Shadows Within

SEVENTEEN

Josie Saltzman had spent the entire weekend by Ethan's side at the hospital. He was wounded a lot harder than she previously had thought and was required to spend at least a week at the hospital — "But what about the team?" Was Ethan's immediate concern. "What if they cut me off the team while I am gone?" Josie sighed deeply and reassured him that it wouldn't happen. Maya merely rolled her eyes and muttered something about foolish single-minded teenage boys.

She and Maya had taken turns in taking care of him and in the process, further bonded, Josie liking the fierce, dark-haired girl more and more as each day went and had passed. Maya was quite fun to hang out with and she had the sort of dark humor that had her laughing until there were tears in her eyes. And every day at the end of her duty to look after her friend, Jed and Lizzie would come along to pick her up and Maya would do this weird smirk thing as soon as she would see Jed, casually looking him over in a way that immediately made Josie wish she could just disappear. And Jed wasn't helping matters at all, seeing as he would return the attention with an equal favor, his gaze falling down Maya's long legs like a wolf he was. Which Lizzie and Ethan agreed was definitely not something they didn't wish to witness every time they were at the hospital together.

They should get it over with and hook up before they drove Josie to an insanity by this game they were having too much fun playing. Honestly, if she didn't know any better, she would have thought they were doing this just to mess with her head. Which, knowing Jed, was entirely too possible. Ever since they were children, his favorite past time had always been teasing and messing with her in the most unpredictable ways known to humanity. So, it was after such a day that Josie was walking down the front door of the school when she came across Dorian trying (and failing miserably) to speak to Japanese looking man.

" Konichiwa ." Honestly, where was Jed when she needed him? He would be way better at speaking to this man than she ever would be. He was half Japanese on his mother's side, if she remembered correctly.

Dorian glanced at her in the surprise. "Since when do you speak Japanese?"

"Since Lizzie's old therapist was next to a Japanese language school."

"Kurutta." The man said and Josie ran through her head which word he could possibly mean. Japanese was really difficult in that way. You can never know for certain which one of the multiple meanings a person could possibly mean.

"What's he saying?"

Josie frowned. "He's crazed? Kurutta. Oh, I think that's his name. Also, another word for crazed." She informed Dorian pointedly, turning back to Kuruta for more information. "He's a demon hunter? Looking for Oni, which is like a demon- ghost-monster kind of a thing."

"Sounds like that's our next Malivore monster. Then the Oni's probably wherever Landon is." Dorian said. Honestly, ever since Landon Kirby came here, she hasn't seen a single restful day. It was getting really tiring.

"Uh, he said he followed his sword here, and it glows around Jintsu-riki? Oh, oh, supernaturals."

"Okay. Makes sense why he wound up here. But I've never seen one of those."

"He said that we wouldn't know if the Oni was here or not. It possesses people, and it could be anywhere." Josie slowly turned to Dorian with a look of absolute horror on her face. "In anyone."

***

All her life, there was this darkness inside her that tended to choke her life off its carefully laid out balance, that made her do things she wasn't exactly proud of after it had happened. So, when her sister told her she wished her to do something that may put her mental health at risk, Lizzie's first instinct was to refuse without a thought. "My mental health is the most precious thing that I have, Jo. I cannot risk crazy. I'm sorry, but I simply cannot."