I wake up with a pounding headache. Grudgingly, I slither my way out of bed and turn on my coffee maker. Sadly though, even coffee can’t get rid of the spite in my heart. That childhood incident still haunts me, and every time I think of my “best friend” Angelica, anger bubbles up inside me. I throw my mug at the wall in pure anger and ceramic pieces scattered everywhere. I can’t believe she used my stuff, MY hard work, all to just steal everything I ever wanted! I sigh as I sweep up the mess that I made.

“I bet Angelica could just snap her fingers and have it all cleaned up by now.”

I say with a mocking tone in my voice and a twisted expression of jealousy. But as I’m cleaning I see a note on the table.

Alex, please remember to take out the trash today. I throw the note down. Why would she make me do that when she can just do it herself!? I hate her so much! But as the note lands, I notice more writing on the other side.

Alex, please. I need your help. He came back to get me for that mistake I made all those years ago. He’s coming. I have to leave. If you want to understand, visit me at the saloon around the corner…

My feet feel heavy as a walk down the street and round the corner. Why should I help her?  I mean, she is my “best friend”. Best friend as in someone I’ll use in order to make my plan successful. I arrive at the saloon shortly after leaving our apartment and I’m immediately hit with the stench of cigarette smoke.

“You know Angelica, the shadow man is going to find you real easily with all the smoke your creating….” I say as I roll my eyes.

“C’mon Alex, please! You don’t understand the fear that I live in every day! I need your help. He’s after my…”

She leans in to whisper in my ear.

“...my powers.”

I hold back my urge to slap her and I paste a sad frown onto my face.

“I’m sorry Angie. I don’t know what I can do for you.”

“Don’t call me that…” She mutters.

“And don’t worry I can tell you what to do but you have to listen very carefully, here. Take this.”

She hands me a smooth rose quartz talisman.

“...Angelica you know I don’t mess with this stuff anymore…”

She has no idea...

“By the way, you never did tell me what happened in your room that one day…”

“Oh… that. I may have offered this talisman to… well… a demon in exchange for my powers.”

She says and awkwardly laughs.

“How do you still have the talisman then? Is that why he’s chasing you? It’s just rose quartz. Just give that one to the shadow man and be done with it already.”

“Well, there’s kind of more to it than just that! You don’t understand. My soul is in that talisman, so if he takes it, I’m dead! So I didn’t give it to him and he got very angry…and, you know... he is kind of out for revenge...”

“Angelica are you crazy?! What the heck?!”

I’m utterly shocked by what she says. We stand there in awkward silence for a few minutes until curiosity gets the best of me and I blurt out,

“Well, what do you need me to do then?”

Ugh. I can’t believe myself. Now I got to go all the way to the hills just to get her some stupid fresh spring water. Or whatever she said it was. I stomp my way along the sidewalk until I reach my house. I grab my keys, lock the door, and start driving. Turning on the music, it starts blasting from my car speakers causing my car to vibrate. My music is so loud that I don’t notice the creaking sound coming from my car. The car abruptly stops as I’m about to sip my drink and I spill my coffee all over my face. It burns! Why me?!

I step out of the car and grab a towel from the backseat. Wiping off the coffee, I decide to take a look under the car to try and pinpoint what happened. A strange, black, wispy figure looks back at me. Its catlike yellow eyes seemingly pierce my soul. Jumping back gasping for breath, the wispy figure floats down off the machinery of my car and slowly walks toward me.

I’m stunned by the beauty of this… thing. It smiles and disappears. I rush to get in the car and when I do, I slam the door shut and lock it. But then I remember… my car is still broken. I facepalm as I realize how stupid I am. I’m about to open my door as I feel a tickle on the back of my neck.

“Hey….” I hear in a quiet, airy, voice.

“I don’t know what you are or what you want, but please just leave me alone! If it’s Angelica you want I can take you to her please just don’t hurt me!”

I start freaking out and grab my gun out of the glove box.

“I will shoot!”

“So… what are you exactly?” I try talking to the cat thing, but get nothing but silence.

“Can you understand me? Can you speak?”

The thing shakes his head yes first, then no.

“Ok, so… do you want to hurt me?”

It shakes its head.

“That's reassuring!”

My laugh sounds uneasy.

“I’m going to call you…Jordan!”

Jordan gives a purr of approval. I chuckle and we continue driving until we stop at the bottom of the mountain that Gwen asked me to go to. Confused, I pick up my phone and dial her number.  

“You have reached the number of Angelica Bayonari. Unfortunately, I’m not there to pick up the phone right now. So like, leave a message and I’ll call you back, uhm, eventually!”

The voicemail message triggers then ends and I roll my eyes as I shove my phone back in my pocket.

“She never picks up her phone..” I mutter.

Looking up at the tall daunting mountain, I try to devise a plan to get to the spring up at the top.

“Jordan, can you like, fly up to the top or something and tell me if you see any way up?”

It works itself up the mountain floating gracefully from ledge to ledge. It highlighted the way up to the top and I start to climb. But as I do, the atmosphere turns eerie and dark as I climb further up and up into the snowy abyss.

Reaching the top, I catch my breath and a feeling of victory washes over me. Trudging through the snowy rocks, I see the lake over in the distance. The water glitters in the sunlight as if it’s a completely different place than the eerie mountain that I climbed up. Clear as ice with a tint of blue it lures me towards it. Cupping my hands I scoop some water up and quizzically look at it, then I take a sip, and swipe some into a container. It’s heavenly and tastes pure as a mothers love for her child. My phone starts ringing. The call’s from Angelica. I silence and end it.

“How does it feel huh?”

Giving her a taste of her own medicine feels so good! Suddenly, Jordan wisps around, magically floating through the air. She looks back from a few steps in front of me, seemingly wanting me to follow her. I trudge through the snow and slosh through the water until she finally stopped moving. We were at the top of the mountain, looking over the edge.

“Uh…Jordan? What is this?”

She purred with excitement but I jumped as I heard a twig snap behind me. Jordan tried to draw my attention back to it but I felt a sense of… danger? Suddenly, I jump out of the way as a man comes hurtling towards me, seemingly trying to push me off?! He ducked into a somersault and grabbed the edge of the cliff. As he pushed himself up, he gives me an evil grin as I glare at him. His all-white attire is strange… to say the least. His black hair and blue eyes glisten as he flashes an impossibly wide, evil, smile. Walking towards me and holds out his hand.

“Aaron.” He says, still smiling…

I look up at the taller person standing in front of me and hesitantly reach out my hand and shake his.

“Alex...”

“That’s a nice name.” He says ruffing my hair.

“So, Aaron,” I say. “Why were you up on the mountain?”

“I can ask you the same, Alex.”

He gives a sly smile. Frustrated and confused, I keep prying. I notice a small red stain on his bleach white shirt.

“What’s that?”

He looks down at the small stain and slumps a little. I thought I heard him whisper, “Dang. I thought I had it all cleaned up.” But he immediately perked back up back to his usual happy self… ugh. The way he can just switch personalities so easily, it just... shakes me a little.

“Well, if you must know Alex,” I turn to him as he pauses, and he looks at me with another one of his sly smiles. He reaches into his pant pocket and I start to panic. My breathing speeds up as I try and calm myself down. Suddenly, his chest is down to his knees as he’s curled up laughing, hard. He pulls out a red kool-aid packet and looks at me wiping tears from his eyes.

“Why Alex, what did you think I had? I saw you panicking…”

“Oh...nothing Aaron. Anyways, where d-did you need to go again?”

I stutter and internally slap myself. Pull yourself together Alex! Aaron’s now laughing hysterically at my red face.

“Look I’m really busy Aaron. For the last time, where do you need to be dropped off?!”

He looks at me shocked as I yelled.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.” He looks out the window and says, “What if I don’t want to leave?”

What does he mean? Does he want to… stay with me? No one’s ever wanted to hang out with me except for Angelica, but even she’s betrayed me.

“I mean, I guess a little company wouldn’t hurt.” I smile and Aaron flashes a large toothy grin.

“That’s great! Well, where to next?”

We pull up to my house and I tell Aaron to stay in the car. Unlocking the door, I notice a few flyers hanging on our apartment door, but I just leave them. Angelica’s the one who likes terrible gossip magazines about celebrities personal lives and whatever. Rolling my eyes, I walk in the house and yell out.

“Angelica! I have your stupid spring water! What do you need next.”

My last sentence is laced with annoyance.

“Oh, my, god! I didn’t think you’d actually help me! Thank you so much, Alex! Thank you, thank you!”

I push her away from me trying to wiggle my way out of her tight hug. I look back to see Aaron in the doorway. I look at him suspiciously but he just smiles at me and glares at Angelica, his eyes like slits with a look of jealousy? No, I’m probably just imagining things again! ...Or am I? Something about that smile… it just looked off.

“Oh, Angelica. Let me introduce you to someone!”

I pull her over to the door.

“Angelica, this is Aaron.”

I say turning my head in between the two of them. Aaron’s the first to speak.

“Well hello… Angelica.”

He says with a strange look in his eye and a large grin on his face. He walks away and does a slow twirl around the living room.

“We should have some fun soon… just the two of us…”

He says. His words laced with mystery and a fear-inducing feeling. Angelica looked at me with a twinkle of fear in her eyes. I felt something cold on my shoulder. I chill shot through my whole body as I looked up at Aaron. I could feel a bit of fear shine through my eyes as he looks away guiltily. Something glimmers from around his waist, eyeing it warily I ask,

“Aaron, what’s around your waist?”

I say, pointing towards the shiny metal. I reach to grab it but he slaps my hand away.

“It’s nothing! Nothing at all Alex! Don’t worry about it!”

He says letting out a nervous chuckle. I could tell that he was hiding something from me just by the way he talked and the look on his face.

“Aaron, what is it?”

I try reaching for it again.

“Alex stop…”

I hear him mutter as he gently moves my hand away. I move my hand quickly trying to snatch whatever mystery he’s keeping from me. He steps back quickly.

“Alex I SAID STOP!”

He yells at me leaving me shaking in fear. Who did I just bring into my life? His eyes look scary with a seemingly murderous intent behind them. I hadn’t seen him like this and it scares me. Getting up, I slowly walk away to my room, only managing a few words.

“I’ll… be right back.”

I say. My voice quivering. As I’m closing the door, I look back to see Aaron standing there, shocked. I hear Angelica say that she has to go.

After five minutes of sitting in my room, upset and crying, I hear a knock on the door and see the doorknob shake.

“Alex, can I come in…?”

Someone asks softly through the door. I look hesitantly towards the door and walk over to it. Cracking the door, I peek through the door hiding my red and flustered face. I see Aaron. Quietly, I mutter

“S-Sure…” and he makes his way in the room.

“I’m sorry Alex. I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

Looking away, he continues his sentence. “I’m not the person you think I am.”

He whispers. I look away, a slight pink tone spreading across my face. He seems to like that, as he grins at me and walks away.

“Come here, Alex. There’s a lot that we need to do.”

I wake up on the couch, confused as to why I’m here instead of my bed. But then I remember that I let Aaron sleep in my bed since he had nowhere to go. I look at the clock.

“What time is it…?”

I mutter. It’s still dark outside as I check my phone.

“4:43… great.”

I sigh. Reaching over to the table next to me to grab my pills, I feel something move under my hand. I jump up and turn on the light.

“A cat?”

A cat that looks exactly like Jordan trots over to me and rubs against my leg. She’s holding a piece of paper in her mouth.

“What’s this?”

I unfold the paper and silently start to read the page in my head.

“Hey, Alex!! I’m just laying low for a while. Hopefully to get that demon off my back… Oh, and by the way, I can’t use my phone or my powers at the moment because they disturb the energy fields in the air and he can track me like that! So that’s why I won’t be answering my phone, and you probably won’t see me for a while! If you’re still willing to help me, here’s a list of the things that you need to do in order to free me. Thanks again! Sincerely, your BFF, Angelica.”

I continue down the page to find a list of different things that she needs to be done. The letter does raise some red flags though.  Angelica never puts exclamation marks in her writing… and she never liked being called my “best friend forever”. If anything, she’d rather forget that part of her life. But then again, who would impersonate her? And why? I end up shrugging it off.

“Hey Jordan, are you the same cat as the one that was with me on the mountain?”

It purrs and rubs her head against my hand as if saying ‘yes’. I curl up with Jordan on the couch in my favorite fluffy blanket and drift off to sleep.

I awake to the smell of eggs and bacon.

“Angie…? Are you cooking?”

I say hazily. My eyelids still wanting to drop back over my eyes.

“No silly! It’s me!” The voice says.

“Who-” I open my eyes again to see Aaron standing over me.

“Gah!”

Rushing to get up, I yell,

“Don’t do that! You scared me.”

He laughs at my panic and walks off towards the kitchen.

“You want some breakfast or not? If you don’t come over quick I’ll just give it to the cat instead!”

My stomach growls as I rush over and take a seat at the small table.

“A little eager aren't you?”

He says jokingly.

“Yeah, whatever.”

I smile and roll my eyes at him. We both eat our breakfast in a comfortable silence until it’s broken.

“This is pretty good if I do say so myself.”

He says proudly.

“Eh, it’s ok. The bacon is a little burnt.”

We both start laughing.

“Hey! You’re so mean to me…”

He says as he throws on a fake somber expression and I giggle a little.

“I’m just kidding Aaron! It’s great!” I exclaim.

“Oh, and by the way, there was a cat in the house last night… he was carrying this.”

I hand him the paper and he looks it over. Silence overtakes the room as he reads the paper with an emotionless face.

“Well, that’s…” he pauses.

“...Unfortunate.”

He says with a small glimmer in his eyes.

“We better get going!”

Grabbing his coat and bag he rushes to the door.

“Come on Alex! You want to save your friend don’t you?”

We both hop into the car.

“So what does it say that we need to do first again?”

I reread the paper.

“Um… let’s see… oh! It says after we get the springwater, which I already have. Next, we need to get… bones?!”

Aaron laughs at my surprised tone.

“Come on! It’s not that funny!”

“Keep reading Alex…”

“...From an animal that was killed with… with an athame? What’s that?” “Does the picture look like this?”

He pulls out a long, squiggly knife and the tip glimmers in the sunlight as we drive up the mountain. He glances my way out of the corner of his eyes and I notice something. Does this guy ever blink…?

“Yeah, I picked it up off the counter this morning. Wasn’t sure what it was but I thought it might be useful!”

He laughs. I laugh along uncomfortably.

“What’s wrong Alex?”

His piercing eyes seem to stare straight through my soul as he turns to look me straight on. His smile, oh god his smile. It’s captivating yet terrifying at the same time? He just sits there staring for a few more seconds.

“Aaron, shouldn’t you keep your eyes on the road?”

I say, averting my gaze to look out the car window. He frowns, pulling his stare to the road.

“You see Alex, this world is full of bad people.”

He sighs.

“You are so naive but, nice. You willingly came with me, in a car drive to a secluded area. You don’t even know where we’re going!”

He’s right. I didn’t even think about where we’re driving.

“For god's sake, you just meet me a few days ago! Why do you trust me so easily?”

A few seconds of awkward silence pass.

“Well, um, you seem to know what you're doing…?”

“But I’m a stranger Alex! I could be a murderer for all you know!”

He swerves the car around and parks. For a thirty minutes or so, he walks and I reluctantly follow. The whole time nothing is spoken between the two of us.

After a while of walking, Aaron stops.

“Is something wrong Aar-”

I’m cut off by a hand over my mouth. He stalks through the rocks with the ease of flowing water and pulls out the knife.

“Just be quiet.”

He whispers. I’m about to protest until,

“Please?”

I stay silent and carefully watch as his eyes wander the grey tundra until they lock onto something. A deer. He sighs.

“Close your eyes…”

I oblige but peek long enough to see him lunge at the animal with the speed and stealth of a panther stalking its prey. I quickly close my eyes as the knife plunges right through the heart of the animal.

“You can open your eyes now silly.”

He says giggling. In his hands, a pile of bones from the fresh kill.

“Well, um, we best get home now…”

I say nervously. The hike back to the car, I can feel his piercing stare burning through my back. We get to the car and he dumps the bones into the backseat and climbs into the driver seat. A shiver is sent down my spine as I look out the window.

We pull into the driveway of my apartment and I open the door to the house.

“So.” He sighs.

“What’s next on the list?”

I pull the paper out of my pocket and find myself more disturbed than I was at the last item.

“...A cup of blood.”

My voice quavering.

“...Human blood.”

I look on perplexed to see Aaron making preparations as if he already knew. A cup sitting on the counter, along with the knife, napkins, and a first aid kit.

“What? We need to get the blood somehow. Remember, you're doing this for Angelica aren’t you?”

A slick smile appears on his face. He’s up to something and I’m not too fond of it at the moment.

“...Yeah. But are you sure...this is really needed to protect her?”

A frown settles on his face.

“Alex.”

He says walking over to me.

“Do you love her?” I’m shocked by the question. It’s not like that at all! We are like brother and sister! What is he getting at? A sad smile creeps onto his face.

“It’s ok. I get it. I just want you to be happy, and protect you…”

His tone shifts into a more menacing one.

“...But I don’t think she can do that for you.”

“Well, Aaron. We better get started! Times ticking!”

I quickly say, laughing nervously after. Hope he didn’t notice me shaking. We sit down at the table and I watch in horror as he takes the knife and makes a long red slit across the center of his palm. He gasps as lines of blood flow down his hand into the bowl, filling it slightly.

“Give me your hand.”

I was so distracted I didn’t even notice his other hand outstretched towards me. I give him my hand and close my eyes tight.

“This may hurt a little, but it will be over soon…”

I clench my body from the pain of the knife slicing open my palm. He takes my hand and quickly lays it over the edge of the bowl.

“Aaron, it hurts!”

My eyes start to water. He gets up and I feel arms tighten around me.

“It’s ok, it'll all be over soon…”

Aaron bandaged both of our hands up and took the bowl somewhere out of my sight. Changing into my pajamas, I climb into bed ready to sleep this night away. But I feel something brush up against me.

“Who…?”

Turning over, I see wisps of light and… Jordan!

“Hey, friend! It's been awhile.”

It purrs and lays next to me. I sigh.

“Can we talk? I’m not really sure if I’ve been making the best decisions lately…”

Jordan turns it’s head to the side. Pawing me as if prompting me to continue. I sigh.

“I don’t know Jordan. I’m worried about Angie. I hated her, but I still feel that she deserves to be safe rather than living in constant fear. Also, Aaron… I thought he was helping me. But I’m not so sure anymore. If we’re being completely honest, I’m kind of scared of him…but I also think I have feelings for him...”

I lay on my back and stare at the roof for a while. Jordan curls up on my chest and I drift away into a deep sleep.

The feeling of being shaken harshly awakens me.

“...What…?” I groan.

“Alex? I’ve figured it out! I know how to save her!”

His bright smile radiates through the room and instantly makes everything bright. These are the moments I wish I could savor but I’m yanked out of bed before I can.

“How?”

“You’ll see! Just follow me!”

We walk through the house and he gathers up all the things we collected, as well as a few extra things.

“Aaron, what are we doing?”

He remains silent as we rush through the house, picking things up and checking things off a list. Until we arrive at a room that I didn’t even know existed. The door creaks open.

“What-”

I’m abruptly cut off as I see Angelica. She’s all tied up and strapped down to a chair.

“Alex help! He’s a psychopath and he’s going to kill both of us when he gets the chance!”

She’s bruised in multiple places, obviously traumatized. I turn to Aaron, who’s now locking the door behind us.

“Why?! Aaron what is the meaning of this? What did you do to her!?”

He smirks.

“Alex, what did I tell you? Did you forget that whole conversation we had in the car? Everything we talked about?”

I run to Angelica, to try and untie her, but he grabs me by the collar of my shirt and stops me. If I could just untie one knot she could get out and get help! A deep sigh comes from him.

“I didn’t want to do this, but you leave me no other choice. I knew you’d never love me. The first day we meet, on that mountain, I loved you. Deep inside, however, I didn’t have it in me to just let you go. Everything you collected, everything you’ve done to try and save her… has been helping me all along. I want you to read the last item on the list.”

I pull the list out of my pocket and almost drop it from what I read.

“...A human... sacrifice…”

There’s a long pause.

“If this isn’t to save her, then what’s this even for!?”

“You see, this ritual, everything I’m doing is for you. Once this is complete, we will be bound together forever!”

He smiles. He swiftly grabs one of my hands and I hear something click. I’m handcuffed to a pole.

“Now stay there.”

He brushes me aside as he walks past. Pulling out his knife, he tips Angelica’s head back.

“Say goodnight.”

He slowly, but strongly presses the knife against her throat, and pulls it along. Her screams of pain are stifled by the blood that she’s spitting up. But I’m frozen in place and the only thing I can focus on are his words.

“Once this is complete, we will be bound together forever!”  

After she drops dead, he finished the ritual after putting out all the items. “It’s done!”

He unlocks the handcuffs and takes my hand. We slowly walk out of the door. This is it. This is who I’m stuck with. Forever. Nothing can save me. Not Angie, not my family, I don’t even think God can help me now. What have I done?