I Know What You're Afraid Of

Chapter 23

   There were only three of them when the lights flickered back on. Miles had disappeared with Quint inside of him. So much for their plan. It was no longer each other they had to worry about, but Quint who they had unknowingly explained the plan to.

   "He's..." Sydney stared at the couch where Miles - well, Quint - had been sitting. "Where'd he go?"

   Ricky stood up, backing away from the empty space next to him. "This whole time, he was-he..." He trailed off, turning his wide eyes toward Marianne who - compared to the others - looked perfectly calm. "Did you know? Did you know he was...?"

   "It's not him," She said sternly. "He's being controlled by his... past. A man he used to be close with... he wants revenge." She tried to explain without revealing too much.

   The lights flickered once, and that was enough to unease Ricky even more. He practically ran to join the other two in a huddle in the middle of the room. "How do we stop him?"

   Marianne thought back to her conversation with Miles, trying to recall him mentioning any weaknesses. He never did. "I don't know. Miles must know, though."

   Sydney scoffed. "Well, we can't exactly ask him right now, so great. We're so screwed."

   Marianne thought for a little while. She came to the conclusion that their best option would be to split up. Do exactly what the game wanted. On their own, they'd be vulnerable. Like Gina was when everyone avoided her. It all made sense. Miles must have been possessed at least partly at breakfast the morning she disappeared. He was acting weird about it; laughing with his eyes, like he'd gotten away with something. He'll hurt you. He wants me to tell you. Gina heard their conversation. She almost exposed him in front of all of them. Quint went after her. Marianne was the only other person that knew about him. If they split up, he'd most likely go after her first. If she could stall him long enough, maybe that would give the others more time to think of a solution.

   "Maybe not," She said, suddenly. "What if we split up?"

   Ricky shrugged with an incredulous look on his face. "We'd die, that's what. Are you crazy! Watch any action movie ever! You never split up," His eyes widened further. "Oh, god. The one who says that always dies first. What did I just do?"

   "If we split up, I can distract him while you guys figure out a way to kill him." She explained.

   "Okay," Sydney mumbled. "Yeah, well, what if he goes after one of us instead?"

   "Then, the same plan just flipped around a little," She said. "But he won't. Trust me, I know for a fact he wants me dead more than the rest of you. The only problem is... he needs to be separated from Miles. We are trying to kill the demon, Miles is in as much danger as we are."

   "How do we separate them?" Ricky asked.

   Marianne shook her head. "I don't think we can, but I know Miles better than you guys, so I think I might be able to at least get through to him. I'm going to walk around, try to be as quiet as possible. I will make as mush noise as I can, so he finds me first."

   

   With that, she was on her way to play her first game of hide-n-seek with a demon.