Cooper said as he continued holding the Bible next to Jennie.
“Who is this demon?” Ben asked.
“We may never know who the demon is. People come back to work for the devil. If they enjoyed making deals with the devil when they were alive, then it wouldn’t surprise me if a person came back now as a demon. It looks like this demon wants to continue to haunt and torment your family as much as he can,” Cooper said.
“Yeah, and he adds other people in just for kicks,” Mindy whispered. “It’s an added bonus for him.” She stood by the entryway, ready to run at any moment.
“He probably had a sick and twisted mind when he was alive, so I can imagine what it must be like now in his hellish afterlife,” I said. “But I intend on stopping him one way or another. He won’t win this battle, not if I have any say-so.”
I held Jennie’s arm as she continued to shake. Maybe Cooper was right. This demon could have been bad in life and was now taking it out on anyone he could. I wasn’t sure we’d ever find out. Maybe Cooper knew what he was talking about after all. I figured Cooper was right about half the time. And as long as that half the time was the time that counted right now, well, that was all that mattered for me.
Jennie seemed to become more aware of us. “It was her.” She pointed toward me. “It was her who brought this demon to my house.”
I looked around as if to say: what did I do? “It’s only the demon still talking.” I tried to brush off Jennie’s statement.
Everyone stared, then focused their attention on Jennie. Thank goodness. She began interacting with everyone as she normally did. The demon was losing strength and the air lightened. The cloud had lifted from the room. I let out a huge breathe. Was this thing finally gone? Did that mean the dark shadow following me would be gone too?
Chapter Thirty-Six
We drove to the local pizza place for the wrap party. My heart wasn’t in it though. I would have rather gone home, pulled the shades down, and gone to bed.
“This is where you go for a party? How lame,” Candy Cherry said.
Why hadn’t she been around when the demon was attacking Jennie? She was full of hot air.
“There’s no smoking,” I snapped at Mr. Fine when no one was looking.
He glared, took a drag, and then blew the smoke in my face. I coughed and waved the invisible smoke out of my face.
“I love pizza,” Elvis said as he looked at the slices longingly.
What kind of hell would it be to see a gooey pepperoni pizza and not be able to take a bite? Complete torture, I thought.
“Larue, you just haven’t been acting right since we left the investigation. What’s going on with you?” Mindy sat across from me after we’d gotten our cheesy pizza.
“What are you talking about?” I snapped as I shoved a slice of pizza in my mouth.
Okay. That wasn’t like me. My mood was growing worse. I had to tell someone what was going on and ask for help. As much as I wanted to do everything on my own, I knew I had to ask for help. Why had I just snapped at her? I didn’t want to talk to her that way, but it had just come out of my mouth. It was as if I couldn’t control my own voice.
I knew Mindy was right though. I’d felt the dark thoughts take over my mind and it was time to admit it once and for all and stop pretending what was happening to me didn’t exist. The feeling I had wasn’t only because I was working too much or over-stressed. No, I knew that something more sinister was going on.
“I’m sorry.” I rubbed my temples. “I have no idea why I snapped like that. Too much pressure, I guess.”
“I worry about you, Larue. You don’t even look the same. Your expression has changed. Even your eye color looks different. Your eyes look bluer.” She picked at her slice of pizza.
When Mindy said this, I knew I was in trouble. It hit me hard. This wasn’t normal behavior for me. Either I was being overcome by a demon, or a spell had been cast on me. With the events as of late, I couldn’t tell which.
“Mindy, I think you’re right.” My stomach twisted into a knot. “I