Weeping Angel: Malvada (Book 1 of the Weeping Angel Series)

Chapter LI

Josh? I lift my head and stare at the closed door, but he isn't there.

Thinking of it as my imagination, I rest my head against the sturdy wall behind me, closing my eyes.

"I know you're in there," His deep voice comes out from the other side of the door, and I open my eyes, slightly turning my head to the side. I was too shocked to even say anything.

Josh sighs, his voice turning soft. "Rose, let me help you."

I exhale loudly before placing my palm on the floor to support me in getting up. I roughly brush the dust off my pants, and quickly wash my hands, wiping the tears with the back of my hands and open the door to find a worried Josh standing about a foot away.

His soft blue eyes find my puffy green ones, and they widen. Josh takes a large step towards me, gently pushing me into the bathroom before shutting and locking the door behind him. He turns around and asks, "What's wrong?"

When I don't answer, he sighs and takes my face in his warm hands, and I feel the tension slowly leave my body. "Talk to me, baby."

A lock of my hair falls in front of my face, and he gently brushes it behind my ear, patiently waiting for me to say something.

"Malvada has my sister," I choke out.

His face hardens. "You mean she's-"

"Possessed." I grit my teeth. "My mom's in danger too."

"How?"

I clench my jaw. "Because mom's doing the same thing that Claire did."

I don't know what mom was up to, but it had to stop whatever she was doing. I couldn't let Malvada take her too.

His lips fall into a straight line, his hands falling from my face. "What do you think we're doing then?"

I give Josh an incredulous look. "Malvada wants me. Why should I let her hurt anyone else?"

Josh shakes his head, his eyes swirling with frustration and adoration. "I get it, but that doesn't mean you put yourself in harm's way."

I stubbornly cross my arms over my chest. "I don't care. You don't know what I saw in there, Josh."

"Then help me." He rubs my arms with his hands, and I sigh in pleasure.

I shudder at the memory of what just happened inside Clarice's room. Malvada's demonic face, the different voices and her frightening words haunted me. "It was like what happened at the library, but ten times worse. She thinks we're not going to get any further, but we have to, Josh."

"Then you need to tell your mom."

I almost take a step back. "What the hell? I can't risk my mom's life!"

Josh raises his arms, his palms facing me in a surrender motion. "I'm just saying that if you don't tell her now, she'll be at a bigger risk, along with you and your sister."

I open my mouth to protest, but I pause, considering his words.

"How do you think I can even face mom when she looks like she's listing reasons to kill me for stepping foot in the hospital? How do I talk to her without her breathing fire from her nose every two seconds?"

Josh rolls his eyes and wraps an arm around me. "Tell her now, Rose. She needs to know."

My shoulders slump, and I do anything but glare at him. "I hate how right you are," I mutter under my breath, but he hears me and chuckles, planting a sweet kiss on my forehead and laces his fingers with mine, leading me out of the bathroom and towards the waiting room.

I ignore the hammering against my chest as we get closer to the waiting room, and I see my parents talking to each other in hushed tones, while my friends are off to the side doing their own thing. I tell Josh to fill the group on what's going on, and he nods, nudging me to go talk to my mom, assuring me that he's going to be right here if I need him.

I inhale deeply, ignoring the churning of my stomach and approach my parents. Mom turns her head to glare at me while dad smiles. I gather up the courage and say, "Mom, I need to talk to you."

Mom scoffs. "Now you remember your sister is practically dying? It's been two days, Emma!"

I blink at her." You literally ordered me to not step foot in your hospital or be anywhere around Claire, but I'm still here because you guys need me."

I place my weight on one side of my body, folding my arms together, not giving two fucks about her resentment towards me.

Mom's green eyes flicker with regret and longing before she masks it and asks me in a neutral, calm voice, "What did you want to talk about?"

Here I go. "When I was with Claire, she- she looked different. She was even talking to me."

The expression in their eyes lights up with hope and surprise as they exchange a joyful look.

"She talked to you?" Dad asks, a small smile forming on his tired face.

Mom clasps her hands over her mouth, tears blurring her vision. "My baby is awake! Is she okay?"

I shake my head in disappointment, feeling my heart sink at giving my parents false hope and seeing their face contort into a shattered expression, the smile on their faces falling to a frown. "No, it's not. It wasn't Claire who was talking."

Mom and dad give me a blank look, their eyebrows contracting at my words. "What are you saying, Emma?" Dad asks.

"Malvada has her, dad. She was talking, not Claire. Malvada possessed her, and she's using Claire to prove her point and warn us," I say grimly.

"Well, what did she say to you?"

I take my mom's hands in mine, giving them a gentle squeeze, "You're in danger, along with Claire and me, which means you need to stop whatever investigation or research you're doing about Malvada."

Mom shakes her head and roughly pulls her hands out of mine, glaring at me with anger and disbelief in her eyes. "I can't do that!"

Dad places a hand on mom's shoulder. "Anna, you have to do this. Our daughters' lives are in our hands, for Christ's sake!"

My breath hitched in my throat. "No, dad. Her life might be in our hands, but not mine."

"What does that mean?" Dad asks.

Trying to keep the panic in my voice at bay, I say, "Because I might die in five days."

Mom's hand flies to her chest, and dad freezes in his spot. "What? No, you're not. If I stop, then both of you-"

I chuckle humourlessly, not believing my mom's words. "Stop acting, you like care, mom. You wanted this, so here you go."

Mom stares at me with a broken expression. "That doesn't mean I want you to die! Nothing's going to-"

"Malvada told me herself at the library!" I raise my voice, growing tired of her behaviour. "She was there, she ripped off those pages in the books so I wouldn't find out!" 

As if he had enough, dad growls, "Stop it, Emma! You're not going to die."

My nails dig into my palms as I scowl. "You don't know that. I don't either, which is why I can't let Malvada hurt anyone else! Just leave the investigation part to us, and we'll figure it out."

Mom looked like she wanted to pull her hair out, her eye twitching. "So you want me to sit around while my daughters are dying? You guys can do your investigation and risk your lives, but I can't?"

"If you want to create problems and put your daughters in danger, then go for it," I dangerously whisper.

Malvada isn't after mom yet, but she will be if mom doesn't stay the hell out of her business. Clarice is in a coma because she went too far, and I know I'm doing something very similar, but if Malvada wanted to kill me, she would've done it long ago.

She likes seeing me suffer and cry over my loved ones getting hurt, but I'm not giving in to that. I will not let my mom or Clarice get in the middle of this anymore.

Malvada wants me, so I need to finish this.