Chapter 9 A FRIENDLY POSSESSION II

• JASON'S P.O.V
• An hour after signing up to become a member of the club, I received a message which said that the venue for the meeting was no longer Perry's house but the second floor of a hotel that was about twenty minutes away. I grabbed a black hoodie and a pair of gloves for weather protection, a black pair of trousers and black sneakers, then I went downstairs to have dinner. When asked where I was headed for the night, I just said, "to a meeting. We've got a new club going on, and you guys are going to love it. It will be announced at the PTA this coming Sunday . I should be home by eight, but if I'm not, call me. " I had my breakfast in haste, and almost choked when I was asked "At school?" by my Dad. "Not really," I replied, "the hotel is twenty minutes away, directly across from the gymnasium." "A student meeting in a hotel?" "Are you crazy, Jason?" his dad asks with a sigh of irritation. "Dad, I swear I thought the same, but here," I said, showing them both the message I received, "it's a signature to make our plans stay low-key and the outcomes perfect. We're learning about taking leadership roles, developing confidence, setting goals, and a lot more that we're not taught at school. At work, your boss doesn't only require the book knowledge you chewed and poured; attitude is also required when dealing with customers and, well, some terrible bosses too. So, Mom and Dad, this club is going to help a lot of people, so I want to be there and be part of it from the beginning, so that one day when it's great, I'll be part of the faces. If this is one of those lies to get away for one week or whatever, you're lying to us. Dad replied with a frown on his face, but Mom just stayed out of it. Ever since I returned from HOMER, I haven't had any real conversations with her. She tries her best not to interfere in anything I do or say. After eating, I went to stand beside her and kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry for the last time." "Please forgive me, Mama," I said, wiping off a tear from my cheek and walking out. I had reached a building next to the hotel. Darkness had almost approached. In the corner, I heard the sound of papers as the wind blew, tossing them all around. I looked around to see if there was anybody looking at me. Then I took out my phone to look at a picture of Eliot that I saved from Facebook to help me transform into him without any mistakes. Immediately, I transformed and walked out. I heard a sound from behind me, then a piece of paper was tossed in my direction. It was wet and had been rolled up like a ball. I looked over my shoulder, only to see the scariest sight I had ever beheld. There, in the midst of newspapers floating all around, stood a young boy, about eight or nine years old, and he had his arms stretched out towards me. His whole body was wet; hair wet, clothes wet, trousers and shoes, everything, yet it wasn't a rainy day. My heart began to beat a little faster than usual, so I tried to pretend he was just a figment of my imagination and decided to continue walking, but then he said to me, "These are roads untraveled; go home and let the clock tick, but if it stops on your account, there is nothing you can do to save yourself." That stopped me in my tracks. Then he lifted his eyes. For the first time, I noticed his face was white, whiter than an Irishman. His eyes would have been the most beautiful white I had ever seen if not for the bloody red color which was found beneath both pupils. It looked as if he had drowned against his will. "For if you knew what darkness this night held for you," he continued in a frail voice, "you would not try to stop us. Run! " He said, "And never look back, because you cannot fight us." "Join us or your blood will be food for the dogs." Those last words forced out sweat from my skin, and I felt the weather grow cold. At once, I saw his head burst open and blood spill out, causing me to throw up, but he vanished into thin air. Fear gripped every bit of my being, so I turned around to go back home. But just as I began to walk, someone called out from behind, saying my new name, "Eliot!". At first, I forgot I had transformed into him, so I continued to walk away, but the person persisted, "Eliot, the meeting is this way." I breathed in deeply, then I turned. Oh, I forgot, I'm the club secretary! " I said, "I was just going to get a bottle of water for my dry throat. Will I get some in there? " "Silly you, of course you will," she replied in a friendly fashion, "come on, let's go, we have a minute left." We walked into the hotel and entered the elevator on our left, then selected the second floor. When we got to the second floor, I followed her into one of the rooms, which was wide enough to contain the twenty-five people present. Most of them were students from my class, and a few of them were outsiders. I could tell because of the complete silence that pervaded the room. Perry placed a hold on whatever she was saying and gave a broad smile from the front. Just then, everyone present smiled at us in unison as the secretary and I walked in. Not wanting it to look awkward, I smiled back and said hi. "Look how perfect you two look together," Perry said, "our secretary and our future right hand." "Me?" I asked, puzzled because I had just joined in. "Yes, Eliot!" She replied, with a broad smile, "or should I say Jason?" "You're probably wondering how I found out," she explained. "If the mountain won't come to Moses, he walks to it." Now that you're here, why don't we show you what absolute power feels like? " She turned to me and said, "Get him." Every member of the audience got up and turned their attention towards me. I had not sat down, so the door was still open. I scratched my fingers on the walls to light a fire on my fingertips. Then I targeted one of the chairs and pointed all my fingers at it. It caught on fire and then exploded, giving me enough time to make an escape, but not for long. The elevator would not open; it was in use, so I had to try the staircase. By the time I got closer to the staircase, I felt a strong wind sweep me off my feet, causing me to lose balance and hit my body hard on the wall. I freed fire on the person who caused it, but I missed and caught a cleaner's towel off guard. Immediately, she dropped it, and looking in my direction, she began screaming, "Monster! Help!" She commenced a run towards the room I had come out of, but the pack got hold of her and I saw one of those skeleton-shaped clouds sinking into her. She fell off her feet and began shivering, then got back on her feet again, with her new pair of red eyes fixed on me as her target. I ran down the stairs towards the restaurant of the hotel, but on the final step I slipped, and hit my body hard on the floor. I shouted, "Run!" to the surrounding people. Curious to find out what was happening, some stood to watch the approaching army of students, now turned legion. I formed a fireball and released it towards them, to hold them back long enough for the innocents to escape. My muscles began to ache, and the pain was unbearable, but they wouldn't stop pursuing me. I, on the other hand, couldn't strike any of them because if there's one thing I know about possession, it is that, when a host has a defect, the parasite is forced to come out, but fire can kill an innocent host, so I thought about surrendering. I tried something more extreme as I picked myself up. I placed my fists firmly against the walls, then channeled fire through them, making the temperature in the entire hotel increase. I heard screams from the demons when they tried to come out of their hosts, but I stopped when I realized the entire building had been caught on fire. Plastic items had melted by catching fire, and their magma-like fire spread out on the surrounding floors. People were screaming as they ran out of the hotel. The painful part was seeing a woman carrying her infant child wrapped in white clothing, crying her heart out. I knelt and shouted, "I surrender," with tears rushing down my cheek. I felt drops of water hitting the surface of the tiles and splashing in my direction. I looked up and saw the little eight or nine-year old again, "I warned you!" He said this, but behind him, I saw one of the skeleton-shaped clouds speeding towards me. It was the last thing I saw before thinking about Elena, and shouting with a frail voice, "Elly... Help me!" But the feeling after I blacked out was one of great distress. I felt stuck. I couldn't do anything, but I was alive. At least that's what I thought.
• ELENA's POV