Scattered Souls

Chapter 49 - Under The Weather

The next morning I woke up feeling like death. I cried myself to sleep the night before, not even leaving my room for dinner. I made up an excuse of feeling a little under the weather, which resulted in mom bringing me some chicken soup. Soup that was still lying on my pedestal - as I didn't even have an appetite to eat that.

Mom's gentle knock on the door interrupted my thoughts.

"Honey, are you feeling alright to go to campus today?" mom cooed from outside my door.

"Not really. I think I'm going to skip today." I said, my voice coming out croaky. I sounded as bad as I felt on the inside. My head throbbed and my eyes ached from all the sobbing I did last night-even a hangover wasn't as bad as this.

"Come have some breakfast, then you can get some rest, sweetheart."

"I'll be down soon, mom." I assured her, even though I didn't feel like I was in the mood to consume any food at all.

Getting out of bed and brushing my teeth seemed like the ultimate mission. Eventually, I made my way downstairs. The smell of freshly baked goods immediately graced my senses.

"I made your favorite blueberry muffins." mom beamed.

"They smell divine." I pointed out, feeling a little chirpier already.

I immediately grabbed one and started munching on it.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to resist these." mom said, with a small smile of accomplishment. "Coffee is almost ready." she added.

I managed to give her a little smile in response.

"Are you alright, sweetheart?" mom's tone was filled with concern.

"Yeah, I'm just a little tired." I admitted, not wanting to go into details.

"You just seem a little withdrawn." she observed.

"I just discovered something that I wasn't expecting, and I'm not sure how to process it." I went with a vague explanation of my scenario.

"Just give it a little time. I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually." mom assured me, the one thing I appreciated was her not probing me for answers when I was being vague.

'If only I had enough time to properly process everything' I thought to myself. Xypher was planning for the ritual to get done this coming weekend. The ritual that would set his soul free. I was beginning to wonder if he even deserved to have his soul set free in the first place. All I'd read was Gran's experience - and that was enough to leave me traumatized. I could only imagine how much more terror he must have caused while being passed down through the decades.

After breakfast, I returned to my room to be alone with my thoughts. I reread the diaries - partly to see if I'd missed something and partly to confirm that I hadn't misread anything the night before. I admit it was a little silly, however, I needed to be completely sure.

As I was rereading, I dozed off for a bit. My dreams were invaded by images of Xypher with devil horns trying to kill innocent people.

The feeling of my phone vibrating next to me woke me from my sleep, and boy was I glad it did. Anything to escape those gruesome images.

'Are you okay?' It was a text from Alexa.

'I don't feel too good.' I typed out my response.

'Be over soon.' her response came almost immediately.

Not even half an hour later the doorbell rang. I knew it had to be Alexa.

I opened the door for her.

"I come bearing gifts." she beamed, holding up a pack of mini cupcakes and a box of chocolates.

"You're the best." I gushed in response, ever so grateful to have such an amazing best friend.

She hugged me in response.

"You look like you're having a break down." she mentioned as we entered my room, with Chippy happily following us.

"I sure as hell feel like it." I admitted.

"Is it Jordan?" she asked with concern.

I stood there for a good few minutes, contemplating exactly how much I was prepared to tell her.

"Alexa, there's actually alot that I have to tell you." I decided that I was ready to tell her everything. In fact at this point I felt like I needed to tell someone, before my mind exploded from all the overthinking I'd been doing.

"I'm all ears." she assured me.

"Just promise to keep an open mind."

She nodded in response. I immediately got started with filling her in, from the beginning. I told her everything, Xypher's first appearance, the favors(yes, even the one including her), Xypher's past, his soul being in Jordan's body, the remains, the Irish priest, the locket, the diaries. She listened intently, without interrupting me. I even showed her the diaries, with all the horrific details I discovered last night.

"I knew Jordan was acting weirdly. I thought he was just lovestruck though." she declared, after I was done filling her in.

"Out of all the information I shared, that's the part you're focused on." I said, utterly surprised.

"Honestly, I could sense something was up after your birthday. I was just waiting for you to tell me. I knew it was only a matter of time" she explained.

"I'm just glad you aren't screaming and running for the hills." I admitted. I was beyond grateful to get all of that off my chest. Alexa was the perfect person to confide in.

"We're in this together." she said as she pulled me in for a hug.

"What are you planning on doing about Xypher?" she asked after a few minutes. "He was looking for you at campus today, you know." she pointed out.

"He was?" I questioned.

"Yeah, he seems to be genuinely concerned about you." she said.

"I'm not sure what to do about him to be honest." I responded to her initial question. "He seems like a completely different person from the one Gran describes in her diaries. That's got me feeling even more lost and confused."

"People do change you know." Alexa reminded me. "I think you should confront him."

"Really?" I asked, trying to imagine how that scenario would play out.

"Definitely." she said. "I mean at least give him the benefit of the doubt."

"And like you said, time is of the essence." she added. "The sooner you confront him the better."

I almost giggled when she said the last part. That seemed to be everyone's favorite line recently. 'The sooner the better.' I took a few minutes to ponder over what she was suggesting.

"I think you're right." I agreed with her. Even though I felt like I just wanted to curl up in a ball and go into hiding, preferably until after the ritual was over, I knew that wouldn't get me the closure I so desired. The only way for me to get any answers would be to confront Xypher. And that's exactly what I intended on doing.