My older brother was standing in the kitchen ‘ taking a hit from his pen.

I snatched it from him, “What do you think you’re doing?”

He smiled wearily, “Why you trippin’ Jessalin?” He grabs the pen back, “It’s just a bit of Blu smoke.”

He took a drag and blew it in my face. I waved it away. “Don’t. Fucking. Do. That.” My finger on his chest, “I saw what you did yesterday. That wasn’t funny, Gabriel. You’re going to give one of them nightmares, and then they’ll tell.”

Gabriel rubbed his nose and began to laugh, “I’ll just blame it on the marijuana, sis.” He moved behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. His long fingers stretched around my neck, I could feel my veins throbbing against the tips of his fingers as they pulsed.

“They’ll tell people what they saw.”

I can feel his lips close to my ear, the heat from his breath curling around my drum, “You’ll keep it a secret, won’t you?”

I was too afraid to nod.

“Because you know that when I’m gone,” I can hear him grinning, his gums unsticking from his lips, “You’ll be next.” He kisses me lightly above my eye. “Those kids, the other day.” He points the pen at me, “One of them said that I should join a vaping contest.” He laughed, causing the bags under his eyes to jiggle. “Can you believe what would happen if I went on stage and did this?”

He blew smoke into my face. I shut my eyes until the smoke dissipated. I couldn’t see them quite like he did, but anyone could see them if he blew smoke on them. It were as if he was breathing out his life force, his essence, and that was what was cursed.

My mother would hate to hear me use that word.

“So, you staying tonight,” he pretends not to care.

“My cars out. Dad said it was a fuel pump.”

“And that he’d get it from Clutch?”

I nodded.

“Same old, same old, old man.” He threw his keys at me, “Go on. Take it.”

“What?” I grip them between my fingers. “Are you sure…Gabriel?”

He takes another drag from his pen and blows it directly towards the ceiling, exposing his neck as he looks at the figure hovering above him. It was a woman, she didn’t look older than 22. The traces of the blue smoke danced along her frame, as she hung upside down, nearly touching my brother’s forehead.

“You can see her all the time, can’t you? Even when there’s no smoke. You can see all of them.”

He looked at me and smiled, “Go on, get out of here before I start the parade.” He begins to unfold the clothes on his desk. Grabbing the long yellow tape slathered in Hanzi. And picking up a long wooden handle with a white fox tail at the end.

Some people say their brothers have demons. Mine actually does.