DEMON DOOR (#2 GHOST PORTAL series)

NINE

The wide, worrisome black eyes fixed on Avery. The red globs moved, hovered, circled around Avery, sniffling at him. Such a weird action, their sniffling was; they had no noses, no mouths, yet Avery knew that was what they were doing. Smelling, absorbing the essence of him. A scent that probably told them all about his true thoughts, his true intentions.

Did they know he'd been lying to them?

He pictured them licking their nonexistent lips as they continued to swirl around him. He wasn't sure he was hearing them properly, but he thought they might have been moaning. The chill-inducing sound concentrated in his ears, as if reserved only for him. To remind him he was in their domain, and if they were thirsty for possession... he was all theirs to take.

Shit. Shit! Think fast, Avery!

Had speaking of their goals reminded them of those goals? Or had it shown to them that Avery wasn't who and what he'd said he was?

He was about to speak, his jaw loosening to open his mouth, when a few other red orbs from the cluster that had stayed behind zoomed over. They, too, circled around him, sniffling. They, too, wanted a piece of him. He sensed their intrigue as they whooshed around, slowly for some, faster for others, their eyes set on him with clear interest. They never broke contact, their varied shades of red blurring into one definite whirl of scarlet that hurt his eyes.

But he wouldn't close them. He had to be strong—weak as his knees were—and prove to these creatures that he'd come to help them. Even if that was the farthest thing from the truth, they needed to believe it.

There was no other way to get out of this realm still breathing.

Were they analyzing him? Could they read his mind, detect his intentions? Or were they simply thirsty? Was it his blood they wanted? He shivered, recalling that information that he already dreaded relaying to Ada. If he got out of here alive, that was.

Demons need human blood to sustain themselves. Ew.

"Who is this?" said one of the newcomers, its voice a snake's hiss, reverberating through Avery as if contained within him.

"The savior... the one who allowed our vessel to come to us..." said another, its voice elongated, deep and dark like a low growl.

"Why is he still alive?" One of the new orbs stopped in front of him, its reddened body pressing so close to Avery's that a shot of heat blew over his face, knocking him backwards. "What does he want?" It prodded at him, poking at his skin as if seeking to get under it.

He tried to stay still as they sniffed at him, but the intrusion, the audacity of it sent him on edge, prompting him to reel back and cover his chest with his arms. "Hey, didn't you say you couldn't possess me?"

"We didn't say we couldn't," said one voice Avery recognized as orb two, from earlier. "Nor that we wouldn't. We advised that you're not meant for possession. But you are human, which means..."

Orb one continued its train of thought, "which means we need your blood to re-energize ourselves before we get out of here."

"But we can't drink from you in our current form," said orb two again, its voice much deeper and malicious than it had been earlier.

"I think he'd be useful to us once we get out," said another, one Avery hadn't heard speak before. "We could feed off him. I like his energy, it's chilly. Refreshing."

"We need to possess him to get out; if what he's saying is true, if she's not coming back..."

The voices started blending into one, fizzing about inside Avery's skull, deafening. He smacked his hands over his ears, but it was no use; they spoke into him, every timbre trembling through him. He couldn't shut them out, couldn't get them to be quiet.