Free Legacy (Endlessly Book 2) by C.V. Hunt

shit,” Jason said. “Like, straight out of a fuckin’ horror movie.”
    Verloren’s anxiety built as I examined the man.
    “Now you have seen it,” Hania said to Jason. “If he were set loose without Ashley’s instructions the virus would spread like wildfire.”
    “What would happen if she didn’t kill them?” Jason asked.
    “No more experiments!” I shouted. “We’re not like Kale. We don’t destroy lives just to satisfy our own curiosity.” I gazed at the zombie. “I would never turn someone unless they asked for it.” My thoughts turned to Sarah who’d had this life forced upon her. “Who in their right mind would be willing to sacrifice themselves just to see what would happen? If my bite created a mental connection with this thing, what would it do to the living?”
    No one answered. I reflected on the pending connection between Jason and myself.
    The dead man stared out through empty eyes. I placed my hands on either side of his head. He didn’t struggle or think. Except for his snapping teeth he was quiet, and even that sound ended when I crushed his skull.
    Jason opened the cell door. I let the dead man’s body fall across the bench. I glanced at my gore-covered hands, then at Jason.
    Some things are left better unknown , I told Jason. Especially with that demon around . This is your last chance. You don’t have to eat him. I know how irritated you get when I’m in your head. This might make that even more annoying. I might glimpse your thoughts without even trying.
    Jason slid past me, keeping his mental wall up. Verloren and I started back to our apartment to cle an up. Sarah walked behind us. Her mind was closed off from me too.
    When I looked back the others were following. Jason carried the corpse, his face as sad as any pallbearer’s. His eyes met mine.
    I directed a thought at Verloren: Aren’t you worried about Jason consuming my virus?
    He smiled. No. It’s funny when he’s mad and now you might get in even more easily. That’ll piss him off.
    I looked back at Jason. Behind him stood the demon, watching us leave.

     
     
     
    7 Poisoned Recipe
     
    I dried my arms with a dishtowel. The blood had come off easily, except where it had gotten under my fingernails. I leaned against the kitchen sink and watched Verloren shuffle through CDs in the living room.
    Can I listen to AFI? I asked. After he nodded I added: Do you find it odd that the demon has not said one word since he got here?
    He dropped the CD in the player and sat back on the sofa. “I think he’s waiting until he figures out what it is he wants. I have a pretty good…” Verloren’s voice trailed off. He dropped the CDs and his eyes rolled back into his head. His hands jerked up to his temples. I ran to him.
    “ Are you all right?” I gripped his wrists and squeezed, trying to make him look at me.
    As I dug into his mind he started sobbing. All I found were pain and darkness. A thudding sound, like an axe pounding wood, echoed through my head, followed by the sound of strange laughter. Verloren’s eyes rol led aimlessly for a moment and finally fixed on mine. He gulped air, calmed himself, and gave me a weak smile.
    He ran his thumb across my cheek and wiped it on his pants. I hadn’t even known I was crying. “It’s okay.” He pulled me into his arms.
    “What is it?” I gasped.
    I’m not sure. You know how it works. It’s a good indicator that something is going to happen, but I can’t make out the pictures. He stared at the coffee table, trying to recover the pictures, but they wouldn’t come. I could hear his mental struggle and his tense breaths.
    “All I saw was pain, then it went dark,” I told him.
    Moments passed, then suddenly something changed. It was like wind shifting. Something was off. A door opened in my brain. I tried to close it but it wouldn’t shut. Like the link Verloren and I share, it was unbreakable. It caught us just as we both had our walls down. We both felt it.
    As panic