“Obviously the double date with Austin is out. If you’re still interested, there’s a couple of guys that I can ask, but you’ll probably have to work harder to put yourself out there. Maybe try on some of Kara’s dresses or put on her makeup.”

Britney had called Julia over the phone. The only reason Julia had answered was because she was feeling anxious. News about Austin’s injuries had been traveling slowly, but it didn’t seem like he was dead. However, he might be in critical condition. People tended to blow things out of proportion, it was difficult for her to know what she was hearing was true or spun up lies to cause more drama.

All Julia wanted was a distraction, but anywhere she looked, she saw Austin’s torn up face. Her father had ordered takeout again, and Julia was eating her pizza in her room. Even Britney’s pushy and bitchy attitude was somehow a welcome change to her evening.

“I don’t want to go through Kara’s belongings.”

“Are you seriously going to let all of that stuff go to waste? I guess it’s for the best. You’re pissy enough as it is. First, your slapping me, and who knows how you’ll act out next? Someone could get seriously hurt if you don’t learn to have some fun.”

Julia frowned. “I was going to wait for mom to come back and we were going to donate most of it.” Though she wasn’t really certain when her mom was going come back, if ever.

A loud gasp was on the other end of the phone. “I’ll send over my mom to do it!”

“I don’t want your mom over.”

“My mother is always wanting to do motherly things, but I’m busy with all of my stuff. I’ll tell her that you need help and that I can’t do it because I’ve got cheerleading practice this Saturday. But really, you’d be doing me a huge favor because I want to bring Tyler over to my house. You’ll be able to clean out your room and I get laid. It’s perfect!”

Julia looked about the room. Even if she wasn’t ready to let go of Kara, maybe… She didn’t know if getting rid of Kara’s stuff would be a healing experience or if it would hurt her more. Either way, she wasn’t ready.

“Maybe later… I don’t really want to deal with that now.”

“Awesome! I’ll talk to my mom and see what she thinks!”

Britney hung up on her before Julia could confirm that she only wanted to be left alone at the moment. She glanced at Kara’s bed, where Trill was staring at her. The tip of his tail was twitching impatiently, and his arms were folded across his chest.

“Am I interrupting?”

“... No. I’m fine. We can talk now.”

Trill stared at her for a moment longer, waiting for something else to interrupt. He sneered when nothing happened. “Do you wish to continue down this path?”

As long as there was someone else that had hurt Kara, “Yes.”

His tail twitched with agitation again. “This conflict of interests is bothersome to me. I will require more than I have asked before. Telling others of my ritual will no longer keep my interest.”

And as long as she was going down the path of vengeance, Julia was going to need his help in order to keep herself and her family safe. “What do you want?”

“What do you have to offer?”

Thinking about it nearly made Julia gag. What did he want? Did he want her body? She remembered Kara’s memory and the way her body had felt after sex. That wasn’t something she wanted to experience anytime soon, nor would she want to do that with a demon. Other than that, she had no idea what a demon would want.

“Would you want to drink my blood?”

His ritual required a sacrifice of flesh. She didn’t want him to eat her, but maybe he would take some of her blood instead. Indeed, the idea did intrigue him. His face stayed the same, but the tip of his tail had sped up.

“Intriguing.” He got up from the bed and knelt down on the floor in front of her. “I vow to assist you. You will have to find your targets and punish them on your own, but I will protect you afterward. No human will know of your crimes. In exchange, you will give me your heart, and I will give you mine.”

Julia froze up as he put a hand to his chest. “Oh… No… No, no, no.”

Trill unzipped his hoodie and his claws pierced the skin of his chest. He continued to push his hand in as dust flowed about his wrist, and yanked out his heart. It was a grey and dried out, wrinkled, and ash was flaking out of the valves.

“Eat,” he said in a commanding tone.

Oh right, because of course that was what he meant. Eat his heart so she could continue her quest. She took it with both of her hands and stared down at it. It was lighter than she imagined it would be, and it wouldn’t be cannibalism, would it? He was a demon. Though, she didn’t know what sort of effect it would have on her.

“Would this make me a demon?”

“You and I would share some abilities. Nothing that you would find adverse.” He smiled. “Either eat it or give up on your sister.”

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She sniffed it. Stale, and yet kinda like jerky. Biting into it, the texture was worse than his ash blood. It broke apart easily but became a paste in her mouth. Snatching up her soda, Julia began to take large bites before washing them down. Even as she gagged and nearly choked on her meal, she continued to devour his heart.

Trill continued to grin as she reached for her pizza slice next, wolfing it down in an attempt to purge her mouth of the ill flavor. He put his hand to his chest in an attempt to stop the dust from leaking from his wound. Despite his smile, he was faltering. Tearing out a piece of himself had left him weakened.

Julia coughed a few times. “Right, so-” She coughed again. “S-sorry.”

She pulled off her sweater without being asked. There was a sports bra underneath, so she didn’t feel exposed at all. Trill immediately looked at her in a predatory manner. He lunged at her, pinning her down to the bed by the shoulders. Her eyes went wide as his jaw unhinged and clamped down on her chest.

Her world spiraled about her as pain took over. She couldn’t see, nor could she breathe. All there was was the horrid agony, the crunching of bone, and the heavy scent of blood that filled the air. As he continued to chew, her body jerked slightly, and that sound… That terrible sound of him gnawing through raw flesh.

The last thing she saw was his mask as he went for a breath of air. Covered in blood, sharp teeth shining in the dim light of the room. He let out a low moan before he dived back in, devouring her more enthusiastically than he had before.

Julia blinked, and she could make out the sound of morning birds. There were no crashing noises or the gnawing of flesh, simply birds. A heavyweight was on her left side. She tilted her head and noticed that Trill was curled about her. Sleeping peacefully despite his mask. Her only response was to shove away his face with a hand as she sat up.

She immediately began to pat down her chest. Everything seemed whole again. There was only a white scar over her heart, like a thin incision had been made there. Julia’s next action was to check her pulse. That also appeared to be normal.

Next to her, Trill began to sit up. He let out a low groan as he put his hand to his temple. His head was throbbing as though he had been up all night drinking alcohol instead of blood. Another groan escaped him as Julia skittered away from him. Instead of saying anything, he flopped back down on the bed and pulled the blanket up around himself.

Julia stood up and immediately fell back down to the floor. She was lightheaded. Though her chest was no longer ripped open, it appeared as though the blood loss was real. Crawling to her nightstand, she grabbed her phone and checked the time. It was too late to go to school, and her dad was at work.

That was probably a good thing. She found her sweater on the floor and pulled it above her head. Then she went over to her sister’s half of the room and began to go through her phone. Everything she needed to know about her next target was in here. All she needed to do was find it.

Austin said that he walked in on Kara having an argument on the phone. After he confronted her, she suggested that they get together as partners for their biology project. That gave Julia a perfect timeline. Kara preferred texting over talking, thus the majority of her calls were with Tyler or girls from the cheerleading squad.

There were three calls on her phone that Julia had not been able to identify. It was from a number that Kara hadn’t saved. Julia had tried calling it before, but it had already been disconnected. She had assumed it was a burner phone, or at least someone using an app to mimic a burner phone. That had to be the person she had an argument with, but she had no way to find out who that was.

“Come back to bed,” muttered Trill.

Julia ignored him and went to where she kept Kara’s egg. She sat on the floor and held it in her hands. “There was someone else aside from Austin. They hurt you, and I need you to show me who it was. Please, Kara…”

The egg felt cold in her hands. Julia’s face tensed. Was it that bad? Or did Kara do something wrong, and she didn’t want Julia to see? Either way, the silence wasn’t helping. Julia couldn’t help her sister as long as she was being kept in the dark.

“Even if you ask nicely, there are some secrets that are better left hidden.” Trill didn’t move from his spot. His back remained facing her as he took his time to rest up.

“Then what am I supposed to do?” She began to rotate the egg about in her hands. Holding it up, she looked through it and saw Kara. Her sister was sitting in the corner of the room, with her back facing towards them.

Trill sat up, once again putting his hand to the side of his head as he did so. “You have some of my power. Use it.”

Julia lowered the egg and stared at it. Her hands went from dark to pitch black as she began to concentrate. “Show me the phone call that Austin witnessed.”

That spinning sensation again, and she was in Kara’s body. She was hiding in someone’s room and had a phone held up to her ear. From the way the room was set up, it looked like a guest room. There weren’t any distinguishing markers that it belonged to a person, and the decorations were generic.

“One time wasn’t good enough for me.”

There was a male voice on the other end of the phone. Julia didn’t recognize him at all, but Kara was livid. She was pacing back and forth while speaking in a heated tone.

“It was a one time deal. I don’t want to see you again or have anyone know I had anything to do with you.” Though Kara didn’t notice, the door opened slightly. Austin was holding his ear up to the gap.

“I know that you haven’t had enough. I haven’t had enough.”

“Please stop calling me,” whispered Kara.

His voice lowered in a threatening manner. “You’re going to end up like Mackenzie if you don’t do what I say.”

“I’m not going to meet with you.” Kara’s voice was shaking as she spoke. She looked over at the door and let out a surprised gasp. “Don’t call me again.” She quickly hung up the phone before addressing Austin’s shadow. “Who are-”

Julia was overcome with dizziness as she was forced out of the memory. “No… Not yet. Show me who that was. Who were you talking to?” She attempted to concentrate on the egg again, but her hands felt like they were burning. The pain was so great that she was forced to set the egg down on the floor.

Her skin felt raw and sore, as though it had been scrubbed to death from within. Spotty bruises were forming along her arms and hands. Even her nails had turned purple, like she had smashed them in a door.

Shaking, she stood up and moved to the bookshelf. Despite Kara’s resistance, she still had a clue. Mackenzie. The name wasn’t one she recognized, but that’s what the yearbook was for. Every student’s name was listed in the back along with what pages they were on, and Mackenzie was an unusual enough name…

There. Mackenzie Foster.

Julia flipped to her picture. Her face wasn’t familiar, but she was in the AP Club. Flipping to that page, Julia found a group of seven students who made up the club. Two girls and five boys. They had a group photo of themselves together on their page, including several of Mackenzie.

“Mio.”

Julia pointed to the only other girl in the group. Even though she didn’t want to, it looked like she would have to ask for Mio’s help. Her jaw tensed for a moment. If Mackenzie was hurt somehow, as her sister had been, then they might not be the last. This wasn’t about avenging her sister anymore. This was about stopping a potential serial killer.