In one swift movement, Aubrey empties her locker with her hand and pushes the remaining stuff into a plastic bag. She still has to take a few make-up final tests on Friday, but she doesn't want to wait for this. She's just glad that she's going to leave high school for good, despite the fact that not all her problems will go away once she graduates.

Another blackout struck again last Sunday, and Lorraine was there witnessing it.

That morning, she was reluctant to attend the Sunday sermon for a reason she couldn't explain. However, her sense won the battle, and she forced herself to get ready. Then a strange thing happened. Once she got dressed and looked at her reflection in the mirror, the rage started boiling inside her. She was angry, and the anger was addressed to the person she was glaring at. Herself. It was so confusing as if she was split into two persons, with two different minds and two different emotions. The last thing she saw was her eyes turning into pitch-black and a sneer forming in her lips.

Later in the day, she woke up in her bedroom, lying on her bed with awfully sore muscles all over. Bob sat on her seat next to her bed, reading his textbook. In the next few days, Bob, Sandra, and Pastor Marlon took a turn to help Lorraine look after her until she felt better.

Aubrey is not sure if it's a good thing that her adoptive parent has finally discovered her current issue. Lorraine might not say it out loud, but Aubrey can tell how nervous and extra cautious she's now around her. It pushes Aubrey's buttons down. She just wants to be treated as a normal person, not as a teenage weirdo with a mental illness.

A movement next to her locker pulls Aubrey's mind back to the quiet school corridor. When she closes her locker door, Asher's face comes into view, a smirk adorning his face.

"Hey, you. I haven't seen you around for a while," he says.

Aubrey's lips curl up into a nervous smile. Her mind jumps to the scene last Friday on that filthy sofa. The warmth instantly creeps on her face. "Hey. Yeah, I wasn't feeling that well."

"Oh?" Asher raises her eyebrows. "I didn't know that. Feeling better now?"

"I am." Aubrey nods, glancing at her bags that are lying next to her feet.

"I just realized that I didn't have your number." Asher fishes his black smartphone out of his pocket. The colorful light glows on its screen once he unlocks it. "I think it's handier to have each other's number, don't you think? For the prom."

"Oh. Yeah." Hesitantly, Aubrey's hand dives into her bag. It's not that she doesn't want to exchange numbers with him, she just wishes Asher didn't see her out-of-date phone. Almost no one keeps a dumb phone with a physical keyboard these days.

"Sweet. I'll text you," Asher says after having her number saved. "I'll pick you up at six-thirty?"

Lorraine's face flashes in Aubrey's mind. "Uh, about that. Can you just wait by the street near my house instead of coming to the door?" When Asher frowns, Aubrey quickly adds, "Lo… I mean, my mother isn't a fan of a school prom. I need to come up with another reason, then put on my prom gown somewhere outside the house."

"Oh, wow! Are we planning to do something naughty, Aubrey? I'm excited." Asher bites his lower lip as his eyes travel to Aubrey's. "I love rebels."

"Bree, Mom is waiting for us. Let's go!" Bob calls from the other end of the corridor. He's going to give Aubrey a lift since Aubrey is clearing out her locker.

"Okay," Aubrey answers before checking if her locker is locked. She then grabs her bags and smiles at the boy who is now leaning against her locker, hands in his jeans pockets. "Gotta go. See you, Ash."

"You definitely will." The boy's eyes are following Aubrey's movement, ignoring the death glare Bob is sending him.

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"I still think it's not a good idea," Bob says as they enter the small road to Lorraine's farmhouse. "I have a feeling he's going to hurt you."

"Hurt me how? Asher and I are just going to prom together, Bob. Everyone will be there, you and Lizzie included. You can glare at him the whole evening if you want. Plus, people can hurt me only if I let them. It's not like I like him or something." The lie slips through Aubrey's lips effortlessly.

"Have you told Lorraine?"

Aubrey bites her inner cheek. "Not yet. I'm still figuring it out. Don't tell her yet, okay?"

As Bob parks his mom's car in the driveway, Aubrey jumps out of the car. Being in the car with Bob and arguing over Asher makes her feel jittery again. Carrying her bags, she marches to the house.

"Did Bob annoy you again?" Sandra asks. She is sitting on the front porch with a book in her hand.

Aubrey shrugs. "He's just being Bob," she says, earning a cackle from Bob's mom. "I don't see Lorraine's car. Where is she?"

The laugh in Sandra's face dies. "About that, I need to talk to you." Sandra shifts her gaze to Bob as the boy saunters toward them. "I'm going to talk with Aubrey. Privately. Can you wait inside?"

Bob frowns, glancing at Aubrey before nodding at his mom. "Sure."

Aubrey plops down on the balcony wooden rails, next to Sandra's chair. After Bob disappears from their sight, Sandra takes a deep breath and looks up at Aubrey.

"What I'm going to tell you is probably hard for you to take. But you have to know about this."

Aubrey knits her eyebrows, feeling nervous all of sudden. "Is it about my sickness?" She just started a brief session with Sandra again yesterday. Has her counselor already figured out what she's having this time?

"Yes and no. And I wouldn't call it a sickness. It's more of a situation."

"Okay?"

"But let me ask you something first. Have you experienced anything disturbing lately? I mean, other than the voices in your head, have you also seen things?"

"Things? Do you mean something like a hallucination?"

"Yeah."

Aubrey frowns and shakes her head. "Not that I remember. I only hear voices, but they are very clear as if someone is living inside me, talking to me. And sometimes it's hard to tell if it's me I'm listening to or the other voice."

"When you were about to have a blackout, did the voice get louder and more intense?"

"Yeah. Actually, I couldn't even control my actions at some point. It feels like I was trapped in my own body but couldn't do anything." Aubrey looks up at Sandra under her eyelashes. "Do you think I suffer from split personalities?"

Sandra tilts her head, looking surprised. "Why do you think that?"

"I've read about this stuff, you know. Have you read Sybil Isabel Dorset's story, the girl with sixteen personalities? She also experienced blackouts every time another personality took over. And she couldn't remember anything during the period. It sounds familiar…"

"I'm afraid it's not the case with you."

"It's not?" Aubrey asks, feeling slightly relieved before the realization hits her. If it's not it, what will it be?

"No. Lorraine talked to whatever took over your body during your blackout. It didn't only talk back, Aubrey, it could move objects without even touching them. It's beyond a psychological issue. We believe it has something to do with a paranormal activity."

Aubrey feels the sudden twist in the gut. "A paranormal activity?"

"Yes. It also explains where Lorraine is now." Sandra shifts, straightening up her posture. "She and my father are meeting other pastors who are capable of conducting some investigation. They are also eligible to perform an exorcism if it's needed."

Sandra's explanation is like jumbled words in Aubrey's head. Paranormal. Investigation. Exorcism. "Are you saying I'm being possessed by a bad spirit?"

"We're not one hundred percent sure, but we're looking at the possibility. However, before we proceed with this, you need to give us your permission. Otherwise, it will be ten times harder to work on."

"I don't… wait, how did this happen? I'm sure I never touched any of those occult objects. I never opened any gate to the spirit world."

Sandra's face turns sad all of a sudden. "I believe you, Aubrey. You've been a good girl, and you always keep yourself from those dark activities. But it's more complicated than that."

"Fill me in. I have a right to know. What have I done wrong?"

"It's not what you did."

"What then?"

"Unfortunately, I'm not the right person to tell you this. All I can say is, you've been exposed to this activity since you were born."

"What?" Familiar nausea kicks in. Aubrey clutches her stomach while her head is getting lighter. Something is pulling her into the pit of emptiness again, but she is trying to fight it. She is still struggling to stay conscious when Sandra stands up and grabs her.

"Pray with me, Aubrey! We need to ask for God and the Holy Spirit's protection!" Sandra's voice is becoming distant every second. "Bob! Come here! Quick!"

The next thing Aubrey knows is Bob's grip on both of her arms.

"Dear God of power, who promised us the Holy Spirit through Your Son, Jesus Christ, we pray to You for this pupil, who presents herself before You. Protect her from the spirit of evil, and guard her against fallacies and sin. Confirm what she professes in faith, so that her words may not be empty, but full of the grace and power by which Your Son has freed the world. We ask this through Christ our Lord!"

Aubrey hears herself whisper, together with the other two. "Amen."

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