• All four boys stopped. “What did he say?” Will asked quietly. But it was too late to ask questions now; the boy was unconscious in the grass.

    “Oh gosh,” Montgomery said with wide eyes. “He’s got the demon virus!”

    Tyler shot Will a murderous glare. “You’ve beaten up a dead man! You idiot!”

    “I didn’t know,” he said defensively. Will looked over to see if Sam would give him any trouble about the incident, but he was staring in horror at something behind the bushes.

    “D…demons possess people while they’re asleep, right?” Everyone turned at the same moment and looked at the cat-sized demon. A white smile of needle-like teeth spread across the creature’s face. “Pick him up!” Sam ordered, grabbing the passed out boy’s feet. Will and Tyler got his hands, while Montgomery tried to make him wake up.

    “Wake up, kid, if you want to live!” Even if the boy had weighed no more than a feather and the boys could run at their top speed, no human could outrace a demon. It hissed, leapt up on the boy’s chest, and started burying itself under his skin.

    The boy just barely regained consciousness when the demon was half way in, and he let out the most blood-curdling shriek that Will and his friends had ever heard, making them quickly set him down while the demon finished its work. He continued to writhe and scream until the demon had completely disappeared, causing him to go completely silent and still.

    Will sank to his knees and wept for the boy that he’d just helped kill. This wasn’t supposed to happen! He was just mad that his brand new iPhone was broken, the one that had taken him three months to earn the money for. It hardly seemed to matter now.

    “Oh man,” Montgomery whispered miserably.

    Seth’s eyes slid open smoothly and locked onto Will. The sobbing boy had a spark of hope when his victim slowly sat up. Maybe the demon hadn’t gotten him after all… “Thanks for knocking him out,” a deep, cruel voice said.

    “No!” The demon put a hand on Will’s head and ruffled his hair playfully.

    “Don’t dwell on it too much. Seth doesn’t even remember what happened now, I’m sure. Have a nice day!” The demon sprang to his feet, enjoying the feel of his newest host.

    “Noooo!” Will screamed into the ground. All three of his friends leapt at the demon, but it stepped neatly aside and let them crash into the mud. Seth’s mouth turned upward in a smile.

    “I’m Dewasré Sartre, but you can call me Wasré. Glad to make your acquaintance.” Without warning, Wasré’s smile disappeared and he put both hands to his head as if he had a bad headache. “He’s not going easily. You should have hit him a little harder.” Will’s eyes brightened. What was the kid’s name again?

    “Seth! If you can hear me, fight him!” Wasré’s knees buckled for a moment.

    “Stop that!” He moaned a little and pushed Seth farther back in his mind. Demons weren’t supposed to possess humans while they were still conscious, but Seth had woken up halfway into the process. Wasré spread inky wings from his back and shot into the air, away from the small group of kids. From fifty feet into the air, he heard a set of bells jingle on the convenient store’s door. In a split second, he was right outside them. Jean gave a yelp when she turned and saw Seth right in front of her. “Come on!” Wasré urged in Seth’s voice. “I managed to get away, but they might follow me. Hurry!” The store clerk went back inside, seeing that the danger was gone. Cason and Jean ran behind Wasré, fleeing from an imagined threat. They didn’t stop until they had run up the steps to Seth’s door and gotten in the house.

    “Whew!” Cason said, panting. “What a workout.”

    “It’s good for you,” Wasré stated. He’d never seen her go, but Jean came back with a bag of ice wrapped in a hand towel.

    “I’m so sorry we didn’t go faster, Seth. Does it hurt very bad?” He accepted the bag of ice and realized that the darkening bruises on his face really did hurt.

    “Kinda,” he said, pressing the bag gingerly against the wounds. In his head, Seth screamed in fury, making Wasré wince. He mentally kicked himself. This was one of the best hosts out there, and he’d almost botched the possession.

    “Hmm… I can tell,” Jean said, fussing with the grass stains on his shirt that wouldn’t go away.

    “Are we still playing Sky Attack?” Cason asked, not sure what answer he would get.

    “Of course!” Wasré assured him. That sounded like what Seth would say, from the few days that he’d spent observing the boy. Most demons wouldn’t go to the trouble and didn’t care if the humans found out or not, but this host was different. Wasré wanted to see what it was like in the boy’s natural environment first before traveling to wherever he felt like going.

    “Wait. Aren’t you going to tell your mom what happened?” Jean asked.

    “Oh…right.” Wasré quickly snuck into the living room and found Seth’s mom asleep on the couch before sneaking back to the family room where Cason and Jean were. “She’s asleep, so I’ll tell her when she wakes up. Let’s go play.” The three quietly went to Seth’s bedroom and started up Sky Attack. They leaned against the bed, slipped interceivers around their necks, and slipped into the game world.

    “Wa-hoo!” Cason leapt up and off the cliff before him and flew circles around Wasré. Jean took a dive as if she were going off the deep end of a pool before spreading her wings. Wasré took off last of all, getting used to the feel of wings on his back and the wind snatching his annoyingly long hair around. The boots on his feet made him slightly unbalanced as he tried to fly a spiral. This game felt so…clumsy compared to how he usually flew.

    “Geez, you’re like a pro at this,” Jean complimented.

    “Er… I’ve had lots of practice.” Wasré mentally kicked himself again. What was with the ‘er’? Indecision was usually how humans discovered that someone was possessed. When a person they’ve known since forever takes thirty seconds to answer a question he should know in two, the human gets suspicious.

    “Let’s go into attack mode,” Jean suggested.

    “Okay,” Cason agreed. Not waiting for their friend’s approval, all three players were suddenly back on the cliff, but this time they had an objective. Words hovered in the air before them, spelling out their mission.

    The Black Bird Gang is planning an attack on the city. Your job is to eliminate them before they can harm innocent civilians. Good luck, Jean, Cason, and Seth.


    Everyone took off again, diving over the edge and into an exhilarating freefall towards the city. Wasré hung back a little, watching how Jean and especially Cason played the game. Cason pulled some sort of gun from a holster that had appeared at his side while simultaneously deploying his wings and gliding over the city. Jean pulled a bow from around her neck and put an arrow in it from the quiver on her back. The arrow she used didn’t look like a normal one, though. Lights blinked on it as if it had some kind of electronics built in. Holding their weapons tightly, the winged players flew around and among the buildings of the tall city, searching for their target. Cason and Jean automatically headed for a run down warehouse on the outskirts of town; the location was familiar to them after several visits during attack mode. This was where the enemy almost always hid in the first level.

    As they got closer, Wasré decided to see what kind of weapon he had. He checked his side for a holster, but found none. There was no bow around his neck, so he felt around on his back until he touched something rubber. He carefully pulled whatever it was out until he saw that it was a sword with a crimson blade. The hand guard was black and the grip was a hard, red rubber that fit his hand perfectly. He smiled at the sword’s name, written in black cursive on the blade: Red Demon. Looking past the blade, he saw a man stalking down the street with a suspicious-looking briefcase. Almost without thinking, he pulled in his wings and spiraled down to land directly in front of the man. The suspicious man was huge and bald with a tattooed raven on his neck. “You’re from the Black Bird Gang, I assume,” Wasré said genially. The man stepped back with a horrified expression, glancing first at the Red Demon, then at Wasré. “If so, I have a proposition for you.” The man paused for a moment and Wasré sheathed his sword.

    “How do I know this isn’t a trap?”

    “I’ll let you decide for yourself. I would like to meet with the whole gang, and then, when I’m outnumbered a hundred to one, I’ll give you the proposition.” The thug thought it over for a moment before pulling out a black cell phone and dialing a number.

    “Everyone get back to cave. There’s a stranger thinking of giving candy,” he said before snapping the phone shut and shoving it back in his pocket.

    “What kind of proposition is this?”

    “It’s about helping your attack on the city.” The man’s eyes got wide. “I don’t know what you have against this place, but I have my own reasons to destroy it, thus, I’m offering to help you.” A game message popped up and hovered right in front of the man’s face, but he didn’t seem to notice it.

    Jean: Where are you Seth? Wasré quickly chose message mode so the thug wouldn’t hear him before replying.
    Seth: I have a plan. I’m getting all the Black Bird Gang in one place so we can launch a full-scale, one-time attack instead of chasing them all over the city. Do you have a bomb, by any chance?
    Cason: My weapon is explosive. Will that work?
    Seth: Yeah, as long as you can fire enough shots to level the warehouse.
    Jean: That’s pretty ingenious, but what about you?
    Seth: I’ll get out before Cason fires. Just give me a warning, okay?
    Cason: Kay. Wasré switched back to normal talk mode and continued walking with the man, eyeing the briefcase he carried. It didn’t take long to reach the warehouse since this particular member hadn’t gotten too far away.

    “So how come you’ve got wings?” the man asked. He spoke as if he had just realized it, though Wasré knew it had been bugging him for the whole trip.

    “The leaders of this city captured me and did experimental grafting. Although people knew about the tests, no one stopped them. That’s why I hate this place.”

    “Sounds reasonable.”

    “No anesthetics,” he added, making the man wince.

    “Harsh.” When they got in the building, they were met by a crowd that was comprised mostly of well-kept people with only a few scraggly figures wandering around.

    “Well?” an average-looking man asked. By the way people seemed to back away from him, Wasré guessed that he was the leader.

    Seth: Now would be a good time, Cason…
    Cason: We’re coming, we’re coming. Just be patient.
    Seth: How long will you be, so I can make up a story for these people?
    Cason: Just a few more seconds. I suggest you run…
    Cason: NOW.

    Wasré shot for the door in a fury of feathers and blades, clearing a path through the confused thugs just before a bone-shattering explosion rocked the warehouse. More and more explosions followed. The tail end of a slightly misplaced shot smashed Wasré into a building, where he ricocheted off and fell several stories toward the scarred, burning ground below. Just before he made impact with his eyes closed, Jean snatched him out of the air and swooped to the top of a building, where another message appeared before them.

    Congratulations! Your new record time is 00:09: 21. Proceed to next level?


    A box with the word “Proceed” written in it hovered within reach, right beside two more boxes labeled “Quit” and “Save and Quit.” Jean hit “Save and Quit,” automatically pulling all three players out of the game. When Wasré opened his eyes, he was confused to find himself in a different spot that he had been in before. He almost gasped when he looked down and saw a paper and pencil under his hands. Just before Jean looked his way, he shoved the paper under his bed and out of sight.

    “Aww… I wanted to keep going,” Cason pouted as he pulled his interceiver off.

    “We had a good run, and we have homework that’s due tomorrow anyway,” Jean reasoned.

    “Oh yeah… By the way Seth, that was awesome! I never thought that you could reason with the characters. I just thought they’d attack you on sight like the other games.”

    Wasré shrugged and said, “You’ve got to take chances sometimes. I’m going to go…um…see if Mom’s awake. I’ll be right back.” He quickly hid the note as he stood up and headed out the door. Seth’s mom was still asleep, so he read what the mysterious paper said.

    Dear Jean,
    I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that I had the demon virus. I didn’t want to hurt you any more, since you’d just lost Gary. I’m sorry that I had to leave too. Please tell Mom, Dad, and Cason that I’m sorry and I love them all. Most of all, Jean, I wish I could have said that

    Wasré’s borrowed blood ran cold. How had this happened? He smacked himself in the head when he realized that the game was responsible. The interceiver blocked him from moving while he moved in the game, but what about a second conscience? Seth must have skipped around that block long enough to write a partial good-bye letter with his short bit of freedom. Wasré carefully folded the note and put it in his pocket before returning to Seth’s bedroom, where Jean and Cason were gathering their stuff to go home.

    “Thanks for letting us play,” Cason said, putting a hand on Wasré’s shoulder briefly before he went on.

    “Anytime.”

    “See ya later.”

    “Bye.” Wasré watched him go, and then jumped when he turned around to find Jean standing right in front of him with her hands on her hips.

    “What’s your name?” she asked smoothly.

    “Seth Colber.” Jean’s eyes hardened.

    “What’s your name?” she repeated. Wasré’s heart sped up when he realized that she knew.

    “Wasré, or Dewasré Sartre.” Jean put a hand over her mouth and shut her eyes, trying to control herself from whatever crazy thing she might do or say. She started to say something several times, but she always put her hand back over her mouth. Wasré just watched with a blank expression while she battled her emotions.

    “Please,” she finally whispered. “Please don’t leave.” She squeezed her eyes shut and used both hands to hide her nose and mouth now while she tried to hold in sobs of misery.

    Do something, a faint voice in Wasré’s head begged. Hold her, kiss her, do anything, it pleaded before fading away. Wasré gently put Seth’s arms around her. At first he expected her to jerk away, revolted to touch the body that housed a demon, but she hugged him back tightly. Her shoulders shook and her breath came in ragged bursts as she silently cried into Wasré’s chest.

    “Your eyes,” she gasped loudly. Wasré kicked the door shut with his foot so Seth’s mom wouldn’t hear. “Your eyes changed in the sunlight at lunch.” She continued to shake as she cried silently between sentences. “But when you came back from the fight…they didn’t change anymore, and you acted different…” Wasré gently set Jean down on the bed and sat beside her, not letting her go. As a demon, sympathy for his host was not even considered, but what about this girl? Why did his chest hurt so much when he watched a human’s heart breaking? She cried openly now, clenching the back of Seth’s shirt in her fists and burying her face in Wasré’s chest.

    It was a long time before Jean settled down, but her breathing finally became less ragged and the tears stopped, as if she had no more to cry. One last shuddering breath signaled the end of her open misery. “I’ll help you,” she offered quietly. “I’ll tell you how to act like Seth, just please don’t leave me.”

    “For now,” Wasré agreed reluctantly. He didn’t want to be bound to a human in any way, not even by a request.

    “I won’t tell anybody if you won’t. I just…” She stopped for a moment, unsure of whether or not she could go on. “When you possess someone, are they gone forever, or are the still hiding out somewhere?”

    “Usually they’re still there, they’re just bound up and unconscious in their own mind.”

    “Usually?” Jean asked with worry showing in her eyes.

    “Seth was a little different. He woke up halfway through the possession. I’m not sure if anything out of the ordinary will happen; I just had a harder time taking control at first.” Jean wanted to hope, but disappointment was so likely that she barely even tried. “While we were playing Sky Attack, he actually started to write you a note.” Wasré handed her the paper from his pocket and watched in silence while she read it.

    “Could I…talk to him?” Jean asked, slowly setting the paper down. For some reason, she had to know what Seth was trying to say when the letter abruptly cut off. Wasré squirmed uncomfortably. This wasn’t something demons normally did.

    “I could try…I guess…” His eyes glazed over as he looked for the small, rebellious consciousness that was Seth. Seth, he thought to the consciousness. Jean wants to talk to you. Without warning, Wasré gave a strangled screech and curled up in pain as Seth fought him with explosive force.

    “Wasré? Seth? Is that you?” Jean asked in confusion.

    “Jean!” Seth’s voice said joyfully.

    “He’s killing me!” a deeper voice screeched in panic. Wasré used every ounce of power he had to crush Seth back into his place and regain control, though the effort left him with a splitting headache.

    “Are you Wasré or Seth?” Jean asked with uncertainty, a little scared by his sudden outburst.

    “Wasré. Seth hates me too much to settle for just talking.” If you just left all together, you wouldn’t have this problem, a faint voice said.

    Go away, Seth. The voice seemed to obey and faded from hearing. That little escapade must have worn Seth out as well, because he went back to his nearly unconscious position. Jean leaned over and put her face in her hands, her elbows propped up on her knees.

    “This shouldn’t be happening,” she moaned. The door swung open to reveal Seth’s startled Mom.

    “What was that noise?” she asked groggily.

    “Sorry,” Jean replied innocently. “We had a tickle fight.” Wasré poked Jean in the ribs for effect, making her jump and give a little squeal. Mrs. Colber’s eyes got wide when she noticed the blue and black splotches on the left side of Wasré’s face.

    “Seth! What happened to your face?! Did someone punch you?!” Seth’s mom was instantly at Wasré’s side and turning his face this way and that to better see the wounds.

    “I accidentally made a kid crash his bike and ruin his iPhone.”

    “That was no reason to punch you!” she said angrily.

    “Cason and I went down to the convenient store to get some help, but by the time we came out, Seth had gotten away and we ran the rest of the way home.”

    “Was there more than one?” she asked, her anger rising.

    “Yeah,” Wasré said, quickly inventing an alternate story in his head. “The kid who had the iPhone had anger management problems or something, and his friends held him back long enough that I could get away.” Mrs. Colber sighed.

    “At least they didn’t join him. Well, I guess we’ll have to talk to his parents and see about getting him a new iPhone.”

    “One of his friends that was holding him back said, ‘Forget about the phone; just run,’ so I guess that means that the kid will get over it eventually.”

    “That’s good to know. Money’s kind of tight right now anyway.” Mrs. Colber ruffled Seth’s hair. At least she hadn’t figured out that the person making her son breath and talk was an imposter, or she would be having a lot bigger problems than worry over an expensive phone. “When your dad gets home, I’ll talk him out of attacking the kids, all right?” Wasré nodded. Mrs. Colber messed his hair up one more time before she left the room. Jean sighed, as if she’d been holding her breath through the whole encounter.

    “So far so good. I won’t be able to help you with family life, since I only know about Seth’s school life.”

    “That’s okay,” Wasré assured her. “I watched him for a few days before deciding to possess him so I could better imitate him.” Jean handles the raw truth remarkably well, he noted. No matter how many times he mentioned possession or how he had taken Seth, she was still able to continue conversation as if it were just another fact of life. “Why do you want me to stay? What difference does it make?” he asked curiously. Jean ran her fingers through her hair like she usually did when she was agitated.

    “Even though I know you’re not Seth anymore and that he might never come back, I still can’t imagine not being able to see his face every day. I don’t want to forget him, even if what I see is just a puppet controlled by a demon, and I know that there are plenty of people who wouldn’t fare well if they knew that Seth was gone. Cason still doesn’t suspect anything because he’s never even considered the thought of his friend being gone. He expects Seth to always be there for him. And his parents…” Jean stopped. They both understood what would happen if Seth’s parents knew. They’d become like one of those families that lost a child in a war or a car accident or a shooting. There would be therapy, grief, and horror for who-knows-how-long while the parents slowly and painstakingly recovered and learned to trust, love, and hope again. For the humans that were left behind, possession was equal with death.

    Jean stood up and wiped her eyes one more time. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school. Good luck.”

    “Bye.” Wasré heard her give Mrs. Colber a false, cheery goodbye before leaving. He let himself fall back on Seth’s bed and stared at the ceiling. Humans were so complicated. Maybe he should have just possessed a dog or something.

    Click here for Part 5