Dealing with Demons

by Melissa Haag

  While I’d liked the idea of spending one-on-one time with Beatriz, a party could work better for me and for Morik; no one would find a guy with a cap and sunglasses out of place. They probably wouldn’t even notice his horns or eyes without the cover if they had enough to drink. We could mingle with other people, and I could watch him. Not only would I be able to get to know him better, but I’d also be close if he showed interest in someone. My mom couldn’t object because it presented me an opportunity to search out my choice.

  Decided, I looked at the clock. Now, what would we do for the next few hours?

  As soon as I walked back into the living room, the quiet conversation between Morik and Danielle stopped. They both turned to look at me even though I hadn’t made a sound, and I felt as though I’d interrupted something.

  Morik stood and joined me, watching me expectantly. I wondered if he’d somehow heard my end of the phone conversation.

  “I was invited to a party tonight. Would you like to come with me? We could watch a movie here until it’s time to go.”

  “I’ll stay for the movie and give you a ride to the party, but I don’t think I’ll join you.”

  “All right,” I said, hiding my disappointment. How would I match him up with a companion if he didn’t mingle with people?

  Aunt Danielle suggested a movie that we had. Morik obligingly started it for us while I settled on the couch. I had a whole movie to come up with a plan.

  Two hours later, I scowled at the rolling credits. The stupid movie had distracted me from my plotting. Gran and Aunt Grace, who’d arrived home mid-movie, had quietly put away groceries then joined us in the living room.

  I looked over at Morik, who reclined on the other end of the couch. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me? There’s going to be a lot of people there. You’ll blend in fine.”

  “What are you up to?” Gran asked from a nearby chair.

  Aunt Grace turned off the movie, and I had the room’s attention.

  “Beatriz from school invited me to her house. Her brother’s home from college and is inviting a bunch of his friends over.” Gran said nothing, but I could tell by her expression that she didn’t think my going was a good idea. “Where’s Mom? Isn’t it a little late to be working?”

  “She should be home soon. We’ll start dinner. You two go find something to do.” Gran shooed Morik and me away with her hands.

  Smiling, I motioned for Morik to follow me to my room. Though he moved to join me, his expression was neutral.

  At times, I could easily read his thoughts or feelings. Why did he sometimes mask them? Or maybe it wasn’t masking. Maybe when he showed emotion, he made an effort to do so. After all, he did say he didn’t interact with humans much.

  In my room, I went straight for the desk and the incomplete puzzle. “You must see pretty well in the dark, huh?”

  Focused on the puzzle, I half-listened to him follow me in. The snick of the closing door caught my attention, and I looked back at him. He ignored my look and joined me at the puzzle. Without hesitating, he started to place pieces.

  “Have you done this one before?” I asked.

  “Yes, I can see in the dark. No, I haven’t done this one before,” he said, answering my questions in order.

  “How are you finding the right pieces so fast?” I leaned close to watch him and study his eyes as he searched for then placed the pieces together.

  Tiny bits of bright green flared in his irises each time he found the piece he wanted. When he placed the piece, the green faded into silver, the primary color of his iris. Other colors danced in the silver pools, but the green caught my attention because it happened consistently. I wondered what it meant.

  A sudden swirl of violet took me by surprise. I couldn’t help but watch it flow around in the liquid silver background. Before it could fade, green and brown strands joined it. It took a moment for me to realize Morik had stopped looking at the puzzle and, instead, faced me with an amused expression. I couldn’t look away.

  “Your eyes are amazing to watch,” I said without thinking. A blush immediately infused my cheeks, and I hoped he wouldn’t read anything into what I’d said. “What do the different colors mean?”

  “I don’t know. You’ll have to tell me when they change.” He went back to finding puzzle pieces, still looking amused by my attention.

  After a while, my mom called out a hello from the kitchen. Not wanting Gran to tell Mom about my plans before I could, I hurried from the room and left Morik to follow me if he wanted.

  Mom stood near the door in the process of removing her jacket when I found her. She didn’t look like she’d been working all day. Her hair was still neat. Usually after work, her hair had little twisty spirals in it. She curled it around her fingers when lost in thought.

  “Hey, Mom. Where were you?” I asked idly.

  “Don’t be nosy, Tessa.” Her tone was a bit more abrupt than I thought the question warranted.

  “Sorry. Beatriz invited me to her house tonight. I planned to head over there after dinner and to be back by ten. Her brother’s home, so there should be a lot of people there.” More people meant more guys, which meant more options—something my mom would like.

  However, my mom didn’t answer me. Instead, she looked past me to Morik.

  “Morik, I don’t want to subject you to a conversation that might lead to an argument.”

  He nodded respectfully to my mom then looked at me.

  “I will be outside if you decide to go.” He grabbed his jacket and was out the door before I could say anything.

  I stared at my mom, appalled by her rudeness.

  “He’s standing outside in the snow. How could you do that? You didn’t even ask him if he’d be cold!”

  Gran and Aunt Grace drifted from the room. No doubt, they sensed a battle brewing.

  “Will he be?” Mom asked as she took plates from the cabinet to set the table.

  I thought back to when I’d touched him. He’d felt nicely warm to me despite the temperature of the house. No, he probably wouldn’t be cold.

  “That’s beside the point! You were rude.”

  “I didn’t want to argue in front of him.” She didn’t look at me but focused on counting out the forks we needed from the drawer.

  “Argue about what? All I did was ask where you were.”

  “And you tried to tell me you’re going to a party tonight.”

  “Tried?”

  “You’re not going.” She said it casually as she took glasses from the drying rack next to the sink.

  She’d been fine with the idea of my going out at night the day before. Since this was the first time I’d even spoken with her today, I didn’t think her current snit related to me even though I felt the brunt of it.

  “You’ve set one too many settings,” I said quietly.

  She looked up, surprised. Probably because I wasn’t yelling but mostly because I’d contradicted her.

  “You don’t want me to choose Morik, but when I’m invited to a party where there’ll be enough drinking that no one will notice the weird girl discreetly touching an arm here or a hand there, you want me to stay home. So what you’re telling me is that you don’t want me to choose at all.”

  I looked over at Aunt Danielle for a moment. She sat quietly in her chair, her eyes closed, but I knew she listened. Turning back to my mom, I said what needed saying.

  “How’d that work out for Aunt Danielle again?”

  Mom paled, and her eyes grew watery. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “Then you shouldn’t have had me,” I said sadly, the words harsher than my tone. “Our choices are limited, but they’re still there. Don’t limit mine further. This is hard enough.”

  She set the stack of plates on the table and walked out of the room. I stared after her for a moment, feeling like crying myself.

  “Don’t cry, girl,” Aunt Danielle said from beside me, making me jump a little. “The truth can be as hard t
o say as it is to hear, but it’s always important.”

  I nodded and grabbed my jacket. Before opening the door, I looked back at Aunt Danielle. “Remind her I love her, okay?”

  “I will, honey.”

  Shutting the door quickly to prevent a cold draft, I paused outside on the step and looked up at the indigo sky.

  I hated when I argued with Mom. Knowingly saying something that would hurt her sucked. But she was being unreasonable. Nothing in this whole deal was easy or simple. So far, I’d voluntarily touched boys that I’d thought I might feel even the slightest interest in.

  Granted, in cases like Brian and Clavin, it wasn’t always voluntary. Regardless, I had been selective up until this point. Knowing that I’d die if I didn’t choose soon helped lower my standards a bit to...oh, just about anyone being a possibility. I didn’t want to go to a drinking party. But I’d spoken the truth. The possible benefits outweighed the risks.

  With a sigh, I stepped off the stoop and headed toward Morik, who waited with my helmet tucked under his arm.

  Seeing him distracted me from my musings.

  “Why do you bother with a motorcycle if you can pop in and out of places?”

  “Popping draws too much attention and scares people.” He handed me the helmet.

  “So does riding a motorcycle in the snow,” I said under my breath, making him laugh as I settled the helmet on my head. “Are you sure you won’t come to the party with me?”

  “I’m sure.” He got on the motorcycle and started it.

  I climbed on and wrapped my arms around him without his prompting. Shouting her address to him over the noise, I wondered how long I’d last before my legs went numb.

  Five minutes.

  Piercing needles of pain danced over my thighs. Carefully, I removed one arm from his waist and laid it over my right leg for additional protection. It didn’t help.

  Morik took his hand from the throttle and reached back. I thought he was going to pull my arm around him again. Instead, he laid his hand on the coldest part of my leg. Heat seeped through the denim immediately. When he slowed too much, he switched hands to the other leg. I couldn’t believe he rode without gloves and didn’t have cold hands.

  Warmed, I rode the final few minutes in relative comfort.

  Beatriz stood at the door when we pulled up to the sprawling two-story home. Several cars already lined the long driveway, and music pumped from the house. Since she lived outside of town, there weren’t any nearby neighbors to complain.

  Unstrapping the helmet, I handed it back to Morik. His expression was hard to read, and the glasses hid the color of his eyes.

  “If you change your mind, just come in. Looks like the door will be open.”

  He nodded, hesitated a moment, then pulled away. Somehow, I felt as if I’d just disappointed him.

  Chapter Ten

  “Nooo!” Beatriz called playfully from the door. “Tell hottie to come back. He’s way cuter than anything we’ll see inside.”

  Turning, I smiled at Beatriz. She’d changed the color of her peekaboos and now sported a fluorescent orange.

  “You’re only saying that because you’re related to one of them.”

  “Maybe.” She grinned back at me.

  The heat escaping the house warmed my cheeks before I even stepped inside. When I reached back to close the door and keep the warmth in, she stopped me.

  “Don’t bother. People will be coming and going all night.” The sound of another car on the drive proved the truth of her statement.

  “Come on. I’ll show you around.”

  I quickly kicked off my shoes to add to the pile of discarded shoes already on the floor of the entryway and followed her. Bursts of laughter erupted from somewhere deeper within the house and grew louder when we entered the kitchen. She pointed out the well-laden snack counter then took me down to the finished basement, the source of the noise.

  In the space to the right of the stairs, a guy made drinks from behind a fully stocked bar. The resemblance between him and Beatriz was unmistakable.

  When he saw his sister, he motioned to her through the crowd. Between the conversation and the music, I couldn’t hear all they said, but I did hear Beatriz shout my name and the name “Brad” by way of introduction. He motioned to a basket loaded with sets of keys behind the bar.

  Beatriz shook her head at Brad then leaned in close so I could hear her.

  “He wanted to know if you drove. If you had and wanted to drink, you would have had to hand over your keys to Brad.”

  “That’s very responsible of him.”

  “Yeah, there’s just less potential trouble that way. Do you want something to drink?”

  “A soda would be good.”

  While she went to get one from her brother, I moved away from the bar to explore the rest of the basement. With the bar, pool table, and air hockey table to the right of the stairs, most of the crowd congregated there. To the left of the stairs, I found a quieter sitting area with a huge screen. A comedy played without sound. Turning to go back, I spotted a bathroom tucked under the stairs.

  Beatriz, carrying my soda, found me looking around.

  “You have the perfect setup down here,” I said.

  “Yeah, but don’t use this bathroom. By the end of the night, it will be too gross. Best bet is the one all the way upstairs. Come on, I’ll show you my room while this party winds up.”

  Her second-floor room had its own immaculately clean bathroom, which she said I could use. We sat on her bed and talked for close to an hour. Every now and again, we’d hear another car pull up, followed by a shout or two from the entryway. Each noise was a reminder that I needed to rejoin the party and use my gift. Yet, I lingered because I enjoyed Beatriz’s company and felt as if I’d found a friend. That was very much a novelty in my life since any free time I had always went to finding the “right” guy. Briefly, I wondered what would happen to our friendship when my deal with Morik expired.

  “Ready to head down?” she asked. “It will be way more crowded, but they’re all nice. Especially to us because we’re younger, and Brad will kick them out if they’re not.”

  I didn’t want to return to the party. The volume had increased, and it now sounded a little on the wild side. However, since Morik wasn’t there and I couldn’t focus my attention on finding him someone, I had to focus on finding someone for myself. And that meant I had to go where all the men were. Even though I would have preferred not to touch a bunch of drunken people, I nodded. I owed it to my family to make an effort.

  In the packed basement, I enjoyed a certain freedom as I used my gift without anyone even noticing, thanks to Brad’s generosity at the bar. Several visions later, I grew restless.

  Since Beatriz had pulled one of her brother’s friends to the air hockey table, I approached the bar on my own for a new drink. Brad spotted me, smiled, and handed me a cup with pink liquid. When I asked what it was, all I got from his explanation was the word punch. The rest of what he said blended with the noise of the room.

  The fruity punch set my head spinning by the time I drank half of it. I should have known better. Warm and needing a drink of plain water, I wove through the crowd and made my way upstairs to the kitchen. People lingered by the snack table as they munched and talked.

  I went to the sink and dumped the rest of my drink. As I ran the tap and waited for the water to turn cold, I looked out the kitchen window. Stars lined the sky. I’d never get tired of looking at them.

  Away from the house, I caught a brief flicker of a green glow. Leaning toward the window, I scanned the dark. Had those been Morik’s eyes? Was he out there waiting for me?

  “Didn’t like it?”

  The voice startled me into yelping and jumping a little. With a hand over my wildly beating heart, I turned toward an amused Brad.

  “The drink,” he said, nodding toward the pink remains in the sink. “Didn’t like it?”

  “It was fine. I just have to work tomorrow mor
ning.”

  “So do half the people here.” He chuckled and leaned against the counter like he was settling in for a conversation.

  “Who’s behind the bar if you’re up here?”

  “Beatriz. She serves very good watered-down drinks. Keeps the party from getting out of hand.” He reached back, grabbed a few chips to munch, and held out his hand to share. “I noticed you wandering around the room down there. You had a sort of lost look in your eyes. Not having fun?”

  Crap. He’d been watching me? I’d bombarded myself with as many visions as I could in a short time just in case Beatriz called for my attention again. While envisioning the future, I probably did look a little lost. It was hard to process one future after another like that.

  A few guys had been decent enough, but when I came to and actually looked at whom I touched, I felt nothing. I wanted a spark or my heart to skip a beat. Some kind of indication of an actual attraction on my part. Mean, I know, since they would die because of me, but I couldn’t imagine making babies without some kind of affection. Instead, each time, there’d been nothing.

  “No, not fun in the sense that they’re having fun.” I waved at a drunk pair who laughed uproariously over spilled beer. “But fun in my own way. Educational for sure.” For example, I now had a “top ten reasons not to drink” list. But, I kept that to myself.

  “Beatriz said you just moved here. You don’t talk to anyone except her, you don’t date, and you don’t even hang out after school. But you do have a job. What do you do?”

  His keen observation of me while I’d been swimming in visions downstairs and his secondhand knowledge of my life unnerved me.

  “I just help out at the Coffee Shop on the weekends.”

  From the basement, angry shouting erupted. Brad moved fast, dashing down the stairs. A clipped blast of an air horn sounded, then an eerie quiet descended. I stayed where I was, safe by the sink, and wondered what had happened.

  “Tessa! Get the doors there,” Brad yelled from below.

  Looking around, I spotted the dining room’s French doors as the noise picked up again. Warm from the drink, I didn’t mind yanking them open. Behind me, I heard thumping on the steps and muffled curses.