by Amy Meredith
‘Well, we know all this is here, and we look normal,’ Luke said. ‘Actually, I’d give both of you a normal plus.’
Jess rolled her eyes. ‘Gee. Thanks.’
‘What was that part about where the secrets are hidden again?’ Eve asked. There wasn’t really time for joking around any more. The demon could be sucking someone’s soul right this second.
‘Here’s all it says.’ Luke read from the journal: ‘The devil knows, where the secrets are hidden.’
Eve looked back and forth between her friends. ‘But what does that mean?’
‘I don’t know,’ Luke replied. ‘But we’d better figure it out fast. Because right now, in the battle of Deepdene, the demons are winning.’
Chapter Thirteen
‘The devil knows where the secrets are hidden,’ Eve said. She’d repeated the sentence about twenty times. She tried again. ‘The devil knows where the secrets are hidden.’ It didn’t help. She’d reached the point where the words were a meaningless jumble of sounds.
‘I got nothing!’ Jess called, her voice echoing off the high ceiling and marble floors. She’d been circling the interior of the church, checking for hiding places. Somewhere in this draughty, gargoyle-filled old building was the key they needed to defeat the demon.
‘I’ve spent hours looking,’ Luke commented. ‘Pretty much all day. I even crawled around on my hands and knees, feeling for loose stones. They always hide things under loose stones in the movies.’ He set down the old minister’s journal and stood up from the pew next to Eve. ‘But that doesn’t mean I didn’t miss something.’ He stared up at the ceiling. ‘I didn’t check up there. But I’d need some kind of scaffolding to get high enough.’
‘I feel like my brain has been exfoliated,’ Eve complained. ‘I’m sure there’s a clue in what Reverend Simon wrote, but it’s just not clicking.’ She picked up the journal. Maybe seeing the words again would give her some new ideas.
‘Exfoliation scrubs away the dead cells. That would make you think better, not un-better,’ Jess pointed out. ‘Hey, did you know that in the Middle Ages they used wine as an exfoliator?’
‘Why do you know that?’ Luke asked. He turned to Eve. ‘Why does she know that?’
‘The devil knows, where the secrets are hidden,’ Eve read aloud from the journal.
‘Please don’t start that again,’ Jess begged.
‘The devil knows, where the secrets are hidden. Huh. The comma is weird,’ Eve said, running her finger over the little mark after the word ‘knows’. It looked like a comma, but was it just a splotch of dust or something? No, it didn’t come off.
She frowned. ‘The devil knows where the secrets are hidden. That’s the sentence. So there shouldn’t be a comma after “knows”, right?’
‘Comma means a pause. The devil knows … where the secrets are hidden,’ Luke said.
Jess gave a loud mock scream. The sound of the cry echoing through the empty church made Eve’s skin itch.
‘I wish I hadn’t done that,’ Jess told them. ‘It was creepy. But I couldn’t stand hearing that “devil knows” thing one more time.’
‘Putting a pause in that sentence doesn’t change the meaning,’ Luke sighed.
‘Commas are also used after certain clauses,’ Eve said.
‘But there shouldn’t be a comma. It’s not a compound sentence,’ Luke said. ‘Anybody know if Reverend Simon got good grades in English?’
‘I didn’t notice any other mistakes.’ Although Eve had to admit that she hadn’t spent all that much time thinking about grammar when she was reading about demons and portals and witches in the journal. ‘The devil knows, where the secrets— Shoe City!’ she cried.
‘Shoe City!’ Jess exclaimed. ‘We haven’t been there since we got back. We need to do that.’
‘Can we focus? I know shoes are very, very important. But we’re talking demons here,’ Luke said, grinning at Eve. ‘Don’t get mad and zap me. I did say shoes were very, very important. And what I meant was very, very, very.’
Eve ignored him. ‘I was thinking about their slogan. Shoe City, your favourite fashion address!’
‘Catchy,’ Luke commented. ‘And yet. Shoes. Demons. Shoes. Demons.’ He waggled his hands up and down, pretending they were scales.
‘This isn’t about shoes. It’s about the comma,’ Eve explained. ‘The comma in the slogan is there because “Shoe City” and “your favourite fashion address” are the same. They’re whatchamacallems. Appositives.’
‘Mr Shapiro, a wonderful man,’ Jess said, nodding. That was the example Mr Shapiro, their seventh-grade English teacher, had used over and over when he taught them about how to use commas with appositives.
Luke shoved his hair out of his face. Eve had noticed that he did that whenever he was trying to figure something out. ‘But “the devil knows” and “where the secrets are hidden” aren’t different ways of saying the same thing. They aren’t appositives.’
‘What I’m saying is that the punctuation is acting like they are.’ Eve looked from Luke to Jess. ‘Could that be some kind of clue?’
‘I don’t get how “the devil knows” could be a place “where the secrets are hidden”,’ Jess said.
‘It’s a play on words!’ Luke cried suddenly. ‘Hearing you say it over and over, I started hearing “the devil nose”. I thought it was funny.’
‘Nose?’ Eve tapped her nose. ‘Not “knows”, as in has knowledge of?’
‘How does that help?’ Jess asked. ‘If the info we need is stuffed up the devil’s nose, nobody’s going to get it out. How would you even get close enough to try?’
‘Unless …’ Eve leaped up from her seat and started scanning the gargoyles all over the church. Some of them were mash-ups, like the one with the head and mane of a lion and wings of a dragon. Or the one with the torso and face of a little old man and a mermaid’s tail. They weren’t scary exactly, more like weird. Unnatural.
A lot of the other ones looked like they could have come crawling straight out of Megan or Rose’s nightmares. They were sculpted like demons and monsters. She spotted one with talons ready to rip off skin. Another with teeth big enough to snap bone. And so many with eyes that looked like they’d seen the fires of hell. Maybe one of the gargoyles was the devil Reverend Simon referred to.
‘The choir stalls,’ Luke said. ‘There’s a gargoyle up there with a pointed tail and horns.’ Eve smiled. Luke had gotten what she was thinking without her saying it. Maybe he was telefriendic too.
‘There are horns and tails all around us,’ Jess protested.
‘Yeah, but this one has horns, a tail and a big hooked nose,’ Luke told her. ‘I saw it when I was searching before.’
Eve and Jess followed him to the front of the church, past the altar, and up into the stalls. He stopped in front of a stone gargoyle. He was right. It did look like pictures Eve had seen of the devil.
‘His nose is big.’ Jess ran one finger down the devil’s large hooked nose. ‘But not big enough to hold much of anything.’
‘Maybe there’s a hollow spot in the head, and you get to it by triggering something on the nose.’ Eve cautiously reached out and touched the nose. The stone was cold and porous under her fingers. She didn’t feel a button or a lever or anything.
It was crazy, Eve knew it was crazy, but she didn’t like standing so close to the gargoyle. It had a twisted half-smile on its face, like it was just waiting for her to figure out how to bring it to life – so it could rake open her chest with its claws and devour her heart. And her soul.
Get it together, she ordered herself. The gargoyles are here to scare away the demons! She gave the devil’s nose a hard twist. Nothing happened. The devil’s smile looked a little wider, but Eve knew that was just her imagination powered by the massive dose of adrenalin she was sure was still flooding her body.
She forced herself to squeeze the nose. She prodded, poked and, finally, pushed. With the horrible scraping sound of stone against stone, th
e nose moved under her fingers. It slid into the demon’s face. Eve gasped as something moved inside the small dark hole. She let out a sigh of relief as a brown and yellow spider scurried out. Jess let out a scream – then apologized.
There was an inhuman groan, then a bang. Eve’s heart pounded as a stone panel beneath the gargoyle slid out, revealing a space about the size of a shoe box.
‘I’d say that was bingo. And I should know. I have to call the bingo numbers for the seniors every Tuesday night.’ Luke knelt and reached into the dark space. He pulled out a thin stack of papers and a couple of worn books and carefully set them on the floor.
Eve sat down and selected a book. It was old and crumbly, and covered in dust. She gently opened it at the first page. ‘Uh, problem. This one isn’t in English. Well, it sort of is.’ She held the book out to Luke and Jess.
‘Latin,’ Luke volunteered. ‘My dad started teaching it to me when I was about seven. He said no matter what I ended up wanting to do, Latin would help. He kept telling me Latin was the root of everything – basically a universal language.’
‘Not to us,’ Eve told him.
‘These are in Latin too.’ Jess held up a few sheets of paper. ‘At least, I think it’s Latin. It’s definitely a language I don’t know. Which means it could be pretty much anything except French.’
Luke checked. ‘It’s Latin. So, seems like I’m the designated translator. Dad would be so proud. I’ll take all this stuff home with me and get started,’ he said. ‘It might take a while, though.’
‘I don’t think we have any other choice,’ Eve said, worried.
‘But look, it’s the Dark Book!’ Luke held up a small book bound in black leather.
‘That book Reverend Simon talked about? That has all the info from all the ministers of Deepdene church,’ Eve said. ‘Score! Or should I say bingo?’
‘Hmm, neither,’ Luke told her. He fanned the pages, letting Eve and Jess see the water damage that had eradicated much of the text.
Eve’s heart sank. How were they supposed to know what to do without the old minister or the book?
‘At least there’s more stuff.’ Jess picked up a sheet of paper from near the top of the stack and studied it. ‘To continue with the word of the night – bingo. It’s in regular English, and there’s only one little dirt smudge on it.’
‘Anything we can find out has to help,’ Eve said. ‘What’s it say?’
‘Um,’ Jess said. ‘Um …’ The paper began to rattle, and Eve realized that Jess’s hands were shaking.
Luke leaned closer to Jess and tilted his head, trying to read what had gotten her so freaked. Eve took Jess’s hand in both of hers, helping to hold the page steady.
‘When the moon is full, the power of the demons is at its strongest,’ Luke read. ‘It is the most dangerous time. No attack on the demons should be attempted. All contact must be avoided until the moon begins to wane.’
And tonight the moon was full. Its bright light had made Eve feel safer. It shouldn’t have.
‘What are we going to do?’ Jess asked. Eve felt the tremors in her friend’s hands intensify. ‘I need to be home in half an hour. How are we going to get home? They’re out there. And the moon is full.’
‘We’ll all go to the rectory together,’ Luke said. ‘My dad will drive you home.’
A car should be safe enough, Eve thought. Hoped. Especially a car with a minister driving.
‘We still have to go outside.’ Jess stared out of the stained-glass window behind the choir loft. Eve looked out too. The moon was positioned so it was shining through a large pane of red glass. Through the glass, it looked malevolent, blood-covered. ‘And they’re waiting. I’m sure they’re waiting right outside the door,’ Jess continued.
‘They didn’t hurt us before,’ Eve reminded her. ‘You saw horrible things. I heard horrible things, but we’re still both OK.’
‘What about Megan and Rose and Belinda?’ Jess burst out. ‘What about Shanna’s mom? If I see something like I did before – what those demons were doing to my mom – it will make me go crazy too. I’ll end up at Ridgewood, and I’ll never get out!’
Eve had to do something. Jess was starting to hyperventilate, and they hadn’t even taken a step towards the door. ‘OK, we need to find you a happy place.’
Jess made a sound that was half snort and half sob.
‘Happy place?’ Luke asked.
‘It’s like how you tried to make me mad by reminding me of the day I broke my heel,’ Eve told Jess. This time it was Luke who snorted. ‘Pick a day when you were really happy. Remember as many details as you can. Then keep it in your mind. Don’t let anything else in.’
‘OK. OK, OK,’ Jess answered. ‘I’m at that windsurfing lesson—’
‘With our instructor with the tan and the abs and the eyes,’ Eve encouraged. Jess smiled a teeny smile. ‘Yeah, you’re getting it,’ Eve told her.
Jess stood up. ‘Let’s do this. Abs, abs, abs, abs,’ she muttered.
‘Maybe you should have a happy place ready too,’ Eve told Luke as they stood up.
‘Don’t need one. I have my own anti-demon protection,’ Luke informed her.
‘What?’ Eve asked.
‘Not what – who,’ Luke replied. ‘You’ve got the power to fight these things. Maybe kill them. You did it the other day while Mal was sitting on his hands instead of helping you.’
‘Mal didn’t come out until after I, you know, smoked the demon,’ Eve explained. She looked over at Jess. ‘Luke’s right. I didn’t even try to use my power out there. I was too freaked. But I won’t be this time. I know what’s coming and I’ll be ready.’
She strode over to the church doors as if she didn’t doubt herself. Oscar nomination, anyone?
‘Say something about how shallow she is,’ Jess ordered Luke when the two of them stepped up behind Eve.
‘Why?’ Luke asked.
‘She hates that. It makes her mad,’ Jess told him. ‘She needs all her madness right now.’
Luke ran his eyes up and down Eve’s body, and she felt her cheeks get warm. Boys weren’t supposed to do that when you could see it. ‘Those shoes are ridiculous. They’re pretty much just pieces of string, and you paid – I’m sure – an insane amount of money for them,’ Luke said. Eve tried to feel angry – but somehow Luke wasn’t as irritating when she knew he was doing it on purpose.
‘They were three hundred and twenty-five,’ Jess said. ‘Before tax.’
‘I could have wrapped your feet in string for about three bucks. Then you could have given the rest to—’
‘To shoeless, homeless, starving children!’ Jess finished for him.
Eve nodded. ‘Thanks,’ she said. She was actually feeling more scared than angry – make that totally scared and not angry at all – but there was no reason for Luke and Jess to know that. She shoved open the double doors and stepped outside, her friends close behind her.
Immediately shadows surrounded their feet. Eve felt them tugging at her, climbing higher, rising up her legs like some kind of black tide. Jess whimpered. Eve didn’t think she’d ever heard Jess make a sound like that before.
‘You can do this,’ Luke said firmly.
Eve felt as if the shadows were turning her bones to ice. Any second one of her leg bones would just snap, and she’d be on the ground, and the shadows would be on her, and—
Enough, Eve ordered herself. Fear was sucking the power out of her. She needed anger.
‘You’re a vain person with too many lipsticks. How many shades of rose do you need?’ Jess whispered though chattering teeth.
Eve didn’t buy it for a second. Jess had at least thirty more lipsticks than she did. But Jess’s teeth were chattering with terror. And that did make Eve angry. In fact, it made her furious.
How dare these things hurt her best friend? How dare they make Jess scream, and whimper, and see such awful pictures in her head? How dare they?
Eve’s heart began to pump hard. Not in
panic, although the shadows were now swirling higher around her, almost to her waist. Her heart was pounding with white-hot rage, setting every cell in her body aflame. Rage and confidence. Luke thought she could do this. And suddenly Eve was certain of it.
Her dark hair began to snap around her face, wild with electricity. Her nail polish began to sizzle. She probably looked like fresh hell, but she didn’t care. Eve thrust her hands out in front of her as hard as she could. Flaming lightning bolts shot from her fingers, hissing and crackling, creating a path through the shadows.
Luke grabbed Eve’s wrist, grabbed Jess’s hand, and then they ran, faster than Eve ever had before. And as she ran, she threw back her head and shouted at the full moon. ‘I’m Eve Evergold. I’m the new Deepdene Witch. And I’m here to kick some ass!’
Chapter Fourteen
‘You look tired,’ Eve told Jess before school on Monday.
Jess pressed her hand against her heart and leaned against her locker. ‘Ouch.’
‘I didn’t mean—You look good. You always look good. But I, as your longtime friend, can tell you are also tired,’ Eve explained.
‘I put cucumbers on my eyes for half an hour before school,’ Jess sighed. ‘But I had a really hard time sleeping over the weekend.’
‘Gee, I wonder why?’ Eve rubbed Jess’s arm. She meant to empathize – because, really, who could sleep knowing there were demons after them? But as the words left her mouth, she had a chilling thought. Megan and Rose hadn’t been able to sleep either, back before they went crazy. They’d both been super tired all the time.
‘It took me for ever to fall asleep too,’ Eve said. ‘Did you try herbal tea?’
Jess shook her head. ‘I fell asleep, no problem. But then I had some bad dreams.’
Eve’s heart almost stopped. Bad dreams. Megan and Rose started out with bad dreams. Was the same thing happening to Jess that had happened to Megan?
‘How about you?’ Jess asked.