A distant sound sturs as I awaken. But, before my eyes can even open, I see them floating in the darkness of my subconscious—those damn green stars. They dance around against the black backdrop, their bright, neon green dazzling. My eyes dart from under my eyelids, looking back and forth at the stars, wondering, desperate for answers. For a split second, I almost forget, and then I sit up, my lunging open as the stars scatter from my mind as another thought consumes every part of me: Jin.

I sit up in my closet and frantically look around for Jin only to find Malcolm bent by my side.

"The stars," I say, trying to get their image out of my head.

"What stars?"

"The green ones," I say. "I always see green stars in my mind, in the same pattern as my night light. Jin thinks they are red, but I only see green. What does it mean?"

"No idea what you're talking about."

What? Yesterday Malcolm would only open the door after I said I see green stars and now he doesn't know what I'm talking about? 

"Your hands," Malcolm says, holding my hand close to his face.

I can't even right now.

"What's going on!" I demand as I draw my hand back in surprise.

"Hey, now!" Malcolm scoffs, reaching for my hand again. "Look."

"Where's Jin? Is everything okay?!" I scramble to stand as Malcolm grips my hand.

"You are as stubborn as an old mule. It's very unbecoming."

Typical Malcolm. I might have killed someone, and he's talking about something completely off in left-field.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"Look," Malcolm insists. 

With an irritated sigh, I turn my eyes down to my hand. "I'm looking," I scoff.

"Hands are an interesting thing. The ornate detail of each line, some big, some small, some breaking to spider into infinite realities."

Seriously? "Malcolm, what does my hand have to do with anything. I need to know what happened last night! Where in Jin!"

Malcolm ignores my questions and brings my hand close to my face. "Look at your lifeline. It worked."

My lifeline? What the hell does palm reading have to do with anything? "What worked?"

"The split..."

"What?" I say, my eyes widening to examine my hand.

"Here..."

I watch the crease of his finger as it moves along my hand, revealing a distinct line that breaks, darting in different directions before coming back to form one crease.

"It was necessary," Malcolm says, standing and straightening his suit with a quick tug, his face expressionless.

"What was necessary?" I ask, still clueless as to what the hell he's talking about.

"Everything is going to plan," he says, checking his watch.

"So, Jin's parents were terrified? Where are they now?" Is that the plan he's talking about?

"Where is my stone..." Malcolm says, picking up his bag and searching his pockets.

With Malcolm preoccupied, I run towards the window to look for Jin's parent's car, only to find the driveway empty.

"Malcolm, where's Jin? His parents are okay, right?" 

"Where is it!" Malcolm's search becomes more desperate. "Yes, they are fine," Malcolm says, as he pulls the gleaming green stone from his bag, his nerves calming.

"What happened?" 

"Your soul split was fixed. You're welcome."

"So his parents already bought the house?" I ask still dazed and completely confused.

"Not exactly," Malcolm says, his voice dropping. 

 "Then what?"Something doesn't feel right.

"A sacrifice needed to be made. There truly was no other way."

"What sacrifice!" I demand, my arm hairs raising instantly. 

"Maeve."

"What have you done?" I whisper, my chest caving as I go nearly breathless.

"I freed you from this house! Well, Maeve did by conquering the soul-tie spell."

Maeve, what have you done? My mind races all at once, landing on one fearful question: What the hell did Malcolm have Maeve tie my soul to. "What?" I whisper.

"I don't follow," he says, casually.

"What is my soul tied to?"

"Me," Malcolm says coyly. 

My hope drops like a heart-rate monitor flatlining, going from normal rhythm to a sudden drop-off, never to recover. Why did I think it would ever be this easy? Did I really think I could get out of this messed up situation unscathed? I'm pretty damn scathed right now, and worse, I'm worried that Maeve is irreversibly scathed.

"Why?" are the only words I can manage out.

"Why, what?" Malcolm says, annoyed, putting his hands on his hips.

"We had a plan. You and Maeve left with a plan. Red Lady would scare the shit out of Jin's parents and tomorrow you'd call and offer to buy the house and then no one would get hurt and Maeve wouldn't have to curse herself by doing the soul-tie spell! What happened to the plan!"

"I knew the second it was suggested that it was a fool's gold-of-a-plan."

"Then why'd you go along with it?!"

"Did you know him well, your Grandfather?" he asks.

"Of course, I knew my freaking grandpa!" 

"Well, then you'd know how he had a story for everything."

What is he getting at? 

"Did he ever have a story about the basement?" Malcolm continues.

"Why?" The eye-sore of a stain instantly pops into my mind. Grandpa always said it was a story for another time, but that time never came.

"Of course he didn't mention it," Malcolm says, pacing with a smile.

"How could you do this to Maeve!" I demand, ignoring Malcolm's attempt to distract me. I need to find Maeve and make sure she is okay.

"I helped Maeve realize that tieing your soul to me was the only way, and I showed her how to conduct the soul-tie spell."

"But why? I thought you wanted to get to know her, teach her, put her on your stupid show. Why would you let her curse herself!"

"It was the only way! I truly regret that part," Malcolm says, shaking his head before continuing with a quick shoulder shrug, "But, I'll have a few years before she goes insane, and besides, now I have you."

"Me? Why would you want me? I'm cursed, remember?"

A sly smile moves across Malcolm's face. "When your soul was tied to HillCrest house, you had a symbiotic relationship with it. Hence, when the house was disturbed, you fell ill. And when it was no longer yours, your soul tried to protect it, all because of that symbiotic relationship," Malcolm speaks like a preacher delivering a sermon. "You see, there's something I've always wanted, and you're going to help me get it."

"What are you saying?"

"It's quite simple. You now have a symbiotic relationship with me. Your Red Lady will now be connected to me. If I'm unhappy, she'll be unhappy. If I'm sick, she'll be sick. If I want something, she'll want it. And you see, there is something I want more than anything in this world, and that means Red Lady will want it badly enough to get it for me."

What the hell does Malcolm want Red Lady to get or worse, what the hell does he want Red Lady to do? 

"It's time to go,"Malcolm says, slipping the stone into his pocket and grabbing my arm, forcing me out the door. 

"To where?!" I demand, desperate to get free.

"The basement."

*Things are about to get problematic for poor Vel! As always, thanks for reading and don't forget to vote. :)