by Patti Larsen
“My dad brings me here sometimes,” Brad said. “Do you like Italian?”
His sudden concern was heady stuff.
“Sure,” I said, opening my menu. His hands caught it and took it from me as he smiled.
“Trust me.”
Again the minor rankle. Whatever. It was his money. Still, for some reason, his attitude chilled my mood.
He must have sensed it. “Are you all right?”
I took the easy out and blamed it on Suzanne. “Just, you know. The hospital.”
Brad’s eyes were so sad as he nodded. “I do. She’s… she’s just not okay, is she?”
Wow, that was an understatement. Unless my being there triggered more of an outburst than he saw. I didn’t think of that.
“What did she say to you?” I leaned forward and took his hand again, running my fingers over the back of it. His skin felt really warm. Almost too warm. Before I could ask him if he was sick, he spoke.
“Not much,” he said, confirming my fears. “She just mumbled a lot about getting free and tried to pull herself out of the restraints.” I could tell it was really troubling him. “Her mom is a mess.”
He could say that again. If only she knew her daughter was possessed by an evil entity wanting to destroy all of us she’d be in even worse shape. Maybe even strapped down in her own bed. The image of the matching set screaming for freedom made me flinch.
Brad kept frowning, even when the waiter brought our drinks, ignoring the fizzing glass sitting next to him. I took a sip of mine just to buy time. The last thing I wanted was for our special dinner to turn into an emotional mess like my afternoon with Alison.
I just didn’t think I could take that kind of stuff from my boyfriend.
I thought of a safe question. “How’s soccer?” Brad played in the school league to keep in training for football. I immediately regretted bringing it up because it reminded me of my own loss.
But my distraction worked and he brightened. “Awesome! It was a great suggestion, Syd, thanks. Coach is trying to convince me to play in college instead of football.”
He meant university, right? He’d been scouted for football at Notre Dame, was super pumped about it. “Wow,” I said. “Cool.”
“It’s a little late,” Brad said. “I just decided. I took the scholarship.”
“The one at Notre Dame?” Now that was WOW.
“No silly,” he laughed. “At State. So I can be close to you.”
My heart plummeted into my stomach. Was he serious? Brad had been scouted by some of the best schools in the country and he picked State because of me?
“Are you insane?” I pulled back from him so fast I almost tipped my drink. “What were you thinking?”
He frowned a little. “I couldn’t just leave you here, Syd. You have a year of high school left.”
“Then what?” I asked as the waiter approached. He must have understood the look on my face because he spun and walked away again.
“Then we go to college together,” Brad said like it was the final word on the matter.
I couldn’t speak for a long time. When I finally did, I pulled the parent trump card.
“What did your dad say?” Brad’s father was his biggest fan. There was no way he would let his prized football star of a son throw away a chance like Notre Dame because of some girl.
Hang on. I was that girl. Still. Damn it!
“I haven’t told him.” Brad suddenly wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Besides, he’s pretty busy right now.”
“With what?” Brad’s dad was the local sheriff and by the time those words were out of my mouth my stomach dropped even further. Only one thing could distract Sheriff Peters from his son’s career.
“There’s been a couple of people disappear,” Brad said, confirming my fears. “Since the weekend. He’s pretty worked up about it.”
I felt frozen, unable to breathe or move. I forgot to tell my mother about the first one. Now a second person was missing? It couldn’t be a coincidence, especially considering the shape Suzanne was in.
The creature was feeding off normals and when it was strong enough, it would come after the family.
I practically fell out of my seat as I sent my power out like an arrow in search of my mother while scrambling to my feet at the same time. I felt her touch me and acknowledge my fear before sending a tendril of soothing and love she left behind when she severed the connection.
Brad stood beside me, hand on my elbow, holding me up. I pulled away from him and hugged myself. I ignored the waiter who hurried toward us.
“I have to go.” I was already backing up, jumping at the jab of a table in my hip as I impacted it on the way by. “I’m sorry. I’ll see you later.”
Before he could follow me or even say a word I headed for the door.
It was eight blocks to home and I ran every step.
I was a panting and aching mess by the time I pulled myself to a halt at my gate. I’d lost a lot of my conditioning from soccer and struggled for wind. I kicked myself internally. Time to get back into running. Seemed like I needed that skill in my crazy and screwed up life, so no excuses.
“I hope everything is all right.”
I spun, heart in my throat, demon at the ready, and came face-to-face with Demitrius Strong.
He was the last person I expected to find at my door. The fear and concern I felt at our first meeting came rushing back and I danced away a step, hands up in front of me.
He just smiled his cherubic smile and did nothing but wait.
By the time I caught my breath I felt a little stupid but also creeped out that he knew where I lived. And he knows about the family. That can’t be good.
“Fine.” I finally answered his question. “Just out for a run.”
In designer jeans and flats. Yup. That was believable.
He let it go. “I hoped to talk to your mother.” Demitrius gestured at the front door. “However, it appears no one is home.”
Just my crazy grandmother who would turn him to an itty-bitty pile of ash and grease if she managed to get out. I shrugged.
“Sorry,” I said. “Try back later.”
It’s not like he blocked my path. He was pretty small after all, even in his flawless suit. But something about how he placed himself made it hard for me to get around him without touching him.
“Excuse me,” I said at last.
“I wanted you to have these.” He slid a small stack of folded papers from inside his jacket and held them out to me. I didn’t sense anything on them so I took them, glancing at the top one.
There was a logo, a sword crossed with a torch and a crucifix in the middle with the heading “Chosen of the Light” across the top. It looked like a religious pamphlet.
Tacky.
“Um, no thanks.” I tried to give them back but his hands were clasped in front of him.
“You can be saved, Sydlynn.” He seemed so sincere I actually listened. “It’s not too late for you, my dear.”
Why was I the target of this crackpot all of a sudden? Life was so unfair. “There are tons of other people out there who I’m sure would love for you to save them.” Or bore them to tears. Or give them the willies. He was welcome to take his pick.
“Your family is the next on our list,” he said as if that answered everything. Wait, they had a list? “And you, Sydlynn, have been selected as the perfect messenger of our beliefs.”
He was trying to convert me? Was he serious?
“You have such a wonderful and varied life ahead of you,” he said. “In fact, the opportunities for you in our organization are an excellent alternative to the depravity you’ve been brainwashed into believing is your only path. Wouldn’t you rather live it as a contributing member of society?”
“As opposed to what?”
“A demon parasite,” he said so calmly and matter-of-factly it took a moment for me to register what he meant.
“Sorry?” My demon shrieked at him, struggled to be free, tore at
me inside until I had to slap her down to get her to stop. She continued to spit and hiss at him while he went on.
“If you would only allow us to help you, we of the Chosen have been freeing those with evil in their souls for centuries. All we want is for you to be happy. And normal. And Syd, I know it’s what you want, too.”
Maybe six months ago. Before my mother almost gave everything away to save me. As much as I would like to be free, I knew it was never going to happen. Not only was it impossible, I’d already sucked up the truth of my responsibilities.
“Too little, too late, dude,” I said. “Thanks but no thanks.” Again, I offered him the pamphlets.
Instead of taking them, he smiled at me again, the joy of it lighting his clear eyes.
“Keep them,” he said. “Read them. And know I am your friend.”
With that, he walked away.
I dashed inside and locked the door behind me. I had to tell my mother. She needed to know this crackpot knew about us, the family. About witches.
And he was normal. Sort of.
I stared at the stack of literature in my hand for a moment before tossing the bundle to the table where they spread out like a deck of accusation. I’d given up on leaving, abandoning my family. Hadn’t I?
Hadn’t I?
***
Chapter Seventeen
It was after dark before my mother made it home. As soon as her lights brightened the side of the house I bounded to the door and wrenched it open. She didn’t look surprised by the sudden greeting, but I didn’t get a chance to say anything to her because Meira squealed and came running.
I slung her up into my arms and hugged her, noticing how big she was getting. And heavy.
“Syd!” She kissed me soundly on the cheek. “We had such a great day! I wish you’d come with us.”
I glanced at my mother who simply met my gaze with a level look before gliding past me into the kitchen.
I set Meira down and followed her inside, trying to suppress my frustration for my sister’s sake.
“What were you two up to?” If Mom wasn’t willing to tell me, Meira certainly was.
“We went to see a bunch of the family,” she said, toying with her hair. “Everyone had cookies. Everyone.” She giggled and I understood her good mood. Chocolate. She was a hopeless addict. Like Gram. It made Meira super happy, but without the dark edge it gave our grandmother.
“Wish I was there too,” I said. And that chocolate had the same affect on me. No such luck. I could have used a little right about then.
“Why don’t you go wash up for bed,” Mom said to my sister. “I’ll be up in a minute.”
Meira made a face resembling rebellion before shrugging and hopping down. She gave me a hard squeeze.
“Love you, Syd.”
“Love you too, Meems.”
I watched her bounce her way out of the kitchen and sighed. I was never so young. And certainly never light-hearted, even as a child. I envied her.
I waited for Mom to speak first, but she just stood there and stared back at me so I caved and jumped in.
“What happened? Why did you take Meira today? Any news about the creature?” I knew I was babbling about the same amount as Alison did in the car, but this was the first chance I had to talk to anyone about the truth of what was going on and it all just came flooding out.
Mom actually smiled. And stepped forward, her arms going around me. I hugged her back, breathing in the familiar scent of lilacs and absorbing the warmth of her while my demon purred happily.
When she pulled back, she took my hand and guided me to the table. I sat with her, her long, slender fingers never letting me go.
“Question one,” she said, “nothing happened. Question two, I could have left your sister with someone but I wanted her company today. Question three, no news. We’re still investigating.”
Wow. That was easy. My turn.
“There’s some stuff you need to know,” I said. She nodded.
“I understood that from your message. Tell me.”
I dumped the Suzanne incident on her and her perfect arched eyebrows rose.
“That can’t be,” she said. “Syd, I cleared her myself.” She looked like she wanted to get up and leave, but I held her back.
“There’s more.” It was actually gratifying to have her pay attention to what I said. Very gratifying. Like she was treating me as if I was… her equal.
Oh dear.
Next, I told her about the missing people and my suspicions. She nodded through the whole thing.
“This is very troubling,” she said. Her eyes filled with love. “I’m so proud of you. Thank you, Syd. This is important.” Again she was about to pull away when I stopped her one last time.
“One more thing.” I slid the pamphlets across the table and stopped them in front of her. “We had a visitor.”
She glanced down at the neatly folded page. And exploded.
I’ve never seen my mother so mad in my whole life. Not even during some of our nuclear battles. I thought she was scary then. No freaking way. All of a sudden she was a hissing, spitting bundle of pure fury. She formed a fizzing, hissing ball of light, which wrapped around the pages in a rush of air and they imploded with a bang. Good thing she wrapped a bubble of shield around them first or I had a feeling we’d both be sitting in the driveway with the kitchen in shreds.
Her eyes flashed with so much rage I cringed and tried to pull my hand free from hers, but she refused to let go. Her grip was so strong I worried about my fingers and future circulation to them. Not to mention getting their use back.
“Where did you get those?” Who was this violent, irrational creature? My mother was the epitome of calm and clarity, rarely losing it even when we fought and even then only enough to ruffle herself. It was like a demon, a mythical one, took up instantaneous residence inside her.
“I told you,” I stammered the words out of shock, “we had a visitor. Twice, actually.”
“Who?” The word spat out like a curse.
“He said his name is Demitrius Strong.”
Mom pulled me toward her so our faces were only inches apart.
“You listen to me, Sydlynn Thaddea Hayle,” she said, voice so low and full of acid I could hardly bear it, “those people,” she stressed the word like she wasn’t sure they deserved the name, “are the most evil you will ever meet. Ever.” A fraction of her rage diminished. Thankfully. Another heartbeat of that rage and I’d have dissolved into a blubbering heap. “Did he tell you he would free you? Make you normal?” She didn’t wait for my answer. “He lies. They all lie. They will turn you against the family until you destroy us all and then sacrifice you in the name of purity.” Mom sat back, releasing my hand so suddenly I rocked away from her from the loss of pressure.
“Mom, I would never…” Would I? Of course not. “That’s why I told you about him.”
She pulled herself together enough to nod. The chill went out of her but I could feel her anger still simmering underneath the surface, waiting for a chance to act. I sort of felt sorry for Demitrius at that moment. If she ever caught him, I had a feeling he wouldn’t be around for long.
“Thank you for letting me know,” she said, voice stiff and harsh. “I’ll warn the family to guard their children. These parasites show up from time to time.”
“How do they know about us?” I wasn’t sure she was in the mood for questions, but thought I’d give it a go.
“They see themselves as purifiers,” she said. “Like we are some scourge or plague to be wiped out. You know witches have been persecuted through the ages, Syd. His kind are the ones who burn us at the stake.”
I shuddered. We were taught as children the history of witches and the horrible things normals would do to us if they ever found out what we really were. If she was right, and I had no reason to doubt her, it made Demitrius and the Chosen of the Light the most dangerous normals around.
I watched Mom steady herself, deep breaths lif
ting her chest several times until she calmed. Still, she wasn’t quite her old self and I knew the appearance of the cult shook her badly.
“Just what we need,” I said. “Another problem.”
That made her lips twitch. She smiled. And laughed. And, at last, my mother was back.
She stood up and drew me up with her, hugging me hard. Her soft lips met my cheek and she cupped my face in her hands.
“I love you, Sydlynn,” she said. “I trust your judgment. Thank you for telling me everything.”
“You're welcome,” I said. “Promise me you’ll do the same.”
She sighed and kissed me again. “I promise.”
She left the kitchen but a part of her remained with me, enough I felt her climb the stairs and go to Meira’s door. I only hesitated a moment before following her.
I don’t think I’d ever get too old to hear one of Mom’s bedtime stories.
***
Chapter Eighteen
I was on full alert all day Wednesday, even at school, sure either the creature or Demitrius would show up. If not them, maybe something else would drop on me and blow my world wider open. Not that I was asking for trouble or anything. It’s just I was so used to it by then it made me even more nervous when the whole day went by and nothing happened.
I’m sure my friends thought I was losing it.
It was getting so I was afraid to go to sleep, too. I wasn’t having full-out nightmares like I did the night after the party, but I still felt exposed when I slept and woke up with the feeling I was all over the perimeter of town the night before, peeking in windows, digging through people’s garbage and stogging down roadkill to fill the emptiness inside me.
So when I woke up to a sunny Thursday morning and the world still spun, I decided to try to put everything out of my mind and go back to normal. After all, there wasn’t much I could do about the creature. Mom said she had it handled. And as for the Chosen of the Light, I figured she’d be doing some serious ass kicking in their direction if she hadn’t already.
It was time to go back to being Syd, Alison’s friend, Brad’s girlfriend and all-around normal, goofy teenager.