by P. S. Power
"Senior prank. We could make a big thing of it, but let's give them the benefit of the doubt this time. Kids, no more of that. School's out for the next three months. Leave and let us not have to worry about you, all right?" He seemed to mean it, which got Quince to fake a laugh and try to hide his head a little, with his bare arms. Pretending that she was going to start hitting him.
"My bad. I guess I need to think first. Sorry Keeley. I really do want to go out with you, sometime. That's why I picked you for this. Stupid, huh?" He did his best to look sheepish, but his face didn't do a good job expressing that sort of thing. It looked calm and a bit bored, which translated to cool, well enough that no one watching thought anything of it.
Except Hally, who moved between them.
"No. She's mine, so back off. I don't really care who knows about it either. We're dating, and if anyone has a problem with it they can go soak their heads."
A few people looked shocked, but then left, pretending not to care about things like that. They did, since Hally and Quince arguing over her was a big deal in their little drama filled lives, but the boy just held his hands out, as if to ward off blows.
"I... Didn't know that. Sorry. I don't suppose you'd both like to go out sometime then? I mean, you both like me, right? At least when I'm not making a fool of myself like this?" There was a wave toward Misty, and he laid on the ground, pulling out the smoking remains of the device that had been put there. It showed Keels that there was no physical way to have attached it without the car being lifted, which a real girl would have never noticed. It was still smoldering and burned his hand, but there was no pain reaction. Durgs didn't do that. Responding like that would be seen as weakness, and not allowed in their society.
Keeley was ready to separate the two, if she had to, or even enslave Quince, because that would make less of a scene, but her girlfriend shrugged a bit, and looked at Keeley over her shoulder.
There was an attractive little head movement, a kind of tilt that spoke volumes, and then the girl shrugged and turned back to the boy.
"Maybe. Gavin broke up with me, since he's going to college next year. That does leave me a boyfriend down, but, and I mean this, if we go out with you, we expect something special. Not just you thinking that we're easy, or whatever you normally do." It was said with a glare that made it seem joking, but the boy reacted as if pleased. Reaching out to read his mind, which was ridiculously easy, Keels could tell that he didn't really care, and wasn't planning to call anytime soon.
Go figure. The ancient being didn't actually want to get them into bed all that badly. It would have been insulting if she cared about things like that. It was a bit strange that Hally had said those words, but it was pretty clear that the girl was trying to be advanced and work things out properly. Like a Greater Demon herself, or at least a real adult in a strange situation. One that had something near an open mind.
After muttering that he had their numbers, which was simply the truth, the boy took off, walking away, not having a car. He could drive, it turned out, but his Human parents, who were people that he'd hired to take him in using about two million dollars in bribe money, hadn't bothered to use a bit of that to provide transportation for him. Instead they spent most of it on drugs and parties, not being all that bright.
They watched the cute looking young man walk away, his jeans shifting over his behind nicely enough that Hally actually stared for a bit, and then got into Misty who started up so quietly that no one noticed it happening.
"Thank god he didn't use a fragmentation grenade. That would have ruined her for sure." Patting the worn and slightly faded black vinyl dashboard gently, she looked over her shoulder into the nearly empty parking lot, and then pulled out carefully.
It was important to drive that way, all the time. That most people drove while thinking about a thousand different things just meant that she had to be even more predictable than most, since things would try to find her, if they could. Normally that wasn't anything too bad. Ghosts however constantly walked in front of her car. She mainly ignored them, which is what she did with Rob, when he stood in front of her vehicle, running right through him as she moved out onto the street. He waved at her, but Hally had actually been his friend, so telling her all about it was probably too much, given the recent excitement.
Instead she just drove, watching the world around her carefully, so that nothing would take her by surprise. Hally, being a sixteen year old Human girl, spoke the whole time, which was pleasant, rather than distracting. A little sad sounding, but that was just about being gone for the summer.
"Camp starts up next week. Zack has someone to be in charge, but I get to have ten girls every two weeks. Cabin Four. I need to come up with a name for it. I was thinking the Woodchucks, but I might go with something a little less scary." She grinned, since it was clear she understood that no one was really all that scared by little furry animals.
Keeley tilted her head, watching the police presence, as one of the officers, Miller, saw her and nodded. They were friends, after a fashion. She took the station cookies about twice a month, or other treats that she made herself, and the man, who loved snicker doodles, remembered that. There was also a little thing where she'd fought three Human men that were attacking a cousin of his, an older woman that Keels knew from church. Gladys. It was mainly the treats however that got the man's attention.
She didn't look away from the road, but thought for a moment and then made a face, knowing that the girl next to her was going to be looking. She always did when speaking to someone.
"How about something tree related? From what I hear about a third of the kids will be Shifters, and you don't want to be insulting to anyone." Not that they were that vain as a group, the Shifters. Some of them might actually be Woodchucks however, and as children it was best not to point out that they were different than everyone else.
That kind of thing could leave scars, which was her real point. Hally, not being a bad person, thought for a second, nodded and agreed instantly.
"The Mighty Oaks?" Then she looked out the window, changing the subject slightly. "I wish I could stay with you. Zack is sweet, but it isn't the same."
"I know. I wish that too. Except for the part where you'd probably die if you tried it. I mean, we don't really know what's coming, but it sounds intense. Darla has pretty much set things up so that she won't have to work, for years, if it comes down to it. Since that's her major hobby, you have to know this is a big deal. So, it's off to Camp Camas for you and Gary. Unless he skates on it, which he'd better not. Going all flaky schoolboy is a poor plan around Zack."
Hally, being smarter than she normally let anyone know about, just nodded.
"Because making a Greater Demon angry with you would be about the worst thing you could do? Except that Zack is really a good person, so... I guess he just wouldn't take Gary seriously? That could limit things for him later, right? Possible business deals or whatever."
"Except that Zack won't really let that happen. I don't know what he has planned for Gary though. I know that Darla lined up a good acting role for Becky already, in a major picture, so that should work pretty well to get her career started that way. Eve..." She looked over at her friend, as if worried, knowing that it wasn't really that big of a deal to her mind. Or it was, but not for the reasons that should have scared her.
Eve wouldn't really be herself, after she became a Vampire. The stated plan was for her to wait a few years, so that she wouldn't look eighteen forever, but Keeley doubted that would happen. Not if she was going to be around supernaturals at an embassy all summer long like the plan had her doing. At a guess that would last about two months, before someone got so close to killing her that one of the Vamps brought her over to make certain that didn't happen. After all, letting Eve die would anger not just her, but also Darla and Zack. It was too big a risk to take. Eve was the kind to rush into trouble too, rather than away from it, so it would happen.
Hally however had been told, by
Eve herself, about how little Vampires were raised into somewhat rational adults.
"I... Eve said that they were going to beat and rape her. A lot, probably. Maybe even before she becomes a Vampire. That... Is that right? Can't we, I know that she doesn't want to be weak forever, but... There has to be a better way."
That earned the girl a smile, since it was pretty cute of her to be worried about that part. Zack was too, but he was too far gone to really get that almost no one raised their young that way anymore. You could beat and rape the baby Vamps into submission, of course, and that was the big threat, if they wouldn't mind and follow orders, but the reality of the matter was a lot different, at least with the good ones, like Edom and Lenore. The Vampires that were slated to lead one day, even if they didn't really get that yet.
They would slap an angry young Vampire down, hard, and make threats, but the worst of that would never come, unless the baby just couldn't handle themselves. If the rage and aggression were too much for them to handle, they wouldn't rape them, or even abuse them too much.
That little one would simply die.
"Eve won't have a big problem that way. Her life has taught her a lot about controlling her anger already, but she won't really be her anymore. She'll have to relearn how to be a person, after the change. That normally takes about fifty years for Vampires to really master. Until then... Well, she probably won't really be our friend for a long while. Not the one we've come to know."
That got Hally to make a face, but she didn't say anything until they pulled into the driveway at Keeley's house.
Then she just seemed sad for a while and leaned over, putting her left arm over her friend's shoulder.
"Everything is going to change now, isn't it?" There was a darkness to her words, but Keels grinned, and moved into her enough it was obvious. Even to the neighbor lady watching through her blinds from across the street.
"Yes. It always does though. The trick is to make certain we come out on top, as much as possible."
It might not be, since Tarsus had flat out claimed that she was going to die if she didn't pass the Second Crucible. The fact was however, from her research, that almost no one did make it through. Not their first time. That was why her little friends had to go away.
So that, when she died, it didn't take them out too.
Carefully not mentioning that, she led Hally inside.
They didn't have much time left together, so it made sense to make the most of it.
Chapter two
Just inside the door, two things happened, almost at the same time. She leaned in to kiss Hally as the thing shut, and felt someone moving in behind her on the inroads. That was a thing of magic, which was one of her areas of particular skill. It felt like Zack, which it almost certainly really was, since he was there instantly. They called him the Line Walker, but the truth was that he avoided the lines almost perfectly, compared to most.
It was true teleportation, being instant, not at all like the way she did it. She waited for the knock to come, feeling the man standing there, moving Hally behind her gently and standing to the side herself. People had faked being others around her before, even if that wasn't the real case this time. She could be fooled however, and pretending she couldn't was asking for something very bad to happen.
Still, when the soft thumping came and she opened the plain wooden door, it really did seem to be Zack Hartley standing there, looking slightly bemused and happy about life. That was nice to see, really. At least one of them should get some pleasure from living, right?
"And here he is now." She looked at him closely, trying to pick out if he was really the right being, which he understood instantly. Nodding, he held up his right hand, causing eight full nodes to form right behind him, in a semi-circle. Since no one other than the Line Walker could manage that, she bowed a tiny bit.
"Pretty good. Last time you showed me that you only did six. Of course I can't prove who I am, since someone killed me, and took all my slaves away." She could try for him, of course, but if she were going to do that, she wanted to ambush him, and be far enough away that he didn't know where to find her while she got it locked into place. The last several times she'd tried that had not gone well. For her. It was clear that she needed to learn a few new tricks, if she wanted to survive much longer.
He winked at her, trying to act like he wasn't wondering the same thing about her, or even suspecting that she was about to make a grab for him. If he wasn't then he was too insane to live. She knew he was crazy, having been broken as a child by Xenses, but she really doubted he was that far gone. Smiling at her he bowed back, making it seem formal.
"I've come to get my Hally? Not that we have to leave instantly, but if not, I need to get a snack. I'll pay you for it." This was said to Keeley directly, and she realized it was a good idea. For one thing it would mean that Hally wasn't gone yet.
That kind of sentimental crud was the real reason that she had to leave. If the girl were hurt in front of her, it would disrupt Keels's mind. That could lead to mistakes, or even death for them all. Knowing that, Zack was helping her out, letting her trade all her people for information. He hadn't even insisted on immediate delivery, taking them all as they got ready. Rebekah first, and then Sherry and Eve. Gary and Becky were heading off on a road trip together, which should have them gone for ten days, along with some other friends of theirs. Darla had planned to go along too, but that wasn't going to work too well, what with the Second Crucible going on.
Quince however was planning to go, which should keep them all pretty safe. No muggers or serial killers were going to get them too easily at least. That being the case, she decided not to worry about them for the time being. It would either work out, or she'd be dead, and it wouldn't matter anyway.
"Food it is then. Canned ravioli okay? That and some garlic bread?" She meant it, since that was what she had a lot of, needing to go shopping that evening. It had been nearly a week and she was, without her mom there to do that for her, running out of things to eat.
Rather than suggest she do better than that, Zack just nodded.
"My favorite." The look he gave her seemed to indicate that it really was, and the fact that he still couldn't lie well without using magic, she didn't think, meant that he was actually not just being polite. It really was something he enjoyed, at the very least. That was good.
As she opened the eight large family sized cans she had left, he started melting butter with diced garlic in it, adding just a bit of rosemary and thyme to the mix. Dried herbs, not fresh, but unlike Darla, he didn't complain about the lack, just using what was there.
Hally just sat at the kitchen table, watching them both, seeming nervous. Finally, just as the bread, or at least three of the split loaves, went into the oven under the broiler, she nervously cleared her throat.
"Um, so... Zack." She seemed to have something in mind, which was painfully clear, but what that was, Keeley realized she didn't know, exactly. It was hard for her to miss anything like that, normally, but the whole Second Crucible thing was distracting. That was probably a horrible plan, since she had no clue what was coming at all.
"Yes, Hally?" The tone was very polite and even friendly, with no hint or sexual anything in it. Since the poor guy had been dealing with an increased sex drive for the last four months or so, that was something kind of impressive. It meant he was dampening that response for the girl, or at least not doing that kind of thing in front of Keeley. It was polite, but not strictly needed.
He owned Hally now. By their rules he could have had her bend over the table and have sex right there and Keeley couldn't have done more than leave the room. That, luckily, wasn't his way. He was almost too gentle for one of them, refusing to rape, or enslave anyone and killing only when pushed to it. Not that she went around forcing people that way either, but it was good to know that he was willing to be that careful with her friend, even if it wasn't really about her.
Hally screwed her mouth to the side, making he
r seem determined and young at the same time.
"What's the plan for the next week? Until the Camp starts? Am I supposed to go and get that ready? I don't know how, but I can try."
He watched the bread under the oven light, not glancing away even for a moment.
"That's a good idea. Hilda is already there, setting up. You'll love her. She's really smart, like you are." He did dart a look at her then and shrugged. "Or, well, about fifty percent smarter than that, being a Trolleinkein. Sweet though, so you should be friends. She's going to help out at the camp, in the admin section." He stopped, giving the Human girl a chance to ask the needed questions, which she did, at exactly the right time.
"Trolleinkein? That's..." She looked at Keeley and then narrowed her eyes a tiny bit, to show she was thinking. "Pretty much Bigfoot, right? Except that the ones you know are all ambassadors, so shave all the time, to help pass as Human?" The words got Zack to actually turn and look at Hally hard for a moment, smiling as he did.
"Okay, fine then, not nearly fifty percent smarter than you are. That's exactly right. Good deduction too. Still, she looks a bit different, being big and strong. If anyone asks about that, tell them that she's a power lifter. She's that too, so you get the idea, it will work. Most won't pay that much attention to what's really going on anyway." He stared into the oven, the clear glass shining more than a little. It had been scrubbed every time it was used since Keeley and her mother had moved in, which kept it looking pretty nice.
After a few seconds he took the bread out, which was evenly golden on the top, and switched it with the other loaves, as the ravioli got stirred gently in the giant pot. The two Demons had to dance around each other to make that happen smoothly, but it worked, since both of them were paying attention, if to different things. Keeley knew that she tended to read magical energies, and Zack looked at the distortions in space that preceded movement.