Chapter 5

I woke up to the sound of my phone buzzing on the nightstand, a dull, persistent hum that pierced through the thick fog clouding my head. My body ached as if I’d been dragged through a nightmare and back—except, this wasn’t the usual sleep paralysis hangover. This felt worse. Heavier.

Pushing myself up, I glanced around the room. Nothing had changed. The cracked mirror, the pile of dirty laundry in the corner, my collection of cryptid posters on the wall—all there, all familiar. But something felt off, like the air was thicker, pressing down on me.

I rubbed my temples, trying to chase away the lingering headache that clung to me. God, I felt like shit. I hadn’t even been drinking last night. At least, I didn’t think I had.

My phone buzzed again, drawing me out of my haze. I grabbed it and squinted at the screen. News alert. Too early for this shit.

Breaking: Three individuals from local company hospitalized after workplace accident.

My brain didn’t fully process it at first. It was just another tragic headline, something to scroll past and forget about. But then I froze, my thumb hovering over the screen as my heart dropped into my stomach.

Three individuals.

I sat up straighter, my skin prickling with the feeling that something was wrong—no, not wrong, familiar.

The interview. The three of them. The judgmental pricks who had looked at me like I was some kind of freak.

A flash of anger surged through me, unbidden and unwelcome. I remembered their smug expressions, the way they’d dismissed me without a second thought. It had been infuriating, humiliating even, and in that moment, I’d wanted—

The memory hit me like a freight train.

The voices. His voice.

Caspian.

I had been furious. I’d muttered something under my breath—something I hadn’t meant to say out loud. And then his voice had answered me, smooth and dark, whispering promises I hadn’t been ready to hear.

I could practically hear it now: You got it, doll.

“Oh, shit,” I whispered, my hands trembling as I clutched the phone. The accident. The three of them in the hospital. Did I do that?

No. No fucking way. This couldn’t be happening. There was no way a stray thought, a slip of my tongue, could lead to something like this. That was impossible. Unreal.

But then again… so was he.

I stood up, pacing back and forth across the small room, my heart racing. My mind was a mess of thoughts, all jumbled and overlapping. How could this be real? I wasn’t some kind of witch or demon. I didn’t have powers. I couldn’t just tell someone to hurt someone else and expect it to happen.

Except I had.

The memories started flooding back now, piece by piece, as if someone had lifted a fog from my brain. I had wanted them to suffer. I had told Caspian to hurt them, and he had answered me like it was the most natural thing in the world. Like he had been waiting for me to say it.

What the hell is happening to me?

I sank back onto the bed, my hands shaking as I tried to steady my breathing. This was insane. This was actually insane. There was no way this was real, right? No way that some guy I didn’t know—some thing—could have that kind of power. Could make something like that happen just because I wanted it to.

The phone buzzed again, another notification pulling me back into the present. I ignored it. My mind was too focused on the reality of what had just happened. What I had just done.

I could feel it now—the connection, the weird, invisible thread linking me to something far beyond my understanding. It was faint, barely there, but it pulsed in the back of my mind, reminding me that I wasn’t alone. That Caspian was out there, lurking just beneath the surface of my thoughts.

The silence in the room grew thicker, suffocating me, until I couldn’t take it anymore.

“You’re there, aren’t you?” I muttered, my voice hoarse.

There was no answer, but I didn’t need one. I knew he was listening.

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to speak again. “What did you do?”

There was a long pause, the kind that made my skin crawl with anticipation. Then, finally, his voice slid through my mind like a dark whisper.

Exactly what you asked me to, doll.

I sucked in a breath, my hands clenching into fists. “I didn’t mean it,” I hissed. “I didn’t know you’d actually—”

Actually what? His tone was amused, teasing. Do what you wanted? Hurt the people who hurt you?

“I didn’t want that,” I insisted, though my voice wavered. Hadn’t I wanted it, though?

Oh, but you did. Caspian’s voice was soft now, almost coaxing. You were angry. Humiliated. You wanted them to suffer, and I made it happen. Just like you asked.

I shook my head, trying to shake off the feeling that was creeping over me. The sense of inevitability. Of control slipping from my grasp. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just—”

It’s okay, doll. His voice was smooth, calming even. You don’t have to lie to me. I know what you’re feeling. I felt it.

My stomach twisted at the implication. He wasn’t just some voice in my head. He wasn’t some random hallucination. He was real. And he was tied to me now, somehow.

The weight of that realization settled over me like a dark cloud, and I didn’t know whether to scream or cry.

“I don’t want this,” I whispered, more to myself than to him. “I don’t want any of this.”

But Caspian’s voice didn’t falter. He was there, steady as ever, like a shadow that I couldn’t escape.

Too late, doll. And there’s no going back.