by Amy Meredith
‘With the help of the soon-to-be blue belt,’ Eve said. As she and Jess slapped a high-five, Eve heard footsteps. Maybe the demon hadn’t been alone! She whipped towards the sound, hands already out in front of her.
‘Whoa!’ Luke cried. ‘Just … whoa.’
Eve immediately let her hands fall to her sides. ‘Sorry, I thought you might be something evil. We only finished killing a demon about two seconds ago.’
‘That’s it going down the drain,’ Jess offered, nodding towards the greasy goop.
‘A demon? That?’ Luke raised his eyebrows, covering his nose.
‘It used to be bigger. And, you know, solid,’ Eve told him.
‘Are you both OK?’ he exclaimed. ‘Sorry I didn’t get here in time to help.’
‘Why are you here now?’ Eve asked, then realized she sounded witchy – in a bad way. ‘I mean, well, you know what I mean.’
‘I needed to talk to you and you wouldn’t answer the phone,’ Luke said simply.
‘Maybe I should—’ Jess took a step back towards the house, probably thinking the make-up make-out session might be starting soon.
‘No, you need to hear this too, Jess,’ Luke replied. He took a deep breath, as if he needed strength for whatever he was going to say. ‘Eve, you’re not going to like this, but I let the Order know that the force field is down. I just … It’s not that I don’t trust you to protect Deepdene, but I think we need to use all the help available. At least as long as the Order doesn’t keep any more secrets from us.’
Eve wiped her gooey hands on her only slightly less gooey jeans. Luke’s statement had taken a little of the happy out of her demon-killing buzz. ‘Luke, there was no reason for you to do that. I told you, we don’t need them. This just proves it.’ She gestured to the drain and the remains of the demon. ‘They were right about a demon attack coming,’ she continued. ‘But they were wrong about me not being able to handle it without them throwing up that barrier. I didn’t need any help to get rid of Goopy.’
Jess cleared her throat loudly, while staring at Eve.
‘That’s wrong actually. I definitely needed Jess’s help,’ Eve amended quickly. ‘But I always have her help against demons. And usually yours.’ Yeah, she was still a little angry around the edges.
‘I was trying to help when I called the Order,’ Luke said defensively. ‘I talked to Alanna and she agreed that they shouldn’t have put up the barrier.’
‘Alanna actually took Eve’s side?’ Jess raised an eyebrow.
‘Yup. She’s going to come to town tomorrow to help us figure out what’s going on,’ Luke said.
‘Why?’ Eve burst out. ‘We already know what’s going on.’ The last person she felt like seeing right now was Alanna.
‘I need to backtrack.’ Luke shoved his hair away from his forehead. ‘After you guys left, I realized that those dead animals we’ve been finding aren’t random. What I mean is, they’re placed all around the Deepdene town border, and there’s a line of blood connecting them. That’s also why I got in touch with the Order. I thought it must have been done by a demon, but I didn’t know why. I figured they might have an answer.’
‘I guess Goopy could have killed those poor animals,’ Eve said. ‘Although its hands were so squishy. It’s hard to imagine it holding a knife.’
‘We killed a demon!’ Jess exclaimed suddenly.
‘Yeah, we did.’ Eve smiled at her.
‘No, what I meant was, we killed a demon right in front of my house!’ Jess cried. ‘I was so caught up in the moment, I didn’t even realize. What if Peter saw us? He’s just getting back to normal.’
‘Ooh,’ Eve said. She hadn’t thought about that either.
‘I hope he didn’t notice it. He was so freaked out by E— By everything,’ Jess said.
By me, Eve thought sadly. He was freaked out by me and my witch powers.
‘It’s too bad the demon ended up right in front of your house, of all places,’ Luke said. Then he frowned. ‘Seems kind of strange, doesn’t it?’
‘It was in the shadows across the street when we saw it,’ Jess told him. ‘Do you think it was watching my house? Or maybe it was attracted by Eve. Peter thinks she’s a demon magnet.’ Jess winced and glanced at Eve. ‘And it does seem like demons end up coming after her.’
‘It didn’t seem to notice me until I said something,’ Eve put in. ‘I’m not sure it was expecting to find me at all.’
‘Maybe,’ Luke said. ‘After all, Deepdene’s a small town. It could just be a coincidence that the demon ended up here.’
That didn’t feel right to Eve, though. Deepdene was small, yes. But there were a lot of streets. If it was a coincidence that the demon ended up on the same street as her, at the same time as her, then it was a pretty big one.
Chapter Seven
‘So,’ Luke said.
That was it? So?
‘So,’ Eve repeated. Luke was walking her home after the demon battle. She’d showered off the remains of Goopy at Jess’s house and borrowed some clean clothes. She was still feeling the triumph of killing the demon. What she wasn’t feeling was the happiness of having her boyfriend give her the apology he owed her.
‘So,’ he began again. ‘That fight … I just want you to know that I do trust you. How could I not trust you? I’ve seen you battling demons, and you’re awesome. You don’t back down, no matter what.’
‘Then why did you think the Order was right?’ Eve asked.
‘I didn’t. I thought going behind your back and putting up the barrier was absolutely wrong. A hundred per cent wrong,’ Luke answered. ‘All I meant to say was that there was a possibility the Order had decent intel about a demon attack.’
‘But, Luke, you thought I should leave the barrier. The Order made me a prisoner, and even though you say you thought it was wrong, you expected me to stay locked up!’ Eve exclaimed. She had to make him understand what it had felt like to realize she’d been caged.
‘I wasn’t thinking of it like that. I was thinking that we needed to wait a little and get more information on what kind of attack we might be facing before you took down the force field,’ Luke told her. ‘But I was wrong. The Order had no right to lock you in town, not even for a few days. Not even for a few hours. You should have blasted it away, just like you did.’
He stopped and turned to face her, putting his hands on her shoulders. ‘I’m so sorry, Eve. I believe in you, and I should have been right there with you, throwing rocks at the demon barrier, doing whatever I could to back you up.’
The last bit of anger Eve had been holding onto slipped away. He understood why she’d been so furious. And she understood why he’d wanted her to wait to take the barrier down. He was just trying to keep everybody safe. ‘Thanks, Luke. And I’m sorry too. I should have taken more time to explain instead of just exploding. What the Order did – it made me crazy.’
They continued walking, but hand in hand now. ‘I should have talked to you before I told them you’d blasted it down. The thing was – you weren’t answering the phone.’
‘Oh, so it’s my fault,’ Eve teased, relieved their first fight was over.
‘Well, I’d say yeah, but I’m not ready to have another fight with you any time this century,’ Luke replied.
‘You don’t think they’re going to put it back up, do you?’ she asked.
‘Not without telling you,’ he said. ‘And, if they do, Jess and I will go attack them with swords and kung fu.’
Eve shook her head, feeling another burst of anger at Callum and the Order. ‘That protective barrier completely didn’t work, anyway,’ she said. ‘All the Order managed to do was trap that humongous goo demon in town. Think about it. Those dead animals in the woods – they were killed by the demon while the barrier was up. The demon Callum thought he was protecting Deepdene from was already inside.’
‘I guess predicting demon behaviour isn’t an exact science,’ Luke replied.
‘Which is why the Order should stop acting like i
t knows everything,’ Eve said.
‘I ought to get in touch with Alanna, tell her not to bother coming now that we – meaning you and Jess – killed the demon the Order was worried about,’ Luke said. ‘Although I guess she might still want to check things out.’
‘Oh, let her come if she wants to,’ Eve commented. Luke had said that Alanna had been on her side about the Order putting up that barrier. Maybe she wasn’t all bad. And it felt right to compromise, to show Luke that she wasn’t a my-way-or-the-highway girl.
They reached Eve’s house, but Luke didn’t let go of her hand. ‘We’re good, right?’
‘Well, there’s still one more thing,’ Eve said, trying not to smile.
‘Uh-oh. What else have I done?’ Luke asked.
‘Jess said that after our fight we had to have wild make-up making out,’ Eve told him. Actually, Jess hadn’t said wild. Eve had added that part.
‘She did?’ Luke released her hand and pulled her close to him.
‘That’s what she said,’ Eve answered. ‘Pooh Bear,’ she added.
He laughed. ‘Well, if we have to, we have to, Bunny. Um, Bunny something. I need a word that rhymes with Bunny.’
‘You don’t need anything,’ Eve told him, looping her arms around his neck.
Luke lowered his lips to hers. The kiss was long, and sweet, and hot. And, yes, a little wild! ‘I was wrong about not wanting to have another fight for a hundred years,’ he said when he lifted his head. ‘I think we should fight as much as possible, just so we can do more of this.’
He kissed her again.
‘What did you get for question eight in that quiz?’ Ben Flood called to Eve after school. She and Luke were heading outside to find Jess so they could all go and meet up with Alanna together.
‘One over three x plus one.’ She and Luke paused so she could answer. ‘That was the hardest one, I thought. Glad I managed to get in some studying time last night.’ She’d taken her algebra book into the bathtub with her before going to bed. She’d showered after the Goopy fight, but she’d felt the need for a long, long bubble bath too.
‘We didn’t even have homework last night,’ Ben said. He looked at Luke. ‘You’re clearly not keeping your girlfriend entertained enough if she has to study for classes where we don’t even have assignments.’
Luke smiled at Eve. ‘I do my best. That’s all I can tell you.’
Eve flushed, thinking of all the kissing they’d done the night before. ‘I studied because I knew we were going to have a quiz,’ she told Ben. ‘He almost always gives quizzes when they are re-running Desperate Housewives. Don’t ask me to explain it.’
‘Guess I’ll have to start studying the TV Guide,’ Ben said. ‘Thanks for the tip. See you tomorrow.’ He headed into the gym’s side entrance.
‘Got any tips for me?’ Luke joked as they walked outside.
‘You heard Ben. You have to work a little harder to keep your girlfriend from becoming a complete study drudge,’ she answered.
He grabbed her, twisted her into a deep dip, and kissed her, getting them a round of applause from everyone in the quad.
‘Nice,’ Eve said, blushing as she straightened up. ‘Oh, there’s Jess.’ She pointed across the Deepdene High parking lot. A group of kids – all seniors except for Jess – were gathered around Seth’s Escalade – the Cadillac SUV was Seth’s pride and joy – enjoying the afternoon sunshine and the fact that classes were over for the day.
When they walked over, they found the group in the middle of a debate about who should be eligible to be prom queen. ‘What I’m saying is that if a senior guy takes a freshman girl, she should be able to be queen if he’s king,’ Seth said.
Eve smiled. Seth was making it sound all theoretical, but it was clear he was talking about him and Jess.
‘That’s not how it works,’ Lindsey Vissering, captain of the cheerleading squad and a senior, told Seth. ‘Forget the freshman-senior part of it for a minute. The prom queen is not the date of the prom king. The—’
‘Hold up. My sister was prom queen and the guy she went with was prom king,’ Dave Perry protested. ‘If you don’t believe me, just come to our house. There are about a million pictures of them with their crowns on.’
‘But that wasn’t because they were a couple,’ Lindsey explained. ‘Prom queen and king are voted on separately. So a couple might end up queen and king, but not because they’re a couple, because they both happened to get the most votes.’
‘Well, why doesn’t anyone who’s there get the chance to win?’ Seth challenged.
‘Because it’s the Senior Prom. Senior,’ Carrie Carrothers, also a senior – a senior who happened to be a likely pick for prom queen – told him.
‘Then if I’m elected prom king, I have to do that spotlight dance, or whatever it’s called, with—’ Seth began.
‘Who cares about the spotlight dance?’ Dave interrupted. ‘Who cares about the dance period? I’m all about the after party. Some of the guys were talking about that clearing in the woods instead of the beach because it’s more private. But my parents are all freaked about the arsonist. You guys heard about the fire, right?’
Eve’s heart fluttered. The arsonist, that was her – burning the woods on her anger-filled rampage.
‘In science, Ms Whittier was saying maybe it wasn’t arson. We had that weird heat wave, and she said that could have set up the conditions for a spontaneous wildfire,’ Carrie told the group.
Eve stopped listening to the conversation. The back of her neck was prickling and she had the overwhelming sensation that someone was watching her. She looked over her shoulder. At first she didn’t see anyone looking her way, then she spotted Simon. He was crouched down behind a car over at the edge of the lot.
Only he wasn’t staring at her. He was staring at Jess, who had her arm around Seth’s waist, laughing at something he’d just said. Eve shivered. Simon seemed to get more obsessed with Jess every day. That slimy demon killed the animals in the woods, she reminded herself. It must have killed Pumpkin too. Pumpkin was killed in exactly the same way. Simon’s obsessed, but not animal-murdering crazy.
Even so, Eve promised herself to keep an extra close watch on Jess. Nothing bad was going to happen to the best friend of the Deepdene Witch!
Luke glanced at his watch. ‘We should get going.’
Eve nodded. Alanna was meeting them at Ola’s Ice Cream Shop in about ten minutes. She signalled to Jess, who gave Seth a quick kiss, then headed over to Eve and Luke.
‘I told Seth I needed to study for finals with you two. Just in case it comes up,’ Jess said as they started for Ola’s.
‘At least there’s no final in history. Only that report.’ Eve stopped walking, horrified.
‘What?’ Luke asked, looking around as if a demon might come popping out from under a car.
‘I forgot to give the report in. And you know how Mr Zhang is about getting things in on time,’ Eve said. ‘I have to run back and get it to him before he leaves. You two go ahead. I’ll be right behind you.’
‘I’ll order for you,’ Luke called after her. ‘I know what you like.’
‘Aww, what a good boyfriend,’ Eve heard Jess say to Luke.
Luke was her boyfriend! Sometimes that was still a little hard to believe. But they’d had their first fight and their first make-up. That made them a real couple.
It was hard to miss Alanna. Luke was willing to bet that every guy who walked into Ola’s noticed her right off. It’s not that she was prettier than Eve, definitely not. But there was something about her. It was as if Alanna expected to be looked at, so you looked. Today she had her long hair swept up on top of her head. With her hair up – and her shirt conveniently cut to fall off one shoulder – it was really easy to see her tattoo of roses and thorns.
Jess elbowed him. ‘I’m here, which pretty much means Eve’s here, so I don’t think you should be staring at Alanna like that. Because if Eve was here, you wouldn’t be.’
�
��I wasn’t staring,’ Luke protested. ‘I was just noticing that she was here. As in, “We’re meeting Alanna – and, oh, look, there she is”.’ He started towards the booth in the back where Alanna was sitting.
‘Don’t notice so hard,’ Jess muttered, following close behind him.
Alanna hadn’t seen them yet. She was tapping her teaspoon against the table top, frowning a little. Luke wondered what she was thinking about. The demon attack that the Order had predicted, probably. She’d be relieved to hear that Eve had already taken the demon down. Eve and Jess, he reminded himself. He wanted to make sure Alanna knew that Jess had held her own.
‘Hey, Alanna,’ Luke called as they approached. The frown disappeared, and Alanna gave them a big smile. Well, maybe it was directed a little more at him than Jess.
‘It’s great to see you. Sit down, sit down!’ Alanna urged. ‘I ordered us one of those massive sundaes they have here. It’s enough for about eight people, but I couldn’t resist.’
Jess sat down next to Alanna. Luke knew that she was making sure Eve would be next to Luke. Which was fine by him. No place he’d rather be.
‘Where’s Eve?’ Alanna asked. She brushed her fingers lightly across one of the roses of her tattoo.
‘She’ll be right here,’ Jess said quickly, before Luke could answer. ‘She just needed to run back to school for a minute.’
‘Well, you two fill me in on what’s been happening,’ Alanna said. ‘I can’t wait. So, you realized the barrier had been put up, and then what?’
‘Like I told you, Eve used her power to take it down,’ Luke replied. ‘She was really upset that the Order had trapped her in town.’
‘The barrier almost killed her!’ Jess jumped in, eyes bright with anger on behalf of her friend. ‘They really should have told her about it.’
Alanna held up both hands in mock surrender. ‘I agree. I told Callum that. But, basically, I’m powerless at the Order. I’m still just a trainee,’ she told them. ‘So, go on. Eve took down the barrier, and then you found the dead animals all around the town border, right, Luke?’