by Cassandra
Still, it sucked that she had been grounded twice for the same crime. Where was the justice in that?
With another heavy sigh, she cranked the truck’s engine and was about to head down the road, when her phone buzzed yet again. She looked at it and hoped it wasn’t her mother again, upset that she hadn’t replied to her message. But when she looked at the screen, she saw that this time, it really was Kacey.
Her heart leapt and a butterfly swished through her stomach, right along with a healthy dose of apprehension as well. She hoped he hadn’t changed his mind about her for whatever reason, even though she knew it was nothing more than her own paranoia at work that made her have such a thought.
She opened the message quickly. How about bowling? Does next Friday work for you?
“Dammit,” she muttered. She pulled her gloves off so that she could reply. Nope.
Oh, OK. Kacey’s reply came before she could clarify her answer. She flinched, somehow able to sense that he had assumed the worst.
Her fingers flew as Jessica typed hurriedly to explain herself. My parents are back from vacation and they grounded me. We’ll have to wait another week.
Oh, OK. Week after next it is then, Kacey replied mere seconds later, this time with a smiling emoji to go along with it.
She grinned and felt the butterflies float through her stomach again. It was funny how merely weeks ago, she had been thoroughly convinced that she could never view Kacey as anything more than a friend. Yet now, she desperately looked forward to going out with him again and hoped that their next date—with only the two of them alone—would go much better than their first outing together had gone.
Chapter Sixteen
With thoughts of Kacey running steadily through her mind, Jessica parked in front of Grandma Ethel’s house. It was dark out now, but light shone through the curtains. She wondered momentarily whether her grandmother was asleep yet, but then she noticed Chad’s and Pastor Norman’s cars still parked on the street.
It’s almost like they live here too now, she mused.
She cut the radio and car engine, grabbing her backpack and the Chinese takeout her mother had sent with her, and pushed the door to her truck open and hopped out.
Immediately, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and it had nothing to do with the cold air outside.
A low growl drifted toward her ears. It sounded harsher than any dog she had ever heard in her life.
She didn’t need to think twice to know this was no normal dog, not by a long shot.
The demon had arrived.
Her heart seemed to stop altogether when she heard it release another growl that somehow sounded even angrier than the first. Her gaze darted over her surroundings and attempted to adjust to the darkness. Her assumption had been that it wouldn’t be difficult to identify a demonic two-headed dog, but clearly, that wasn’t the case. Even though she could hear the creature as clearly as day, she couldn’t see it anywhere and wondered briefly if demons could temporarily make themselves invisible.
She knew that it lurked in the shadows, audible but not visible—toying with her—and that made her feel so much worse. Her body trembled from head to toe as she envisioned the creature waiting for the most opportune moment to spring out at her and rip her to shreds.
So far, she had faced demons that looked like other people, overgrown lizards, tree branches, and an army of beetles and had even witnessed an exorcism. Yet somehow, this one topped the list and scared her more than all the others combined. She supposed it had something to do with when she had been in Kindergarten and had been bitten by a friend’s poodle. Dogs had always made her slightly wary since then—a fact that she had inconveniently managed to forget until now.
A bite from a two-headed demon dog has to hurt more than a nip on the finger from a hyperactive miniature poodle. The thought of being ripped limb from limb sobered her, and Jessica stumbled back inside her car. Still trembling and breathing heavily, she tried to decide what to do. With shaky hands, she grabbed her phone and called her grandma.
“…boy, you and that pastor will eat me out of a house and home. Isn’t that your third plate?”
“Grandma!” Jessica yelled into the phone.
“Oh, I’m messing with you. Hey, Pastor, feed the cats for me. I’m on the phone… Get their kibble over there. Show him, Grace.”
“Grandma!” Jessica yelled. “Grandma, it’s here!”
“Jessica?” Ethel finally paid attention to her granddaughter on the phone. “Girl, what are you hollering about?”
“I’m outside in my truck, Grandma. Right outside the house. The two-headed demon dog is here somewhere. I can hear it, but I can’t see it.”
Seconds later, Jessica heard only the dial tone because Ethel had hung up on her. The front door swung open with a crash, and the old lady appeared on the porch and peered into the darkness with a stern gaze.
Jessica set her phone down and cracked the window of her truck. “Grandma?” she whispered as loudly as she dared.
“I hear him, sweet-pea. I hear him.” Grandma Ethel’s voice carried easily from the top of the steps. “Dammit. I’d go after him myself if I could. But you know the rules of the game. Only one player. No cheating.”
“What’s going on out here, Ethel?” Pastor Norman appeared in the doorway behind Ethel. He didn’t need to ask any further questions, though, as the hidden demon dog answered with another spine-tingling growl.
Jessica might not have been able to see the demon, but even through the darkness, she could see the way Pastor Norman’s eyes widened as the problem dawned on him.
“What’s this, a party or something?” Chad’s voice interjected a moment later. He stepped out onto the porch with a bowl in his hand and a spoon in his mouth and chewed obliviously until he noticed the expressions on his companions’ faces. “What is it?”
“Shhh!” Ethel and Pastor Norman said at the same time.
Chad frowned but in the next moment, he too heard the growl. “Whoa… It’s here? The dog?” He noticed Jessica in the truck for the first time and locked eyes with her. “All right. Look, Jess, don’t panic. You can do this. I’d do it for you if I could, with this being my coven’s specialty, but you have to do this yourself. You know that. So remember what we practiced. You got this.”
His quick pep talk finally snapped Jessica back to her senses.
Yes, she remembered what she had practiced with Chad—most notably how it hadn’t worked for her.
Which led her to remember the measures she’d taken as well as what her mother had taught her in order to find a method that would work.
Jessica closed her eyes for an instant and took a deep breath. He’s right, I can do this, she told herself.
When she opened her eyes, she sprang into action.
Her hands moved quickly as she scrabbled through her backpack and pulled out the lighter and the hairspray. Then, she remembered the candle her mother had given her.
She hesitated and quickly weighed the options in her mind as she debated which one she wanted to try. Which would work better—the candle or the lighter? Before she could spare it much thought, though, a dark shadow moved across her truck.
Slowly, she raised her eyes as a trio of horrified gasps sounded from her grandmother’s front porch.
The demon had finally revealed itself, and it was more hideous than she could have ever imagined.
It’s size alone was terrifying, more in line with a miniature horse than a dog. It had shiny black fur, heads suitable in size for adult lions, and rows of teeth that looked like they could easily bite through steel. As it snarled and exposed those horrific teeth, long strings of saliva drooped from the mouths and pooled on the ground beside its enormous paws.
The candle. I’ll use the candle, Jessica decided since it was bigger than the lighter and would be easier for her to hold. That was important, especially considering the way her hands shook uncontrollably.
She knew that she lost precious time
with each second that passed, so Jessica forced herself to think of coldness—naked in a blizzard holding ice-cubes type of cold. She tried to experience that bone-chilling coldness from head to toe. All the while, she fumbled inside her backpack again for the roll of duck-tape she kept handy for class projects and quick car repairs.
Her hands still trembled as she set to work using the tape to bind the candle to the can of hairspray. All the while, she concentrated her thoughts on coldness and tried to ignore the way the ground shook as the demon advanced slowly toward her truck. Grandma Ethel, Chad, and Pastor Norman yelled at her—instructions or encouragement, she assumed—but she blocked their voices out as well. She had to apply her full concentration to what she did if she wanted it to work.
When her impromptu flame-thrower was finally ready, Jessica took a deep breath, opened the door to her truck, and thought about welcome relief from the coldness she had imagined.
A bright flame ignited on the candlestick, and she immediately pressed down on the hairspray top to send a hot and roaring flame in the demon’s direction. It had been mere feet away from her, possibly seconds away from reaching her truck and smashing it to pieces before it split her in half to devour.
Now, however, the beast erupted into flames and snarled in fury and pain. The heads snapped at the fire and its agonized cries filled the night. The bright flames engulfed the monster and rocketed all the way up into the sky. In mere seconds, the hideous creature stumbled away from her and spun in circles as it attempted to fight the fire.
Moments later, it collapsed and crumbled into a pile of ashes that tinged the air with an acrid smell before they drifted away in the wind and left nothing behind but the memory of smoke.
Everything was momentarily quiet and still until the peace was disturbed by a well-timed expletive, courtesy of Grandma Ethel.
Jessica looked up as her grandma ran down the porch steps and across the yard toward her. When she reached her, she pulled her granddaughter into a hug.
Still dumbfounded, she grimaced as her face squashed into her grandma’s shoulder and the old woman’s perfume stung her nose.
“You did it,” Ethel cried and left a big sloppy kiss on her forehead. “It was my spell, wasn’t it? You’ve been practicing.”
“No. I was actually the last one to teach her fire spells,” Chad said and moved toward them. “You used what I taught you, didn’t you, Jess?”
She blinked and shook her head. A part of her still tried to process the fact that she had defeated a two-headed demon dog.
Pastor Norman making his way over to join them and Jessica glanced from him to her grandmother, and finally, to Chad. “My mother taught me a fire spell. That’s what I used. And it worked.”
“Oh, I should have known.” The old lady shook her head but didn’t look displeased at all. “Your mother always had her own way of doing things. And so do you, it seems.” She paused and smiled. “I’m so proud of you. Of both of you.”
“Hmm.” Chad rubbed his chin. “You’ll have to tell me how your mother does it, then. It might be useful to know some other methods for when I’m training interns.”
Grandma Ethel waved her hand. “Certainly. But that can wait. Right now, I think a reward is in order.”
“And what’s that? Has she earned the right to a drink, this time with your approval?” Chad teased.
“Ha, ha. I wouldn’t even want that,” Jessica said.
Her grandmother chuckled. “Good. Because that’s not what I had in mind, anyway. What I thought was that you’ve earned a night off from punishment. But only one night. I can’t have you thinking that I’m such a pushover, all it takes is a little demon-killing to get you off the hook.”
“Gee, thanks,” Jessica said sarcastically but she still felt ecstatic, nonetheless.
The two-headed dog already nearly forgotten, she gathered the rest of her belongings from her truck and she, Grandma Ethel, Pastor Norman, and Chad returned to the house. As always, they pushed aside the cats that had gathered around the door to see what all the commotion was about.
“You know,” she said, “maybe having tonight off is good after all. I can go ahead and tell…my friend…that we can meet up if he’s free.”
“He?” Grandma Ethel said.
“Why do I have a good guess who you’re referring to?” Chad said.
Jessica rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” She pulled her phone out, ready to text Kacey to ask if he wanted to meet up later. Butterflies had already begun to form in her stomach at the possibility.
“Hold on, not so fast,” Ethel said and frowned slightly.
“Oh, Grandma. Come on! It’ll only be for a little while. I’ll come home early.”
“I’m only saying that you first need to roll the dice and prepare for the next demon. The game isn’t over yet, you know.”
“But you said I could have the night off,” Jessica whined. She felt childish doing so, but she couldn’t help herself. In that moment, she could practically see her outing with Kacey float out of the realm of possibility.
“From your punishment, yes. But from this game?” Ethel shook her head. “Sorry, kid.”
“I hate to say it, but I have to agree with Ethel,” Pastor Norman chimed in.
“And why do you hate to say that?” her grandmother asked with a raised eyebrow.
He smiled serenely. “Because I remember what it’s like to be her age.” He looked apologetically at Jessica. “There really is no break from this game until it’s finished. And the sooner you can finish it, the better. Think about that young man who’s still trapped.”
A pang of guilt went through Jessica. How could she have forgotten about Roger? She sighed and put her phone away. “Yeah, you guys are right.”
When she realized that she wouldn’t go anywhere anytime soon, Jessica shed her coat and threw it carelessly onto the couch.
“Hey!” a voice yelled and she jumped instinctively.
“Oh, my God,” she said, lifted the coat, and removed Frank from the pocket. With all the excitement, she had forgotten about him. He emerged and looked more than a little disgruntled. His hair was a mess, and he wobbled dizzily on his legs. “You can’t let me sleep in peace, can you?” he demanded bitterly.
“I was a little busy if you didn’t notice.” She sighed and rolled her eyes. “You know what? Go back to sleep, Frank.”
The imp continued to stare at her from the couch, affronted. Jessica ignored him, remembered the left-overs she’d brought for Ethel, and handed them over. “Here, Grandma. In case you’re hungry.”
“I don’t know about you, Miss Ethel, but I certainly am,” Chad said. “Is there enough to share?”
“Weren’t you eating when I got here?” Jessica said.
“You must have tapeworms or something,” the old lady said and took the food into the kitchen. Chad and Pastor Norman followed on her heels. “Oh, by the way, Jess, a few parcels came for you through the mail. They’re upstairs in your room.”
“Okay, thanks,” she said.
Chapter Seventeen
The knowledge that she had some packages waiting for her upstairs instantly restored Jessica’s mood. Giddily, she raced up to her room, excited to find a large box from Amazon in addition to a couple of smaller ones.
She was about to rip them open, starting with the biggest one, but stopped herself abruptly.
No, I’ll wait, she thought. That’ll give me something to look forward to after I roll the dice again and see what monstrosity I’ll face next. Cards, boxes, Kacey—in that order.
Rather proud of herself that she’d exercised such extreme self-restraint, she left the boxes untouched, retrieved the demon cards, and went back downstairs. She found the group—including Frank—sharing the Chinese takeout she had brought back from her parents’ house. Their portions were small to ensure there was enough to go around and as she noted the tiny portions, she wished she had brought back more. But there hadn’t been much left over, to begin with, and she
hadn’t expected the others to still be hanging around when she returned.
Frank munched another long noodle as they all sat around the dining room table. Between him and Chad was the extra fold-up chair that held Roger’s framed card. Another pang went through her chest. Roger’s absence felt extremely heavy in that moment.
“Do you want any more, Jess?” Grandma Ethel asked and gestured toward the remaining food that was left.
“No, thank you. I had enough already.” Jessica rubbed her stomach. “I’m still stuffed.” She made her way to the end of the table and cleared a place to lay the cards out. “Does anyone wanna bet on what I land on next?” she asked in an attempt to lighten the mood.
The old lady tsked. “Drinking and betting all in one week? What will I say to your mother next?”
“Nothing, because she’s already grounded me for another week.” She sighed.
“Ouch,” said Chad, while Pastor Norman shook his head in sympathy.
“Did she really?” Ethel asked. “Well, good. That means I’m not the only enemy. In that case, my bet’s on the life coven!”
“Well, I’m hoping for the death coven,” Frank said around a long noodle that he had stuffed into his mouth.
Jessica grimaced. She didn’t like the sound of having to dabble in death coven spells. “Of all the covens, Frank, why would you wish that one on me?”
“I’m not wishing it on you, exactly. I want my evil little turd of a cousin to come out this time. That’s the path I wish for him!”
She refrained from saying how harsh that sounded when she realized that if Frank felt that strongly, it had to be for a good reason. “Well,” she said, shook the dice in her hand, and looked from Chad to Pastor Norman. “Any other takers?”
“I think I’ll sit this one out,” the older man said.
