(27) Enter The Devil

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"I hate that man."

"Yeah, tell me about it

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"Yeah, tell me about it."








     AS Jess watches Justin and Zoe leave, she feels her heart rip in two. If something goes wrong...she doesn't want to think about it.

     It only takes about two seconds for a young boy to walk in. Jess recognizes him as Carlos, Julie's younger brother. The boy starts clapping with a wide grin. "Have a good show, boy band."

     Luke chuckles as he leans down. "Who you calling boy band?"

     "Carlos!"

     The boy points at his eyes and then points to the empty space between Jess and Alex before he walks out. The moment he leaves Jess' view, she starts to giggle and shake her head. "Kids," she mutters.

     "How did he find out about us?" Reggie asks in disbelief.

     "I don't know, Reg," Alex replies sarcastically with his hands in his pockets. "Maybe it was the blinds. Or, you know what? The blanket. You know, it could've been any number of things you did in that house."

     Jess playfully frowns, hugging Reggie from the side as Luke says, "It doesn't matter, you guys. We're not coming back here anyway."

     As Jess looks down at her feet, she faintly realizes which hand is wrapped around Reggie's waist. Her left. With no pain. She didn't even realize that it was her left hand. She just feels...content.

     Which makes tonight all the more difficult if something goes wrong.

     Especially when her arm begins to tingle, the same way it had the night of the dance. Hesitantly, she lets out a soft whine, pulling her arm back with a deep frown. "You ok?" Reggie asks, reaching out to grip her shoulder. "Did I hurt you?"

     "No," she replies with a shake of her head. "No, it's just..."

     The tingling turns into blinding pain.

     She lets out a shriek. If not for Reggie's grip, she would have fallen to her knees. "W-what's happening?" She whimpers in confusion. "This was over. I'm fine—"

     "Phantom pains. Such a difficult condition to deal with." Despite the pain, Jess finds herself freezing at the chilling voice. With a whimper, she pushes herself against Reggie as they all turn to see Caleb Covington lounging on Julie's grand piano. "And where do you think you're going?"

     "What are you doing here?" Luke demands, taking a step forward, but Jess can barely concentrate on anything other than the burning sensation spreading across her left side.

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