Unleashed

Chapter 10: Fear

Prestley never visited me while I was in the hospital. I assumed she was just waiting until I got out, which was just a day later, but an entire week of avoided calls and texts passed before I decided I was done. I hadn't done anything to her, so why was I being the one shunned? If anyone should be shunning someone it should be me, not her.

It was at this point that my phone rang and her picture popped up on my screen. "What do you want?"

"Is that any way to answer your phone?"

"When you're calling, yes."

She was quiet for a few seconds. "I'm sorry, Jailyn. I deserve that. Actually, I deserve worse." When I didn't reply, she took a deep breath and continued. "I'm sorry for not realizing how serious it was getting." I found myself searching for a sinister tone to her voice, but I never heard one. "I feel so guilty. I never should've let Connor talk me into using that board. I just didn't realize..." She started crying. 

"I know, but it's over now."

"Is it?"

"Well, I hope so. Connor told him goodbye and sent him back to wherever he came from."

"Everyone said goodbye but me. I never closed the session." Her voice was filled with fear. "I never closed it. What if he comes back? What if that connection remains open until I close it? Everyone who has used that board said goodbye except for me. Connor may have closed his session, but he didn't close mine."

She was saying, out loud, the same words that had silently haunted my mind over the past week. "The board's gone, Pres. Brad tried to get it, but it's not there."

"I know. I asked Aunt Julie, Connor's mom, if I could come by while she was cleaning out his things so I could look for it, but I couldn't find it, either. She said some of his friends came by to get things they'd left over there, so maybe one of them took it." She was quiet again before she said my name.

"What?"

"What happened?" Her voice was so soft that I could barely hear her. "What did he—they—do to you?"

I recounted what happened from the time I woke up in Connor's room to when the police came. "Even though this was Connor's fault, he did end up saving me in the end."

"I just can't believe Connor did that. He was always... I don't know... Connor, but he was always nice to me. We used to play together when we were younger." She started to cry again. "I never thought he'd be capable of hurting someone."

"Prestley, there are some things you did that I can't believe, either, but I guess when you're possessed by... by whatever Steven is, you'll do things you wouldn't normally do." The sudden silence was awkward. I wanted to bring up Will, but didn't, knowing it would hurt her. I'm sure she knows exactly what happened to him that day, or at least has a good idea. Deep down, she has to.

"Listen, I know this sounds crazy, but do you think a preacher could help me? I mean, what if they prayed for me? Do you think that could somehow break the connection?"

"It sure as heck couldn't hurt," I admitted.

We talked for a while, almost like old times, and decided to get together later. So that afternoon, Brad and I met her for lunch. She said she didn't want to be alone with me until we got things figured out, which I hoped was really soon; I missed her. That stupid board, aside from almost killing me, had destroyed our friendship and I wanted it to go back to the way it used to be.

Prestley was sitting in a booth against the wall when we walked in. "Thanks for meeting me here," she said as she forced a smile. The dark circles under her eyes made her look sick. "I just... I don't trust myself, you know?"