Hers

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

I didn’t give the dream another thought and chalked the whole thing up to my worry about what would happen with the whole succubus situation.  But what would happen if Ace did come waltzing back into my life?  Surely he wouldn’t stay away too long?  Maybe he didn’t have a choice.  After all, he couldn’t enter my house and I couldn’t leave, so unless he stood in my front lawn, screaming at me through the door, he couldn’t exactly have a conversation with me.

But he would return.  That much, I was certain of.   I just wasn’t sure when.

There was a bright side, Sam managed to get some information from a witch about a way to possibly fix me.  Sam had investigated it and as it turned out, it could work.  He was currently seeking approval from The Big Man.  He refused to tell me anything about his theory, he said he didn’t want to get my hopes up, but to me, that meant he didn’t think it would really work.

I was beginning to really hate being locked inside my home.  Garfield didn’t want anything to do with me.  Even when I tried to feed him, he refused to come closer than around the nearest corner or from under a large piece of furniture.

I kept waiting for something to happen.  At first, I was just waiting for Sam to show up, then I started to expect Ace, and after a while I was waiting for the guy upstairs to drop a tree on my house just so I would stop pacing around.

The entire house had been cleaned after my little breakdown, but the mirrors remained covered.  My home had become a complete battle ground against the shadows and myself.  The mirrors were blanketed in a shower curtain, lights remained flicked on with flashlights in all the areas I typically stayed in, holy water surrounded my house and little vials sat beside my bed.

I had discovered that after awakening the evil in me, I had rejected all forms of anything holy, except for Sam seeing as he was my guardian.  Holy water burned my flesh when I touched it.  Crosses made me uncomfortable and fidgety.  I couldn’t even think Go-, the Big Guy’s name without getting choked up.  Sam had explained that since I was still alive, I didn’t have to be invited inside of places and prayer didn’t harm me like it would a dead demon and I could still cross over the holy water.

It was strange to have so much time to think.  And I thought about everything.  I debated whether or not Sam was really alive and I found myself wondering how it was that he died.  I searched every memory I had about Lilith and Sam’s time together, but each time came up empty on how he passed away.  Surely I would know something as important as how someone I cared so deeply for had died, but I had no clue.  His heart still beat, he wasn’t a ghost.  What was he?

Ace was dead.  That much I was certain of, but I was positive that I had seen him breathe, but now that I thought about it, I had never heard his heart actually beating.  He was never warm either.  Heat rolled off of him, but his skin was never warm.  But others could see Ace.

How much did I really know about either of them?

I groaned in frustration.  Once again, I had managed to think myself into a brick wall.  My thoughts were no more than a twisted maze that lead to one dead end after another.

Garfield suddenly darted from a chair under the kitchen table to the other end of the couch I was sitting on.  I nearly gasped in surprise.  This cat was seriously bipolar, one minute he hated me and the next he’s vying for affection.

A moment later, the door swung open and Sam stepped inside holding a little bag.

I scoffed.  That explains it.

“Why the long face?”  Sam asked with a small smirk like he already knew the answer.

“That cat hates me and I’m bored out of my mind.”