The Demon Notebook (3 page)

“So how did it go?” Grace's mom asked.

“Fine,” replied Grace.

“Fine? So you've all picked out your careers then?” her mom said with a wink.

“Yes.” Grace wasn't listening. She was staring at the full moon, white and glowing in the dark sky above them, and feeling cold fear wash over her.

Thursday morning brought a fresh twist in Grace's stomach. She had eventually fallen asleep after hours of fretful tossing and turning, and had awoken to the horrible blaring of her alarm clock. For a brief moment, the events of the previous evening seemed nothing more than the echo of a terrible nightmare. But within seconds, the reality of it came flooding back.

Grace stepped over the threshold of the school entrance, hugging her bag to her chest like a life jacket. She was wondering whether she should go looking for the others when she saw Rachel, Jenny, and Adie standing nervously by her locker.

“You're here,” said Adie, “thank goodness.”

“How're you guys doing?” said Grace.

“Not good,” replied Rachel. “I couldn't sleep a wink. Just kept tossing and turning.”

“And anytime I did sleep, I was having nightmares,” said Jenny, rubbing her eyes.

“Have any of you seen Una?” asked Grace. The others glanced at each other with troubled looks.

“I did,” said Jenny.

“And?”

“She smiled and said, ‘Hello, Jenny. Nice morning, isn't it?'”

Grace bit her lip and took a deep breath.

“Do you still have the notebook?” Jenny asked.

“Yeah,” said Grace, “I didn't take it out of my bag.”

“We'd better take a look at it, see what it says. I was going over the letters spelled out on the Ouija board last night, but they don't make any sense. They're just totally random.”

Grace reached into her bag, bracing herself for heat or pain or something else. Feeling nothing but the cool pages of her notebook, she pulled it out and gave it to her friend. Jenny turned the pages of the notebook slowly, gulping as she silently read the penciled scrawl.

“Well?” said Adie. “What does it say?”

“Nothing,” said Jenny, looking up.

“
Nothing
?”

“Well, not
nothing
. I mean there are words, but they're in another language or something.”

Rachel snatched the notebook and read out loud, “
Tua
omnis
voluntas
et
ordinem
. Is that Italian, do you think? It's not Spanish anyway, or German.”

“Or French,” said Adie.

“Maybe Latin?” offered Grace. “It looks like that stuff we had to sing at church, Adie, remember?”

“Yeah, maybe it is Latin,” Adie replied.

“We can translate it online then, if we know what language it is,” said Jenny.

“I'm in computer studies this morning,” said Rachel. “I'll check it out.”

“Good,” said Grace. “In the meantime, we need to keep an eye on Una. Either she's just totally freaked out about this whole thing or…”

No one wanted to say what the “or” might be. They nodded good-bye to each other and headed off to class.

***

During their break, the four girls sat together on the floor in one corner of the A block. Rachel handed the notebook back to Grace.

“Your wish is my command,” she said.

“Your wish is my command?” said Grace.

“Yeah,” said Rachel, “I checked it out on a few different translation pages, and they all said pretty much the same thing.”

“Your wish is my command,” Grace repeated. “But we didn't wish for anything. What does it mean?”

“You got me.”

Grace sighed and stared intently at the notebook, checking both the inexplicable Latin phrase and the old list of spells. Her own neatly written blue letters contrasted darkly with the scrawled pencil marks on the page. She held the book at the edges, noticing a small splash of what seemed like water near Andrew Wallace's name.

“Hello, girls.”

They all jumped in unison and looked up to see Una staring down at them. Dropping her bag at her feet, she kneeled to sit next to them. Adie discreetly pulled her coat and bag close to her, so they wouldn't be touching Una's. There was silence as Una looked at each of them in turn, like she was analyzing their faces; all the while she wore that weird half smile. When she had taken in the whole group, she sat back on her heels, her neck long and her back straight, and folded her hands carefully in her lap.

“Hello, Una,” said Grace, avoiding her friend's unnerving gaze. “How are you doing?”

“I'm fine, Grace. Thank you.”

The horribly polite phrase filled them all with dread.

“You're okay after last night then?” Grace continued. “It scared us all a little.”

“The Career Night?”

“Yes. And what happened after.”

“The Career Night frightened you?” Una tilted her head, and a slight look of confusion framed her pretty face.

“The stuff in the P block did.”

There was more silence as Una's hands slowly unfolded, slid over each other, and folded again. The rest of her body stayed perfectly still.

“It was dark in there without the lights on,” she said finally, the eerie smile widening just a little. Adie hugged her coat for dear life.

“I guess so,” said Grace.

The awkward silence descended again.

“Well, break's nearly over,” said Grace. “And I have to get to my locker before class.”

There was plenty of time left, but her heart was beating so hard, she thought everyone must be able to hear it. She had to get away from Una, fast.

“Adie,” said Una, “we have English class now, don't we?”

The others watched Adie's face crumple.

“Yes, but I…yes.”

“We don't want to be late,” Una said, getting to her feet and waiting, completely still, as Adie picked up her things.

“No,” Adie replied, flashing a look of helplessness at the others. She trailed down the corridor after their suddenly unrecognizable friend.

***

Grace piled her books into her locker, barely caring as they slid in a mini-avalanche to the floor before she could shut the door. Slowly, she bent down to pick them up.

“You missed one,” said a voice.

“Thanks,” she said, snatching the offered book and firing it into the back of her locker.

“No problem,” said the voice. “No problem at all. You look great today.”

She started, whipping around to see James O'Connor's blue eyes gazing back at her.

“I, um…thanks.”

“You always look great.”

Grace glanced quickly around the block, wondering what was going on. Worried that this was some sort of setup, she slammed her locker door shut.

“I have to get to class,” she said over her shoulder as she hurried away.

She ran all the way to her English class and was out of breath when she got there. Seeing that Jenny and Rachel were already sitting together, she took a seat at the table in front of them.

“God, I don't envy Adie right now,” said Jenny. “Did you see the look on her face? What
is
wrong with Una? It's like she's
broken
or something.”

“Maybe she's just in shock,” suggested Rachel.

“Does that mean it'll wear off when she calms down?”

“I don't know.”

“I'm not sure it's just shock,” said Grace. “I mean, shouldn't it have worn off by now? Maybe Jenny's right. Maybe she's had some sort of breakdown.”

“We should never have done that stupid Ouija board. We've scared her senseless!” said Jenny.

“Isn't it a little weird that Una's the one who freaked out?” said Rachel. “I mean, she's the one who's always up for this sort of stuff. In fact,
she
suggested it!”

“Yeah,” Jenny agreed, “I would've thought if any of us lost it, it would be Adie.”

Grace twisted around to lean toward the girls.

“Well, whatever the reason, Una is in trouble,” she said, “and we have to figure out what we're going to do about it. I mean—”

“Mind if I sit here?”

The sudden presence of James and his piercing blue eyes gave Grace such a fright she squealed and toppled backward off the chair. Giggling erupted all around her as she struggled to right herself, ignoring James's proffered arm.

“Are you all right?” Jenny asked.

“I'm sorry,” said James, who was now seated beside her. “I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?”

“I'm fine,” replied Grace, turning to face the whiteboard. She was in a daze. Mrs. Hennelly marched in without addressing the class and immediately began scrawling on the board. Feeling oddly detached from her surroundings, Grace took out her pen and copied down the notes. She didn't look at James until a few minutes into the lesson, when he nudged her arm and pushed his notebook toward her so she could read it.

James
Grace 4EVER.
A sudden sensation of pins and needles shot down Grace's legs and up her spine, forcing her to her feet.

“Aargh!” she exclaimed. More snickering laughter.

“I don't feel well, Miss!” said Grace. “I have to go to the bathroom.” The laughter spread throughout the class.

“Quiet, everyone!” ordered Mrs. Hennelly with immediate effect. “Go ahead, Grace. But tell the school secretary to call home for you. You shouldn't be here if you're feeling sick.”

Grace didn't answer or pause to collect her things or look at her friends. She hurried out the door and headed for the nearest girls' bathroom, sinking down onto the cool tiled floor. She held her head in her hands and took long, slow breaths.

What
on
earth
is
going
on?

***

It was lunchtime, and the four girls were deep in discussion.

“So the love spell has worked,” Rachel said over her sandwich. “A little late, maybe, but it's worked.”

“But
why
?” asked Grace. “Why
that
one? Why
now
?”

“I don't have a clue.”

“Maybe we've got it,” said Adie.

“Got what?” said Grace.

“Whatever power or skill witches get. I mean, that spell worked, the Ouija board worked. Maybe we're…well, maybe we're witches now. Maybe we've just…
got
it
.”

They all considered this for a moment.

“Then what about Una?” said Jenny. “If we all got
the
power,
or whatever, what's happened to her?”

“What if her mind couldn't handle it?” Adie replied. “What if she just wasn't strong enough and the power has warped her brain?”

“I don't
feel
powerful,” said Grace.

“Me neither,” said Rachel. “I don't think we've
got
anything.”

“So how do we fix Una?” asked Jenny.

“And reverse that stupid love spell,” nodded Grace.

“I thought you'd be happy that it worked,” said Rachel.

“Nope,” said Grace, dropping her uneaten ham sandwich back into her lunch box. “It's just too weird.”

***

For Grace the rest of the day was a horrible blur of avoiding both Una and, now, James. As she dragged her feet on the walk home, she couldn't decide which one was creeping her out the most. James's unashamed stares and smiles made her blush, and more than one of their fellow students had noticed and started pointing it out. He seemed to almost welcome the teasing, like it confirmed a bond between them. On the other hand, Una's formality and politeness, so hideously out of character, was somehow frightening. Now it was extending to teachers as well. Her hand shot up when she knew the answer to a question, and Adie said she even offered to help Mr. Kilroy collect all the books at the end of class.

Being so distracted by her troubles, Grace didn't notice the large shadow cross her path until it was too late.

“Hey, look,” Tracy's grating voice sneered, “it's a friend of the Freak. Hey, friend, where's the Freak?”

Grace kept her head down, didn't answer, and stepped around Tracy.