Drake

Chris orbs us back to the Manor and immediately heads to the book. I can feel his apprehension from across the room. I cannot help but feel the same apprehension.

The teenager is all of sixteen. His skin is slightly darker than mine with light undertones. His face is an odd amalgamation of my brother, Caleb, and me. He has Caleb's large eyes and my large nose. It is unnerving.

The teenager passes out almost immediately. Chris barely has time to orb him to the couch before he hits the ground. As strange as it is, I cannot stop watching him. The kid is larger than I was at his age, like Caleb. He is growing a little mustache. It is adorable.

He has a fresh fade and what looks like name brand clothing. It is all startling. Chris calls my name, eventually gaining my attention.

As I approach Chris, he runs his finger down the entry in the book before looking up at me. "Thalzamor"

"Bless you."

"No!" Chris laughs. "That's the demon from the alley. He's—"

"Related to Balthazor?" I ask.

"Demonically, yes. Humanically, I don't think so." Chris smiles.

"Okay, anything that might indicate why he wants the kids?" I ask.

Chris sighs. "Well, he looks like you, so that would be a big draw, I guess. We could always ask him."

"So, you picked up on that, too?"

"That he has your family's face? Maybe he's a cousin." Chris says.

"Unless my mom or dad has a secret branch of the family tree, it's a no. But he is familiar." I say.

"Maybe Greg has some explaining to do." Chris says.

I snort at the thought of my father cheating on my mother. He turned to the dark side to save her. It would be ridiculous. Though, I have seen less rational things from him.

I look over my shoulder as the boy thrashes on the couch before standing. He bolts towards the door. Chris waves his hand, and the boy disappears in a flurry of orbs and appears above the couch, dropping with a thud. He attempts twice more before I clear my throat.

"Okay, as entertaining as this is, you can stop now. You're safe. Relatively." I say.

"Safe? Where am I? Who are you? Why do you look like me?" He asks.

"I am Drake and this is Chris." I say. "What's your name?"

The boy looks around, as if he is trying to formulate an escape before thinking better of it. "Evan Nelson."

"Nice to meet you, Evan. Any idea why a demon was after you?" Chris asks.

"Sir, what?" Evan asks. "You buggin."

"Buggin? Do kids still say that?" I ask.

"Fine, wildin." Evan says.

"Funnily enough, not the first time this year I've heard that." I say. "But you don't know anything about demons? Or magic?"

"Y'all high, right? This is a trap, right?" Evan asks.

Chris is confused. "A trap? No, we—"

"No, this isn't a trap house." I say. "Does it look like a trap house?"

"A trap house? Like—"

"You remember T.I.?" I ask.

Chris nods before excusing himself to answer a call. Evan stares around the room before he starts surveying closely. My confusion and curiosity is at its peak now.

"You always stare at underage boys?" Evan says. "Not interested, bro."

I chuckle. "Yeah, teenagers aren't my thing. But I have questions."

"Like why we look alike?"

"Well, yeah. Who are your parents?" I ask.

Evan's attention is fully on me. "I don't know. I was adopted. Moms said my parents weren't prepared for kids. They didn't want me."

"Okay. Where is your mother? And what were you doing in that alley." I ask.

"Moms told my parents died. I did some snoopin in her stuff and found...I don't know what you'd call it. But it had names for—the bios."

"And they are?" I ask.

"Caly and Greg Summers."

The air is ripped from my lungs. None of this makes sense. The one thing I can fit together is his age in connection to me. My mother died around sixteen years ago.

But, she never had another child.

"You okay?" Evan asks.

As I am about to answer him, Thalzamor shimmers in behind him. I reach forward and pull him to the floor as the demon swiftly sends a fireball at us. The demon advances towards us, but is thrown off his feet. He flies across the attic and slams to the ground.

The demon hops to his feet and rushes Chris. I push the limits of my mind at him, pushing all the emotion I can forward. The demon stops and bends to a knee, shrieking in pain.

Chris waves his hand at the potions table and the myriad of potions fly off and hit the demon at once. The demon shrieks again as he shimmers out, leaving a slab of meat on the floor.

Chris picks me off the ground. "Gross." He says.

I pull Evan to his feet as Chris grabs a jar and uses his powers to move the demonic meat into the jar. Evan looks spooked. I can feel the terror shooting through his body like fireworks.

"You guys okay?" Chris asks.

"That...was a demon?" Evan asks.

"Yeah. Yeah, it was." Chris says. "You okay, bro?"

"Yeah. No. We need to go and see someone." I say.

"Someone else?" Evan asks.

"Yeah, our dad."