Pure Souls (book 1) : Light Withering Away

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Jess' P.O.V

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop Shelby's low eating, low happiness and violent shaking. She really wasn't her. She wasn't alive. She was dead inside. "Shelby, please... what happened?" I tried again to approach her.

"Leave it," she growled.

"Just listen to me, you won't feel any better hi-"

"No, you listen to me. I. Don't. Want. To. Talk."

"B-but..."

"It's none of your concern."

"Why?"

"Because!" She started sounding more angry. "Why do you always have to poke into my business?!"

"I worry about you!" I felt like crying. Shelby's face softened. She mumbled something to herself again. She smiled a little. "What?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing," she said. "Now, I'm going to go to my room, and you are going to stay down here, got it?" The smile disappeared.

"No! I'll keep nagging you!"

"Oh. Then I guess I'll have to kill you." As soon as Shelby realised what she said, she slapped her hands over her mouth. My concern grew. Yep, she wasn't Shelby, that was something I was certain of. "Jess, I..." she frowned.

"No, no, I get it. I'll talk to you later."

"She threatened to kill me!" I exclaimed to the group. Shelby was in her room, so we called a meeting, being sure to lock the meeting room door. "We need to do something, Shelby would never hurt a fly."

"And you aren't lying?" Callum raised an eyebrow.

"No, I would never lie about such a thing!"

"Then... what if she actually were to kill someone?"

We all fell silent. "No... Shelby's strong enough to hold it off, I'm sure of it," Lizzie shook her head. I felt tears gathering in my eyes. Shelby was my best friend. I wasn't going to lose her to the Evil. "Are you sure? The Evil's really strong," Scott said. "We all know that."

"But Shelby is Life. She's strong too."

"But what if she isn't strong enough? Sure, I have faith in her and I love her like a sister, but... if she's already been able to act completely different like she has today..."

"We just need to believe, she'll pull through."

Shelby was going to win this. She had to.