Prowl.

I flailed and kicked, but he held me tight. His body crushed mine. I went limp, tiring from the struggle.

"You can"t get rid of me. No matter how hard you try. I"m a part of you now, Kenzie."

He slithered around me, tying my legs and arms and lastly weaving around my neck. Wesley squeezed and my body buzzed like all the circulation was being cut off from my limbs. I felt my windpipe closing up and I leaned against his sleek, slimy body for support.

"It doesn"t have to be like this." His tongue darted in and out of my ear as he spoke. "I can save you if you just ask me to."

With all my strength I nodded. He released my body and I slumped back on the bed, the feeling slowly returning to my limbs. I gulped in air, relieving my burning lungs and throat. Wesley slid across my bed, gently touched my cheek with his scaly skin. His black reptilian eyes locked with mine.

"Just remember, I"m the only one who can save you now."

I nodded, too weary to speak.

"If you obey me, I"ll protect you. But if you betray me again I"ll destroy you and your family. Maybe I"ll even kill that boyfriend of yours too."

My heart hurt as I thought of Isaac and Mom and Grandma. What had I done? What evil had I brought upon us? The words of Sandy ran through my mind.

Be careful. That snake is out to destroy you.

If only I had listened. If only I had understood what she meant. It was the last part that nagged at me though. There is only one person who can save you from him. I had no idea who that person was.

"Rest now, my child. I"ll see you in the morning." The snakelike body disappeared, leaving me alone in my room.

I entered the kitchen to find Mom and Grandma sitting at the table sipping coffee and chatting. Mom"s hair was sticking up all over her head, her eyes were ringed with black mascara that she neglected to wash off the night before and her cheek bore the indentations of her pillow. Grandma wore her robe, her hair mussed, her face tired. It looked like we all had difficulty sleeping the night before. By the way their heads popped up and their mouths stopped moving when they saw me indicated I had been the topic of conversation.

"Hey." I pulled out a chair, joined them. "I need to talk to you."

The expectancy in their eyes cut to my heart. Clearly they"d been waiting for me to come clean. It hadn"t gone well when they found out I"d taken the Ouija board. In fact, I was pretty sure they didn"t believe me when I told them I got rid of it.

"I need to tell you everything," I said.

When I first stepped into the room, I planned to just stick to the subject of Wesley. After all, that was the pressing matter at hand. However, now I found myself holding out my arms, pointing to my scars, which at this point were barely visible.

"What is that?" Mom leaned forward studying my skin intently. "Please tell me it"s not what I think it is."

I breathed deeply. There was no turning back now. It was time to tell them everything. It was the only way for me to move forward and get better.

"Have you been cutting yourself?" Mom asked. Her lips turned downward in a frown, sadness filled her eyes.

I nodded.

Grandma pursed her lips. "Well, that explains the long sleeves."

"Why would you do this to yourself?" Mom asked.

"I don"t know. It"s hard to explain."

"Well, try." Mom"s voice was angry. Her face was hard, the wrinkles p.r.o.nounced.

This ignited my temper. How dare she get upset with me? She caused me to do this.

"It made me feel better."

"From what? Your life isn"t so bad."

I laughed bitterly. "Not so bad? Mom, I raised myself."

"That"s not fair. I did the best I could as a single mom."

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. "

"Fine, Kenzie. You tell me what a bad mom I am. Tell me what I did that was so awful."

"Okay, okay, let"s calm down." Grandma hovered like a buzzing fly.

I thought of all the nights alone. "You were never around!"

"I had to work. I had to provide for us."

"And after work you had to go out with your friends and boyfriends? Was that part of your job?"

Mom averted her gaze. She fiddled with her mug.

Grandma cleared her throat. "I need to use the restroom. I"ll be back in a minute." She exited the room. I heard her feet shuffle down the hallway, heard the bathroom door close.

Mom lifted her head. "I"m sorry, Kenzie. You"re right. I did spend a lot of time with friends. It"s just so hard being a single mom. I guess I just figured I deserved some time to myself too."

"It"s cause he raped you, isn"t it?"

Her brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"I get it Mom. I remind you of the worst night of your life. I"d probably feel the same way."

"What are you saying?" The toilet flushed down the hallway.

"I get why you resent me. Why you wish I was never born."

Anger flashed in her eyes. "That"s not true. I never want to hear you say that again." She reached across the table, grabbed my hand. Her palm was cold and clammy like mine. "That night should"ve been the worst night of my life but it wasn"t because it brought me you. I"ve honestly never wished it away because of that. I know I haven"t always been the best mom but I never want you to think I don"t love you because I do, Kenzie. I love you very much."

Tears stung my eyes. Mom came around the table, took me in her arms.

I heard Grandma come back in the kitchen. Her chair sc.r.a.ped on the ground as she resumed her spot at the table. When Mom and I disentangled, she searched my eyes.

"There"s more, isn"t there?" She looked wary.

I nodded. "Yeah. You might want to sit for this."

I waited until she did and then I continued, "You both know I was playing on the Ouija board but you don"t know the whole story."

I spilled everything, starting with my first experience with Wesley to my last. They both sat still as I spoke as if they had turned to stone. Only their eyes betrayed what they felt- fear. They didn"t scold or punish me like I figured they would. Instead Grandma came up with a plan.

"Okay, I"ll call Pastor Daryl and have him come over here. I know he"ll pray over the house and cleanse it of evil spirits."

Mom rolled her eyes. "Oh please. Do you really buy this story?"

Grandma looked confused. I felt like I"d been punched in the gut.

"You think I"m lying?"

"Kenzie, you expect us to believe a ghost escaped from a board game and is now tormenting you? How naive do you think we are?"

"I believe her." Grandma defended me.

Mom laughed incredulously. "Seriously?"

"Josie, the spirit world is real. It says so in the Bible. There is good and evil all around us that we can"t see. The spirit Kenzie is dealing with is evil."

I shuddered.

"Okay, where are the cameras? I"m on one of those shows, right? The hidden camera ones?" Mom looked around, patting down her messy hair.

Her words stung. "No, Mom. I"m telling the truth."

"Look, I said I"m sorry for the ways I"ve screwed up. You don"t need to make up some crazy story, Kenzie. You"re not in trouble."

My throat burned. Tears p.r.i.c.ked my eyes. "I"m not lying, Mom! Geez, just once can"t you support me. I need your help."

"I love you, Kenzie, and I want to help you but this is nuts." She glanced at Grandma with a look of disgust. "I thought sending Kenzie here would be good for her. Clearly I was wrong."

Grandma reeled back from the strength of Mom"s words. Guilt crashed over me. They were finally getting along and now they were fighting again and it was all because of me.

"You believe what you want, Josie. I"m calling Pastor Daryl." With that Grandma spun on her heels and left the room.

"Mom, I"m telling the truth. Why can"t you believe me?"

A shadow pa.s.sed over her face, covering her features. "Because you are a lying little cow!" Her mouth stretched grotesquely revealing her gums. "You"re trying to destroy me. You"ll pay for that, you witch!"

I jumped up from the chair. b.u.mping it with my b.u.t.t, it clattered to the ground.

The shadow lifted. "Kenzie, what"s wrong?" It was my mom again.

Hesitantly, I picked the chair off the ground and sat back down. I took a deep breath. "Nothing."

Mom grabbed her head with her hands, ma.s.saged her temples. "Oh, my head hurts all the sudden. I"m sorry, honey. What were you saying?"

"Nothing." I shook my head, fear filling me.

Grandma stood in front of the dresser in her room, picking out her clothes.

Leaning against the doorway I said, "Can I come in?"

"Sure."

"Grandma, I"m really sorry. I"m sure this isn"t at all how you envisioned things going this summer."

"Kenzie, sit down." Grandma sat on her bed, patting the spot beside her. I lowered myself down on her soft pink comforter. It matched the pale pink paint on her walls.

"We all make mistakes in life. Believe me, I"ve made my share."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Everyone has a past, Kenzie. We all do stupid things, make bad choices. The important thing is that we learn from them. Have you learned from this experience?"

I nodded. "Well, I certainly won"t play on Ouija boards again."

Grandma chuckled. "See, already you"ve learned a valuable lesson."

"I really am sorry that I"ve brought a bad spirit into your home. I feel terrible about it."

"Yeah, I"m not too happy about that either." Her face was serious now. "But I"m mostly worried about you. I won"t let him hurt you, Kenzie. I know you and your mom are skeptical about G.o.d but I believe in Him. I believe that He"s the only one who can save you from this. The supernatural world is real, Kenzie. There is good and evil. Right now you"ve invited evil in. Now we have to fight it with good."

I wasn"t sure if I believed her but I wanted to. If what she said was true than maybe there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe by this afternoon Wesley would be out of my life.

"What about Isaac?" Grandma asked.

I looked at her blankly. Surely she didn"t think that Isaac was involved in this.

"Are you going to tell him what"s been going on?"

"I don"t think I can, Grandma."

"Why not? You told your mom and me." Grandma cinched the belt on her floral robe, crossed her legs. Spidery varicose veins rode up her calves.

"That"s different."

"How?"

"You and Mom have to love me. You"re my family."

"That"s not true. I"ve known plenty of family"s who don"t love each other."

I thought of my dad and nodded my head in agreement. Just because we were made up of the same flesh and blood didn"t guarantee his love for me.

"But I really like Isaac, Grandma. I couldn"t stand it if he didn"t like me anymore."

"You don"t want him liking you based on a lie, Kenzie. That would be worse. Believe me."

I looked at Grandma quizzically.