Xoe: or Vampires, and Werewolves, and Demons, oh my! (Xoe Meyers Young Adult Fantasy/Horror Series)

by Sara C. Roethle

  I crossed my arms and pouted. “Why do you get to be the one to stay with us, while Max has to traipse all over town?” So maybe I was a little grumpy about the stunt Jason had pulled with the door. Can you blame me? I still wasn’t sure whether or not he was playing a joke on me.

  He gave me a slightly offended look. “Max has a much better sense of smell than I do, and I have a much better chance of protecting you against Dan than Max does.”

  Couldn’t argue with that logic, though I wanted to.

  We pulled into my driveway and got out of the car.

  “Where’s your mom?” Lucy asked me.

  “She’s off doing some study on birds in Washington, luckily, so we don’t have to worry about coming up with another excuse to have everybody over.”

  I walked to unlock the door and Jason came to stand next to me, first in line to go inside. He insisted on going in ahead of us in case Dan was waiting in ambush. He walked in and started checking all of the rooms for any sign of foul play.

  I walked into the kitchen, leaving Allison and Lucy in the living room to watch TV. My mom had left money for pizza on the kitchen counter with a note that said as much. The note also specifically stated that I was not to have boys over while she was gone. Too late on that one. Ah well, as the cliché goes, what she doesn’t know, can’t hurt her. The list of things that I had to hide from my mom seemed to be growing exponentially of late. I felt a little sad about that; I was used to sharing almost everything with her.

  I grabbed the portable phone out of its cradle on the wall and called Irvine’s. I ordered two extra large pizzas: one pepperoni, and one mushroom. Jason walked into the kitchen behind me as I was hanging up the phone. I looked away from him and noticed that the potted African violet plant in the window looked a little dry. I grabbed it off of the sill and put it under the faucet to give it some water, ignoring Jason’s presence.

  “All clear?” I asked, not looking up. I saw him nod out of the corner of my eye, watching me with his arms crossed. “What?” I asked grumpily, setting down the plant and looking directly at him.

  “Did I do something wrong? You seem . . . hostile.”

  Sighing, I asked, “What was that stunt with the door about? Did you do it just to embarrass me?”

  Jason looked taken aback. He stared at me wide-eyed for a moment before answering, “Isn’t that what a guy’s supposed to do, when, you know, he’s trying to woo a girl?”

  Woo? He was trying to woo me? I was too amused to remain angry. I tried to contain my laughter and failed. “Um, not that I’ve ever been wooed, but I’m perfectly capable of opening my own doors. Who gave you permission to woo me anyhow?”

  He looked at me with a stubborn set to his jaw. “Well I am sorry that you have never been wooed, but it has been a very long time since I have done the wooing, I cannot be expected to get it right on my first try.”

  I started laughing again; there was just no holding it in. Jason crossed his arms and tried to stare me down with a petulant look on his face. I kept laughing. When he began to realize the ridiculousness of the situation, he let that crooked smile of his slowly appear on his face. He began to laugh along with me. Soon we were both laughing so hard we couldn’t breathe.

  “What is going on here?” Allison interrupted. She had walked into the kitchen to stand in front of Jason and me with her arms crossed, tapping her foot on the tile floor like an angry parent.

  “Woo!” I exclaimed, tears streaming down my face, doubling Jason’s and my laughter. Allison made a noise of exasperation and walked back into the living room with her hands in the air. Our laughter began to slowly die down and we were left grinning at each other.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “It was a very nice attempt at wooing.”

  “Oh, no,” Jason replied sarcastically, “there is no salvaging it now.” He turned and walked out of the kitchen towards the living room, still grinning.

  I stayed in the kitchen a minute longer, trying to control the smile on my face. Mustn’t get feelings for the vampire. Yeah Xoe, keep telling yourself that.

  I looked out the window and caught sight of Brian, clothed in gray sweats, getting home from football practice. He had to walk home just like us other unfortunates without cars. He paused in his driveway, noticing Jason’s car parked in front of my house. He gave the car a less than friendly look and went into his house.

  Frowning, I went to join the others in the living room.

  Allison had pulled out several board games and laid them out on the coffee table. “Pick your poison,” she told Lucy and Jason. Before they could answer, Allison turned to acknowledge me. “What’s wrong?” she asked, taking in my lugubrious expression.

  I shook my head ruefully. “Nothing. I vote for Scrabble.”

  Allison grabbed the scrabble box and started setting up the board on the coffee table. Lucy began turning all of the little letter tiles upside-down in the box.

  “Max is here,” Jason said an instant before Max knocked on the door.

  I walked to the door and let him inside. “Did you find anything?” I asked.

  Max shook his head. “Dan’s been everywhere. He’s crisscrossed his scent all over the place. I can’t find a definite trail.”

  Jason chimed in, “That is what I expected. He is hiding out, waiting for an opportunity to strike.”

  “Um,” Max began, “I found something else.”

  We all looked to Max expectantly.

  “Other scents. There are other wolves in town.”

  “Could it be Dan’s old pack, trying to find him?” I asked.

  “I do not think so,” Jason answered. “Packs do not travel much. They do not want to risk crossing into another pack’s territory. That is why they hired me.” He paused to think for a moment. “Could you tell how many?”

  “Two, besides Dan,” Max answered. “At least, that’s how many I caught scent of.”

  “What do we do?” I asked.

  “We do all we can do,” Jason replied. “Wait.”

  So it looked like we would have to wait for Dan, and maybe others, to come to us. Gotta love a stake-out . . . or not.

  I started to shut the door behind Max, but noticed Brian coming our way. I swear, he was worse than a puppy. I went outside and shut the door behind me. I had a feeling that a confrontation was in my near future. Brian stomped towards me looking angry. He’d changed into a plain white t-shirt and jeans.

  He stopped right in front of me, arms crossed. “I’ve been thinking about your story Xoe, and I have to say, I don’t believe a word of it. We’ve been friends a long time, and if you’re in some sort of trouble, I deserve to know. I can help.” He gave me a slightly pleading look that was overtaken by his anger within seconds.

  I didn’t know why he was so angry. I mean, I could understand him being a little jealous about being left out, but this amount of anger was uncalled for. Men are always saying how difficult women are to understand, but they hadn’t met the men in my life, they could give any woman a run for her money.

  I stared at him blankly, considering my answer, then words tumbled out of my mouth. “Trouble’s over. Dan left town, Jason and Max just came over to hang out.”

  Brian did not look convinced, but I hadn’t really expected him to be. He roughly ran his hand through his hair in a frustrated gesture, making his short curls puff up. He said coldly, “You’ve always been a terrible liar Xoe.”

  Matching him stare for stare, I answered just as coldly, “What do you want me to say?”

  Brian shook his head and swept past me, going for the door. My guilt turned quickly into anger. I didn’t owe him any explanation! How dare he! I ran after him and caught up as he was reaching for the doorknob.

  I reached out and grabbed his wrist before he could turn the knob. Things seemed to go in slow motion. He jerked away from me with a yelp of pain. I looked at him dumbly, confused by his reaction. Then I saw his arm. A blistery burn, roughly the size of my hand, circled his wrist. I s
tared at him confused. My vision began to go dark. The last thing I saw was the terrified look on Brian’s face. Terrified of me. Then the ground came up to meet me.

  I woke to dark blue eyes above me. Wait, hadn’t this happened before? The eyes disappeared for a moment, then I felt Jason pulling me into his lap. He leaned me against his chest so I could sit upright. My limbs ached with flu-like weakness. I couldn’t move. My vision faded in and out. Jason ran his hands up and down my arms, like you do when you’re trying to warm someone up.

  We were outside my front door. Lucy, Allison, and Max had all come outside as well. Brian was standing a safe distance away, cradling his wrist.

  “We had to fill him in on some stuff,” Allison said, nodding in Brian’s direction. Allison looked uneasy. She seemed afraid to get too close to the situation. I looked at Brian’s face. His face was set in angry lines, but his eyes held unmistakable fear.

  Brian stared back at me, unable to make his face completely impassive, though I could tell that’s what he was trying to go for. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay before I left. I don’t want any part of—this. Whatever this is. I get the point. I’ll leave you alone from now on. You didn’t have to burn me.”

  My mouth fell open. I tried to speak and my voice cracked. I tried again with a little more success, “I-I didn’t mean to. I don’t know what happened.”

  Brian didn’t answer; he just turned and walked away towards his house.

  Jason stood, lifting me up in his arms, and carried me inside. He laid me down gently on the couch.

  Allison and Lucy came inside and hovered beside me. I heard someone, Max, by process of elimination, shut and lock the door. Max walked up to stand beside Jason.

  Allison looked in their direction. “Could we have a little privacy?”

  Nodding and mumbling uncomfortably, the boys unlocked the door again and went back outside. The noises that came from their exit: the hushed tones of their voices, their footsteps, the click of the door shutting, all seemed like a distant dream to me. Allison lifted me up partially so that she could sit down and lay my head in her lap. She started stroking my hair, trying to be comforting.

  “What happened Xoe?” she asked.

  Lucy sat on the floor and grabbed my hand. Hot tears stung my eyes. I tried to stop them, but they flowed faster and faster. What had happened?

  “I hurt Brian. I don’t know how, but I did.” My tears were a mixture of confusion and fear. “He’s one of my oldest friends and . . . and . . .” My words caught in my throat. “He’s afraid of me!” The tears turned into raking sobs. I hiccupped on my breaths, trying to draw in enough air and failing.

  It was just too much. I had managed to keep my cool through everything that had happened, but this was just too much. My friends held me, Allison with my head in her lap and Lucy clinging to my hand, as I cried out my frustration and fear. Underneath the frustration and fear was an immense sadness. A sadness in knowing that life as I knew it had changed—forever. I had always had a solid sense of who I was . . . what I was. Now everything felt like quicksand. I was being sucked under into a new world, a new me.

  When my tears had quieted, Jason and Max came back inside. They had probably heard the whole thing with their supernatural ears, but I was still grateful for the illusion of privacy they had given me. I looked at them, eyes red and puffy, and asked, “What’s happening to me?”

  Jason knelt beside Lucy. “I think you are coming into your powers. Nothing like this has ever happened before?”

  I shook my head.

  He continued, “If this is just starting now, we can expect more powers to manifest, or for this one to grow in strength.” Jason averted his eyes.

  I stared at him until he gave in and met my gaze. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  Jason’s eyes held mine steadily. “This type of power is usually related to . . . demons.”

  My eyes widened. Even if I could make sense of my friends being werewolves and vampires, I could not comprehend being a demon. Jason had told me that it was a possibility, but I hadn’t allowed myself to think too hard on it.

  “Elaborate,” I said shakily.

  “Well,” he began, “out of our three options, demons are the only ones that possess this type of destructive power. Merpeople are capable of a mild amount of enchantment, and Ogres are simply strong. The powers of demons tend to be more . . . obvious.”

  I had an awful idea. “So . . . am I like, bad?” I asked, not sure I really wanted to know. I noticed Lucy dart a worried look up at Allison.

  Jason answered, “No, as far as I know, the manifestation of your genetics is often dependant on your upbringing. Demons have an inborn tendency towards violence and rage, but they do not have to act on their impulses. You were raised like a human, and therefore think like one . . . You simply need to watch your temper.”

  I looked a question at him.

  He went on, “Demons are marked by their anger. I believe that is what your powers are linked to. You burned Brian because you were angry.”

  The room was spinning. I had to focus. I held perfectly still, breathing deeply, trying to not let things sink in until I had gotten all of the facts. “What other ‘powers,’” I gulped, “can I expect?”

  “I am not certain. There are different types of demons. Their powers vary. Given that the first power you exerted was to burn someone, your abilities will likely be linked to fire.”

  Fire? That could explain the dreams. I reached my hand up to pinch the bridge of my nose. I had a major headache building behind my eyes. “How do you know all this?”

  He looked down briefly, then met my eyes. “I have suspected that you were most likely a half-demon since the beginning. I did some research, called some friends who are a little more knowledgeable on this type of thing. Half-demons are the most common human hybrid, more so than Merpeople and Ogres. Any other races that can breed with humans are either very rare or gone altogether.”

  The room was still spinning. I closed my eyes to keep from getting dizzy. “Did your knowledgeable friends give you any other information?”

  Jason lightly placed his hand on the shoulder that I wasn’t laying on. “I am sorry Xoe, I have told you all that I know.”

  I was overwhelmed, even with this scant amount of information. “What do we do now?” I asked, clinging to my last thread of hope. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a big deal. Maybe the “powers” would stop here. Maybe they would just go away. And maybe the moon is made of cheese to feed the little green men.

  Jason replied, “There is not really much that we can do. As your powers come, if your powers come, you will learn to control them.”

  That sounded like a lot of trial and error to me. I’d already hurt one friend. I shuddered at the though of the damage I might do before I got things under control, if I got things under control. It was a very big if.

  “Is there anything else I should know?” I asked, not really knowing what I was asking for, as Jason had already said all that he knew. The panic was coming back. I closed my eyes and tried to slow my breathing; afraid I was going to hyperventilate and pass out again.

  Jason answered, “Probably, but like I said, I have told you all that I know.”

  Angry and frustrated I replied, “Well, then I guess we should just focus on Dan and the matter at hand.”

  No one argued with the sharpness of my words. Each person nodded his or her assent. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to focus on anything except my recent horrifying news, but I needed the subject off of me. I had a lot of processing to do and no time to do it in. A girl’s troubles never end.

  Chapter Fifteen

  We spent the rest of the afternoon playing scrabble, eating pizza, and trying to ignore what we had discovered about me. I’m usually pretty good at scrabble, but today I was filling up the board with three-letter words. The pizza guy had been really late, which I guess was good, considering what he could have walked in on. Plus, we got the or
der for free. My first slice was still sitting abandoned on a paper plate next to me. When we got bored of scrabble, we resorted to watching a movie.

  I couldn’t focus on the TV screen. I looked around at my living room and the people that currently inhabited it. Jason, Max, and Allison were sharing the larger dark blue couch that I had been laying on when I’d had my breakdown. Jason and Allison each clung to their respective corners while Max lounged in the center. I greedily hogged the mismatched purple loveseat. I needed distance, mentally and physically, to absorb all that had happened. Lucy lay on her stomach on the purple, blue, and green patchwork rug that covered the living room floor, using a throw pillow to prop herself up. My mom had gotten the rug to try and tie in the colors of our two couches, emphasis on the word try.

  I hugged a green throw pillow, clutching it against my stomach. For the past few hours my body had been debating whether I was going to pass out, throw up, or scream. Maybe a little bit of each, hopefully not simultaneously. My worry had been building a solid knot in my gut. What had started life as a golf ball of fear and worry had grown to bowling ball proportions. The more I thought about everything, the less sense it all made.

  For lack of any better distractions, I grabbed my mom’s most recent National Geographic and went into the dining room. I pulled out a chair, sat down, and started leafing through the pages of the magazine, not really looking at them.

  Lucy came into the dining room shortly after me and sat down in one of the high-backed maple chairs that matched the table. She nervously fiddled with a yellow woven placemat.

  She smiled weakly at me. “No offence Xoe, but . . . I’m kinda glad you’re a half-demon.”

  I gave her a ‘you’re kidding,’ look. She was . . . glad?

  She went on, “Not that you’re a demon specifically, it’s just nice that I’m not the only newly non-human one. I was feeling pretty alone.”

  “Well I guess when you put it that way, I’m pretty glad you’re a werewolf,” I replied.