She chuckles along with me, her long hair flipping behind her back as she ruffles it up with her fingers. “Yeah, but even though I was pretty sure I knew about your secret, I had no clue about all that other stuff you said before.” She speaks with confidence but her expression is soft. She looks up at her forehead as her brain mulls over this new information, and her face becomes worried again. “Um, I really hope I heard you wrong when you mentioned something about demons and if not, please start from the beginning and tell me everything you know because I’m officially kinda freaked.”
My face falls along with hers. “All right, I guess I’ll just tell you everything that has happened since we moved here.”
I take a steadying breath and begin relaying everything that has happened since arriving in Oregon. I mention how my visions have become clearer and more frequent, describing in detail the visions I've had about her in the past week. I tell her about the guy dressed in all black who kept saving me and turned out to be Gavin. About his family and the little bits that I've learned about Seers from them. I tell her about each encounter I've had with the demon, Thrane.
She tears up again when I tell her about him hurting my back and show her the healing wounds.
Throughout my long and exhausting story, Kassy sits quiet and amazingly attentive, gasping only occasionally. I'm grateful for her belief in me and the insane words I am throwing at her. It's remarkable how understanding she is when I have always unnecessarily feared her hating me for what I am.
"So, I'm hoping my telling you this will help keep you even safer from that creep, Thrane.
Maybe, now that you know, you can be careful about where you go and who you talk to," I add after finishing my story.
Kassy just shakes her head and releases a very heavy breath. "Goodness gracious, El! I cannot believe you have been going through all of this for the past two weeks and I have just 21
been off in La-La Land, as if the world isn't insanely screwed up." She rubs a small hand over her face, looking tired now. “I really was wrong about Max. I knew the situation felt off but how could I have guessed he was being mind-controlled!”
I try to force a small smile, but it likely comes out as a disturbing grimace. "Hey, the world is mostly wonderful, and I like having you in La-La Land, Kass. I feel like I am meant to protect you and that's exactly what I plan on doing, even though it's not my official assignment, or whatever."
"You've always been my protector and I am so grateful for that. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that a demon wants to take my soul from me and hurt you in any way.” She lays a hand on my leg and scrunches up her face. “This is some seriously messed up stuff and I think I need time to process it all. Why don't we just continue this conversation later.” She stands.
“Right now, I'd like to drink hot chocolate and eat popcorn while watching something super bright and happy with my completely normal best friend." She does a little shake, releasing her worries, and hops into the kitchen to start making her snacks.
I lean into the sofa and let my body relax, feeling twelve times lighter. "That sounds really amazing, actually. Just, answer me one thing that I need to know."
She spins around on one foot to look at me. "What is it?"
"Do you really believe everything I've told you tonight, or are you just waiting until I fall to sleep to run away and leave me forever?" I push the words out at warp speed, and I wait patiently for her answer.
She tilts her head, looking at me like a mother looks at a kid who just asked a really dumb question. “I know you’re telling me the truth, dummy. You are a horrible liar, remember?"
I nod my head once, not giving a hoot about her kind of insult. "Right, I guess that's not some magical Seer ability. That'd be pretty sweet, though." She knows I am speaking my truth but that doesn’t mean she believes my truth is fact.
She pops a bag of popcorn in the microwave and types some numbers before the whir of the machine kicks on. "It's actually more like you have a superhuman ability to be the worst liar in the world. That's a pretty high honor, El." She winks, getting an eye roll from me in the process. It’s nice having things light and easy between us.
"Thanks a lot, Kass. I feel so blessed. Super Bad Liar, to the rescue!" I shout in as deep of a voice as I can.
She giggles lightly and hands me a cup of hot cocoa before putting on The Princess Bride, her favorite movie. I grin at her predictable choice.
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"El, I think it's good that you are going to be training with Alexa. I think you owe it to yourself to discover who you really are and focus on taking care of you, for once. You've saved me so many times that now I'm going to do my best to help you save yourself and learn more about who you are." She doesn't look in my direction but I can see her lips set in a determined line as she watches the television.
I keep my eyes forward as well, and nod for my own benefit, solidifying my decision to be all that she wants me to be, and more.
Chapter 4
I jolted out of bed
