by N. Phillips
“Now hold on, dear. Let me speak more to Aliyah.” He pulled me aside and continued talking. “I want to thank you for saving my granddaughter. Since she’s moved in with me, she hasn’t made much friends. I know she can be stubborn and difficult to get along with at times, but she has a good heart. Please look after her.”
“I can you hear you, you know,” she jeered from across the room.
Her grandfather smiled and nodded at me before we walked over to her. “I’ll leave you girls alone,” he said before strolling down a tight hallway that led further into the house.
“Great. Introductions are over. Let’s go to my room.”
I followed Maylene upstairs into her room, which hosted a sizeable TV, a bed with black, cotton sheets, a shelf with numerous novels and manga, and a silver desk where a computer was placed. A few burn marks were printed on the walls, but it did not take away from the stylish paint job of black and white coloration.
“Classy,” I said before sitting on the bed and taking the math packet out of my purse. “Ugh, I hate that we have to do this over again.”
“You shouldn’t have pissed me off.” She smirked and sat in a chair by the desk. “I do regret it, though.”
“Speaking of that, I wanted to ask: when did you start setting things on fire for fun?”
Her eyes widened with a chuckle. “Wow, that’s not how you start a friendship.”
“Sorry. I should’ve thought about how that sounded.”
She shrugged. “I’m not bothered. Trust me, I’ve heard worse. I still get a laugh out of being called Carrie by a group of little boys in the neighborhood. I’m like, ‘Stop it. You kids clearly don’t know anything about the movie.’”
We shared a laugh before she continued speaking. “But, if you really want to know, I’ve always had a fascination for fire since I was younger. Yeah, I burnt things when I was angry, because it allowed me to express myself better than screaming at the top of my lungs or punching things. After a while, though, just the sight of a flame started to mesmerize me. It made me feel comfortable; like all of my emotions are stored in the pit of the fire. Almost like a diary that no one else can ever read. It’s weird, I know, but it’s how I feel.”
Fascinated by her words, all I could say was, “Wow. I totally get it. You ever thought about sharing that story with other people? Maybe post it online or something?”
She laughed. “Yeah, no thanks. My desire isn’t to be harassed by random trolls and their alts. I stay away from social media altogether. What about you?”
“I have profiles on all the popular platforms, but I rarely use them. Not a big fan of sharing my life online.”
“Me either, and you know what’s so cringy? When someone obsessively broadcasts their thoughts about something that’s popular as if society is begging for their opinion on the topic. I’m like, ‘Ugh, get off my screen. Stop being desperate for validation.’”
I smiled, realizing how much we were alike. She was pretty cool, and I could easily see the two of us hanging out.
“Hey, you ever been to the Bronx Zoo?” I asked. “We should—”
My invitation was interrupted by the ringing of my cell phone. I removed it from the back pocket of my jeans and felt my face distorting into a scowl after seeing Lucas’s name on the screen. Without hesitation, I hit decline and put the phone on silent before shoving it in my purse.
“Uh-oh. That’s not a good sign,” Maylene said. “Boyfriend drama?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Right, of course you don’t. If I’m not mistaken, though, wasn’t he with you in the afterschool massacre a few days ago? The article online showed both of your faces as survivors of the—”
“Maylene, please. Can we just get started on the assignment?”
She shook her head. “Nope. I appreciate you helping me the night I came over to your house, but you were a pest and an intruder, so now it’s my turn to bug you until you’re feeling better.”
Her persistence was irritating as hell, but it made me wonder if other people felt that way whenever I interfered in their personal problems.
Taking a deep breath, I asked, “Fine, what do you want to know?”
“Actually, I wanna show you something that might lighten your mood.”
She walked over to the window and separated the black curtains for a clear view outside. “Come here. This is hilarious.”
After walking over to her, I looked out the window and saw a person biting their nails inside the house across the street.
“No freaking way. You live across the street from Candice?” I exclaimed. “Wait, I knew this area looked familiar. I was at Candice’s house party last week.”
“Uh, Yikes? What in the world were you doing there? I can’t imagine it was to hang out with her.”
“It was for my boy... I mean, Lucas’s performance. I was only there to support him. There’s no way me and Candice could ever be friends.”
She snickered. “Well, if you hate her as much as I do, you’re gonna love this. Keep watching.”
Candice began to shudder and circle around her pink room in anguish and fear. Seeing her in so much distress wasn’t fun, honestly. It was uncomfortable, and almost sad.
“She’s been like this ever since the school incident,” Maylene informed me. “I’m not saying she deserved whatever happened to her, but it’s so funny watching her panic because she’s such a stuck-up, wannabe princess.”
A closer look made me realize the cause of Candice’s apprehension. “It’s a Shadow,” I gasped, witnessing the scarlet eyed creature hovering over her. “I have to get over there.”
I rushed out the room and made it downstairs before being pulled back by a grip on my arm. “Whoa, slow down,” Maylene urged. “What are you gonna do? Just knock on her door like an exorcist and expect her to let you in?”
“Yes, I’ve done this before. If she doesn’t let me in, I’ll break in.”
My feet dashed out the house and across the street to Candice’s front door. I rang the doorbell repeatedly until it opened with her sullen expression being the first thing I saw.
“Why are you here? Get the hell away from my house. Bad things always happen when you’re around.”
“Shut up and move out the way.” I pushed her to the side and walked into the house, looking around at the fancy interior. The lack of purple mist and a shadow current meant the demon wasn’t strong and Candice had not been influenced yet, but it definitely made my job of finding it a little more difficult.
“Who the hell do you think you are? I’m calling the police.”
Yeah, like we needed her getting anyone else killed. I was the only one who stood a chance at slaying a demon.
“Candice, go hide somewhere and get your emotions in check. Lord knows if your desire manifested it would be some sort of superficial crap like wanting to be the prettiest girl in the world.”
“What are you talking about?” she questioned, stomping in place. “Are you psycho like that sophomore who tried to kill me?”
Maylene walked into the house, her eyes shifting between Candice and me. “What I missed?”
“Great, now you’re here, too,” Candice complained. “What could the two of you possibly want from me other than makeup advice that you both desperately need? Go watch my tutorials online for goodness’ sake.”
Ignoring her comment, I used my senses to try locating the Shadow. Candice argued against my intrusion as the three of us made our way upstairs and into the pink room seen from Maylene’s window.
“It’s in here,” I managed to say before a heavy force smacked me across the room. The impact of my body against the wall caused a few makeup kits and mannequin heads on a shelf to tumble to the floor.
The Shade Crawler’s sudden attack caused me manifest a chakram and fling it at the creature before it launched another assault. Thankfully, all it took was one blow from my weapon to vanquish it.
“Okay, something obviousl
y hit you just now,” Maylene acknowledged with excitement, conjuring a ball of fire in her palm. “Now I’m fully convinced. Where’s the demon? I can’t see it.”
“I killed it, and I’m the only one in here who can see them. It wasn’t the one tormenting Candice, anyway. The Shadow is still somewhere in this house.”
Candice’s jaw dropped at the sight of the flames in Maylene’s hand. “H-how are you doing that? What the hell is happening? Is this all some kind of prank? It is, isn’t it? I—”
“Shut up, Candice,” both Maylene and I shouted at her.
The Shadow had to be purged no matter what, so I continued searching the cerulean home until Candice shoved me in the hallway leading to what I assumed was her parents’ room.
“This tour is over. Unless you’re paying me to explore more, I want the two of you out my house. Now.”
“And of course it comes down to money with her,” Maylene said, looking away with an eye roll.
“Is that all you think I’m about?” Candice scowled and pulled us to the room down the hall. She placed her index finger on her lip and cracked open the door, allowing us to peek in and view an elderly woman resting in a bed.
“Is that your grandma?” Maylene questioned in a low voice. Candice quietly shut the door and pulled us a few feet away from the room.
“Everything I do, I do for my abuela,” she retorted. “So you can rich-and-fame shame me all you want, but I’m gonna keep being me so that we can have a roof over our heads.”
My head tiled to the side in confusion. “Candice, are you paying the bills in here?”
“Yes. So when that lunatic was about to kill me, I cried not just for my life, but for my abuela’s sake as well. The money I get from sponsors is the only revenue keeping this place afloat, but after what happened, it’s hard putting on a fake smile and pretending everything is okay. It’s not okay. But I have to do it because we need the money and all everyone wants is more posts on social media.”
She leaned against the wall and pouted before speaking again. “Hashtag Candice Forever is not just a trend online, it’s a brand created by me; a real person with emotions. But people don’t understand that. They think because I’m a social media influencer that I’m a freakin’ robot. That day at the school was the scariest moment of my life, and I’m paranoid, okay? I’m afraid something’ll happen to me and my abuela will have no one to care for her.”
The Shadow made itself visible after Candice’s venting. It hung from the hallway ceiling and greeted me with a sinister smile, it’s opened mouth nothing more than a hollow abyss.
“Who will be here if I die?” Candice continued in a louder voice. “My mother died from the stress of taking care of my abuela, and my piece of shit father is somewhere drug trafficking for the cartels. I’m the only member in my family who has a future, and I don’t want to lose everything. You could never understand my life, so don’t even try to.”
Her words came with an aggressive tone, enticing the demon more as it leaped off the ceiling and slithered by her side. I used the opportunity to release a beam of light that lit up the entire hallway, its radiance only taking a few seconds to disintegrate the creature.
Maylene’s eyes shot open after the flash. “So cool. Did you get it?”
“Yeah, it wasn’t a strong one. We’re done here.”
Candice’s story was a sad one, but it was hard for me to sympathize with her at the moment because all I wanted to do was purge more demons. It was the only thing running through my mind.
Maylene and I made our way downstairs when Candice stepped in front of us. “I don’t know what you just did, but unless you want me to call the police, you better make a deal with me,” she said directly to me with a condescending smirk. It made me wonder if her speech was all an act. “Never, ever mention anything I said here to anyone. Not about me, my family, nothing. Deal? Because I could have you arrested right now for trespassing.”
“As much as I hate siding with her, she’s right,” Maylene agreed. “You can’t barge in someone’s house like that. You’re gonna get locked up, or worse.”
“Whatever. Deal. Just leave me alone.”
I didn’t have to explain myself to them. They wouldn’t have understood anyway. All that mattered was that I vanquished another demon before someone else was manipulated. I didn’t care to hear the consequences or discuss my reasoning.
Saving people was all I had going for me, after all. What else did I have to look forward to? Certainly not a love life. That was gone in the wind. A career? In what? I had no idea. Putting smiles on other people’s faces was all I could do.
And maybe, that was all I needed.
I walked out Candice’s house and ran across the street with Maylene following behind. “Listen, I get that you want to save the world and everything,” she began, “but I feel like you’re using this whole ‘demon hunter’ hobby as a way to distract yourself from something else that’s going on in your life. You can’t help others with their problems until you help yourself. You know that, right?”
Her words hit me like a truck, smashing my resolve and causing me to stop in place before sitting on her stoop with downcast eyes. “I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. And here I thought I was the one who could read people’s emotions. You saw right through me.”
“Yeah, because you’re making it obvious that something’s going on. How about I drive you home so you can relax? We can finish the math assignment another day.”
I sighed. “Alright, sure.”
“Okay, I’ll let my grandpa know I’m leaving and then I’ll grab my keys and your purse. Stay right here and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
She walked past me and into her house, leaving me outside on the quiet street to think about my life. Both Candice and Maylene’s words reminded me of the promise I made to Lucas regarding my safety and better decision making. Was I reverting back to my old ways? Charging into dangerous situations without worry of repercussions?
Hell, did I even change in the first place?
After contemplating the events that transpired, it was becoming clear that having the light to purge demons wasn’t enough to get me back to normal. I needed the one person who gave me the strength to keep going. I needed Lucas now more than ever.
“Daydreaming?” Maylene asked, stepping back outside. She handed me my purse while locking the front door.
“Something like that,” I replied, taking out my cell phone. Multiple missed calls and texts from Lucas covered the screen. “What the…”
“What’s wrong?”
I gulped before answering. “We have to get to the hospital. Right now.”
CHAPTER 13
Maylene and I hurried into the building, ignoring the receptionist at the desk near the entrance. We took the elevator up to the fifth floor and saw Lucas standing in the hallway. He was watching a trio of police officers surround Tyler outside of Valeria’s room.
“What’s going on?” I asked him. He stared at me with a small smile before his expression turned grim.
“Ali, it’s Valeria’s foster parents. They... wanna pull the plug, and Tyler is refusing to let it happen.”
I looked closer and saw Val’s foster parents behind the policemen. If there was a chance I could’ve gotten away with it, I would’ve punched them both in the face for authorizing the death of my best friend. But there was nothing I could do; they had the power to decide if she lives or dies.
“He’s a fucking rapist” Tyler shouted, seething. “You should be arresting him.”
I walked more toward the scene. Lucas and Maylene followed. “What are you talking about, Tyler?” I asked.
“When this hag,” he pointed at Valeria’s foster mother, “stepped out the room, this piece of shit,” now pointing to her foster father, “had his hand under Valeria’s sheets. I’m damn sure now that Val tried to kill herself because this pedophile raped her.”
I couldn’t hold back after hearing that. I marched
over to Valeria’s disgusting excuse of a foster father and swung my fist, connecting with his jaw. His coward ass wife stood there in shock as two officers detained me.
“Let go of her,” I heard Lucas say as the officers pushed my head down to the floor, busting my lip in the process. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Maylene stepped in with her fire, but I was glad she didn’t.
I felt the cold metal of the handcuffs around my wrist before being held against a wall next to Tyler, who was also restrained. “This is murder,” he cried out. “And screw you, Lucas. At least Aliyah tried to do something.”
“What the hell, dude?” Lucas questioned. “What do you expect me to do?”
“Something. That’s your friend about to die in that room. Or do you only care about music and Robyn?”
The mentioning of her name made my heart sink. I turned my head to look at Lucas, who appeared offended and confused.
“Bro, you’ve lost it. Don’t blame me for what’s happening.”
“I’m not your bro anymore,” Tyler retorted in a deep, hateful tone. “You don’t care about us. I found that out the night I caught you kissing Robyn before you knocked her up. You don’t deserve Aliyah. She can do better than your punk ass.”
As if the day couldn’t get any worse, hearing Tyler speak about what happened made me wish I had never met Lucas. Just like that, any thoughts of getting back together had vanished, and I wanted to lose all feelings for him. A part of me even wished he’d lose his life instead of Valeria.
He said nothing in defense, which hurt me even more. Only the grumbling from Valeria’s foster parents and whispers from the hospital staff filled my ears as the policemen walked me and Tyler to the elevator. When the door opened, Alvin was standing inside.
“Oh? Aliyah Dawn, pleasure to meet you again in such... strange circumstances.”
“Sir, move out the way,” one of the officers said.
“I will do no such thing,” Alvin replied with a stern demeanor. “I am in charge of this facility, and I demand to know what happened here.”