The Demon Side Read Online Free PDF

from his head down his olive green shirt and onto the floor, leaving a trail from the door up the stairs and to his room. Maybe I had pushed him a little too hard, but what can I say? I was in the zone. It was the most excitement I’d had in months.
    “Why? Why me?” Etta’s gaze rose to mine as I stood in the bathroom doorway.
    She wanted an answer. I didn’t have one. I don’t know why I reacted the way I did. Draining someone to near death was something I had done dozens of times before, but only to scare them for my amusement or to taunt the Arches. The situation grew mindboggling. Etta didn’t say another word as she pulled herself to her feet and staggered somberly to her room. I stood in the bathroom doorway trying to make sense of it. I must have stood there for an hour before John tiptoed out of his room quietly, relative to a boy sneaking out of the house. He took a few deep breaths and leaned his forehead against the door. This man was stuck in a house with an alcoholic wife who hated his teenage daughter, who had a history of attracting Demons, all while trying to serve his country and put food on the table. If he wasn’t already taking some of Etta’s meds, he should start.
    Once he caught his composure, he knocked on Etta’s door and entered before she answered. Curious about what kind of conversation they would have, I flashed into the room, thanks to René’s replenishing energy.
    “You okay, baby?” John sat on the bed, petting Etta’s long brown curls as she lay turned away from him.
    “Fine, Dad. How are you?” Etta sniffled and finally started to cry.
    “I’m good. Nothing an old Marine can’t handle. I’m thinking of maybe ordering some pizza for dinner,” John said in a quiet voice so as to not wake up the true Demon in their life.
    “Sounds good.” Etta released another sniffle. This girl made no sense to me. She could cry over a woman who hated her, but I couldn’t get her to drop a single tear in fear? I’d lost my touch.
    “Baby, look, I don’t know what happened, but I’m sorry—”
    Etta cut him off. “Don’t, Dad. It’s not your fault.”
    “Hey? Look at me. It’s not yours, either.”
    “I know.” Etta rolled over. The whites of her eyes were pink.
    “There’s my girl. Guess that pizza isn’t going to order itself, huh? By the way, don’t think that any of this gets you out of trouble for ditching school today, but we’ll talk about that later.” John gave Etta a kiss on her head and left the room.
    Such a strange dynamic these two had. They shared enough sweet and loving moments to make a group of menopausal women bawl their eyes out. If only John and Etta weren’t so uncomfortable around each other. I could only surmise that John was uneasy raising a teenage girl practically by himself, because let’s face it, the things a teenage girl goes through is something no man is ever prepared to deal with. But I couldn’t understand Etta’s withdrawal from him. She would look at him as if she wanted him to hug her but kept him at arm’s length. I stood there for a moment watching her breathe in and out, wondering what I had gotten into. I’d grown too involved.
    “I know you’re there. I can hear you breathing.” Etta tried hiding her sobs as she spoke.
    “Actually, Demons don’t breathe. We pulsate,” I responded out of instinct.
    “Well, whatever you want to call it doesn’t change the fact that I can hear you.”
    “Are you okay?” I couldn’t believe what came out of my mouth. Why did I care if she was okay? I should be trying to get rid of her.
    “No. No, I’m not okay. Why did you do that? Now she’s going to blame it on me, and my dad’s probably going to send me in for another evaluation.” Tears ran down Etta’s cheeks.
    I couldn’t catch my tongue before the question flew out. “Evaluation?”
    “Yeah, you know. Psych eval. He always orders pizza right before he calls a shrink. He thinks this is another one of my