Milayna

by Michelle K. Pickett

  “See, honey, falling down the stairs won’t be a big stretch for you. You can even fall up them.” She walked away, giggling.

  “Ha freakin’ ha,” I muttered.

  I called Chay for a ride, but his mother said he’d already left. He had a quiz to make up. I didn’t even want to think about the amount of work I had to make up. The thought made my head pound. I had demons to deal with. I couldn’t be worrying about chemistry labs and calculus. Who the hell cared what x equaled?

  “So what’s the official story?” Muriel asked, interrupting my thoughts. She had given me a ride to school. We walked from the student parking lot to our lockers.

  “Hmm?”

  “Your face.” She tilted her head to the side. “People are bound to notice.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yeah. Um, I fell down the stairs.”

  She walked with me to chemistry, said she’d see me the next hour in calculus, and walked away. I looked through the door into the classroom. Chay sat at our lab area, his arms folded on the table, his head lying on them. I walked quietly to the desk and hefted my book bag up. It landed with a loud thwack next to him. He jumped up straight in his chair.

  “Now you know how it feels,” I said with a smile. “You look like hell, Chay.”

  “That was going to be my line.” He stood, pulling out my chair for me, and I sat down. As he moved away, he let the tips of his fingers glide over the skin at the base of my neck. I shivered. “So, what’s the story? Stairs?”

  “Yep. Just tumbled down the darn things,” I said loud enough for everyone to hear.

  It wasn’t like someone wasn’t going to figure out our lie. Chay was bruised, I was bruised; Drew, Jeff, and Jen were all bruised. Not to mention the other side. I was sure they had their fair share of cuts and bruises, as well. It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out there’d been a fight. The only real issue was to make sure no one knew what the fight was about.

  “I missed you yesterday.” He pushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear. His finger trailed down the side of my face.

  “I missed you, too. Uncle Rory insisted on coming over. We ended up watching the sports channel all day. It was torture. I actually wanted to do homework.”

  “Well, I’m glad I’m better company than Uncle Rory.”

  “Slightly.”

  He laughed. I loved that sound, a slow rumbling deep in his chest. He flashed me a wide smile that crinkled the skin around his eyes like only a real smile can. And for a moment, time stood still and we weren’t in chemistry class. We weren’t fighting demi-demons or demons. We were just two people together. Normal. In love.

  The teacher started class. We had a lab to work on. Since I didn’t do the homework assignment because I was home—falling down stairs, apparently—I relied on Chay’s notes. He bent his head close to mine, showing me the lab in the textbook… I breathed him in. He pointed out something in his notes… I stole glances as his profile. He explained the assignment… I watched his lips move and remembered how they felt against mine. When class was over, I had no idea what we did or even if I helped.

  School lasted forever. When the last bell rang, I just wanted to get into the car with Chay and go home. My head pounded and my face throbbed. I wanted to crawl into a nice, warm bath and soak my aches and pains away.

  “See ya in the gym.” Muriel walked past me in the hallway with a wave.

  Ugh, swim practice. I’d forgotten it was Thursday. I wanted to duck out, but I’d missed so many practices that I was going to get kicked off the team if I missed any more.

  “I get to see you in that sexy swim hat.” Chay waggled his eyebrows.

  I groaned. Not only did I have to go to swim practice, the horrendous swimming cap would pull all my hair from my face and every ugly mark and bruise would show. At least with my hair down, it hid some of it. And I had a pimple on the side of my nose. It was like the cherry on top of everything else.

  Can this day get any worse? I probably shouldn’t ask that. The answer is most definitely ‘yes.’

  I dragged myself into the locker room and changed into my swimsuit. Picking up my swim cap, I sighed and bounced it in my hand a few times. Scrunching my nose at the ugly thing, I jammed it under the edge of the leg opening of my suit so it hung down my thigh, and left the locker room.

  On my way to the pool, my coach walked by me. “Where’s your cap, Jackson?” Her voice echoed off the sickly green, ceramic-tiled walls, making my head pound even more.

  “It’s so tight. It hurts to wear it. I was hoping I’d get some brownie points for looking like Frankenstein’s kid, but no go, huh?”

  “If you’re swimming, you’re wearing the cap.”

  “Fine,” I muttered. I looked around. Chay sat on the bleachers overlooking the pool.

  Maybe I won’t look so bad from way up there.

  I bent over, my hair hanging over my head. I grabbed it, twisted it into a knot, and shoved it all in the white swim cap before diving into the pool.

  The water was cool and felt good against my bruised face. It muffled the sounds of the voices echoing in the pool area, making my head feel just the teensiest bit better. I stayed under water as long as I could, letting the air bubbles swirl around me. It wasn’t until I felt a poke in the ribs and saw Muriel jerk her thumb upwards that I surfaced.

  She sighed. “We’re doing laps.”

  Hefting my body out of the water, I walked to my lane. I waited for the buzzer and dove into the water, pushing myself to swim as hard and fast as I could. The physical exertion felt good. By the time swim practice was over, the endorphins had kicked in and I was in a much better mood.

  ***

  I was right behind Muriel. We were walking out of the girls’ locker room after we’d showered and changed, and she was gossiping about something someone said during practice. I wasn’t really listening. I stopped for just a second to adjust my things when he stepped out in front of me, separating me from Muriel, who walked into the hall, still talking.

  I sucked in a breath. “Move, Edward,” I said as forcefully as I could, trying to keep my voice firm. He wasn’t a demi-angel who’d switched sides. No, he had an evil aura around him that only a demi-demon could. I really wanted to scream out to Muriel, but something held me back. I still wasn’t completely convinced I could trust her.

  Didn’t she see him when she walked by? She would’ve had to… right?

  “I know this isn’t how you want to live, Milayna. I know you don’t like your powers, that you don’t like being a demi-angel.” He stepped closer to me.

  “You don’t know anything about me.” I moved to the side and tried to brush past him. He pushed me back.

  “Oh, I think I do. Things can be different. You just have to renounce what you are. Go to Azazel and join his legion. Things would be so different for you. You wouldn’t be plagued by those awful visions anymore.” A smile spread across Edward’s face. “Azazel will treat you like a princess. Fame, wealth, jewels. You’ll have anything you want and more.”

  “Thanks, but no.”

  “You’re just making it harder on yourself and those you love.”

  I stilled. Harder on those I love? Mom and Dad. Oh! Benjamin. He’s so young. It’s not fair for them to touch him. Not one damn hair on his head. Wait…

  “Ah, I see you’re thinking of the benefits of a life with us,” he murmured.

  I steeled myself. Things were already hard for those I loved. Azazel wouldn’t make it any easier once he controlled my powers.

  “No, I’m just thinking how stupid you are for asking. What kind of crap are you spouting? Things are already hard on the people I love. But mark my words, if Azazel so much as touches a hair on the head of anyone I love, I’ll end him.”

  He let out a banshee-like scream and ran for me. I sidestepped him, and he ran into the wall behind me before he could stop. The force knocked him backward, and he fell on his ass.

  “See? Stupid.” I walked to the d
oor. I wanted to run like hell, but I didn’t want to show any weakness in front of him, so I forced myself to walk calmly and slowly.

  “Bitch, you have no idea the shit storm you’re bringing down on yourself. Personally, I can’t wait to see it,” he called, standing and brushing his khakis off.

  “No doubt.”

  Just as I walked out of the locker room, Chay rounded the corner at a full run. He took the corner too fast and slipped, catching himself with his hand on the floor before he fell. His sneakers squeaked loudly against the tiled floor.

  He grabbed me. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  He folded me in his arms, kissing the top of my head. “What happened?” He put his finger under my chin and tipped my head back, grazing his lips over mine in a whisper-soft kiss.

  “Where’s Muriel?”

  “I don’t know. When she came down the hall alone, I asked where you were and she said she didn’t know,” he said. “That’s when I knew something was wrong.”

  “I was right behind her. She was talking to me. How could she not realize something was wrong?” I chewed the corner of my bottom lip. I didn’t understand why Muriel left without me, and I knew there was no way she didn’t see the demi-demon go into the locker room when she exited. My mind did the math and circled around the answer, but I didn’t like what I saw. I refused to even consider that she might be the traitor. No. She wouldn’t turn.

  Chay put his hands on my shoulders. “What happened?”

  “I was walking behind Muriel out of the locker room.” I waved at the door behind me. “Some of my things slipped, and I stopped for just a second to adjust them when Edward walked in front of me.”

  “Edward,” Chay spat. “He’s a demi-”

  “Demi-demon, yeah, I know. What I don’t know is how he slipped by Muriel without her seeing him. The entrance to the locker room is rounded. We walk in from the hallway and then follow the U-shaped curve around and into the locker room. There are no doorways or nooks where he could have been hiding. It’s all one smooth, tiled wall.”

  “What did Edward do?” Chay threaded his fingers through mine.

  “Just ran his mouth,” I said, still distracted by Muriel and how she missed seeing Edward. Even if he had walked into the hallway after she left, she would have seen him. And besides, he didn’t have time. He showed up too quickly after she walked by. He’d been in that hallway. I was sure of it.

  “What’d he say?” Chay gave my hand a small squeeze when I didn’t elaborate.

  “Oh, you know, the same old stuff. Switch sides, Azazel is great, he won’t kill you, your family will be safe, you’ll have wealth, popularity, standard stuff like that.”

  Chay pushed me behind him. I looked up and saw Edward saunter past, a smile pulled across his crooked teeth.

  “Chay,” he said.

  Chay nodded his head once in acknowledgement.

  “Think you can keep her safe forever? I just proved we can get to her whenever we want,” Edward taunted.

  Chay didn’t answer. He watched Edward walk by before pulling me around to face him. He kissed me softly on the forehead. “C’mon. Let’s get outta here.”

  ***

  Chay was quiet driving home. I tried to get him to talk several times, but he only grunted in response. Finally, I gave up.

  He pulled into my driveway and got out of the car, walking around to open my door for me. I slid out of the car and grabbed my bag. Chay lifted my bag from my shoulder and shut the car door. We walked up the front steps and onto the front porch. It was a cheery porch. Flowering plants hung from the rafters, and two wicker rockers sat side-by-side. My parents sat there on summer evenings, holding hands and talking about their day. I had only good memories of the house I’d grown up in, and it made me angry that those memories were being overshadowed by demons, fighting, and the constant threat of Azazel.

  “You want to have something cold to drink and sit on the back deck? Or do you want to come over to my place? I just stocked my refrigerator with all your favorites.” He grinned.

  “Our parents aren’t home. They aren’t going to like—”

  “I don’t care.” At the argument he saw forming on my lips, he said, “I don’t care. I’m not leaving you alone. Besides, once your dad finds out what happened, he won’t be mad.”

  “You can’t tell my dad.” I grabbed Chay’s arm, my eyes wide. If it got out that we thought Muriel was a traitor, true or not, it would put a wedge the size of China between our families. I couldn’t let that happen.

  “We have to tell him.”

  “No,” I shook my head.

  “Why the hell not?” Chay’s voice rose, and I flinched.

  “Because if he thinks Muriel is involved, he’ll go to Uncle Rory. If Muriel isn’t involved, it will cause a lot of anger in my family. Maybe something that can’t be repaired. If Muriel is involved, we don’t want her to know that we know. So you can’t tell my dad.”

  Chay licked his lips and looked at the sky before he nodded once. “Fine. We’ll tell him you had a vision, but I’m not leaving you alone, Milayna.”

  I smiled. “I don’t want you to.”

  “I’ll meet you out back.” He walked down the drive. I heard the gate to the backyard creak open before he closed and latched it.

  I dropped my things on the foyer floor on my way to the kitchen to grab some cold Cokes and a bag of chips. I jumped when I saw Chay watching me through the patio door.

  I opened the door. “What’s wrong?”

  “Let’s go to my house.” He filled the doorway, blocking my view outside. But I smelled the sulfur.

  “Why?” He didn’t answer me. “Chay? Why?” When he didn’t answer, I grabbed the pops and chips. I elbowed him in the ribs so he’d move from the door and I walked outside, laying the snacks on the patio table.

  “This is so messed up! Like, mondo bizzarro.” I watched as the six hobgoblins ran through my yard, cackling and spraying each other with the water hose. I dropped down in a deck chair and leaned back into the cushions. “This is so not how I imagined my senior year.”

  Chay laughed and sat down next to me. “They’ll get tired sooner or later and leave.”

  “Yeah, I know. Wanna make out while we’re waiting?” I asked with a smile.

  “Stupid question.” He moved closer to me and lowered his head to mine.

  “Chay! Kissing Milayna? Naughty, naughty,” the friendly goblin squealed. The other five stopped and looked at us. Scarface scowled.

  “Get your kisses in now, boy. The day is almost here. Her birthday. No need to get her anything. She won’t be around long enough to enjoy it,” Scarface growled.

  Three days until my birthday.

  Jake loved the gym. He confronted me the first time in the gym. I supposed it was a logical choice. It was Saturday, so the gym was empty.

  We’d finished another swim practice to get ready for a meet we had the next week. Muriel and I were on our way to the locker room, but we made a detour to the vending machines. The back way to the locker room was closest, but we had to cut through the gym. Big mistake.

  We were talking about practice. Who did well, who sucked. Who was dating whom, who was cheating… all the good juice. We were halfway across the room when Jake and his friends appeared.

  “Nice job at practice today.” Jake smiled. The face I used to find so beautiful now disgusted me.

  Neither Muriel nor I answered. We were sizing up the group, calculating our chances of getting out of the gym—through the doors. I wasn’t in favor of taking a detour through Hell.

  “Not speaking to me?” Jake raised an eyebrow at me and folded his arms across his chest. My stomach dropped when his biceps flexed, and not in the gooey-swoony way they would have a couple of months before. No, more like the how-the-hell-are-we-gonna-get-outta-this way.

  I tried to swallow, but my mouth was too dry. My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth and tasted sour.

  Fear
, Milayna, that’s what it tastes like. Oh, shut up! I should be giving myself a pep talk, not telling myself I’m scared shitless.

  I looked from side to side and bounced slightly on the balls of my feet. Closing my eyes for the count of three, I visualized somewhere calming to steady my racing heart. I didn’t trust Jake, so I didn’t dare keep my eyes closed long.

  There were four of them. If Chay sensed trouble and came, we’d be fine. We could take them. If not, well, Muriel and I would be visiting a warmer climate, and it wouldn’t be the Caribbean.

  When I dropped my bag from my shoulder, it hit the floor with a loud thud. I kept the strap wrapped around my hand, tensing my fingers. Inhaling a deep breath through my nose, I blew it out slowly before inhaling another.

  I stared at Jake, trying really hard not to look away, even though I wanted to watch the others. I had to trust Muriel for that and trusting her was something I was having trouble doing, especially since it was her idea to take the back way to the locker room.

  “Maybe we can outrun them,” Muriel whispered so low that I had to strain to hear her over the blood galloping behind my ears.

  As if on cue, one of the Evils walked around and stood behind us. We’d have to plow through him to get out of the door. That would give Jake and his Azazel-loving homies time to catch us, and I’d rather fight Jake head on than have him gain the upper hand by grabbing me from behind.

  “Doubtful.” I shook my head slightly.

  Jake stood directly in front of us, blocking our way to the locker room. His flunkies had circled us, one on the left and one on the right. The guy in the back blocked our way into the hall. There was nowhere to run.

  Chay, come on. Please.

  Jake rushed Muriel. The guy behind us ran to me. So did the guy on my left. I tightened my grip on the strap of my book bag. When they were close enough, I swung it around. It hit the first guy hard on the side of the head, knocking him backward. But it lost momentum and the second guy knocked it away.

  He wasn’t very large, no more than a couple inches taller than I was. But he was strong, and his skills were nearly equal to mine. The only good thing on my side was that the other guy was still holding the side of his head. He stumbled backward, hit the bleachers, and fell and hit his head a second time on the side of the seat. Guy number one was so sufficiently dazed that I didn’t have to worry about him—yet.