Chapter 45 | The Devil of Siren City

Skylar

“Candy! Don’t!”

Adrian’s voice blurs as fear takes hold. For a moment, it’s as if my world has gone dark, but I feel my body move.

No. Not mine.

Hers.

Persephone slides us backward, narrowly avoiding Candy’s reach. She grips the gun’s handle, taking it before he can, and pops us up onto our feet.

I inhale sharply as she points the gun at Candy on the floor.

Shoot him.

Or I will.

“No, I…” I whisper, horrified with her. With me. “I can’t, I…”

Candy pushes himself up, his eyes on the gun. He hesitates, but it’s obvious he’s going to lunge for me again. Any second now.

Do it!

I feel my finger curl around the trigger. “No!” I say. “Stop it! Please!”

“Candy.” Behind Candy, Adrian rises off the floor. “Stand down,” he says.

Candy doesn’t budge. “Adrian, she’s—”

“I said, stand down.”

He doesn’t want to, but slowly, Candy takes several steps back toward the table.

Still, my finger rests on the trigger.

“Skylar.”

I look at Adrian. He takes a calm step toward me. “No,” I say. “Don’t. Stay back.”

“It’s okay,” he says, continuing forward.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t.”

I glance at Candy. I try to move my finger off the trigger, but I can’t.

She’s still in control.

“He won’t hurt you,” Adrian says, following my eyes. “It’s just us. You’re safe.”

Us.

The word is so faint in my head, I’m not sure I hear it at all. But my chest flutters in response. I feel pieces of myself relax. Pieces that don’t belong to me.

“Adrian,” I whisper, still scared for him.

“It’s okay.” He extends his arm, his hand inches away. “Give me the gun.”

I try to move my hand again. This time, I can. She loosens her grip on me, and I exhale slowly with relief. “Adrian,” I say, my eyes full of tears.

He easily slips the gun from my fingers. “I know,” he says, drawing closer. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”

Safe.

Adrian expertly slides the clip free from the pistol and tosses it away. It lands on the couch, far out of anyone’s reach.

I bury my face in his chest; his cold skin a warm comfort. “I didn’t…” I whisper. “I didn’t mean to…”

Adrian holds me close, his mouth gently touching my ear. “I know,” he whispers, rubbing my back.

I don’t ask what he thinks he knows. It’s impossible for him to know anything for sure, but I don’t want to leave his embrace. It’s the one place I’ve felt truly safe in for so long.

Deep inside, I feel a tremble. She agrees.

“Tell me what happened,” Adrian says, his voice firm.

I look up at him, unsure. Glancing over his shoulder, I see the documents still strung out on the table. “You already know,” I say.

“I want to hear it from you.”

I hesitate, my mind full of nightmares, but I ease a step out of his arms and nod.

By the table, Candy lingers.

“He’s okay,” Adrian says, looking at him. “Not going to try anything else. Right?” he adds, his glare sharpening.

“Depends,” Candy replies.

“Candy.”

Candy sighs but nods, casually folding his hands behind his back.

I walk to the table, Adrian a step behind me the whole time. Candy shifts to stand on the other side, giving me all the space I need to… look.

It’s all here. What I’ve done. Who I was.

I pick up the photocopy of my hospital badge. Anne Marie Bonny. I hardly even recognize her anymore.

“Who was Skylar Jean Green?” Adrian asks, standing on my left.

“A patient,” I answer, briefly smiling. “She was a good person. A great person.” I swallow. “I really liked her, but… she died.”

“So you took her name?” Candy says across from me. “When you ran away?”

“No,” I say slowly. “I didn’t. She did. I guess it was the first name that came to mind.”

“She?” Candy asks.

I look at Adrian. “I know you’ve spoken to her,” I say.

“Her who?”

“Persephone,” Adrian says.

“Is that her name?” I ask.

“That’s what she told me to call her.”

“Her who?” Candy asks again.

I eye him nervously, but Adrian gives me a nod. “There’s a voice in my head,” I say. “I know, it sounds insane — and I probably am — but…” I pause as Candy frowns. “I don’t know who she is, or what. But she’s there.” I look at Adrian again. “She’s talked to you. When I sleepwalk.”

“Yes,” he confirms.

“Wait, seriously?” Candy asks. “You have an alternate personality that manifests in your sleep?”

I inhale sharply. “Hadn’t heard it laid out that way before, but… yeah.”

I listen for her. For Persephone. But she stays oddly quiet.

“How long has she been there, Skylar?” Adrian asks.

I look at the table. At the photos. “Since that night,” I say. “Since the night I… I killed them.”

“It wasn’t you.”

“It was by my hand,” I say. “What difference does it make?”

“So, what happened?” Candy asks. “Why did you do it?”

“I’m not sure,” I answer. “I remember being there, at the cabin with him.” Thumbing through the documents, I find photos of the cabin. The scene of the crime. “We’d had a rough few weeks at the hospital, so he surprised me with a weekend getaway. Just the two of us in Martha’s Vineyard. We left right after my shift and drove out. When we arrived, it was late, but all the lights in the cabin were on.” I swallow hard, tasting bile. “He told me to wait, and he went inside. After a few minutes, I heard shouting, so… I went in. He was there with another woman.”

“His wife,” Candy says pointedly.

Adrian glares at him.

“I didn’t know he was married,” I say. “He never told me and he didn’t wear a ring. And… well, we weren’t exactly big on conversation.”

Candy says nothing, but he softens somewhat.

“Anyway,” I say with a sigh. “I walked in. I wanted to explain everything. Tell her that at I didn’t know, that it was all just a big mistake. But she was holding a gun. She pointed it at me, and…”

Adrian touches my back. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” I say, my voice breaking. “Things went dark. The last thing I remember is seeing a bunch of knives sitting in a block on the edge of the counter.” I look down. “And then screaming.”

So much screaming.

Adrian’s hand moves along my shoulder, a silent urge to keep going. But I pause, unsure if I want to relive it again.

“The next thing I knew, I was outside. It was raining. I was on my knees in the dirt, my hands…” I look at them now, the blood stains still there. Always there. “Somehow, I knew what I’d done. I knew I’d killed them both, but I didn’t know why.”

“You were scared,” Adrian says.

I look at him. “Yes. But that was no excuse for murder. I wanted to turn myself in and accept whatever punishment they’d give me for it. Then… I heard her voice for the first time.”

“Persephone?” Candy asks, somehow following along.

“She told me it was okay. It was justified. But I didn’t believe her. I mean, how could it be? But she told me it was all part of the plan.”

“What plan?” Adrian asks.

“To go home.”

“Home?”

I swallow hard. “She told me I had to come here. To Siren City.” I look at Adrian. “To you.”

Get up.

Get up and find Adrian.

He’s the only one who can protect you.