“Or possessed?”

She nodded. “And they likely left the offerings.”

“What offerings?” His forehead tightened.

“The wine? The cigarettes? I’m pretty sure that’s where the smoke was coming from.” Vera sounded calm, the perfect tone for a future doctor. It’s stage four, metastatic and inoperable. Can I get you a tissue?

“My mom wasn’t smoking a cigarette, she was smo-king, like it was coming from inside her body.” He couldn’t believe he was actually saying this, but he was.

“I know. And I’m not sure how, exactly.” Vera took a sip. “But I think the gifts are left for it, the demon, or the inhuman spirit, or whatever you want to call it. And when it accepts the gift, when it grants a favor, then the gift manifests inside her body—the smell of lilies, the presence of smoke…”

Granting favors…his sister…the candy, the apple…

“What about Chloe?” Max spat, his brain clicking. “She left it crap, she said it did something, to a friend of hers—”

“I know.” Vera touched his hand. “We looked her over. We spoke to her. She seems okay.”

“I didn’t sense anything dark inside her.” Aunt Tilda agreed.

Oh, great! Aunt Tilda didn’t sense anything dark. I guess I don’t need to worry, then!

“What about my dad? I heard him.” Max’s eyes stretched.

“It’s a trick. Evil spirits have many voices,” said her aunt.

“No. It was him. He even told a bad joke. That was his thing. How could it know that?” His voice cracked. He didn’t even have it in him to be embarrassed.

“Your mom knew that.” Vera placed a palm on his arm.

“My mom wouldn’t do that to me.” His voice was small. It was the first time he heard his father’s voice, outside of an old video, in seven years. It was real. He heard his laugh. Max’s throat grew tight.

“That wasn’t your mother,” Vera said.

“Then what was it? How did it get there? Why is this happening to us?” He knew he sounded like a child, but that’s how he felt. This wasn’t fair. His family had been through enough; they didn’t need this too.

“To be possessed, a person needs to invite the demon in,” Aunt Tilda said matter-of-factly.

Max’s head turned her way. “What do you mean? You think my mom asked for this?”

“No, not exactly.” Vera shook her head. “You know all those horror movies about tarot cards and séances? Well, there’s some truth to that. To be possessed, you need to invite the demon, you need to open a door to the other side.”

“The shrine,” her aunt explained.

“You said lots of people have the shrine. Are they all smoking?”

“No. I don’t know. I’m not sure, actually.” Vera raised her palms. “And I doubt your mom knew what she was doing when she bought it. Kids who play with Ouija boards don’t think they’re actually summoning spirits, but sometimes…they are.” She shrugged. “The fact that she’s fighting it, that you can hear her, means that she’s regretting it. This is good. But the fact that there are so many people worshipping it…”