The Devil's Prey (The Demon Within)

by Jessica Stark

  She gave me a wary look. ‘What happened?’ I could tell from her expression that this was the first time she had noticed my bag.

  ‘Well, it is a long story.’ I stared down at my feet. ‘I ran away from where I was staying. I got into a huge argument, and no one understands me…so I left.’ I sat down, realizing belatedly that my wet clothes would soak her couch. Amy didn’t seem to notice.

  ‘Sure, you can crash. And I won’t tell your mom.’

  I smiled at Amy. She always understood me.

  ‘So what did you do?’ she asked.

  I took a breath. ‘Well, I have been suspended from school for two days.’

  Her eyes glittered at the sound of this. ‘First day, whoa! Even I never managed to pull that off! What did you do?’ She sounded excited that I was now the bad-ass one instead of her.

  ‘Well…I kind of broke Amber’s nose.’ I tried not to smile, but Amy’s grin was huge, and I couldn’t help but smile with her.

  ‘You broke her nose? Oh my gosh, Summer!’ She gave me a huge hug, then looked at me with a serious face. ‘What did she do this time?’

  ‘Well, you know what’s been going around school? Well, she wrote all over my locker saying I was a sociopath, and then when I was waiting for Ethan and Amanda, she insulted my mother and father, saying my mum killed Dad and that I would do the same to Ethan.’ My eyes were too puffy to cry, but it felt good to tell someone who did not look disappointed in me. Amy didn’t say anything, but she wrapped her arms around me.

  ‘Well, I can’t wait to see her tomorrow.’ She pulled away and clapped her hands excitedly.

  Amy’s mum was out of town, which was good, because she probably would have called my mum. When Amy left for school the next morning, I was all alone.

  By midday, I was bored out of my mind. All that was on were soap operas and Dr. Phil. I went to the fridge to get a drink when I heard a voice.

  ‘Summer, can you hear me? I know you can.’ I sighed at Amanda’s voice. I did not want to speak to anyone, but knowing Amanda, she would not stop until she got an answer.

  ‘What do you want, Amanda?’ I got a drink and sat back on the lounge.

  ‘Where the hell are you? When I went into our room, everything was everywhere, and your clothes were gone!’ Even in my head, I could feel how disappointed she was in me.

  ‘I need space to think, ok? Please.’

  ‘You better tell me where you are, Summer!’

  I was not going to tell her. ‘Nope, I am safe. That is all you need to know.’ I felt a little sorry for her. She could hear me but not find me.

  ‘You do know that Lauren has put out a warning to every fairy in the world that you are missing.’ Great, I thought. Every stinking fairy knew I had run away. Just great.

  ‘I am sick of all this protection. Why won’t anyone respect what I want to do? God, I wish I wasn’t a fairy!’

  ‘Summer, every time you say that, you have no idea how hurtful it is to both me and Ethan. What you said yesterday about being sick of everything related to fairies really hurt me and Ethan. We were both devastated.’

  ‘I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I am just tired of everyone expecting so much of me. I am losing my mind, but no one seems to see that. Yes, what I did to Amber was not right, but if you heard what she was saying…’ I stopped because I heard something outside. It was too early for Amy to be home. I saw a shadow cross the backyard. My body tensed, and I stood up with a lambo in my hand. I took a step towards the backyard, only to realize it was just a cat. A freaking cat scared me! I sat back on the lounge, trying to think of something to say to Amanda.

  ‘Summer, this is why you need to come back home.’

  ‘How did you- never mind. Home? How could you call it home? I am treated different. No one ever says, “Good job, Summer.” All I get is disappointment from everyone . Did you know not one person has asked me how I am doing? They all assume, “She is a pure, she must be fine.”’ Amanda did not say anything, so I went back to watching god knows what.

  ‘Summer, the thing is, nobody can begin to imagine what you went through. You have no idea how proud we are of you. I know it may not seem like it, but we all are. Everyone is too afraid to confront you because they have no idea how. They are scared you might bite their heads off for bringing it up, and after the way you had a go at Lauren…well, I think they are right.’ I could tell from her voice that she was sorry, but I knew by the way she spoke at the end that she was hiding something from me

  ‘Ok, spit it out! What are you hiding from m…’ I could not finish the last words. I rubbed my eyes to make sure that I was not seeing things. I saw a beautiful lady standing in front of me. I knew who she was, even though we had never met. I blinked my eyes, and she was gone.

  ‘Amanda, I think I am going crazy. I just saw Katarina, and I know that is impossible!’

  There was silence before she talked. ‘You are not crazy, trust me.’ And our conversation ended.

  When Amy came home from school, she was in high spirits. ‘You should have seen her nose, Summer! It was bad, all puffy, and she had black circles under her eyes. Even funnier, she tried to cover it with makeup!’ Amy laughed at herself. She spent the afternoon talking about how her day was. She asked about mine, and I told her what I had done, soap operas and all. We got take-out for dinner, and after dinner we sat down to do our homework.

  ‘Summer, how can you understand this stuff?’ We were doing calculus, which I’ve always been good at, but I can’t say the same for Amy.

  ‘I don’t know.’ I shrugged my shoulders, and we continued our work. After all our homework was done, we went off to bed. Amy went for a shower, but I fell straight asleep.

  The next day of my suspension went fast. I talked to Amanda, and she talked about how boring some of the teachers were. Amy always came home with delightful gossip about everything.

  ‘So, ready to go back to school?’ Amy asked as we got ready for bed.

  ‘I am not sure. I am glad to be out the house, but I am terrified of what might happen.’ I was a bit more scared of facing Ethan and Lauren.

  ‘Well, the latest news on your state is that you are still crazy, but people like the crazy you, because you broke Amber’s nose.’

  I smiled at that. Who would have thought?

  ‘Well, we better get to sleep. Big day ahead of us.’ Amy yawned and fell asleep, unlike me. I sat awake, staring at the ceiling.

  ‘Amanda, are you up?’ I got no response, so I went to sleep.

  When I woke up in the morning, Amy was still asleep. I went downstairs to get breakfast and was surprised to see Amy’s mum back. ‘Oh…sorry, Kim. I didn’t mean to interrupt you.’

  She turned to see me and gave me an evil eye. ‘Oh, Summer, what are you doing here?’ She watched me as I got a glass of water.

  ‘I stayed the night.’ I drank the water and went back into the room.

  ‘Is Amy awake yet?’

  ‘No, she is still asleep.’ Something was off with her, which was strange because Kim always loved to have me over.

  ‘Ok, stay down here until she wakes up.’ This was weird, so I sat on the lounge and waited for Amy to wake up. She finally did, about twenty minutes later.

  ‘Morning, Summer, and hey Mum! You are back.’ She smiled at her mother.

  ‘Yes, and I got a surprise this morning.’ Kim looked over at me with a strange gleam in her eye. Amy told her mum that I had stayed the night to work on a research task. After that, we got ready for school. I just wore my jeans and vans. I wore my hair up, and Amy- well, she wore what Amy would typically wear. We went down and left the house.

  ‘Amy, can I speak to you please- alone?’ her mum asked. I waited outside the door, but she did not close it, implying that she wanted me to hear.

  ‘I want you to stay away from Summer.’

  ‘But Mum, she is my best friend!’

  ‘I don’t care. I never want her in my house again, you hear that? I don’t want my daught
er hanging out with a sociopath!’

  I felt sick. No one wanted me. No one wanted a freak.

  ‘Mum! She is not! You have known her for her whole life, you know what kind of person she is!’ Amy was standing up for me, and that made me feel a little better.

  ‘No, Amy. You will never see her again after today. Do you know what she did to poor Amber? She is using drugs, Amy. She is a bad influence!’ Drugs, bad influence- what? She was talking about me, right?

  ‘Please, Mum. Do you not know me?’

  I wanted to walk away, but my feet were glued to the floor.

  ‘No, I don’t. The other mothers say she should not be allowed at school, and you and I will support them.’ I could see her mum look at me.

  ‘No, Mum, I will not! She is my best friend, and I will be there for her!’ Amy left her mum and we jumped in the car.

  ‘Are you ok to drive?’ I wanted to make sure, because I did not want to end up in a tree.

  ‘Yes, I am. How could she…well, I don’t care.’ And at that, we drove off to school.

  Chapter 5

  When we arrived, I looked for Ethan’s car.

  ‘It’s ok, Summer. You can stop sweating,’ Amy told me. I tried to relax, but it was impossible.

  ‘What do you do once you have been suspended?’ I asked. Amy was always getting in trouble, so she would know.

  ‘Well, I get out of the car and walk with my head held high.’

  And I did just that. I got out and walked beside Amy to my locker, but before I even reached the school, I spotted Ethan’s car pulling up. I could not face him yet, so I walked to my locker.

  ‘See, was that so bad?’ Amy said with a smile.

  I had thought it would be worse. Yes, people stared at me and whispered, but I ignored them.

  ‘I guess it was not.’ I saw Amber walk past with her posse. She glanced at me and walked away.

  ‘You were right, I got her good!’ Amy and I both laughed and walked off to roll call. When we arrived in class, we took our places at the back. We were talking happily, but I caught my breath when Ethan and Amanda walked in. It looked like he had been crying. We just looked at each other, and there was such sadness in his eyes. I gave him a weak smile, but he just turned his head and took a seat in the front.

  Amanda smiled at me and sat next to Ethan. ‘He still loves you,’ was all she said to me.

  Mr. Timberwood started calling out our names.

  ‘Summer?’

  ‘Here.’ Everyone looked at me, but I kept my head high.

  ‘Nice to see you back.’ He smiled and continued roll call for the rest of the class.

  ‘Ok, so everyone who wants to join the cheer team or football team, tryouts are at lunch.’ People moaned in the class, and Mr. Timberwood went on reading. I didn’t pay much attention until he mentioned volleyball.

  ‘Tryouts for volleyball are today after lunch. You will be excused from that lesson, but only serious people, okay?’

  I sat up in my chair and wrote the tryouts down on my notebook so I would not forget. The bell went off, and I left the class. Ethan had to stay behind, so I waited for him at the door.

  When he came out of the room, he kept walking. ‘Ethan. Please wait.’ I had to chase after him because he was walking really fast. When I finally caught up, I grabbed his hand and turned him around. His hair was all shaggy and unkempt, like he’d just rolled out of bed.

  ‘What do you want, Summer?’ His voice was harsh.

  ‘I wanted to say…I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was upset. You are the best thing about being a fairy, the best thing that has happened to me in my whole life. I didn’t mean to run away. I just needed space to clear my head. Ethan! Why won’t you look at me? I know you are mad at me. I am sorry, I don’t know what to say. I wish I’d never run away or hit Amber, I was just so mad, I lost it...’ I was talking faster and faster with every word, which I do when I am nervous. I didn’t get to finish, though, because he cupped my face and pulled me into a kiss. My body went into shock- but a good one. His lips were so warm and soft. I wrapped my arms around his neck. My heart was beating a thousand miles an hour. We heard the final warning bell ring, and Ethan pulled away from me and looked me in the eye.

  ‘Why would you think I was mad at you?’ He smiled at me, which made my knees go weak.

  ‘Well, I just thought…because of what happened, you would be mad, and the way you looked at me and talked to me…’

  ‘Summer.’ He said my name, but I kept ranting. ‘Summer!’

  I stopped and looked into his eyes. ‘Yes?’

  ‘I think it’s very cute, the way you do that, but we are going to be late for class.’ We rushed off to Biology together. We made it just in time before the teacher walked in.

  ‘Ok, today is a pop quiz on what we have been doing. You will be scored and graded.’ The class moaned at the teacher’s announcement.

  ‘Did you study?’ Ethan asked me.

  I gave him a look. ‘I was suspended, of course I studied!’

  He laughed, and our teacher came around and placed the tests on our desks.

  ‘Miss, this is not a pop quiz! It is an actual test!’

  I looked down to see that it was a formal test.

  ‘Yes, you are right. This will go towards your report. By making it a surprise, I’ll be able to see how much you learn and listen.’ She laughed to herself, but all the students were in a panic.

  ‘Ok, begin.’

  We had all lesson to finish it. I flew through the pages like the wind and ended up finishing ten minutes early. I looked around to see everyone else struggling. I looked at Ethan, who was tapping his pencil on the desk, perhaps hoping for the answer to appear. I looked at Amy, who was screwing her face up. I went through my paper again, and double checked my answers three times, but I still had eight minutes left, so I decided to see what Amanda was up to.

  ‘Hey, Amanda, what you doing?’ I waited before she replied.

  ‘Listening to a boring lecture on Shakespeare.’

  ‘Sounds interesting!’ I looked around to see how everybody was doing, and by the looks of it, I was still the only one finished.

  ‘Aren’t you supposed to be in a pop quiz?’ Her voice echoed through my head.

  ‘Well, turns out it was not a pop quiz, but a test towards our report. I am done.’ I looked up at the clock to see we still had five more minutes.

  ‘How can you be done ? Unless you cheated!’

  I sighed. I heard our teacher cough, and looked at her to see her pointing to my paper.

  ‘Summer, what is the meaning behind Shakespeare’s work?’

  ‘How would I know? I am doing To Kill a Mockingbird.’

  ‘Alright, students. Test is over! Put down your pencils, and no talking.’

  I looked over to Ethan, who looked at me and smiled. ‘Now hand your paper to the front, and make sure your names are on them,’ the teacher said.

  I handed my paper to the boy in front of me.

  ‘Now you can talk.’ Just like that, the classroom erupted into chatter about the test.

  ‘Summer, how did you find the test?’ Perry asked from behind me.

  ‘It was easy.’ That was true. I had flown through the work.

  ‘Lucky for you! I found it hard. Are you trying out for volleyball after lunch?’

  Why would Perry ask that? ‘Wouldn’t miss it.’ I smiled at him. When we were dismissed, I was stopped by my teacher before the bell rang.

  ‘Summer, can you stay behind for a second?’ I waited behind for everyone to leave before she began talking. ‘Summer, I would like to give you extension work. You are very bright, and this will help you.’ She handed me a stack of papers.

  ‘When do you want it done by?’ I asked, hoping she wouldn’t say tomorrow.

  ‘Whenever you finish it.’ She smiled and dismissed me from class. The day flew by, and before I knew it I was waving off Ethan, Amanda and Amy to go to volleyball tryouts.

&n
bsp; ‘Ok, people. I want to see what you can do. We are going to play a game, so split up into four teams.’

  We did what the coach said. I was on a team with Sarah, Blake, Perry and some new people. Tryouts were a blast, with everyone giving one hundred percent. We were huffing and puffing by the end of it, and our faces were red. I felt bad, as I rarely get winded or tired, but today I was exhausted.

  ‘Ok, let’s wrap things up,’ the coach called to us, meaning next point would win. A new girl, Annabelle, served it over, but it came back. When I hit it over, it got through their line. We shook hands with the other team and went over to the coach.

  ‘Ok, ladies and gents, I will post the team and reservations on the wall tomorrow.’ We were dismissed to clean up.

  ‘Nice work, Summer! For once we see you tired!’

  I laughed with Perry and took a huge swig of water. ‘Well, last time I checked, I was not invincible,’ I said with a hint of sarcasm.

  Perry went off to change, and I went to congratulate Annabelle on her work. ‘Hi Annabelle, I just wanted to say great work on the court.’

  She turned around to face me with a huge smile on her face. ‘Thank you, but I am not as good as you.’ she turned back to her friends, who were talking about how hard tryouts had been. I looked at my phone and saw that Amanda and Ethan would be waiting. I grabbed my bag and ran into the car park, not bothering to have a shower.

  When I reached the school parking lot, I beat Amanda and Ethan, who were walking out of class. I looked at my phone. ‘Not again,’ I said out loud. I never meant to stop time, and I hated when I did it accidentally. I made a mental note to ask Lauren how to keep myself from doing that.

  ‘What’s not again? I hope it’s my nose.’ Amber walked past me.

  ‘Amber, I am really sorry about your nose, but what you said made me mad.’ I looked at her, hoping for an apology, but I knew I would never get one.

  ‘Well, I am glad you are sorry, but that doesn’t mean we are not going to sue you for every penny you and your mum have,’ she said, giving her evil smile.

  ‘No, please don’t do that. I will do anything- please do not sue. My mum is just coping as it is.’ I felt tears well up in my eyes, but Amber was laughing.