by P. S. Power
“So...” Eve said, sounding worried, but a lot less so now.
“What do we do?”
Keeley tilted her head, obviously, if they were worried about mold in the flour there was only one thing to do.
“We throw out all the flour and scrub the kitchen down with bleach.” She said as if it were real. It really would have worked after all, bleach killed just about everything. Nothing lent credibility to a situation like acting in a realistic fashion.
Darla nodded, a serious look on her face.
“Right. We should do that now. Sorry, I know it's not as much fun as playing with ghosts, but it needs to be done. It shouldn't be dangerous at all, but I don't want to be making cookies in two weeks and then have to spend the evening babysitting Santa's elves.”
That got a tilt of the head from Keeley.
Because really that sounded like a lot more fun. Little elves capering and making merry? Though two weeks away would be a little early. Push that back to five weeks and it would be about right.
They worked frantically, going over the whole kitchen space several times, even though it started out cleaner than any space like it had a right to be. Keeley decided that whoever Darla had in to clean normally must be very well paid. That or mind controlled. They even moved all the appliances and cleaned behind and under them carefully, just to make sure there couldn't be anything hiding in some dingy nook or cranny. They didn't find anything, because there was nothing to find, but everyone else seemed to feel better by the end of it. It had given them something to do that sounded like a plan, which left them feeling better.
“So, that fixes it, right?” Hally said, not sounding half as scared after the nearly three hours of work. A little tired maybe. Slightly bored finally.
“Should just about do it. I really doubt anything unwanted survived that.” Keeley answered, trying to play along with the idea like she had been.
After all, she believed what Darla had said, which meant that the girl was a demon, or at least something strange, and given everything she didn't really want to challenge her if that was the case. She could just play along and get back home the next day. Hopefully without her soul being sold to Satan or whatever real demons did with their spare time when they weren't leading cheers.
Darla nodded hugely.
“Right, but I'll have a hazmat cleaning unit in tomorrow just in case. I doubt anything survived us, but just in case I'll have it checked out. I can get one in from my grandmother's company I think. Better safe than sorry.”
Then, almost as if nothing had happened Darla waved to Keeley calling her over. She leaned in to and whispered to her.
“Keep them here for a minute?”
“Um, sure?”
Darla chuckled and left the room in a relaxed manner, claiming she just had to run to the bathroom. That was so obviously not the plan that Keeley wondered if running out the garage door would be prudent. Instead, based on the fact that the head cheerleader, no matter who or what she was, hadn't really seemed to be trying to hurt anyone yet if nothing else, she got the others to help her move the giant refrigerator again, for one last cleaning, since that was, of course, the most likely place for them to have missed something. They hadn't, it was perfectly clean, but the ten minutes of additional scrubbing meant that the demon girl walked back in before they were done. She winked at Keeley.
“No mold has survived us at all. I think we should all go to bed now and see about making it an early morning. We should be fine upstairs. Ergot doesn't go airborne easily, you have to eat it. I'll take everyone out to breakfast in the morning, so that won't be a problem.”
Then as if it were just something normal and nothing had happened at all, the others all went off to their rooms meekly. Quietly. Keeley stared at Darla's back but didn't say anything, still wondering if making a run for it would be worthwhile. Then again, if she did, the demon would know how to find her. Crud. She'd been to her house.
She'd been watching her.
Well, Keeley decided. The blond couldn't have her soul. Keeley didn't even know if that existed, but just in case it was a good idea to have a plan. In the living room she saw instantly what the girl had done. Nice cream colored throw rugs had been put down to cover the massive hoof print damage, some kind of board put under them so that you could just feel the uncertainty of the floor under that. A slight bump, a warping of the wood under foot. At least Keeley could feel it. Eve and Hally didn't even look at the new addition to the room, as if it had always been there. It really did match the room nicely. Blending with the carpet further into the space.
Perfectly.
Almost as if it was planned.
The first guest rooms had been given to Hally and Eve, though Darla walked past her room and followed Keeley to the brown and gold colored door of the room she had after getting the other girls settled. The demon girl put her hand out gently, a big smile on her face.
“You did great, Keels. Way better than I thought you would in fact. Um, look, I know you probably have some questions about all this, but would you be willing to wait until tomorrow afternoon?” The demoness shrugged.
“Hally's bound to come to sleep in my room and she'll wonder if I'm not there. I won't keep you in the dark, but... look, it's complicated. Is that alright?”
“Are you going to drink my soul in my sleep? Or whatever it is that demons do?” Keeley was blunt. It worked as often as not after all.
Darla shook her head seriously.
“We don't do that. That's all just more propaganda and lies from the religions. I'll explain that too. I promise...”
Just then Hally's door opened and the girl popped her head out.
“Darla... Can I sleep in your room?”
The overly good looking blond girl nodded gently and turned to her.
“Of course, go on in, I'll be right there.”
Turning she gave Keeley a hopeful look, almost imploring. Keeley shrugged and waited for Hally to get into the bedroom before whispering her answer.
“Fine. But I swear, if you try to drink my soul I'm telling everyone at school that you have VD and tried to French kiss me in my sleep.”
It wasn't much of a threat, but it got a laugh from the demon.
“Deal.” She said, sounding suddenly a lot more serious.
“Deal.” Keeley responded, feeling as if something important had happened with the word. As if it meant something that they'd both agreed to the bargain.
Then, looking over her shoulder winningly, the other girl escaped back into her bedroom to comfort the red-head that had every reason to be scared. For a bit Keeley wondered if she should be worried about the girl, Hally, being alone with Darla, but then decided that the facts didn't line up to the demon being harmful at all. Not yet at least. The other girls seemed fine so far and they'd been around her for over a month already.
If she wanted to do something to them, she probably would have already.
Instead she got herself into the comfortable bed, with the lights off and waited, finally drifting off to sleep after another hour or two. If something was coming for her, it would, but that didn't seem likely. If she'd been trapped in a jar for a hundred years she would have run away as fast as possible once out. There was no reason for those other creatures to do any less. If nothing else they'd get some help and come back to attack later. Darla had already kicked their booties once. It would just be sensible to make sure you won the rematch.
Nothing happened while she slept, not even weird dreams, which should have taken place, given how odd the whole thing was. Or, she supposed, if her soul was being sucked out or whatever. Then Keeley didn't really dream much, not that she remembered. She got up as soon as noise started coming from the other rooms, the sound of showers and water moving, doors opening and closing. It took Keeley about fifteen minutes to go from asleep to showered, dressed in fresh clothing and ready for the day. As ready as she could be having to face what might either be a real demon or clinical insanity. Of course o
ne didn't preclude the other exactly, did it?
At least she was ready, if she didn't need a squirt gun filled with holy water or something. If that was the case she was just screwed, because she didn't even have a cross with her. Not that those would actually do anything. Darla definitely didn't seem worried about the one the fake monk-ghost had the night before. In the light the events of the day before seemed remote, strange and like they were a dream or story. Only they weren't. She knew that. Reality was what it was after all. No matter how strange. Again, with the simple exception of being nuts. Only she didn't think that was the case, not really.
Keeley met the others in the living room about twenty minutes later, all of them having done decent make up jobs and enough primping and spiffing to pick up just about any guy at school. Keeley hadn't bothered. She rarely did. It wasn't that she didn't want to fit in, but wearing makeup was an invitation for people to approach you. Since she generally tried to avoid that, not wanting to touch anyone overly, that meant dressing down instead of up most of the time. Darla noticed all of this with a raised eyebrow. It was clear she didn't think much of the lack on her.
“Ready then?” She asked archly.
“Yep.” Keeley said, not caring what the demon thought overly.
That was probably insane, mentally gone bonkers crazy, since she really didn't want to get in a fight, not even an argument, with some otherworldly menace, but there it was. Keeley didn't dress up often and didn't carry make-up around with her at all. Why would she if she wasn't going to use it?
Everyone seemed much happier as they left for the restaurant, a little place that Darla knew which serves cinnamon rolls on the weekend the size of dinner plates. It was called “Fritters” which was a friendly enough sounding name. Keeley would have balked if they were being taken to “The Black Crucifix” or something like that. Then, even demons didn't name restaurants or diners things like that. She knew for a fact, because no place was called that.
Not that was open to the public.
They got two rolls and split them four ways, still leaving too much food for them to eat. The place wasn't nice, a little small, run down looking and as if it could use a few coats of paint. Clean though, for all that, and done in old faded blue Formica tabletops and brown vinyl booths that had cracks in them. The waitress was an older woman that smiled at them, but didn't say much at all. Efficient though. The rolls came about five minutes after they ordered warmed and ready to eat, the rich icing melting just enough to be gooey without being gross.
“I love this place.” Darla confided to Keeley, having sat right next to her in the booth, her arm bumping into hers occasionally, even as Keeley tried to move away slightly. It was just habit, moving away from the touchy feeling person that didn't understand why she did it. A joke here, since apparently the one person she didn't have to do that with was Darla.
“It reminds me of diners in the fifties.”
The way she said it was obvious, to her it was a direct comparison, but the others just nodded along as if the girl wasn't talking about how she'd been there. Keeley forced a smile.
“The rolls are good.” It was a simple statement and true. They were excellent. Not that Keeley was focused on the food overly, or the chatter coming from the other girls or the low buzz coming from the other patrons.
There weren't a lot of people in the place yet, still being early, but a steady stream walked in, the place filling up pretty quickly. Darla made nearly idle chatter about the coming dance, the barn dance theme warring with the USO idea.
The war time theme was the better one, actually having weight and historical presence, but the barn dance easier to put together, which eventually won the day.
“Plus, you know, people will understand it. I didn't even know the UFO existed until you told me about it last night.” Hally said it innocently enough that Keeley nearly bought it as a mistake for a second, then she chuckled, understanding that the girl was actually making a joke.
“Point taken. Most of the kids won't really have a clue there. So barn dance? What all do we need for it?” Darla spoke quickly, before Eve could correct the red-head being the last one to realize it had been said for a laugh.
That was kind of her, since fearing she was stupid was one of Hally's big things. It seemed that the demon got that too.
And cared enough to try and make the girl feel alright about herself.
They talked for about an hour, eating the rolls slowly, savoring them instead of wolfing them down. Darla made up for having monopolized a table during the morning rush by leaving a fifty dollar tip though, and leaving before the waitress could even notice it wasn't just a few ones sitting on the table. They looked like high school kids, so the woman would have no reason to think that they were anything else. She'd given good service anyway.
For that matter, most of them weren't anything other than that.
The rest of the morning involved a shopping spree for Hally and Eve, Darla buying generously. Lavishly really. They both noticed that Keeley wasn't getting anything, but Darla just shook her head when Hally whispered something about it to the girl and spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear when she replied.
“Don't let that worry you, I need to send you both home later, so you get your treats now. Keels is going to stay with me and help with the hazmat team stuff, so we'll be doing some other things. Sorry to cut the weekend short, but...” The shrug looked genuine.
It wasn't the real plan, but then Keeley was starting to wonder if anything happening here was real. It didn't seem that likely any more. Smiling a little and trying to look positive Keeley wondered for just a second if the other girls would miss her at school on Monday when she didn't show? They seemed nice, but they also trusted Darla way too much for their own good. If she told them that Keeley was kidnapped or had moved, they might just buy it.
At just before noon, on the way back to the house, the other girls got delivered home, Hally to her rather nice split level ranch, rented, she assured them, and Eve to the trailer she shared with her mother. It wasn't as nice, sure, but Keeley didn't care about things like that. It had a roof and four walls after all. More than that was pleasant, but not important.
Eve seemed embarrassed though. She didn't say anything, but got tense and kept looking at Keeley as if she'd say something. Or judge her over it. When she finally got that Keeley wouldn't be doing that she walked over and gave everyone hugs. That was the first time they'd actually touched and the information flooded in.
It was...
Dismal.
Horrible.
Keeley actually felt rage rise inside her over the other girl's life and had to fight it down so that she didn't hunt down a few men and kill them. She didn't know how to kill, not firsthand, but she could learn. The sick feeling was so strong she almost couldn't stand it and had to fight for control of her face. She really wanted to murder those people now.
And would if the opportunity ever came up.
The girl had grown up being molested by not just one, but several men her mother had brought in, her “boyfriends” most of whom were just after the pretty little girl, passing her from one freak to another, using drugs to distract the mother. It had gone on until she hit puberty and stuck a gun in the face of the last one when he tried to rape her anally. Again. He wasn't a fan of using lubricant apparently, which was the last straw for her. That it took that much to be the last straw... Keeley had to force a smile and only just managed to keep the tears from showing.
It was why she slept with so many guys now, no doubt. In part it was looking for love, but she also struggled to prove that sex just didn't mean that much. On some level she thought that if it didn't mean anything now, then it wouldn't have to mean anything back then.
The whole thing was heart rending. Keeley decided right then, that if the chance ever came up, those men weren't going to survive if they still lived. She'd make it happen, somehow.
“Hey, see you in a few days? At school maybe?” Keeley t
ried to sound chipper and managed a credible job of it.
Eve smiled at her and nodded.
“Yeah, we should totally get together for the posters and stuff. Since you and Darla are basically going to be the planning team. I'll help, but if my bubble idea isn't going to be used I'm kind of out of thoughts for it...”
The demon smiled slowly and took a step forward, stopping a good three feet away from the other girl.
“No worries. Just think about farms and barns and things will come to you. Maybe the Amish. That would fit with what the school would like to see. Those people never have any fun at all, so it should be perfect, don't you agree?”
That taken care of Keeley loaded back into the car, wondering if she'd ever make it home. She reviewed what little she knew about demons and found that most of it really made that seem a bit unlikely. In the bible they were mainly brutish and stupid or were basically angels that had gone against god. Not mentioned hardly at all for all that people talked about them, not in the book itself. There was a lot of wiggle room as to what they actually were too.
