Page 7 of Devoted in the Midlife
Shaking my head, I left Mildred sputtering on the sidewalk and continued my single-minded march to my front door. The porch light flared to life, triggered by my presence. I froze with my hand on the knob, disappointment washing through me. Ransom wasn't home yet. He’d gone to Catch and Release with Paige and Claudia. Claudia was interviewing for the bar manager position.
As I stood there, at a loss for what to do next, headlights swept across the yard. Ransom's car pulled into the driveway, the beams illuminating my face and making me squint. The engine cut off and doors opened, and Ransom, Paige, and Claudia stepped out.
Relief crashed over me so intensely my knees almost buckled. I stumbled down the steps toward them, my face surely a mask of manic desperation in the harsh shadows of the headlights.
"Ransom! Thank God. Something's happened, something bad."
The next few minutes passed in a blur of me rushing through the story yet again, my words increasingly strained as I watched my mate's expression morph from curiosity to concern to grim doubt. Paige and Claudia exchanged loaded glances over Ransom's shoulder, a silent conversation passing between them.
"You believe me, don't you?" I was aiming for firm, but it came out pleading. "You of all people should be able to tell I'm telling the truth."
Ransom gripped my elbow as the girls discreetly slipped into their house next door.
"I can feel your belief," he said carefully. "I don't doubt that you're convinced of what you saw. But Luke, a glamour powerful enough to fool you? To override your charm? I just don't see how it's possible."
I opened my mouth, not even sure what I intended to say, just knowing I had to make him understand. But my protest was cut short by the crunch of footsteps on gravel.
"Well, isn't this cozy?"
Janice's voice, so familiar but horribly alien, cut through the charged air between Ransom and me. We turned as one to see her sauntering up the driveway, a smirk playing across her lips. Ransom's hand tightened on my arm as he greeted her with forced casualness.
"Janice! Luke told me you two were going to the art gallery tonight."
Not-Janice stepped into the light, and I had to lock my knees to keep from recoiling. Seeing her again, I knew with absolute bone-deep certainty that this was not my friend. Her eyes glittered with a coldness that had never touched Janice's laughing gaze. The smirk twisting her mouth held a cruelty Janice could never even imagine.
"Yeah, I’m looking forward to it," she said breezily, moving well within the bounds of my personal space. Every muscle in my body seized.
Her face filled my vision, her eyes boring into mine. The world tunneled, my senses overwhelmed by the cloying scent of her perfume and the roaring rush of blood in my ears.
"I am Janice."
The words, spoken with quiet intensity, reverberated through my skull. A heavy fog bank rolled across my mind, thick and oppressive. I blinked hard and struggled to remember why those words sent such terror spiking through my veins.
"I am Janice."
Not-Janice's grip gripped my hand and squeezed. Her gaze compelled mine, trapping me in place more surely than the hand on my throat. Something dark and insidious curled through my thoughts, smothering the bright flame of my resistance.
"I am Janice!"
This time the declaration came out commanding, triumphant. And just like that, the fog crystallized into shining truth. Of course she was Janice. How could I have ever thought otherwise? The panic, the crawling wrongness of our earlier interaction, it all seemed so distant now. Unimportant. Irrational.
Ransom's concerned face swam at the edges of my vision, but I barely registered him. My attention was solely on Janice. Beautiful, clever Janice who I suddenly wanted very badly to please.
She smiled, slow and satisfied, as my expression went slack. Her eyes promised dark delights if only I would obey. Yes, of course I would obey. Anything she wanted.
"Say it, Luke." Her voice was a purr, stroking along my nerve endings like velvet. "Tell Ransom who I am."
"Janice." Her name felt like honey on my tongue, sweet and right. I smiled at Ransom, my earlier distress forgotten."Ransom, this is Janice. Isn't it great that she's coming to the gallery with me tonight?"
Something flickered in Ransom's eyes, an emotion there and gone too fast for me to catch. His hand fell away from my arm, leaving me more firmly in Janice's thrall.
"That's great," he echoed. The words were leaden, but I hardly noticed. Janice was already drawing me down the driveway, her arm linked proprietarily through mine.
"Don't wait up," she called over her shoulder. "We'll probably be out late."
I went with her willingly, eagerly. The night was full of promise and Janice would guide me through it. No more confusion, no more fear. Only her. Only Janice.
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