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had seized control of his body long e<strong>no</strong>ugh to rid himself of the<br />

demon in the only way he knew how.<br />

No. Stop. It couldn’t have come to that.<br />

Could it?<br />

Too late. <strong>The</strong> demon was right. I’d lied to Tucker. I didn’t<br />

save him.<br />

Tears were freezing against my face in the cold air. I felt<br />

arms around me, and I didn’t k<strong>no</strong>w who they belonged to, but I<br />

didn’t care. My Tucker, who had been fine only a month ago, had<br />

fallen victim to a monster and it had killed him. I was never going<br />

to hear his voice again. No more witty banter inside <strong>The</strong> End Shelf.<br />

What would happen to his store <strong>no</strong>w, anyway? What would<br />

happen to his apartment?<br />

What would happen to the demon? Where would it go?<br />

“Chelsea, you need to breathe.” Richard’s voice infiltrated<br />

the horrors in my mind, the image of Tucker’s body that was<br />

cemented there. I caught hold of it and let it pull me out of the<br />

depths.<br />

<strong>The</strong> tears didn’t stop, though. I turned around and collapsed<br />

against his chest. “We were too late,” I blubbered.<br />

“I’m so sorry.” Ethan’s voice was a whisper, and when I<br />

opened one eye I saw his face was as wet as mine.<br />

Craig stood grimly by, a cell phone at his ear as he described<br />

to the police what we’d just found. When he hung up, he an<strong>no</strong>unced,<br />

“<strong>The</strong>y’ll be here soon. We need to wait a few minutes.” He turned<br />

his dark eyes on me. “Chelsea, it’s going to be okay.”<br />

We didn’t get back to Richard and Daisy’s house until after<br />

midnight. Gunner was passed out on the couch, Susannah was<br />

<strong>no</strong>where to be found, and Daisy was waiting on the stairs. Richard<br />

had called her to tell her what had happened, and she rushed into his<br />

arms the moment we walked through the door.<br />

Ethan kept his hand on my shoulder, but the tears had dried<br />

up after talking to the police. <strong>The</strong>y handled it so professionally, like<br />

Tucker was just a<strong>no</strong>ther number in the multitudes of young people<br />

who committed suicide every year. <strong>The</strong> whole event was just so void<br />

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