• “Dewasré!” an inky voice called. Wasré groggily flicked on the lamp beside the bed and looked into the shadows. “Dewasré, you sneaky thief. I should have known it was you.” His eyes dilated and turned red as he donned the vision that would allow him to see his own kind.

    “Should have known who was me?” he asked in confusion. A demon slinked into the light and looked at him through crimson, almond-shaped eyes.

    “I heard talk of a demon that was protecting a human from possession. I should have known it was you, saving the best host for yourself.”

    “I wanted to observe him for a while, and those pesky underlings kept trying to steal him from me so that I had to fight them every time the boy went to sleep.” The demon sat back on its spindly legs and clawed feet, wrapping a slender black tail around himself.

    “So how come you haven’t left yet? What’s so interesting that you decided to stay for a while?” the creature asked.

    “Curiosity. I’ve found myself in interesting circumstances.” He didn’t want to tell the demon that the possession was a little flawed. He didn’t want to face his fellow demons until he was sure that Seth was never coming back. “There’s a human girl who knows what I am, but doesn’t seem afraid or angry. She wants me to stay a while, so I’m seeing what becomes of it.” The demon’s eyes widened.

    “Dewasré! What if she has plans to capture you? You might become the next unwilling test subject for doctors who try to pry us from our hosts, or worse yet, create a vaccine for the virus!”

    “Do you honestly think I have no defenses? I’ve escaped from captors enough times to know what I’m doing. Besides, the virus has its defenses too. No virus in the world mutates as fast or as radically. Relax, Séseré.” The demon looked at his claws, defeated but not content.

    “Do you know how Quison is doing?”

    “No. I haven’t seen him yet. His host infected mine, right?”

    “Yes. His name was something like Larry or Guy or something.”

    “Gary.”

    “That’s the one.” Wasré glanced at the alarm clock beside his bed.

    “Look, I need to get to sleep. You know very well that humans don’t hold up very well with little rest.”

    “Right. Good luck, Dewasré.”

    “Thanks.” He flicked the lamp off tried to put his racing mind to sleep.
    ----------------------------------------------------------
    So far Mrs. Colber hadn’t suspected anything. The idea that her son no longer existed never even crossed her mind. The bus driver asked Wasré what had happened to his face and he answered with the well-rehearsed story that some kids got mad at him for accidentally busting an iPhone. He left out everything about Seth getting knocked unconscious and possessed, since that most likely wouldn’t go over too well. Wasré rode quietly in Seth’s seat, wearing Seth’s clothes, sitting beside Seth’s backpack, and looking through Seth’s eyes. He had started to listen to Seth’s ipod as well, but he was barraged by a playlist consisting of nothing but happy and bright songs and, not knowing how to change it, he stopped the music and left it to turn itself off.

    Jean met him at the bus stop with a solemn expression. She bit her lip as the reality of what had happened to Seth hit her once again, but she didn’t cry. Instead, a fake smile was plastered on her face to hide the pain as she hugged Wasré and pretended that nothing was wrong. “Are you ready?” she whispered in his ear.

    “Yeah.” She let him go, but stood close so she wouldn’t have to talk very loud.

    “Okay. Seth always stops by his locker first and picks up his English and Math books. Cason will come up and either punch you or stick an ear bud in your ear so you can listen to whatever emo music he got last night. If he punches you, twist his arm behind his back and put him in a headlock, but don’t hurt him. Making a comment about how weak he is might help too. If he sticks the headphone in your ear, listen for a moment and either push it away and say, ‘Stop making me listen to your goth stuff!’ or say, ‘Interesting…’ and tug it out of your ear. Got it?”

    “Got it.”

    “How good is your memory?”

    “Demons never forget.”

    “Shh…” Jean quickly told him his schedule and lots of other random bits of information that he would need to get through the day.

    Wasré’s hardest act was the part of Cason’s friend, since Jean already knew what he was and no one else payed that much attention to him. Luckily, his improvisation skills were pretty good and anything suspicious that he did was passed off as the result of Seth having an “off day.” By the time he got to third period, the first period he had where he was with Jean but not Cason, he had almost gotten used to Seth’s way of life.

    “How is it so far?” Jean asked quietly, staring at her desk. She and Wasré had picked the seats farthest away from the teacher and the other students so they could talk.

    Wasré shrugged. “Like being Seth, I guess. No one seems suspicious since they didn’t know he had the virus.” He felt a stab of pain in his head that turned into a steady throb, a sign that Seth was still fighting him.

    “Are you okay?” Jean asked when Wasré put a hand over his eyes.

    “Headache. It’s nothing.” He slid his hand up to Seth’s black hair and felt how soft it was. Hair was a luxury his last host hadn’t owned and it felt good to have it again.

    The substitute History teacher handed out busywork to keep the students distracted and out of trouble while the usual teacher was gone. The busywork, for the most part, was always a failure since the students knew they could just do the crossword or word find on the way to school and still hand it in for a grade. While the other kids chatted and texted on half-hidden cell phones, Jean handed Wasré a piece of notebook paper that was folded into fourths. He carefully unfolded it and read what it said.

    Tell me about demons. Wasré pulled out a pencil and replied. After several times back and forth, the letter was quite long.

    Demons live among humans even while they don’t have a host, mostly coming out at night. We mostly do this because we have kind of sensitive eyes that are bothered by extremely bright sunlight, though we can squint and still come out when we feel like it. When we have no host, which isn’t a very long time, the demons with no host usually gather in one spot and share stories about the life they just lived while waiting for our next whiff of a human or animal infected with demon virus. We usually prefer humans because they are more interesting, but if we must, we can inhabit animals as well. Anything else?

    Can you switch hosts without them dying?

    Yes.

    Then you could unpossess Seth?

    Who are you suggesting that I take in his stead?

    Nevermind. I’m just looking at all my options. How does possession work?

    We cut through the skin and seal it behind us when we are inside our host, then we spread from the point of entry and take control of everything we touch.

    Can you heal wounds then, if you can heal a cut? Also, if you went through surgery, would Seth still look human on the inside?

    Yes to the first question, and no to the second. If you cut me now, I would bleed black. Surely you’ve noticed by now that Seth’s fingernails and around his eyes are darker colors.

    And the bruises. They’re darker than normal ones, almost all black. By the way, I hate you.
    I know.

    Tell me about shape shifting.

    Once we take over a host, we can change their structure and composition in any way we like.

    Show me later.

    Okay.

    And tell Seth I love him, since I may never get the chance.

    The pain in Wasré’s skull flared hotter, making him wince.

    He heard you.

    When Jean read the note, she sighed with what sounded like relief. “I didn’t know if I’d ever get to tell him that,” she murmured. Wasré buried his face in his hands as Seth fought back harder until it felt like he was being stabbed from the inside. “Are you okay?” Jean asked in concern, leaning in closer.

    “He’s…fighting me,” Wasré stammered. Jean leaned closer still, until she was right next to his ear.

    “Come back, Seth,” she whispered. Wasré abruptly stood up and ran out the door. The substitute looked up in alarm. “He was feeling sick,” Jean quickly explained. “I’ll go see if he’s okay.” She calmly walked out and found Wasré sitting against the wall only two feet from the entrance. She waited for the door to click shut behind her before she spoke. “You’re bleeding,” she noted indifferently.

    “This I know. It would be nice if you didn’t egg him on.” Now that they were alone, he used his normal, deep voice. A line of black, ink-like blood trailed from his mouth and the ear that Jean had spoken in.

    “Can you blame me for wanting him back?” she asked coldly, crossing her arms and staring at the wall opposite them.

    “No. It just hurts really bad when I have to fight a host, though I don’t expect you to have any sympathy in that regard.” Wasré leaned back against the wall and sighed. Staying and living Seth’s life was almost too much trouble for what it was worth. “Do you feel like skipping?” he asked hopefully.

    “Kinda,” she said, turning her gaze to the floor and leaning against the wall. “Let’s ask if we can go to the library and then tell Cason to say that we stayed in the nurse’s office for the rest of the day.”

    “That sounds good.”

    Click here for part 6!