The Demon Conspiracy

by R. L. Gemmill

  ***

  The day after Thanksgiving Angie called Dr. Sanderlyn and arranged for authorities to move Chris out of jail and into Sunnyside. He told Angie she needed to stop by and sign papers that would admit Chris into the treatment program. I went too, since chances were good that Angie would have an emotional meltdown before it was over. After all, how could anyone put their beloved spouse into a mental hospital and not be affected? I wanted to be there for Angie.

  That same morning Granny used the Mustang to take Travis over to Mathew Dunlop’s house to play for the day. Angie told me Travis was terribly bored because none of his friends at school lived close by, so she promised to call Mathew’s mother. I was the one who suggested that Granny should drive him. I didn’t want Travis to be anywhere near Angie when she was so upset. The whole emotional effect on him might be more than he could handle.

  When we got to the clinic Angie insisted that I stay in the car while she went in alone. I breathed a secret sigh of relief. Supporting Angie was one thing, but I did not want to go into any psycho ward, especially Sunnyside, which really didn’t seem all that sunny. The stark brick building had no windows, no shrubbery, and no flowers. The front door had heavy iron bars built-in, and I don’t know if there was a back door or not, but I had a feeling it would be a difficult place to leave if you didn’t have a key. Nonetheless, I watched the whole check-in process as it happened through Angie’s eyes.

  Dr. Sanderlyn was a tall man, bald, overweight and probably in his sixties. I thought he seemed nice enough at first, but his thoughts confused me. Did he really want to help Chris? Or was he more interested in the money? I couldn’t tell.

  Almost immediately after Angie signed the papers, she became absolutely certain she’d done the wrong thing. She tried to convince the doctor to let her bring Chris home again, to give him one more try. But Nurse Agnes, the nurse in charge, physically guided Angie out of the lobby. Nurse Agnes was a mean-looking woman with cold, dark eyes and a small, turned down mouth. I got the feeling nobody argued with her.

  “The doctors know how to treat your husband,” said Nurse Agnes, directing Angie to the exit. “Perhaps you can see him again by Christmas. Don’t call us. We’ll call you.”

  Somehow Angie made it back inside the van before she fell apart. She cried like a baby and started bumping her forehead against the steering wheel until I stopped her. She hit it pretty hard, too. If the wheel hadn’t been padded she might have knocked herself out.

  I totally understood her pain. The idea of putting Chris into that place for who knows how long was suffocating. The worst part for Angie was she felt like a traitor. Apparently, this was one of those times when action didn’t beat fear.

  After a good long cry, Angie shuddered and straightened up. Her eyes were puffy and red as she squinted at herself in the rearview mirror. I sensed it was time to talk. Putting Chris away for a while was devastating, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Sunnyside was supposed to help him get well.

  “You know you had to do it,” I said. “You had to. Chris would’ve gone right back to Pandora’s Cave when they let him out of jail.”

  “I know, but you don’t understand. Chris looked homicidal! There was no love in his eyes at all.”

  She was right. Chris had looked like he wanted to kill someone. It’s a good thing he’d been shackled and guarded by two chunky deputies when they brought him in.

  Angie rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath. “The guilt is eating me up, Kelly. Chris is my husband—I love him! I wanted to hug him one last time to let him know that, but Dr. Sanderlyn stopped me. He said Chris blames me for everything. I don’t know what to think.”

  “Think about Chris being cured. I mean, that’s why you brought him here.”

  Angie nodded. “You’re right, I need to trust the doctor. He certainly knows a lot more about mental health than I do.” Angie chuckled lightly. “Poor Chris. We got married in a church full of people he hardly knew. His hands shook so badly when he tried to put the wedding band on my finger, he missed it three times. His voice quivered and he looked like he was going to faint, but he got through it. That’s the way he is, you know. Timid, sometimes all out scared, but when Chris puts his mind to something he’ll do it no matter what the consequences. If he wants to be cured, he will be.”

  Good, I thought. Angie seemed to be coming out of her funk. But then I sensed that something else was going on. I looked deep into my foster mother’s mind and saw what it was.

  What if they can’t cure him? What if Dr. Sanderlyn recommends that Chris be committed to a state institution? What if I never see my husband again? The tears were returning, I sensed it.

  Luckily Angie’s cell phone rang. She dug it out of her purse and looked at the caller ID.

  “It’s Mrs. Dunlop. She probably wonders if we’ll ever pick up Travis. Hello? Yes, Mrs. Dunlop, we’re on our way. He’s not bothering you, is he? That’s good.”

  Angie listened for a while, nodding her head now and then. “Really? A weekend with the President at Camp David? It must be exciting being a senator’s wife.”

  Camp David. I’d heard of it but wasn’t really sure what it was or why Angie was so impressed. I couldn’t hear Mrs. Dunlop’s voice over the phone, so I listened in through Angie.

  “Where’s Mathew going to stay?” asked Angie. “Were children invited to Camp David, too?”

  “Oh, no,” said Mrs. Dunlop. “The President isn’t all that fond of children. He’s no baby kisser, that’s for sure. We won’t be home until after five on Sunday so we’re sending Mathew to my sister-in-law’s.”

  “It’d be perfectly fine if Mathew stayed with us the entire weekend,” said Angie firmly. “The boys will get a double dose of each other. If they still like each other after that, they’ll be friends for life.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t want to impose.”

  “Having Mathew over would never be an imposition. He’s a wonderful boy. I’m cooking hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill around five. This time I swear there won’t be a fire.” Angie laughed uneasily. I guess she mentioned the fire in case Travis had said something to Mathew about it.

  Mrs. Dunlop also laughed. “You’re so funny! Mathew loves hotdogs. Thank you so much, Mrs. McCormick. Five it is! Uh, Mrs. McCormick, I don’t know if you’re always so formal, but I’d really like it if you’d call me Vanessa.”

  “I’m sorry, please call me Angie. It’s just that your husband’s a senator, and all.”

  “Believe me, there’s nothing special about us. We’re just regular people.”

  “Glad to know that. We should be at your place within the hour.”

  “Angie, when you get here, you’ll need your ID. Jacob’s meeting with some government people and security is kind of tight. I’ll tell them you’re coming.”

  “Thanks, Vanessa.” Angie got off the phone. “Mathew is staying with us all next weekend because his parents will be with the President of the United States. And I’m on a first name basis with a senator’s wife. Can you believe it?”

  “That’s so cool!” I said excitedly. “I can’t wait to see their house. Travis says they have a lot of money.”

  Angie put the car in gear and drove out of the Sunnyside parking lot. I relaxed in the seat. It’s a good thing Mrs. Dunlop called. That was just the distraction Angie needed to stop thinking about Chris for a while.

  “Kelly?” said Angie. “Thanks for coming with me today. I know you’re only thirteen, but often you seem almost grown up, you know?”

  I grinned. If Angie knew I could read minds she’d certainly think more of me than just being almost grown up. I considered the idea of being a senator’s wife, and that sounded cool. But actually being a senator sounded even cooler, so I made plans to look into politics sometime. After all, with my telepathic skills, I could become anything I wanted, maybe even president. And nobody could stop me! Nobody.

  26

  RETURN OF THE SALESMAN

  KELLY


  On the way to pick up Travis it was my first time to ride through Mathew Dunlop’s neighborhood. That was some neighborhood, too. Every house we passed was bigger and more impressive than the one before it. Each home was built on a huge manicured lot with at least one crazy expensive car in the driveway.

  “Wow!” I said. “Everybody’s rich! No wonder Travis likes it here.”

  “It’s one of the most exclusive areas in the country to live,” said Angie. “Look at that one.”

  On the right, way back off the road, was a huge three-story colonial with a row of white columns across the front. As far as I was concerned any house that had columns was automatically a mansion and that place absolutely qualified.

  “Who are these people?” I asked, gawking at the wealth. “What do they do for a living?”

  “You’d better ask the Dunlops about that. I can only imagine.”

  As we rounded a corner Angie swerved wide to avoid hitting a couple of old men who were rummaging through recycling bins on the side of the road.

  “It’s Doug One!” I said. Doug One was easy to spot because of his white hair, tan leathery face and thick glasses. The baskets on his 3-wheeled bike were loaded down with crushed aluminum cans. “Who’s the other guy? Is he a Doug?”

  “Doug Four,” said Angie. “He collects trash of some kind. They’re a long way from home to be on bicycles.”

  Doug Four was old, too, like Doug One. But he was built like a tank with broad shoulders and thick muscular arms. Though it was cold outside he wore a sleeveless plaid shirt and green work pants. His thick, silver-gray hair was combed straight back.

  Macho man, I thought when I saw him, until I noticed Doug Four rode a silver and pink girl’s bike with white wicker baskets on the front and back.

  So much for macho man. I couldn’t wait to see what the other five Dougs looked like.

  Angie parked in front of the largest house of all, a stone three-story with eight towering columns across the front porch.

  Definite mansion, I thought.

  As if the size of the house wasn’t enough, there were nine cars in the driveway—six black sedans, a sleek black limousine and a pair of matching silver Mercedes parked close to the garage. A brick wall as tall as a man was connected to the house on both sides and closed in the entire back yard.

  “I knew the Dunlops had money,” I said, “but that house is amazing. Their front yard looks like a soccer field! How many cars do they have?”

  “The two Mercedes belong to the Dunlops. The others look like government vehicles. Mrs. Dunlop said her husband was having a meeting.”

  “Vanessa,” I corrected. “First-name basis with a senator’s wife.”

  Angie laughed. “I’d better remember that.”

  I scanned her mind to see how she was doing. At the moment there were no real thoughts of Chris being at Sunnyside. She’d probably break down and have a long cry when we got home, but for now things were under control.

  When we got out of the van I waved to the Dougs down the street. Both Dougs waved back and returned to work. We detoured around the carpet-like grass and walked up the driveway. The instant we set foot on the Dunlop’s property two important looking men in dark suits and overcoats stepped out of a black sedan and blocked our way. They looked official and a little bit scary to me. The taller agent on the left held up his hand, palm out, to tell us to stop.

  “I’m sorry, Ma’am,” he said. “Nobody goes past this point. Official government business.”

  The man who spoke was slim and blond, while the other guy was shorter, stocky and mostly bald. Both wore dark sunglasses, though it was cloudy and getting late in the day. They flashed important looking badges.

  “ASA, Ma’am,” said the shorter man. “We need to see your ID.”

  “ASA?” Angie had a blank look on her face.

  “American Security Administration. We’re under Homeland.”

  “Oh. I haven’t heard of you.”

  “No, Ma’am.”

  The way he said it was like nobody was supposed to have heard of them. Were they top secret, or something? I made a quick scan of their thoughts and didn’t really like what I got. The men were smug and proud about belonging to an agency within the government that very few people even knew existed. I asked them both who was at the meeting, but I did it telepathically. The men blurted out their response in unison.

  “Mr. Mogen Deel and Senators Hathaway and Rodriguez are meeting with Senator Dunlop.” The agents were aghast. They looked at each other, stunned and embarrassed. Neither man could believe he’d released important information like that to complete strangers. I tried not to laugh.

  “Thank you,” said Angie, passing over her driver’s license. “But I didn’t ask.”

  The short man blushed, checked her ID quickly and gave it back. “You’re expected, Mrs. McCormick. Have a good day.”

  Angie thanked them and led the way to the front door.

  I thought about the names of the people meeting with Mr. Dunlop. “Who’s Mogen Deel?” I asked as Angie rang the bell.

  “Never heard of him,” said Angie. “But I’ve seen Senators Hathaway and Rodriguez on CSPAN.”

  At that moment the front door burst open. Travis and Mathew came barreling out, followed by a large yellow Labrador retriever.

  “Hey, Angie!” Travis waved at us and tossed a soccer ball into the front yard. “Get the ball, Robo!” The dog chased after the ball, using its nose to push it over the grass.

  “Hey, Ms. Angie!” said Mathew Dunlop, as he ran after the others.

  Angie barely had time to respond. “Hi, boys!”

  A moment later a petite and stunningly attractive black woman appeared at the door. Vanessa Dunlop had a warm smile and wide-set happy eyes. She wore a simple blue skirt, white sweater and knee-high blue leather boots. I liked her immediately, even without scanning her mind to see what kind of person she was.

  Vanessa called out to the boys. “Stay out of the flower beds, okay?” She smiled at Angie. “Hi, Angie. Sorry about all the confusion around here. Between meetings and rowdy boys this place really rocks. Would you like to come in?”

  “Can I take a rain check on that, Vanessa?” asked Angie. “I’d love to see your house, but we’ve got to get home so I can start dinner.”

  “Absolutely,” said Vanessa. “I really want to thank you for keeping Mathew next weekend. When I told the boys he was staying two nights at your place they went crazy. They’re so excited.”

  “I’m excited, too,” said Angie. “It’ll be fun.”

  We said goodbye to Mrs. Dunlop and Travis caught up with us on the way back to the minivan.

  “See you, Mathew!” he cried, waving to his friend.

  “See you, Travis!” said Mathew, waving back.

  Mathew was about the same size as Travis, but he always dressed like he just stepped out of a fine clothing store. Even now, though he’d been running and playing all day with Travis and the dog, Robo, his afro-style hair was perfect and his button-down shirt was still buttoned and tucked neatly into his slacks. The only flaw I noticed were grass stains on his knees. I thought Mathew was just about the cutest little guy in the world, along with Travis, of course. Where Mathew was always neat and perfectly dressed, Travis was a typical mess. His face was flushed, his shirttail hung out of his pants and his hair stuck up worse than usual. But that was part of what made him so cute, too!

  “I just love Mathew,” I said.

  “Why do you always say that?” Travis playfully shoved me.

  “Because he’s cute. I can’t help it.”

  “Did you meet any senators, Travis?” asked Angie.

  “Naw, they had a meetin’ in the basement the whole time. Ms. Vanessa said we had to play outside or be real quiet inside, so we played in Mathew’s treefort. It’s so cool! An’ we played soccer and football and army with his toy soldiers and had a big battle with zombies and aliens!”

  “Zombies?” said Angie. She shuddered. “D
on’t ever mention that to Chris. He has a dire fear of zombies.”

  “But zombies aren’t real,” I said. “They’re just in movies.”

  “Chris thinks they’re real. He had…an experience when he first started teaching. He won’t talk about it with anyone.”

  “He ran into zombies?”

  “I don’t know.”

  That threw me. Why in the world would a grown man believe in zombies? Did he also believe in fairies, vampires and werewolves? Then I remembered how nobody believed us when we told them about the demons. It made me wonder about what had happened to Chris.

  The front door opened behind us as the people who were meeting with Mr. Dunlop emerged. Curious, I glanced back to see what a senator looked like. But when the first man came out I froze in my tracks.

  “Travis!” I choked out the words. “It’s him!”

  Travis looked back and instantly became a few shades paler, if that were possible. It was the Salesman from Pandora’s Cave!

  “Thank you for a lovely afternoon, Vanessa. Your hospitality is top notch, as always. Please remind Jacob I’ll call him tomorrow.” There was no mistaking that baritone, man-in-charge voice. Travis looked at me fearfully.

  “Whutta we do?” he asked.

  I’ll read his mind, I returned. I’ll find out what his plan is.

  You better be careful.

  Why? He’ll never know. I’m the only one who can read minds, remember?

  Yeah, but he hangs out with demons.

  Travis had a point. I’d better be discreet.

  Angie noticed us staring at the Salesman. “Kids, do you know that man?”

  “We’ve seen him before,” I said quickly.

  “In the cave!” added Travis. “He was talkin’ to the demons!” I almost wished Travis hadn’t mentioned it, but maybe now was the time.

  Angie was baffled. “I don’t understand. Do you mean Pandora’s Cave?”

  Travis nodded. “Yeah, an’ he gave a speech to a bunch of demons.”

  “Demons? Really? In the cave.” Angie sounded incredulous. Of course she did. Who’d believe a wild tale like that?

  Travis went on. “They’re gonna try to take over the world and make us live in caves!”

  “Why wasn’t I told about this?”

  I made a quick scan. Angie didn’t believe a word of it.

  “Chris was still trapped in the cave and we didn’t want to upset you worse than you already were,” I explained. “If you’d known he was down there surrounded by demons—well, we were afraid you’d lose it.”

  “You were real upset,” added Travis.

  Angie studied us carefully. “You’re serious, aren’t you? You’re not making this up.” She unlocked the minivan and opened the sliding side doors. As we were about to climb in I looked back. I scanned the man lightly and picked up his name. So that’s Mr. Mogen Deel. At least he wasn’t a senator. I decided to ask him a couple of questions.

  What’s your plan with the demons? Why do you want to make people live in caves?

  Demons are idiots, just like humans. They’re all part of the greater strategy.

  I was thinking about my next question when it suddenly struck me. People always spoke out loud when they responded to my telepathic questions. But the Salesman—Mr. Deel—had replied inside my head like it was the natural thing to do.

  I looked up suddenly. Mr. Deel glared at me like he wanted to rip out my heart. I inched backwards to the van.

  You little brat! How do you know? Tell me, NOW!

  The words were inside my head as clearly as if he’d shouted them. No doubt about it, Mr. Deel was also a telepath. That meant trouble.

  Suddenly, a terrible stabbing pain erupted in both sides of my head. I pressed my hands against my temples and bent at the waist.

  “Oh…” I staggered against the van as everything around me went pale. The grass, the trees, even the cars in the driveway became bright white from burning pain. I looked up through clouded convulsing eyes and saw Mr. Deel. He seemed to glow, like something made him light up. He glared at me, clearly directing the head-splitting pain. My brain was going to explode and there was nothing I could do.

  Travis jumped between the Salesman and me. He must have sensed what was going on and wanted to protect me. I tried to tell him no, but I began to lose consciousness.

  In an instant the pain stopped. Normal colors returned and Mr. Deel didn’t glow anymore. For some reason, he’d backed off from killing me. Was it mercy? I followed Mr. Deel’s aggravated gaze, from side to side. At his left near the end of the driveway was Doug One, standing with his three-wheeler. On Deel’s right was Doug Four, in front of our minivan. Both Dougs stared at Mr. Deel the way he’d been staring at me. Something was going on between the three of them, but I was numb from the pain. I couldn’t pick up any thoughts.

  All at once the Salesman scowled and let out a low curse. He climbed into the limo. A square-jawed, uniformed chauffeur closed the car door and got behind the wheel. The limo backed out quickly, then spun the tires and raced away.

  Travis helped me collapse into the minivan seat. My heart pounded, my face was cold and damp. Angie moved quickly to the seat beside me.

  “What happened, sweetie? Are you dizzy?”

  “Dizzy…yeah.” I tried to focus on Angie’s face, but everything around her was spinning out of control.

  “Why was that man staring at you?”

  “We told you!” said Travis, aggravated. “He’s the guy in the cave.”

  “Oh, come on, Travis, why would somebody like him be in a cave?”

  “He was sayin’ stuff to the demons. They liked it, too.”

  Angie shook her head. “Kids, whatever the problem is, I can’t help you unless you tell me the truth. I’m not talking about demons, okay? There’s no such thing as demons and monsters. Besides, you called that man a salesman. What could he possibly sell to anybody way down in a cave?”

  “He was selling victory over humans,” I said in a low voice. “He said if the demons did what they were supposed to do they’d win the surface of the earth in five years.”

  “And we’d all haveta live in caves,” added Travis.

  “If we survived.” I finished it and took a deep breath. At last I could see clearly again. What had Mr. Deel done to me? Why had he stopped? “You don’t have to believe us, Angie. But we’re not lying.”

  Travis nodded. “Yeah, we’ve got a video of the whole thing, but the camcorder’s still in the cave, but I’m not going in after it.”

  “We’ll talk more about this when we get home,” said Angie.

  I understood. Angie needed proof, like Dr. Parrish, and the proof was in the cave. Good luck convincing her that any part of our story was true.

  We didn’t say much on the ride back. But Travis kept looking at me like he expected me to collapse at any second.

  “I’m all right,” I said.

  “What’d he do to you?”

  “I have no idea. But it really hurt inside, you know?”

  Travis nodded. “He wanted to kill you, I could feel it. He was gonna, too. Until the Dougs stopped him. I think they know him.”

  “Thanks for trying to help me, Travis. But you should’ve stayed out of it. He might’ve hurt you, too.”

  Travis whispered. “Is Mr. Deel telepathic, like you?”

  I nodded emphatically. “He’s way ahead of me. I didn’t know you could hurt somebody like that with just your mind.” A nasty, bile taste rose into my throat, like I might throw up. I gagged, but fought it off.

  “I’m so stupid, Travis. I thought I was the only one who could read minds and nobody could stop me. Well, Mr. Deel can stop me. Now that he knows we know about his plans, well, I don’t think we’re safe anymore.”

  “Yeah, we’re just kids,” said Travis, hanging his head. “But somehow we gotta find somebody who can do somethin’ about Mr. Deel and those demons!”

  27

  A VERY NASTY PLAN

  K
ELLY

  “My mom said I can spend the night Friday,” said Melissa Godwin as she studied her reflection in the restroom mirror. I stood beside my friend and watched her make minor adjustments to her long-sleeved, charcoal blouse and black jeans. Melissa was slender and pale and I thought she was so pretty. Some days when she had on just the right outfit she looked like a catalog model. This was one of those days. Melissa’s gaze caught me in the mirror. “What?”

  I grinned big. “You’ll be the first friend I’ve ever had stay over.”

  “Well, duh, you’ve only been with the McCormicks a few months. They kinda had to get to know you.”

  “No, I mean ever. None of my foster families would let me have a sleepover. They said there were too many kids in the house as it was.”

  “You’ve never had a sleepover? Not even for one person?”

  I shook my head. “Never been to one, either. Well, that’s not exactly true. My real parents took me to an overnight birthday party when I was like six. Three or four girls were there and my mom stayed to help. Does that count?’

  “I think it better.”

  “Oh, Angie said don’t eat supper before you come. She’s cooking burgers and dogs around five. She made potato salad, too.”

  “I love potato salad. Wait, didn’t she almost burn the house down last time she used the grill?”

  “That wasn’t exactly her fault,” I said, laughing. “Well, maybe it was.”

  “Hey, do you think we can sleep in the basement? It’d be a good place to play with my Ouija board. Or do you think a Ouija board’s too scary for Travis?”

  “Travis is having Mathew Dunlop over for the whole weekend. With both of them they’ll be fine. I’m sure Angie won’t care if we’re in the basement. She’ll think it’s cool. So, Melissa, have you ever used a Ouija board before? Do you know what to do?”

  “No, but I’m sure there’s something on the internet about it.”

  At that moment a toilet flushed in one of the stalls. I washed and dried my hands as Manson Stanfield emerged from the stall and smiled at herself in the mirror. I listened to her thoughts. Manson was nervous about being there with us and she had no intention of speaking. She pretended to be calm and unaffected, but I knew she was really afraid.

  When Melissa saw Manson, her friendly demeanor changed abruptly. In fact, she became all out weird. “Hi, Manson,” she whispered harshly into Manson’s ear. “Seen any good fights lately?”

  I was taken aback. I’d never seen Melissa act like that before. It was so convincing I wondered if it really was an act. Melissa had a look of pure madness in her eyes and a lurking menace in her voice.

  Manson stepped back warily and looked at me. “Get away from me! Both of you!”

  Melissa blinked and tilted her head to the side, the way dogs do when hearing a strange sound for the first time. Then she displayed an idiot’s grin. “Come on, Manson. What’s wrong? Have ya seen any good fights lately?”

  “I’m late for class! You should be committed!” Manson ran out of the restroom in a hurry. In an instant Melissa returned to her usual self.

  After the door closed I covered my mouth to stifle a laugh. “Oh my gosh! I can’t believe you did that. If I didn’t know you so well I’d swear you really were nuts! Manson sure thinks you are!”

  “They both do,” said Melissa proudly. “It’s the only reason Donnivee hasn’t come after me, too. Like I told you, she’s afraid of crazy people.”

  When we gathered our backpacks and left the restroom I was happier than I’d been since we’d first gotten to the McCormick’s house. For the most part it seemed like things were finally going my way. If only Chris and Jon would come home and be themselves again my life would be perfect.

  MANSON

  “Guess who’s having a sleepover on Friday with her sick little friend in black.” Manson kept her voice low in English class as she sat with Donnivee. The tardy bell hadn’t rung yet and the teacher was setting up the data projector.

  “Bishop?” said Donnivee. When Manson smiled Donnivee began chewing on her lower lip. “I know where she lives. My boyfriend took me by her place last weekend. There’re only two houses on her street and the other house is empty. Lots of woods around and plenty of places to hide.”

  Manson’s eyes lit up hungrily. “What’re you gonna do?”

  “I don’t know, but it’s gotta be good. I mean real good. I wanna scare ‘em so bad they pee in their pants.”

  “They’re going to be alone in the basement playing with a Ouija board. I think the only other person in the house will be the foster mom, and maybe her little brother and his friend.”

  “Ouija board, huh? Maybe we can use that to scare ‘em. And I wanna beat the snot out of Bishop again, but this time I’ll do it right.”

  Manson shuddered when she thought about the way Melissa had acted in the restroom. “What about Melissa? She’s crazier than we thought.”

  “We’ll distract her, you know? Kinda get her out of the way for a while.” Donnivee punched her palm hard. Manson drew back fearfully. “Kurt doesn’t like ‘em either. He got in a fight with their older brother once.”

  “Who won?”

  “You’re kiddin’, right? Kurt said he kicked that guy’s butt so bad they put him in the hospital. That’s why Kurt wore a cast for a while. He smashed their brother’s face in and broke his hand.”

  “I wish I coulda seen that. I can’t believe your dad lets you go out with Kurt. I mean he’s nineteen! You’re so lucky.”

  “If my dad knew I was datin’ anybody, he’d beat me worse than usual. Hey, do you still have those masks we used last Halloween? The really gross ones with all the extra eyeballs?”

  “The demon masks? Yeah, you want ‘em? Do you want the demon hands, too?”

  “Yeah. If they see some demons while they’re messin’ with a Ouija board they’ll freak. It’ll be better if they don’t know who we are. But I wanna do a lot more than just scare her and beat her up. I wanna take something from her. Something she really wants. But what?”

  They thought about it for a while as their English teacher closed the door and began taking roll. Manson got an idea.

  “Maybe her dead parents gave her something she really likes, you know? If you could steal something like that she’d probably die.”

  “Yeah, that’s good. Scare her, beat her up, and steal her memories. You’re a genius, Manson. We’ll plan the attack tonight.”

  TRAVIS

  Travis got off the school bus more excited than he’d been since Chris had first told them they were going to Pandora’s Cave. He hastily took the cell phone out of his backpack to see what time it was. Four-fifty-two. Sometime in the next twenty-four hours Mathew Dunlop would come over and they were going to have a blast. He waved to his friends on the bus as it pulled away, then looked at Dr. Parrish’s house. A pale green van with the words Mac’s Heating and Air Conditioning printed on the side was just backing out of the driveway. Travis put his phone away and watched the van follow the school bus up the road. That truck’s been there all week, he thought to himself. Did they finish? He decided to go next door and find out before going home.

  Dr. Parrish’s front door was unlocked so Travis knocked and went inside. The first thing he noticed was how warm it was. Usually when he came in he shivered because it seemed colder in the house than it did outdoors. The second thing he noticed was the odor of fresh paint. Travis sniffed deeply. He loved that smell. He scanned the living area and saw that the walls and trim had been painted. In fact, except for the unfinished floors the downstairs looked ready to move into. Parrish and Granny had gotten a lot of work done in the last weeks.

  Granny’s voice called out from upstairs. “That you, Travis?”

  “Yep! Can I come in?”

  “Sounds like you are in.”

  “Come on up,” said Parrish.

  Travis put his backpack down and ran up the stairs. At the top of the stairs he passed another stairway that led
to the third story bedroom in the tower. He was about to go that way when a miter saw screamed from a second floor bedroom. The noisy saw shut off as Travis peeked into the room and discovered Parrish and Granny putting down baseboard trim.

  “Hey, Granny. Hey, Dr. Parrish,” he said. “The place looks great!”

  Granny gave him a hug and rubbed his hair. Parrish smiled proudly. “Why thank you, young man,” he said. “We’ve come a long way and now we have heat!”

  “I can feel it!”

  “That’s right,” said Granny. “Mark’s gonna spend the night here tomorrow.”

  Travis looked around. “Cool! But where you gonna sleep? There’s no bed, or nothin’.”

  “I’ll bring an air mattress,” said Parrish. “So how’d you like to spend the night here, too?”

  Travis got even more excited than he was before. “Can I sleep in the tower?”

  Parrish nodded. “You bet you can. It’s got the best view of the neighbors’ house, that’s for sure.”

  “The neighbors?” Travis laughed. “You mean us.”

  “We could roast marshmallows in the fireplace,” said Granny. She winked at Parrish, who nodded vigorously.

  “That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” Then Travis remembered Mathew. “Wait! Mathew Dunlop’s gonna spend the whole weekend with us. Can he come too?”

  “Sure,” said Parrish. “The more the merrier. Of course, I may have to put you both to work if you stay here.”

  “Really? What can we do?”

  “I don’t know. What can you do?” Parrish looked down thoughtfully at Travis, who shrugged. The big man backhanded the problem away. “Don’t worry about it, we’ll find something. But tomorrow I want to stay here to make sure the heat works properly, and hopefully, I can lay the ceramic tile in the downstairs bathroom.”

  “Aren’t you gonna be afraid in here by yourself?”

  “Nah. Matilda will join me when she gets off work.”

  “Cool!” said Travis. He gave Parrish and Granny high fives and ran upstairs to look out the tower bedroom window. Below he could see the garage side of the McCormick’s house and most of the yard. Way up here he stood nearly as tall as the big oak tree in Angie’s front yard. Parrish was right. This room did have the best view of the neighbors’ house.