Burn

CHAPTER 26

A stunned silence hung limply in the air between them, joined only by the faint drip, drip of a broken tap. No one seemed to breathe, the room so still it felt as though they'd entered a different dimension entirely.

And then, as swiftly as it descended, the silence shattered.

"Wh-What the actual fuck just happened?" Anthony demanded, voice rising with hysteria.

Ryu groaned and struggled to his feet to lean against a nearby wall. "Do we have to give this prick the cliffnotes?" he complained, still rubbing at the tender skin around his throat. "Personally, I can't really be fucked."

Anthony whipped his head in Ryu's direction, eyes so wide Carter could see the whites around his irises. "What the fuck is that?"

"Who the fuck is that," Ryu corrected peevishly. "Honestly, why are you back?"

"He brought me here," Margo sighed, fishing through her jacket pocket. "He bumped into me in the hall when he was running away." She produced the sleek black cover of Tenebrarum praesentibus adhiberetur: De Dcemone Encylopedia with a nod of satisfaction.

"You...you brought Margo here for us?" Carter asked Anthony, touched.

"Yeah, well." Anthony shrugged brutishly and scuffed his feet along the ground. "I couldn't just...leave you here. I figured your freaky friend would know something."

Ryu actually growled, the sound low in his throat, and Carter scowled. But Margo looked unbothered, and just continued to flip through Tenebrarum praesentibus adhiberetur: De Dcemone Encylopedia.

"This is clearly your fault, though," Anthony continued, glaring from Carter to Ryu and back. "I don't know what's going on-"

"And you never will," Margo interjected calmly, glancing up from the book's pages. Before Anthony could react, she raised her hand and splayed her fingers, declaring in a clear tone, "Delere memoriam omnium daemonum!"

Like when Carter had inadvertently cast the protection spell, Margo and Anthony both gave a yelp of pain. Then Anthony straightened and blinked several times, gaze slightly unfocused.

"W-Where...?"

"The period's almost over," Margo said, hurriedly ushering Anthony out of the bathroom. "You should get back to class and collect your books."

The sound of Anthony's confused mumbling died away as the door swung shut behind him.

Margo gave a huff of relief and leaned against it. "Glad that's over." At Ryu's quizzical look, she added, "it's a memory spell that only targets demon-related memories. Found it while I was looking for bargain-related exorcisms."

"It was me, wasn't it?" Carter interjected dully. Ryu and Margo both fixed him with startled glances. "I'm the one who put Anthony in danger."

He edged back against the wall Ryu was propped against and drew his knees up to his chest. "I thought, after I stopped liking him, he'd be safe, but..."

"But you got angry at him," Margo guessed, nodding her agreement. "And that counts as an emotion."

Carter had imagined himself to be dreaming many times these past few months, which, all things considered, he felt rather justified in.

And as he sat there on the tile, despair clawing up his chest, he longed, fervently for all of it to be one horrible nightmare.

"It's my fault," he whispered into the silence. "I k-keep putting people in danger."

He should've remained friendless, he thought mournfully as he let his eyes skip over each of their faces. He should've kept his head down and accepted his solitude. It was easier than this.

And it hadn't felt like his heart was tearing itself apart.

"Oh, Carter," Margo sniffled, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." She crouched by him and draped a hand around his shoulder, rubbing soothing circles down his back. "I wish I'd been there."

Carter turned to fix her with an incredulous stare. "I'd never want that, Margo."

"You-" A shiver ran through Margo, from her shoulders to her knees. "Carter, I never have any idea about the danger you're in, and I wish I could help...You're my b-best friend-"

Carter gave a violent shudder, suddenly so filled with despair he could barely stand it. "And I can't stand the danger I've put you in."

Margo gave a hiccupping sob. "Carter-"

"You have to get rid of me," Ryu interjected.

Carter scowled, grief flashing through him like lighting flashing across a stormy sky. "I know," he protested.

Did he think he didn't understand the danger? They'd almost been killed.

But Ryu was shaking his head, each shake more vehement than the last. "No, you don't understand-it should be tonight. Otherwise they'll keep attacking people, and..."

He slunk to his knees and crouched by Carter and Margo, gaze so earnest Carter couldn't tear his own away. "And that's something I couldn't stomach."

Pain lanced through Carter's chest. He gulped and turned away, wiping more tears. When he spoke, his voice was so wobbly it was almost indiscernible. "Are you sure?"

Ryu gave a single, affirmative nod. "Yes." Then he turned to Margo. "Do you know a way?" He asked her gently. "Do you know how to exorcise me?"

When Margo spoke it was too quiet and too loud all at once, as damning as any demonic chant or spell or bargain.

When she spoke, it felt like the end.

"I think so."

Carter swallowed and met her tear-stained gaze.

"I found something," she continued, lifting the small black shape of Tenebrarum praesentibus adhiberetur: De Dcemone Encylopedia into the air. "But since Ryu's been with you so long, I don't know if it'll work."

"Do it," Ryu said at once.

"Ryu," Carter protested, "don't be so rash-this is your life."

Ryu only sighed. "I'm not alive, Carter." At Carter's answering glare he reached forward and intertwined their fingers. "It'll be fine. I promise."

You can't promise that, Carter wanted to say. But he didn't.

Instead, he remained silent as Ryu looked to Margo again. "Think you can do it?"

Margo was already standing and rubbing her eyes on her sleeve. "I think so. I'll need to stop by the shops first, though. For supplies."

"That's okay," Carter replied, forcing his own legs underneath him. "I need to go home and...change."

Ryu looked to Carter and Margo and back, a smile tugging on that fanged mouth. "And then," he said, standing and brushing dust from his thighs, "we end this."

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