Mia's POV:

-8 Days Left-

On Thursday I head over to Liam's after a week of no word from him. I knock on his door and am half tempted to press my ear to his door to hear if he is home.

But before I can even do so, the door opens and reveals a disheveled Liam. He looks me up and down and then opens the door to reveal a neat home. I follow him in without any words as he leads me to his room.

After he closes his door, I then realize his messy room. I tip-toe over the papers scattered on his ground and sit on a chair near his desk. He follows me over and smiles slightly as he stares at me, "I'm sorry I didn't call."

"Yeah, what was that all about? You were worrying me. You haven't been to school...haven't answered my calls or texts. I thought you went MIA on me."

His eyes brighten, "Well you see, that's the thing Mia. I didn't answer you because I was too busy to do so."

"What were you doing...?" I ask, hugging my bag close to my chest as he grabs a huge stack of papers and scatters them on his desk.

"I was looking over town records and seeing who the demon could possibly be."

"The demon?"

"Don't play dumb, Mia. Some may be too blind to see, but you and I both know." Liam says to me, staring me straight in the eye.

"Okay." I sigh, rubbing my knuckles. "Show me what you have."

"I have a few different theories, but there's two that override the third and fourth. May I ask who your suspects are?"

"I have only two, honestly. A man named Thomas and Harry." I admit, looking down at my lap.

"Harry?" Liam snorts. "Sure, he has some evidence over him but not enough."

I glare over at him, "Then who do you suspect?"

"I too have ran into Thomas and believe him to be a demon, but maybe not the one killing. I do suspect Harry a bit, but not enough. He has done some shady stuff, but not enough." He clears his throat. "And I have almost no significant evidence, mostly just deep thought, but it also could be Louis."

"Louis?" I almost laugh out loud. "Not even."

"But isn't that the perfect cover? The lonely boy that is too shy to even ask a question to his fucking peers. Nobody would ever suspect him."

"Okay, maybe so. But still, like you said you have no evidence."

"I did say that, and I still stand by it. Just a thought." Liam shrugs.

"Well, that's only three. Who's the fourth?" I ask, picking at my nails anxiously.

"Well...you might not agree with this. But I have more than significant evidence against Zayn."

A laugh climbs up my throat, "It's not him. Let's not even go down that damn road."

He glares at me, "Tell me this Mia...isn't it funny how after he broke up with Delila she just...died. How after he comes to our fucking town, everything goes to shit. I have seen him persuade people more than once, I've seen things other people haven't. Last week, I followed him home and saw him talking on the phone to somebody."

"About what?"

"It didn't sound good. Something about getting rid of somebody soon. I would be careful, he might be speaking about you."

I stand up abruptly, "It isn't him. I promise you that."

"Sit down, Mia. I'm not done. I have photo evidence."

"Show them."

He grabs a bunch of pictures and documents and ruffles through them, "Take a look at this. Is this Zayn?"

"Yes." I nod, rolling my eyes wondering what his point could be.

"I'm glad you think so. This picture was taken in the early 1960s." He smirks, knowing he won.

I scoff, "Is that all?"

"Of course not." He holds up another that shows Zayn with a girl. "This picture was taken in the late 1980s. The girl was found dead thirty-six hours after the party."

As he goes on, I bite the inside of my cheek to stop from screaming.

"And this picture," Liam holds up a picture of Zayn grinning. "This was taken in 2010. Funny how he hasn't fucking aged one bit through these decades."

"This...this means nothing." I stutter, starting to feel sick. "How did you find these?"

"It took a bit, it did...but I didn't find them through googling 'Zayn Malik'. I found them by looking up Dylan Mackinson."

I look at him weirdly, "How the hell did you come up with that?"

He grins, "That's the thing...the bastard hid in plain sight. Tell me, how often have you looked through his friends and checked out their profiles?"

"Um, never."

"Exactly! I messaged a few of his so called 'friends' and none of them have even heard of a Zayn Malik. I then decided to dig deeper and found that name and realized it had no pictures or friends except for Zayn. I looked the name up on Google and all those photos popped up."

"So you're saying Zayn isn't his real name?" I ask, confused.

"No, I'm saying he has used the name Dylan Mackinson to stay hidden. After everybody he knew was surely dead, he finally started using his name again." Liam takes a deep breath. "And I also found an article on a boy who died in Bradford way back when, the 1940s. He was 18 years old and was never found. A photo was attached of him and another man...named Will."

"How did you find that article?" My eyes widen, surprised Liam found it and I didn't.

"It's almost like he tried to wipe himself away from the internet, but thank god they never actually fully delete. You can't find it right off the bat, you just have to know where to look."

"I just..."

"Can't believe it, yeah I know. But can I ask you something?"

"Sure." I agree, still surprised at all this new information.

"Does the date February 17th mean anything to you?"

"Why?"

"I keep having this nightmare...and it's reoccurring. It's of a girl screaming and there's a lot of banners up and lights...I'm guessing it's a dance or party. The date on the banner that kept showing up was February 17th." He explains, rubbing his red eyes.

"That's the day Zayn and I are..." I begin.

"Are what?"

"N-Nothing."

"Okay..." Liam eyes me suspiciously. "Anyway I don't know what's supposed to happen...but I can promise you it won't be good. Please stay away from him that night."

I smile fakely, "Of course."

"Good." He takes a drink of water. "But anyway, you shouldn't sleep. They can control your mind when you do, that's your weakest state of mind."

"Okay, I surely won't." I lie, looking over his tired stature.

"Here! Take some of my sleeping pills, take two a night and some caffeine. You won't sleep at all, I promise."

He hands me a bag of sleeping pills and I take them, watching him worriedly. How long has it been since he last slept?

"And also, I have some sage and crosses for you to put around your house and room. They keep demons and such away from you, they can't stand the smell of the sage." He grabs some crosses and sage for me and I put them in my bag.

"Thanks Liam." I will surely use the sage and crosses, not the pills though.

As soon as I get home, I secretly put some sage and crosses around the house in places my parents will surely never find them.

While I put the last bit of sage down in a potted plant near the door, I hear a knock. I answer it and grin when I see Zayn, "Hey!"

"Hey baby." He grins, walking in and hugging me.

We sit down on the couch and talk for awhile until he starts coughing. "Baby, are you alright?" I ask, worried when his face starts turning pale.

"I-I'm fine."

"Do you need some water?"

"N-No...god, what is that terrible smell? I can't stand it!"

I furrow my eyebrows and try my best to see what he's talking about, "I don't smell anything."

"I need some air." He gasps, running out of my house and onto the front porch.

Following him outside, I comfort him as he breathes the fresh outside air. Awhile afterwards my phone goes off and I see a message from Liam.

From: Liam Payne

Want to read the article yourself? Here's the link: www.bradfordlondonnews.com/zaynmalik/death/282973 . I'm sure he's the demon, I'm sure of it

I go to click on it but refrain from it when I notice Zayn looking over my shoulder at my messages.

"Is he serious?" He laughs, rolling his eyes. "We've been over this Mia. I am not a fucking demon. Sure, there may be photos that look like me. But that doesn't mean they're actually me. People look alike, you know."

"You're right. I don't know where he got this idea. It's crazy, right?" I shake my head, laughing also.

"Very absurd."

I go silent and watch the trees sway in the wind.

"What're you thinking about?" He asks, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"About Eleanor." I whisper, sadly.

"I know you're sad baby, and I'm sorry Eleanor is gone. She was a truly kind person."

A smile finds my lips at his comforting words, "You're right. She is somewhere better."

"I suppose."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I don't believe there is a God or a heaven." Zayn admits, his voice getting dangerously quiet.

"Why not?" I ask, surprised.

"Because if there was a God, he wouldn't let people have horrible endings. He wouldn't let things get so bad that you would rather kill yourself then live another day...there wouldn't be murder....it's just inhumane, don't you think?"

"It is inhumane, but people die all the time."

"That doesn't make it any better." He snaps. "Everybody should be able to live an amazing life. They should be able to marry their true love and have some kids....watch them all grow up and live a happy life."

"It is sad not everybody gets that." I agree, watching tears well up in his eyes.

"Nobody should have to get the news that their own kid isn't coming home one day...they shouldn't have to suffer like that. It's just not fair."

"God has a plan." I try assure him, knowing I failed miserably.

"Everybody always fucking says that, but it's bullshit." Zayn laughs. "Do you believe in Satan, Mia?"

"I tend not to."

"Why not? He's the most real thing out there."

"Why?" I ask, wondering his view on that.

"He's the reason people die, why people kill. He's the one behind it all, not God."

I shrug, "I like listening to your input on things. You seem to know a lot."

Zayn smiles sadly, "Because I have experienced more then you could've ever guessed."

My mouth opens as I try to reply, but it closes after awhile. "Like what?"

But before I can get an answer, he grabs all his things and starts walking down my driveway. "Where are you going?"

He turns around and smiles, his jacket over his shoulder, "I have some business to tend to."
----

I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter because I really enjoyed writing it!

Some sketchy stuff is happening...why can't Mia just see the truth in front of her? What will happen next chapter?

So much is happening next chapter and I hope you are all ready cause honestly I'm not 😳😫 but it will be at the climax of the book then so it will get 82027438x more interesting!

I love you all so much and please make sure to vote and comment! ❤