Delude

As quickly as I blinked, my back hit the wall, my spine digging into the stone. I gritted my teeth against the pain as a hand slid around my throat. Abby’s face loomed in front of me, her lips curved into a smirk as she leaned in close.

“I know what you can do,” she whispered, chuckling. “It’s nothing amazing. We all have a form of telekinesis.”

“Did you ever try and use it to kill your friend?” I asked, sneering at her. I shoved her back and pulled myself from the wall.

“What are you talking about?”

I smirked. “Evan’s dead. He’s got a giant piece of wood sticking him to the wall in the bedroom.” When she hesitated, I continued. “Don’t believe me? Go see for yourself.”

For a second, Abby looked horrified, then anger took place and she stared at me; eyes wide and hands shaking. Her eyes shifted, for a split second, to my mother. That was all the time she needed before the body was tossed into the air and held there.

“No! Let her go!”

“You don’t want me to do that,” Abby said, her voice quivering slightly. “I’ll let her down gently if you take me to see Evan.”

My mom’s body lowered little by little until it was on the floor again, and Abby nodded at me.

“Let’s go,” she said.

I bent toward my mother, tears filling my eyes, and brushed the hair out of her eyes. “You’re okay now,” I said. “They won’t hurt you again. I’ll stop them.”

I stood up and waited. Abby gripped my arm, hard, and pulled me out of the cell.

“If you’re lying, you little bitch, I swear to God I’ll kill you.”

I rolled my eyes as she yanked me out the door and down the hall toward the bedroom.

“What if you find out I’m not lying?”

“Oh, I’ll still kill you,” she assured me. “But before I do I’ll kill your mother and that guy you’ve been spending time with. Nixon, is it? Did you have a look at his wrist, lovely? Your darling best friend did that to him.”

I shivered. “Why are you doing this? I’ve never met you.”

Abby smiled, and in the soft light, her teeth almost looked pointed. She reached out and took me by the shoulders, then thrust me into the wall. This time I let out a cry.

“I was his favorite,” she snarled. “Evan and I were the only ones for a long time until he found you!” She slammed a fist into the wall beside me, the plaster cracking.

My mind reeled. “You’re jealous? He wanted to kill me.”

Her eyes widened and she stepped back. “You don’t get it. Casey, he was replacing me with you.”

I didn't understand.

“He told me to ruin you. To break your spirit so he could comfort you. Then he was going to kill me and make you into what he wanted.”

“This isn’t about me.” I looked at her, trying to figure things out. “You’re mad at him. Just let us go. He’s already dead.”

Abby looked at me, her honey eyes dark. “I can’t do that. I have to follow his orders.”

“But he’s dead!” I shouted, trying to make her see how wrong this was.

The atmosphere around us became thick. The air shimmed as she flexed her fingers and sent a wave of whatever energy she had been building out. I could feel it all around me; it hovered for some time before closing around me. The pressure of it was too much. I collapsed onto my knees as it slowly suffocated me.

The last thing that I remember seeing before I passed out completely was Noah’s face.