As Kali once said, I hated the dark.

Something about it made my skin crawl; whether that was the fact that you couldn't see what was out there or what might be coming for you. I hated the idea of losing myself or someone else I cared about in it, if that made any sense at all. Plus, I've been in the dark for most of my life, and it just wasn't a comforting thought.

So that was what I was thinking about as I sat there in the living room of the McCall house, staring into a dark corner occupied by a red leather chair. I tried to keep my mind off of the creatures that were trying to find their way inside to get to me and my friends, but it was kind of hard considering they shook the house every time they pressed against that barrier.

"Scott!" I hear Melissa shout from upstairs before footsteps followed, presumably Scott's. Agent McCall was still upstairs bleeding half to death, and we couldn't do anything about it. We couldn't leave to take him to the hospital, so he was stuck there until morning, if he lasted that long.

I feel a hand on my shoulder then, causing me to look up and see Kira. "Why are you over here alone?"

"Thinking," I state, my eyes going back to the corner. "I wish I was back at house watching Scooby Doo on my couch."

Kira cracks a small smile as she takes a seat next to me, leaning forwards so that her elbows were on her knees. "I wish I was back in New York...back when I was normal."

I look at her then, seeing that her eyes had grown distant. "Normal?"

"Now I'm just a freak," she says, shaking her head. "I look like a demon from Hell."

"Well at least you haven't been to Hell," I say, not knowing whether or not I was talking about my death or the ice bath I had taken a few months back.

She looks up at me. "Did you say that you died earlier? Twice?"

"Drove off a bridge and drowned," I say, remembering it like it was yesterday. "Hell for me was walking around invisible to the World, at least until I found Allison."

"She could see you?" Kira asks, genuinely curious. "How'd you make it back?"

I smile faintly. "Allison brought me back. She almost killed herself in the process, but she gave me a second chance...something almost no one gets."

"Like me," Jade says then as she walks into the living room, plopping herself down onto the chair across from us. "I was in the car with him, but I had been bitten."

Her eyes glow red then as Kira shifts away uncomfortably, probably because she wasn't used to seeing that yet. "You two friends?"

I pause for a moment as I look up at Jade, her eyes locked with mine as she waited for an answer. "Yeah, we're friends."

"Guys!" I hear Aiden shout then, causing the three of us to look back into the kitchen. "You might want to take a look at this."

We all scramble from our seats as we dart into the kitchen, worried about what we might find. Scott comes trampling from downstairs as we all stare at the window Aiden and Ethan had busted through earlier, but this time, two of the Oni were standing there. One of them beats on it with it's fist as the other uses it's sword to stick through the barrier.

"What are they doing?" Jade asks, narrowing her eyes.

Ethan bites his lower lip. "Testing for weak spots."

I take a step back as one of the Oni sticks their fist all the way through the barrier, almost making it through. "Uh, we have a problem."

My hands scramble to find my phone then, Allison coming across my mind. I press the phone to my ear as the phone rings, Allison picking it up on the second ring. "Allison, please tell me that you have something because they're here and they're trying to get in and it looks like they'll be able to."

Allison stumbles on the phone. "Okay, okay, listen. They're Japanese Demons looking for someone possessed; someone with a dark spirit attached to them. They won't hurt you, they know you're supernatural, but once they do this check like they did to Lydia and the others and realize it's not you, they won't hurt you, I promise. All they're looking for is a nogitsune."

I stare at the Oni in front of me as I try to process it all. "They won't hurt us?"

"If you aren't possessed, then no," Allison says, still talking fast as if she knew she was running out of time. "Listen Corey, you're going to be okay. Just let them do the test and you'll be okay. I love you-"

The Oni break through then as I lower the phone, taking a step back from fear. A split second goes by before I realized that Allison was right; I trusted her, she had to be right. "Don't do anything."

Jade glares back at me, her eyes red. "Are you serious?"

"Don't do anything," I repeat myself as I look over at Scott and Kira, their faces full of fear. I could tell that they trusted me too. I hold the phone back up. "I love you, Allison."

I drop the phone to the floor when one of the Oni brings their hand behind my ear, just before I could end the call. Allison's voice through the phone bounces around inside my head as I stare into the Oni's eyes, seeing nothing but darkness, one of the things I feared most.

The Oni tilts it's head as it stares at me, doing something I couldn't quite fully understand. However, the next thing I know, I feel a burn behind my ear before I'm falling to the ground, unable to move, focus, or do anything.

I felt vulnerable.

My hands shake from the cold as Lydia's face pops into my mind; how she had looked after that same test and how she must have felt. It felt like torture, if anything. I see Jade's face then, telling me that it was going to be alright, but something kept bothering me in the back of my mind.

What if it's Allison?

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I couldn't sleep, that's for sure.

My mind kept spinning like a record the longer I stared at Allison's closed eye lids, imagining if it was her that was possessed. It couldn't be, right? The Oni never tested her and she isn't something supernatural...well, I guess not that we know of. I never knew what I was until the wrong time.

Allison had told me that Silverfinger said that whoever is possessed needs to be destroyed by the Oni; even if it was someone we knew. I wouldn't take that as an answer. Whoever was possessed deserved a chance to be saved; we would figure it out. We always figured it out.

I glance behind Allison to see my alarm clock read three in the morning, and I believed it. I've been up since one, like I was barely even asleep then. After being tested by demons and almost freezing my ass off you'd think I'd be worn out, but instead here I was, praying that sleep would come.

Curse my overactive brain.

Allison stirs in her sleep before I hear something downstairs, causing me to sit up from the sound. It wasn't too loud, but it was loud enough to make me wonder who was down there and what they were doing. Maybe it was Stiles; he still hasn't been able to sleep lately.

I lay back down onto my pillow and try closing my eyes again, but that was when I heard the TV flick on downstairs, followed by the sound of static. My eyes flash open as I listen to the never ending noise, making me grow agitated the longer I sat there. After a good two minutes of listening to it to see if it would stop, I scrambled out of bed, angry that I had to get up.

I curse under my breath, looking back at Allison lying in my bed, seeing that she was still fast asleep. I was jealous of her. My sweatpants drag across the ground as I turn and walk out of my room, looking down the hall to see yet more darkness. My hands scramble for the light switch, flipping it on as light flooded my vision.

Stiles' door down the hall was open, but that didn't surprise me. I figured it was him downstairs, since John had a night shift tonight. I was just wondering at this point if he was sleepwalking, since I'm not sure why he would flip the static on the TV on, but then again, this is Stiles we're talking about here.

"Stiles?" I fiercely whisper down the stairs, waiting for him to pop around the corner or for something to happen. I saw nothing but darkness and the outline of the couch around the corner, meaning that I had to go down there. Dammit.

As I make my way down the stairs, the sound of the static on the TV grows louder, making the hair on the back of my neck to stand. For some reason, this scene reminded me of something from a scary movie. Curse my overactive brain...again. I hate when I start to think about things like that when I'm in these types of situations.

When I finally reached the bottom of the stairs, I turned the corner to see the light from the TV flashing white and black across the living room, the sound now louder than ever. I stood there for a moment staring at it before I realized that someone was standing in front of the TV staring at it as well; the silhouette being Stiles, that's for sure.

"Stiles, what are you doing?" I say, my voice sort of groggy sounding. I narrow my eyes as I watch him, waiting for him to say or do something, but he doesn't even flinch. "Stiles."

He looks over his shoulder then, almost as if he didn't realize I was standing there. His eyes were sort of distant; like he was someplace else as he stared at that TV screen. My stomach knots as he turns and faces me, shaking his head.

"Sorry I woke you up," he breathes, placing his hand on his forehead.

I raise my eyebrow, worried about him. "What, uh...what were you doing?"

He looks back at the TV screen, reaching out and shutting the TV off. "I honestly don't know. I think I was sleepwalking."

Something about the way he said that gave me a weird feeling; like it was a cover up. What else could he have been doing though?

"What time is it?" he sighs, rubbing his eyes with his fingers. I don't even glance over at the clock on the table before answering him.

"Three in the morning," I say, watching each of his movements as if I was going to catch something off.

He runs his fingers through his messy hair before walking forwards, around me and back to the stairs. "Sorry for waking you up, goodnight."

I start to tell him goodnight, but there was something else on my mind. "Stiles, are you sure you're alright?"

He stops on the third step, looking back at me with a look of lost hope. "I like to tell myself that I am."

And with that, he walked back up the stairs and left me down here alone, lost in my thoughts. Then all of a sudden, my brain goes to the one thing I missed earlier. I was too worried about Allison earlier to wonder about Stiles.

What if Stiles was possessed?

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Corey...I wish I could tell you how right you are.

Ya'll, I really want to reach the end of this book like right now. What I have in store for you is going to be so good...or at least I'm hoping it will be. Might wanna get your tissues in advance.

dedicated to disjenna for always being an amazing commenter. love you + thanks for reading!

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