We finally reached the station at 53rd and 5th, sweaty but not out of breath. I felt like I could have run forever. We scrambled down the stairs, running past artwork in the tiled mezzanine and looked around. They weren’t here. Maybe they were down below.
I fumbled for coins in my pockets, practically throwing them at the ticket booth person and then ran on through the turnstiles. Dex took me by the hand and we flew down the stairs to the upper level platform, going against the river of bodies coming back up.
Down below there was barely anyone waiting for the train since the last one was just pulling away.
But there, at the other end, were my parents hunched over my sister who was lying on the ground, convulsing. A few bystanders were gathered around, one of them looking like they were trying to help.
“Shit!” I yelled and I took off down the platform, Dex at my side.
When we got there, I could see her face had a blue-ish tinge and her eyes had rolled back in her head. She was shaking, a man with glasses and a beard was trying to keep her head up and supported while my mother and father knelt beside her, trying to understand. My mother was crying.
“What happened?” I screeched, falling to my knees in front of them.
My father could only shake his head. “I don’t know, we got off the train and then she screamed and just collapsed a few seconds ago, holding onto her head.”
My mother looked right at me, her eyes wild. “She said there was something in her head. That ‘it’ was in her head!”
My mouth felt like I had a wad of glue in it as I realized how true the horror was.
It happened to me, I told my mom in my head. I fought it off. I knew it was coming for you next. We tried to get here in time.
My mother nodded and looked up at Dex before turning back to Ada.
“What do we do?” my mother asked the man who was helping them.
He grimaced. “It’s a seizure. She should pull through, we just have to keep her comfortable and secure.” He nodded at another man who was running up the stairs. “My partner has gone to get help, call where there’s reception.”
My mom looked back at me. What do we really do?
I could only hear what Pippa had told me. Kill the body and the head will die. There was no way that was happening to her. It didn’t matter what the demon did once inside, what he’d make her do, no one was going to hurt my sister.
Your grandmother said that? My mom thought.
Maximus said something along those lines too, but don’t worry mom, no one is going to lay a hand on her. We’ll take her to see an exorcist, we’ll contact my friend Bird, we’ll make this work, we’ll fight this. If I have to go into the Veil again, I will.
“No!” my mother cried out loud. “It shouldn’t be you, it shouldn’t be anyone! You girls are my girls and you have too much to live for, to have to deal with this, it’s not fair!”
My father stared at her, worried by her sudden outburst.
And suddenly I was struck with the most dreadful feeling, like some other, heavier shoe was about to drop at any second. Heavier than what was happening to my little sister as she lay on the ground, writhing, battling something deep within her.
Dex must have felt it too. He was behind me, grabbing hold of my waist, as if to hold me back from something.
Ada suddenly sat straight up, looking straight at me with pure black eyes. We all saw it, all sucked in our breath, as she started laughing, a sharp, raspy laugh that wasn’t human.
My sister was gone. The demon in her place was alive.
“Damn you!” my mother bellowed, grabbing Ada by the shoulders and shaking her. “Damn you, damn you!”
My father grabbed her, trying to pull her off but my mother wouldn’t let go. “Damn you!” She screamed.
And at that moment, Ada smiled, pure evil, and my mom suddenly flew backward as if shoved by invisible hands. Ada’s eyes turned back to blue and she collapsed back to the ground.
I whirled around, about to help my mom up but when she looked at me she wasn’t her anymore. And then she was. And then she wasn’t. Her eyes alternated between obsidian and azure, her mouth between a grin and a cry.
I didn’t know what to do. I felt completely and utterly helpless, hopeless. I could only watch. My father stumbled to his feet to try and help her, while Ada slowly eased herself up, holding her head in pain.
My mother hit my father, sending him flying a few feet and in that moment I think he finally realized it wasn’t his wife. I think everyone realized that, even the man who was comforting Ada.
My mother turned to face me and I stared right back at those shark-like eyes, at a grin that wanted to eat me alive. A grin that said, “I won.”