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“Do you have any rooms available?” I ask the receptionist, trying to keep my voice steady.
The woman looks up at us, taking in Trine’s disheveled appearance and Alana’s scared expression. “We have one room left,” she says, handing me a key. “It’s on the fourth floor.”
I take the key, thanking her, and lead the group to the elevator. Trine is leaning heavily on Misha, her eyes half-closed, while Alana keeps her eyes fixed on the floor.
Once we reach our room, I quickly check to make sure everything is secure before letting everyone in. The room is small and dingy, with a poorly maintained carpet and peeling paint. The furniture is broken and stained, but I don’t think it’s dirty. The windows are clean, despite the cracked walls. The smell of lime scented cleaner clings to the ceramic sink, intermingled with dust in the air. It’s quiet here, the only sound the humming of the electricity around us, the bright neon lights of the motel casting an eerie glow over the window.
Once we’re there, I quickly look around to make sure everything is secure before I let everyone in, then kneel down to sprinkle salt in the doorway. We can never be too careful.
Trine and Misha sit down on the bed, while Alana takes a rickety looking chair near the TV set.
“Okay,” I say, rubbing my hands together as I pace around the small room. “First things first. We need to figure out what we’re dealing with here. Trine, can you describe what you felt before…before everything happened?”
Trine nods, looking up at me with red-rimmed eyes. “It was like…this pressure inside me. Like something was pushing me to do things I didn’t want to do. And then I saw those…those images in my head. Violent things. I couldn’t stop them.”
I nod, feeling a sense of unease settle over me. “But you’ve had this before, right? Because you’ve been possessed before.”
“I’m not normally violent,” she replies. “Most times, it feels like whatever this is, it’s eating at me. From the inside, not…like it’s not trying to get other people.”
Misha sighs. “And we thought we got it out. We were sure we got it out. We’ve spent months…”
“You probably did,” I say. “People don’t realize that once it happens one time, it happens again and again. It’s like the demons know what’s happened to you and so they come back for more.”
“So it doesn’t matter what I do. It’ll always be after me,” Trine says.
I don’t want to tell her that she’s right, she sounds absolutely exhausted just thinking about it.
“There are things you can do,” I say. “Stay away from places that are very active with demonic activity, for instance. This tour might not have been the best idea.”
Trine looks at Alana and shakes her head. “He’s wrong,” she says. “I wouldn’t give this up for the world.”
Alana flashes her a tight smile before she turns to look at me. “Okay,” she says, and I can tell that she’s holding back on how afraid she is. “What do we do now?”
“So, what do we do now?”
I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. I can’t let them see how scared I am. “We need to find out what kind of demon we’re dealing with. Trine, do you remember anything specific about the images you saw?”
Trine closes her eyes, concentrating. “I remember…fire. And claws. And then something tearing open, like, its flesh coming undone and becoming very tall and skeletal, and it smelled so fucking bad. And…oh God, it was so awful. It was so real, like it was just there…next to me, ready to take me down. Ready to take all of us down.”
Misha pulls her into his arms, holding her close. “It’s okay,” he murmurs. “You’re safe now.”
Not for long, I think, but I don’t say it. “We need to figure out how to stop this thing before it comes for us again.”
Alana nods. “What do you need us to do?”
“I need you to trust me, no matter what happens.”
Alana cocks her head. “Fine,” she says. “I’ll trust you no matter what, but I think we need to loop Javi in. He has to be worried sick after what happened.”
“I’ll text the girls,” Trine says. “I’ll let them know we’re safe.”
“Okay,” I say. “You guys do what you need to do, and then we can start.”
“Start what?” Misha asks.
“Start the ritual,” I reply.
He nods, whispering something in Trine’s ear as Alana’s gaze meets mine. I walk over to her and try for a smile. “It’s okay,” I tell her. “It’s going to be okay.”
