The Devil's Prey (The Demon Within)

by Jessica Stark

  ‘No, you are not. I felt it. You were cold.’

  His smile slipped, and he frowned. ‘Well, maybe if you got rid of those, I might be able to tell you without getting my head blown off.’

  I looked at my hands to see two very large lambos.

  He took another step closer, and I could feel the warm vibe coming off him. ‘You feel it, don’t you? The fairy side.’ He placed his hand on my arm, and he was right. I felt the fairy side, but then it was replaced with coldness again. ‘But you also feel the demon side,’ he added. I wanted to shrug him off, but I was lost in his blue eyes, which seemed to be telling the truth.

  ‘I don’t understand.’ I shook my head and closed my eyes, half-wishing that I could will him gone. I felt his hands leave my arm, and I thought that maybe he’d left me alone. When I opened my eyes, though, I saw him looking at me. It looked like he was waiting for me to run screaming down the school halls, like in horror shows.

  ‘Well, I am half and half. A fairy with demon qualities, or a demon with fairy qualities- but I personally like the first one better.’ He had his arms spread wide, and he was grinning. I looked into his eyes, and I knew he was telling the truth. I felt light-headed again, so I sank into the floor, pulled my knees up to my chest, and rested my chin on my knees.

  ‘You are not going to be sick, are you?’

  His voice was laced with worry, so I shook my head.

  ‘Good.’ He stood for a bit, looking at me while my mind was racing a thousand kilometers an hour. How was that possible? You can’t be half demon, half fairy. You are either a demon or a fairy with a demon inside. I argued myself for what must have been several minutes. Every time I’d almost convinced myself that it was impossible, I looked to see Michel standing there, watching me. Living proof.

  ‘How?’ my voice squeaked. He walks over to me, crouched in front of me, and took my hand.

  ‘Well, when my mother and my farther were alone one night, they decided to have s….’ I slapped his arm before he could finish. ‘Ow! That hurt,’ he said, rubbing the spot where I hit him.

  ‘I am being serious, and I know how babies are made, you idiot! I want to know how it is possible.’

  He chuckled and sighed. ‘Really, we don’t even know. My mother was a fairy, and my father is a demon. They both loved each other, and here I am. A miracle, I guess.’ He shrugged his shoulders, and I could not help but notice how he used past tense when he said his mother was a fairy. I didn’t get a chance to ask, because Ethan walked in then.

  ‘Summer, what is going on?’ I looked over Michel’s shoulder to see Ethan growling. Michel turned around to look at Ethan, then looked at me.

  ‘So that is your name! Summer. It is very pretty for a pretty girl.’ He smirked, and I blushed. Ethan was still growling.

  ‘Get your hands off her,’ he rumbled in his chest, and I could hear the hint of jealousy in his voice.

  ‘Ethan, don’t worry, ok?’ I said, and got up. Michel gave me a hand. Ethan was shooting daggers at Michel, so he let go of my hand. ‘Thank you,’ I said, picking up my bag and turning to Ethan.

  ‘Ethan,’ I said in a soft voice, trying to calm him down.

  ‘No, you don’t get to Ethan me! You ignore me all day and push me away, and when you don’t show up to class, I get worried- and I come in here to find you with another man!’ he shouted, and I saw his beautiful green eyes flicker almost black.

  ‘Ethan, it is not what you think.’ I stepped towards him, and he held up his hand.

  ‘I don’t want to hear it.’ With that, he stormed out of the girls’ bathroom.

  Chapter 8

  ‘That is what I am talking about!’ I turned around to see Michel grinning, and I remembered what he had said about high school not having any drama.

  ‘Really, that is what you have to say?’ I said in disbelief.

  He shrugged his shoulders and gave me an innocent look. I ran my hand over my face, and wonder how this got so out of hand.

  ‘So let me guess. He is the boyfriend?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘He is a dick. He didn’t even wait to hear what you had to say.’ Michel was shaking his head, but I could see amusement in his eyes.

  ‘Well, you don’t know him,’ I snapped back, then sighed. I really was too hot-headed these days. ‘Sorry. It’s been a long day, and I better get to class. I am already late.’

  ‘Sure, but I need to ask you one thing. You cannot tell anyone about me. Yes, your boyfriend saw me, but don’t tell him my name. Make something up. If someone found out about me, that could be dangerous.’

  I nodded, understanding. ‘Sure.’ When I was about to leave, I turned to see Michel disappear into thin air, and I hoped I would never have to see him again.

  When I got to class, I knew I was late. I opened the door and saw that Mr. Timberwood was already engrossed in teaching, so I tried to sneak in.

  ‘Summer, if you going keep being tardy to my class, I am going to have to do something about it,’ Mr. Timberwood said just as I sat down. So much for sneaking around.

  ‘Sorry, sir. It won’t happen again,’ I said, and opened up my book.

  ‘I know, because I will be seeing you after class.’ I sighed. Great, just what I wanted. I looked around to see Ethan sitting next to Amanda.

  ‘Hey, Amanda.’ I did not know if she would answer me, and my guess was right me. She was ignoring me. Great. Was everyone mad at Summer today? The rest of the lesson was quiet. Everyone had their heads stuck in their books, doing work. I finished early and was looking around the classroom, when I swear I saw a book fly across the classroom and onto the teacher’s desk. I frowned, and Mr. Timberwood looked at me.

  ‘Summer. have you finished?’ he asked me.

  ‘Y-yes, I have,’ I fumbled, but he pretended like he didn’t notice.

  ‘Alright, class, if you have not finished the work, it has now become your homework.’ Everyone left the class in a hurry, as it was time to go home, but lucky for me, I had to stay behind. ‘Summer, I know you are a very bright student, so as punishment you are going to stay behind and write an essay on the importance of punctuality. When you are done, you can go.’

  I sat down and began. ‘Sorry, Amanda. I have to stay back at school.’ I did not get an answer, but I had figured that anyway. After about half an hour, I had finished a two page essay on why I should not be late. ‘Ok, sir. I am done.’ I dropped the paper on his desk and left.

  The school halls were empty when I gathered up my books and left. When I went outside, the car lot was empty. ‘Great,’ I murmured. I tried my phone, but I had no battery.

  ‘Amanda, can you hear me?’ I waited, but there was no response. I hadn’t expected one, and I knew she was ignoring me now on purpose. I wasn’t too eager to make the long walk back to the house, so I decided I would walk home and see Mum. Once I left the school, I let my thoughts drift back to the crazy day I’d had.

  ‘So, Summer, what is a fine lady like you doing walking around at this hour in the afternoon?’

  I groaned at the sound of Michel’s voice. ‘What do you want?’ I asked, and turned my head to face him.

  ‘I want to know about you. You know about me, and I know that you are just not a fairy.’

  I stopped walking and faced him with my arms crossed. ‘Why should I tell you?’ I said, one eyebrow raised.

  ‘Because I want to know, and I think you want to tell someone.’

  As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. I sighed and start walking again. ‘Well, I am a pure fairy. The very last one.’ I smirked, and he just grinned, so I rolled my eyes.

  ‘I thought they were all dead, but cool.’

  I sighed and looked at him. ‘I am surprised you haven’t heard. Everyone in fairy society knows. The last pure fairy lives! Hooray for everyone!’ I threw my hands up in the air and walked a little faster.

  ‘Well, I am not in the fairy society- or the demon one. I live with my father somewhere safe. He really isn’t
into the whole “let’s kill every fairy on sight” thing. After all, my mother was a fairy.’ He took long steps to keep up with me when I turned the corner. We kept silent for a while before I spoke again.

  ‘Your mother died?’ The question slipped my lips, and I immediately wished I could take it back. ‘Oh my god, I am so sorry! I wasn’t thinking.’ I was speaking really fast, and I could feel my cheeks flush red.

  ‘No, it is ok. She died giving birth to me. What about you? How are you a pure fairy?’

  I tried to think of a response, and wondered if I should be asking him the same thing. ‘Well, I really don’t know either. My father was a fairy, and my mother is a human. But here I am.’ I put on a brave smile, as it still hurts to talk about my father, especially after what I found out.

  ‘Are both your parents still alive?’ he asked.

  I picked up my walking pace, but Michel had no trouble keeping up. I really hadn’t talked to anyone about it yet, but strangely, I felt like I could open up to Michel. He was special too, so he knew how it felt to be different.

  ‘Umm, my mother is still alive, but my father died.’ I had already revealed so much, but I decided to throw caution to the wind and just blurt it out. “When I was about a year old, my dad was murdered by Andy and the devil. They were trying to get to me. The devil needed to bring his daughter, Lucy, back to life, but he needed a pure fairy to do it. So Andy got close to my dad, and when he found out he placed Lucy inside me. As I grew, so did she, getting stronger. Then last year, she started talking to me whenever I got mad. She took over, then when she was strong enough, she got out of my body by ripping herself from my chest. She was trying to kill me, and Andy joined in. So did the devil. He stabbed me…and now the devil wants me dead for killing his daughter, and all while I am finding out what I am capable of, and it isn’t even the third week back at school!’

  I was talking really fast, without taking a breath, and I was also walking a lot faster too- almost like I was trying to run from my own words. I didn’t even know if Michel could understand anything I was saying. He placed his hands on my shoulders and turned me around to face him. I hadn’t even realized we were at my place, but somehow Michel knew I lived there. I’ll probably never know, and I don’t think I want to know.

  ‘Ok, whoa! That is complicated, but I caught on.’ He was staring at me. His face was serious, but once again I see amusement behind those electric blue eyes.

  ‘Yeah. It’s a lot.’ I shrugged him off my shoulders and took a step back. ‘It feels good to talk to someone. I haven’t even spoken about it. But there is something about you that make me want to open up.’ I was gazing at my house, hoping Mum didn’t come out, because she would be full of questions.

  ‘I have that effect on people. My father says it is part of a fairy quality.’ Michel shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal.

  ‘Well, this is my house. Ok, bye.’ I didn’t bother telling him, ‘See you later!’ because for some reason, I knew he was going to be sticking around for a while.

  ‘Bye, Summer.’ He smiled and started to walk back the way we came.

  The moment I knocked on the door, Mum answered it and had me in her arms. ‘Summer, it is so good to see you.’

  I hugged her back and inhaled the smell that was my mother. ‘It’s good to see you, Mum.’ She let me go, and we walked into the house. It looked the same as it had the last time I was here. I went and sat on the lounge, and Mum brought out tea.

  ‘How have you been, Summer?’ she asked, and I sighed and sank into the lounge.

  ‘Truth? It’s been hard. At school, everyone thinks I am crazy, and at the house it is no better. Everyone tries to understand me, but they don’t. They will never what it feels like to go through what I went through, Mum. Everyone just assumes I am ok, but really, I am not. And I hate it.’ I finally started crying, and Mum just held me like she has always done. When I settled down, she grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around both of us.

  ‘I won’t say I understand, but I will tell you what it was like for me, Summer. When I got that phone call from Lauren, I thought I was going to die myself. She told me very bluntly that it was highly likely you were going to die. She told me that a demon escaped your body and that should have killed you, but somehow you survived. She then told me that the demon had stabbed you with a dark blade, and you had very deep wounds that were meant to kill you.’ Mum was crying, and I held her, imagining what it must have been like for her.

  ‘When I arrived at the hospital, I saw two of your friends. Both of them were crying, and Lauren was standing there, looking very smug for some reason. When they let me in…you were so pale and covered in bandages. The doctor told me not to get my hopes up for your survival, told me you were just hanging on. All I could think was that I couldn’t lose you. I had already lost your father to these people, and I could not lose you. When I asked Lauren why this had happened, she said it was because you were a pure fairy, and that really scared me.’

  Mum continued sobbing, and I thought about what would happen if she had lost me, or if I were to lose her. I knew if I were to lose Mum, I would be gone. I don’t think I could ever live without her.

  ‘I am still alive, Mum.’ She nodded her head, and we sat quietly for a while. ‘I thought I was going to die, too. I remember trying to fight them off, and I thought I was winning when he just came at me. I remember him laughing, then everything went black, and that was it.’ That was a lie. I remembered everything clear as day, but I didn’t want to tell her all of it.

  ‘Oh, Summer, I don’t know what I would do without you.’ We kept hugging each other until she said it was time to cook dinner. I sat at our island bench on a bar stool and watched Mum cook dinner. We talked about anything and everything, just like old times.

  ‘So I was talking to Jack the other day, and he wanted to know if you have gained any new powers yet,’ she said casually.

  I choked on my drink. ‘Umm…no, not yet.’ I cringed, trying not to think of what other powers might surface eventually.

  ‘Well, keep me updated.’ My phone started ringing, and when I saw that it was Amanda, I let it go to voicemail. It started ringing again a few seconds later.

  ‘Are you going to answer that?’ Mum said over her shoulder, and I rolled my eyes.

  ‘Nope,’ I said sharply.

  ‘Who is it?’ she asked, and it started ringing again.

  ‘Well, this time it is Lauren.’ At this, Mum was standing in front of me.

  ‘Does she know you are here?’

  ‘Nope.’ I could imagine Lauren having a fit, and I smiled.

  ‘You going to ring her back?’

  ‘Nope.’

  ‘Summer Burns! What is going on? And don’t tell me it’s nothing.’ I sighed. Nothing gets past my mother.

  ‘Well, I had a fight with Ethan, and Amanda is ignoring me because I was hanging out with the volleyball team all day.’ I took a sip of my drink and looked at Mum.

  ‘Why were you and Ethan fighting?’ Usually I admire my mum’s persistence, but today I just wished she’d let up.

  ‘That…I am not telling you, so please don’t ask again.’ My phone started ringing again, and I finally picked up. ‘What?’ I yelled.

  ‘Summer, where are you?’ Amanda.

  ‘Why do you care?’ I have attitude in my voice, and Mum was giving me a look.

  ‘Come home, Summer. Lauren is going nuts.’ I just loved the way she said Lauren’s name, like I cared what Lauren thought.

  ‘Not yet,’ I said.

  ‘Summer, get your bloody ass home now!’ a deep voice said, and I knew it was Ethan.

  ‘Why, Ethan? Afraid I am with another man?’

  I heard him growl, and I knew I was stirring him up big-time, but I didn’t care. He wouldn’t listen to me earlier, so it was his fault.

  ‘Summer, if you don’t tell me where you are, I swear to god-’

  I cut him off. ‘You’ll what, Ethan? You’ll kill me? Well,
I am sorry to say been there, done that, and I don’t fancy doing it again.’ I could hear Amanda in my head and Lauren in the background of the phone. ‘Well, now that we have had a nice chat, dinner is ready, and I really would love to enjoy it.’ I hanged up the phone and growled at it.

  ‘Don’t even ask,’ I told Mum, holding up my hands. She backed away into the kitchen to finish getting dinner ready. Once I finished dinner, I asked Mum if she could give me a lift to back to the house, where I knew I was going to be in so much trouble.

  ‘I will call you later.’ I kissed Mum on the cheek when we arrived at the house. All the lights were still on, but no one had come rushing out yet.

  When I got to the door, I opened it, and was surprised when no one greeted me- which I guess was a good thing. When I walked into my room, I saw Amanda and Ethan were sitting on my bed, and the looks on their faces. Oh, shit. I knew now why Lauren hadn’t found me yet. I dropped my bag and crossed my hands over my chest.

  ‘What is your problem?’ I finally said, glaring at them.

  ‘You tell me,’ Amanda said. I could tell she was pissed off at me.

  ‘Why are you so annoyed? What, because I didn’t hang out with you? Because all my attention was on someone else? And Ethan, why are you mad? You didn’t give me a chance to explain. It really shows how much you trust me.’ I stood my ground and tried to keep myself calm, but I was doing a horrible job at it.

  ‘Since we got to school this morning, you pretended we did not even exist, and when you collapsed in PE, you still did not talk to us. We do worry about you.’ Amanda took a step closer to me, but Ethan stayed silent on my bed.

  ‘Well, I am sorry. Did you ever think that maybe I want to hang out with my old gang of friends? Did you ever think that maybe that is what I need- a little bit of normal? No, you didn’t think. You just assumed, just like my buddy Ethan over here.’ I could hear Ethan mutter something snarky under his breath, but I turned my attention over to Amanda, who was looking at her feet.

  ‘I am sorry. I didn’t know that’s how you felt.’