Greg came to find Lisa the week after she got her owl, which she named Jujanna. Rufus wanted her to use her first favour to change his eye colour to green. Lisa did it happily enough. It only used a tiny part of her energy to make sure the green didn’t disappear. (The new colour did suit him, actually. It was a great contrast to his white hair.)
A week later, Vini asked her to straighten his teeth. Lisa agreed, a little more reluctantly. A week after that, she removed a bump from Vini’s nose from the time he’d been punched over an unpaid bar bill when he was alive.
Lisa was starting to feel a little weaker now. The constant drain on her energy was catching up with her. Then Rufus asked her to add silvery highlights to his white hair.
Lisa started fading. If she kept this up, she would become a Shell long before the tenth favour. She asked if she could pay off her debt in another way.
Rufus lit up. This must have been what he was waiting for. “You know that boy Kasper Jedynak, don’t you? I’d be happy to accept his power instead of yours. In fact, one favour from him would be enough to wipe out the rest of your debt.”
Lisa was confused. “Do you know what his power is? I’m not sure it would do much for you. He can … possess humans.”
“I think that will work perfectly. Why don’t you ask him to come and see me? Otherwise, I have another favour I’ll be needing from you tomorrow morning.”
“I can’t give up any more energy.” Lisa turned pale.
“Kasper can come along any time – my schedule is completely free,” Rufus replied.
Lisa left, disturbed.
I’ve watched her story a few times over, and I think that Rufus planned this from the beginning. The bargain was designed to put Lisa in debt, beyond what she could afford. Then all he had to do was wait to pounce.
But Kasper refused, very firmly, to use his power. He told Rufus that he was willing to help pay off Lisa’s debt – but not by doing that.
He wasn’t terrified of them, not yet. That would come later, once he’d seen what they could do. For now, he was just annoyed.
Rufus said that it was Kasper’s power or nothing. The next morning, Lisa had to paint his nails red, sharpening the ends into points. She was so weak that she couldn’t even make it out of the basement.
Hours later, Vini woke her up and asked her to remove a scar from his wrist. It was just a small white mark, but Lisa fainted. Her light glowed and dimmed as she breathed in and out. She was nearly a Shell.
After this all happened, I went back to that moment. I can nudge the past and the future, just slightly, if I need to. It’s like reaching through a window inside my mind. I can push against the membrane between time, calling out to people.
I tried to push some of my spare energy into Lisa – enough that she would be able to wake up and crawl outside the lightning barrier. I couldn’t spare more than that. Her faded form did glow a little when she absorbed my energy, but she didn’t wake up.
When Kasper realized they’d taken her again, he raced down to the basement.
Edging around the walls, his eyes fixed on Rufus, he pleaded, “Please, she’s going to disintegrate. You have to release her.”
Rufus admired his sharp red nails and said, “You know what we want. If you’re too scared to give it to us, then Lisa will have to pay the price for your cowardice.”
“I can’t!” Kasper hissed. “I would never do that to a living person.”
“It won’t kill them, you know. If that’s what you’re worried about. Humans do survive being possessed.”
“It might not kill them, but it’s – it’s rape. I can’t be that person.”
“And yet you’ll let Lisa disintegrate? How is that not as bad?”
Kasper was breathing hard. “She’s already dead. It’s different.”
“Well, then. If you’ve made your choice, I suggest you say goodbye. She doesn’t have long left. But Mr Jedynak, one day you’re going to have to face what you are, however much it scares you. Because the parts of yourself that frighten you? They’re not going anywhere.”
Lisa disintegrated six hours later. The Tricksters didn’t get what they wanted, but they didn’t exactly lose, either. They play the long game. Kasper’s still caught in their web.
Chapter 14
KASPER
Kasper couldn’t sleep, pacing the empty hallways of the fifth floor. Now that the Shells were gone, he could wander alone, crippled with complete and overwhelming guilt.
He’d possessed someone. What had come over him? He hadn’t ever wanted to stop. If it hadn’t been for Felix, he’d still be inside that poor, innocent woman. Like some sort of—
He was a monster. He really was. He’d tried to be good. He’d thought for a while that he was, but clearly his true nature had just been biding its time until there was an opportunity to strike.
He was disgusting. He could still feel it, the hunger underneath his consciousness. The demon inside him was just waiting for another human to come close enough that it could take control. He wanted to tear off his skin to get rid of it.
He wasn’t safe to be around, not any more. He should join the other criminals in the basement, so that Rima and Leah and – and Felix – weren’t ever forced to look at him again. He had to disappear for ever, before they came to kick him out of the
