The Devil Inside

31: Loose Ends

Six.

"Get down!" Ryan shouted.

Calla fell to her knees without hesitation. A heartbeat later, the blast of gunfire reverberated through the rafters, filling her head with a terrible ringing. When she looked up, eyes watery with pain, she found Mike on his knees, hands folded over his head like a man in prayer.

And further away, panting on the gym floor—Stephanie, blood blossoming across her right shoulder.

Calla pushed once more to her feet as Ryan lowered the gun, relief evident in his eyes. "Sorry we're late—"

"Mike!" Blake pushed past Ryan and sprinted to his twin's side.

"Uh..." Cooper slowly straightened out of a crouch. "You're on our side. Right?"

"Duh." Ryan hurried across the court and helped Cooper to his feet. He clapped him on the shoulder. "Told you I've got your back."

Vincent groaned from the floor, still thoroughly strapped to his chair.

"Shit." Cooper darted to his side. "Sorry, man."

Calla turned from what was sure to be a heartfelt reunion, ignoring the pain in her knees, in her head. Fury and adrenaline fueled her now, hot and relentless.

Dr. Peterson had had quite a few things to say about her temper. Don't let it get the best of you. But the good doctor didn't know about the vast chasm inside of her—didn't know that her anger was one of the few tethers she had to this life. Sometimes, she thought it was all that held her together.

You're not real. You're just an empty shell, full of blood and endless rage.

Without her pistol in hand, Stephanie shrank from Calla's approach, half-sobbing as she cradled her injured shoulder. Sneering, Calla crouched over the other girl, using her knees to pin her to the floor.

Dr. Peterson could kiss her lily white ass. 

"You deranged—" Calla wrapped her left hand around Stephanie's throat, "—delusional—" squeezing until she began to choke, arms flailing, grasping at Calla's hair, her face, her clothes, "—bitch."

Calla held one of the metal pins up to her eye. Stephanie stilled, face flooded with color as she struggled to breathe. "How does the saying go?" Calla asked, mocking. "Hear no evil..." She stroked the tip of the pin along Stephanie's lower lashes. "See no evil?"

Stephanie gagged. Except—it wasn't Stephanie at all.

Tracy winked up at her, the column of her throat torn and bloodied. "Long time, no see."

Calla closed her eyes, forcing herself to snap out of...whatever the hell this was. When she opened them again, Stephanie was beneath her, frantically gulping down air. Her neck was still in one piece. "Astrid—"

"Shut up."

"Astrid!" Stephanie gasped, clawing at Calla's wrist, still raw from where she'd stabbed herself with the pin. "Astrid. Astrid killed Rachel. Astrid killed Rachel!"

Calla grinned. "That's not going to work. Not this time."

Still. Stephanie's words triggered an unwanted memory: Cory kneeling above her in the dark, the pain in her shoulder like an iron rod drenched in fire. Rachel, he'd whispered. I have to tell you about Rachel. An accident...

Calla's smile fell.

"It was Astrid. You've...known," Stephanie forced out, tracking the pin that hovered mere millimeters above her eye. She didn't dare struggle for fear that she'd lose that eye if she tried. "You've known all along. And I've got the evidence to prove it."