Frederikke Byron's Blog - Posts Tagged "preview"
First Chapter of The Seeker
Prologue
November 2014
I thought that I had tried the worst that the world had to offer. Thought that I couldn't be hurt anymore. Thought that I was untouchable, unmovable. Everything had been taken away from me – everything and everyone. I had thought that I had been through it all, but I was wrong. This had been the worst that had happened to me, and I didn't know how to get back from it. I didn't know how to put myself together again. I didn't even know how to move anymore.
He kept trying to speak to me, to get me to move, to get up off the floor before I bled out, but I couldn't.
I didn't really want to. I wanted to die. If I bled out, I would forget about all of it. I would come back, but without this memory. I wanted that. I wanted to forget. So I closed my eyes and waited for death, but death didn't come… something else did instead.
Chapter 1
If I asked you for good news, would you smile and turn away?
October 2004
"Claire, would you pass me the sugar?" My mom asked me and held out her hand.
"Sure," I quickly grabbed the sugar from the table behind me and handed it to her.
"Thank you, honey," she said and poured the sugar into the bowl with the batter while keeping an eye on the scale underneath. "How many grams did the recipe ask for again?"
I checked the recipe my grandmother had scribbled down that morning before leaving for work. "150," I said and walked up next to my mom. "When do you think grandmother will be home?" I asked and looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It was already well past 6pm.
My mother looked at it too. "She'll be home soon. And if not, we'll just have to eat these cookies for dinner," my mother teased and put some cookie dough on my nose.
I laughed and wiped it off.
"So how was school today?" My mom asked as she pulled a plate out from under the oven for the cookies.
"It was fine," I said and pulled myself onto the kitchen counter. "Nat and I are finally old enough to try out for the cheerleading squad," I smiled. "That is if I can convince her to do it."
"That's wonderful darling," my mom said and some of her British accent slipped through. "And if it means spending more time together, I am sure Natasha will be more than happy to try out for the team with you. There all done," my mother admired her perfectly shaped cookies, before setting them in the oven. She took out her phone and set the timer for 10 minutes. "Now, we just need to wait then…" my mom stopped talking as a loud blast came from the hallway.
She quickly grabbed my arm and ran with me to the closet. "Claire, get in," she ushered me inside. "Stay in here, and don't come out, no matter what happens. Just stay in here," she looked like she was thinking about something, and then she raised her hand and held it out towards me. "Dormeo," she said the word and instantly my eyelids felt heavy, and then I passed out on the bottom of the closet.
***
When I woke up, I was still in the closet. I looked up at the cleaning tools in confusion and sat up groggily. Then I heard voices coming from the kitchen.
"You have to promise me… promise me that you'll protect her…" I could hear my mother's voice. "Keep her away from him… he will not stop…"
I climbed to my feet, opened the closet door, and practically fell into the kitchen. "Mom!" I cried out when I saw her lying on the kitchen floor, a giant hole in her stomach. My grandmother was crouched down next to her, holding her hand. I screamed and ran to her other side.
She looked up at me, with a look of remorse and pain. "I am sorry… I should have told you…" she reached out with her free hand to touch my face, but stopped halfway there. Her hand fell lifelessly down on the bloodstained wooden floor.
"MOM!" I yelled at her, hoping that she would react, but her eyes remained fixed on the ceiling, unblinking, lifeless. I looked at my grandmother with tears streaming down my face. "Do something! Call an ambulance!"
She moved her hand to close my mother's eyes. "It's too late. She's gone."
I jumped up and reached for the landline hanging on the wall, but before I could reach it, it blew up. Shocked I stumbled back from it. I turned and saw my grandmother standing with her arm stretched out in front of her.
She lowered her arm. "No police. We deal with this on our own."
I shook my head and the tears continued to stream down my face. "What are you talking about? Someone came in here and shot her! We have to do something!"
My grandmother shook her head. "Not someone Claire – a demon. And we can't tell that to the police."
"A demon? What are you talking about?!" I yelled. The room started spinning and I fell to my knees. Disbelief and dread spread through my body. My mother had been murdered. She was dead. I shook my head in incredulity. I crawled over to my mother's body and took her hand in mine. It was so cold now. How could it be so cold already?
"Claire. Get up. We have to take care of the body," my grandmother reached for my mother.
"NO!" I yelled. "Get away from her!" I swung my arm at my grandmother and she flew back out of the kitchen. I didn't know what had just happened, but I didn't care. I buried my head on my mother's chest and cried until there were no tears left.
***
September 2011
"What the hell is that?! Who taught you how to draw? Helen Keller?! That is the ugliest banner I have ever seen Trisha!" Christine placed her hands on her and scolded at Trisha, who was sitting on the floor of the gym painting a sign welcoming the seniors of the 2011 class.
I jumped down from the ladder I had been on, setting up another banner and walked over there. "Christine, stop being such a bitch, I am sure that it's…" I stopped when I saw the sign. It really was the ugliest banner in the world. Most of the letters didn't even resemble letters, it was all a jumbled mess.
"I swear Stephen Hawking could draw better than that," Christine continued insulting Trisha, who looked up at her with wide eyes and shaking hands.
"OK!" I said and clasped my hands together before Christine could say another thing. "I think we should all stop for the day. We've been here a long time, and we all want to get out of here," I know that I did. The last thing I had wanted to do was spend the day before the start of the school year painting banners, especially since my best friend was halfway around the world.
The other girls agreed with me and got up, Christine, on the other hand, did not.
"No, we are not done. Claire you might not care, seeing as your boyfriend has gone off to college, but some of us actually want the school to look good for the football team tomorrow."
I looked at her and rolled my eyes. "They're football players. I doubt they'll even notice the banners."
"Well they'll notice them if they look like that," Christine pointed at the banner monstrosity on the floor.
"Fine, so we'll burn that one," I said and then looked apologetically at Trisha who was slowly getting up from the floor. "Sorry Trisha."
"No worries," she smiled at me shyly.
"And who's going to hang up the last of them?" Christine demanded.
"Well, Jenny and June, you guys hung one at the entrance and the main hall already right?"
They both nodded.
"So that just leaves the one in the gym. I'll finish hanging it up. The rest of you can go."
"Only three banners?! We can't just have three banners!" Christine protested as if it was the worst imaginable thing.
"Christine, there are more important things in the world… like sleep for one. I am sure the others will want to get home and get their beauty rest," I added hoping this would help Christine see sense.
Christine looked at all the tired cheerleaders. "Fine! Go home and get your beauty sleep, Gods knows you need it. And if I see even one hair out of place tomorrow or any makeup underneath your eyes, I will personally make your last year of High School living hell!"
I rolled my eyes again. Why do I do this to myself? "Well let's not forget that not everybody here are seniors yet," I said trying to defuse the situation.
"I'll come back," Christine said ominously.
"Well, OK then! And on that happy note; see you all tomorrow!"
"See you!"
"Bye!"
"Have a good night!"
"I'll stay and make sure that you don't mess anything up," Christine informed me.
"Suit yourself," I carried the ladder to the other side of the gym and walked back to get the other end of the banner. "That comment to Trisha was really low by the way."
"Well if you hadn't allowed mentally challenged people to be a part of our squad I wouldn't have had to."
I decided not to comment on that and climbed up the ladder. "Well if you want to become captain this year maybe you should try to actually be nice for once."
"Being nice is for pussies, Claire. Fear and respect that is what a strong leader needs. And don't worry about me becoming captain – I have my methods. And now that you no longer have your best friend to campaign for you and your boyfriend isn't the captain of the football team anymore, your chances are slim to none. And who else would run against me?"
"You're right," I said and looked around for the tape. "Actually I am thinking about quitting."
"Quitting?!" Christine yelled so loudly that I almost dropped the tape.
I quickly recovered it and grabbed the ladder to steady myself. I stared down at Christine.
She opened her mouth to say something more, but before she could protest further, all the lights in the gym exploded and I could hear the sound of the doors being slammed shut. "What the hell? Claire! What did you do now?!"
"I didn't do anything!" I yelled into the darkness. "And what do you mean by; what did I do now?" I looked around me and tried to see what was going on, but I couldn't see anything. It was an exceptionally cloudy night so no light came from the windows. Chills ran down my spine and I suddenly felt very exposed on the ladder. "Christine put the flash on your phone and check if you can see anything."
"Don't tell me what to do," Christine protested but did as I asked anyway. She shined the light from her phone around the gym, and I could see that she was shaking. I wondered why she was so afraid. It wasn't like she was attacked by demons on a weekly basis. That would be me. "I don't see anything," she turned around slowly in a circle, and I saw him before she did.
"Christine, watch out!" I yelled and stretched my arm out towards her, but I was too slow.
The man conjured a fireball to his hand and threw it at Christine.
It caught her on her shoulder and sent her sliding back across the gym, screaming.
The man advanced on her but I stopped him, holding him with my power.
"Hey, dirt face! Leave her alone!"
The man looked up at me and conjured another fireball to his hand. "Fine, it's you I came for anyway," he said and you could hear the sound of two voices as he spoke. A classic sign of demonic possession.
"Oh, that's nice," I strained to keep him where he was, but refused to let it show. "I do always enjoy it when you guys show up, but tell me something; could you do me a favor?"
The demon grunted and tried to throw his fireball, but I held it and him in place.
"When I send you back to hell," I continued. "Or where ever it is you guys come from… could you tell your buddies to please stop attacking me at school? It's becoming harder and harder for me to explain, and it's kind of messy when you blow up."
The demon suddenly bellowed and thrust forward with so much power that I was taken completely by surprise. I lost my concentration and he was free. Wasting no time, he sent the fireball straight at me.
Out of instinct, and maybe a bit out of stupidity, I threw myself to the side. As soon as I had done so, regret sailed through me, as I realized that I would hit the floor in t-minus 2 seconds.
The demons kept hurling fireballs after me, but luckily, he was a poor shot. They flew meters above me, and crashed into the wall instead, as I fell towards the gym floor at an alarming speed.
In an attempt to save face, literally, I tried to turn midair, so that I would land on my feet. I did… sort of… I landed so that all of my weight was on one foot, and it crumbled underneath me. I cried out in pain and grabbed at my ankle. "Fucking hell…!"
The demon laughed and threw three more fireballs at me as he approached me with steady calculating steps. He approached me as a predator would a prey, with a calm smile on his lips as he planned my demise in his mind, probably savoring every detail – sick bastard.
I deflected the fireballs, sending them across the gym while keeping my eyes locked on the demon. I didn't see that one of the fireballs had hit the banner hanging above me, and it fell towards me like a deadly blazing flag. I scrambled back as the bits and pieces of the burning banner fell all around me. Pieces of it landed on my legs, burning the flesh. I cringed and almost missed two fireballs heading straight for my face. With a flick of my head, I threw them to the side. Both of them flew into the bleachers, instantly setting them ablaze. "Woops…" this is going to be hard to explain.
The demon had almost reached me now. He stopped and conjured one last fireball in his hand. He held it and weighed it in his hand, tauntingly. "Now, you die," he said and threw the fireball.
I stopped it in front of my face easily. "Yeah, they all say that," I sent the fireball flying back at him. It hit him in his chest and he blew up immediately. I sighed and leaned back on my hands. "You really need to up your game… how about a challenge next time?!" I yelled into the gym. "I am getting tired of these d-list demons," I sat there mocking all the demons in the world, not really knowing if anyone was actually listening when I heard the fiery crash of the bleachers. The fire roared and sailed high into the air, before starting to crawl its way towards me. "I was just joking!" I started crawling backward, scrambling to get away from the flames. It was as if the fire was alive. It was climbing its way up the walls and running across the floor. "Christine! Christine, where are you!" I knew that she was somewhere behind me.
"Claire!" Christine ran over to me and grabbed me. "Fucking hell, did you have to drag it out like that?" She asked me and helped me up.
I looked at her with wide eyes. "What? Do you…?" Did she know about demons?
"Come on. Let's get out of here. Can you walk?"
I tried to but cried out as searing pain sprang from my probably broken ankle. I shook my head.
"Place your arm around me," I did as she asked, shocked that she was acting this way. Maybe she had hit her head when the demon had knocked her on her back. We made our way towards the door, and I had to use my telekinesis to keep falling debris from the ceiling from hitting us. If Christine noticed me doing so she didn't let on, and after her reaction to the demon attacking us, I had a feeling she knew more about what was happening than she should. I made a mental note to ask her about it if we made it out of the blazing inferno that had once been the gym.
We got to the door and pushed it open. As soon as the evening air hit us, the gym exploded. The pressure from the explosion hit us from behind and flung us forward.
The last thing I remember is the pavement coming in fast, and then everything went dark.
***
I woke to the sound of beeping machines, and my head felt like it had been stomped on, and my ankle hurt like a motherf... I opened my eyes and was nearly blinded by the brightness in the room.
"Claire!" I heard a voice say my name and could feel a person sitting down next to me on the bed. He gently stroked some hair out of my face.
I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the light in the room, and looked up at him. "Aiden?"
"Yeah, I'm here," He said and looked down at me with a worried expression on his face. "How are you feeling?"
"Like hell," I said and tried to sit up. I groaned at the effort, and immediately had to give it up.
"You probably shouldn't try moving just yet, you have some bruised ribs and a broken ankle, and maybe a concussion," Aiden said and dragged a chair over to the side of my bed. He sat down on it.
"Oh great," I said and sighed. "Any more good news?" I asked sarcastically.
"Well actually…" Aiden looked down at my wrist.
I looked down at it too and noticed the handcuffs. "What the hell?" I said and tried to get it off. "Why am I handcuffed?"
"Well, the school burned down…" Aiden said and hesitated.
"What?! The whole school?" That couldn't be true. Well unless the fire really had been under some sort of demonic control. Maybe I shouldn't have insulted them like that…
"Yeah…"
"Well, I guess that's that for the senior year… but how does that explain the handcuffs?" I demonstratively pulled at the cuffs.
"Christine told the cops that you sat fire to the gym and almost killed her and yourself in the process. And that if it hadn't been for her, quote, ‘bravery', you would be dead," he made air quotes around the word bravery, and his beautiful brown eyes looked apologetically at me.
"What?!" I yelled infuriated.
Someone pulled back the curtain to the other side of me, and when I turned to look, I found Christine sitting on a bed of her own, her arm in a sling and a few cuts on her face.
"Yes, and you don't even have to thank me. Just don't expect me to drag you out of a burning building the next time you decide to set fire to one," she said with a smug expression on her face.
"But you saw…" I stopped; I couldn't say anything about the demon when Aiden was there. Christine had seen him, and she had made that comment about me dragging out the time.
"Saw what?" Christine asked and smiled arrogantly.
It took all the self-control I had not to close the curtains again with my telekinesis. I shook my head. "You are unbelievable," I said.
"Thanks, I know," she said and flipped her blond hair over her shoulder. She stood up and started walking over towards the door. "I'll just go tell the police sitting outside that you are awake," she informed us and walked out into the hall.
I dropped my head back on the pillow with a sigh.
"Don't worry," Aiden said and awkwardly took my hand with the handcuffs around it in his. "You'll be alright, just tell the truth."
Sure, easier said than done. Telling the truth to the cops would be catastrophic. I had to come up with an excuse fast, or I would either be committed to an insane asylum for telling the truth or get thrown in prison for setting fire to the school. Yeah, this day was definitely not going well.
***
"Explain to us again what happened, Miss Woods," the officer said.
We were sitting in an interrogation room with him in front of me, and me with my hands handcuffed to the table, which if you ask me was a bit much. What was a seventeen years old girl going to do? Well, almost eighteen, but still. Christine must really have colored a very vivid and scary picture of me. Anyway, if I wanted to get out, or hurt the officer, the handcuffs wouldn't have stopped me. I had been training in secret, because my grandmother wouldn't allow me to use my powers, to teach myself how to unlock doors. I guess that I could do the same with handcuffs – can't say that I had had the chance to try it yet. Doors, however, I had had a lot of practice with – let's just say that my grandmother locked a lot of rooms and I had a natural curiosity.
"Miss Woods?" The police officer looked at me impatiently. I had been staring at the handcuffs lost in thoughts.
I sat up straight and focused my attention on the officer. "I was setting up the last banner, when this man shows up and he starts setting the place on fire," I began to explain again.
"And what did this man look like?" He asked.
"Well, I don't really know…" I said – I couldn't really see him, with all the fireballs he threw at my head.
"Alright, carry on," he said and scribbled something down in his notebook.
I took a deep breath and continued. "So, he just sets fire to the bleachers, and then runs off."
"So an unarmed individual comes into the gym, and sets fire to the bleachers? How does that happen?" The officer asked skeptically.
"Well…" I tried to think of something. "He wasn't unarmed. He had a gun. That's how Christine got hurt."
The officer furrowed his brows. "If the man had a gun, how come you stayed in the gym? Why not run and call the police?"
Good question. I pondered it for a minute, well knowing that the longer I took to answer the questions; the less likely it was that he bought my ill-tailored story. "Because Christine starts yelling at him, and that's when he shoots at her. I go to her aid, and he sets fire to the bleachers in the meantime," that didn't sound too far-fetched – or so I hoped.
"Mhmm," the officer mumbled something to himself. He looked down in the file next to him. "Says here that Christine suffered burn injuries to her shoulder, do you know of any gun that can do that?"
"A flamethrower?" I asked hopefully and tried for an innocent smile.
"So you're saying that the man had a flamethrower now?" He writes that in his notebook.
"No…" I said and looked down at my hands. Damned Christine, I was going to burn her pretty, blond hair off the next time I saw her, that would teach her!
He put the notebook down and looked at me. "Listen, Claire, this isn't looking good for you. Several other girls' claim that you planned to set fire to the banners. That you told them so after they had painted them," he police officer said.
Traitors. "Not all of the banners. Just one! It was too ugly to hang up."
The police officer raised his eyebrows. "So you wanted to burn the banner of one of your squad mates because it was too ugly?"
I cringed. So, not the best choice of words, but how was I to know that a demon would show up and burn down the school right after?! "No… I mean yes… but I didn't! The man set fire to the school, while Christine and I were still in it. That is what happened."
"Claire, the best thing that you can do now is come clean. Tell us what really happened," he said sympathetically.
I sighed, "I'm sorry, but there's nothing more I can say. I didn't set fire to the school."
He nodded and stood up. "Well then I'm afraid that you'll have to spend the night here," he walked over beside me and took out his keys. He bent down and removed the handcuffs, taking his sweet time. He motioned for me to stand.
I got slowly to my feet, massaging my sore wrists.
"Come," the officer said sounding sympathetic for the first time. "Follow me," he turned and led me out of the interrogation room. "Your grandmother has been notified of your arrest," he informed me as we walked down a hallway. "You can see her tomorrow."
"OK," I said lifelessly, the fact not brightening my mood.
We got to the holding cells, meant for DYI's and other drunk and disorderly persons. They were all empty, for which I was grateful. Turns out being arrested on a Tuesday was better than being arrested on a Friday. I knew this due to an unfortunate incident the year before, where a harmless High School party turned deadly, again thanks to the fire happy demons. Luckily, I was able to save all innocent party goers, but not the house. Once again, I had found myself in the middle of destruction, with no alibi and no good excuses.
The officer walked to the end of the hall and opened the cell door. He gestured me inside, and I managed to get past him on my crutches. The officer looked at me before closing the door. "I hope this is the last time I have to do this miss. Woods."
I looked at him. "You and me both, James, you and me both," yes, I was on a first-name basis with the police officer.
He nodded solemnly and closed the cell door. It slammed shut, the lock clicking into place automatically.
I jumped over to the small crappy bed and placed my crutches next to it, and decided that there was nothing more to do than to turn in for the night. I sat down on the bed and looked around the cell. There were three bunk beds, aside from the one I was sitting on, and one toilet and a sink.
I still couldn't quite wrap my head around the idea that they had actually thrown me in a cell for the night, last time I had only been there for two hours. I guessed that I was in more trouble than I had thought. Hopefully, my grandmother could work some magic, and get me out of this situation – but if I knew her well enough she would probably let me stay. I could almost hear her voice in my head: At least you will be safe from demons in prison. I sighed loudly and dropped back on the hard bed.
Sometimes I still wondered, if I really did have magical powers or if I was just crazy. I looked down at one of my crutches and reached out my hand. It instantly flew into my grip. No, not crazy – just royally screwed. Don't get me wrong having powers was awesome, but when a demon blows up your school and you get thrown in lockup for it – not so cool.
I sighed, put the crutch back down, and tried my best to get some rest and stop worrying – easier said than done in a cell.
November 2014
I thought that I had tried the worst that the world had to offer. Thought that I couldn't be hurt anymore. Thought that I was untouchable, unmovable. Everything had been taken away from me – everything and everyone. I had thought that I had been through it all, but I was wrong. This had been the worst that had happened to me, and I didn't know how to get back from it. I didn't know how to put myself together again. I didn't even know how to move anymore.
He kept trying to speak to me, to get me to move, to get up off the floor before I bled out, but I couldn't.
I didn't really want to. I wanted to die. If I bled out, I would forget about all of it. I would come back, but without this memory. I wanted that. I wanted to forget. So I closed my eyes and waited for death, but death didn't come… something else did instead.
Chapter 1
If I asked you for good news, would you smile and turn away?
October 2004
"Claire, would you pass me the sugar?" My mom asked me and held out her hand.
"Sure," I quickly grabbed the sugar from the table behind me and handed it to her.
"Thank you, honey," she said and poured the sugar into the bowl with the batter while keeping an eye on the scale underneath. "How many grams did the recipe ask for again?"
I checked the recipe my grandmother had scribbled down that morning before leaving for work. "150," I said and walked up next to my mom. "When do you think grandmother will be home?" I asked and looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It was already well past 6pm.
My mother looked at it too. "She'll be home soon. And if not, we'll just have to eat these cookies for dinner," my mother teased and put some cookie dough on my nose.
I laughed and wiped it off.
"So how was school today?" My mom asked as she pulled a plate out from under the oven for the cookies.
"It was fine," I said and pulled myself onto the kitchen counter. "Nat and I are finally old enough to try out for the cheerleading squad," I smiled. "That is if I can convince her to do it."
"That's wonderful darling," my mom said and some of her British accent slipped through. "And if it means spending more time together, I am sure Natasha will be more than happy to try out for the team with you. There all done," my mother admired her perfectly shaped cookies, before setting them in the oven. She took out her phone and set the timer for 10 minutes. "Now, we just need to wait then…" my mom stopped talking as a loud blast came from the hallway.
She quickly grabbed my arm and ran with me to the closet. "Claire, get in," she ushered me inside. "Stay in here, and don't come out, no matter what happens. Just stay in here," she looked like she was thinking about something, and then she raised her hand and held it out towards me. "Dormeo," she said the word and instantly my eyelids felt heavy, and then I passed out on the bottom of the closet.
***
When I woke up, I was still in the closet. I looked up at the cleaning tools in confusion and sat up groggily. Then I heard voices coming from the kitchen.
"You have to promise me… promise me that you'll protect her…" I could hear my mother's voice. "Keep her away from him… he will not stop…"
I climbed to my feet, opened the closet door, and practically fell into the kitchen. "Mom!" I cried out when I saw her lying on the kitchen floor, a giant hole in her stomach. My grandmother was crouched down next to her, holding her hand. I screamed and ran to her other side.
She looked up at me, with a look of remorse and pain. "I am sorry… I should have told you…" she reached out with her free hand to touch my face, but stopped halfway there. Her hand fell lifelessly down on the bloodstained wooden floor.
"MOM!" I yelled at her, hoping that she would react, but her eyes remained fixed on the ceiling, unblinking, lifeless. I looked at my grandmother with tears streaming down my face. "Do something! Call an ambulance!"
She moved her hand to close my mother's eyes. "It's too late. She's gone."
I jumped up and reached for the landline hanging on the wall, but before I could reach it, it blew up. Shocked I stumbled back from it. I turned and saw my grandmother standing with her arm stretched out in front of her.
She lowered her arm. "No police. We deal with this on our own."
I shook my head and the tears continued to stream down my face. "What are you talking about? Someone came in here and shot her! We have to do something!"
My grandmother shook her head. "Not someone Claire – a demon. And we can't tell that to the police."
"A demon? What are you talking about?!" I yelled. The room started spinning and I fell to my knees. Disbelief and dread spread through my body. My mother had been murdered. She was dead. I shook my head in incredulity. I crawled over to my mother's body and took her hand in mine. It was so cold now. How could it be so cold already?
"Claire. Get up. We have to take care of the body," my grandmother reached for my mother.
"NO!" I yelled. "Get away from her!" I swung my arm at my grandmother and she flew back out of the kitchen. I didn't know what had just happened, but I didn't care. I buried my head on my mother's chest and cried until there were no tears left.
***
September 2011
"What the hell is that?! Who taught you how to draw? Helen Keller?! That is the ugliest banner I have ever seen Trisha!" Christine placed her hands on her and scolded at Trisha, who was sitting on the floor of the gym painting a sign welcoming the seniors of the 2011 class.
I jumped down from the ladder I had been on, setting up another banner and walked over there. "Christine, stop being such a bitch, I am sure that it's…" I stopped when I saw the sign. It really was the ugliest banner in the world. Most of the letters didn't even resemble letters, it was all a jumbled mess.
"I swear Stephen Hawking could draw better than that," Christine continued insulting Trisha, who looked up at her with wide eyes and shaking hands.
"OK!" I said and clasped my hands together before Christine could say another thing. "I think we should all stop for the day. We've been here a long time, and we all want to get out of here," I know that I did. The last thing I had wanted to do was spend the day before the start of the school year painting banners, especially since my best friend was halfway around the world.
The other girls agreed with me and got up, Christine, on the other hand, did not.
"No, we are not done. Claire you might not care, seeing as your boyfriend has gone off to college, but some of us actually want the school to look good for the football team tomorrow."
I looked at her and rolled my eyes. "They're football players. I doubt they'll even notice the banners."
"Well they'll notice them if they look like that," Christine pointed at the banner monstrosity on the floor.
"Fine, so we'll burn that one," I said and then looked apologetically at Trisha who was slowly getting up from the floor. "Sorry Trisha."
"No worries," she smiled at me shyly.
"And who's going to hang up the last of them?" Christine demanded.
"Well, Jenny and June, you guys hung one at the entrance and the main hall already right?"
They both nodded.
"So that just leaves the one in the gym. I'll finish hanging it up. The rest of you can go."
"Only three banners?! We can't just have three banners!" Christine protested as if it was the worst imaginable thing.
"Christine, there are more important things in the world… like sleep for one. I am sure the others will want to get home and get their beauty rest," I added hoping this would help Christine see sense.
Christine looked at all the tired cheerleaders. "Fine! Go home and get your beauty sleep, Gods knows you need it. And if I see even one hair out of place tomorrow or any makeup underneath your eyes, I will personally make your last year of High School living hell!"
I rolled my eyes again. Why do I do this to myself? "Well let's not forget that not everybody here are seniors yet," I said trying to defuse the situation.
"I'll come back," Christine said ominously.
"Well, OK then! And on that happy note; see you all tomorrow!"
"See you!"
"Bye!"
"Have a good night!"
"I'll stay and make sure that you don't mess anything up," Christine informed me.
"Suit yourself," I carried the ladder to the other side of the gym and walked back to get the other end of the banner. "That comment to Trisha was really low by the way."
"Well if you hadn't allowed mentally challenged people to be a part of our squad I wouldn't have had to."
I decided not to comment on that and climbed up the ladder. "Well if you want to become captain this year maybe you should try to actually be nice for once."
"Being nice is for pussies, Claire. Fear and respect that is what a strong leader needs. And don't worry about me becoming captain – I have my methods. And now that you no longer have your best friend to campaign for you and your boyfriend isn't the captain of the football team anymore, your chances are slim to none. And who else would run against me?"
"You're right," I said and looked around for the tape. "Actually I am thinking about quitting."
"Quitting?!" Christine yelled so loudly that I almost dropped the tape.
I quickly recovered it and grabbed the ladder to steady myself. I stared down at Christine.
She opened her mouth to say something more, but before she could protest further, all the lights in the gym exploded and I could hear the sound of the doors being slammed shut. "What the hell? Claire! What did you do now?!"
"I didn't do anything!" I yelled into the darkness. "And what do you mean by; what did I do now?" I looked around me and tried to see what was going on, but I couldn't see anything. It was an exceptionally cloudy night so no light came from the windows. Chills ran down my spine and I suddenly felt very exposed on the ladder. "Christine put the flash on your phone and check if you can see anything."
"Don't tell me what to do," Christine protested but did as I asked anyway. She shined the light from her phone around the gym, and I could see that she was shaking. I wondered why she was so afraid. It wasn't like she was attacked by demons on a weekly basis. That would be me. "I don't see anything," she turned around slowly in a circle, and I saw him before she did.
"Christine, watch out!" I yelled and stretched my arm out towards her, but I was too slow.
The man conjured a fireball to his hand and threw it at Christine.
It caught her on her shoulder and sent her sliding back across the gym, screaming.
The man advanced on her but I stopped him, holding him with my power.
"Hey, dirt face! Leave her alone!"
The man looked up at me and conjured another fireball to his hand. "Fine, it's you I came for anyway," he said and you could hear the sound of two voices as he spoke. A classic sign of demonic possession.
"Oh, that's nice," I strained to keep him where he was, but refused to let it show. "I do always enjoy it when you guys show up, but tell me something; could you do me a favor?"
The demon grunted and tried to throw his fireball, but I held it and him in place.
"When I send you back to hell," I continued. "Or where ever it is you guys come from… could you tell your buddies to please stop attacking me at school? It's becoming harder and harder for me to explain, and it's kind of messy when you blow up."
The demon suddenly bellowed and thrust forward with so much power that I was taken completely by surprise. I lost my concentration and he was free. Wasting no time, he sent the fireball straight at me.
Out of instinct, and maybe a bit out of stupidity, I threw myself to the side. As soon as I had done so, regret sailed through me, as I realized that I would hit the floor in t-minus 2 seconds.
The demons kept hurling fireballs after me, but luckily, he was a poor shot. They flew meters above me, and crashed into the wall instead, as I fell towards the gym floor at an alarming speed.
In an attempt to save face, literally, I tried to turn midair, so that I would land on my feet. I did… sort of… I landed so that all of my weight was on one foot, and it crumbled underneath me. I cried out in pain and grabbed at my ankle. "Fucking hell…!"
The demon laughed and threw three more fireballs at me as he approached me with steady calculating steps. He approached me as a predator would a prey, with a calm smile on his lips as he planned my demise in his mind, probably savoring every detail – sick bastard.
I deflected the fireballs, sending them across the gym while keeping my eyes locked on the demon. I didn't see that one of the fireballs had hit the banner hanging above me, and it fell towards me like a deadly blazing flag. I scrambled back as the bits and pieces of the burning banner fell all around me. Pieces of it landed on my legs, burning the flesh. I cringed and almost missed two fireballs heading straight for my face. With a flick of my head, I threw them to the side. Both of them flew into the bleachers, instantly setting them ablaze. "Woops…" this is going to be hard to explain.
The demon had almost reached me now. He stopped and conjured one last fireball in his hand. He held it and weighed it in his hand, tauntingly. "Now, you die," he said and threw the fireball.
I stopped it in front of my face easily. "Yeah, they all say that," I sent the fireball flying back at him. It hit him in his chest and he blew up immediately. I sighed and leaned back on my hands. "You really need to up your game… how about a challenge next time?!" I yelled into the gym. "I am getting tired of these d-list demons," I sat there mocking all the demons in the world, not really knowing if anyone was actually listening when I heard the fiery crash of the bleachers. The fire roared and sailed high into the air, before starting to crawl its way towards me. "I was just joking!" I started crawling backward, scrambling to get away from the flames. It was as if the fire was alive. It was climbing its way up the walls and running across the floor. "Christine! Christine, where are you!" I knew that she was somewhere behind me.
"Claire!" Christine ran over to me and grabbed me. "Fucking hell, did you have to drag it out like that?" She asked me and helped me up.
I looked at her with wide eyes. "What? Do you…?" Did she know about demons?
"Come on. Let's get out of here. Can you walk?"
I tried to but cried out as searing pain sprang from my probably broken ankle. I shook my head.
"Place your arm around me," I did as she asked, shocked that she was acting this way. Maybe she had hit her head when the demon had knocked her on her back. We made our way towards the door, and I had to use my telekinesis to keep falling debris from the ceiling from hitting us. If Christine noticed me doing so she didn't let on, and after her reaction to the demon attacking us, I had a feeling she knew more about what was happening than she should. I made a mental note to ask her about it if we made it out of the blazing inferno that had once been the gym.
We got to the door and pushed it open. As soon as the evening air hit us, the gym exploded. The pressure from the explosion hit us from behind and flung us forward.
The last thing I remember is the pavement coming in fast, and then everything went dark.
***
I woke to the sound of beeping machines, and my head felt like it had been stomped on, and my ankle hurt like a motherf... I opened my eyes and was nearly blinded by the brightness in the room.
"Claire!" I heard a voice say my name and could feel a person sitting down next to me on the bed. He gently stroked some hair out of my face.
I blinked, my eyes adjusting to the light in the room, and looked up at him. "Aiden?"
"Yeah, I'm here," He said and looked down at me with a worried expression on his face. "How are you feeling?"
"Like hell," I said and tried to sit up. I groaned at the effort, and immediately had to give it up.
"You probably shouldn't try moving just yet, you have some bruised ribs and a broken ankle, and maybe a concussion," Aiden said and dragged a chair over to the side of my bed. He sat down on it.
"Oh great," I said and sighed. "Any more good news?" I asked sarcastically.
"Well actually…" Aiden looked down at my wrist.
I looked down at it too and noticed the handcuffs. "What the hell?" I said and tried to get it off. "Why am I handcuffed?"
"Well, the school burned down…" Aiden said and hesitated.
"What?! The whole school?" That couldn't be true. Well unless the fire really had been under some sort of demonic control. Maybe I shouldn't have insulted them like that…
"Yeah…"
"Well, I guess that's that for the senior year… but how does that explain the handcuffs?" I demonstratively pulled at the cuffs.
"Christine told the cops that you sat fire to the gym and almost killed her and yourself in the process. And that if it hadn't been for her, quote, ‘bravery', you would be dead," he made air quotes around the word bravery, and his beautiful brown eyes looked apologetically at me.
"What?!" I yelled infuriated.
Someone pulled back the curtain to the other side of me, and when I turned to look, I found Christine sitting on a bed of her own, her arm in a sling and a few cuts on her face.
"Yes, and you don't even have to thank me. Just don't expect me to drag you out of a burning building the next time you decide to set fire to one," she said with a smug expression on her face.
"But you saw…" I stopped; I couldn't say anything about the demon when Aiden was there. Christine had seen him, and she had made that comment about me dragging out the time.
"Saw what?" Christine asked and smiled arrogantly.
It took all the self-control I had not to close the curtains again with my telekinesis. I shook my head. "You are unbelievable," I said.
"Thanks, I know," she said and flipped her blond hair over her shoulder. She stood up and started walking over towards the door. "I'll just go tell the police sitting outside that you are awake," she informed us and walked out into the hall.
I dropped my head back on the pillow with a sigh.
"Don't worry," Aiden said and awkwardly took my hand with the handcuffs around it in his. "You'll be alright, just tell the truth."
Sure, easier said than done. Telling the truth to the cops would be catastrophic. I had to come up with an excuse fast, or I would either be committed to an insane asylum for telling the truth or get thrown in prison for setting fire to the school. Yeah, this day was definitely not going well.
***
"Explain to us again what happened, Miss Woods," the officer said.
We were sitting in an interrogation room with him in front of me, and me with my hands handcuffed to the table, which if you ask me was a bit much. What was a seventeen years old girl going to do? Well, almost eighteen, but still. Christine must really have colored a very vivid and scary picture of me. Anyway, if I wanted to get out, or hurt the officer, the handcuffs wouldn't have stopped me. I had been training in secret, because my grandmother wouldn't allow me to use my powers, to teach myself how to unlock doors. I guess that I could do the same with handcuffs – can't say that I had had the chance to try it yet. Doors, however, I had had a lot of practice with – let's just say that my grandmother locked a lot of rooms and I had a natural curiosity.
"Miss Woods?" The police officer looked at me impatiently. I had been staring at the handcuffs lost in thoughts.
I sat up straight and focused my attention on the officer. "I was setting up the last banner, when this man shows up and he starts setting the place on fire," I began to explain again.
"And what did this man look like?" He asked.
"Well, I don't really know…" I said – I couldn't really see him, with all the fireballs he threw at my head.
"Alright, carry on," he said and scribbled something down in his notebook.
I took a deep breath and continued. "So, he just sets fire to the bleachers, and then runs off."
"So an unarmed individual comes into the gym, and sets fire to the bleachers? How does that happen?" The officer asked skeptically.
"Well…" I tried to think of something. "He wasn't unarmed. He had a gun. That's how Christine got hurt."
The officer furrowed his brows. "If the man had a gun, how come you stayed in the gym? Why not run and call the police?"
Good question. I pondered it for a minute, well knowing that the longer I took to answer the questions; the less likely it was that he bought my ill-tailored story. "Because Christine starts yelling at him, and that's when he shoots at her. I go to her aid, and he sets fire to the bleachers in the meantime," that didn't sound too far-fetched – or so I hoped.
"Mhmm," the officer mumbled something to himself. He looked down in the file next to him. "Says here that Christine suffered burn injuries to her shoulder, do you know of any gun that can do that?"
"A flamethrower?" I asked hopefully and tried for an innocent smile.
"So you're saying that the man had a flamethrower now?" He writes that in his notebook.
"No…" I said and looked down at my hands. Damned Christine, I was going to burn her pretty, blond hair off the next time I saw her, that would teach her!
He put the notebook down and looked at me. "Listen, Claire, this isn't looking good for you. Several other girls' claim that you planned to set fire to the banners. That you told them so after they had painted them," he police officer said.
Traitors. "Not all of the banners. Just one! It was too ugly to hang up."
The police officer raised his eyebrows. "So you wanted to burn the banner of one of your squad mates because it was too ugly?"
I cringed. So, not the best choice of words, but how was I to know that a demon would show up and burn down the school right after?! "No… I mean yes… but I didn't! The man set fire to the school, while Christine and I were still in it. That is what happened."
"Claire, the best thing that you can do now is come clean. Tell us what really happened," he said sympathetically.
I sighed, "I'm sorry, but there's nothing more I can say. I didn't set fire to the school."
He nodded and stood up. "Well then I'm afraid that you'll have to spend the night here," he walked over beside me and took out his keys. He bent down and removed the handcuffs, taking his sweet time. He motioned for me to stand.
I got slowly to my feet, massaging my sore wrists.
"Come," the officer said sounding sympathetic for the first time. "Follow me," he turned and led me out of the interrogation room. "Your grandmother has been notified of your arrest," he informed me as we walked down a hallway. "You can see her tomorrow."
"OK," I said lifelessly, the fact not brightening my mood.
We got to the holding cells, meant for DYI's and other drunk and disorderly persons. They were all empty, for which I was grateful. Turns out being arrested on a Tuesday was better than being arrested on a Friday. I knew this due to an unfortunate incident the year before, where a harmless High School party turned deadly, again thanks to the fire happy demons. Luckily, I was able to save all innocent party goers, but not the house. Once again, I had found myself in the middle of destruction, with no alibi and no good excuses.
The officer walked to the end of the hall and opened the cell door. He gestured me inside, and I managed to get past him on my crutches. The officer looked at me before closing the door. "I hope this is the last time I have to do this miss. Woods."
I looked at him. "You and me both, James, you and me both," yes, I was on a first-name basis with the police officer.
He nodded solemnly and closed the cell door. It slammed shut, the lock clicking into place automatically.
I jumped over to the small crappy bed and placed my crutches next to it, and decided that there was nothing more to do than to turn in for the night. I sat down on the bed and looked around the cell. There were three bunk beds, aside from the one I was sitting on, and one toilet and a sink.
I still couldn't quite wrap my head around the idea that they had actually thrown me in a cell for the night, last time I had only been there for two hours. I guessed that I was in more trouble than I had thought. Hopefully, my grandmother could work some magic, and get me out of this situation – but if I knew her well enough she would probably let me stay. I could almost hear her voice in my head: At least you will be safe from demons in prison. I sighed loudly and dropped back on the hard bed.
Sometimes I still wondered, if I really did have magical powers or if I was just crazy. I looked down at one of my crutches and reached out my hand. It instantly flew into my grip. No, not crazy – just royally screwed. Don't get me wrong having powers was awesome, but when a demon blows up your school and you get thrown in lockup for it – not so cool.
I sighed, put the crutch back down, and tried my best to get some rest and stop worrying – easier said than done in a cell.
