Devil in Disguise

Chapter 4

I gasped as my eyelids parted open. My heart was still pounding like hooves beating against my chest. My whole body laid on something soft and flat. And I have no idea where Ethan took me this time. I was certain this was different because I feel lightheaded. And he did say goodbye.

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a blur countenance of someone close and familiar looking down at me. I blinked twice and my vision cleared. And I saw that it was my older sister.

“Are you okay?” she asked with a hint of concern in her voice and expression.

“Yes. Why?”

“Because last night, I found you sitting against a tree, three blocks from home. What were you doing there alone at 9 pm? You could have been harassed by some stranger. Thank God, I came home late from work, stopped at Cecile's pharmacy and decided to walk home, otherwise you would have spent the night sleeping in the open. What happened?”

“I'm not sure but ̶”

“Are you sure okay?”

My sister's eyes were squinted as her brows furrowed deeper. She looked so worried.

“Why?”

“You acted different last night.”

“What do you mean?”

“You don't remember?”

“No. Tell me what happened?”

“Last night, when I found you under that tree, you were just staring blankly at, I don't know, your feet. And when I tried to talk to you ̶ you know, ask you what the heck you were doing out there ̶ you just gave me that dark piercing stare that I didn't understand. You looked like you were under hypnosis or under the influence of drugs or both. Was there something wrong?”

My sister found me and she took me home? I don't recall seeing her. I don't even recall going home I thought and then I answered her, “I don't know. What happened next?”

“You readily complied when I pulled you up. I took you home but you didn't talk to me when I asked you questions. You were fine, you were perfectly fine. You can walk. You were unscathed except for your wrists and your left knee.”

I checked my wrists and my knee. There were scratches. Instantly, it all came back to me. I remembered stumbling while running from the juvenile stranger. And getting saved by ̶

“You were not yourself last night.” my sister continued. “Tell me something I don't know.”

I didn't know what to say to my sister or how to begin. It was all so confusing. Before I could spill a single word from my lips, my Mom called her from the living room.

“Nikki, could you get over here please?” Mom's voice was muffled but audible.

“I'm coming!” my sister replied. Then she turned to me, “We'll talk later.” and she left the room.

I sat up, trying to recollect.

Was it a dream? I asked myself. It could be a dream. It was all too bizarre to be real. But how did I get these scratches? How could I still remember every detail as though it was real? I paused. What's happening to me?

I covered my face with both hands and felt something hard press against my right cheek. I pulled both hands from my face and saw a silver necklace on my right palm. It was Ethan's gift.

My sister might show up anytime. She can't see this yet. I thought.

I closed my right palm into a fist to conceal the pendant, and stood up. I accidentally knocked down our bible which, two seconds ago, rested on a small wooden table that was too close to my side of the bed. It hit the wooden floor, spine first, bouncing a few centimeters off the ground before the pages fluttered serially in the air as the binding stretched open. The front and back covers slumped against the ground, creating a low thump and causing the fluttering to cease into a random page content.