Demonosity

by Amanda Ashby

  Cassidy wrinkled her nose in confusion. “What do you mean? Travis is in the play. He’s going to be Romeo. You can’t be pissed at me about that?”

  “He was going to be Romeo,” Celeste corrected in a dark voice. “But yesterday afternoon when I tried to convince him to start practicing lines with me, he just totally ignored me. Like I wasn’t even there.”

  “P-perhaps he had other things on his mind?” Cassidy stammered, secretly wondering if the reason he had ignored Celeste was because he was too busy thinking about their rooftop kiss. “It doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to be Romeo.”

  “Actually, it does,” Celeste said. “Because he went to see Mrs. Davis this morning, and he’s now going to be Tybalt, while I’m stuck with Benjie Western as Romeo. Who, in case you hadn’t realized it, is two inches shorter than me. Seriously?”

  “What?” For a moment Cassidy thought that Celeste was joking, but then she realized, despite her boasting, she just wasn’t a good enough actor to fake it. Which meant it was true. “I don’t understand.”

  “Yes, well, that makes two of us. I mean, Tybalt dies at the beginning of the third act.” Celeste shuddered. “And did you not see Travis at the auditions? He was born to play Romeo. My Romeo. But for some reason he’s changed his mind, and I think it’s because of you.”

  “I swear, it’s got nothing to do with me. I saw him audition, and he was—”

  “Sublime? Indescribable? Heartbreaking?” Celeste cut in.

  “Yes.” Cassidy nodded dumbly. “He was all of those things. He was amazing.”

  “So you really didn’t have anything to do with it?” Celeste asked, letting some of her animosity dissolve.

  “No.” Cassidy shook her head and gave Celeste a hopeful smile. “Though honestly, you’re such a great actress, it doesn’t matter who plays Romeo—you’ll still shine.”

  “I am pretty amazing, aren’t I?” Celeste agreed.

  “You are.” Cassidy took a deep breath. Here was her chance. “And as your understudy, I’m sure I could learn loads if I was able to study what you did. You know, follow you around and stuff?”

  “Well, I suppose for the sake of the play that I should let you. And between you, me, and the wall, Rachel has the tendency to squint when she’s onstage. Not that I plan on missing a performance, you understand, so don’t get your hopes up,” Celeste warned before nodding her head. “However, if I were to miss a performance, it would be much better if you had all of my mannerisms. It could be like a tribute to me.”

  “Uh, exactly,” Cass hesitantly agreed. “And while I doubt I will even get onstage, it would be great for my future roles if you would let me follow you around.”

  “I guess that’s okay,” Celeste conceded. “But don’t expect me to talk to you or anything.”

  “Definitely not.” Cassidy let out a small sigh of relief, since she had thought this was going to be a lot more difficult. Then she waited until Celeste had touched up her mascara before following her back out to the auditorium. Celeste immediately made a beeline over to Reuben to discuss her lighting requirements, and Cassidy sat down and tried to figure out why Travis had decided to not play Romeo.

  Was it really because of her? She fished the carnelian necklace out from under the floral-print dress she was wearing and began to toy with it, as she—

  Amber swirling eyes. Pain. A single feather split into two pieces, falling to the ground, and her being forced to watch, helpless to stop them both from landing like an explosion, forever staining the scorched earth with their crimson blood, which flowed like teardrops—

  “Hey.” Travis suddenly appeared next to her, his dark eyes intense. Today he was wearing jeans and a pale blue T-shirt that showed off his tan. “Are you okay? Has something happened?”

  “N-no.” She managed to shake her head, as much to push away the last threads of the vision as anything. How did Thomas deal with such horrific sights and stay sane? she wondered, before she realized that Travis was still next to her, concern written all over his gorgeous face. She took a deep breath, grateful that his presence was there to center her. “Everything’s fine.”

  “Well, good.” He nodded as he leaned forward and began to play with the carnelian that had fallen out of her fingers during the vision. He gave her a dazzling smile that spread across his whole face like liquid sunshine. “You had me worried there.”

  “Don’t be,” Cassidy said, touched by his concern, but also eager not to have to explain what had just happened. Not because she wanted to keep secrets from him, but because she had no idea how to explain it or even what it meant. “So I’ve just been talking to Celeste. She said that you’re not playing Romeo anymore. Is that true?”

  For a moment Travis was silent as he leaned back in his chair and raised his hands in the air. Then he turned back to her and slowly nodded. “Yeah, it’s true.”

  “But why would you ask to change? I mean, Travis, you were seriously amazing as Romeo. My heart was aching for you.”

  “Well, right there’s a good enough reason not to do it, since I never want to make your heart ache, Cass,” he said in a light voice before taking a deep breath. “Okay, the real reason was that I just couldn’t see myself performing with Celeste. It didn’t feel right.”

  “But to play Tybalt? He’s, like, the bad guy,” Cassidy protested, unable to hide her confusion.

  “I guess it depends on how you look at it,” Travis said, a far-off look in his eyes. “Everyone’s the hero of his own story. Tybalt just thought he was protecting Juliet’s virtue and the family name. And he was willing to die for what he believed in.” Then he paused for a moment before grinning at her. “I think I can really bring the role to life.”

  Cassidy was embarrassed that she’d never considered it from that point of view before. She made a mental note to discuss it with Nash later, since this was more his area of thinking than hers. Then she realized that Travis was almost nervous as he waited for her to respond. She shyly reached out and touched his hand.

  “I think you’ll be even more amazing than ever.”

  “Thank you,” he said, his voice low and gravelly as his fingers threaded ever tighter through hers, making her stomach contract. “And by the way, I was thinking that perhaps I should meet your dad. Especially if I’m going to date his daughter.”

  “Y-you want to date me?” Cassidy stammered.

  “Well, yeah,” he said, as the elusive dimple suddenly appeared. “Unless, of course, you’re in the habit of kissing random guys.”

  Cassidy giggled as she felt herself getting lost in his warm eyes. “I’d love for you to meet my dad.”

  “Good.” He looked relieved, but before he could say anything else, Mrs. Davis clapped her hands for silence. She then spent the next forty minutes talking about fire exits and the rehearsal schedules until Cassidy thought she might lose the will to live. Finally, it was over, and Mrs. Davis told them that this was going to be an experience they would never forget, before reminding them not to be late for tomorrow’s rehearsal.

  Cassidy turned to Travis to see if she could spend a few more minutes with him before she had to go back on Celeste duty, and caught sight of Nash hurrying toward her. His face was drained of color, and he was holding his cell phone in his hand. She raced to meet him.

  “What’s going on? Has something happened?”

  “Cass, don’t freak, but your mom has been trying to get ahold of you. Your cell phone must be dead. They’re at the hospital.”

  The script she had been holding fell to the ground in a flutter, but she hardly noticed as Nash was suddenly next to her, his arm around her. It took all her willpower to speak. “Wh-what’s wrong? Is it my dad?”

  “He had problems breathing, so they’re running tests now. They’re at Greenburg General over on Main Street. The third floor. Come on. We can go there right now.” Then, without another word, he ushered her out of the auditorium toward the parking lot. Cassidy was silent. Suddenly, it seemed as if someone h
ad turned out the lights.

  Cassidy was numb. Not only from the shock of finding out her dad was in the hospital but also because of the uncomfortable plastic chair that she’d been sitting on for the last hour. Next to her, Nash was unconsciously tapping his nails against the spine of a book in a repetitive beat.

  Dedah. Dedah. Dedah.

  Normally, the noise would’ve driven her crazy, but now she almost found it soothing because it helped her focus on the small things. Reminding her to breathe. Reminding her not to grind her teeth or scream. To stay calm. To have hope. Plus, even if she’d wanted to tell him to stop, she wasn’t sure that she could bring herself to speak. So far, they hadn’t had any real news, but ten minutes ago the doctor had come out and was now talking with her mom in a room over to the left. It seemed to be taking forever.

  Dedah. Dedah. Dedah.

  “Are you sure I can’t get you a soda?” Nash suddenly stopped his drumming, his pale eyes full of worry, but before she could answer, the door opened, and her mom appeared. Cassidy reached for Nash’s hand and squeezed it. Her heart pounded so loudly that she was surprised no one else could hear it.

  “Mom?” Her voice was little above a whisper.

  “He’s got a blood clot in his leg,” her mom said in her normal, straightforward way.

  “Deep vein thrombosis.” Nash let out a gasp as he knitted his brows. “It’s always a risk after surgery. Were they not giving him any blood thinners?”

  Her mom gave a sigh. “They said he was at low risk, and so they just advised him to take an aspirin every day.”

  “I don’t understand what you’re saying. What’s wrong with him?” Cassidy felt her own lip start to wobble as a strangled noise escaped her throat. She began to shake, and Nash put his arm around her shoulders.

  “For the last two days your father’s leg has been hurting,” her mom said, “but he thought it was just from all the exercises he was doing. Then today he had problems breathing, so I brought him straight here. They’ve just done an ultrasound and found a clot at the back of his knee.”

  “Is he going to be okay?” Cassidy was so cold now that she could hardly feel Nash’s arm around her. “Can he come home?”

  “They’re going to keep him for a couple of days to dissolve the clot, and they’ll also do some more tests to see if he has any genetic blood-clotting disorders or if there are any other clots. But the good news is that they discovered it so quickly,” her mom said.

  “That’s right.” Nash nodded. “DVT is something that is often misdiagnosed but can be treated once they know it’s there, Cass.”

  “So when can I see him?” she asked, still not sure if any of this was real.

  “We can go in now, if you’re ready.”

  Cassidy nodded her head as she followed her mom down the long corridor until they reached a private room. It was similar to the last one he had been in, right down to the pink hospital gown. An IV was sticking out of his arm and his legs were covered in a sheet, but apart from that, he looked just like he always did. Cassidy’s face crumpled as she raced over to him.

  “Hey, pumpkin.” He gave her a weak grin as Cassidy clutched at his hand. “Sorry about the drama.”

  “That’s okay.” She sniffed back her shattered emotions, determined not to let him know just how worried she’d been. Then she gave him a watery smile. “But I hope you don’t think this is going to get you out of that Halo match you promised me.”

  “Bring it,” he said in a soft voice before shooting her a conspiratorial wink. “Though perhaps don’t tell your mom. You know she thinks that Halo is a waste of time.”

  “Deal.” Cassidy grinned back at him while making a mental note to let him win. Not that she cared. All that mattered was that he was okay.

  TWENTY-TWO

  “Cass, wake up.” Reuben was nudging her, and Cassidy shot up in her chair as she fumbled for the knife she’d started carrying in her purse, before suddenly realizing that she didn’t have to fight anything, she’d merely fallen asleep in her Health class. And was that drool on the desk? The only consolation was that Travis had been called to the office about something, so he wasn’t there to witness her little nap.

  Of course, in her defense, she hadn’t exactly gotten a lot of sleep lately. The last week had been a blur of waking up early to train with Thomas, following Celeste, learning her lines, and spending far too much time on the Internet reading about deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms. Thankfully, her father’s clot hadn’t broken off and traveled to his lungs, and even better, all of his tests had been negative, which meant the doctors were confident the clot was an isolated occurrence triggered by his operation, and they had discharged him after two days.

  That had been a huge relief, and the weight that had been pressing down on Cassidy’s shoulders was lifted when she could see for herself that he really was okay. In fact, apart from the long compression stockings that he now had to wear and the extra medication he had to take, there was no sign anything had been wrong with him.

  At the sound of the bell, everyone jumped to their feet, and, as usual, Cassidy headed straight to Celeste’s locker and discreetly waited for the senior to finish her after-school ritual of lip gloss refreshing and hair fluffing. Things had definitely been a lot easier since Cassidy had spoken to her, and while they weren’t exactly friends, she was no longer on the receiving end of Celeste’s death glares. Which was good, because there had been two more demon attacks since that day at the mall, and the idea of not following her every move wasn’t viable. At least for the last two attacks Thomas had been with her, and while he had been gruff and abrupt, he hadn’t said anything about the weird moment in her bedroom.

  There was no rehearsal today, and so she and Nash followed Celeste out to the parking lot. Celeste had almost reached her SUV when she suddenly turned around. In the blink of an eye Nash had slammed himself up against a nearby tree so it would look as if Cassidy was the only one there. She gave Celeste a little half wave, which the senior ignored as she turned and got into her SUV.

  “That was way too close,” Nash panted as he stepped away from the tree. Today he was wearing a pair of tuxedo pants, his Dr. Martens, and a tattered Smiths T-shirt. “Every time she sees me near her, she thinks it’s more proof of our animal magnetism.”

  “‘My ears have not yet drunk a hundred words of that tongue’s utterance, yet I know the sound,’” Cassidy idly quoted, to Nash’s complete surprise. “Art thou not Nash the hottie that I cannot have?”

  “Okay, I’m not sure whether to be impressed that you’ve started learning your lines, or terrified that I’ll never sleep again because of the imagery,” Nash retorted.

  “Sorry. My dad’s getting so bored that he insisted we start learning my lines. I guess some of it must’ve stuck,” she said as they got into Nash’s car, and Cassidy reached for her cell phone to check whether Celeste had tweeted about her plans for the afternoon.

  “Says here that she’s going for a coffee from Haz Beans.”

  “Well, someone should tell her that she’s heading in the wrong direction,” Nash said as he swung left onto a leafy street and followed the SUV into a nursing home parking lot. The home was a sprawling place, set out on a large grassy slope, with a small creek running along the bottom. Thankfully, Celeste seemed too involved with parking her SUV to notice them, and once she had finally maneuvered the large vehicle into a spot, they watched her drape a striped uniform over her arm.

  Cassidy rubbed her eyes, and even Nash looked bewildered. “What should we do now? I mean, it’s one thing to trail after her at school and at the mall, but I’m not sure we can sneak into a nursing home unnoticed.”

  “I think we should just stay here. After all, the grimoire will glow if there are any demons close by, and then you can do your thing,” Nash said as he undid his seat belt and reached for his iPad.

  “Good thinking.” Cassidy undid her own seat belt, climbed into the backseat, and got the grimoire out of the s
ports bag. As normal, the tattoo on her arm tingled every time she touched the book, but she tried to ignore it as best she could as she put the book onto the dashboard so that they could clearly see it. “And I guess in the meantime I could continue learning my lines.”

  “Or do homework,” Nash said, as if he were making an outrageous suggestion. “And speaking of work, I forgot to tell you that while you were following Celeste at lunchtime, I saw Travis in the library. He was working his way through a fairly hefty medical journal. I must say I was pretty impressed.”

  “He was probably looking up more deep vein thrombosis stuff,” Cassidy said as she adjusted the seat so she would have more room to stretch her legs. “This whole thing has really freaked him out. I guess it’s reminded him of his own dad.” A smile tugged at her lips as she recalled just how upset Travis had been. No wonder he was such a good actor when he wore his emotions so close to the surface. “Actually, he’s still really eager to come around and meet my parents, but I keep putting it off.”

  “Well, I can understand, since it will be hard for him to live up to my awesomeness.” Nash grinned, which promptly earned him a slap on the arm.

  “Actually, it’s because I don’t know if my dad would be up for it.”

  “Cass, your dad is up for anything that stops him from remembering he can’t go play tennis and do all the other things he normally does,” Nash reminded her. “Just ask him. Have you even told him about Travis?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “It seemed too frivolous when he’s had so much going on. Though I guess you’re right,” Cassidy grudgingly agreed, since her dad, who was normally superactive, was going stir-crazy. It had been the whole reason he’d had the knee operation in the first place.

  “I’m always right,” Nash assured her, and they then spent the next hour waiting for Celeste. Nash was having some kind of genius argument on a science forum on his cell phone, and Cassidy was looking at photographs of Travis on hers; it wasn’t until the engine on Celeste’s SUV started up that they even realized she had finished her shift.