by Jasmine Walt
Oh crap.
Hunter didn’t bark at Ethan anymore. I gave my hair a final rinse and shut off the water, putting on my bathrobe without drying off. Water dripped from my hair as I padded my way downstairs, wet feet slipping on the hardwood floor.
“Hunter?” I called quietly. He had stopped barking and was sitting at the glass doors in the breakfast nook, looking out into the back yard. My heart skipped a beat, and I drew my gaze over the yard. I didn’t see anything.
“What’s out there?” I asked him, hoping it was a raccoon. Hunter let out a low growl and stood, pressing his nose against the glass. I stood there, shivering, for a few minutes. I shook my head, still not seeing anything out of the ordinary. “Keep watch,” I told him and hurried upstairs to get dressed. If demons attacked, I wanted to be fully clothed.
I threw on clothes, then turned on the hairdryer and started to dry my hair, the loud noise masking Hunter’s barking. When I clicked it off and flipped my hair over my back, my blood ran cold. Hunter was barking, growling, snarling, and jumping at the door. I could hear his nails scraping on the cold glass. Ethan! I dropped the hairdryer and sprinted down the stairs.
I slid to a stop in the kitchen, eyes widening in terror. Standing on the deck looking into the house was the biggest Pricolici I’d ever seen. It looked like a Bull Mastiff crossed with a Great Dane crossed with the Devil. Its paws ended in razor-sharp claws, and its eyes were black as night with an eerie yellow iris glowing in the middle.
It looked from Hunter to me, showed its fangs, and took off, jumping onto and over the six-foot fence and disappearing into the woods. Hunter barked until he couldn’t see it anymore. I stood rooted in the spot, shaking. Hunter pressed his nose against me, and I dropped down to his level. I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his fur, taking several deep breaths and trying to calm myself.
I looked up in time to see Ethan pulling into the driveway. I ran to the door and frantically waved him in. Seeing my panic, he ran to me.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Pricolici.” Saying the word caused terror to flash through me.
“Where?” Ethan pulled his gun from his side and looked out the window.
“It ran away. It jumped over the fence. Over it, Ethan.”
Ethan took in the magnitude of what I said and turned back to me. “What did it do?”
“Nothing. It just looked at us—me and Hunter I mean—and took off.” I shuddered. “It seemed like it was leering at me, though.”
“How?”
“It showed its fangs before it left.”
“Were you inside?” Ethan put an arm around me.
“Thank God, yes. Hunter was barking at something, so I came to see what was going on.” I took the gun from Ethan’s hands and looked at it. I’d never fired a gun before. “It was huge, like on steroids huge.”
“The alpha,” Ethan speculated.
“And,” I gave him back his gun before I accidentally shot myself, “it had black and yellow eyes.” Ethan looked out the window again. “Does that mean something to you?”
“No.” He holstered his gun away and wrapped both arms around me. “It might to Isaac, though.”
“Hopefully,” I said, pulling away from him. “I’m starting to really hate these things.”
Ethan laughed. “Me, too.” He kissed me before breaking away. “I got what you asked, but you have to tell me, Annie, why the hell do you want fireworks?”
“I’m going to make a bomb,” I said casually as if I said I was going shopping for shoes.
Ethan looked at me sideways. “And you know how to do that?”
“I have an idea.”
“And you’re making a bomb because…?”
“To ward off Pricolici. It’s not an actual bomb bomb. I need something that will make a small enough of an explosion to ignite Vesta Powder.”
“Like a smoke bomb.”
“I like the way you think,” I said, smiling.
“It’s a genius idea,” Ethan said. “And we can make it. Everything is still in the Jeep.” His eyes flitted to the glass doors.
“Is it going to come back?” I asked quietly.
“I don’t know.”
“Is it safe to leave the house? I mean, can it break in?”
“Nah, probably not,” he said but not before I saw the fear and doubt in his brown eyes.
32
After assembling bombs, waiting to see if the Pricolici would come back, and a quick patrol of the woods, Ethan and I went out for an ice cream pick me up. On the way there, I panicked that we might not get home before Harry or my dad, so Ethan called Sam and Julia to stand guard just in case.
They were sitting in a navy blue Chevy Malibu across the street from my house when we arrived home about an hour later. Ethan said his dad must have left work early because that was his car. It surprised me, for some reason, that David drove such a normal car. I guess I expected an undercover, demon-hunting Order leader to drive something sleek, black, and fast. I also imagined there to be secret compartments to hide weapons in. I would be really disappointed if that turned out to not be true.
Julia waved when we drove past, and Sam purposely looked the other direction. Deciding it would be polite, I invited them in for dinner.
“Your house is really pretty,” Julia said once we were inside.
“Thanks.” I shrugged off my coat and tossed it over the back of a chair in the kitchen. I introduced Sam and Julia to my dad before the four of us went up to my room. “Sorry, it’s kind of a mess,” I said as I pushed a pile of laundry off my desk chair. I’d been slacking on the cleaning since other things took precedence. Ethan and I sat down next to each other near the head of my bed, Julia sat at the foot, and Sam took the chair. I told them about the yellow-eyed Pricolici, and my idea for the Vesta bombs. We suffered through an awkward conversation until Dad called us down for dinner.
I was twirling the last piece of spaghetti around my fork when Ethan, Sam, and Julia all got a text message at the same time. They looked at their phones and then at each other; they all had the same this-is-so-not-good look on their faces. I jumped up and said that Hunter needed to go out. Ethan, Sam, and Julia followed me to the deck.
“What’s going on?” I asked as soon as I closed the sliding glass door.
“We’ve been summoned,” Julia said bleakly.
“You’ve been what?” I asked, feeling a little panicky.
“Summoned,” Ethan said and took my hand. “By the higher-ups in the Order. They summon hunters when something big is going down and they need help.”
“But something big is going on.” I looked into Ethan’s eyes. “Here.”
Ethan pulled me closer. “I’m not leaving you, Anora.” His eyes locked with mine. He meant it.
“But you have to,” Sam interjected.
“I don’t have to do anything,” Ethan said, still not looking away from me.
“Like your dad will let you stay.”
Ethan turned to Sam. “He has no control over me.”
“Did you forget you’re a member of the Order?” Sam spat. “You have a responsibility to us.”
“I’m not leaving,” Ethan said with finality.
“You have to,” Sam repeated, just as stubbornly.
“Sam,” Julia put her hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Drop it. Ethan’s staying. Anora needs him.”
“Whatever,” Sam said and stormed off towards her car.
“Anora, I’m sorry for her,” Julia said sincerely.
“It’s okay,” I sighed.
“Well, I guess we should go say bye to your family so it doesn’t look any weirder.” Julia smiled slightly. We headed back in; Julia and Ethan grabbed their coats and said thanks and good night. Ethan needed to go home and talk to his dad, but he promised he’d be back before it got too late. He gave me a quick kiss goodbye and disappeared out the door. I helped Dad clean up the dishes before going up to my room.
Feeling p
aranoid, I cracked my window and lit the sage smudge stick. I was so tired, but I couldn’t possibly fall asleep not knowing what was going on with Ethan. What if he really couldn’t stay? I didn’t want to think about it, so I busied myself making more Vesta bombs.
An hour later, I was wishing for a Pricolici to show up so I could test my creation. Carefully, I packed them up and put them in the closet. I showered and put on my PJs. I felt like there was something more I should be doing, but I couldn’t think of anything. Not wanting to sit still, I spent the next forty minutes cleaning my room.
Finally, I lay down next to Hunter and turned on Buffy. Not even five minutes, later, Mom burst through the door.
“Are you burning incense again?”
There was no point in lying; my room reeked of sage. “Yes.”
“What did I tell you?”
“I know, I’m sorry.”
Mom leaned against the doorframe. “Then why did you do it?”
“I had to.”
“Why would you have to?” She raised an eyebrow.
“I’ve told you before; there are spirits in the house.”
“Anora, stop being so ridiculous. There are no such things as spirits, and even if there were, there are none in this house! Do you really want to do this again?”
My chest tightened with hurt. I wanted so much to tell Mom everything and to have her comfort me, to tell me I would figure everything out and it would be okay. But that wasn’t going to happen. I had tried before with the ghosts, and she refused to listen. “You never believe me, but it’s true!” I yelled.
Mom looked at the TV. “Anora,” she said calmly. “You watch too many shows like this.” She waved her hand towards the screen. “It puts ideas in your head.”
“Don’t you think that maybe I like shows like this because I can relate?”
Mom shook her head. “You’re under my roof. If you don’t like the rules, then find somewhere else to live.” I knew she didn’t mean it and that it was supposed to be a threat to make me listen. “Maybe I will,” I said calmly. I did have another place to live. A place that was mine where no one could tell me not to burn incense or that ghosts didn’t exist.
“Put the incense out. Goodnight, Anora. I love you.” Mom turned and walked down the hall. The door slammed shut, startling some anger out of me. I took a deep breath to relax; I didn’t want my telekinesis to go totally out of control.
“It would be so much easier if they knew,” I told Hunter, who moved so he could lick my face and nuzzle his head in my lap. “I love you, boy.” I hugged him and lay back down.
Around ten-thirty, Ethan snuck back into my room. I shot up, smiling when I saw his dark shadow.
“How did you get in? I forgot to turn off the alarm.”
Ethan grinned. “Alarms aren’t that hard to disable,” he told me and took off his shoes. “Breaking and entering is Hunter Training 101.”
“That’s comforting,” I mumbled and pulled the blankets back. Ethan locked the door and got into bed after taking his pants and shirt off.
“Are you leaving me?” I asked as he sunk down next to me.
“I’ll never leave you, Anora.”
“I don’t want you to get in trouble for breaking Order rules.”
His lips brushed against mine. “Some people are worth breaking all the rules for.”
33
Finally.
I walked to the parking lot after school on Friday alongside Laney and Josh. This week was finally over, and I could sleep in and do nothing for the next two days. Well, assuming demons didn’t attack. My heart fluttered, and I smiled as soon as I saw Ethan leaning against the black Jeep. He took my bags from me and tossed them in the back seat.
“So you guys are still coming tonight, right?” Josh asked.
I looked at Ethan, prepared to tell them no, but before I could open my mouth, Ethan said, “Yeah, we need to have some fun.” His hand settled on my waist.
“Great!” Josh said. Laney looked as excited. “I thought we could get something to eat first and then go to the game. Maybe even go out after.”
“Sounds fun,” I said, and I meant it. It had been a long time since I’d actually gone out and done anything that didn’t involve the paranormal.
“Want to meet at my house around five-thirty?” Laney asked.
“Yeah, we’ll be there,” I said.
“See you guys then,” he told them and turned to open the door for me. Right as I put my foot in the car, I saw Harrison walking alongside a few guys from the football team. He looked up, and I waved. He jogged over.
“Hey, Ethan,” he said with a nod. “What’s up, Annie?”
“Oh, nothing. I wanted to tell you that we’re going to watch your game tonight.”
He looked almost disappointed. “Oh.”
“Okay,” I said slowly, a little confused. “Maybe we won’t go.”
“No, I didn’t mean it like that,” he said, laughing. “I guess I was expecting some cool demon news.”
“There’s nothing cool about demons, Har.”
He shrugged.
“Isn’t Jenny a cheerleader for Marcellus?” I asked him.
Harrison’s blue eyes went blank. “Who?”
“Jenny. The cute little blonde you dated a while ago?” I rolled my eyes.
“Oh, yeah,” Harrison said, but he didn’t seem like he remembered. “I think so.”
“Whatever.” I didn’t want to judge my own brother, but serious? He went through that many girls? “Good luck tonight!”
“Thanks.” He still looked confused. He shook his head and rejoined the team. Ethan and I got into the Jeep.
“So, any news from your family?” I asked somewhat apprehensively. I felt guilty for Ethan staying with me—pointless I knew, but it was how I felt.
“Yeah. It’s nothing they can’t handle. A big CEO hired the Order to clear an office of poltergeists,” he said causally.
“People know about the Order?” I was surprised.
“Not too many. It’s usually they know someone who knows someone who knows someone that’s heard of us. We don’t get asked like this that much anymore, so it’s a big deal for some Order members.”
“And a lot of money,” I added.
“Yes,” he indifferently agreed.
“Sorry I made you miss out on that,” I said quietly. Ethan put his hand on my leg.
“Annie,” he said, turning to look at me. “Losing you would kill me. Your life doesn’t even compare to money. I love you.”
I put my hand on top of Ethan’s, linking our fingers. “I love you too.”
The rain clouds had completely gone away by the time we left the restaurant, leaving a clear sky that was sure to become completely star studded as the night rolled on. We took seats near the top of the bleachers, and I was so glad Laney remembered to bring blankets. I huddled between her and Ethan, trying to keep warm in the cold November air. I scanned the opposing team’s cheerleaders but didn’t see Jenny. I didn’t really care. And it wasn’t like I would go out of my way to say hi to a girl my brother dumped then completely forgot about.
I turned my attention back to the game. I screamed and cheered and actually had a lot of fun. We were all happy to see our own school win. Ethan said Harrison played really well tonight, but to be honest, I didn’t really think I’d be able to tell any different; my knowledge of football was very limited.
Ethan held my hand as the four of us walked back to the Suburban. Since the game had gone into over time, we decided to go back to Laney’s for dessert. Ethan didn’t say much on the way back, and he said even less once we got to Laney’s. He declined any ice cream, and when he sat next to me on the couch and rested his head on my chest, I realized he was burning up.
“You’re hot!” I set my bowl of ice cream down to fully feel his temperature.
“I know,” Ethan said with a cheeky grin.
“No, seriously. You have a fever.”
“Oh.” Ethan look
ed a little strained. He put his head back down. “I feel like shit. Kind of. Just a little.”
“Let’s get you home.” I caressed his face. I felt bad for him and wondered how long he’d been ignoring feeling ill for my sake.
“No, you’re having fun.” He closed his eyes.
“Ethan, you’re sick.”
“Nah, I’ll be okay.”
“You need to rest,” I said quietly. “In case we get attacked.”
He sighed. “You’re right. But we can stay a while longer. You haven’t had fun in a while.”
I leaned down and kissed him. “No, you need to get into bed.”
“I can take you home,” Josh said to me. “It’s on my way home.”
“As long as you don’t mind,” I said.
“Not at all,” he said with a smile.
“Thanks.” I smiled back and walked Ethan to the door. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”
Ethan put his hands on my waist. “You can play nurse for me tomorrow, sexy outfit and all.” He smiled coyly and kissed me. “Be careful without me.”
“Same to you. Call me when you get home, okay?”
“Will do,” he promised.
“I love you.”
“Love you too.”
And then he was gone. I felt a little weird without him, lonely and a bit vulnerable. Josh had to work early the next morning and couldn’t stay too late tonight. About an hour later, we left. I thanked Josh again for taking me home and dashed up to the garage door.
Even though I was tired, I couldn’t fall asleep. I was worried about Ethan. He sounded even worse when he called to let me know he was home safe and sound. It was like he all the sudden got really sick, and that wasn’t right. People don’t just sick like that, right?
I got out the leather-bound journal Aunt Estelle had given me, prepared to write an epic entry on the crazy turn my life has taken. I’d only gotten so far as writing today’s date when a thought entered my mind: for years, Aunt Estelle had been sending me “weird” presents. I wondered if I would find them weird anymore.
