“I am not an it,” it informed me stiffly. “I am part of him, part of your lover—”

“Bullshit.”

“—and I have saved you, more than once. More than once today, in fact.”

I didn’t bother replying that time, just walked over and sat on the bed, my legs shaking slightly in reaction, although to what I wasn’t sure. I had so much to choose from. I hugged my knees to stop the tell-tale movement, and stared into the darkness resentfully. I wanted to curl back up and go to sleep. I wanted to pull the blankets over my head and pretend that this stupid, horrible, screwed up day never happened. I wanted the weirdness to stop already!

But first I had to deal with this, whatever this was.

I got up again and dragged over the little washstand.

“Yes, use the towel. You are wet and cold,” the demon informed me. Like I didn’t know that. “And shut the window—”

“Don’t tell me what to do!”

“You need to warm up,” it said stubbornly, in my voice. “Or you’ll catch your death.”

“I don’t have to catch it; it’s stalking me like a motherfucker.” I had a sudden idea. “If I shut the window, will you leave?”

“No—”

“Well, then.”

“—but I’ll fade soon enough anyway. And getting pneumonia will teach me nothing!”

I decided it had a point. I used the towel. The candle had ended up on the floor, extinguished by the puddle that had formed there. I picked it up, put it back on the nightstand, and closed the window, then used the towel again on my wet feet.

“Happy?” I asked, sitting back down on the bed, and pulling the blanket around me.

“I do not think that word best describes today,” the demon said grimly.

Okay, give it two points, I thought, peering into the mirror at my face, now lit only by moonlight. I didn’t see any more signs of possession, and I looked slightly less scary. I was still pale, but so was everything under the glistening rays, which bleached the world of color. My eyes were dark pits, thanks to some next level bruising, but in this lighting, that could have been mistaken for a shadow.

In moonlight, I looked almost normal.

Yeah, like I’d ever been that. Like the world had ever let me be that. I grabbed one of the long, fat, feather-stuffed bolsters and hugged it for comfort I didn’t feel.

“You don’t want to be normal,” I saw myself say.

“What do you know about me?” I shot back.

“A good deal more after today.”