Page 60 of The October Trials

“You have a visitor. Would you like them to come in?”

“Oh, so you can speak but not look at me?”

“You have a visitor. Would you like them to come in?”

Huffing, I answer, “Yes, why not? Maybe I can get some answers from them.”

She leaves the room, still not having spared me even a single glance. A minute later, a figure steps through the doorway, and for a split second, I don’t recognize her.

She closes the door behind her and turns toward me. My breath nearly chokes on air.

Oh, my God.

She looks…

Healthy.

She’s not the frail, dying woman I left in a hospital bed yesterday. This version of her stands straight. Color in her cheeks. No oxygen tube. No trembling hands.

Am I dreaming? Going crazy?!

“Mom?” The word breaks in half on the way out. Hot tears spill down my face, and I don’t even care that I’m crying in front of someone.

I guess I stopped caring about a lot after last night.

“I tried to get the money for your surgery. I was going to go back the next day, but I passed out—I almost died trying—” I must be incoherent between the sobs.

She crosses the room and sits on the edge of the bed, reaching for my free hand. “Shh.” She strokes my hair the way she used to when I was little. At one point, I thought I would never see her again. But she’s here. Right here.

“You don’t have to worry about that anymore,” she whispers.

I stare at her. “Why not?”

Her mouth curves. Not quite a smile. Something about the expression feels… evil, not even reaching her eyes.

“Because she was never sick.”

What the…

Her mouth didn’t move, but I swear someone just talked.

“W-What?” I stumble out. “What does that mean?”

A low, familiar chuckle sounds in the air. It comes from everywhere. The walls, the vents, the ceiling above.

I’m definitely going crazy.

I whip my head around, chest heaving, scanning every corner. Empty. No one.

“Mom—” My stomach lurches every which way. I start dry-heaving, panic clawing up my throat. “Mom! Please make it stop.”

“Missed me, little bird?”

My heart stops.

The devil steps out from the curtains near the far wall like he was always there.

“Looks like you couldn’t escape my cage after all, hm?”