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His hand goes up, his palm slamming against his father's chest. It doesn't look powerful, but the move shoots Samuel down the hall. He tumbles to his back, sliding on his suit pants against the tiled floor.
And that's where he stays, dazed and confused as he stares at his son who isn't really his son at all.
"You," he points at him, his fingers shaking. "You aren't Malik. Get out of him, demon! Get out of him!" Samuel roars from the ground.
Malik laughs, and the menacing voice croaks out beneath Malik's.
"Non usquam ego vado, vos maluit frumenta," Malik says, the Latin flowing from his lips fluently.
Samuel stands up, horror and fear in his eyes. "A priest is on his way over. He'll fix this. He'll get you the fuck out of my son!"
A hand brushes on my bicep, and I glance at my mom who stares at me with fear and concern. She starts pulling me away, and even the slightest movement has Malik's gaze whipping toward mine.
"No." He turns around, his hand snapping out, his fingers extended in my direction. "You are mine, Vera."
"She's not yours! Stay away from her!" my mom cries, her fingers clutching my arm. Her fingers shake, and her manicured nails dig into my skin.
I'm caught between what I've always known and what I've grown to know.
The old and the new.
The bad and the worse.
My hand goes up, and I peel my mom's fingers from my skin. Tears spring to her eyes as she stares at me, shocked and hurt. "Vera?" she whispers.
"You've been gone since long before we moved to Castle Pointe. I've been alone, fighting whether I wanted to live or die." I glance up at Malik, and the white eye fades, only slightly, his dark brown iris shining through the cloudiness. His fingers twitch. "But I've found myself, and I've found comfort in Malik. I've found someone to not pull me from the dark, but walk through it with me. Malik sees me for me, and he doesn't want to change me."
"I don't want to change you!" she cries.
I shake my head. "You do, though. You've wanted to change me for a long time. That's why you brought me here, right? It's why you threw me in a Catholic school that is worse than anything you could've ever put me in. This town is so fucking evil, and you dropped me in it like a damn parachute and hoped that I'd find my way." I swallow, emotion building that I didn't know was there. "I found my way, and oddly, I found it with Malik."
"But he's your stepbrother!"
"Step! He's not blood, and even if he was, it's my fucking choice whether I wanted to be with him or not. It's not your choice to make, it's mine. And I. Want. Him."
"Hello?"
We all turn at the sound of a knock at the door. The priest from the school stands there, a briefcase in hand with a dark coat draped to his ankles.
"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Father Moran." Samuel stands and walks to him, grabbing his hand and giving it a heavy shake. "My son, Malik, he's ill, and I have reason to believe he's being possessed. I mean, look at his eyes!" Samuel is growing manic, his face pale and his mouth pulled back in distress.
The temperature in the room chills beyond belief. It feels like we've all stepped into a walk-in freezer. With a shuddering breath, I can see the steam puff from between my lips.
Malik's entire body locks up, still as stone as he stands there, glaring at Father Moran.
"I'd much prefer we do this at the church, but I understand the circumstances we're in." I think that's code for Samuel and his family have a shitload of money and the priest will do anything requested of him. "Is there somewhere we can go that's more appropriate than the kitchen?"
"I'm leaving," Malik utters, his hand snapping around my arm as he pulls me down the hallway.
I dig my heels in, the rubber of my boots squeaking along the marble. "No."
He stops, his lip curling back over his teeth as he sneers at me, "No?"
I shake my head, stepping up to him. I press my hand against his chest, feeling the erratic beat of his heart. "No. Whatever this is between us, it's real. But whatever is inside you, it's not you. It's toxic."
"We're toxic," he growls. "And that's why we belong together."
I narrow my eyes at him. "Love shouldn't be toxic."
