Page 22 of Their Darkest Needs

“Dude, I’ve got a problem.” How the hell do I even explain this, like for real. I’m pretty sure he’s going to either think I’m pulling a prank or that I lost it, so I grab my phone and click on the FaceTime button, pointing the camera in front of me at Mara.

“Uh, dude? Who is that? Is she okay?” It takes me a bit too long to reply to answer because I have no freaking clue how to explain this. Making him repeat the question.

“That’s Mara, she, uh… she died,” is all that comes out of me.

“Yeah, right, she seems very alive to me. Are you drunk or something?” He laughs.I wish I were.

“Or something. Taylor, uh, well, she… Taylor dug her back up.” There’s a silence on the line for a couple of seconds before Felix answers me.

“Could you repeat that? Because I sure as fuck didn’t just hear that.” I clear my throat before continuing the conversation.

“No, she dug up the corpse and reburied it, and now it's back. And on my couch,” I say in a louder tone to him.

“That’s not fucking funny, Ryan!” he shouts at me.

“I fucking know that! Do you see me laughing, Felix? DO YOU?” I feel like we're just in a shouting contest now, and I know I’m supposed to be nice when asking for help, but it’s better than losing it at Taylor, I guess.

She is sitting there, and I know she can hear us but she is deliberately not listening.

“Okay so fucking kill it! I don’t need that shit anywhere near my wife!” Taylor and that thing both turn their heads at me and I guess the camera too.

“Oh shit, that’s fucking creepy man, get out of there!” Felix says on the phone.

I’m not leaving without Taylor, no matter what he says. She's crazy, but she’s my crazy woman. But now it looks like I might have to use my gun sooner than I thought.

“He’s just kidding.” I laugh nervously at both of them.

“The fuck I am dude!” he shouts out.

Taylor walks over to me, her back straight, taking confident steps, it’s almost like it’s not really her.

Even though I don’t think she’s walking over to me to tell me that she’s now realising how fucked up this really is, there still a small spark of hope flying through my chest.

She grabs my phone and throws it to the floor, lifts her foot up, and starts to stomp on it. As if the million pieces on the floor weren’t proof enough that it was damaged beyond repair.

“She is not to be harmed.” She seethes at me, and I swear I see a small smile play on that thing’s lips from afar. Like it’s enjoying this.

Shocked, I stay frozen in my chair, while Taylor turns her back on me and walks back to Mara, talking to her like that didn’t just happen. Not getting any answer back from that thing.

What the hell am I supposed to do? Do I call a priest? Would that even work?

I can hear the sound of Taylor's giggles. It’s all she’s been doing ever since Mara came here, talking and laughing at it. It’s been hours and that thing still hasn’t said a word back. It looks like some kind of scene from those horror movies where thewoman slowly turns mad, only this isn’t a movie, and she’s really turning mad right now.

I don’t think it bothers Taylor, that thing not speaking I mean. She just seems glad Mara is there and acts like it’s her job to protect it or something. I don’t think she’s fully herself anymore either.

I still don’t trust it. I have this bad feeling, like this is not going to end well.

I really need to do something about all of this before I lose her to it.

I’ve been messaging Felix through my laptop since I don’t have a phone anymore. He agrees with me; we need to get rid of it.

Which brings me to the next question—how do you kill what is already dead?

I made an appointment at the local library tomorrow evening and I should probably also go and visit the cemetery, but I don’t like leaving Taylor alone here with that thing, and I’m pretty sure it would just follow us if we would leave since they haven’t left each other's side ever since it got here.

How can she not see how insane the whole thing is? Maybe if I kill it, it'll release the hold it has on her. But the way she reacted to my phone proves she’s going to do anything to protect that thing. I need to get them separated first.

BAM BAM

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