POSSESSION, Book 1 in the Possession Trilogy

Chapter 15

15.

As I stood in the darkness, watching Jag disappear into the light, I remembered the time my dad told me about light and dark and how God had separated them. I didn’t get what he meant then.

But as Jag’s front door swung closed with a loud click, the light was separated from the dark. That’s when I realized that someone can’t be both good and bad, just like darkness can’t exist in the light.

Which meant I had to make a choice.

Bad or good? looped endlessly in my mind. Another voice joined mine, taunting.

Leave me alone! I commanded and Thane’s voice receded. The thought of him possibly listening to my every thought unnerved me.

I sat on the steps, determined to keep Thane out, to regain control of my own mind.

Noise-that-must-be-music filtered from the back of the house. Jag’s roommates had a serious party raging. I waited through four songs.

Then five. Then six. 

Jag didn’t come back.

So I allowed myself to freak out. Which basically means I crept around the side of the house with my heart leaping in my chest. The music grew louder, with people gyrating and laughing in the backyard. I crouched below the only lit window. I took a deep breath and peeked inside.

I knew Jag shouldn’t have gone in. Because now the stupid boy was tied to a chair.

I stared a lot longer than I should have, mostly because his bare—and sculpted—chest distracted me. After that initial shock, I noticed the two round labels secured on either side of his breastbone. Tech monitors. A green light flickered on one. So far, whatever he’d said was the truth.

His kiss still lingered on my lips, and his scent was embedded in my Goodie shirt. I wanted to help him, but I had three great reasons not to.

Baldie, the Hawk, and a Mech.

The Mech must have sensed me, either my body heat or the barcode in the tag, because an alarm wailed.

I ducked and ground my teeth together. Stupid Mechs. I was so sick of them ratting me out for merely existing. I hated that they could sense body heat. I despised them for their ability to read barcodes. For everything.

All the anger and fear and desperation raging inside flooded to the surface. I focused on the mechanics of the robot now standing at the window. The siren pounded in my brain.

Stop! I screamed inside.

And it did.

I suddenly felt like I needed to puke my guts out. But I didn’t have time for that. Baldie’s shout mingled with the Hawk’s as they burst out the back door.

Ignoring Thane’s voice in my head, which said, Leave Jag. Save yourself. Don’t make the wrong choice—again, I crawled through the window. Thane’s encouragement to leave Jag made me that much more determined to stay together. Maybe Thane needed us to be separated before he could make his next move.

Maybe I’m not the monster you think I am.

Thane’s words jumbled up my feelings. He could clearly control others, and I’m definitely not a fan of Thinkers. But with Thane on the inside, protecting me…having him on my side would be beneficial.

In the room, I fell hard on my knees next to the despondent Mech, overwhelmed by the amount of tech in the house. It felt like someone had thrown a bucket of ice water in my face. My breath didn’t fill my lungs. A hand scrabbled on my backpack and I jerked away.