Page 106 of Witch Unbound
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JASPER
I’m in the dark place again but I can feel the bed beneath me. I can sense the world around me, so why can’t I wake up?
What is this? Some kind of new nightmare?
I sense his presence wriggling its way forth from the back of my mind…Oh, God, he’s in my head.
“Get out. Get the fuck out.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.” His voice is smooth and confident. He sounds like…Like me.
Panic grips me. “You said you’d let me go.”
“I did, but you refuse to fade away. You’re stronger than I thought. You’ve been independent for too long.”
“What do you mean?”
“You belong to me, Jasper. You always have. My eyes, my ears. My body when it’s time.”
His words spawn ice in my veins. “Time for what?”
“For me to be free. There’s power now, so much power at my fingertips through your fingertips. Enough to shatter the lock. Enough to finally wake.”
Twisted comprehension dawns, but it’s too insane, too impossible. Still, I have to know. I have to ask the question. “Who are you?”
“Oh, Jasper, you know who I am. You’ve always known, because I am you and you are me.”
“No…”
“Say it. Say it, Jasper. Say my name.”
I don’t want to. I don’t fucking want to. “Croatoan.”
“Time to wake up.”
My eyes snap open, and darkness swallows me whole.
