All Chapters of Whispers of the Devil: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

JakeOh God, what have I done?Panic and desperation crash over me in unrelenting tidal waves, dragging me under until I’m drowning in them. I’m sitting on the bed in the guest room, holding my head in my hands and rocking back and forth.I don’t know how long I’ve been here. Hours, probably. At some point, I’d stumbled down to the kitchen to grab a bottle of whiskey. It sits on the floor by my feet, the amber liquid significantly drained.The alcohol hadn’t helped. I’m unable to numb the tumult that roils inside of me.I hit my wife.She deserved it.The cold, foreign voice slithers through my mind, and I groan, trying to drown it out.I’ve done a lot of questionable things over the years, some more legal than others. And maybe, just maybe, I’d said things to intentionally hurt Julia in the past, but I’d never physically harmed her.Until tonight.She was asking for it.“Shut up!” I whimper, clawing at my temples. “Shut up!”I stand and start pacing in the small space between the bed

JuliaI can’t stay here.Jake’s been gone all day. In fact, I hadn’t even heard him leave in the first place, and God only knows where he went. But I’m absolutely sure that I don’t want to be here when he gets back.If he comes back.Would that really be so bad, I wonder? It’s true that I hate it out here at the edge of the festering swamp, locked away in this big empty house with only ghosts for company. But without Jake tying me down, I could go anywhere, do anything.I could even find another man, one who would treat me better than the bastard I’d married.A fine blush rises in my cheeks as the memory of Zeke’s passion whispers across my lips. Guilt trickles through me in its wake. I can’t believe we’d kissed. As terrible as Jake’s actions have been, I’ve never once felt the need to seek out another man.But there is something about Zeke that beckons me, drawing me closer like a lighthouse in the dark. It isn’t just that he’shandsome, or even that he’snice to me. I have the uncanny

JuliaTo say I’m royally confused when I wake up is an understatement.I sit up groggily, blinking back sleep. My thoughts are a jumbled mess, and my body still rings from the ghost of this morning’s encounter. Logically, I know it was a dream. So why did it feel so real?An image of Zeke kneeling beside the bed flashes through my mind, and I can’t help but blush at the intensity that flared in his honeyed eyes. But he couldn’t have been here. That’s just silly.“It was just a dream,” I murmur into the empty bedroom, as if the words could convince my harried thoughts.“What was that?” Jake’s voice calls from the en suite bathroom. It takes me a moment to register the sound of the shower, and then realization hits me like a brick.Jake and I fucked last night.And we’d made love this morning, hadn’t we?It still seemed so hazy. I could have sworn it had been Zeke’s face hovering over me as he moved so reverently inside of me. Things with Jake had never been like that. They were either

Julia“Are you sure about this?”Helen flashes me a reassuring smile. “This isn’t the first time I’ve gone to see Mama Janvier,” she says.It’s not lost on me that my neighbor looks like the last person who’d put any stock into the craft of a Voodoo priestess, but who am I to judge? Helen had promised her friend would know what to do, and it’s not like I have any other options.I peer out the passenger side window of the car as Helen pulls into the driveway of an old stately home. We’re in the suburbs of New Orleans, a part I’ve never been before. The houses here are larger and look like they had probably been grand once, but years of harsh weather and lack of upkeep have caught up with many of the buildings.I think about my new house on the edge of the swamp and shudder. Is this what our home will look like soon after years of exposure and neglect?We climb out of the vehicle and into the summer heat. The humidity is a little more bearable now that we’ve put some distance between us

JuliaIt’s bright when I wake up, and for a moment, I’m completely disoriented.It takes a few seconds for me to realize that I’m lying on the couch in the living room. A throw blanket covers my legs, but there’s no other sign of Zeke. Wasn’t he just here?I sit up and shake the sleep from my body. Even though the living room lights are on, I can tell that it’s dark out. What time is it?My purse sits on the coffee table in front of me alongside the vial of Mama Janvier’s potion. Sickened by the mere sight of it, I slide the bottle back into my bag before fishing my cell phone out instead.The clock on the lock screen tells me it’s almost four in the morning. How had I slept so long?Still groggy, I stand and pick my way into the hallway. The house is cool and dark. It strikes me that Jake should’ve been home by now, but there’s no sign of him. Surely, he would have woken me if he’d come in late.Maybe he’s upstairs, already asleep in our bedroom.I stop at the base of the steps, perc