Hidden In The Attic: An AJR Fanfiction

Chapter Twenty-Two

↤↤↤↤↤ Jack ↦↦↦↦↦

After Ryan comes to check up on me, he leaves my room and I kind of miss him. He looked so worn out and anxious and sad. I just kind of wanted to give him a hug.
I run out of things to do on my phone and end up scrolling through the notes app, reading the words I've already read countless times before. I can't post anything, since nothing very positive has been happening lately, and the public doesn't need to know that Adam tried to kill me. But I need a distraction, so the notes app is my go-to.
The doorknob clicks and I quickly set down my phone, sitting up more on my bed and staring at the door. Maybe Ryan's coming back.
I lean forward as the door slowly swings open and Adam comes into view, gently shutting it behind him and looking up at me with a weary smile.
"Hey," he greets quietly. He doesn't sound angry or weird, but that's what I assumed the first time, too, and I'm not risking anything now. My body tenses and I put my right hand out in front of me in defense.
"Don't- Get out," I warn, stumbling over my words. I'm ready to lean down and grab the pillow from the floor, but I don't know if my ribs and my back are going to cooperate.
He furrows his brow in confusion for a moment before he looks like he realizes. "Oh, right, uh, I'm not possessed anymore, if that's what you're thinking. They exorcised me, I guess."
I replicate the confusion that had previously crossed Adam's face and cautiously ask, "What's your favorite food?"
Confused again. "What? Ramen. You know that," he answers when I do nothing but stare at him expectantly.
I relax. Looking at him, I no longer get the weird vibe that he gave me before. "Okay. Thanks. I asked you that when you were possessed, and you answered wrong, so that's how I knew you weren't you."
He pauses for a bit. "Oh," he says, his weary smile returning. He sits down on the other bed, facing me.
After a few seconds of silence, I look over at him. "So how're you feeling?"
He gives a thumbs up, clicking his tongue. "Never been better," he says sarcastically, dropping his hand back into his lap. He cringes, as he seemingly forgot about all of the cuts and scrapes on his hands. I feel bad for him, but I'm also relieved. When he was possessed, he didn't seem to feel the pain. I know he's normal now.
I laugh quietly, exhaling sharply out of my nose. "Me neither. But at least we've got this in common now."
He kind of smiles. "Right. We both got possessed."
"Yeah. And almost died," I add.
He raises his eyebrows. "Oh, yes. Can't forget that part."
I nod, and we fall into silence for a bit. Adam stares at his hands in his lap, fidgeting.
"Hey," I say, causing him to look up at me. "I'm glad you're okay, man. I was really worried."
My older brother smiles at me, the gesture finally comforting and not creepy like before. "I'm glad you're okay, too." His smile grows as he speaks.
Then, before we get a chance to continue our conversation, the door nearly slams open and we both turn our heads to see Julie, followed by Hanna and Danny, enter the room.
"There's like, nothing in the other rooms, so we're checking for stuff in here," Julie announces.
"Alright. Be my guest," Adam responds.
The three of them disperse around the room; Danny heads to the closet, while Julie and Hanna looks through the two nightstands next to me and Adam.
I stare at Julie while she's rummaging through the drawers beside my bedside. "Find anything?" I ask.
"Nothing," she answers with a sigh and closes the drawer angrily.
"I got nothing, too. Just Adam's dumb nerd books." Hanna adds, standing up.
"Hey-" Adam's about to protest, but gets shot down with Hanna's glare, and remains silent.
"Danny, did you find anything? Please say yes." Hanna turns around to look at him.
"Would you take a 'maybe'?" Danny's on the tip of his toes, moving his hands around the top shelf. I never bothered to check up there because I wasn't into the idea of me possibly getting old cobwebs and dust stuck on my hand, but looking closer, I do see something in the far left corner. Danny's almost got it, but he's still too short.
Then, Adam starts to get up, groaning a bit, and walks over to the closet.
"I'll grab it," he says to Danny. Danny steps back and Adam reaches for whatever's up there. He brings down a small black box, just barely the size of his hand. I get out of bed to get a closer look.
"Let me see." Hanna takes the box from Adam and examines it, while the rest of us watch her.
"Are you gonna open it?" I ask.
Hanna looks up at me and then to everyone else. "Should I? I don't know what's inside."
"Well, yeah," I say. "None of us do."
"What's the worst that could happen?" Danny asks.
"Uh, we could die?" Julie replies with annoyance in her voice.
"Just open it already." Adam gestures to the box.
"God, okay."
Hanna slowly removes the lid and we all watch with suspense. She tosses the lid on the floor and to our surprise, there's nothing inside.
"What?" Hanna inspects the box some more, but finds nothing. "Fucking hell!" She throws the box on the floor in rage. We all groan along with Hanna.
This is annoying. Stupid demon, ruining our vacation. I was expecting to have fun and swim in the lake and sing songs by the campfire, not stay at a haunted cabin and get possessed by a demon and almost fucking die. We're all so on edge, we assumed that some random box would be full of demon shit and forgot that it's normal for people to leave empty boxes in places when they move.
God, I hope the car works after this.