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"I think we need to leave. Get out of town until this can get sorted. You aren't safe here."
The wordyesplays on the tip of my tongue. I should leave. I should leave now and never come back.
But my mom doesn't know the horror of this place. If we want to leave, we'll never be able to. A part of me wants her to know. Know how terrible this place is. Maybe that'll get her to move us out of here for good, if only she could find a way.
But this soft part of me doesn't want to hurt my mom. Even after everything she's done to me—everything we've been through—she doesn't deserve to be tortured like I am.
I can't do that to her.
I shake my head. "We have to help him, Mom. We have to help Malik."
Her eyes widen. "Did you see the condition he's in? There'sno helping him."
"We have to try!" I urge.
I glance over, seeing Samuel starting to stir from being knocked out. My mom glances over at him, indecisiveness in her gaze.
"We can't leave them now. Aren't we supposed to be a family?"
She bites at her lip, worry breaking at the skin. "I know… I know. You're right." She shakes her head, rushing past me and kneeling by Samuel.
She checks on him, and I turn my back to them, looking out the back door. The nightly fog has started, and I can barely see beyond the tree line.
I can't see him anywhere, but I can feel him.
I know he's watching me.
I have to save him.
I pull my phone from my pocket, unlocking it and punching a text into our group chat.
Me:SOS. Come over now.
34
MALIK
Ego dominus occidere eos.
35
VERA
Samuel, my mom, and me sit around the kitchen table when the front door bursts open. The girls rush in first, Blaire, Piper, and Hazel all dressed in black from head to toe. They look like they're about to go on a mission.
And I guess, in a way, they are.
The guys walk in after them. A little more leisurely, but Levi's eyes glance up at the cross plunged into the ceiling. Felix stares at the stools knocked over. Atticus watches me, the bite marks on my neck, and my mom and stepdad with the horrified looks on their faces.
"I'm going to take a guess and say Malik was here," Levi sighs, like he's becoming a nuisance.
I just want to help him.
I nod. "He was. A priest was here too."
Samuel stands up. "I spoke with Father Moran. He said he refuses to do an exorcism in any place besides the church. Whatever hides inside Malik is stronger than anything he's ever seen."
"It's not hiding." I glance over my shoulder and look at him. "He isn't scared of us. Not me, or you, or the fucking priest. He wants people to know he's here. He wants to rove over everyone that stands in his way."
