The Demon Conspiracy

by R. L. Gemmill

  ***

  When it was finally time to leave Pandora’s Cave, Travis was still concerned about why Jon was angry at him. I mean, Jon and I were close, but Travis and Jon are real pals. I suggested that since Jon had been trapped in a cave full of demons for over seven hours, he was probably exhausted. Jon was always grumpy when he got tired and he had to be totally wiped out by now. I told Travis to leave him alone until he’d eaten something and gotten a good night’s sleep.

  Of course, being tired didn’t explain Jon’s new accent. When we were younger, Jon had sometimes tried to use a British accent when he practiced with his swords, like he was pretending to be a knight, or something. But the accent was horrendous and we laughed at him so much he never spoke it again until tonight. Tonight, though, he sounded more British than an Englishman!

  On the way to the van Angie asked Chris if he wanted to drive home. Chris looked at her as if he had no idea what she was talking about. We heard Yvette say the same thing to Anton.

  “Anton, if you don’t drive your car home it’s going to be in the park all night. Why don’t you want to drive, honey?”

  “I can’t drive,” said Anton. “I’m…too tired.”

  “Well, I don’t know what we’re going to do. We can’t leave it here.”

  A nearby policeman offered his assistance. “Ma’am, would you like me to drive his car to your house? I could follow you home.”

  Yvette quickly nodded. “Thank you, officer. Thank you very much. Anton must be exhausted if he wants me to drive him some place. He says I drive too slow.”

  Chris looked at Angie and smiled a big, goofy smile. “I’m too tired to drive, too! You drive.”

  Angie smiled sweetly back at him. “Okay, honey. Get in.”

  The whole way home Chris acted like a little kid, getting excited about nearly everything he saw. He clapped his hands and pointed at traffic lights and cars and brightly lit stores. He even yelled once when he saw a woman walking a dog. It was like he’d never seen any of it before. If that wasn’t weird enough, Angie laughed and laughed at every odd thing he did or said. She must have thought he was playing. Either that, or she figured he was just really glad to be alive.

  When I scanned Chris’ mind I got nothing, which came as a complete surprise. I tried again, but either he blocked me the way Jon did, or something was different with his brain. I wasn’t sure what to think about it, but I had to wonder if he had a head injury or some other problem. Of course, even with head injuries I usually got TV snow or broken thoughts. It got me thinking about what might have happened to them after we got out of the cave.

  Unlike Chris, Jon stared straight ahead like a statue. He seemed to have absolutely no interest in anything, especially us. I leaned my head on his shoulder and tried to hug him, but he totally ignored me. Maybe he was thinking about Maria, I don’t know. I tried to check his thoughts, but he blocked me right off.

  Angie was so grateful to have everything back like it was that she never noticed how different things were. I couldn’t figure her out. She talked endlessly to Chris and smiled at him a lot. Sometimes she’d squeeze his hand and pull him close to her so she could kiss him. She nearly wrecked the car twice doing that.

  “Honey,” she said. “I’m so glad you’re okay. It was brave to take the kids caving, but from now on let’s stick with bowling, or putt-putt golf, okay?”

  Chris grinned at her like an idiot. She looked in the rearview mirror and smiled again, this time at Jon. “Jon, you’re quiet tonight. I guess it was a pretty long time to spend in a cave, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Jon responded coldly, still using the British accent. “Three thousand years is a long time.”

  Travis blinked at me in disbelief. That’s gotta be the dumbest thing he’s ever said! I quickly agreed. Jon wouldn’t say somethin’ like that.

  Travis had a point. I’d never heard of anyone acting different just because he went into a cave. And I didn’t believe demons could make themselves look exactly like a specific human, so I had to assume Jon and the others might be possessed.

  Travis was about to ask Jon what he meant, when a sudden wave of anger and nervousness washed over him. I saw Travis shudder like he’d just bitten into a lemon. A moment later he realized the prickly feelings had all come from Jon. He looked at me, alarmed.

  He’s tired, I thought back to him. He needs rest. Travis wanted to believe me. I wanted to believe me too, so I didn’t say anything about demonic possession. Not yet. I wanted to be sure before I told anybody else. Neither of us spoke to Jon again for the rest of the ride home.

  13

  MEMORY LOSS

  KELLY

  Maria stood by her car at the house when we drove up, still wearing her waitress clothes. She ran to Jon when we got out of the van and hugged him hard around the neck. Jon stood passively and didn’t hug her back. When she kissed him, he didn’t kiss her back.

  “Jon, are you okay? What happened?”

  Jon shot her an ominous glare, then redirected his gaze at the front porch. “I am fine. I must work hard. I have much work to do.”

  Maria released him and stepped back, bewildered. “Are you mad at me? I only just found out what happened a few minutes ago. Dr. Parrish called my dad and told him about the earthquake. I didn’t notice it, but some of my friends did. Jon? Can you hear me? Jon?”

  Jon pushed by her and went into the house. I got close to Maria and lowered my voice.

  “He’s been really weird like that since he came out.” I wanted to say something about my demonic possession theory, but I didn’t have any proof yet. Even if I did she probably wouldn’t believe me.

  “He acted like he didn’t know me.” Maria was taking this hard, like the rest of us. Her eyes got moist and she wiped them with the back of her hand.

  “He did the same thing to us,” I explained. “He gets grumpy when he’s really tired.”

  “I’ve seen him grumpy. He still knew who I was. Does he also pick up a British accent when he’s tired?”

  “I don’t know where that came from.”

  “Kelly, what do I do?”

  Angie answered her question. “Go home, Maria. I’ll call you tomorrow. Thank you so much for coming by, we’ll make sure Jon knows you were here.”

  Maria nodded and gave me a lingering, questioning look. All I could do was shrug and shake my head. She left in a hurry.

  When Angie and I got inside, Jon was looking around the house like he had no idea where he was. He asked Travis a very strange question.

  “Where do I sleep?”

  “In your bed,” said Travis. “Where do you think you sleep?”

  “Show me.”

  “Show you what? Your bed?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll do it if you tell me who taught you how to speak with a real British accent.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Your accent. You’ve been practicin’, or somethin’. It never sounded this good.”

  Jon’s tone became severe. “Show me my bed.”

  TRAVIS

  Travis decided it might be better to find out about the accent after Jon had gotten some sleep. He led his brother upstairs to their bedroom and jumped into the top bunk.

  “That’s yours,” said Travis, pointing to the lower bunk. “I sleep on top cuz I’m the coolest.” Ordinarily when Travis said something like that, Jon would have a snap response about how he was the coolest and Travis was just lucky to share his universe. Then they’d both laugh and maybe wrestle a little. But this time Jon ignored him.

  “Can I have those swords?” asked Jon. “And the computer?”

  “You’re kiddin’, right? All that stuff’s already yours, the computer, too. But everything on the other wall is mine, so don’t mess with it.” For the first time Travis realized how bare his wall was. There was only one poster he’d gotten from an Army recruiter and a calendar he made at school.

  “They belong to me?” Jon immediately took the swords o
ff the wall and laid them on the floor. Next he turned off and unplugged the computer, monitor and printer. He looked at Travis, emotionless. “I need a large box.”

  “There’s boxes in the basement. Why are you takin’ everything down? How come you unplugged your computer? It’s the only computer in the house!”

  Jon looked up thoughtfully. “I’m selling everything. I need money.”

  Travis’ mouth dropped wide open. Was Jon insane? Lost in the cave, or not, this was pure madness! “You can’t sell your swords! How can I do my homework without a computer? Why do you need more money? You have a job! You get paid every week!”

  “I need to buy magic kits. I will become the greatest magician in the world.”

  “You get lost in a cave and now you’re a magician? I don’t get it. What kind of magic? Are you gonna pull a rabbit out of a hat?”

  Jon glared at him so intensely Travis got a little scared. He’d never seen his older brother act like this, and that look in his eyes was almost threatening. Jon scanned the room and spied a baseball cap hanging on his chair. Travis had never seen him wear the cap, but sometimes Jon tossed it in the air to himself while he did his homework.

  “Yes. I can do a rabbit out of a hat,” he said. He held up the ball cap with one hand hidden under it. “Watch.”

  KELLY

  About then I walked in to say good night and to see if Jon had gotten any friendlier. I nearly tripped over his sword collection that was piled on the floor in front of the computer. “What’s going on? Why’d you take down your swords?”

  Jon shushed me. “I need quiet. What kind of rabbit do you want?”

  I didn’t even know what they were talking about, but it was still an easy question. Travis’ best friend, Mathew Dunlop, once had a big white rabbit named Fang, which had died of kidney disease. I figured Travis would want a rabbit just like that.

  “A white one,” said Travis. Ha! Do I know my little brother or what?

  Jon glanced at me, then looked Travis right in the eye. Suddenly, he took a small white rabbit out from under the hat and set it on the bed. After I picked my jaw up from the floor, Travis scooped up the rabbit and hugged it. OMG! How in the world did Jon do that? Where’d he get the rabbit?

  “He’s soft,” said Travis with a smile. “An’ nice.” The rabbit wiggled its pink nose and let us pet it.

  “Jon!” I said excitedly. “That was awesome! Where’d you learn that?”

  “His name is Fang II,” said Travis, who was not as concerned with how Jon had done the trick as he was with having a new pet. “Matthew’ll like that. Hey, can you do it again with an X-Box?”

  Jon was clearly pleased with himself. He almost smiled. “You must leave. I need to practice.”

  “When are you gonna do some more tricks?” asked Travis.

  “I do not do tricks. I do magic. Real magic. Now get out of my room.”

  Travis gawked at Jon. “Your room? It’s my room, too! You can’t kick me out!”

  “Yes, I can.” Jon took the blankets and pillow from Travis’ bunk and tossed them into the hallway. Then he physically shoved both of us out of the room. “I need to practice magic. I must be alone. Go some place else.”

  The door closed almost in Travis’ face, leaving him stunned and silent. I knocked hard on the door. “Open the door, Jon Bishop! You can’t do this!”

  Nothing happened. I knocked again and we listened. Whatever magic he was doing must have been very quiet. Travis gathered his blankets, pillow and Fang II, and went down the hall.

  I got mad. “Nobody treats my little brother like that! Not even my big brother! I’m telling Angie!”

  Travis turned and shook his head. “Don’t tell her. Not yet.”

  “Why not? He can’t toss you out of your own room!”

  “It’s okay, Kelly. Jon’s actin’ kinda weird, you know? I’m not sure I want to sleep in the same room with him for a while.”

  “But where are you going to sleep?”

  “Behind the couch. Till Jon starts actin’ like Jon again.”

  “That’s silly.”

  “No, it’s not. He can have the room. I wanna be safe.” Travis hung his head for a moment, then lowered his voice. “Do you think maybe he might not be Jon?”

  The question baffled me until I got a mental picture of what Travis meant. The whole concept made my gut churn from both fear and confusion.

  “You think he might be a demon? But how? I mean, he looks and sounds like Jon to me. Well, except for the accent.”

  “What if he’s possessed?”

  I moved close to Travis and whispered in his ear. “I was thinking the same thing! How can we be sure?”

  “I dunno. Until we figure it out I’ll leave him alone.”

  TRAVIS

  Travis camped out behind the couch in the living room. He figured nobody would notice him there, and if Jon really was possessed by a demon it was as good a hiding place as any. Sure, sooner or later Angie or Chris would make him go back into his own bed, but first they’d have to find him. He got a cardboard box from the basement and put the rabbit in it, along with a bowl of water. Then he put Fang II’s box at one end of the couch to help hide his blankets.

  “You need some food, Fang,” he said to the rabbit, which wiggled its nose at him. “I’ll be right back.”

  Travis headed for the kitchen to get some lettuce for the rabbit, when he heard Angie talking. He stopped in the hall and listened.

  “Chris, we’ve always had a basement. But you can’t work in there, it’s a mess.”

  “I must work there. I must work hard and fast.”

  “When are you coming to bed?”

  “I have much to do. Take me to the basement.”

  “Chris, you know very well where the damn basement is. Oh, forget it. Follow me.” Angie reluctantly led the way. Travis decided to follow them at a discreet distance.

  “Why are you talking like this?” She opened the basement door. “You sound like you’re from another country. And why the basement? What about the garage?”

  “Not the garage. I need a place to work undisturbed.”

  Angie flipped on the light and led Chris downstairs. Travis took a seat on the top step and peeked at them below the basement ceiling as he listened. Right away Chris started moving things around.

  “What kind of work are you talking about? I don’t understand. Chris, don’t clean the basement now! It’s nearly eleven o’clock. You have to go to work tomorrow!”

  “I must work now. I must work hard and fast.”

  “You have school in the morning. Did you forget about your job?”

  Travis watched as Angie tugged on Chris, trying to get him to go back upstairs. She even kissed him hard on the mouth and wiggled close to him, holding him tight.

  “Honey, don’t you want to go to bed now?” she asked. Her voice was soft and sultry. She whispered something into his ear. He looked at her curiously for a moment then pushed her aside.

  “I must work hard and fast.”

  “What happened to you in that cave? Why won’t you listen to me?”

  “I don’t have time to listen. I have much work to do. I must work hard and fast.”

  “Can you hear yourself? You sound like a frickin’ robot! What are you going to do down here, anyway? This place is too cluttered to work in.”

  “I’ll clean it. And then I’ll work. I must work…”

  “Yeah, I know, hard and fast. What are you going to work on? What’s more important than me?”

  “My idea is more important than anything,” said Chris. “I’ll make a product that will be popular around the world. Everybody will want it. But I need ingredients.”

  Angie shook her head and ran to the stairs. Travis scrambled out of the basement before she saw him and waited in the kitchen like he was just coming in. When Angie came upstairs, she was crying. Travis didn’t like to see her sad like that, so he hugged her, really big. She hugged him back so hard he thought she’d sque
eze him to death.

  “Travis, you’re so sweet. What’s wrong with him? Why is he acting like that?”

  Travis didn’t know what to say, until he recalled something from Mrs. O’Brien’s first aid course. “Maybe he’s in shock. Maybe he needs to keep busy until he gets over it.”

  Angie released him and paced about the kitchen. She wiped her eyes and quit crying. “Oh, I’m such a fool! You’re right, Travis! He is in shock! He’s always been fragile, and that whole cave thing must have really upset him. What should I do?”

  Travis shrugged. “Ask him what he wants?”

  Angie stared at him for a few moments as if she’d been frozen in time. She pointed a finger at him. “You are one smart young man!” Grabbing a pencil and some paper, she hurried back downstairs. This time Travis went with her.

  “I’m going to help you,” said Angie. “Let’s make a list. What do you want?”

  For the first time since he’d come out of the cave, Chris smiled at Angie like he meant it. The effect it had on her was immediate. She looked relieved and happy again, all in an instant. She smiled and melted into his arms. He even hugged her back.

  “Pear juice,” he said. “I need pear juice.”

  Angie looked straight at Travis. “Have you had a chance to go through the pantry? Do we have any pear juice?”

  Travis shook his head. “No pear juice.”

  Travis had always taken an interest in inventory, especially food, and he’d kept an accurate mental list of whatever was in stock in any house where he lived. It started for him at the Children’s Home during a three-day ice storm. Nobody could get to or from the Home for nearly two weeks, causing food supplies to rapidly dwindle. Travis liked to eat, so he’d quickly put together a rationing schedule that included everyone in the facility. It was so well done that the counselors were going to put it to use, but as soon as everything was in place, the National Guard showed up with supplies.

  Most people who found out about his odd skill often took it for granted. Rather than look around to find what was available, they’d usually ask him first. Travis didn’t mind because it made him feel kind of important.

  “That’s okay,” said Angie. “I’ll go to the store. What else do you need?”

  Chris got excited. “I like you helping me! I need lots of paper and something to write with.” He called out a list that included everything from different fruit juices to test tubes and beakers, to graduated cylinders. He also included a hot plate, some eyedroppers, a metric scale, and lots of pots. Angie wrote fast and eventually got it all down. When the list was complete, Chris went to work cleaning up the basement.

  “I need space to work. I must work hard and fast.”

  “I’ll go to the grocery store right now. But where am I going to get test tubes and beakers? What’s a graduated cylinder?”

  “Ask Dr. Parrish,” said Travis. “He teaches chemistry, I bet he’s got test tubes.”

  She rubbed his curly white hair. “Good thinking, young man. We’ll get the rest of the stuff tomorrow. This has been such a crazy day. You’d better get to bed.”

  She collected her purse and jacket and rushed out to the car. A moment later Jon walked by Travis and stopped in the kitchen. Somehow he didn’t seem angry this time.

  “Where’s the basement?” he asked.

  Travis pointed and Jon went down the stairs. There was a loud crashing sound. Then Jon returned with a large, now empty cardboard box. He took the box upstairs. Travis watched him go by, totally bewildered.

  KELLY

  I hate earliness. And Monday morning came way too early, as usual. I was so tired I could hardly get out of bed for school. Travis was the only one who tried to wake me, but after three attempts with no sign of success he gave up. Suddenly, ten minutes later I shot out of bed on my own, as if some inner sense of duty told me I had to hurry. Inner sense of duty? I never had that before. Go figure.

  I dressed quickly and rushed to the kitchen where Angie had five steaming bowls of oatmeal on the table ready to eat. Travis was just finishing his breakfast, but the other bowls were untouched, including Angie’s. Travis gave me the psychic scoop.

  Angie’s still upset. I think she’s been crying all night again.

  Right away I noticed the puffiness around Angie’s eyes that had been there for the last two days. After a brief mind scan I realized that, yes, Angie had been crying much of the night. The poor woman couldn’t deal with the very weird way Chris had acted since he’d come out of the cave. I wanted to cry, too, but more because of Jon than Chris. Our brother’s personality change seemed like it might be permanent, which really upset me. I wanted Jon the way he used to be, complete with his swords, karate, lousy English accent and sometimes stubbornness. I wasn’t sure I liked this new, possibly possessed Jon. I certainly didn’t trust him.

  “Morning, Angie,” I said, hugging her around the neck. “You seem sad.”

  Angie frowned and nodded. “I’m tired, mostly. Chris didn’t come to bed again. He spent another whole night cleaning up the basement so he can make his product, whatever that is. I don’t understand what’s happened to him, Kelly. He goes into a cave for one day and comes out a completely different man.” She looked around the table. “Speaking of different men, where’s Jon? He’s usually the second one up.”

  “I’ll go see. It’ll be great to wake him up for a change.”

  “I’ll go, too,” said Travis, putting his empty bowl in the sink.

  I guided Travis out of the kitchen and up the stairs, where we both knocked on Jon’s door really hard. He didn’t answer right away, so Travis banged again.

  “Jon? You up? We gotta go to school.”

  Jon opened the door with the same bland expression he’d had on his face for three days. He looked wide-awake, but his hair was a mess and he still wore the same clothes he’d had on in the cave. He needed some deodorant too, he smelled like dirty socks. He glared at me challengingly. “Don’t bother me. I’m practicing magic.”

  I quickly went into his mind to see what was going on in there before he blocked me, but Jon must have anticipated it. He blocked me out before I could get even a peek at his thoughts.

  “You have to take us to school,” I reminded him.

  “I can’t go to school. I have much work to do. I must work…”

  “Hard and fast,” I interrupted. “But you’ve got to work hard and fast in school, too, you know. If you don’t go to school, all they’ll let you do is flip burgers, or something. You can forget doing magic if you don’t go to school.”

  Jon considered this. “They won’t let me do magic unless I go to school?”

  “Nope.”

  “Then I will go to school. When does school end?”

  “High school lets out at three o’clock, like always. Why would you ask that?”

  “I will be down in a minute.”

  I got my books together and set my new backpack by the front door next to Travis’ old one. Travis came in and studied both packs for a moment.

  “You were right. I shoulda taken my old pack to the cave like you did. I can’t believe I lost the new one.”

  “You can always borrow my Barbie pack from under my bed. Of course, it’s still got cave dirt all over it.” I grinned at him just to rub it in a little.

  Travis shook his head. “Gross! I’m not takin’ a girl’s backpack to school!”

  “In that case you’ll have to use a shopping bag when your straps break.” I didn’t need to read his mind to know he was considering the idea as a backup plan. I looked upstairs. “Jon! Come on! We have to go!”

  When Jon finally came downstairs he still had on the dirty caving clothes and his hair looked like a bird’s nest. He carried no books or backpack and walked through the kitchen without even a glance at breakfast.

  “Eat, Jon,” said Angie. “You’ll be starved by lunch. Where’s your backpack?”

  Jon shrugged. “Must have left it in the cave.”

  “He di
d,” I said. “I think your brain was inside it.”

  Jon grabbed his own head and felt around. “No, I am certain my brain is right here.” I exchanged uneasy glances with Travis and Angie. Was he kidding? I scanned his mind, but as usual, couldn’t pick up on any thoughts. If only he couldn’t block me so effectively.

  “I’ll get you a new pack today, Jon,” said Angie.

  “I need a new one, too,” said Travis, holding up the old pack. “Sorry, I lost my new one in the earthquake. I couldn’t help it.”

  “I wondered why you had that old thing,” said Angie. “I’ll get you a new one, too. Are you ready to go?”

  “We’re ready,” I said. “But, Jon, you’ve got to change your clothes. You can’t go to school looking like that. And put on some deodorant, you stink.”

  “I agree,” said Angie. “Toss the clothes in the hamper, Jon.”

  Jon looked down at his filthy clothes and then at us. “What is a hamper?”

  “What’s a…?” Angie pointed to the ceiling. “The hamper is where we put dirty clothes. Our hamper is the upstairs hall closet. Now make it quick, or you’ll all be late for school. And brush your hair.”

  Without protest Jon went upstairs. Travis looked at us nervously.

  “I’d better go with him,” he said, following Jon up the stairs. “In case he’s forgotten what a hair brush is.”

  When they returned, Jon’s hair was neatly brushed and he wore shorts and a T-shirt. He smelled better, too. Hooray! He actually looked more like my normal teenage brother again. I nearly forgot about his possible demonic possession. We said goodbye to Angie and headed out the door.

  I waited with Travis by the Mustang, but Jon made no effort to get his keys out. He just stood there, clueless.

  “Unlock the car,” said Travis, trying the handle.

  “Hurry, we’re going to be late.” I gave Jon a look, but he seemed puzzled.

  “What?” He blinked at us.

  “You’re driving us.”

  Jon’s eyes showed confusion, then fear as he figured out what I was talking about. “I don’t want to drive. I forgot how to drive.”

  “You forgot how to drive?” I couldn’t believe it. “What kind of moron forgets how to drive a car? How does that even happen?”

  “I don’t know, I just forgot.”

  We looked at him for a while, expecting him to grin and produce the keys. But he seemed genuinely lost. If Jon were truly possessed by a demon, it must have been a dumb one. I shook my head and stomped back into the house.

  “You have to take us to school, Angie. Jon forgot how to drive!”

  “He forgot…oh, lord, he must be in shock, too! Let me get the keys.”

  Angie came out and everyone piled into her minivan. “I guess this means I’ll be picking all of you up. Jon, I want you to stay after school with Dr. Parrish today. I’ll get Kelly and Travis first, and you last. Mark has some things that Chris needs, so this driving arrangement might work out for the best, at least for today.”

  “Cool,” I said. “I get to see Jon’s classes.”

  “I forgot all my classes,” said Jon. “Where do I go when I get to school?”

  “You forgot your classes?” I was exasperated. “You must have hit your head in the cave after we left.”

  “Yeah,” said Travis. “Maybe that’s why you’re actin’ so weird.”

  Jon thought about it. “Yes,” he said. “I hit my head after you left.”

  Angie started up the minivan and looked first at Travis in the rear view mirror, then at Jon. She smiled hesitantly. “Jon, honey, don’t you think we should go to the doctor this morning, instead of school?”

  Jon nearly panicked at the question. He looked my way. “No. They won’t let me do magic unless I go to school.”

  “Okay. So about that head injury. Would you happen to know if Chris also hit his head in the cave?”