those around us and any who might question the validity of my statements think I was crazy. I couldn’t let him turn me into that helpless little girl again. I wasn’t her anymore.

Laughing manically, I subtly hit the video record button on my phone and hung it by my side with the screen facing my hip. I slowly stood, my eyes never leaving his. My bloody fingers dug harder into the railing behind me.

“Should we talk about the kind of adult you are? You’re a sick fucking psycho who likes children. You’re a predator who likes sneaking into his daughter’s room to molest her, you fucking monster!”