by Chloe Garner
Samantha shook her head.
“You’re missing the obvious one,” she said.
“Oh?” Sam asked.
Samantha approached him, playing her finger along his collarbone.
“You. Me. That body. We could have quite a lot of fun.”
“You wouldn’t put a blade into this pretty body of Sam’s,” Sam said. Samantha drew Lahn and flung her across the room to embed six inches into the drywall.
“No. I wouldn’t.”
“What’s your game?” Sam asked, his voice strange, his vocal patterns Carly’s. Jason wished he could turn his head away, but he was too firmly fixed in place. The pressure on his chest was beginning to make him see funny colors. He took one last look at Samantha as she stood, mouth in an open grin, fingers playing with Sam’s shirt, then he screwed his eyes shut. He hoped she had it as under control as it looked like, but he still wished he didn’t have to be here.
<><><>
“I can’t lie to you,” Samantha said, reading Carly in Sam’s eyes. The demon still felt like she was completely in control, and she was willing to play.
“What does that mean?” she asked.
“Root around in that head a little bit and figure it out,” Samantha said, walking over to the fireplace and sitting down. She motioned at the split wood and raised an eyebrow. “You mind?”
Sam’s hand made a dismissive motion and the fire roared to life. Samantha smiled.
“You have a lie detector in your chest. All you have to do is turn it back on.”
Recognition dawned in Sam’s eyes.
“Your little bond. He panicked when I pulled it. Didn’t like being in here all alone,” Sam said. Samantha shrugged.
“I didn’t much like it either.” She closed her eyes and smiled, feeling Carly turn on a small fraction of the bond. Sam was indeed awake. “Hi, Sam. Sorry about this. It’s an opportunity I can’t pass up.”
“Interesting,” Sam said. “You’re a virgin.”
“Yeah. I am. But it doesn’t count with a demon.”
Sam’s eyes lit up.
“So all that time in New York, you did learn a thing or two.”
“Lover, I know more than any other human you’ve met.”
Sam grinned wider.
“It’s true. You’ve been with demons before.”
Samantha shrugged, trying to signal to Sam that she was counting on him, without cluing in Carly. He would have the slightest opportunity to hear what she felt before Carly did, and maybe alter it the tiniest bit.
“What else is there to do with them?” Samantha stood, stepping closer to Sam. She felt his body react to hers as she licked her lips and rested her hand on his chest. “Have you ever had sex as a man before? How about in a possessed body?”
Sam licked his lips hungrily.
“You really do want him.”
“You already knew that.”
Sam closed his eyes, swaying a bit, his mouth open as he breathed her.
“How interesting,” he said. “He wants you, too.”
“I know,” Samantha said with a laugh. “You don’t have to tell me that.”
Sam blinked again, then grabbed Samantha and kissed her hard. Mean. She bit his lips and pushed him away, pursing her mouth playfully. Carly went mad, trying to pull her in again and Samantha twisted her face away, wiggling a finger at him. What she felt was real, the urge to return his advances, to push herself against him. He smelled like Sam, he felt like Sam, and his body wanting hers triggered an animal reaction that she recognized, that she wanted. Carly laughed at her, taking a step away and scratching the back of her head.
“You did an interesting job, patching him up,” Sam said.
“You nearly killed him,” Samantha answered.
“I guess I’m glad I didn’t. This is much more fun.”
Samantha grinned and he kissed her again. It was like bobbing underwater. She struggled to get enough air as his mouth held against hers, his arms held her tight against him. She was tipping out of control and Carly was not just coming willingly, but leading the way.
“Lay down,” Samantha said.
“Not likely,” Sam answered. Samantha gasped and wrestled away, realizing that she had misplaced Sam’s shirt again somehow.
“He may have been willing to do anything you wanted, but I’m not. I know how to play this game. My rules. Lay down.”
They crumbled in a tangle to the floor, a battle of wills taking place for a moment as Samantha struggled to pull Sam underneath her and Carly wavered between tackling her and pulling her shirt off. Sam was afraid. He felt her losing control, and he was struggling to figure out what he was feeling as she and Carly tumbled further and further away from reason. He didn’t know what she was doing. Samantha pulled harder at the bond as Sam’s arms pulled her down against him, still trying to find the way into her shirt. Carly responded by opening up the clamp on the bond further. Breathing suddenly got harder and Samantha’s body sizzled.
“You think you’re going to stop me,” Carly said, gasping.
“And you think you can kill me,” Samantha said, kissing Sam again. His hands closed over both sides of her head and Carly bit her. Samantha bit back. Sam was beginning to get the gist of what was going on.
“You know that I’ll shred him before you get close,” Carly said. “You aren’t going to take me by surprise, and I’ll make you feel it. You couldn’t get through it.”
“We’ll see who’s the fastest draw, then,” Samantha said. Carly laughed.
“Oooh,” Sam said. “You’re much more fun than he thought.”
Gravity shifted and Samantha found herself curled around Sam. Time hadn’t made sense in a while, and Samantha’s throat was hoarse. Sam’s hands were everywhere, and she found herself answering him energetically. Inside his head, Sam was pulling harder and harder at the bond as Carly was more and more preoccupied with Samantha. The space that she had in his head was growing smaller and smaller as he quietly asserted himself. Samantha finally collected herself enough, just for a fraction of a second, to realize that he was ready.
“Now, Sam,” Samantha said. She pulled a deep breath directly from his lungs, pulling Carly with it. Sam pushed from the other side, and Carly was trapped. She thrashed for an instant, but they’d levered her out too far. Samantha rolled away from him and they both breathed out. Somewhere behind her, Jason fell on the floor.
“You okay?” Samantha asked.
“Yeah,” Sam said.
“What the hell just happened?” Jason asked. Upstairs, a door shattered.
<><><>
Sam lay on the floor, looking up at the ceiling. He couldn’t believe they’d pulled it off. Samantha got up and went over to Jason.
“I need his pendant,” she said. Jason grunted as he stood and Samantha came back with the necklace.
“What did I do with your shirt?” she asked. He hadn’t noticed. He pulled his head off the ground to let her fasten the chain behind his head, then dropped back onto the floor.
“Is everyone okay?” Carson asked. Doris was behind him with a shotgun.
“We’re fine,” Samantha said. “Go good-guys. You do okay, Jason?”
“Other than being completely grossed out? Yeah.”
“I’ll make coffee,” Doris said. “Come sit.”
Sam didn’t get up. The freedom to simply not get up was overwhelming. Samantha retrieved Lahn from the wall and came to sit down next to him.
“You did good,” she said.
“I was afraid,” he said. She nodded.
“I understand. When did you last sleep?”
“Seattle,” he said. Three days ago. The thought of it, combined with floor he was laying on by choice and a fire crackling next to him, made his entire body feel heavy.
“I know you don’t want to think about it, but I expect you’ll want this,” she said, pulling something out of her pocket and handing it to him. It was a capsule.
“What is it?”
&
nbsp; “Basically salmonella wrapped in a bunch of curses.”
“Why would he want that?” Jason asked. Sam looked at it, not understanding, either.
“It’s the strongest system-purge I’ve ever come up with,” Samantha said. “I used them for years with Carter. I’ll need to put you on an IV to keep you alive.”
“I still don’t get it,” Jason said. Sam did.
“Get me a glass of water.”
She nodded.
“What’s up, man?” Jason asked. Sam searched for a way to answer that.
“I stalked the three of you long enough to know Carly’s eating habits,” Samantha called from the kitchen. “I see no reason she would have changed them.”
“Thai?” Jason asked. Sam cringed, doing everything he could to not remember. Samantha returned and sat.
“Please tell me you closed your eyes,” she said. “That you slept.”
“I tried not to,” he said. “In case you found me.”
“How much of it did you see?” she asked. He swallowed the pill and handed her the glass, laying back down. She frowned down at him. “More than you should have.”
“What are we talking about here?” Jason asked. Sam couldn’t force the words out.
“You remember the little boys that went missing?” Samantha asked. Jason closed his eyes. Sam put his arm over his face. He had fought her. All of the writing said it was pointless but, for some individuals, necessary. He had seen things he couldn’t stop, watched his own hands… Carly had laughed at him. Told him that, with a few more weeks uninterrupted, she would have had him willingly joining her in the torture and subsequent feast.
Samantha pulled his elbow down and put her hand on his forehead.
“You have a couple of hours to sleep. You want to stay here or go up to bed?”
He wanted to ask where she was going to be, but it felt too childish.
“I will watch over you,” she said softly. He rolled onto his side, letting the fire warm his back. He felt like a boy, awake from a bad dream, not wanting to be alone or in the dark. She went and got a pillow off the couch and then covered him with a blanket.
“Sleep,” she said.
“It’s okay, man,” Jason said. “It’s over.”
It wasn’t, but Sam nodded anyway, willing himself to believe it, just for right now. The fire popped and sputtered, and he lay with his eyes closed, listening to the whoosh of air up the chimney. He slept.
<><><>
Jason was prepared to hit a local hospital to steal saline bags, but Doris actually had a box of them.
“I didn’t know you could get them,” Jason had said. Doris had raised an eyebrow at him.
“How many of the things in Sam’s backpack are illegal?” she had asked. “And you don’t think I can get saltwater.”
Sam had woken shortly before dawn with severe vomiting, and he didn’t sleep again for two days. Samantha didn’t leave his side. Jason did only to sleep. Samantha had seen the fallout from possession before, but had never felt it this personally. Sam was in pain for most of the two days, abdominal pain mostly, but general body aches as well as he worked through the sickness. She had him drinking more than two gallons of water a day, but very little of it got into his body. The IV drip really did keep him from more serious illness.
“I’m not sure that’s worth it,” Jason said, the evening of the first day as Sam disappeared to the bathroom again. They were watching television and playing a half-hearted hand of cards.
“I promise it is,” Samantha said.
“What’s done is done,” Jason said. “Coughing it all back up again doesn’t change anything.”
“It changes everything.”
“He’s in pain, Sam.”
“That’s the point.”
Jason looked after Sam, then played his turn.
“I wouldn’t sign up for that, I don’t care what penance I felt like I had to pay,” he said. Samantha watched Carson, waiting for him to play.
“I know. I probably would have offered, but I wouldn’t have expected you to do it.”
Jason shook his head.
“What’s done is done.”
“What happens to you is never done,” Samantha said.
“I’m not a victim of my life,” Jason said. “I do what I do because I choose it, not because of the things that happened to me.”
“I completely believe that,” Samantha said. “But the things that happen to you are the context for your decisions. You choose how you react to what happens, but you must react.”
“Is it just me, or did this suddenly get way too serious?” Carson asked.
“Play your card,” Jason said. “We all know you’ve got nothing.”
Carson grinned and played. Sam came hobbling back to the table.
“Whose turn is it?”
<><><>
Sam finally quit throwing up early the next evening. He ate soda crackers and drank water while the rest of them ate dinner, looking wretched but feeling better than he had. As Carson and Jason cleared the table, he leaned his head over onto Samantha’s shoulder.
“You should go out tonight,” he said.
“No way,” she said.
“I think I’m finally going to be able to sleep,” he said. “I feel awful. I’m going to have nightmares. You’re just going to sit there and feel bad with me.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“You had such a good time, that night. You were so happy,” Sam said. “It made me happy.”
She smiled, helping him up and walking into the living room.
“I’m serious,” he said. “It wasn’t just I was happy because you were happy. You being happy made me feel happy. I need that tonight.”
“Coffee?” Doris asked, bringing them cups.
“Thank you,” Samantha said. Sam paled.
“Sorry,” Doris said. “Just one.”
“What happened that night?” Sam asked.
“She met someone, that’s what,” Jason said.
“You what?”
“I…”
“She may have left with the guy who brought her, but anyone else wouldn’t have,” Jason said. “They were all over each other.”
“He never touched me,” Samantha argued. Jason grinned.
“Doesn’t make it not true.”
She put her hand in front of her mouth.
“That’s not the worst part, though,” Jason said. “She didn’t even get his name.”
“You’re that girl,” Carson said, sitting down on the bricks in front of the fireplace.
“What?”
“You’re that girl,” Carson said.
“You are. You’re that girl,” Jason said.
“What girl?”
Sam smiled internally, tired, but glad of the lighter mood.
“That. Girl,” Jason said.
“The one. The one that got away,” Carson said.
“I didn’t get away. He left,” Samantha said.
“Was he into you?” Carson asked.
“I don’t know,” Samantha said, simply the first thing out of her mouth.
“Yes,” Jason said.
“Were you into him?” Carson asked. Samantha clamped her mouth shut.
“Yes,” Jason said.
“Were you sending him girl signals, or real ones?” Carson asked. Samantha laughed.
“It was fun. It wasn’t that big a deal.”
“That was a lie,” Sam said, surprised. She whirled to look at him. He grinned, laughing.
“Fine. It was a big deal. I haven’t felt like that ever before,” she said. “Is that what you want to hear?”
“And that was true,” Sam said.
“Oh my gosh,” Jason said. “You fell in love with him.”
“I did not,” Samantha said.
“Lie.”
Samantha looked at him. She had thought that that, at least, was true. He nodded.
“Lie.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah.”
“So we go out tonight,” Jason said. “And we find Sam her boy.”
“We’re not going to find him,” Samantha said, glancing at the clock. “And I’m not going.”
“Oh yeah you are,” Carson said. “I’ve heard stories about you and music.”
“You what?”
“Kara,” Jason said.
“Yup,” Carson said. “Tanner’d kill me if I didn’t go to see with my own eyes whether Kara is as big a liar as we know she is.”
“What?”
“Totally made sense,” Jason said. “We’re going.”
Samantha looked at Sam, who had laid his head back on the couch and looked most of the way asleep.
“Exactly how I planned,” he said, smiling. “Please. Go be happy.”
“You’re sure?”
“This isn’t self-sacrifice.”
She knew it without him having to say it, but she wanted to hear it anyway.
“Settled,” Jason said. Samantha bit her lip.
“Is there an order you go to bars around here?” she asked. Carson grinned, standing.
“Hell if I know.”
“We’ll just go back where we were,” Jason said. She poked Sam.
“Don’t sleep on the couch all night,” she said. He rolled his head to look at her.
“Have fun.”
<><><>
Sam was asleep. His nightmares were, as predicted, bad. She could feel his feverishness and the frenzy of his mind as it tried to unpack and deal with what he had seen. She tried to keep up good spirits, drinking with Carson and Jason, laughing and teasing in a sibling kind of way. In truth she was happy. Sam was okay, he was protected, and she was with people who she enjoyed and who enjoyed her, but she was distracted. Sam’s dreams cast a pall on her, upset, afraid, alone, and then there was the part she still wasn’t admitting to herself.
She was looking for him.
Jason kept catching her at it, looking at her knowingly when he did, which was worse than him just coming out and making fun of her. But she kept losing track of the conversation, watching the group of bodies on the dance floor, waiting for one to move differently. Tall and Asian. He had to stand out. She couldn’t miss him.
