I shrugged in response, honestly having no idea. When my dad greeted the driver, I discovered it was Mr. Burrows again. However, as they began talking, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Jasmyn was exceptionally patient while I tried to process their conversation.
When my dad finally came back inside, I still didn’t have an answer to the question I knew he was going to ask.
And, of course, he realized I had heard when he saw my expression. “I don’t think it’s a bad idea,” he admitted. “It would allow us to hear firsthand what people think.”
I looked at him in disbelief. “You really want me to go? To listen to them talk about me?”
“No, not exactly.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the kitchen entrance. “I was just saying I don’t think it’s a bad idea. They don’t have to know you’re there. That’s the purpose of the cart – so Nolan can sneak us in town without anyone seeing.”
I crossed my arms. “I know. I heard.”
And I didn’t like the idea of having to hide just to visit the Town Hall to listen to everyone call me a devil.
“To be honest,” he quickly continued, “I really don’t want to put you through hearing some of the hateful things people might say.”
“Then why?” I wondered seriously.
“Alyssa,” he replied softly. “I didn’t say you had to do it. I didn’t even say I wanted you to do it. I was just saying it’s not a bad idea. Whether you want to, or not, is up to you. I’ll be there too, and you can stay in your human form, so it won’t be as easy to hear people.”
I scoffed. “If I’m going to go, then I want to know what people are saying,” I retorted.
He was quiet in response, waiting to see if I had decided without pushing it on me. After a few moments, he spoke again. “Well, if we’re going to do this, then we need to leave soon. Nolan has runners going through town, and supposedly there are already a bunch of people waiting to hear what happened from someone in authority. It’s more than just about that though – they also need to deal with all the people who lost their homes, as well as discuss charity efforts to rebuild what was damaged. So it won’t all be about you.”
“But what if someone trashes our house while we are gone and finds Jasmyn?” I asked, glancing at her. I shifted my weight on the portion of her sky-blue tail I was sitting on, before resting my hand on her leathery skin and running my fingers over it gently.
“She has that ring you gave her,” he reminded me. “Not to mention her snake-eye should work just fine on regular humans.”
I sighed, meeting Jasmyn’s gaze.
She reached out and rested her hand on my shoulder. “Do what you want,” she said quietly. “I’ll be fine here.”
I reached up and placed my hand on hers. “Okay,” I replied simply. I then met my dad’s gaze. “I guess let’s go then. Let me change my shirt first and then I’ll be ready.” I had already shifted back to my human form as I spoke.
“I’ll be waiting outside,” he replied, before pausing. “Unless you want me to wait for you in here?” he added.
I shook my head. “No, it’s fine. I want to say goodbye to Jasmyn anyway.”
He nodded, turning to leave as I stood up. Jasmyn followed me into my room and watched me take my torn shirt off to throw on a new one. When I was done, she came up behind me to wrap her arms around my chest, prompting me to grab her forearms while I leaned instead her. She had brought her upper body down low enough that she could comfortably rest her chin on my shoulder.
“You aren’t afraid of being here alone, are you?” I asked quietly, leaning my temple against hers.
She shook her head, causing her white hair to catch my attention. Now that I was looking at our hair side-by-side in the corner of my eye, it had never occurred to me that there was such a sharp contrast between her snowy hair and my own pitch-black color.
Our hair was pretty together in a strange way.
“I’m more worried about you,” Jasmyn replied quietly. “About what they’ll say.”
I shrugged. “I am sort of a devil, so maybe I should just own it and stop being bothered by people calling me that word.”
Jasmyn tightened her embrace, burying her face against my neck. “I just know how it is,” she whispered against my skin. “Being called mean things.”
I reached up to rest my hand on the back of her head as she continued.
“No matter what they say, just remember I’ll be waiting for you here.”
I smiled warmly as I turned around in her embrace to give her another hug. “Thanks,” I whispered. “I’ll try to keep you in my thoughts the entire time.”
“Well, you will be in my thoughts the entire time,” she retorted, resting her cheek against the top of my head. “As you have been every day since I met you.”
I sighed, holding her tightly, before finally letting go, knowing I had to leave now. I then wished her goodbye, and headed out of the house.
I immediately had everyone’s attention even though I looked human now. Both of the two guards made a point to carry their guns with their hands far away from the trigger – one was holding it by the barrel, while the other positioned his over his shoulder with the end pointing behind him. I wasn’t sure if I should be flattered or annoyed by their exaggerated behavior.
I sighed again, looking up at my dad and Mr. Burrows standing next to the single horse. The head of the Guard inclined his chin towards me, before turning to readjust some of the crates in the back of the wagon. There was a large burlap tarp for my dad and I to hide under, as well as a few bundles of hay mixed in, so no one would be suspicious if they happened to glance inside.
“Ready?” my dad wondered, his brow furrowed.
I took a deep breath, and then fully committed myself by climbing ungracefully into the back of the wagon. I had never felt overly clumsy, but I sure did now in comparison to being in my demon form.
“Ready,” I agreed.
At least, I was about as ready as I would be.
After my dad climbed into the wagon too, Mr. Burrows readjusted the burlap tarp over us to make sure we were inconspicuous. He then drove the wagon into the middle of town, letting everyone he passed know about the meeting happening at sunset. Most people seemed to know something was going on, having heard the commotion even on the other end of town, but many seemed surprisingly unconcerned.
Which I found shocking.
What if this place had been under attack by a human army? Did these people just not care that something major was going on in their own town? Was it just business-as-usual so long as it didn’t specifically involve them?
Maybe the fact we had a Town Guard made everyone complacent, with them not responding to a crisis because of them thinking ‘That’s what the Town Guard was for.’
If only they knew what kind of danger they might have been in if I hadn’t intervened. Granted, I was also the cause of the attack in a way too…since the chimera was technically after me.
However, I noticed attitudes changed as we neared the town hall. More often than not, people had heard the rumors of what really happened, and they already knew about the meeting. When we finally arrived, there were too many people milling around for us to get out without being seen.
Even though Mr. Burrows stopped the horse at the back entrance, we had to stay in the cart for almost an hour until the sun finally sank below the horizon. Neither of us spoke while we waited, to avoid someone who was passing by overhearing us.
We couldn’t see each other, but my dad held my hand the entire time. After the first five minutes of waiting, he began squeezing it occasionally in reassurance when he noticed that I had shifted into my demon form again. My hands were the same size, but it was impossible not to perceive my increased gripping strength and black claws.
I felt like I could trust Mr. Burrows, but waiting like this without being able to see made me uncomfortable and anxious. At least I could hear better in what I was beginning to feel like was my more natural f
orm.
Finally, I heard Mr. Burrows exit the building just after dark and approach the cart. He abruptly greeted someone passing by, encouraging them to join the meeting, before speaking in a low voice as he shifted the tarp off us.
“Quick,” he urged simply.
I bolted inside the door in the blink of an eye, a combination of my speed and everything slowing down.
I was amused when I heard Mr. Burrows look at my empty spot in disbelief. His tone was shocked.
“Where is she?” he whispered urgently.
My dad’s voice was low as he jumped out of the wagon. “Inside already, I guess.”
The head of the Guard seemed to be at a loss for words as he fumbled around with various noises before following my dad back into the building.
I shifted forms again just as my dad passed through, wanting to be ‘presentable’ in case someone happened to spot me. Even though our town wasn’t massive by any standards, not everyone would recognize me on sight, so being human was enough of a disguise. In fact, I was sure less than a tenth of the town’s population would identify me as Alyssa Dracul, although now many more probably knew my name – especially after what happened.
Mr. Burrows led us through the dark room into a hallway lit with a few oil lamps mounted on the walls. We then made a turn, followed by entering through another doorway. I knew immediately we must be close to the stage, because the loud murmurs of at least a hundred people talking filled my human ears. The dimly lit storage room was not much larger than our living room at home, and it was filled with an assortment of random crates and furniture.
“Alright,” the head of the Guard said at a normal volume, speaking to my dad. “If you decide you want to leave before this is over, you can use my horse. I can just pick it up tomorrow if I need to.”
My dad nodded in agreement. “Sure.”
Mr. Burrows hesitated, glancing at me. “Is there anything you two need?”
My dad shook his head. “No, we should be fine. Right?” he added, looking down at me too.
I nodded silently, my stomach feeling like it was in knots.
Mr. Burrows grunted in acknowledgement, and then grabbed a hollow cone-shaped piece of metal standing on one of the crates. I kne it was a megaphone used to project a person’s voice. He then proceeded through the next door opposite the one we had come through. It abruptly grew much louder as his actions revealed that the stage was just through another doorway down a short hall. There was no door leading directly there, which was why it was so boisterous even in this room.
I had never been behind the stage before, but I knew from having seen it a few times that the townhall was just a giant room with a raised platform. There usually wasn’t seating available. Instead, everyone stood as close to the podium as possible, so they could hear better.
Surprisingly, when Mr. Burrows made an appearance in the brightly lit room, it became much louder instead of quieter. He had to use the megaphone to get everyone in order. He then began to explain some of the minor details of what had happened – leaving my involvement out of it entirely – before trying to move on to figuring out what to do with the displaced families, as well as who would volunteer to help clean up and rebuild.
I realized he must be attempting to get the important parts accomplished first, rather than spend the entire night debating about me.
Unfortunately, he didn’t get very far before people started interrupting.
“What about the dragons in the sky?!” a woman yelled loudly.
“Is it true the mayor is dead?!” a man demanded.
“I heard Axel Dracul’s daughter turned into a devil!” a second man shouted.
“She did turn into a devil! I saw it with my own eyes!” another woman announced.
Within a matter of seconds, the entire mass of them erupted into loud roars as everyone began talking at once.
“Now wait a minute!” Mr. Burrows tried saying into his megaphone, but everyone was talking too loudly. No one listened to him.
“I said be quiet!” he repeated.
Still no one listened.
“SHUT UP!” he finally screamed at the top of his lungs. I was sure his face was red from the effort.
Everyone finally settled down enough for him to continue speaking. “We were attacked by a monster today!” he repeated in an elevated tone. “A monster that our guns were useless against! Ask any of my guards who were there, and they will tell you. Shooting that creature in the eyes at point-blank did almost nothing! Half of the town should be dead right now!” he raised his voice even more. “All of you would be dead right now!” he repeated. “If it weren’t for Alyssa Dracul risking her life to protect us! She almost died today, slaying that monster single-handedly! I don’t give a damn what she is! She’s a hero! She’s the only reason we’re even having this meeting, instead of mourning the death of half the town!”
He paused then, seeming more like he had lost his train of thought, rather than being finished speaking. However, the silence that unexpectedly followed was absolute – as if there was no one in the room with him.
“Dracul’s daughter is a devil?” a man finally said in disbelief. His voice was at normal volume, but with everyone being silent, he was easily heard.
“Devil!” another woman shrieked. “I knew it! She and her mother are devils!”
“Now wait a minute!” Mr. Burrows tried again, but the woman just became more hysterical and began riling up some of the crowd.
“SOMEONE SHUT THAT DAMN WOMAN UP!” he screamed, his voice breaking. I doubted anyone did anything, but she stopped. Mr. Burrows quickly continued. “Alyssa Dracul has lived amongst us all of her life and never caused any problems. She–“
The man who unexpectedly interrupted must have had his hands cupped over his mouth, because his voice carried even despite Mr. Burrow’s megaphone. “What about that fire?! I was there, and it was the same kind we saw when the mayor’s son and all those kids were killed!”
The head of the Guard seemed to stutter as he tried to work up a response. “Well, that’s a separate situation we are investigating.” He paused as the volume from the crowd began to rise again. “For all we know, she might have been defending the kids – her classmates. Also, most of Ryker Benedict’s body is gone, as if he were eaten, likely by the monster we saw today.”
I barely heard the end of his statement, because the crowd was so loud again it drowned out his words. Someone commented regarding why I had kept the monster a secret if I already knew about it, but it was lost in the sea of sound.
I glanced up at my dad to see his expression tense, his brow furrowed, his blue eyes tight. Likely, he was worried that the long-imbedded rumors about my mother were going to prevent most of the people from accepting the situation. They wouldn’t even leave time for Mr. Burrows to fully try to answer the questions being brought up. And there were too many questions he couldn’t answer to satisfy their suspicion.
Just as I was beginning to feel like we should just leave, the crowd unexpectedly grew significantly quieter without any prompt.
Then, it became almost completely silent when someone cleared their throat through the megaphone – not as an act of getting people to be quiet, but rather just as preparation for speaking.
A familiar woman’s voice chimed in then, amplified by the instrument.
“I’m sure most of you know who I am, since I’ve either taught you personally, or at least taught your children. For those who don’t know, I’m Michelle Boone.” The teacher took a deep breath. “Today, I witnessed another teacher strike Alyssa Dracul across the face, knocking her to the floor.”
Her voice abruptly became more firm. “Now before you debate whether or not she deserved it, that doesn’t matter. Mayor Glen Benedict has long since removed institutional correction from our classes. That being said, I overheard the conversation between Ms. Dracul and the teacher, and she didn’t deserve to be struck. But the most important thing is this – despite being wrongly hit,
Ms. Dracul made no attempts of reprisal.”
She took a deep breath. “Now, I know nothing of this devil business, but if Alyssa Dracul really killed a monster that even guns couldn’t harm, then I can only imagine it must have taken a significant amount of self-restraint on her part to be struck wrongfully and do nothing in return. I know that I personally would not have been so forgiving if it were me. And I stand by that.”
At her final words, not a sound could be heard, as if the room was completely empty again.
Chapter 15: Saved
Still in my human form, I didn’t hear the handoff of the megaphone, so I was surprised when Mr. Burrows began speaking again. “And as I’ve already said,” he continued from where Mrs. Boone had left off. “Alyssa almost died trying to protect all of us. And considering what I saw her do, she could have just as easily run away. In fact, at one point she was thrown clear over the trapped crowd.” He paused. “I was sure we were all dead, but then she came back and continued to fight.” He cleared his throat. “I’ve seen grown men run away from much less. And she’s only what? Thirteen?”
Mrs. Boone must have corrected him, because he quickly continued.
“Fifteen. No fifteen-year-old girl, devil or not, should have to defend grown men. And yet that is exactly what she did. She could have continued hiding her secret, but instead she saved us all.”
The murmuring crowd was beginning to escalate in volume again. However, it appeared they must have settled into the preestablished organized structure for such meetings, because Mr. Burrows said, “Go ahead,” to someone just before they spoke.
“And what about Mayor Benedict?” a man asked. “How do we know Dracul’s daughter isn’t responsible for killing him?”
“And why would she be?” Mr. Burrows retorted. “Are you suggesting that a girl is a more likely suspect than any other person just because of how she looks? She–”
Unexpectedly, his voice cut off and Mrs. Boone spoke again. “Alyssa has been at school all day.”
There was a pause, before Mr. Burrows chimed in. “And she showed up to the Sykes’ residence, to visit her injured classmate, shortly afterwards. I believe Aldrich’s youngest was with her too. So then, it sounds as if someone knew of her whereabouts at all times. Not to mention the attack was clear on the other side of town from where Glen Benedict was found deceased.”
Magicbound to a Snake Girl Page 19
