Demon Girl (Keeley Thomson Book One) (24 page)

   “Yes. Only we don't have a jar and only one person, one demon, in the whole world is able to make one. Me as it turns out, which is actually kind of convenient, because we won't have to trade your virginity for it. But that means I need a full day to work on it and during that time this thing will probably strike again.”

   That... seemed about right, didn't it?

   “Right, so I find it and then run around like a chicken with my head cut off for a day, so that it just chases me the whole time? Then I show up where you are and bang, into the jar?”

   Darla laughed.

   “Good plan actually. Except that you can't do it. I could, most of the others can, but you're too young and even if you were ten times physically stronger, it can walk the in-roads. You'd have to avoid it on foot and make sure it can't hit you with something lethal. If it kills you thrice, you're dead forever.”

   “Killed thrice, I've heard that before, but...”

   The girl next to her nodded sadly.

   “Just a saying. If it kills you hard enough, burns your body, takes your head, dissolves you in acid, you won't survive it. Um, but as young as you are, a single bullet might also do the trick. Oh, it might take two, but... Yeah, it wouldn't be that difficult. Only, I don't think it knows how young you are yet. If it knew, it would have run straight to, well take your pick. A lot of people would trade a lot to know where the next demon was coming from. Even other demons.”

   “Hey, great... I'm finally popular.”

   “Indeed. Now you just have to live to enjoy it.” Darla sighed, it was a deep thing that had the air of being fake about it. That was something Keeley was just starting to get, not that Darla pretended to things she didn't feel, but how to tell when it was happening.

   “No, I think we need to do this the other way.”

   “Hide until we're ready and then bring it to us?” Keeley said, not seeing another way at all. It got the girl next to her, wearing blue slacks and a white top still, to smile.

   “Pretty much. I won't risk you for a lesser demon. Not just to save human lives. Not even people I love. Besides, how bad would I look if I lost my new apprentice after less than a week? I'd be a laughing stock for centuries at least and deservedly so.”

   “Well, if you want my vote and good will, just keep up that mindset. Keep the Keeley alive. I really can't argue with that as a mission statement. I don't like the idea of letting anyone else die though, so, I don't know, maybe you should go get started on the jar thing?” It sounded like a plan but Darla shook her head.

   “I can't start until noon. Maybe not even then.”

   “Alignment of the sun?” Keeley put forth, knowing that wouldn't be it. It was too simple to be something like that, wasn't it?

   “Waiting on a Fed-ex delivery. They promise it's coming, but everything is waiting on them. I paid for rush delivery though, so we can only hope.”

   “Ah. Well, I know that when I think of magic, Fed-Ex comes to mind second, but only after the U.S. postal service.”

   “Then you are a wise demon indeed Keeley. Very wise.” This came out so seriously that Darla sounded almost sad about it.

   There was no humor to the words. In fact they sounded a little... tired. That would get worse she figured, since there was work to do, but first they had to go and try comforting a bunch of people, most of whom probably didn't know Rob from a hole in the wall. They walked back toward the school and found the first one sitting against the brick wall of the building, crying.

   Maria Gonzales.

   Darla leaned down and patted her shoulder, but Keeley spoke.

   “Are you alright...” She stopped then, not knowing what else to say.

   “Yeah, just, you know, I really liked him, Roberto. We went to the same church. I had a crush on him for years, but I never said anything, because... well, now I can't... can I? I can't even ask if he'd like to be friends.”

   Keeley hugged her carefully and didn't bother to care when tears wet the shoulder of her shirt. Finally, when the bell rang, they all moved in. Even though tears still fell. Things moved ponderously, and it was suddenly lonely for Keeley, not having classes with anyone that she knew. At lunch Darla didn't show, but that made sense.

   To her.

   No one else knew what was going on, of course. Keeley didn't know what to say, so finally, nodding, she just told the truth. Sort of.

   “She said she had an idea that might help find the person or people that did this. If it works it will take a few days. I can't tell you much more than that.” It was true enough. The people around her all looked baffled and one of them, a football player named Fred, of all things, shook his head.

   “She went to go and find these people? Alone? Shouldn't she have taken someone, or I don't know, a group of people? Like the cops or maybe, I don't know, some guards?” He wasn't the biggest guy at the table but he was in shape and flexed his muscles almost subliminally. Suggesting he would have been the right one for the job.

   Keeley didn't roll her eyes, just shrugging instead. The guy seemed to mean well enough, he was just out of his league on this one that was all. They all were.

   “I think this is more of a paperwork thing. She only mentioned it in passing to me, because I need to drive people around. That's all.” It sounded reasonable.

   Everyone seemed to think so too, and while Hally and Eve worried about their friend everyone else just assumed that whatever she was doing it couldn't be all that dangerous or a teenage girl wouldn't be spending time on it. Keeley sat next to Hally and nearly jumped a few minutes later when the girl hugged her.

   “We should find Gary after school, if we can. I don't know... Is that OK do you think? I...” The red haired girl seemed ready to cry again, so Keeley nodded.

   “Yeah, I think we should. Are you in Eve?”

   “Alright... can I drive?”

   “You don't have a license do you?” Keeley tried not to scowl, she definitely remembered Eve saying she didn't.

   “No, but Darla lets me drive all the time anyway.”

   “Then, no, not today at least. I'll drive. If we can today, we keep everything legal. Meet at Freida after sixth period?” She tried to sound confident and if she didn't quite make it, no one called her on it.

   It was just one of those days, so everyone was giving everyone else at least a little slack.

   Two hours later they met in the parking lot, everyone piling in tiredly to Freida, sitting in the comfortable white seats and basking for a few minutes in the drowsy warmth that had built up from the sun, even though it was decently cool outside that day. After a bit Keeley remembered to make the tiredness go away and even called up the sense of a caffeine rush. Not enough to seem like she was on drugs or even to feel sick, just enough to get her moving, motivated to do something. Anything. The grief she felt was real enough to make her slow and depressed, but they needed to be sharp didn't they? If only for Gary's sake. She got the van in gear and drove for nearly a minute before speaking.

   “Any clue where we're going?” She tried to sound calm and relaxed, but feeling a little worried. She hated getting lost. It was just a thing with her. Finally Eve yawned and pointed forward.

   “That way. We'll check by his house first, then move out from there, Gary only has about six places to go, so it shouldn't be that hard. Easy ones first?”

   His house was a bust. The only thing they found out there was that Gary and his dad had a bit of a falling out, which ended with Ken having two black eyes and a fat and purpling lip. The man clearly deserved them, but that wasn't important to Keeley at the moment. Instead she had to listen to the man, which made her wonder how Gary had held back that long. If she'd known how to fight, she realized, she'd beat the man down too. Instead she just calmed herself and waited.

   “If you see that gay little piece of shit, tell him that I'm pressing charges!” The man yelled at them, which made both Eve and Hally cower and move even further away.

   Keeley just nodded. It wasn't that she was brave as much as that she'd killed all her fear for a moment. It was a handy trick.

   “You might want to reconsider that. The courts frown on people attacking their kids for being homosexual now. You can try to say that he just beat you up for no reason, but look at you, you're what, two hundred and fifty pounds and six-four? Not exactly an easy target. No, when he tells them how you were upset because the police said he might be gay and then you tried to hit him... Well, that's a hate crime now. You'll be put away for a while. Years even. The claim doesn't even have to be true, just made and it would be enough. In this the court would side with the minor.” Keeley watched the man fume for a moment and then just shrugged.

   “Up to you though.”

   The man didn't say anything else at least. He just glared and clenched his fists at her.

    She loaded the other girls into the vehicle and they started over, this time with Roberto's family. That didn't go very well. Or rather it went alright, but not quickly. Gary wasn't there, but not a lot of Rob's friends had thought to come and comfort his mother and little sister, so the job kind of fell to them. It took hours and they didn't get out of there until nearly eight.

   Hally hugged Alicia, Rob's thirteen year old sister again on their way out and handed her a piece of paper with a phone number on it.

   “That's my cell. Call if you need anything, alright? Night or day.”

   Eve handled the mother, saying something very similar. Adults wouldn't lean on kids for support, but maybe it would help anyway. Keeley made the rounds too, but ended up standing awkwardly most of the time. She felt out of place. This just wasn't something she knew how to do, not like the others.

   The movie theater was a long shot, and killed even more time, because they had to wait for all the movies to end at least once to make sure they didn't just miss a theater. There were four in all. They paid for tickets and explained what they were doing, so no one hassled them, but he just wasn't there. That left a remote park, one of the only areas with trees in the whole state it felt like, or Darla's house. If he was there though, they all agreed, they were going to scream at him.

   So the park came first. It was a green space, watered so that the trees would grow, holes bored into the hard-pan layer about four foot down and looked highly planned, like a tree farm almost, rather than a simple park or realistic wild space. The greenery was all in rows that had to be off putting to more people than just her. They found the gravel parking lot and got out in the dark, using the simple expedient of simply yelling for Gary. No sounds came for a while, so they just waited, calling every few minutes.

   Keeley felt it first, rather than hearing anything. A familiar presence. Fear. It was a mild thing, a low thing that suddenly grew stronger, tightening her gut as she stood waiting.