Chapter 17: Ivan Awake“You’re staring.”
Ivan’s voice startled me. “Not staring…thinking.” My instincts flared as he approached the kitchen table.
Ivan glanced into the pot of sage on the floor before grabbing the half-sandwich off my plate. “You performing an exorcism?” Ivan nudged the pot with his foot, causing the sage to re-ignite and send fresh plumes of smoke into the air.
“Close,” I said.
“Excellent.”
Ivan ate and I watched. He appeared normal—disheveled, but normal. He wore an old T-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts, both items scavenged from my dresser. Even his eyes had softened to their normal black lacquer. I had a brief delusion that nothing had happened until he smiled and I glimpsed residual bloodstains on his teeth. The monster hadn’t disappeared.
He sat opposite m
