Walking through the door, I heard Jake getting up from the kitchen table and walking toward me.

"Oh." He sighed. I could see the disappointment on his face and I felt awful. "I thought you were Jaime. Sorry."

"Jake." I hugged him and tried to give him a comforting smile. "It's ok. I'm sure she-"

"Don't make up excuses for her. Please." He said.

It was obvious that he was very upset, so I decided to move on.

"Let's just eat," I said and walked back to the kitchen.

Jake followed behind me and sat down with me while looking down at his phone. He must've grabbed it at some point when I wasn't paying attention.

When we finished eating, I kept wishing that he'd say something. Anything. But he didn't say anything else after we sat down and ate.

"Hey, you've been silent since we started eating," I said when he was about to stand up.

He sighed and looked down sadly before he stood up and started walking away. I jumped up and grabbed his arm as he left the room.

"Wait," I said. "Talk to me."

He looked to me slowly and the look on his face was one of hurt. I could guess why he was hurt. Jaime leaving without saying a word to him probably hurt him a lot.

"It's Jaime, isn't it?" I asked.

"Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe I'm not. But it seems stupid for her to just leave without saying a word to me unless something was wrong." He said.

Suddenly, I remembered what had happened earlier. In the stress of everything, I'd totally forgotten about the living room incident. Jake had probably forgotten too. If he even knew about it at all.

"Maybe she's still upset about earlier," I said.

"What happened earlier?" He asked.

I debated whether or not I should tell him or leave him in the dark. But I couldn't decide, because both choices had big downsides.

If I told him, there was no doubt in my mind that he would be very upset. And if I left him in the dark, it was highly likely he'd find out from Jaime and never forgive me for lying to him.

So, in the end, I decided to tell him. I figured better safe than sorry. But I wanted to ask him first.

"Are you sure you want to know?" I asked.

"Honestly, Reagan, I don't know." He sighed. "Maybe it doesn't even matter."

"Maybe not," I said. "But, I don't think it's right that she hurt you like that."

"It's not her fault." He frowned. "It's my fault."

The first thing that ran through my mind was anger. Why was he blaming himself for something that he couldn't control? What right did Jaime have to make him so upset?

I guess the expression on my face showed my anger because Jake put his hand on my shoulder and sighed.

"You're mad?" He asked knowingly.

"I'm sorry, I just can't help it," I said. "I just... I can't stand seeing you hurt, Jake."

"Reagan, I'll be ok." He smiled slightly.

I could tell he wasn't ok, he was just trying to make me feel better. And I didn't want him to do that.

"Jake, please," I said. "You don't have to do that."

"Do what?" He asked.

"You don't have to hurt yourself to make me feel better," I said with a sigh.

We were standing right next to the staircase in silence. I don't think either of us knew what to say.

And the next thing I knew, Jake was backing away from me, his face full of terror.

"What's wrong?!" I panicked. My back was to the staircase, so I couldn't see what he was looking at, but it was clear that whatever it was scared him.

I spun around, but when I looked up the stairs, nothing was there. I knew how much my brother loved jokes, and I instantly assumed that obviously, this was another one. I turned around to face my brother and scowled.

"Very funny." I snapped. But a cold chill that ran down my back made me freeze.

I'd almost completely forgotten that Jake was standing right in front of me until he said something along the lines of 'Reagan, he's right behind you'.

As my brother said those words, I knew. I knew it was my chance to let whatever this thing was have a piece of me.

"Is that all you can do? " I hissed with rage as I faced the staircase again. I was so angry I didn't care what I was talking to. It had to know I wasn't afraid.

"Reagan, what are you doing!?" He asked in a panicked tone.

"It's over, Jake! I won't let this thing hurt you." I said sternly. Fearlessly.

"Reagan! Don't..." He insisted.

"Why? What the hell is going on?" I asked.

"I wish I could tell you. But I'm just as lost as you are." He said with a look of disappointment. "He's gone now, I thought you should know."

"You saw it?" I asked.

Jake nodded and then looked back up. I guess the coast was clear because he started walking up the stairs before I could say anything.

Standing alone in the hall between the living room and the kitchen, I thought in silence.

I thought about the crazy day I'd had. I thought about how I'd actually talked to a demon and how, for some reason, I wasn't that bothered by it, but I was more annoyed.

What bothered me most was the threat of the demon. 'Next time, I won't be so nice. Be fucking warned' What did it mean by that? I didn't want there to be a next time but, by the sounds of it, the demon knew there would be.

After standing for over an hour, I walked up to my room and decided to go to sleep. Even though it was only 5 in the afternoon, I was eager for rest. The day had been extremely tiring. And stressful.

I felt like sleeping was the one thing that would help me clear my head after the completely insane day I'd just gone through.

As I went to lay down, I prayed that the nightmare was finally over. But in reality, it had just begun.