Sinister

Scott is waiting for me when I step into my apartment. I pushed the door closed, and he's standing at the fridge, like he used to.

"You need to go shopping," he said.

"You don't need to eat," I replied, putting my bag down. "I guess you've given up trying to mess up my life?"

"Oh, no." He turned, his eyes dark. The stain on his shirt is still there, the blood dripping onto the sleeve of his jacket. "I'm still wishing you a slow death, Charlie. But you've got a job to do, and I need to make sure you do it."

I shook my head.

"Would you rather John watched over you?" he asked. "We'll be with you, to make sure you do what's expected of you."

"And what if I don't?"

Scott frowned, put his hand over the wound in his chest, and glared at me.

"Then we'll just as John to kill you, it's that simple."

"John can't do—"

"Actually, he can. We're not a weak as you think we are. Here are the rules, since you've chosen to ignore them countless times: kill anyone who knows about your secret, or we're going to make sure you suffer like we did at your hands."

I shut my eyes. "Why is John doing this to me?"

"You mean, besides for revenge?"

"He wanted to die!" I shouted. "He pulled the trigger."

"He had to," Scott responded. "It's part of the plan."

The plan. John had so many plans orchestrated—for Eden, for Scott, for me. We were just pawns in his game.

"What does he want, Scott?" I whispered.

"He's collecting them," he said. "That's why he has me and Elena doing things for him. He's trying to make you give it up so he can take it."

"Take what?" I asked, my voice trembling.

Scott's eyes flickered, and he looked like the man I knew before I put a bullet in his chest and watched him bleed out in the rain.

"Your soul," he said quietly.