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When Finn’s friends start dabbling with forces they don’t respect or understand, the worst happens. Demons are real.Possession is real. Now we have an immense problem on our hands.
People die gruesome deaths; picked off one by one, as we scramble to undo what has been done, to exorcize the demon and save ourselves. The deeper we get, the more we realize that there is more to the world than we thought, more to the pandemic that took so many lives, and more between us than we ever could have imagined.
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The sickness attacks the brain.
I don’t know much, but I know that.
It also comes on suddenly. So suddenly that you can be having a conversation with someone and mid-sentence their eyes widen and whatever they had been about to say is forgotten as the illness takes hold.
What happens next is terrifying and gory. They lurch around, like they are fighting off an invisible force while their own hands tear at their body, digging into flesh and veins and tendon until there is no strength in their fingers, until they bleed out and die.
People try to intervene, to help, but any contact with an infected person results in an immediate transfer of the sickness. Mrs. Harcourt down the hall tried to help her husband, tried to tie his hands away from his body so that he would stop hurting himself, but the sickness moved, jumped from Mr Harcourt to her and in seconds she was digging at her throat, thumb and fingers on either side of her esophagus.
It was after that that my father locked us in our apartment. He goes out once a week and gets us food and supplies. But my mom and I, we stay in the apartment.
The news tells us that top pharmaceutical companies are working on a vaccine, that there has been some success in Paris and Las Vegas, big cities that have large populations. But our little town of Palm de Rosa is so far away from top priority, it isn’t even funny.
“Sabby,” my mom’s voice cuts into my thoughts. “Turn that down. I’m trying to meditate.”
I sigh and do as she says. Any arguing on my part will just result in a guilt trip that will make me feel like the worst daughter in existence, because I want to watch the news in the living room.
As soon as I turn the volume down, the room fills with her steady breaths, as her eyes close again. I glance over at her. Under normal circumstances, I might try to join her. Meditation is good for keeping a balanced mind, but right now I can’t focus. I know I wouldn’t be able to sink into the rhythm of my breath.
I’m surprised that she can.
My phone buzzes and I practically lunge for it. Thank god that we aren’t in an actual zombie apocalypse movie and we still have things like cell phones and the internet.
Jeremy:
Has your dad let you out of the house yet?
I roll my eyes and type back my response.
Me:
Of course not, and you shouldn’t leave either
It’s not safe out there.
Jeremy:
Babe, you know I’m too healthy to get sick.
My teeth sink into my lower lip. I want to tell him that his health has nothing to do with it. Mr Harcourt was a marathon runner and ate strictly health food. He stopped me more than once to spout some nonsense about how the red vines I was eating were terrible for me.
But if I say as much to Jeremy, he’ll laugh at me for being a worrywart. I am, but it doesn’t feel good to have him make fun of me for it.
Besides, I highly doubt that the crystals his sister gave him and vitamin d and zinc supplements he’s been taking would protect him against a virus that attacks the brain.
Jeremy:
I miss you, babe.
Any warning I was going to send him shrivels up, and a glow starts in my chest, making me feel warm too.
“Sab,” my mother’s voice cuts in. “If you’re going to text with your boyfriend, do it in your room, please. You are disrupting my chi.”
