Janet and I climbed up a nearby stairwell with haste, unaware of what we’d face next. The closer we got, the stronger the negativity became. It was overwhelming to say the least, and nothing could prepare me for what, or who, was the source of it all.

“V-Val?”

There stood my best friend with a grimace I had never seen her express. On the floor were the dead bodies of the hospital staff and her foster parents, whose blood covered her robe and the pair of scissors in her hand. Shaking in fear was Tyler, who may have been the person responsible for this bloodbath. He turned to me and spoke.

“A-Aliyah, who is that? T-that’s not Valeria. This isn’t what I wanted."

“Oh, it’s me,” Valeria assured in a demonic voice. “Or do you not recognize me when I’m finally standing up for myself?”

Lucas walked over to me from a small group of terrified survivors huddled in a corner. “Ali, it’s good you’re safe. You’re not hurt, are you?”

“I’m fine. Can you and Janet get these people out of here? I have a feeling this is going to get nasty, and only I can get through to Tyler.”

“I can hear you, you know,” Valeria voiced with a freakish smile, licking the blood off the scissors. “Who said I was done killing these pathetic souls? It’s typical you’d do whatever you want, Aliyah, and not worry about how I’d feel. Is it because you had a secret friend all along?” She pointed the scissors at Janet.

“Girl, I am not the one you wanna mess with,” Janet retorted. “Trust me, I’ll—”

“Janet, stop,” I interrupted her. “Please, just work with Lucas and get everyone out of the building.”

She groaned before persuading the hospital staff to run down the stairwell. Lucas assisted, but failed to convince Alvin to leave.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Alvin said to him. “Go on, boy, before you get yourself killed.”

“Just go, Lucas,” I told him. He approached and kissed me on the lips without warning. There were so many thoughts running through my mind that I didn’t know how to respond.

“If there’s anyone who can fix this, it’s you, Ali. I love you. Make it out of here alive.”

He followed Janet and the staff down the stairs, leaving me, Tyler, and Alvin alone with a cackling Valeria. Her demonic tongue mixed with laughter made for an unsettling sound that should never be heard by anyone.

“Oh look, I’m actually the center of your attention for once. It only took the lives of ten people to get it.”

“She’s always cared about you,” Tyler said in my defense. “Val, if you’re really in there, please come back to me. This isn’t you. You’re not a murderer.”

I wasn’t sure how to tell him—or if I’d even have a chance to—but the Valeria he fell in love with was gone. The only power keeping her alive was his desire that finally manifested with assistance from the demons. All that remained was her hatred toward the both of us for not being there when she needed us the most.

“You two are so fake, it’s insulting,” she hissed. “You’re just like the rest of the world. You only care after something happens. You ignore any signs of a problem because you think it’ll just go away and everything will be fine. Well, that clearly didn’t happen, did it? No. I killed myself because neither of you were there for me.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Val, I tried to—”

“Shut up,” she cut me off. “You tried to do what? Stop me from jumping off a roof the morning after I was taken advantage of? I called you the night before it happened, but let me guess, you didn’t answer because you put Lucas in front of me, like always. Maybe it’s him I need to kill.”

Her eyes shifted to the staircase Lucas had gone down. The second she made her way forward, I released a ray of light in hopes of freeing her from demonic influence. What happened instead was something I should have expected: my power had no effect. It had no impact because she wasn’t the source of negativity.

Tyler was.

“What was that?” Valeria giggled. “Was that the incredible light you always talked about? Those demons you fight must be a joke if they go down from such a simple sparkle.”

I turned to Tyler, whose eyes were ready to pop out of their sockets. He still couldn’t believe what was going on.

“Tyler, I can’t stop her, but you can,” I told him. “You need to let go of her and accept that she’s not coming back. I’m sorry, but our Val is gone.”

“How can you tell me not to want her back? I love her. I need her. You can’t force me to never miss her again.”

A sinister growl escaped Valeria’s lips as she approached me with evil intent. She attempted to jab me with the scissors in her hand, but I grabbed her wrist and redirected her arm. We tussled over the weapon, her increased strength from the evil energy giving her an edge that resulted in me on floor after a hard swing of her arm.

She pounced on top of me, the pressure of her weight pinning me to the floor as she tried to drive the scissors into my chest. I fought hard to prevent my death, gripping her wrist to pull the weapon away.

“Tyler, please,” I pleaded, feeling overpowered. “If you really love her, you’ll free her from this curse. Stop wanting her back. Let her rest in peace.”

“I... I can’t.”

I knew he couldn’t do it. It was to be expected. She was the love of his life, after all. How could I ask something like that of him? Maybe because I was going to die if he didn’t. But what happened next surprised me: he grabbed Valeria from behind and pulled her off.

“How dare you protect her,” she hollered as he tried to contain her in a choke hold. She broke free, resulting in the worst thing that could happen: she stabbed Tyler in the gut.

I screamed in response and unleashed a beam of light. It did little to Valeria, but it was enough to separate her from him. He fell to his knees with blood painting his white shirt.

Rushing to his side, I covered his wound with my hands. “Tyler, please be okay. Don’t die.”

Valeria eerily giggled and uttered, “How cute. Sure you two are just friends? You could’ve fooled me.”

“A-Aliyah,” Tyler managed to cough out. “I’m sorry. All I w-wanted was to have her back. I-I never meant for this to happen.”

“I know. I’m not mad, Tyler, but sometimes, when you love someone, you have to let them go. So I’m gonna do something to end this, alright? We won’t have to suffer anymore.”

He smiled, confirming he knew what I was going to do, and that he was okay with it. He closed his eyes and let my light into his body, freeing him from the darkness that had influenced his manifested desire. The cost? Forgetting everything that happened today.

Valeria charged at me with the scissors in her hand, but it was too late. She convulsed until her body stood as stiff as a board, eventually collapsing on the ground with no signs of life. Without medical support or a desire to keep her alive, my best friend was truly gone.

“Can someone help me?” I yelled, applying pressure to Tyler’s wound. It was then that Alvin reinserted himself into the picture.

“That was quite the spectacle. As a reward for entertaining me, I’ll be sure your friend stays alive.”

“You thought all of that was a game?” I stood up and glowered at him. “My friend is dying.”

“I can see that, which is why I’m offering my services. I’ll see to it that he’s transported to the finest hospital in the city with just one call. All I ask of you is to depart this building without anyone seeing you. I’m certain you can hear the SWAT team making their way up here.”

He was right. Heavy stomps were coming in our direction. But why wouldn’t he want me to be seen? And did he really think I’d leave Tyler alone with him?

Just who was this guy, really?

“You’d best be going by exiting through the emergency door down the hall. Trust me when I say that everything will work in our favor if I’m the only one being asked the questions.”

Something about the way he spoke was convincing, like this whole evening was set up just the way he planned. I didn’t trust him, but not being interrogated sounded too good to pass up. I would hate for my mom and dad to know I was involved in something else.

“Fine. You’ll take care of him, right?”

“You have my word, Miss Dawn.”

Confused, scared, and disheartened, I pushed open the emergency door and ran downstairs, leaving out of the hospital. I was certain that today I had lost a boyfriend, a best friend, and maybe even someone I considered a brother.