DEMON DOOR (#2 GHOST PORTAL series)

TWENTY-EIGHT

The instant the door clicked, the Guides poured out of Avery, leaving him destitute and shivering from weakness. He crumbled, one arm hitting the floor with a thud, the other nudging into Jamie's body.

Avery stared up at the dark ceiling, seeing red shapes and blue blobs blurring his vision. Purple spots and green lines joined them, and he closed his eyes, rubbing them, willing the uneasiness away.

But it'd never go away, not fully. Not with what he'd done, what he'd been forced to do. Not with that door finally sealed and the truth settling in with such brutality.

He felt Jamie beside him, still warm, still leaking blood all over the concrete. With a gasp, he managed to hop to his knees and crawl away from him, and huddle into a corner. He pulled his knees to his chest and snaked his arms around them, rocking to and fro.

Tears leaked from his eyes willingly, this time. He'd sought to stop them, hide them, earlier; but now it was all over, and he could release them without holding back. No one was here to mock him, to point fingers at him and tell him he deserved this. No viewers would ever have access to this raw footage of him in pain, in distress.

And Ada and Faz wouldn't dare make fun of him for crying, would they?

Grown men are allowed to cry. We're only human.

Ada whispered to her other Guides, telling them to hurry upstairs and check on this portal's Guides, and ensure the house's foundations weren't too damaged. The house had rattled a lot, apparently, but there wasn't much in the basement to prove it.

A blue being appeared in front of Avery—it was Faz, his features scrunched, his chin dipped. He didn't get too close, likely knowing Avery needed his space, but still he reached out a hand, sending a trickle of comforting energy into Avery's being.

It wasn't enough. It would never be enough. He'd never get over this, never forgive himself for getting Jamie killed, for shoving Jessamine into oblivion, for not reacting sooner and never letting this happen in the first place. And Amy, oh, Amy, she'd been caught up in all this, too, and never should have been.

He couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't think, but for once it wasn't because he was under Jessamine's spell. It was because the spell was broken, and he now knew the toll it had all taken on him.

Amy was confirmed dead. Jamie was dead. Jessamine was gone—basically dead—and would never be seen again. The demon door was closed, and as far as he'd been able to tell, no demons had stayed outside of it once Jessamine was pushed in. They'd all been sucked back in, or returned, knowing they wouldn't fare long in the living world without their vessel. The prophecy was foiled, his destiny fulfilled.

Was it all over? Had he, had they saved the world? And would anything ever be the same again?

He wiped his eyes, and his sleeve came back drenched. Had he been crying that much? Avery wasn't one to cry, not in front of others, at least. He'd balled a bit at some chick flicks or while watching Hallmark movies—he'd never admit to enjoying those, not even to Jamie—but otherwise, he kept his emotions inside, letting them swell up until he exploded. Yelling, that he did. But crying?

At this point, he had no control over his feelings. They splashed out as if he were a vase that had been tipped over, and everything pooled onto the floor, exposed. Drowning everything in its passage, destroying everything in its wake. The shell keeping all his insides hidden had broken.

"Hey," said Faz, leaning in a little closer. Avery sensed the iciness of his figure, and he didn't hate it. It was soothing, cooling down his cheeks that he'd thought were about to catch fire. "Are you okay?"