Chapter One Hundred And Sixteen

David

I pay the taxi driver, and I thank him for his service before storming out of the car. I and Jeremy head straight to meet Harper and Ryan, who are all lovey-dovey and touching each other. Like, when did this even start? This shit is so weird I literally cannot believe my eyes.

And the way they’re touching each other it looks like they’ve been getting it in for months. This is such a strange sight to see, and besides, I thought Ryan was gay; what the fuck is even going on here?

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Harper and my stupid ex-boyfriend.” They both startle when they hear my voice and they turn their heads to me. Harper is more shocked than Ryan is, though, but I don’t care about their facial expressions right now. What I want to know is why and how.

“David, what are you doing here?” she asks, almost in a panic, and oh, she really didn’t want me to know that she was here and that she was with a gay man. But come to think of it, Ryan has never said that he was gay. We had never talked about his sexuality, so it is possible that he might like boys and girls, but hold on first; I would like to understand something here.

“Remember that information you gave me about that demon and the fact that he might be related to me? I asked where you got the info from, and you got all clingy. Why yes, I grew suspicious of you, and I had to know if you were telling the truth or not, so I followed you. And you led me here, and to my shock, you are hugging and touching my ex-boyfriend.” I say, and Harper sighs,, and so does Rya,n, but he has a smile on his face.

I am so going to be wiping that smile off his face.

“I bet you lied about me being related to that demon to mess with me, or you two are working with the demon anyway.”

“What? No!” Harper stops, and she closes her eyes to recollect herself. I don’t know why she’s acting like that; she’s probably only acting like that because she got caught. Well, if it isn’t what I think it is then she should explain herself. But I don’t have any theory as to why Harper and Ryan are together. This can’t be a coincidence.

“Can you just come inside so that we can explain, please?” she asks, and I just stare at her and look her up and down. Then I looked at Ryan, who hadn’t removed his eyes from me, and he just had a smile on his face. I wonder who the fuck is smiling with him.

“Okay, fine. Jeremy let’s hear what these people have to say.” I say walking into their house with Jeremy following me.

As soon as I get in, I’m alert, and I look around to see if anything is wrong somewhere. If anyone is going to jump me and try to kill or kidnap me. I’m vigilant I’ve been more vigilant than ever since Michael, and I don’t intend to stop right now.

This is Ryan’s new place. He moved out of his old place I remember the old place all too well. He and I used to fuck there all the time. I still can’t believe this guy. First my best friend now my new friend. It’s like he just loves to fuck my friends. Who's next? Destiny?

“Please sit,” Harper says to the both of us and Jeremy and I look at each other before we do. We hesitate before doing just that. We sit slowly on the couch, and Jeremy and I are probably thinking the same thing; maybe the couch is a trap, and we’re going to be stuck there for a long time until either of these two calls out to the person they’re working for just to kill us. We’ll be ready for it. Thanks to that idiot Michael we’re ready for anything.

“Okay, David we are not conspiring against you. We’re trying to help you.” Says Harper. “I got the information about Dura being your ancestor from Ryan,” she says, and I scoff, then I look at Ryan.

“And you believe him?”

“Look, I know that I hurt you in the past David.” Ryan starts. “The guilt has been itching at me for the longest time and I just… I just wanted you to forgive me, but before you forgave me, I had to forgive myself. I was so depressed about what I did to you. Fucking your best friend? That was cruel. I lost my job, I lost my house. I had to live with my cousin and her quadruplets and it was hell.”

Damn, I know his cousin and her four babies, it must have been hell for him.

“I knew it was karma for what I did to you, so I wanted to make amends; I didn’t want to beg you to take me back because I knew that you wouldn’t take me back, and I knew that you were with someone else at the time so I didn’t bother. But I really wanted to help you in some way; I wanted to come to Elijah’s funeral and make amends with you there, but I didn’t go because I was a coward.

But then I knew that I had to help in any way and then Harper and I met, and she was in a bad state of mind to the point she told me everything about what happened to her and you and what really killed Elijah. So we became close.”

“Wait, you told him everything about the supernatural?” I ask Harper.

“My mind was all messed up,” she says. “And I needed someone to talk to who wasn’t a supe.” honestly, I don’t blame her. She was a wreck because of Michelangelo. But I’m confused as to why she confided in someone like Ryan of all people.

“When we found out that we both knew you we thought it was fate. We were brought together to do our best by any means possible. And that was when we heard about the serial killer and we saw an opportunity to help on the sidelines. Not that I was happy that a serial killer was going about killing people but we were happy to help. I was happy to help.”

I stare at Ryan, and I don’t know if I’m hiding my pitiful face or not. Sometimes, I convince my brain not to show my true expression, and my true expression shows on my face anyway. I bet I look like someone who has so much pity for him right now.

“I felt like I had a purpose you know. A human doing research on something supernatural just so he can help his supernatural ex-boyfriend? Now, that’s something you don’t hear every day.”

“Tell me about it,” Jeremy mutters.

“But then I decided to do research on the thing that was killing you. Me and Harper, but then I found a lead. We didn’t find what we were looking for in the library or the internet, but I found her on the internet.”

“Who?”

“Mama Tife,” he answers.

“Who is Mama Tife?”

“A Nigerian witch who has all the answers. The comments and reviews on her website warned people not to meet her. Because she’ll ask for something in return if she gives you answers, she’ll ask for your soul.”

Oh my God.

“And you went to go look for her anyway?”

“Like I said, David, I had a purpose. I did go look for her. She lives in the Bronx, and I'm not gonna lie. She was creepy as hell, but I had to swallow up my fear if I wanted to help you. So I did. When I asked her who the serial killer was she showed me everything. Everything about Daniel Ramirez in that book. How he went from a young boy to a witch to a demon. And he became a demon because he wanted to get revenge on the people that killed his love. I felt his pain, his tears. It was like I was going through the same thing.”

Holy shit. I have seen Ryan say dumb shit, and I have watched Ryan lie through his teeth but this is the first time he’s saying something that actually makes sense. The way he looks frightened yet sad at the same time. How focused and serious he is.

I can’t believe I’m saying this but… I believe him.

“Did Mama Tife show you who summoned him?” I ask him and then he shakes his head.

“No, she only showed me who the demon Dura is.”

Okay, so we don’t know who summoned him, but we do know who he is, and the truth of the matter is that he is my ancestor, he has the same last name as me, and the person who summoned him is related to me. It’s my family that’s doing all this, they’re killing people in New York? But why?

Now I’m afraid to ask…

“And you gave Mama Tife your soul?” I ask Ryan, and Jeremy puts his focus on Ryan wanting to know as well. Ryan doesn’t answer as soon as possible but I hear whimpering. The sound is coming from Harper. She’s crying; she gets up from the couch, about to leave.

“Harper, come on baby, Harper!”

Baby? Wow, these two really like each other, huh?

He doesn’t go to meet her, he sits where he is and he turns his head to face us. He has a sad expression to him.

“I-” he’s stalling and I’m growing impatient because what the actual fuck? What did he promise that witchy woman?

“Yes, I gave her my soul,” he says.

Jeremy and I exchange frightened looks, I can see the goosebumps forming on his hairy arm and I can feel them on mine.

“Ryan, why would you do that?” I ask him. He might have cheated on me but I wouldn’t wish this kind of thing on a human. Besides, he regretted it and it is evident. He gave someone his soul because he felt guilty about what he did.

“I deserved it,” Ryan says. “I don’t have a reason to live anymore.” he cries. “When I told Harper what I did, she was furious with me, and she has been trying to find a way to get back my soul and reverse the deal I made with that woman. But you have to understand I had to do it. I wanted to do it. I just had to.”

“What kind of a witch is Mama Tife that she’s requesting for your soul?” Jeremy takes the question right out of my mouth because this is insane.

“She’s a Nigerian witch who practices high dark voodoo and she needs those souls to repay her debts. At least she doesn’t take people’s souls without their permission and she asks for them. She doesn’t just answer questions, but she gives people money; she makes people rich and famous. She heals the sick. She has healed someone with cancer. She’s powerful.”

Now I see why people didn’t want anyone to meet her. This is dark shit, like really dark.

And now I’m afraid to ask the next question.

“How long do you have?”

He looks at me with watery eyes. The sadness seeping through him makes me sad as well. It feels like I’m the one who forced him to go do what he did. God damn it, I don’t want to feel guilty about this at all. I’m not the one who told him to go do what he did, he did it himself.

He lets out a loud, frustrated sigh, and he finally answers.

“Three months, I have three months left to live.”