My shrinking clawed feet slid as I landed smoothly, transitioning into a sprint for the custodial closet. Asmodeus had just staggered to her feet when I pulled my half-formed, hairy fist back and punched her right smack-dab in the middle of her pretty Demon face. The last of my werewolf strength sent her flying back against the wall. I slammed the door shut. At this point, my claws and fur had receded, and I was completely human. And completely butt-naked. I fumbled with the keys, finally inserting a random one in the lock. It didn’t fit.
“Monica…” Asmodeus growled.
I attempted a second key. It didn’t fit either.
“You. Are. Going. To…”
I inserted a third key.
“—DIE!”
It fit. But before I could twist it, her entire body pummeled against the door. I fought against it with my own futile body weight. No dice. Her clawed hand broke free from the opening. She groped blindly at me. All the while, I could hear Beezlebub behind me, stumbling back to his feet.
“I’m going to eat your face off!” Asmodeus screamed.
I summoned the Demon Dagger back into my grasp.
“Eat this, you evil cunt,” I said. Daring to grab her by the wrist, I lashed the Dagger out and sliced her hand clean off. Asmodeus shrieked and pulled her bloody stump back. I pushed the door shut. And then, like the award-winning Idiot of the Year, I dropped the Demon Dagger instead of her dismembered hand to lock the door. Shit. At least I was greeted by a satisfying click. Asmodeus was still screaming as she pummeled the door with her body. The sound of cracking wood resonated, but the door held. It wouldn’t hold for long, but hopefully it would give me the time that I needed.
In that instant, something grabbed my windpipe. I couldn’t breathe. My wide, frantic eyes locked onto Beelzebub as he lifted me off the floor. Beezlebub turned my dangling naked form to face him.
The room was already blurry and starting to spin. I frantically lifted Asmodeus’s dismembered hand and swung it at Beezlebub’s fat head. Her limp claws sliced his face. It left perfectly parallel gashes. Beezlebub screamed again and dropped me, clutching his injured face. I barely landed on my feet, staggering for balance. The tile was a swaying ocean beneath my feet. I was too dizzy to summon the Demon Dagger. Instead, I knelt down, groping for it on the floor.
And then I realized something. Something bad.
Every time I killed a Demon… every time I absorbed its power…
I always blacked out.
Shit.
If I was going to kill Beezlebub and Asmodeus, I needed to completely rethink my strategy. Just how much of a window of opportunity did I have between kills? A couple seconds, maybe?
I was so very deep in thought (not in coming up with a helpful solution but rather meditating on how fucked I was) that I was oblivious to Asmodeus. She was still pounding on the custodial closet door. Until it exploded. The door was quite literally reduced to pieces in one mesmerizing blast, stinging my bare skin with splinters and flinging me against the lockers. From my cocked sideways view, Asmodeus marched out of the closet with her hands on her hips. She slowly stalked towards me.
“You’re a tenacious little bitch,” said Lillith. “It’ll be a pleasure ripping you to pieces.”
She stepped on my right hand. Then my left. As petite as she was, even in Demon form, her shoes felt like goddamn cinder blocks. And then she grabbed me by the hair, yanking my head up. My gaze was now level with her disturbingly Barbie-proportioned torso, forced to stare at her belly button ring. From this painful angle, I watched out of the corner of my eye as Beezlebub stalked closer. The parallel gashes I had sliced into his face were already healing shut. His beady eyes narrowed.
“I’ll tell you what,” said Asmodeus. “If you beg my forgiveness for killing Amon, I’ll kill you quickly. You might not even feel a thing! Otherwise…I just might entertain myself by torturing you slowly.”
Asmodeus’s threat passed right through me. Instead, some of Dante’s first words echoed through my memory:
Monica, you have the power to summon a special dagger from thin air. You can access this power at any time. I need you to do it right now.
You can access this power at any time…
Any time…
“No?” said Asmodeus. “Well. Maybe I’ll start by ripping your hair out of your head.”
I tapped into my rage. In that very instant, I exploded. Asmodeus seemed to shrink as I doubled, tripled, quadrupled in size. Before the transformation was even complete, I summoned the Demon Dagger. But with my opposable thumbs now gone, a new appendage had become primary for grabbing.
The Demon Dagger did exactly what I wanted. It materialized, clutched tightly in my werewolf teeth, the blade jutting to the left. Asmodeus was still in a state of what-the-fuck, clutching the fur of my bulky head as I reared it to the right. I swung my head back and bounded forward with all of my wolf strength. The Demon Dagger shish-kebabed right through her tiny torso, and my momentum propelled her off the ground. Her impaled body collided with Beezlebub’s brick wall of a torso. The sheer force sent even the handle halfway through Asmodeus, and the blade stabbed into Beezlebub as well. His beady red eyes went wide.
I backed away, hoping the Demon Dagger had penetrated far enough to kill Beezlebub. The obese vampire stood disturbingly still with Asmodeus hanging from his chest, gurgling her own black blood.
Beezlebub fell to his knees. Before his body could even hit the floor, the two Demons simultaneously crumbled to ash. They disintegrated in seconds, leaving only their clothes behind.
The Demon Dagger then levitated as usual, projecting the sapphire energy of two Demons into my chest. Blue turned to black.
25
The Mysterious Eli Jacobson
When I finally came to, I was in the cafeteria. Ironically, I was starving.
Blinking, I absorbed my surroundings. I realized I was sprawled across one of the tables. My head was tilted to the glaring daylight pouring through the wall-expansive windows, forcing me to squint. I glanced down to find a letterman jacket draped over my upper half as a blanket.
“Morning,” said Eli’s voice.
My head rolled to find Eli sitting on the opposite bench. In the back of my mind, I still remembered what Lillith said about him—that he was immune to her power.
What was he?
I didn’t know if I was just sleep-drunk or what, but for some reason, he looked more attractive than ever. From the lean, muscular-cut body beneath his tight t-shirt to his solid jawline, everything about him seemed statuesque and beautiful and utterly fuckable.
Wow. Seriously, Monica? Why was I so damn horny?
I shook my head as if that might chill my vagina the hell out. My gaze refocused to Eli’s strong, smooth neck. To the cross dangling from it. Whatever he was, he couldn’t possibly be evil.
Could he?
I glanced back down at Eli’s letterman jacket laid over me. Certain details of last night resurfaced in my mind.
I had fought that entire battle naked.
Embarrassment turned my face into a frying pan. My gaze whipped back up, trying for inconspicuousness, but seriously, conspicuous as shit. Beneath the letterman jacket, I slid my arms over my body. My fingers grazed cloth. I released a very audible sigh of relief. I wasn’t wearing very much, but at least I was covered in all the important places.
With that settled, a part of me wanted to just roll over and fall back asleep. I deserved as much, right? Killing two Demons at once?
I had to fight against the overwhelming lethargy just to motivate myself to sit up. Propping myself upright, Eli’s letterman jacket slid off my body, revealing a red and black cheerleading outfit. Lillith’s, I assumed. Made sense. Fortunately, she turned to ash before she had a chance to bleed all over it.
Still disgusting. But better than nude.
“Uh…m
orning,” I said.
As I made eye-contact with him, the details of last night unclouded.
Zoey!” I exclaimed. “Where’s Zoey?”
“Huh? Zoey’s just off talking to Levi and some of the others.” Eli met me with a confused look. However, his misperception slowly shifted to realization. He bit his lip uncomfortably. “Kelly’s dead.”
My stomach churned. Of course she was dead. If Zoey was still alive, she had to be.
“Zoey told me what happened,” said Eli. “That Kelly started freaking out with that zombie virus. That she killed Devon and that other kid. Zoey told us she had to kill her.”
Zoey was such a good liar, it made me nervous sometimes.
“I saw her body,” he continued, “Zoey…she used a hammer.”
And now I wanted to throw up.
Death. So much death. I was in this mental abyss. The emptiness was pulling me down, sucking me into a pit that was cold, so cold. It was all I could do just to breathe, and even that ached.
The unusual silence in the cafeteria caused me to look around. The room was almost completely empty. I spotted about a half-dozen students sulking alone or with a friend in random places. I heard a couple rummaging in the kitchen area. Everyone else was gone.
“Where’d everyone go?” I asked.
“Gone,” said Eli. “After the attack, those…things wandered off. The police are gone. People started leaving this morning. At least the people who aren’t scared to leave. Can’t say I blame ‘em.” Eli chuckled and grimaced at the same time. “Some quarantine, huh?”
“Yeah…” I said.
My stomach apparently had more to say. It gurgled obnoxiously.
Eli chuckled. “Hungry?”
That one word seemed to bring me back to life. “Starving!”
***
To say I ate like a pig would be doing a great disservice to pigs everywhere.
I ate like a drove of those fat little pork chops.
Eli attempted to be a gentleman and cook me breakfast. Things did get that far. The moment I entered the kitchen, my stomach took over. The damage was a breakfast burrito, cookies, peanut butter on celery, pizza, potato chips, a chimichanga, and French fries, which I washed down with three small cartons of chocolate milk. I sat cross-legged on the kitchen’s stainless steel counter with two half-emptied lunch trays on either side of me. Eli watched like some stupefied driver observing a car wreck on the side of the road.
I burped loudly, and then covered my mouth, only slightly embarrassed. “Excuse me,” I mumbled. I patted my belly which still didn’t feel full. “You probably think I’m a pig.”
“Wha—? Uh, no, I, uh…” Eli stammered awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. “I’ve just never seen a girl eat so much.” The moment he said it, he cringed. “I mean—I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant. I meant to say…that…it…I…”
Eli’s face was on fire, and I couldn’t help but find it extremely amusing, and even sort of cute.
“It’s fine,” I said. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I guess all this craziness is spiking my metabolism.”
I tried to laugh. Eli face was an empty slate.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
Eli paused and then shook his head. “No. Not really.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
“It’s just…all this killing. Kelly killing Devon. Zoey killing Kelly. We’re kids for crying out loud. We go to school together. Kids killing kids like this… It’s just messed up.”
“Yeah. It sucks. It sucks balls.”
Eli shifted uncomfortably. And then he added, “I know Zoey and I were never officially dating to begin with…but I might as well tell you that she and I have called this whole thing off. Whatever it was.”
I raised a concerned eyebrow. “Really?”
“It’s just easier not having emotional connections,” he said. “With this quarantine gone, we both need to head our separate ways anyway. We all have our families to go to.”
He had a point. We couldn’t very well travel in a group, trying to find our families one by one, could we? It was sad though. Eli and Zoey seemed oddly cute together.
“I guess so,” I said. I slid off the stainless steel counter. Approaching silently, I wrapped my arms around him and buried my head against his chest. I think my reaction surprised us both, but neither of us showed it. “I’m sorry though.”
After a long moment of silence, Eli added, “Zoey also mentioned she told you that I like you.”
My eyes widened. “She did?”
“She felt bad and wanted to apologize,” said Eli. “And I guess I wanted to apologize to you. And to thank you.”
“There’s nothing to apologize about,” I said. I could believe Zoey said that! “And thank me for what?”
“For not making it awkward. For still being my friend. I think it would have been really easy for you to just avoid me.”
Eli hesitantly hugged me back.
“I’m glad you didn’t,” he said. “I guess… I just…” He struggled for words that didn’t seem to come.
I was tired of Eli talking.
What happened next, I couldn’t explain. The warmth of Eli’s body against mine filled with me with a jolt of restless energy. And then my body seemed to act on its own accord.
Lifting myself on my toes, I kissed Eli.
It was a small kiss, but enough to catch Eli off guard. He blinked, as if unsure what had just happened. I didn’t wait for a response. Placing my hands on his shoulders, I gently pushed him against the counter. Leaning over him, I slid my hands up his hard chest. My face hovered over his curious expression. This time we both moved in. Our lips locked. I relished the feel of our bodies melding together. His rich earthy masculine scent. It reminded me of…
Dante?
I gasped, breaking free of Eli’s lips. The hell? What was I doing?
Backing away from Eli, I probably looked like some wild and scared animal. I bumped into the adjacent counter. Meanwhile, Eli staggered to his feet looking more baffled than ever.
“I...I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I just…I’ve got to go.”
I took off in a powerwalk, wanting so badly to just disappear.
“Monica!” Eli called out, although his tone was filled with more uncertainty and confusion than anything. I didn’t dare look back.
***
I found Zoey all too easily. We nearly collided as I veered into the gymnasium.
“Whoa, somebody’s in a hurry,” said Zoey. She then eyed my cheerleader attire and added with a smirk, “Nice outfit.”
I was so completely restless and riled up that it took every ounce of willpower just to stand still. Glancing down at my scantily clad body, I said, “I guess I have you to thank for that, huh?”
“Well, I suppose I could’ve just left you naked, you little skank. Where you off to?”
“Just trying to find you. Glad you’re still alive.”
“You too,” said Zoey. Her smile vanished. “But…Kelly…I…”
“I know. She’s dead. I figured you had to kill her. Eli told me.”
“Eli?” said Zoey. And then there was that look in her eyes that whispered fear. “I didn’t tell Eli.”
“What?”
“I haven’t told anyone,” said Zoey. “How did Eli even talk to you?”
“What do you mean? You left me with him, didn’t you?”
Zoey shook her head. “I left you with Levi.”
“Eli said you were off talking to Levi.”
“Yeah, like hours ago! I left you with Levi because I was having doubts about Eli. After what Lillith said about not being able to mind-control him…I mean, can you say ‘red flag?’ Honestly, what do we really know about him? He moved here like two months ag
o, right? Isn’t that when the killings started happening? But if you woke up to Eli…oh god. I hope he didn’t do anything to Levi.”
“You don’t think he’s a Demon, do you? I mean, why would Asmodeus try to mind-control him if he was?”
“I don’t know what he is,” said Zoey. “But if he lied to you, and he somehow knows about what we did last night, and Asmodeus’s powers don’t work on him…”
“Shit. Well when you put it that way…”
“Let’s just keep moving.”
Zoey broke into a speed walk down the hall. I scrambled to keep pace.
“So I have some good news and some bad news,” said Zoey. “Which would you like first?”
“Great,” I said. Was too much to hope for that the good news would make up for the bad news? Um. Yeah. Yeah, it was. Best just to rip that bad news band-aid right off. “Hit me with the bad news.”
Zoey grimaced. “Follow me.”
26
The Other Witch
Zoey led me to Principal Marion’s office. The door was cracked open.
“She’s gone?” I said. I honestly wasn’t surprised. Everyone else was gone. Why would the Demon stay?
“Yep. Gone. But it gets a lot weirder than that.”
“How?”
Zoey placed a hand on the doorknob. “Would you like to see for yourself?”
“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”
“Well, it is the bad news.”
Zoey didn’t crack even the slightest smile. This was bad. She entered the dark room, and I followed with quiet steps.
That’s when the stench nailed me with an uppercut to the nostrils. The smell of rot overpowered my ability to breathe. I desperately covered my nose and mouth, fight the urge to gag.
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