Don't get me wrong, The Itch was a demon, but not a very good one. So, when the dogs had started barking at it, it didn't know how to silence them. Somehow, Jacob did, and for that, it was grateful. After all, it knew that those dogs loved Gina.
As Gina grabbed her things the two fluffy creatures planted themselves at her feet. "What?" she asked, and reached down to pet the bigger dog's head, he accepted it happily, but the smaller dog growled.
"Julius, chill, it's only Gina," Jacob muttered, stretching. "Man, I can't believe I fell asleep with jeans on. They're so uncomfortable."
"You're uncomfortable," it replied.
"You bet I am," Jacob said, grinning. "in these jeans, that is."
"Well, that sucks for you, doesn't it?" it questioned. It slid on it's coat and held onto it's things, reaching for the doorknob.
"It really does," Jacob admitted.
As they left the apartment, Jacob said, "The dogs are acting so weird today, but I guess so are you."
It asked, "What do you mean?" and raised an eyebrow.
"I mean, you made an actual mistake today. Crashed into a mirror, didn't realize that you had glass stuck in your head, my dogs are freaking out on you, and you haven't made one crazy leap to conclusions about my dad being some sort of alien being," he paused and took a breath. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," it argued. "I just... woke up this morning... and felt different."
"Well, I think that-" but before Jacob could continue.
"You always think something," she said and went for the doorknob of the door that Jacob had stopped at.
"What are you talking abou-" and before he could finish, he said, "Oh. You've said that before. What's wrong? What's happening? At least tell me if there's something wrong."
"Nothing's wrong," it responded. "Goodnight."
It closed the door on him right as he was gonna say something.
Unsurely, it snuck around the house. There were pictures of her when she was around five with her birthparents, and it recognized those. Then there were pictures of the last two years. The older couple that took her in, it noticed, were in a lot of the newer photos.
Usually, human bodies didn't last very long with powerful demons inside them, but a demon that had been carried on for generations? It's different. They called it a family curse, but it was really just a little piece of Ellie, who died and The Itch would never see again. Good kid, it remembered, the best kid.
Of course, all that was over now. It carefully grazed a finger over the faces of each family member in Gina's old photos. Lynn Artisan, Thomas Artisan, Reese Artisan, Pepper Artisan, Rebecca Artisan, Tyler Artisan, Heather Artisan, Uriel Artisan, Oliver and Olivia Artisan, John Artisan, Taylor Artisan, and Gina Artisan; Lynn and Thomas being the father and mother and the rest being their children. (Except Pepper, who was a cousin who lived with the family.)
It still remembered Pepper. It remembered how similar she was to Ellie, that is.
Two girls, only eleven years old, Rebecca and Pepper Artisan, sat on the largest branch of a tree in their yard. "What will you do when you grow up?" asked Rebecca with a clear southern drawl.
"Me?" Pepper replied, staring at her quizzically. "Uh, I think I'd open a bakery. Call it Pepper Pies!"
"What about the curse?" Rebecca asked, blinking her squinty brown eyes at her.
"I swear it, Reb," she told her. "I'm not gonna lose to that thing."
The Itch had remembered the girl's motivation then. It remembered the lack thereof in Gina, now a walking corpse.
Skip town, said something in it's brain. You're going to be found out.
It remembered an even simpler time. Gina was three and knew nearly nothing. The youngest Artisan, Gina, and she couldn't even walk.
Tyler scooped his baby sister up and grinned at the camera. The toddler, however, found nothing about this fun or exciting, and sustained a resting itch face.
"Come on, Gina, smile for the camera!" called Mom. No response. The moppet didn't even look at her, no less smile.
Gina, with ugly baby bird hair and squinty brown eyes, instead looked at the corner of the room.
"I think there's something there," Heather said, staring at the same corner. "Why else would Chad and Stroodle spend so much time staring at it?"
Chad and Stroodle were the barncats. Stroodle was a big black feline, who was good at hunting mice. Chad was a lithe brown cat with heterochromia and a paragon of comfort in times of sadness.
Lynn risked a glance at the corner, knowing the curse, not wanting to attract it's attention. She supposed it must've left Oliver, who it had inflicted last week.
But hell knows what that thing can do.
After all, and only Thomas and Reese knew this...
They found the maggot infested corpse of Chad in the barn just yesterday.
