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𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 : 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐂𝐊

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I saw red.

Of all shades and colors.

They blurred and burned into my head and eyes as rage overtook me. I could feel my hands shaking and a horrible stream of wet hot tears slink out from my eyes and down my cheeks in torrid marks. The rage was so full inside of me that I could feel it trying to squeeze my throat, trying to force its way out of me like some beast that had been curled up inside had finally wanted to break free.

John Walker was the devil. This entire time I'd been a fool, naive to the truth right before me. All the warnings, the way he and Ace always went off alone, the way they showed up just at the nick of time to rescue me from Conner. The way Ace had been coming to me in my dreams, warning me of my death, John's absence. John Walker was there the night Cage used my blood in the summoning and that was all it took.

Just a tiny drop to bring forth the end of the world and a tyrant so horrific, we would all be better off dying now to save our souls.

The ringing in my ears slowly began to fade as the red and black did, being replaced with a single image in my mind.

The moon was bright and angry tonight. I had thought this card was about Crow's true evil but it was about John, about Ace, about everything I didn't want to face because I knew it would break me.

I sucked in a deep breath, clutching at my chest. "The devil?"

"Yes."

"You're the devil?"

"Are you dense? Yes."

"H-how?" I couldn't speak and I felt my cheeks go hot with embarrassment. This entire thing was mortifying. I studied him further and a horrible laugh came up and out of me and I covered my mouth as I stepped back and leaned against the table to brace myself. "Dear god, how the hell are you the devil?"

John's brows furrowed. "Jesus, don't sound too surprised."

"It's just–" I waved my hand towards him with a laugh to mask the shame and the rage. "It's just that you're you!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" he snapped, clear anger flashing over his face. It seemed he didn't like his power being questioned, much less by me.

I grinned, feeling those sparks of anger return. "It means that you need to prove it." My grin turned into a smirk as I said, "Come on, John, show me how bad the devil can be."

"My power isn't flaunted around on the outside," he said to me in a startling calm voice. "It comes from the inside. I could lead you astray with just a simple whisper to your ear. I could reach inside your gut and twist your organs, forcing you to do my bidding. I can tempt you to do something you would never imagine." His head cocked to the side again like an animal looking down its prey but I only wish he knew it was the other way around. He was the rabbit and I the wolf.

"You don't scare me," I said.

"I should."

"And why is that?"

"Because I know about Pandora. I know what holds her back from you."

The ringing returned to my ears but I didn't falter. I would not show him I was scared or that the mere mention of her name sent something horrible through me.

"It's him," John laughed, pointing behind me. "Her killer lives and sleeps in your bed, why would she ever want to see you?!"

"Your taunts are pointless," Crow said back. I felt his presence behind me like a steady wall. I put my arm out to stop him from passing me and challenging John further into his boundary wall. If Crow passed the lines, he'd be trapped inside.

"Are they?" mused John, looking to where the other man had stepped forward and how I had stopped him. His eyes traveled back up to Crow and he grinned, horribly. "Do you remember how you did it? How you slaughtered her?"

"John–" I started but was cut off by his nasty laughter.

He was cackling, loud and with an open mouth. "You slit her pretty throat and left her to die alone!"

I could feel Crow's heart begin to beat faster against my back, this great echo chanting through both of us. One of his hands gripped onto my hip, his head falling to my ear. "Let me kill him," he whispered through my hair. I looked back, seeing his eyes black empty pits. "Let me tear him apart."

I shook my head, turning back to keep my eyes forward. "I think there's something you need to know, John Walker."

"Using last names, now?" John laughed. "You must be getting serious about something–"

I reached past and into the trap, grabbing John by the collar and bringing him forward with a jut of my arm and hand. He rebounded against the ring, cursing. "I'm in charge here. I need you to get that through your thick skull, John. I don't care if you're the devil or not, alright? I need answers and I'm going to get them one way or another."

John smiled, showing me all his teeth and his eyes narrowed. He spoke barely above a whisper, "You don't scare me, you know that, right? You don't scare me one bit."

I grinned, feral. "I should." Spiorad drummed against my hand as I stepped back to fall into Crow's shadow. "You don't have a clue of what I'm capable of."

"I'm so scared."

"You should be." I grinned. "Especially when I kill you."

"How are you going to do that?" he chuckled. "I'm the devil, Blaire. You can't kill me."

"Clearly you've underestimated me, like every other man I've faced."

They're all the same. Every last one of them.

"You won't kill me," was what John settled on, "want to know why you won't?"

"Please," I sighed, waving Spiorad through the air as I crossed my arms, "enlighten me."

"I know where Pandora is."

"Bullshit," Blondie snapped from behind us, her voice startling. I'd almost forgotten she was here, just for a moment. "You're just trying to weasel your way out of this."

"Oh, how nice of you to rejoin the conversation, kitten," said John, looking past me and Crow to stare down the other girl. "You're usually a lot more talkative than this. What's wrong? Devil got your tongue?" His eyebrows rose and his lips pursed. "Or maybe you're just a little shellshocked knowing you've had sex with the devil, right? I've been told I'm the best, that I can be devilish in bed."

"You're a pig," she spat.

"Don't say you never liked it."

"God," she sighed, "you really do love the sound of your own voice."

He looked unfazed by the comment, shrugging as he turned his attention back to me. It was so strange to see him in this light now. So unlike the boy who'd I met on my first day of classes. Offering to help me, asking me to eat at his table, praying I come to his party. It was all a ruse. Just a plot to weaken me and I hated to admit that it worked but I couldn't allow him to see it for himself.

"John," I whispered, "can you tell me something?"

"What is it, my darling?"

"Tell me where Pandora is, please."

"And what do I get out of it?" he asked and before I could think it through, I spoke, "I'll let you go."

"Blaire–" snapped Crow from behind me as Blondie said, "No!"

I turned to face my friends, feeling a pit open up in my stomach. "I know this is crazy and dangerous but–" I shook my head, feeling the emotions come to my throat. "But if he knows something about Pandora, I need to know."

"You're thinking about letting this murderer go when you know he's out to get you," Crow said, reaching out to touch my face, making me look up at him. "He'll kill you if you let him go."

"You don't understand," I breathed, touching his hand and slowly lowering it from my face but keeping my gentle hold. "If he knows something about her, I have to know."

"You're choosing information you don't even know is real over your life." He shook his head, clutching my hand with both of his. "I can't let you do that, I can't let you kill yourself–"

"I'd choose her, every time," I whispered. "I'd choose Pandora, Crow."

He bowed his head, running his fingers over my knuckles. He was silent for a moment and I was afraid he was angry but when he met my eyes again, there was an understanding in his features. "Then let's go find your girl."

I grinned, clutching his hands with mine and bringing them to my lips, kissing his hand before I could realize what I was doing. I didn't allow myself to dwell on it as I turned. I composed myself and said to John, "If you tell me where she is, I'll let you go."

"How do I know you still won't try to kill me once I'm free?" John mused, raising an eyebrow of curiosity. "And how do you know I won't just kill you?"

"Because this is all about trust, John," I said. "And if we can't trust each other, then..." I shrugged. "You'll be stuck down here forever or until I'm ready to kill you." I looked behind me and towards Blondie. "How long until he'd go insane from lack of human interaction? From no light? No food?"

Blondie gave me a wicked grin. "I'd say it'd have to be a long, long time."

"So?" I grinned. "Give me what I need and I'll see that you're freed."

He equaled my grin. "I have to say, Blaire, I like you a lot more this way. We could've had so much fun together." He leaned against the boundary and nodded slowly, "Ask me what you want to know and I'll oblige, sweet mistress of mine."

I hummed in approval, twirling Spiroad between my fingers at my side. "Where is Pandora?"

John gave me a look of displeasure. "Dead, but you already know that."

I scowled. "Not the answer I'm looking for, John. You said you knew where she is, so where the hell is she?"

"Surely you would know, oh great and powerful necromancer," John said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Can't you sense and track her?"

"Don't you think I've tried?"

He shrugged. "That's all the help I can give you."

"Bullshit," snarled Blondie. "If you don't tell us what we want to know, you'll be dead by the end of the night." Before he could protest, she snapped out, "Inside that devil's trap, you're just a weak little boy. You have no real power here and you know it."

He glared but the tension in his face released slightly as he spoke. "Conner and Ace, they've come up with a pretty interesting theory about your dear dead friend." He shuffled, scuffing the black marks across the ground, looking up from the scorches to meet my eyes. "You killed Amy here, didn't you?"

"John–" started Blondie as I said very quickly, "Yes. I did."

"He wasn't that good of a pet," said John with a shrug. "Could never follow instructions properly. Obviously he didn't listen very well when I said to bury you alive without your belongings."

"He died like a coward," I said in a slow voice, feeling a strange weight land upon my shoulders like the ghosts were pushing on me like a cape or crown being formed. "He died just how you will if you don't help me. What was the theory about Pandora?"

"They suspect...she's entered a different body. A host, much like how I have taken over John," he explained, giving me a look of pity. "You haven't been able to track or sense her, and I believe it's because she really is in a new body. Now, it may seem impossible, but I've heard of cases similar to this where the host dies and a spirit can enter the boy and revive the host."

"Like a resurrection?"

He nodded back. "If Pandora has done this...well, it's only a matter of time before she starts asking for a bit more control as a way to out herself."

"Out herself?" asked Blondie.

"To make herself known. She could very well just go on living inside the new host but honestly," he laughed, "where's the fun in that?"

I clenched my hand around the hilt of my knife, feeling a tremor erupt in my arm. "Do you have any idea who she could've gone into?"

John shrugged. "It could be anyone."

A soft pounding began in the back of my skull as if little fists were banging against me. I sucked in a deep breath as I tried to think, tried to remember what had happened to me the night I was shot. John's brows furrowed with confusion as he watched me and his gaze added with the others made my legs feel weak.

"Blaire, love," came Crow's gentle whisper, his hand on my arm to steady me, "are you alright?"

I started to shake my head, bewildered as the headache dulled and vanished. "The night I was shot, did I–" I couldn't even say it. I had seen Pandora that night, I had almost taken her hand and left this earth. She couldn't have entered my body, I would've known. I'm the necromancer for godsake.

"You were shot?" snapped John and my eyes went to his. "Who the fuck shot you?"

"None of your business," I snapped right back.

"Damn right it's my business," he snarled. "Aren't you forgetting? You're mine. No one harms you without my consent. Your death is mine, it's been claimed for centuries–"

I ignored him. "Did I die that night, Crow? I lost so much blood before I even got to you, I...I don't remember much after you found me."

His eyes lost their sharpness and the black faded completely, something I had started to overlook completely. "You lost so much blood and it was just everywhere–"

"But did I die?"

He let out a soft breath. "I don't know, I'm sorry."

I ran a trembling hand through my hair. "If Pandora did find a new host body, could the original host know?"

John narrowed his eyes. "You're the ghost expert, you tell me." I scowled but John held up a hand, sighing. "It's possible the host could know, but it wouldn't be likely," John answered, looking at his nails. "Once the spirit has entered the new host, it would be confused and wouldn't know how to work or move the body. It's like demonic possession. We need to get used to the body before finally working it the way we want. It sure as hell took me some time to figure out how to work mine."

"If the spirit is in the new host and knows how to take control, what would happen to the original host?"

John sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Well, for starters, the demon or spirit can't push the original host out, they need them. So, I would like to think that the original host is just pushed to the side for the time being. But I'm thinking about demonic possession, not spiritual possession. The spirit wouldn't be strong enough, so the original host and the spirit would have to inhabit the same body together as one."

I nodded, rubbing my eyes. This was draining, speaking to John, trying to learn about Pandora. It made me exhausted. "So you're saying that if a spirit goes into a new host body that is still alive, they just...what? Live together like that forever?"

He nodded. "More or less." He sighed, watching me carefully before adding, "If Pandora inhabited a new body then the original host would know in time. It wouldn't be right away, obviously but over time the host would begin to, I believe, get glimpses into the spirits' past before they died. Things the original host would think of as normal. They would think that they were their own memories."

"What kind of memories?"

"Names, faces, people you thought you knew but actually don't," he explained. "But it wouldn't necessarily be a bother to the original host, you see. It would be seen as normal."

"Would everything change, having a spirit in you?"

John shook his head. "Not entirely. It'd just be two people in one body. Do you know how many spirit possessions have been misdiagnosed for different mental illnesses? I get it, since we haven't exactly...come out of the closet yet but even the DSM-5 should know better, right–" He stopped himself from his rant, running a hand through his hair. "It's totally different for demons but I'm sure John had these thoughts before he, well..."

"Oh my god," Blondie whispered from behind me, a croak in her voice, "is John...is John dead?"

"Basically."

"He's dead?!"

John frowned. "Being with me isn't an easy job. His soul has moved on, it was forced out of this body once the true fun began."

"Fun?" I asked.

John beamed, bright and sunny and horrifically happy. "My plotting, my revenge, my plans at finally getting you to be mine. It's taken years of motion because I found it inhumane to kill you when you were a child, so I've taken my time at gathering my forces and getting stronger. It takes a toll on the body." He shrugged. "I felt John leave me not long after my initial possession. If it makes you feel better, Cassandra, he went peacefully."

I heard her suck in a cry but she made no other sounds.

John clapped his hands together, grinning once more. "So, what now? Got any more questions for me? Maybe something to eat? To drink? I'm feeling, honestly, parched." He rubbed his neck, giving me a narrowed eye glance over.

"No," I said, turning away. "I think we're done here."

Were we? God, oh, god, were we?

"What are you going to do?" he scoffed. "Just leave me down here? After I fucking helped you?"

"And what if I did leave you here? Would that be so wrong?"

"Yes!" he cried.

"Aw, boo, why?"

"Because I'm the fucking devil!"

I turned around, glancing at Crow and noticed the small smirk he had on his lips and I mirrored the expression. "Get him out of here."

"Where would you like him?" he asked.

"He can't really stay here," said Blondie as John screamed in the background. "Do you have a place secure enough to leave him?"

"Well, we can't just hand him over to Ace," I muttered, rubbing my head, "because he wants me dead and all."

"We could take him to the barn," said Crow and my eyes met him instantly. The barn was large enough for us to ward completely and so far off from town, no one would be able to hear him for miles.

"The barn," I smiled, "we take him there tonight."

It was funny, seeing how everything always ended up there. Our endings and beginnings always fell right into the barn and its demonic center.

"How do we move him, though?" asked Blondie, tapping her chin as she gazed past me and at John who was now pounding the barrier surrounding him. "If we break the seal, he'll escape."

"Could we tie him up?" I asked, curling around the table to flip through the journals. "I'm sure I've got some rope in the garage, we can ward them, coat them in holy water, I don't know." I stopped when I opened one of the books, pulling out the two photographs I had stuffed inside the night I got shot. I'd forgotten about them.

"'Fate woven together,' huh," muttered Blondie over my shoulder. "Who knew 'risen' would be so ironic right about now."

"Where did you get these?" Crow asked, taking one of the pictures.

"Back in Conner's trailer," I explained, shrugging. "He had a bunch of them all pinned up on the walls."

"Ah, one of my trusted men," cooed John, clutching his hands to his chest. "Not as good as Ace but just about. Did you like the little show we put on together that night?" He rubbed his jaw. "He hated the thought of letting go of that body."

I scowled. "Too bad it's rotted."

"A shame, really, he was quite handsome. I'm sure you can agree."

"God, I don't remember you being this much of a pig, honestly," I snapped, taking the photographs and sliding them back into place in the book. I turned to Crow. "Listen, watch him while I go check out what I got in the garage."

"Nothing in the books?" he asked as I walked over to the tunnel entrance.

I shook my head. "There isn't really a spell to contain a demon as powerful as John."

"Come on, Blaire! You can't just keep me locked up!" cried John and we ignored him.

Crow wrapped an arm around my waist and hoisted me up. I grasped the edge and pulled myself up the rest of the way until I was sitting on the ledge. "Be careful, okay? I don't trust him down here alone with you two."

He nodded.

I grabbed his shoulder, leaning down at a painful angle but he stopped moving to grasp it in his own. "I mean it, Archer, I can't lose you too."

"What about me?" scoffed Blondie with a grin and I rolled my eyes and quickly added, "You too, Cass."

Archer took hold of my hand in both of his and he brought my hand up to his lips and kissed my knuckles gently. "I promise, only if you do the same."

He released my hand and that was all I saw of him as he disappeared back into the tunnel. I could hear faint chatter and the soft angry roar of John but as I stood and trotted over to the kitchen to find a bowl big enough to hold enough holy water, I could no longer hear them.

The bowl was above the stove and I had to stand on my toes to reach it. It was heavy in my hands, the metal thick, and I wondered if Cage ever had to do this. It made me wonder what other things have been made in these bowls other than cookies and cakes.

I filled the bowl up with water from the sink, leaning back against the island to wait. When it was full enough that it wouldn't spill as I handed it down the trap door, I moved it to the counter so I could find the incantation and rosary bead my mother kept around here. I had used them with Amy but I couldn't remember where I had put them. The whole evening with Amy was still a horrible blur, and at times I could still smell how rotten his flesh had gotten when I flung the holy water on him. I could still see him smoking and burning.

Heading over to the office where I kept the box my mom left for me, I heard a scream from down inside the tunnel and a loud pop rung through the air, shaking the floor so hard I nearly fell over. I turned on my heel and sprinted back towards the opening in the stairs. I didn't even think as I shimmied myself over the ledge and dropped myself inside.

There was a thick smoke in the air and it burned both my eyes and nose. The smell of rotten eggs hung heavy and I had to press the sleeve of my jacket against my nose, feeling it burn all the way down my throat as I breathed.

"Cassandra!" I shouted, waving my free hand in the air to clear some of the hazy fog. "Crow?!"

When I heard nothing in return, I skidded to a stop, stumbling back against the wall as I looked across the floor. It was scorched, the cement chipped into a thin crater. I looked up to the ceiling and cursed, the devil's trap was burned and I could see the chalk lines so faintly that it amazed me they were still there.

I peeled myself from the wall, feeling something sticky against my palm and I turned to face what I was leaning against. To my horror, across my hand was something red and I knew it wasn't paint.

Across the wall written in dripping, fresh blood were words I wished I could erase.

Come to the barn, it said as a voice spoke from the smoke in a croaking sob repeated the same.

"He says come to the barn," Blondie whimpered as she stepped through the dying smoke, clutching her side and I knew then where the blood had come from. "He took Crow and your knife, Blaire, and he wants you to come to the barn. Alone."

~

"Are you going to go?" asked Blondie as I peeled back her shirt in the kitchen.

I nodded, pouring peroxide on the long slash. It wasn't too deep but it was deep enough to need to be bandaged shut. She clutched my hand as the wound bubbled and she sucked in a hiss. "I'm sorry," I whispered, wiping the white bubbles away that helped kill whatever infection could've started inside her. She was handling it a lot better than I expected. Blood coated her hands, now thankfully dried and flaking. Her shirt was hard where the blood had seeped into the fabric and the cut stretched along her side about five inches long. Her face was pale and there were bags under her eyes but she seemed fine, other than a little shaky.

"No stitches, right?" she mumbled and I nodded back. "Okay, good, good. Bandage me up then and let's get going."

"You're not coming with me."

"Of course, I am."

"John specifically told you to tell me to go alone," I countered as I got the medical tape out from the first aid kit.

She sat up, wincing but grabbed my shoulders to force me to look her in the eyes. "I'm going with you. I don't care what John has to say, we do this together."

"Cass–"

"We do this together or we don't do it at all. It's your choice."

I sighed, cutting the tape with my scissors as I motioned for her to lay back down. "Okay, fine, we'll go together but we need to be smart." She pulled her shirt up for me to look at her side as I taped it carefully. After I was done I got the gauze out since we didn't have any badges big enough for her sort of wound. "John took my knife so we have nothing to protect ourselves with except regular kitchen knives."

"What about the holy water you were going to make?" she asked. "Couldn't we put some of that in some squirt bottles?"

I smiled softly even though it wasn't genuine. My heart was still in my throat. Crow was gone and I didn't trust John for a second not to hurt him, to kill him. I needed him here with me more than I could ever realize and now he was gone.

"We could do that," I muttered with a nod, meeting Blondie's wide eyed gaze. "But we'll have to be quick." I unwrapped the gauze as I asked, "Tell me what happened down there."

"When you left, John got pissed," she said, "like, super, super pissed. He hit the magic invisible boundary until it suddenly just wasn't there anymore. It was like he just burst out and everything caught fire around him and the ground shook when the boundary shattered." She wiped at her eyes and I noticed there were tears lining her lashes as she sniffed deeply. "He grabbed your knife from the table and cut me," she shook her head, "it was all really quick. He grabbed Crow, held the knife to his throat and wrote you that message in the matter of seconds. Then...he was gone."

I brushed some of my hair from my face, finding that I was sweating lightly. "We have to get to the barn, scope it out, see what he really wants."

He doesn't want Crow, not like he wants me. I'm more important. I'm the precious package he wants. I'm all he ever wanted.

She nodded and once I was gone wrapped her side, she got up and started moving. It surprised me how willing she was to get into this and as she grabbed what we needed, I opened up my mother's journals and got to work.

We had a good amount of holy water in one of the old window cleaner bottles and Blondie kept it clutched in both hands as we walked out and to Crow's car. It was going to be weird for me to get into the driver's seat and as I did so, I ran my hands over the wheel. The leather was cold and I wished it had been warm, to feel one last bit of Crow in here with me.

It smelled of him, too.

"You okay?" asked Blondie as she slid into her seat, gripping the handle above the window to ease herself carefully into the seat. I could see the pain across her face but she hid it well.

"I will be once we get him back," I muttered.

She smiled. "Then let's go save lover boy."

I started the car. It purred underneath me and I had the urge to rest my head down against the wheel and close my eyes for a while but instead, I put the car in reverse and drove out of my driveway.

The drive made my head spin, forcing me to roll down the windows to get some fresh air circulated into the vehicle. It was a sharp cold that slapped me awake but it didn't stop the ache behind my eyes and head.

Seeing the road I had driven down that night Pandora died knowing I was driving to find a body made me feel clammy with sickness. It was a horrible sense of deja vu that made me want to strike God across the face. This wasn't some funny ironic moment, it was sickening and made the muscles in my legs and gut twitch.

I heard a small whisper behind me, like something tickling the shell of my ear and I looked back, shocked to find nothing there. Blondie gave me a worried look but didn't say anything as I readjusted my grip on the steering wheel as we continued to drive.

The whisper came again, louder this time and I swatted at my hair. This time, Blondie spoke up. "Are you okay? What's going on?"

"Nothing," I muttered, shaking my head. "Just think I keep hearing something."

"A ghost?"

"I don't know."

I could see the barn now and a horrible feeling sunk into my gut. The black sky didn't look right above the ugly building. I could smell something in the air and I pressed down on the gas, Crow's old car accelerating.

"Oh, fuck," breathed Blondie, sitting higher in her seat. "Is that smoke?"

For just a small moment, images flashed before my eyes of a woman I didn't recognize. She was old, holding a tray of cookies from the oven and a pitcher of lemonade in her other hand. Her hair was in a tight gray bun and she was smiling and in a scornful voice she said a name that made me want to puke before it was all gone.

"Pandora."

"Blaire!" screamed Blondie and I slammed on the breaks, the tires skidding against the road before it hit the gravel. "There's something on fire!"

Crow's car slowed to an abrupt stop and I threw it in park as I jumped out, Blondie following. There was a thick cloud of smoke in the sky and I could smell it, thick like a campsite but heavy like meat. We threw the barn doors open and inside was empty and the back doors were open and I could see the outline of a cross in the dark, lit up by the fire raging it. We took off around the building and before we could round the corner I grabbed Blondie's arm to stop her because I didn't know what we were about to see but she shouldn't have to witness it.

"Cass, don't look–"

Her hands went to her mouth. "Oh-oh god!"

I turned around, finding the sight something I didn't truly expect. Blondie let out a horrible scream and seconds later I heard her throwing up somewhere off behind me. I slowly approached the burning cross, a circle of fire stopping me from getting any closer.

The corpse was strung up on an old wooden cross. Its hands were pinned up like Christ, its head bowed and I got just a tiny bit closer, my own stomach churning as I heard Blondie coughing and retching. I could tell it was a man through the charring skin and I covered my nose with my sleeve, gagging at the sight and smell.

It was hard to tell who it was from the blood and gore. There was blood running from his eyes, his nose, and his mouth and it was a startling red. It only made me slightly more at ease knowing this could never be Crow but this body was put here for a reason.

A warning.

The man's eyes were open and glazed over and for a second I thought they were following me as I moved my weight from foot to foot. There was this horrible creeping feeling against my skin and it made me want to pull the flesh from my bones to ease the pressure. His shirt, or what was left of his shirt, was cut open and across his chest were symbols I had seen just hours before as I drew them on the ceiling of the tunnel for the devil's trap.

"Who–" Blondie coughed. "–who is it?"

I looked back and saw her holding herself, trembling. "I don't know," I said, shaking my head.

His stomach was cut open in a long slash and his intestines were hanging out, tangled and twisted and covered in thick bloody gore. Some of them were laying in a burning pile at the bottom below his feet, his gut still dripping. It was a fresh enough kill. My eyes trailed back up to his face and I noticed there were slashes in his cheeks, made to pull his mouth back. I leaned closer, feeling the what of the fire against my skin as I noticed some of his teeth were missing. His canines were gone and his two front teeth were broken in half like someone got him with a baseball ball. Even one of his eyes were bulging, like it would pop with just a single gentle touch.

My eyes traveled across the ground, looking for something to tell us who this man was behind the blood and ruin and I found what I was looking for at the edge of the fire. I bent down, sticking my hand out fast to bring it close. It was a little gold name tag and I was surprised it hadn't begun to melt in the flames as I kicked dirt on it to try and cool it down before I picked it up. But I didn't need to see the name up close to know what it said.

"Dr. Hex," I muttered, standing back up slowly as Blondie came to my side.

"Who?"

"He was one of the doctor's who helped with my mom," I whispered, shaking my head. "He handled her body, he worked down by the morgue."

Blondie touched my arm and pointed towards the barn wall and she read the bloody message she had found out loud. "'He betrayed me.'" Her hand didn't leave my arm and she stood closer and I could feel her shaking. "He was on John's payroll?"

"Must've been," I said. "I thought...I thought he was maybe working for Crow's men but this..."

"He betrayed John, so he killed him."

"Must have."

"But why make you see this? Why take Crow? Why do any of this?"

Pain erupted in my head again and I pressed a warm hand to my forehead, hoping the little pressure would ease the throb but it didn't stop. I winced, stepping away from the fire in hopes the smell was what was making me feel sick but when I lowered my hands I gasped.

There was blood covering them, bright red and fresh like I had dipped both hands into someone's chest cavity. I wiped my hands off on my jeans and my brows furrowed, they were perfectly clean and the pounding in my head had subsided. I rubbed both my eyes, wetting my dry lips.

I was getting too overwhelmed. Being back at the barn didn't help either.

"We need to get out here," I said, running a nervous hand through my hair. "We can call the police station on our way back to Crow's cabin, leave an anonymous tip."

"Blaire, John wanted you here for a reason! We can't just leave, what if he has Crow here?"

I shook my head. "He doesn't."

"Then why do all this?!" She pressed a hand to her side and took a deep breath as I did the same.

I knew why he did this. He was making a point, showing me just exactly what he could do to Crow at any given moment. What he could do to me, Blondie, to anyone I cared about. This was just a power play, an angry one at that. Hex probably was working for Crow and that alone was an offense great enough to kill for.

In my pocket, my phone began to buzz and I reached inside, pulling it free. Looking at the blocked number, I took a few steps away from Blondie and out to the body. I stood by the fire, the smell making my eyes begin to water again. I wiped my nose on my sleeve, walking around to look out into the cornfield.

"Hello?" I asked, my voice sounding strange with the fire crackling behind me and the awful plop of some organ joining the rest on the ground in the puddle.

"Hello, old friend." The voice made my skin crawl and my hand at my side curled into a tight fist.

My nails dug into my skin as I scowled. "Ace."

"Darling."

He sounded exactly as he always did, even in my dreams. I pictured him bloody, red and black. "Why are you calling? What do you want?" Aren't we supposed to be avoiding the other? Speaking only in charmed dreams?

"I want you, of course," he spoke coolly. I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill every single one of you monsters. "But since I can't have you, I'm beginning to think that no one can."

I ran a hand through my hair, shaking my head. "What do you mean?" He didn't respond. I waited ten seconds. Twenty. I wasn't in the mood for games. "Ace, what the fuck do you mean?"

"I have him."

A horrible chill went over me and I felt chilled hands pressed down on my shoulders and ran down my arms. A horrible comfort. "Who?" I asked as images of Crow flew through my mind. I could still feel his hand in mine, that kind smile he gave me before he was gone. I could still feel the soft press of his lips against my knuckles. When Ace didn't answer, my voice dropped, "Who do you have, Ace?"

"I wanted to tell you something, something that may interest you," he explained, ignoring my question. "Would you like to know?" When I didn't answer him, he took it as a yes. I heard him chuckle. "I'm going to tell you who killed Pandora."

My breath stilled in my chest and I nearly choked, coughing into my arm and Ace laughed again, harder this time.

"I know you want to know," he purred and it felt like he was standing right next to me. "I know it's been eating you up inside."

I shook my head as he continued to speak, my heart in my throat like something thick and nasty trying to choke the life out of me.

"I killed her, Blaire. I killed her and I loved every second of it."

"No," I croaked, feeling tears well up into my eyes and I could hear them in my voice. I pressed my free hand to my eyes. This couldn't be right, this couldn't be real. Ace liked Pandora, they were friends, oh god, they were friends, she trusted him.

"She screamed the entire time," he murmured and I heard him lick his lips. "She screamed out for you, she called for you to save her. She begged me to stop, to give her a chance to breathe, to just have a single moment of peace." He laughed so deeply it no longer sounded like him in my mind. Tears fell down my cheeks, hot and warm like blood. "She died choking on her blood."

"You're-you're–" I couldn't get the words out right and I ended up stomping my foot and crying out, "You're a liar!"

"I'm not lying, Blaire," he told me. "I killed her in the barn and John was there, cheering me on. We watched her drown in blood until her chest stilled and she stopped twitching. We watched her eyes go dull, we made sure she was dead before we left, knowing you'd get there minutes later." There was a sound on the other like him slamming his hand down against a table and he was seething into my ear again with a feverish, "You're too late, Blaire. You're still too late. You can't save everyone, you know that, don't you?" He scoffed. "There are always casualties in war and she happened to be one of many. Isn't there that saying? All is fair in love and war."

"I'm going to kill you," I whispered, swallowing thickly. I could feel my own anger pulsing through me like some white hot burning gasoline.

"I'd love to see you try," he laughed, "but you're just as weak as she was." There was movement on his end, something crashing to the floor and Ace snarling out, "Shut the fuck up, asshole or you'll watch me carve her throat out next!"

"Who do you have with you right now?" I whispered, my eyes settling on the moon. The god awful, hateful moon. She was laughing in my face now, telling me I should've known better. You didn't want to believe them, that they were bad. You were fooled by yourself alone. Your naivety got her killed and it'll kill you next.

Blood of all kinds will be on your hands.

The moon and her hollow face laughed down at me as I thought of what Ace could be doing with someone else I loved. I knew who he had and it made me feel sick. I couldn't say it out loud, I couldn't make it real.

"Come on, guess," he cooed and just for a moment, he sounded like himself. "Who do I have?"

You will die next. I will drive my hand through your rotten chest, Ace Dolion.

"I have Crow, sweetheart, and we are going to have so much fun together."

i.....oops. 

rip hex. rip......crow. fuck ace and john fr fr !!!! they EVIL YALL i hate them but i also love them so dearly. 

pls pls let me know what you thought and what u think is going to happen as the next and FINAL act finally starts.

yall better start commenting/voting or you'll never see the end of it lol

some things to hopefully make you laugh in spite of the torture i just made you read

john as he burned hex:

blondie this entire second act: