The Psychic Next Door

Chapter 19: Honest

Polly knocked Luc off his feet. The moment he was down she tore into him like an animal, her fingers extended like claws, digging into any inch of him they could grab. Her flaming hair, mussed and tangled, formed an impressive halo of angry red around her face. He took her by the wrists, attempting to push her away, but she fought him with all her strength—apparently rejuvenated after her two-week-long sleep—mumbling curses at him with every breath.

"You bastard! You piece of shit! How dare you do that to me!" The volume of her voice swelled, "You coward, hiding behind your magic, sending that thing to do your dirty work!"

Luc's face was twisted in pain, but he said nothing, just lying there, taking her abuse.

"Polly! No!" I screamed. I had to do something to stop this, make her understand; I knew that he could easily get free, simply because he was larger and bulkier, but it seemed he was unwilling to hurt Polly even if it was to protect himself.

I flung my arms around Polly and heaved, trying to separate the two. Polly thrashed against my grip, trying to throw me off, but it was enough to break her focus. Luc gave a final push and slid away, out of Polly's reach, scrambling to his feet.

"I'm sorry!" Luc shouted. "But don't you see why I had to keep her sedated? She did this before when she first woke up, and she wouldn't listen to me. I couldn't get her to stop long enough to listen! I was hoping you'd explain it to her, but—"

"I'm going to peel the skin off your bones, you asshole!" Polly interrupted with a scream. "You're not gonna get away with this, you motherfu—"

My grip on Polly tightened, pressing the air out of her. She gasped before whipping around to glare at me, but at least it got her to shut up.

I turned back to Luc. "Couldn't you have... restrained her or something? Tied her up and then tried to explain it to her?"

Luc looked aghast at the suggestion.

"Rachel!" Polly shouted at me over her shoulder. "What are you doing? We need to kill this bastard if we're ever going to be free of the curse!"

"You've got it all wrong, Polly! He's not controlling it! It was probably some kind of accident..." I protested, finally voicing the theory that I had been mulling over for the past few days.

"It was no accident."

Polly and I stopped struggling. My grip loosened, but Polly didn't return to her attack on Luc. We both just froze on the spot, looking at him.

"I mean, I didn't summon that thing. But..." his voice trailed off. He stared at the floor, searching for something unseen. "Even so, it is my fault. It..." He paused again, and his face tightened like he was struggling with some decision. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that you need to understand that I mean you no harm, and we're the only ones who can help each other now."

For once, Polly didn't say anything. She just looked at him, scouring his face with her sharp eyes. "How can we trust you?" she hissed, after a moment.

"Because you know me, Polly," Luc said. "Don't you?"

Polly's pale-grey eyes turned hard and cold like ice. "I thought I did."

Luc winced, hurt plain on his face, but it eased away into acceptance. "I understand. I know you may hate me for what happened to Lillian, but you need to know I never meant for any of that, or any of this, to happen. But, all the same, I'm sorry it did." He managed a final pleading look at us before turning and heading into his room, once again locking us out.

A heavy silence followed his exit—if you didn't count the increased activity of the Beast next door, riled up by our shouting match—as we both worked through his last words in our heads. Polly remained curiously quiet.