Alison drove me home after school so we could tell Mom where we were going. I wasn't sure how my mother would react to my friend's need to visit Suzanne but was surprised when she smiled."That's a lovely idea," Mom said. "I'm sure she could use the company."I wanted to ask my mother if she had any news about the creature, but she was already occupied. By Alison's new car.A Mustang convertible, no less. Mom's favorite. Alison was given a shiny red car for her birthday and I had a visit from a creature that wanted to kill everyone.Sounds fair.I tapped my foot as they compared vehicles for what seemed like hours but really only amounted to about ten minutes. I finally sighed heavily to get their attention as Mom explored the dash from the driver's seat."We should get going," I said.Mom gave me a soft kiss on the cheek on the way by and I knew she was laughing at me. I just knew it."I've said it before," Alison told me as she pulled out of my driveway and peeled off, "but y
At first I wasn't sure there was anyone home when her eyes flew open. It was like the person who used to live there went on permanent vacation and left behind an empty shell. She was totally void, blank, and I caught nothing from her but a whole heap of nada.Until her eyes fixed on mine. Suddenly her whole existence came into sharp focus. There it was, what I dreaded all along, the stench and touch of the thing, the creature, buried inside her so deep it poisoned her slowly as it rose to the surface, taking bits of her as it went.She looked insane as she struggled to sit up and it was only then I noticed the thick leather straps pinning her to the bed. Someone, probably her mother, covered them with a blue wool blanket. But as soon as Suzanne started to struggle the camouflage fell away and Alison and I both gaped at her in horror.Suzanne's wide mouth twisted into a smile so grotesque I wanted to run from the room or at the very least tear my gaze away, but I couldn't. Hello, tra
I let Brad push in my chair and resisted the urge to wiggle it out a little. He really was a strong boy.He beamed at me from his own seat as he slid into it, automatically reaching for my hands. Was it weird he sat next to me rather than across? I wasn't in a position to care. As soon as he touched me I was all his."You look beautiful." I let the lie go. A glance in the mirror on my way out to his truck told me I looked okay. But if he was in the mood for flattery, I'd take it."I've never been here before." I looked around the dated and slightly tacky Italian restaurant. It was kind of quiet at the moment and terrible Muzak filled the air but none of it mattered."I wanted to take you somewhere special." His green eyes were delicious. But were they a little tired? Hadn't Mrs. Collins mentioned he wasn't well? Maybe he used it as an excuse to get away from Suzanne. I wished I'd thought of it.My demon squirmed under his attention but didn't complain. I was ready to give her a sm
It was after dark before my mother made it home. As soon as her lights brightened the side of the house I bounded to the door and wrenched it open. She didn't look surprised by the sudden greeting, but I didn't get a chance to say anything to her because Meira squealed and came running.I slung her up into my arms and hugged her, noticing how big she was getting. And heavy."Syd!" She kissed me soundly on the cheek. "We had such a great day! I wish you'd come with us."I glanced at my mother who simply met my gaze with a level look before gliding past me into the kitchen.I set Meira down and followed her inside, trying to suppress my frustration for my sister's sake."What were you two up to?" If Mom wasn't willing to tell me, Meira certainly was."We went to see a bunch of the family," she said, toying with her hair. "Everyone had cookies. Everyone." She giggled and I understood her good mood. Chocolate. She was a hopeless addict. Like Gram. It made Meira super happy, but witho
I was on full alert all day Wednesday, even at school, sure either the creature or Demitrius would show up. If not them, maybe something else would drop on me and blow my world wider open. Not that I was asking for trouble or anything. It's just I was so used to it by then it made me even more nervous when the whole day went by and nothing happened.I'm sure my friends thought I was losing it.It was getting so I was afraid to go to sleep, too. I wasn't having full-out nightmares like I did the night after the party, but I still felt exposed when I slept and woke up with the feeling I was all over the perimeter of town the night before, peeking in windows, digging through people's garbage and stogging down roadkill to fill the emptiness inside me.So when I woke up to a sunny Thursday morning and the world still spun, I decided to try to put everything out of my mind and go back to normal. After all, there wasn't much I could do about the creature. Mom said she had it handled. And a
My first reaction to Pain's house was shock.Followed rather quickly by a serious case of the giggles. Alison couldn't help herself. When she heard me go off, she did too.Not that there was anything wrong with it. Quite the contrary. It's just I expected her place to look something like mine, only way more over the top. Creepsville. With turrets. In bad need of a paint job and a mowing.Imagine my surprise when Alison pulled up at the quaint, gingerbread house painted a cheery yellow. The mailbox at the end of the driveway even matched. Perfectly. Someone built an exact replica and planted it on the top of a brightly painted post. There was even a sign at the gate, proudly proclaiming "The Hammonds Live Here!" All three of them. And their dog.It was so charming I continued to laugh."I know, right?" Alison rolled her eyes, wiping carefully at the corners to keep her tears of hilarity from smearing her mascara. "And you'll never guess what her real name is."Honestly, I'd never
I loved Pain. She was great. I adored how she took herself and everything she did so seriously. It was part of her charm. But I found myself sitting there with smirking Alison on my left and the silently slouching Quaid on my right.There was no way I was holding his hand.Pain insisted we sit on the floor. "Connects us better to the Earth," she said while I bit the inside of my cheeks and didn't explain to her that a) we were already connected and b) it was kind of necessary to have actual dirt present if she wanted to make the connection stronger."Have you done this before?" Simon's eyes were huge behind his glasses."Of course," Pain said. "Many times.""And it works?" Beth and Simon exchanged the look of the gullible. Suckers."It does," Pain said. "Almost too well."Right. Whatever.While she carefully drew a pentagram on the floor in the middle of our circle with chalk, I caught Quaid watching me and looked over before I could stop myself. His eyes held mine for a long t
She was waiting for me in the kitchen and I knew instantly by the look on her face this encounter would not end well for either of us.Rather than let her have the first word guaranteed to send us both spiraling down into a battle, its inevitable end soaked in tears and raw from screaming, I dove in with a well placed and sincere, "I'm sorry, Mom."Talk about instant deflation. It was like the words themselves had magic in them. Wow. Good to know for later. Because there would always be a later.Mom's face crumpled and instead of turning me into a toad she rushed forward and hugged me so hard I knew she was only angry because I scared the crap out of her.She wasn't alone in that department.When she leaned back, the stern face returned but it didn't reach her eyes so I knew I was safe."Tell me," she said.For the second time that week I dumped on her. It was developing into a terrible habit. Might be nice to go a whole seven days without some kind of disaster. Too much to ask,