How is that possible?
I examined the shapes etched into their skin. None of the designs resembled the demon’s seal until they bent their wrists, Lukas and Jared lining up theirs side by side, and Priest pressing the heel of his hand against Jared’s. It created an L shape that transformed into three-fifths of the seal. After a minute, the lines faded again.
“So you don’t have one?” I asked Alara.
She brushed the salt off her hands. “Not yet. My grandmother was overprotective. But I’m not going to be the last person to get one.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about that.” I had almost gotten myself killed again today. I obviously wasn’t ready to destroy a vengeance spirit.
“You still don’t believe you’re one of us?” Priest asked, shaking the water out of his hair. He saved my life. This fifteen-year-old kid that I barely knew.
I looked back at Priest and gave him the only answer I could. “I don’t know what I believe.”
20. A SLIVER OF LIGHT
Priest wiped off the disk, revealing the red glass in the center of the silver ring. I sat on the ground wearing Lukas’ jacket over my wet clothes. This time I was too cold to let my pride get in the way when he had offered.
“We should go back to the van or you guys are going to freeze to death.” Two near-drownings had transformed Alara from hard-core to maternal.
“No way. The clue to finding the next piece has to be out here,” Priest said.
“Where? In there?” Jared stopped pacing and gestured at the well.
“You think?” Priest raised his eyebrows.
Alara shoved him affectionately. “Don’t even joke about it.”
Lukas peered over the edge of the well. “No one’s going back down.”
“Maybe it’s in the house,” I offered.
“At Lilburn, the disk and the clue about this place were together.” Priest sounded skeptical. “The house is pretty far away.” He rolled the circle of glass between his fingers, fascinated. “Whoever designed the Shift must’ve been a genius.”
As he rotated the disk, a slash of light appeared on the side of the well.
“Did you see that?” I pointed at the spot on the gray stones.
Priest looked around. “What?”
“I saw it.” Lukas gestured at the disk in Priest’s hand. “Turn it again.”
Priest rolled the glass one more time. The light caught in exactly the same spot as before, appearing almost fluorescent. He bent down and ran the disk along the stones, and letters appeared like they were written in glow-in-the-dark marker. “No way.”
DYBBUK BOX, SUNSHINE
“What’s a dybbuk box?” I asked.
Alara shook her head. “Don’t ask.”
“Wait. I know this.” Lukas paced in front of the well. “My dad told me a story about one.”
“So what is it?” Priest asked.
“Dad said that in Jewish folklore they believe that if you commit horrible sins when you’re alive, your spirit won’t be able to rest after you die,” Lukas explained. “They call the disembodied spirit a dybbuk, and it wants one thing—a body to possess. My dad talked about them a few times. It always seemed random.”
“You said he told you a story?” Alara asked.
Lukas nodded. “This woman came over from Poland after World War II, and the only thing she brought with her was this wine cabinet. She kept it in her sewing room and called it dybbuk. The woman never let anyone inside that room, and she left instructions for the cabinet to be buried with her when she died. But get this. The rabbi wouldn’t do it. So they sold it at an estate sale.”
Jared looked surprised. “I don’t remember this story.”
“I guess Dad didn’t tell you everything.” It was an obvious dig. When Jared didn’t react, Lukas continued. “Anyway, this guy bought the cabinet and gave it to someone in his family as a gift. But after a few days they gave it back. He kept giving it to different family members, and every time, the person brought it back. Eventually, he got everyone together to find out what was going on. They all had similar experiences when the cabinet was in their houses—it wouldn’t stay closed, it smelled like urine, and while it was in the house, they had nightmares about being beaten by an old woman and woke up covered in bruises.”
“Are you making this up?” Priest brushed his damp hair out of his eyes. At least I wasn’t the only one who thought it sounded completely crazy.
“He’s not,” Alara said. “I’ve heard the story, too.”
“That’s not even the weirdest part.” Lukas paused. “All of them saw a figure moving around the house while they had the cabinet.”
A chill crept up my back. Listening to the story while Lukas paced in front of the well we had almost drowned in made it more disturbing.
“What happened to it?” I asked.
Lukas shrugged. “The guy sold it. That’s all I know.”
Alara walked over and ran the red glass across the stones again. “Do you think this is the same box?” She sounded almost excited.
“I don’t know,” Lukas said. “It could be another one. But it looks like we’re dealing with a dybbuk either way.” The idea that there was more than one possessed box floating around the world wasn’t comforting.
Jared studied the fluorescent print on the well. “What about Sunshine? Think it’s someone’s last name?”