“Why?”
Because it was far away from my parents. But I couldn’t tell her that. “There’s a man who works at Subway and he has a majorly important message for you from the future. That’s all I know. Now go!”
“But I don’t believe in fortune-telling and magic,” she said.
“This is a dream, remember?” I told her. “Now go, and don’t come back here.”
Kristin took one more glance at me and my mother and headed down the hallway.
But as I got rid of one person I didn’t want near the devil and his new partner in crime, I gained two new ones in their place . . .
“Angel!”
It was Cole, and Gabi was with him.
“We’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he said as they both ran up to me.
Hmmm. If looking very hard meant listening to mushy love songs. They weren’t searching. But I was going to give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they had just stopped for a break. I mean, I had stopped for a soda and ice cream.
“When I saw the sign, I figured you’d be close by,” Gabi continued. “I know how much you like wishes.” She definitely added that last part in for Cole’s benefit. She didn’t want to clue him in that I had anything to do with this disaster. But she gave me a look. A best-friend look. A “let me help you fix the mess you created even though I’m still angry at you” look. But I didn’t want to take her up on it.
“You guys can’t be here.” I couldn’t have Gabi and Cole near my parents. Under normal circumstances my parental units were more than a little scary. But today? They made Freddy Krueger and the Bride of Chucky seem like role models. I wasn’t risking the souls of my favorite people. Regardless of how they’d acted the past few hours.
“I know you must be mad about before,” Cole said. “I’m so sorry for what I said. I didn’t me—”
“That’s not it,” I cut him off. “There’s just a lot going on right now. You guys should go home.”
“Not until we talk,” Cole said. “I don’t know why I keep doing these stupid things. It was like this anger just filled me.”
“Cole, it’s fine. I’m not mad. See?” I gave him a huge smile. “Now please, go home.” On a normal day, I would have traded all my allowance just for the chance to hang out with Cole and hear him say how much he actually cared about me without being under the influence of powers. But not today. Today, I was worried about his soul. “You too, Gabi. Leave.”
This time it was me sending her a look. One that said “I mean it, get lost, it’s for your own good.” I knew she understood the message, but she ignored it.
“We’re not leaving you here,” she said.
“Well, you should,” I said, “after everything I did to you, you should want me to suffer.”
Gabi put her hands on her hips. “You know me better than that. I’m always here for you—even when I’m mad. You need me now. I saw Reid walking around handing out gifts from his ‘magic’ bag. I know what’s going on. We can deal with the Marc and Lance issues later.”
She was a true-blue friend. I didn’t deserve her. I couldn’t put her in danger; I needed her to leave. Cole too. “It’s not safe. You see the whacked-out stuff happening. Go home,” I told them.
“Not without you,” Cole said.
“I need to stay.”
“Then so do we,” Cole answered. Gabi nodded in agreement. Why did they have to be such good friends? I considered putting the hate spell back on them. But then they’d probably stick around just to spite me. “If it’s really not safe, I’m not leaving you here.”
I could feel my eyes tear up. Partially because it was nice to have someone . . . two someones . . . who cared so much about me. And partially because it scared me to have them so close to my father when he was on his evil power trip.
“And who do we have here?” Lou asked, sneaking up on us. “Did you bring me two new souls?”
“No,” I said. “They don’t want your wishes.” I stood in front of my friends, blocking them from my father. But Cole kept moving, trying to get me to stand behind him.
“Sure they do,” Lou said. “And I can use the pick-me-up after that Kristin mess.” He looked right at Gabi. “What’s your wish?”
“I don’t want to make one,” Gabi said. Her voice was wobbly. She recognized Lou. Even though he was a lot younger, he still had the same features.
“Let me guess,” he said. “Popularity, boyfriend, fame, all of the above.”
Gabi tugged at her braid. “Nothing.”
Lou winked at her. “Think about it. I’ll get back to you. What about you?” he said to Cole. Cole had met my father before. But he never would have suspected that Lou was the teenager standing in front of him.
“Cole, don’t. It’s a trick,” I said.
Lou waved his hand, and I flew a few feet back. I stumbled and landed right on my butt. Fortunately that worked to my advantage because Cole ran to my side.
“Are you okay?” he asked, helping me out.
“No,” I screamed. Not because my rear end hurt, but because Lou was bugging Gabi again to make a wish and sign her name on the waiver.
“What are you?” I screamed at Lou. “A genie? That’s how you use your powers? To grant wishes? Seems totally beneath you. I thought you controlled people. But now it seems like they’re controlling you!”
Lou turned to face me.
Playing to his ego was actually working. “You’re the devil. You don’t need to waste your time here. At the stupid mall. You think that’s what’s going to impress Maggie? Relax. Take a vacation. I’m sure she’d like that better.”
“You’re right,” he said.
Phew! He was buying what I said. While he took a break from Sold Out and relaxed in the sun, I could come up with a way to turn him back into his regular self.
“I am better than this,” Lou continued. “I’ve been thinking way too small today. I don’t know why I’ve been limiting myself to the mall.” He sneered at the word. “It’s time I took over the world!”
chapter 29
How come whenever I tried to make things better it had the opposite effect?
“Lou,” I said, in the most soothing tone I could muster. “You don’t want to take over the world. Talk about stress. Doesn’t relaxing on a beach sound better? A tropical breeze. Sun shining. A hammock. Right, Maggie?” I called out to her. She wasn’t paying attention. She was leaning up against the wall fixing her lip gloss. “Tell him. It beats working. Or school.”
She glanced up from her compact mirror. “Huh?”
“Forget it,” I said. She was no help.
“Powers equal stress,” I told Lou. I could certainly vouch for that.
“You’re wrong,” he answered. “It’s a gift. Who wants peace and tranquility when you can have destruction and chaos?!” Lou twirled his hand and pointed toward the side door of the mall. “Brace yourselves!” He laughed.
Suddenly it got dark outside. I could hear the wind rustling through the trees. And then it got worse. Shopping bags, mailboxes, and branches all got swept up. They were flying through the air.
Lou had created a twister, and I had a feeling none of us inside the mall would be heading to Oz. We’d be goners. And everyone who signed over their souls would go straight to the underworld.
That couldn’t happen. I felt like the police commissioner on one of those cop dramas. The one who wouldn’t let anyone get killed in their city. And this mall, this devil, was my beat.
I headed for the door.
Cole joined me. “Where are you going?”
“Just stay back.”
“No,” he said. “You can’t go out there. Not now. Look at it.”
“Trust me, Cole. I know what I’m doing.”
He grabbed me, holding me tight.
“Let go,” I cried.
“No, I’m not letting you out there.”
I turned so I was facing him. Our eyes connected. He looked so concerned. Over me. I kissed him li
ghtly on the lips. Just in case I didn’t survive the twister, I wanted us to have one awesome last moment. And then with a flick of my wrist, I sent him sailing backward, right into Gabi. “Sorry,” I whispered. But I was only doing what I had to do.
“Gabi!” I yelled. “Do not let him follow me.”
I exited the mall. I tried to stay as close to the building as possible, hoping the wind wouldn’t pick me up and send me flying. But the tornado was heading straight for me. I was definitely not in Kansas. I was in Hades. Hades on Earth.
It was getting closer. I could feel wind whipping my face and branches and debris slapping at my body. A rock or something hit me in the cheek. I closed my eyes and put out my hands to protect myself from any other flying objects. “No,” I shouted, thrusting my arms straight in front of me.
And as I did, the wind simmered down.
I opened my eyes.
No way! My hands were keeping the tornado at bay. I guess it made sense. The twister was just like any other object I could control! I had been able to stop people and even a tidal wave in their tracks, so why not a twister?
I pushed it back a few feet farther from the mall. Then I focused on keeping it still.
I was doing it. But the bigger question was how long would I be able to hold out? My arms were already getting tired. And it had only been a few minutes. How was I supposed to do this forever? Eventually I’d need sleep. After a day or two I was bound to doze off. And getting woken by a tornado pulverizing me was not exactly a dream come true.
It was getting harder and harder to keep the twister at bay. I took a look around. Behind me was the mall. Across the street was a grocery store. On either side were rows of houses. Anywhere I sent the tornado, I’d hurt someone.
My muscles were giving out. I needed to rest. To put my arms down. Down! Of course! I could bury the tornado in the ground.
With every ounce of energy I could muster, I forced the twister lower. It fought back, but I refused to give up. “Come on, upper-body strength,” I whispered. So what if I had flunked the physical fitness test because I couldn’t do a pull-up? I could still beat this force of nature. From pure will.
Mind over matter, I told myself. And it worked. Inch by inch the twister burrowed its way down. I could feel it pushing back against me, but I didn’t let up. Not for a second. Not until the tornado was finally, completely gone.
I was completely spent. The energy was sucked out of me, but I still felt a slight rush fly through my body. I had done it! I stopped the twister from destroying the mall.
I totally deserved an A in gym class.
chapter 30
I breathed a sigh of relief as I went back in the mall. But I shouldn’t have. Because my problems were far from over.
“You dare mess with me?” Lou’s voice was low and hollow. It gave off an air of pure evil. I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. A few in the crowd waiting for their wishes backed off. Not that they understood what had just happened. Just that they knew whatever it was wasn’t good.
“Angel, get away from him,” Cole called out.
“I’m fine, Cole. He won’t hurt me. We’re actually related,” I admitted. “Just stay back.” The words seemed to reassure Cole a little, but they didn’t reassure me at all. I didn’t know what Lou would do.
“I was just trying to stop anyone from getting hurt,” I told Lou. “That’s all.”
His nostrils were flared. “You’re no match for my powers. You didn’t like the tornado? How do you feel about this?” Lou snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, along with everyone else on that floor, I was hovering in the air, four feet off the ground. Then with a wave of his hand, Lou began spinning us like tops.
It felt like the musical express at Great Adventure. Only this ride didn’t show any signs of stopping. Lou was turning all of us into mini-tornadoes.
“What’s going on?” someone shouted.
“Just part of the documentary fun,” Lou called back.
“Lou, let them go,” I begged. “Please, do it for me, your little sister.”
He sneered at me. “Do it yourself, if you can,” he said. “You seem to love messing with my special gift. Let’s see what you’ve got.”
“I want to get down,” one woman cried.
“Me too,” several others echoed.
There were screams all around.
So I took Lou up on his offer. I tried to lower everyone using my powers. But it was hard to do while I was still spinning. My aim was off. Instead of sending them back to the ground, I caused them to collide into one another.
“Hmm,” Lou said. “I guess you’re no match for me.”
“Maybe not. But I can try.”
I grabbed onto Lou’s shoulder to try and stop myself from spinning. Then I passed my hand up from the ground to the ceiling. I had powers, too. And this time they were spot on. I hit my target. My mother. And she went flying above the rest of the crowd.
She let out a scream. “Lou, get me down from here.”
He did as he was told. The devil was under my mother’s spell.
“I’m so sorry,” he told her once she was back on the ground. “She’ll pay for that.”
Before he had a chance to live up to that promise, I sent a few people spinning in my mother’s direction. She started screaming again.
“Lou, just knock it off,” she yelled, covering her head with her hands. “Put them down already. It’s not funny anymore. It’s messing with my hair. That girl’s shoe actually grazed my head. And their screaming is giving me a headache.”
My mom’s vanity paid off. In an instant, everyone was back on the ground.
“This is going to be one crazy documentary,” Jaydin said, holding onto the wall to steady herself.
“I think I want out,” Lana said. “This is freaky.”
She could say that again.
chapter 31
Lana wasn’t the only one who wanted out of Lou’s wild ride. A lot of people were starting to leave. Finally, something was going right.
“Guess Lance is more powerful than you after all,” Mom told Lou as more people vacated the area.
“He’s nothing compared to me.”
“Sure doesn’t seem that way,” she said.
Why did she have to goad him? Teen Mom was a nightmare.
“I’ll get them back. You’ll see,” he said.
Lou was willing to do anything to prove to her how cool he was. He was smitten. “You love her,” I said more to myself than to him.
“No, I don’t,” he said. But I was pretty sure he was lying. “I don’t love anyone.” He smiled again. “But in a second they’re all going to love me! Better than love. They’ll respect me. They’ll worship me. They’ll do whatever I want.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, even though I had a feeling I already knew.
“I’m going to cast a little spell—make the whole world go crazy over me. Then she’ll see. Everyone will hand over their souls for nothing. It’s perfect.”
My heart was beating so fast, it felt like it was going fifty miles per hour on a treadmill. “You can’t do that!”
“Actually, I can,” he said.
This was all my mom’s fault. He was doing this to impress her. Flirting was dangerous.
“Don’t. You’ll hate it. It’s not fun having everyone chasing after you,” I said. “Besides, you don’t want the whole world to love you. You just want your family to love you. They’re the people that care about you.” I watched his face as I spoke. I hoped maybe I’d get through to him. That my words would trigger the old Lou. The Lou that said having a daughter was the most important thing in his life.
The new Lou didn’t say anything. He just watched me. For half a second I thought I’d made a breakthrough.
I hoped it was recognition of the bond we had shared. But it wasn’t. It was a slow build to an evil laugh.
“Who needs a family’s love, or anyone’s love for that matter, when you ca
n have adoration and servitude from the entire universe?!” he asked.
The answer was me. I needed my family’s love. I didn’t like having a snobby mother who didn’t even know she was a mom and a dad who wanted to control the planet.
But in a few moments it wasn’t going to matter. I was going to be under the devil’s spell just like the rest of the world was about to be. I’d be his willing sidekick—ready to use my powers for whatever he wanted.
And then there’d be no one to stop him—or me.
chapter 32
I had to get away—somewhere where the devil’s love spell wouldn’t affect me. But that spot didn’t exist. He was going to send his spell across the world.
Nothing was safe. There was nowhere to hide.
Gabi and Cole rushed over to me.
“How do you know that guy?” Cole asked me. “Is he for real?”
I nodded. “He is. That’s why you have to go.”
“I already told you,” he said. “Not without you.”
“Let me talk some sense into her,” Gabi told him. “I can get her to come with us. Just give us a few minutes.”
Cole hesitated, but finally agreed, leaving Gabi and me alone.
“You have to stop Lou,” she said, looking around to make sure no one was listening. “I heard what he said. You need to fix this!”
“I don’t know how!” I needed some sort of shield or some magical body armor—only I was clueless about how to create it. “I need more time.”
“Lou,” Gabi called out. “I changed my mind. I would like to make that wish now.”
“What are you doing?” I shrieked.
“Buying you some extra time.”
Buying it with her life. “Gabi, no,” I pleaded.
“Yes,” she said. “Trust me, Angel. I trust you. I know you’ll figure something out.”
Lou sauntered right up to Gabi. “Knew you’d come around. But I don’t need you now. Pretty soon, you’ll be begging me to take your soul. I won’t even need to grant you a wish.”
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