Demon Girl (Keeley Thomson Book One) Read online

  “If that had been a real monk from back then, it would have spoken in Latin and not English. Also, did you catch the fake accent? I'm thinking some former Knight of Columbus or priest come to try and curry favor with Jesus by hassling the evil witches who sought to commune with the dead. Because you know, a bunch of teenagers playing around is worth eternal damnation, don't you think?”

  Keeley took a sip of the cream soda. It was, like everything had been here, really good. Too good. Normal people just broke open a bottle or can, and maybe, if they were putting on airs and wanted to look fancy, put it in a glass. She didn't put it down though and kept looking at Darla while she sipped, the cool bubbles tickling her lips. The other girl did the same only with a smile instead of a suspicious look.

  The hard part of the whole thing wasn't the ghost or whatever it was, that... OK, not exactly something she'd seen before, but she'd done some strange things over the years and knew a lot that she probably shouldn't. But it was within the bounds of what she could accept. There were ghosts, she'd just seen one. Alright.

  No the difficult part of all this was Darla. She'd seen it too and was now apparently going to try and play the whole thing off as if it was normal.

  At least she wasn't claiming it hadn't happened.

  “What was the theme last year?” Keeley asked, instead of beating the subject of the ghost to death. The thought nearly made her laugh, but she held it to a smile, that had to look mirthful, because Darla grinned back.

  “Under the sea. The most hackneyed theme for homecoming ever. I wasn't here for that, of course, or we would have done something far classier. Which would be almost anything. What do you think of nineteen-twenties speak-easy as a theme? Now those were fun. People sneaking around and breaking the rules, running from the police through tunnels if the owner didn't pay their bribes to the police on time. Gin made in bathtubs... We could teach everyone the Charleston and smoke cigarettes on long filters.”

  Keeley wrinkled her brows at the girl and shook her head.

  “I highly doubt that “secret, illegal drinking den” will go over well with the faculty. Plus, everyone is kind of anti-smoking now, lung cancer and all that.” Keeley spoke, but considered the idea, it wasn't a bad one, not really. Maybe if they moved it ahead a few decades?

  “How about nineteen-forties U.S.O. I read something about that. OK, it was fiction, but men in uniform, girls serving donuts... dance cards. If that doesn't say wholesome and innocent what does?”

  Darla nodded, clearly considering it, “really drab costumes though, coming just on the tail end of the depression. The flappers had some color to them at least. Not a bad premise though and both kick the behind of “under the sea”. They didn't even have a live mermaid show. I know there's a budget, but really, there are standards to be upheld.” The girl sighed, a long suffering thing that ended with a conspiring smile.

  “No doubt.” Keeley tilted her head to the side and thought for a second.

  “Country barn dance? It fits the harvest festival theme that must have been the origin of homecoming. Though... that may be too bland.”

  Darla laughed and shook her head.

  “Nope, it's just something made up early in the last century to welcome home the alumni at colleges, trying to increase funding and remind them where they came from. Not a great dance theme, “give us some money” especially for a public school. Barn dance has some potential. We could get a hay ride together and play up the whole country thing. Maybe set it circa eighteen-fifties? Simple dresses and work clothes for the boys?”

  The discussion went on until they heard a car pull up in the front of the drive and then the garage door open.

  Darla leaned in slowly, looking at the door everyone would be coming through in a few moments.

  “Um, needless to say, we keep the visitor quiet? We had to handle it, because it really could hurt them if it decided to be persistent about it. Cancer and a few other nasty things eventually. They would just think we were making fun of them or tricking them though, if we told them and Hally would still get scared. Nice girl, but a bit of a worrier.”

  “Oh. Sure. No problem.” Keeley hadn't forgotten about the ghost in the jar, not really. That wouldn't be happening for a while, but she'd gotten a bit distracted with dance ideas. It didn't seem like the ghost would be leaving any time soon and really, it would be rude to demand answers from Darla, wouldn't it? So instead they focused on something innocent.

  Apparently that same topic, the dance, was what the other two girls had been discussing when they strolled in with a tray of coffees from a shop in town. Keeley was simply handed one that had a lot of whipped topping on it. She nearly declined but Darla winked at her.

  “Don't worry, you won't get fat from this. I guarantee, if you don't lose at least a pound this weekend I'll move you in and become your permanent diet buddy.”

  Keeley heard the good humor in her voice, but still couldn't quite decide if it was an encouragement to drink the thing foisted on her or a threat to keep her from doing it. Whatever it was, it had a vague chocolate flavor, was bitter and probably cost too much. She thanked the girls for getting it for her, wondering if she should pay them back. She had a little money with her, just in case they did something, a twenty she'd pulled from her stash at home before she left. No one mentioned it though.

  Hally started first.

  “So, we were thinking, how about, “beneath the waves” to go with last year's theme? We already have some decorations left!”

  Eve wanted it to be bubbles and balloons. Possibly lollipops. That those where more decorations than a theme wasn't really lost on her, she just thought it would look cool and that anything they did would be lame, so why bother fighting it? In a very real way, Keeley thought the fresh faced brunette had a point.

  No matter how good an idea was, the execution would be limited by the funds on hand. That and the amount of participation they could get. If people tried to dress the part of whatever they were doing, it would work a lot better. Darla agreed with this and nodded.

  “Country barn dance then. That or the U.S.O., we can rent locations for either one or possibly get someone to lend us the space for free. The farm theme is easier to explain to everyone though. A dance, held in a barn, not a hard concept.”

  The next hour was spent explaining both ideas to Hally in depth. Eve got the barn dance right off, but a full history lesson came about world war two explaining the U.S.O... And how they set up comfort stations for the soldiers before they left for war or if they came back on leave.

  “Like... whore houses?” Eve asked, sounding slightly more awed and intrigued than was reasonable. As if it made sense, as unexpected as the idea seemed.

  “But for free? That sounds like a good thing, I mean, if a lot of guys wouldn't be coming back, they should at least be...”

  Keeley shook her head, smiling at Eve gently.

  “Think coffee and donuts, cookies and cake, sometimes dancing. Anything more was probably frowned on, and certainly wasn't official. It probably happened, but...”

  “Oh... Well, I guess I can see that. Easier to get by the people at school too. Sounds a little boring though.”

  As Eve smiled there was a crack from Darla's room, then a crash. A loud boom followed and everyone, even the blond, jumped. Suddenly a blue mist seeped out of the room, and the scent of ozone filled the air, the room smelled like a thunderstorm was about to hit. From the look on Darla's face that was probably not too far off. The ghost they'd captured came out first, but scuttled off through a solid wall without pausing to see if anyone was still around. It apparently didn't like the idea of being captured again. Keeley could sympathize. She'd never been stuffed in a tiny jar herself, but it didn't sound fun.

  The next two things made the first look ridiculous, like a movie special effect from a children's film. That or something that would have been at home at a Halloween haunted house.

  They were different beings altogether. Menacing and hard to
look at. The first small and black, an inky movement along the floor and hovering in the air that made Hally scream when she saw the three dimensional shadow. Eve just froze, which was good, because two loud ear piercing screams would be too much.

  One set the mood just right.

  It moved toward them fluidly, but didn't stop until Darla moved into its path and held her arms out. The thing stopped then, like it hit a wall. Kind of like the first ghost had with her earlier. Something to keep in mind? They could block these things if they got in the way on purpose? Maybe it was the intent that did it. If she didn't want them to pass or something. Well, Keeley could get behind that.

  The second thing to come around the corner was huge.

  And solid.

  It was clear that everyone in the room saw it clearly and Hally didn't bother with making noise this time, she just fainted.

  Keeley really couldn't blame her. All those diet pills had to take a toll after all.

  If you took a standard “red-devil” image, made it brown instead of bright and cheery red, covered the shoulders with fur, gave it an animal pelt loin cloth and then beat it with an ugly stick for half an hour, your work day would be half done. It was large, its head near nine foot high and its weight probably could have given a family car a run for its money. The eyes glowed a bright and ugly yellowish orange that looked like what little kids wanted to paint the sun as, not realizing it was a lot closer to white now that it had begun its helium burning cycle.

  It also moaned.

  “I'll kill you bitch!” It said, stomping into the room hard with a cloven hoof, leaving the floor cracked and damaged in its wake.

  Keeley winced. The floors looked expensive.

  Things tightened inside her stomach as she looked at the creature and Eve started to hyperventilate. They needed to run, to get away. Fear boiled off the thing and bit her hard, her heart racing and feeling like it would rip out of her chest. Suddenly though she realized something. The feeling wasn't coming from within her, but from the thing in front of her.

  It was making them afraid?

  Kind of rude. Keeley stepped forward, trying to project bravery she didn't feel at all. Subtly the thing moved with her, leaning away. She made a mental note of that.

  “Um, Darla?” She said, her voice hesitant.

  “Yes?”

  “Is this an ex-boyfriend of yours? I've never had one myself, an ex, but the description sounds about right, big, ugly, bit of an odor problem, stomping around angrily... Am I missing anything?” She held her voice to a very matter of fact tone. If it wanted her to be afraid, then she didn't want to give that to the thing, did she?

  Darla chuckled. On her it even sounded real.

  “We'll I've never had the pleasure of dating this particular being, but I can see how the two things could be confused.”

  The creature bellowed at Darla then, its voice a low rumble that shook inside Keeley's chest.

  “You tricked me. I'll destroy the ground you stand on and burn your ashes thrice!” The thing bellowed, a sound intense enough to make Keeley shake and want to back off. Only, if she did, that would leave Hally lying directly in front of the thing. Unconscious and defenseless. No that wouldn't be happening, fear or not. Instead she took another step forward, instantly regretting it as the fear tried to make her legs go out; it got stronger as she closed with the thing, great. Not wanting to show anything, she took another deliberate step toward it.

  Darla did the same.

  At first nothing happened, but finally the thing bellowed again and then... took a step back. Just a little one, but it was real, for all it tried to make it look like it was just re-balancing its weight in preparation to fight.

  Alright then, she thought, taking a single deep breath and smiling hugely.

  Keeley took a third step closer, matched again by the blond girl. Almost as if they'd choreographed it.

  It stepped back again, as if... pushed.

  The fear was intense, horrible. Crippling, except that she wasn't paralyzed by it. She just knew she should be. That was a different thing altogether, wasn't it? On the seventh step, just outside its arms reach the thing turned and ran.

  “You haven't seen the last of me!” It shouted back over its shoulder in slightly lisping and harsh sounding English.

  The little black thing shrugged at them. It had stayed out of the little fight after all and didn't seem intent on bullying anyone at all. It also didn't spray fear around the room, making it seem far more friendly to Keeley, all things considered.

  “Freedom?” It said softly, almost unheard in the room.

  Darla nodded.

  “If you do not trouble my lands, or my people, any of them, vassal, friend or family, you may go. Deal?”

  “A bargain true.” The sound sank through the room and then it did its own vanishing act.

  The floor was still thrashed as they got Hally around and onto the sofa, so it had actually happened, and Darla got Eve a brown paper bag from the kitchen so that she wouldn't pass out from breathing too much.

  The first words out of Hally's mouth were interesting, given the level of fear that Keeley still felt, and how much her own hands and legs shook at the moment.

  “Was... were those demons? Did we do that, with the board? I knew we shouldn't use that thing. Are they going to attack us again?” Her voice was scared, freaked out. Darla shook her head.

  “No, those weren't demons at all and they won't be back. That was just a bit of a botch up on my part. Not good, but things like that happen. Nothing to worry about at all.”

  Darla smiled gently and waved her hand as if to dismiss the idea. Keeley would have expected the same reaction if someone had accidentally broken a plate at dinner. Just a good hostess making sure everyone felt at ease.

  Eve took the bag she puffed into away from her face, the constant sound of crinkling suddenly gone from the room.

  “How do you know?” She husked, going back to her breathing into the bag.

  “Know what? That they won't be back or that they aren't demons?” The blond asked calmly, sounding pretty close to normal all things considered.

  The black haired girl nodded. Keeley had to admit she was pretty curious too so watched the whole thing closely.

  “Oh, well...” Darla took a deep breath and smiled.

  “They were trapped in a jar in my room, the big mean looking one for over a hundred years... a hundred and seventeen if I remember right and the others really just wanted to be gone, don't you think?”

  Keeley nodded.

  “That seems about right. And the big one really only seemed interested in you. A personal thing?”

  “Exactly. It was a nuisance at the time and I tricked it into the container you saw earlier. The holding limit must have been breached though. It shouldn't have been yet, but materials do wear out over time. As to how I know they aren't demons... well that's easy.” She winked at the other girls playfully and walked to sit by Hally, holding her hand gently.

  “I know they aren't demons, because I am one.

  Chapter five

  “Hah!” Keeley said as the others looked on, a bit shocked at the pronouncement.

  “I knew you Jedi mind tricked my mom.” She crossed her arms and tried to glare at the girl.

  Everyone laughed.

  Hally hugged Darla and laughed weakly for a bit, the scene was surreal now, as if it hadn't really happened at all. Eve went and joined them, but Keeley didn't. She just shook her head instead.

  “And who, exactly, makes their own sodas? Definitely a sign of the devil. Yep. Should have known.”

  The odd thing was, even as she played the whole thing off, Keeley realized something strange. It made sense.

  Darla hadn't lied to them at all. Those things weren't demons and she knew that as a simple fact. Because she was one. The other girls just took it as a bad joke which earned her a playful slap to the side of the arm from Hally.

  “That's not funny. I know you're just tryi
ng to make us feel better, but what were those things and are we really alright?”

  Keeley looked at Darla who shrugged and looked back at her then smiled and nodded brightly.

  “Well, you know, ergot mold. It must have gotten into the flour. It's like... LSD. We'd been doing the whole Ouija thing earlier and if that got into the tortillas, well, there have been shared delusions and hallucinations reported when it comes into play...”

  That of course, Keeley knew was a lie. Ergot lived on rye and they'd eaten wheat flour. The rest was right, but the others glommed onto the idea as if it was a life preserver and they were drowning on the ocean. Darla didn't even have to do more than nod emphatically a few times.