by Cassandra
“Not bad for your first attempt, right?” Grandma Ethel had praised her with a wink.
While Jessica had momentarily found herself enjoying the women’s company, she had long since run out of patience and was no longer interested in knitting anything. She was tired of hearing them gossip about people she’d never heard of, and like Sharyl, she wasn’t sure how much more country music she could take.
“Pardon me,” she chirped, stood, and stretching. Under the pretense of needing a bathroom break, she headed upstairs to the guest room, where she had left her phone.
She picked it up and saw that she had several missed text messages.
Where in the world have u been? Her best friend, Sara, had written. This first message was followed up by several others.
R u home?
Going out for ice cream with Ashley and Erik. Wanna come?
U mad at me?
Jessica texted back hurriedly. No! I’m not mad at u! Hella busy for the past 2 days. I’m at my grandma’s. Yes! I want ice cream!
No more than five seconds went by before Sara responded. There u r! Was worried. We’re on our way to ice cream now. Can u meet us there?
Hold on, let me ask my gran, she replied.
She slid her phone into her pocket and left the room but paused in the hallway as a sudden thought struck her. Quickly, she returned to the room, grabbed her purse, and slipped the imp voodoo doll inside. It was better to be safe than sorry.
If those girls sent another creature after her, she would toss the doll into the middle of a road and let it get run over by a truck.
Fully prepared now, she bounded down the stairs and back into the living room. Sharyl had finally gotten the music changed to something she liked and danced in the middle of the floor with cats swirling around her feet.
“Go, Sharyl! Go, Sharyl! Go, Sharyl!” the other old ladies chanted, cheering her on.
Not wanting to interrupt the entertainment, Jessica tiptoed over to her grandmother and tapped her on the shoulder.
Ethel stopped in the middle of a clap and turned to Jessica. “Hmm?”
“Grandma,” she whispered, “is it all right if I meet up with a few friends for a while? We’re going out for ice cream. I’ll be back in an hour or so.”
The old lady checked her watch. “I don’t know. It’s kind of late, don’t you think?”
“Please?” She batted her eyelashes and gave her signature puppy-dog sad face that used to work so well when she was little.
“Will you come back here afterward or go home?”
Jessica blinked. She hadn’t actually thought about going home. She opened her mouth to ask her grandmother if she had spoken to her parents yet about the imp situation but stopped herself. Grandma Ethel had been busy preparing for her guests. Jessica knew she hadn’t spoken to her parents yet. She reminded herself that if she wanted to be seen as a responsible person, someone worthy of being treated like an adult, there was no reason for her to avoid her mom and dad.
Besides, her mother had been understanding over the phone, so it wasn’t like she’d return to a war zone.
She nodded. “Yeah, I’ll go home afterward.”
“Okay. You call me when you get to the house so that I know you made it all right.”
“Okay, Grandma,” she promised and kissed Ethel on the cheek.
The song Sharyl had danced to ended and the room erupted into applause.
“Now that’s more like it!” the woman yelled and grinned from ear to ear. “Jessica, darling! Come on over here and dance with me. Teach me some of the new moves kids do these days.”
“Um…” Jessica muttered. She froze as everyone’s gaze shifted to her.
“She’s going out with friends,” Grandma Ethel interjected on her behalf. “Let her be.”
“Ahh, I see. You’re trading us in for younger company.” Betty pouted.
“Oh, leave her alone.” Sharyl waved Betty off. “You can’t expect the girl to want to hang out with you old bats all night long.”
Jessica chuckled and made her way to the door. “It was nice meeting you all,” she said politely.
The old ladies all said their goodbyes and told her to be careful.
She had bundled up warmly before she left her grandmother’s house, but it was still unusually chilly outside. Fortunately, the walk to the ice cream parlor wasn’t that long.
Still, she walked quickly, wanting to get out of the night’s cold chill.
Thankful to see the parlor come into view, Jessica picked up her pace even more.
“Oooph!” she cried as she lost her balance and fell to the ground. She pushed slowly to her feet and turned in time to slam right into a man who walked in the opposite direction.
Jessica panicked. The events of the day had put her on edge, and now, she suspected she was at the mercy of some dangerous creature or hostile stranger. Every after-school special she’d watched in health class came to mind. She had a brief vision of her own face on the back of a milk carton.
But despite having bumped into her hard enough to knock the wind out of her, the strange man didn’t seem to think about her in the slightest. He barely registered her existence.
Her fear began to turn into anger as she watched him walk away.
“Excuse you!” she yelled. “You almost knocked me over. The least you can do is say sorry.”
The man stopped and slowly looked back at her. She now realized he was oddly dressed, bundled in a long black coat with a black fedora hat perched on his head.
What am I doing? she thought frantically. If I get mugged, it will be entirely my fault.
She swallowed as the stranger locked eyes with her. His eyes were bright points of light in the dark due to the way the hat shrouded his face. She stood immobile and began to deeply regret not simply walking away and minding her own business.
After all, the voodoo doll in her purse was for imps, not creepy men.
Don’t let him see that you’re afraid, a voice in her head warned.
With a fake display of bravado, Jessica stood to her full height and squared her shoulders. She commanded her voice not to shake when she spoke. “Just apologize next time.” She turned and continued on her way. Although she was tempted to run, she forced herself to keep her pace steady.
She listened carefully for any signs that the man was following her. Her heart gave an uncomfortable leap when she heard footsteps. She cursed inwardly but noticed that the sound grew softer and more distant.
The man was walking away from her, not following her. She glanced quickly over her shoulder to make sure.
Relief flooded through her body when she saw him striding in the opposite direction. His figure grew smaller and smaller the farther away he got.
Still, Jessica jogged the rest of the way to the ice cream parlor. She didn’t feel real relief until she reached the safety of its closed doors.
She spotted Sara, Ashley, and Erik instantly. They sat at a table in the corner with ice cream sundaes melting in front of them. They all waved as she entered, and she waved back. She gestured to the counter to let them know she’d join them after she’d ordered her own ice cream.
Jessica pulled off her gloves and hat and approached the counter.
“Good evening. What can I get for you, sweetie?” the old man asked when he stepped forward to serve her.
“Can I get two scoops of strawberry, please?”
“Sure. Any toppings?”
“No, thank you.”
“All right.”
She paid for her ice cream and dragged a chair to her friends’ table. “This has been the absolutely most ridiculous day of my life,” she divulged dramatically. She set her ice cream down in front of her and flopped into her seat.
“Is that why you haven’t answered my texts all day?” Sara asked and looked at her sideways.
“What’s wrong?” Ashley asked. “You don’t look so hot.”
“She looks fine,” Erik observed and shrugged. “Maybe sh
e didn’t feel like being bothered by you drama queens.”
“Whatever.” Sara rolled her eyes and threw a balled-up napkin at him. He caught it easily and threw it back at her.
“Thank you,” Jessica acknowledged and touched Erik briefly on the shoulder.
“Thank him for what? Being a suck-up?” Sara teased. “Ouch!” she squealed after the telltale thump as Erik kicked her under the table.
Jessica dug into her ice cream. “He’s not a suck-up. He merely has manners, unlike some people. Would you believe this jerk outside practically ran me over?”
“What?” her friends cried in unison.
“Not in his car, on foot. While I was walking here, he bumped into me and almost knocked me over.”
“Oh.” Sara waved her off dismissively. “I thought it was something serious.”
“It is serious!” Jessica objected. “He almost knocked me over and couldn’t even be bothered to say he was sorry. Who does that?”
“People that are in a hurry and see no reason to explain themselves to temperamental teenaged girls.” Ashley grinned and shoveled a spoonful of her chocolate sundae into her mouth.
“Speaking of temperamental teenaged girls—did you hear about the fit Melissa had in trigonometry class?” Sara leaned forward. “I heard she went off on Justin Daniels for no reason.
Erik shook his head. “Oh, it was for a reason. It serves him right, the prick. He was in the locker room the other day bragging about how he was two-timing her.”
“With who?” Ashley asked.
“I don’t know. Some sophomore who just transferred in.”
“He’s cheating on Melissa with a sophomore? Unbelievable.”
“She has always seemed a little on the stuck-up side, to be honest,” Ashley interjected. “I’m not sure I blame Justin. Maybe he got tired of her attitude.”
Sara frowned. “What makes you think she’s stuck up? She always seemed nice enough to me. You know, other than the epic breakdown she had in trigonometry class, I mean.”
“I don’t know. There’s something about her.” Ashley turned to Jessica. “Didn’t you have a class with her last year, Jess? How did she seem to you?”
Jessica shrugged her shoulders and savored her ice cream. While she had craved the company of her friends, she hadn’t anticipated that they would spend their time together sharing mindless gossip about their classmates.
“Why are you so quiet?” Sara asked.
“I told you, I had a bad day.”
“Well, excuse me, Miss Grumpy-pants.”
“Lay off her. If she doesn’t feel like talking, then she doesn’t.” Erik ate a cherry thoughtfully. “Let her eat her ice cream in peace.”
Sara’s face broke into an excited grin. “Look, whatever happened, your day couldn’t have been as bad as Debbie McCrow’s.”
Jessica paused, a spoonful of strawberry ice cream suspended in midair right before her mouth. “What do you mean?”
“She tripped and made a fool of herself in the parking lot.” Sara leaned in, “This was right in front of the cute new guy. I heard that the whole parking lot laughed at her. Now, I don’t know about Melissa, but Debbie definitely deserves anything that comes her way. She is an absolute witch. Does she still give you a hard time?”
She ate and swallowed but her ice cream suddenly felt too cold. “Yeah, I guess you can say that.”
“Well, karma is a bitch,” Sara declared and nodded fervently.
Jessica noticed that Ashley was suddenly stared intently at her. “What?”
“Didn’t you hear already about what happened to Debbie in the parking lot?” she asked. “Or should I say—didn’t you see it?”
“What?” Sara yelped and eyed Jessica intently. “You were there?”
“With the new kid, no less.” Ashley folded her arms coolly.
“With the new kid?” Erik raised an eyebrow. “You know him? What were you doing with him?”
“Word is, he gave you a ride home from school,” Ashley added gleefully.
“Hold up,” Sara demanded. “Jess—you know the new guy and you’ve kept it a secret?”
Jessica sighed. “It’s not like that.”
“Then what’s it like? Do tell.”
“He’s…he’s my cousin.”
Sara gasped. Ashley’s jaw dropped. Erik leaned back in his seat and released a long breath out, looking relieved.
“Are you serious?” Sara reached across the table and hit Jessica playfully on the arm. “Why didn’t you tell us you had a hot cousin with a sweet car?”
“What’s his name?” Ashley asked.
“Chad Hollingsworth. And…he’s, um…”
“He’s what? Besides hot as hell. I saw him walking in the hall.” Sara swooned. “Oh, my God! You know you have to introduce us, right?”
“Is he unattached?” Ashley asked.
“What grade is he in?”
“Where is he now?”
“How come you didn’t bring him with you? Where’s he staying?”
“Oh, my God, you guys. Cut it out.” Jessica groaned. She was dangerously close to telling them that he wasn’t really her cousin.
“Yikes. Moody much?” Sara taunted. “Are you ever going to tell us what happened that made your day so miserable?”
Jessica sighed. “Debbie happened, as usual. That’s all. She tried to hit on Chad in history class. When he didn’t take the bait, she got an attitude with me.”
“That’s stupid unless you dictate who your cousin talks to.” Erik studied Jessica intently. “What—did your family tell you to make sure he stays focused on his school work or something?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then why is she mad at you?”
“Because Chad and I kind of…intentionally…made her jealous.”
The table fell silent for an uncomfortably long time.
“Uhm… Eww.” Sara recoiled. “You did say this was your cousin, right?”
Jessica closed her eyes for a fraction of a second. She constantly forgot how strange things like that sounded considering she was supposed to pretend that she and Chad were related. “Look—promise me you won’t say anything to a single soul.”
Ashley, Sara, and Erik all tensed around her.
“Uh…okay,” Ashley ventured.
“He’s not really my cousin. We’re like…pretend cousins, I guess.”
Sara sighed with real relief. “You had me worried there for a second, Jess. I’m not gonna lie. I thought you were about to reveal some kind of seriously twisted secret. Like you guys were kissing cousins or something like that.” She shuddered.
Ashley laughed. “But they could be since they’re not really technically related, right?” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
“Cut it out,” Jessica warned.
“Okay, tell me one thing,” Ashley asked. “Is he really as hot as everyone says he is? I haven’t seen him with my own eyes yet. Do you have any pictures of him?”
Erik rolled his eyes.
“No,” Jessica snapped.
“No what? He’s not as hot as everyone says, or you don’t have any pictures of him?”
“No, I don’t have any pictures of him. And he’s… I mean, yeah. He’s cute, I guess. He’s good-looking for…” Jessica’s voice trailed off. She’d come dangerously close to saying, “a guy his age.”
“He’s good-looking for what?” Ashley prodded.
Jessica shrugged. “For someone who’s like family.”
“There’s a big difference between ‘like family’ and actually being family, Jess.” Ashley sighed. “I wish I had a hot pretend-cousin I was close to. Imagine the possibilities. We could go out and none of the family would suspect a thing. It would be too perfect.”
Sara laughed. “Jessica’s too much of a good girl for that,” she teased.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not that much of a good girl.”
“Sure.” Her friend winked.
Erik coughed, althoug
h the sound of it was suspiciously fake. His head was lowered, and he stared at his ice cream as if he’d found something disgusting in it. Jessica was about to ask him what was wrong when Ashley interrupted her.
“So, how long is your cousin in town for?” she asked.
Jessica scratched her ear. “A while.”
“Wait—I heard there were actually two new guys at the school?” Sara looked at her, rapt. “Do you know the other one?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Roger. He’s um…sort of like a cousin too.”
Her friend grinned. “You know what this means, right?”
Jessica eyed Sara suspiciously. “What?”
“You have to set Ashley and me up on double dates, that’s what.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Hey, that’s not fair,” Ashley protested. “We can’t leave Erik out. We’ll have to find someone for him.”
Erik gave another one of his fake coughs. He stood abruptly from the table, his face noticeably red. “Excuse me.” He nodded to them and headed for the washroom.
“Now what’s up with him?” Sara asked. “First you were strange, Jess. And now it’s him.”
Jessica took another spoonful of her now-melting ice cream. “I don’t know. It’s simply been a strange day all around.”
She ate the rest of her ice cream in silence and wished she could confide the whole truth to them, but she knew that probably wasn’t the best idea.
In truth, she needed some parts of her life to stay normal. There was no need to bring her friends into her new life of demons, witches, and imps.
Chapter Fifteen
“Pastor Norman?” Chad called and stepped through the church doors.
The inside of the church was dark and quiet, and the man was nowhere in sight. Chad and Roger stood in the entrance and waited with bated breath for any sign of movement.
“Something doesn’t seem right,” Roger whispered.
“No kidding. Any time demons get anywhere near churches, something is wrong.” Chad took a few more cautious steps forward, his companion close behind him. “Pastor Norman?” he called again.