by P. S. Power
“Yes. In this case it's because I'm using the light energy of the space to power the time field instead of my own energy. I'd have gotten you to do it, but then I'd have to feed you even more.” She was whipping around inside the field too, so not all the extra speed was a time distortion effect. The demon slapped her hand at a small pendant around her neck and pulled the four steaks off the stove with the other.
“Done. Well, let's eat these.”
Finally, after finishing her second steak, huge things that Darla had left a little too pink in the middle, Keeley felt full. Not stuffed, but it was enough. She held out her hand when Darla tried to put a third slab of meat on her plate.
“No more, I'm already going to gain like ten pounds from all this. If you don't want me on the cheer leading squad that's fine, but you don't have to fatten me up just for that.” She was being playful and Darla winked.
“Ah, on to my clever plan already? Seriously though, you won't gain weight from this. As it is we'll probably have to make you eat a lot more than this each day for the next few decades or you'll lose weight, just from the changes. We should get you some new clothes too, since I doubt you'll be a size six by this time next week. More like a four.”
“Right, well, if that's the case, then I guess you can buy? I have twenty bucks on me still, but that's it.”
“Oh, no big thing. I can get you clothes and whatever else you need. After high school you'll need a job for a while, because it takes a bit to learn everything and you'll want to look like a real person, until you learn to fake it really well. Then no one hardly cares at all. So, your eyes?”
That, it turned out, was fixed in about ten minutes, once Darla went to work. Oddly she used a simple vision chart and a complex silver and gem device to do the work. The whole thing had to be held in both hands and got put to one eye at a time, but it didn't hurt overly. It stung a little at first, but with three passes and some gears being shifted, her eyes were corrected. The whole thing reminding Keeley of a clockwork pair of binoculars, but with only one eye port, her vision, amazingly, got fixed.
There was no problem until she automatically put her glasses back on.
“Gah!” She ripped them off and blinked, feeling a little ill. The world through her old lenses was now wavy and distorted, but without them... perfect, she set the horn rimmed things aside.
“Now I just have to come up with a reason I'm not wearing my glasses. No one will probably notice at school, but mom will. She knows I can't have contacts or eye surgery yet...”
“No problem. Leave that to me. As for school, well, people will probably start noticing you now. It's not just your looks that are changing, you're hanging with a bunch of cheerleaders, so that will alter your social status. Hmmm. Tell you what, if you can trust me, why don't I pick up some clothes for you and meet you Monday morning before school? I have some people I want you to meet later today, and really we need to get in touch with your parents... So, bargain? I'll handle the clothing for you?”
Keeley nearly just said yes, but then tilted her head at the other girl.
“Um, no? Who do you think you're talking too?”
Darla clapped.
“Oh, you might even survive. I hope so. I always wanted a sister. We'll get you trained up, then you and I can gang up on Xenses and rip his, well, a few choice body parts, off. Very good though. Not even me. I will however still pick up those clothes for you and I really do want you to meet some people. Just two I think, for today. Back-up and testing.”
She didn't explain that comment, and instead had Keeley repeat everything she'd said about demons to her, three times, filling in the explanations with each retelling.
“Right, so, not that I'm arranging anything for you at the moment, sex wise, but you can't get pregnant and can't get any diseases. It just won't happen. So, guys, girls, whatever you want, go for it. Or nothing. You are kind of young. For a demon I mean. Sixteen, that's like a one year old in human years. You get time. Unless you get killed of course.”
Time enough for everything except thinking apparently, Keeley thought. The whole thing had happened fast and really, she wasn't totally sure Darla wasn't just messing with her still. Her mom was a tramp and cheated on her dad, and she had a demon half-sister? One that was supposed to be her mentor. What she was supposed to learn she didn't know. So she asked. It seemed a fair question.
“Well, a lot of things Keels. How to survive mainly, but psychology, spirits and the rules of demons, magic, machines, science, make-up and song, all the other things that demons invented and then taught to mankind. How to travel between places and how to manipulate minds. All that kind of thing. Plus, how to cook. No one cooks anymore. You really should learn.”
Oh. That all made sense then. It sounded like a lot. Like it would take a long time too.
Darla shrugged.
“I'm with you for the long haul sis. At least seventy years. Which doesn't mean we'll be attached at the hip the whole time, but...”
The phone rang.
Keeley hadn't even known that there was a phone there. It made sense that there would be, it had everything else, except a television and a computer, but those could just be hidden somewhere out of sight. Darla looked baffled for a moment and then answered the phone, pulling it out of a small cabinet behind the dining room table, against the wall. It was a small case about a foot square, a nice deep wood tone, nearly black.
“Good afternoon, Darla Gibson, to whom am I speaking please?” Her voice was chipper and happy sounding, as well as old fashioned and proper.
“Oh, hi Quince! So nice to hear from you...” Then she listened for a few minutes, making faces at Keeley the whole time.
It was strange to watch, since the conversation didn't play across the other girl like it would a normal person's. She reacted and responded, but almost no information about it got out. Finally the girl nodded at her and smiled.
“Quince? I'd love to go to Homecoming with you. I have a guest right now, Keeley Thomson? She's new at school. Right, the cute one with the glasses, except she just got that fixed... Um, well she already has a date for the dance, but if he's interested in going out with her some other time let me know and we can set them up... OK, thank you so much for asking me Quince. I'll see you at school Monday? Ok then, Bye.”
The look she gave Keeley was happy enough, not gleeful but not wicked or demonic either. For all that Keeley could tell, she was genuinely happy about Quince having called.
“Quince. Isn't that a fruit? Like a kumquat? Kind of a strange thing for someone's parents to name their son.” The thought struck her, so she'd said the words, but instantly realized that if Darla liked the young man she might take offense. Instead she laughed.
“Oh yeah. Not high on the name of the year chart at all. But don't blame the parents this time, he told me that he picked it himself, out of the dictionary, because he wanted something to show how special he was.” She held up her right hand.
“His words not mine. His parents named him Kevin though. Still, if he's looking for a name that stands out, Quince certainly does that, doesn't it? At least he's cute. A bit dumb, but what sixteen year old isn't?”
Crossing her arms Keeley gave Darla a look. Then sighed.
“OK, I can see that would probably be true, but no one wants to hear about how little they know. I don't at least.”
The demoness didn't apologize.
“At least with you I know that there's some small hope of doing better. Quince is... Well, luckily Raintree has sports teams. In another institution I fear he'd probably drop out altogether. The staff helps him along with his grades. Oh, right, helping with grades... I promised Hally that you'd tutor her in math? I could do it, but oddly enough her parents don't seem to think that the cheer-leading captain will make a very good math tutor. Go figure?”
“Oh, sure. It shouldn't be too hard, she's smarter than she thinks she is.”
“Indeed. They all are, our little gang. I picked them with that i
n mind. Nothing is less fun than trying to drag around a truly slow person all the time. Not that there aren't ways to fix that, but I didn't come for that kind of thing. I'm here for you.”
That still left an uneasy feeling in the pit of Keeley's stomach. She was a demon? Even if that kind of being wasn't what she'd been taught as a child the idea just didn't set well. Demons were evil and bad and against god. That god was obviously someone's social control device and religion the bludgeon used to ensure that control was clear, but it still left her in a slightly dark place, even knowing better than to trust her old training from the church.
The other girl grinned at her happily and came around the table, putting an arm comfortably over her shoulder, hugging her slightly.
“Quince however offered to set you up with his friend, Gavin. You know, the center? The huge one that must weight three hundred pounds? I told him we'd set up a date for you two later. You should go, he's actually a decent person. You can't say that for the whole team. Some of them are sociopathic little pigs.”
Thinking about it for a second, Keeley nodded. The guy was fat, not just big, but he smiled a lot and if Darla thought he was OK, she could at least meet him, right? True, she was a virgin and wouldn't be losing that to him most likely, but she could sit with him at a movie without a problem. Who knew, maybe they'd get along? It could happen.
It never had, but then she spent most of her life avoiding other people. Working hard to keep from knowing them too well.
“Alright. I can give that a try I guess, I mean, if he wants to.”
“Good! We'll make a proper demoness of you yet.”
“What does that mean? If human sacrifice is involved you can forget it.” Keeley fixed Darla with a look. The other woman pretended to be offended, going wide eyes and “shocked” looking.
“Oh trust me Keels, the only virgin sacrifice you'll have to make is something that any of the guys at Raintree would be more than happy to have you perform.”
“Now you just seem creepy.” Keeley shook her head pretending to be sad about it.
Darla hugged her close again.
“How does that famous saying go... Ah yes,” She rubbed her hands together in front of her chest.
“Mwa-ha-ha.”
They both laughed.
Chapter eight
Darla was just starting to play with Keeley's hair, before their meeting with whoever was coming, when the side of the house caved in. Calling the crash thunderous would have been too light, not nearly descriptive. She felt the sound it was so loud, it made her bones ache and rattle with the force of it. She didn't even have time to be afraid when Darla blinked out of existence. Half of her hair in a braid, the left half, a dark strand of it running down her back. She stood, having been sitting on the floor of the white and cream colored living room, near the edge where the carpet ended and the hard wood began. Keeley could see the outside world through the far wall as, spinning a bit, she oriented her body toward the back yard and ran.
It felt like she should run directly away from the attack and nearly did when the second crash came, but that wouldn't work, because there was no door on that side of the house. By going toward the back yard, she had a chance to get out. Her legs pumped, burning as she flew along. It felt like she moved through molasses, thick and slow, so struggling as hard as possible, Keeley sped up.
The sliding door was closed, and tried to stick at first, so she grabbed with both hands and yanked until it came free and opened enough for her to slip out. On her way she thought to close it again.
They might be under attack or the world may just have been ending in some kind of strange coincidence, but either way if something was going to be coming in, making a clear trail wasn't a smart idea. The backyard was nice, she noticed as she ran directly toward the back fence, a solid six foot wooden one, that looked new. No more than a month or two old, since it obviously hadn't weathered yet at all. It didn't rain much here, which could give it a longer life. She started working on climbing as fast as she could, struggling to find purchase on the smooth and sanded slats, her tennis shoes feeling slippery, kicking against the side trying to get over.
She made the top just as Darla came around the house, a handgun out and pointed. Not at her though. Keeley looked over the fence, but it was just another yard. A man had run out and was looking at her.
“What the hell was that?” The man, who looked about fifty, had a bald head, a beer gut and a white t-shirt and blue striped shorts called out, looking at her hard.
“I don't know...” It came out softer than she wanted.
Darla hopped up onto the fence and waved at the man, the gun gone already, “Mr Rensoe? Someone crashed a car into my house and ran off, we were both inside, did they come this way? It's... Well they flipped the car into the house... I don't know how they managed it, must be drunk. Could you call nine-one-one?”
The man muttered something that Keeley just didn't catch and turned back into his home. Darla looked at her.
“Whoever it was hit the house several times, using a compact car as a bludgeon. They escaped, but I doubt most people will have noticed a nine foot tall lesser demon running around, some things are too hard for people to deal with. Pain in the rump, you know? It's external damage so we have to fix this part normally, actually rebuild it. Well, might as well come down. Good job. Most people would have frozen or ran to the far side of the house. Of course if he hit you with a car when you ran this way you'd be dead, or at least dazed, but no plan is perfect and this one worked out for you.”
They both slipped down the fence just as Mr. Rensoe came back out, calling to them.
“Girls? The police are sending someone over, is anyone hurt? Do you need an ambulance?”
“No, we're good, not hurt.” Darla called back, not able to see the man at all.
“I don't know about the driver, the car is really messed up, it can't have been healthy for him, or I guess for her, I didn't get there in time to see anyone.”
“OK! I'm telling the dispatcher now.”
The neighborhood was a fairly nice one. Not perfect, but the police came when called and did it within ten minutes. As if trying to make up for being a little late ten cars showed up. It seemed like overkill for a simple report, but Keeley got it after a few minutes when the police chief himself showed up.
“Miss Gibson, are you hurt?” The man was dressed in a nice suit, gray, a bit too nice for what a police chief in a small town should be able to afford. His car was a bit too fine.
A lot really.
If it were a movie Keeley would have figured that the guy was dirty. A crooked cop. But this being real life and given the way that the man kept trying to comfort Darla, touching her arm in a way that didn't seem either fatherly or professional at all to Keeley, it became clear pretty quickly that something else was going on. OK, so most people wouldn't have seen it that way, but it was clear to her.
Darla didn't wait to be asked anything, just covering the story for the man.
“So Keeley ran to the back and started over the fence and I ran out to the front, but didn't see anyone. It's even close enough to true that you don't have to feel bad about putting that in the report. Your men can't catch the thing that did this though Roy, so no need to really push them on it. One of those things.” She looked a little wryly at the chief who gave her a cold look.
“Great. I always love that kind of thing so much. Well, we'll get on it. Are you coming over to dinner soon? Karen's been asking after you. You could bring your friend, that would be fun.” He indicated Keeley with a small movement of the head.
“Under aged. Honestly under aged. Not like me. Maybe in a few years?”
The man called over a uniformed officer without answering, which meant that they had to give the whole story again three times, even though Keeley's version was just that she heard a boom and ran away. Which was the truth. It didn't take long. The chief offered to have two officers put outside the house for the night, until a crew
could be gotten in to fix the damage.
Darla shook her head.
“No need. I have some... Private security coming. They'll love this, but if that thing comes back we need someone here that won't just be turned to hamburger. Not that your officers aren't able, they just aren't trained for this kind of thing.”
The older man, who was trim and a bit gray, but had a nice tan on his lightly lined face nodded grimly.
“Always a cluster. Well, I'll leave it to you. Let us know if you need anything?”
“Thank you Roy, I will.”
They didn't talk about anything until the police all left, about five minutes later. The car was, apparently, stolen, but also upside down, so it would have to be lifted out. It had been taken from the Wal-Mart parking lot across town. The little silver-blue car had been decently nice in a mid-price way. Keeley wouldn't have blinked about driving it at all, if the dents could be removed. It beat her current “car”, which consisted of her feet. She didn't even own a bicycle.
