He could lie. If he said yes, maybe Joan would stop talking about it. He brings the lie to his lips and then he can't take it further.

Instead, he grips her shoulder, rolls her onto her back, and sits down by her. "It wants you to give in," he says. "So it can take over permanently. But it can't do that unless you tell it to. It'll try and trick you, and push you, but unless you say yes it can't go that far. But you ain't gonna do that, so it's gonna get mad. Then, yeah. It'll probably try to kill you. Maybe it'd want you to kill yourself."

It doesn't need a gun to end her life. It could starve her out, or snap her neck.

"It won't come to that. I'm telling you it won't."