Page 104 of Conjure

“She said it couldn’t, and that’s why it fixated on her.”

“Is that what it says?” I ask, skimming the paper until I reach the part.

I can almost hear her voice in my ears.

It wants me.

What’sit?

The devil.

The devil wants you?

A demon. It’s stuck.

Why does it want you, Miss Kriger?

Because it can’t have me.

And why can’t it have you?

I-I don’t… It whispers...whispers, whispers, whispers. Itchy, itchy, itchy.

My hands tremble as the words blur, and a tear falls with a splat.

Did you have anything to do with your family’s disappearance, Miss?

It entered them. It fed…it fed on their souls. I can’t let it… I have to protect…

(Patient speaks incoherently, hissing and snapping their teeth.)

“It says here they subjected her to shock treatments.” Lily’s quiet voice breaks through my turmoil of emotions.

“I thought that was banned,” Gwen says.

“Not back then, it wasn’t.” I sniffle, wiping the tears from my eyes. “Magdalene passed away eighteen months later after she threw herself down the stairs.”

Gwen rubs my shoulder.

“She claimed it enteredthemand fed on their souls.” I wipe away more tears with my sleeve. “Do you think she meant her father?”

“It would make sense. He invited the demon?—”

“And it killed his family,” Lily finishes.

“You finally believe in the supernatural?” I ask.

Her big eyes lock on mine, and she chews on her thumbnail—an anxious trait—before finally saying, “Yes…it’s the only thing that can explain what’s happening.”

I inhale a deep breath.

Everything is a mess.

“How do we defeat it?”

Gwen flips down the visor and reapplies her black lipstick. “It entered our plane once.” She smacks her lips, inspecting the result before tossing the lipstick back into the center console. “We need to kick it the fuck out.”

When we return, it’s dark. The porch swing sways as a gentle breeze feathers through the overgrown grass.