The Stranger Inside (40 page)

My heart jolted. “Was she trying to help me? Is that why she knifed your body?”

Kenzie scoffed. “Does it
seem
like she was trying to help you? No, she wasn’t. She wants your body. That’s why she wanted to learn about spirit transference when she came to visit us—she wanted to transfer to your body.”

I tilted my head at Trista, squinting my eyes into little slits, feeling sick, so sick. She
planned
this? This whole nightmare was her idea? I couldn’t believe it. I must have fallen asleep on the clinic bed after all. I was dreaming, dreaming up all this crazy stuff. I had to be. No way was this real. It was too insane.

Trista spoke up finally, sounding angry. “I didn’t even know about spirit transference until my family sent me to visit my ratty trailer-park cousin in New York”—she gestured at me with a sneer, and huffed—“Kenzie.” Then she sighed. “One night we like, bonded over how sucky our lives were. She told me about Ethan, how she was terrified of him and she needed to get away—she told me someday, when she was stronger she was going to switch bodies with someone—someone beautiful and rich.

“I told her if I could switch bodies with anyone, I would switch with you. So, she said she would help me. We got all kinds of information on you—where you lived and that fancy dance school you went to and we had her mom teach us all she could about spirit transference. But you were gone for the summer—gone with your dad to a beach house in Maui—Maui!

“So we practiced and practiced the spirit transference on a cat—waiting for you to come back. But it never worked. We never even came close. I went home in my body—and forgot about the plan.” She glared at Kenzie. “But apparently my cousin didn’t.”

Before I could ask any of the thousands of questions running through my head—like why me? Why in the
world
would she plot to steal
my
body?—Kenzie started talking again. “I was pregnant—I got
pregnant
. I was desperate. I needed to get away from that creep you know as Ethan, and out of that gross, pregnant body—no way could I have that monster’s baby. But then I remembered Trista’s brilliant plan—you. Your body.”

Kenzie had me lean back against the wall. I could feel her smile. “You know I was the one driving the car, right? When I had that “accident” you saved me from? Ethan was drunk and I drove around the same area, waiting until you and your dad were finally driving home from your fancy dance recital. When I finally saw you coming, I hit the gas hard and drove smack into that tree, head on, on purpose—but I smacked into it on the
passenger
side. I wanted Ethan to die right there, in the car. But your dad, ugh! He was somehow able to save him.”

I shook my head, my brain swimming with questions and horror. She had
planned
the accident? That was crazy. It didn’t make sense, none at all. “But you got hurt too—really, really bad. I thought you died.”

Kenzie laughed a little. “Yeah, I had to be kind of critical, close to dying. But see, I’d done research on you, beforehand—thanks to Trista clueing me into your awesome life. So I already knew your dad was a brilliant surgeon and that he would most likely have
you
tend to me—the less injured—while he worked on dying Ethan. All I needed was to be close to dying, but with a heartbeat. And I needed you to touch my blood. That’s all I needed. That’s how it works.” Then she added whimsically, “Or it could go the other way around, if you had been close to death, but that doesn’t always work. I couldn’t take that chance.”

I looked back at Trista, feeling sick and angry. “You weren’t poor. You didn’t need money or to get away from an evil demon guy. You had a nice life. And Micah.” I rubbed my aching head, so frustrated I could barely talk. “So why me? Why my body?”

She shrugged, like duh. “Jeremy.”

It was like a punch in the stomach. I literally gasped. She put me through this hell over a stupid crush? “Jeremy?”

Trista’s eyes were bitter as she spit out her venomous explanation. “He loves you. Only you. Girls can be nice, beautiful, smart, funny. It doesn’t matter. The minute you came into his life, it was like no one else had a chance. Even after you left. You, you, you. That’s all he wanted. Well, I want him. I’ve
always
wanted him.”

I stared at her in shock, though I guess she’d told me that before. But then, she had gone on to say that she loved Micah. That
that
was real. But, apparently, that was all lies.

I choked out the question anyway. “What about Micah?”

“Micah is sweet,” Trista said. “I care about him, a lot. But Jeremy
gave
me to him.
Handed me off
. Like I was nothing, a used toy he didn’t care about. And Micah was okay with that. The only reason I even dated Micah was so I could be around Jeremy.”

My brain was swimming. Jeremy had just set up Micah and Trista. He hadn’t
given
her away. But that obviously wasn’t how her twisted mind saw things.

Trista went on. “I always loved Jeremy, loved him so much. But all he loved was you. So … I always wanted to be you. When I found out about spirit transference—that my family’s powers could do that—it seemed perfect. But then it didn’t work—well, Kenzie tried telling me that. While I was visiting her that summer she said it was hopeless.”

Trista’s glare was for Kenzie again. “Still, though, that’s why I consented to move here, to New York. It was only so I could learn from my aunt how to transfer bodies—so I could transfer to yours. But then,” she gritted her teeth, “apparently
Kenzie
beat me to it.” She narrowed her eyes in disgust. “I didn’t know, though. Had no clue. I didn’t find out she transferred to
your
body until Micah called me, all worried for you. Wanting me to
help
you.”

Trista gave a bitter laugh. “Kenzie was supposed to help
me
. But no, of course not. Of
course
not! She had her own plans. She decided
she
wanted your body. Fine.”

Trista pulled out a gun from her bag. “You can both die.”

What the …?

She aimed her gun right at me and went on talking. “At least then you won’t be around, Jodi, tormenting Jeremy. Then he can love someone else. Maybe me. Maybe I’ll be the one to comfort him, and he’ll see that I’m there for him. That I’ve always been there for him—and you weren’t. You couldn’t even decide between him or Sawyer. You’re pathetic. You don’t deserve him.”

My hands instinctively went for my rubber bands around my wrists. But they weren’t there. They were gone. For a blink of an eye I felt confused.

Oh yeah
. It took me a frantic second to remember earlier today, what I’d done. What I’d learned. Evil draws to evil, but darkness repels from goodness. Instantly, I clasped my necklace. Instead of repelling love like the rubber bands, it drew it. I clasped the necklace tight in both of my hands, letting Dad’s love wash through me. Jeremy’s too.

My thoughts reeled with awesome revelations. I was surrounded with love, even in
this
evil darkness. I was. Dad’s love. Jeremy’s love. Jeremy’s … love. He loved me. He did. He never stopped. He said that. And his eyes said it even when his words didn’t. And his actions
always
said it. Always.

Yes, we were messed up, hurt by love, wounded. Badly. But we helped each other out, constantly. We were there for each other, supported each other. Always. That was love. Real love. What Trista felt for him wasn’t love—it was obsession.

…
I
loved Jeremy.

And he loved me.

A surge of warmth charged through me, carrying energy and strength with it. No way was I going to let Trista’s distorted view of love destroy everything good in my life. No way would I let her win. I had what counted—love. Suddenly, I felt I could risk anything because I had love on my side.

“Jeremy’s right behind you,” I said, turning my gaze just over Trista’s right shoulder. “He doesn’t look like he’s going to be loving you.”

Stunned, Trista flicked a quick look over her shoulder. It was enough time for me to run headlong into Trista, knocking the gun out her hands. But I didn’t stop there. As Trista tried to recover the gun, I grabbed her hair and yanked her head back, then forward, smacking it hard against the railing of the bed. While Trista groped her injured head, crying in pain, I scrambled for the gun and found it. Only it was Kenzie that snatched it up, sprouting a victorious grin on my face.

“No!” I screamed, but Kenzie had full control now.

She aimed the gun at Trista and cocked it. Then, without blinking an eye, she pulled the trigger.

“No, no, no!” I screamed.

I couldn’t believe it. Kenzie
shot
Trista.

Kenzie scoffed. “Relax, I only shot her in the shoulder.”

Trista wriggled in pain. But Kenzie wasn’t finished. She pressed my bleeding knee to Trista’s wounded shoulder. Instantly, I could feel something happening. Something
leaking
from me, leaving my body.

“Your body is”—Kenzie started to say the sentence though my voice, but finished it in Trista’s, as the last three words came from Trista’s mouth instead of mine—“all yours again.”

Trista smiled, though it was no longer Trista. Kenzie was now in her body.

“Ethan might come back looking for me, you never know,” Kenzie said. “He has his ways. But he’ll never think to look for me in this body—all he knows about Trista is that I hate her—my snooty cousin.” She moaned in pain, then went on. “Trista knifed my body because she didn’t want me to be able to tell Jeremy she got rid of you—that was her plan. She’s a dog.”

“Ow,” she moaned. “This really hurts. I’m losing blood, fast. I’m going to call 9-1-1.” She glanced up at me. “What are you still doing here?”

I shook my head in disbelief. I was really free? I won?

Whoa. Love really, truly conquers all. I’d learned that twice today.

“I don’t know,” I said, smiling.

Then I ran for the door.

Free.

CHAPTER 50

“Kenzie really believed there were
bugs
in Mr. Daniels class? She bought that?” Micah sounded incredulous as we tried catching him up on our victory—the release of Kenzie.

“Yeah,” Zack said with a grin. He tapped his forehead. “Not the sharpest bulb on the Christmas tree.” He laughed at his mixing of sayings, but he’d done it on purpose. He was in a good mood. We all were.

It was nice.

 We were sitting in The Pancake House—me and The Clutch. It was like old times. Only better. No Kenzie. We were free to talk. Say anything we wanted. The band didn’t have to be cryptic, trying to get me to understand things they couldn’t explain in front of Kenzie. She was gone.

Sawyer, Jeremy and I just arrived home from New York. Micah and Zack picked us up at the airport, and somehow we ended up here. We always ended up here.

I didn’t tell Micah about Trista though. I couldn’t. It would have hurt him too much; I couldn’t bear to do it. “I’ll tell him later,” Sawyer had whispered to me. “But I’ll tell him a different story. One less painful.”

I nodded, for once glad Sawyer was an awesome liar.

“But, so,” Zack said again as we sat in the booth waiting for our order, “the bugs and Grey’s note were to get Kenzie to willingly go to New York. That’s it.”

“Yeah,” Micah said. “I didn’t figure the you-guys-flinging-a-gun-at-her plan was going to work—especially because Jeremy kept being nice to Jodi—not following the plan.” He flicked me a look. “He was
supposed
to be mean to you.”

Jeremy tried to hold back a guilty grin. “Well, it was hard. Jodi kept looking all sad. It was breaking my heart.”

I kept my gaze away from Jeremy, afraid I’d stare. But I had an overpowering pull towards him now, a draw. He had saved me in that shadow. I had been so lost. But he saved me. And he didn’t even know. Only where did we stand now? I wasn’t sure. Did he only give me his sweet confession of love because I “looked so sad” it was “breaking his heart”?

Despite my best efforts, Jeremy’s eyes locked on mine. My breath caught. I couldn’t look away. I don’t know how long we stared like that—in a trance—but the waitress came to see if I wanted anything else and I jumped with a yelp. The guys laughed and went on with their reminiscing, but Sawyer pulled me aside. “I want to talk to you for a second.”

I gazed at him, uncertain. He looked so serious. I braced myself, waiting for the axe. “You know how Hanna looks at me? That’s how you look at Jeremy.” Sawyer was silent a moment, letting that sink in. “But the way Hanna looks at me, I like it.” He gazed up at the ceiling, then exhaled. “What I’m saying is—it’s okay. You getting back together with Jeremy. It’s okay. I’ll survive.”

 I clutched my stomach. “I’m not …” I took a deep breath. “I don’t think we’re getting back together.”

“Jodi, you love Jeremy. You always have. And he loves you. He never liked Kenzie. He put up with her and took care of her, because she was you. And then he had to act like he liked her better than you so she would trust him. Jodi, he was helping you get rid of her. That’s all.”

Sawyer took my hand in his a moment, but then he let it go. “Look, go talk to Jeremy. He’s waiting for you.”

My eyes filled with tears, watching Sawyer leave the restaurant—meeting up with Hanna.

Then I turned to find Jeremy.

My heart sped up, did a strange jig. ‘Cause he was sitting in our booth.

Quietly, though not at all calmly, I sat down across from him, but he didn’t look up at me. Instead, he spoke while looking at his folded hands. “I love you Jodi. I’ve always loved you. But I don’t know how to prove it to you.” He finally looked up into my eyes, melting my heart. “How can I prove it to you?”

I shook my head. It seemed he had. Proved it over and over. His love had saved my life—saved me from the shadows, and from a twisted, demented girl with a gun. What more could I ask? What else could he possibly do?