A Demon's Kiss (Young Adult Romance) (13 page)

He is. I know he is. They’re all coming, all the cloaked people. Because I saved Gage. I used my powers and somehow that helped them find me. They’re coming, they’re coming, they’re coming.

Or I’m just sick. Am I just sick? Delusional?

I headed out of the school doors, breathing in the crisp, almost autumn air. It didn’t make me feel better though, or maybe it did. It was hard to tell. I was relieved to be out of the throng of student traffic, relieved to no longer be jostled and inadvertently shoved. But the snap in the air felt too cold on my feverish skin. It made me shake even more. Plus, the outdoors was too open, too void of people. I felt vulnerable.

I wanted to turn around and go back inside. But the thought of all the noise, the pushing—I couldn’t bring myself to do it. My head couldn’t take it.

I started walking, sometimes taking deep breaths, sometimes shallow, trying to find a mix that would sooth my queasy stomach.

As I hobbled along, making it out of the parking lot, out the school entrance and finally on to the throughway, I started to feel like I was being followed. I didn’t look around, I couldn’t bring myself to do it—just the thought of seeing someone behind me had my heart thundering. It was going to explode. But I couldn’t shake the feeling, no matter how hard I tried. I could sense the presence. I knew who it had to be. That guy Logan. It made me quicken my pace, but I couldn’t run. My legs felt wobbly and unhinged, as though they are going to fall off.

Halfway home, I started seeing red and purple spots zooming before my eyes. I’d fainted before, this was exactly what it was like. There was no question—I was going down. I just wanted to make it home before I did.

What the …?

I swear, it had been dead calm when I left for school this morning, but now the wind was howling around me, picking up with every step I took. Gusts grabbed at my hair, yanking and pulling, plastering it against my face.

“Michaellllla!” My whole being shook from the sound—my whole, entire being—my knees buckled, my heart hammered, my pulse raced. Still, I didn’t turn around, didn’t look. I kept walking straight ahead.

“Michaellllla!” The noise had started like a whisper—a hissing from the wind. But as I walked, it grew louder, until I couldn’t ignore it, or pretend it wasn’t there. It grew stronger and stronger, screaming, moaning my name over and over. “Michaellllla! Michaellllla!”

Where the cacophony was coming from, I couldn’t be sure. My ears or head? So nightmarish and gruesome, it seemed to be coming from both: inside my mind, yet carried through the biting wind.

“This can’t be real,” I told myself. “It can’t. It’s only a dream, It’s only a dream, It’s only a dream.”

Yet suddenly I was running with everything I had. Real or not, I wanted to get home. As I reached my yard my vision started to darken. With every ounce of strength left in me, I focused my mind towards the front door, throwing it open. Practically blind, I stumbled towards it, reaching the open threshold just as everything turned black.

CHAPTER 19

I woke in my bed, sopping with sweat, an unvoiced scream caught in my throat.
Whoa, just another dream
.
Relief!
I laid back in my pillow, filled with relief, but still shaking.

Since I’d been sick my nightmares had gotten worse—or maybe it was from saving Gage. They both happened at the same time. So, I wasn’t exactly sure. Either way, my nightmares had intensified big time. But still, even now that I had nightmares
every
night, I just woke with images. Dark, and twisted, and haunting. Images of symbols, and blood, and Cloaked People. They haunted me.

Waking now, my first instinct was to jump into the shower before Summer, the bathroom hog, had a chance to take over. But, then I started to notice stuff. Like, it was sort of dark outside. And I could smell something cooking, not breakfast. Spaghetti. Mmmm. The aroma itself warmed my shivering body.

I rolled over, glad I didn’t have to get up after all. It wasn’t morning, it was evening. Time just blended into meaningless oblivion since I’d been sick. Morning, evening, it was all the same—me sleeping.

I tried not to think about my dream, ‘cause for once, I sort of remembered it—a little bit. It was scary as anything, but it didn’t involve the caves or cloaks or blood this time. It was a about a demon from my nightmares, the one always howling, “Michaellllla, your miiinnnne!” He had come to my school and chased me home, wanting to drag me back to hell. I tried to shove the memory of the dream out of my mind. Instead, I focused on the cheerful chatter that floated up the stairs, Beth and Summer. They were talking like best friends, gabbing about a boy Summer met. I couldn’t hear most of what they were saying, but the sound of their voices mingled with the clatter of dinner preparations was soothing.

I almost drifted back to sleep but Beth knocked softly on my door, wanting to know if I felt well enough to come down for dinner.

“I’ll be right there,” I said.

With unsteady legs, I made my way down to the kitchen. The world kind of twirled as I walked—probably ‘cause I’d been lying around too much. At the dinner table, I crashed into the nearest chair with a thud, but hey, I made it.

“You alright?” Beth asked.

I yawned and nodded at the same time. But the room was too bright, everything was spinning. I had to close my eyes really quick, resting my head on the table.

“Sweetie,” Beth touched my arm, sounding concerned.

I sprang up. “I’m fine.” I tried to smile, but the room was still spinning. “I’m just hungry.” I started heaping spaghetti onto my plate, so Beth wouldn’t look so worried. It worked; she murmured she forgot the parmesan cheese and headed for the pantry.

Summer was on the phone, totally not unusual. But there was a rosy hue to her cheeks. That was new. It made me curious about the guy she met. It was good to see her so happy. Her ex-boyfriend, Justin, treated her like garbage and made her cry all the time. It wasn’t like Summer and I were best buds or anything, we weren’t, but still, it sucked to see her treated so bad, to see her take it and still pine for the jerk.

Summer straddled the chair as she gushed happily into the phone, “I know! Out of the whole class to be partners with, he chose me!” She smiled, showing her teeth and everything, her life-is-perfect smile. “He’s
so
gorgeous!”

Beth and I went ahead and started eating without Summer as Summer would rather starve to death than miss a phone call. I, on the other hand, was famished. And Beth’s spaghetti was awesome, my favorite.

Beth kept saying how good it was to see me eating. It felt good too. I felt as though I hadn’t eaten in weeks. Actually, come to think of it, I hadn’t. Not really. I’d been too sick to keep anything down.

Once Summer was finally off the phone, she turned to me and smiled as though life couldn’t possibly be any sweeter, but what she said to me was: “You look horrible.”

I just grimaced at her. But the truth was, I felt better than I had in a long time. I’d never been sick before, ever; not even for a day. I had no idea it was such a long and grueling process.

While Summer chattered on and on about her gorgeous new Biology partner, I ate a whole heaping plate of spaghetti, and then went back for seconds. When I was about done, I glanced up at Summer. She wasn’t talking anymore. She was staring at me instead. The way she was doing it, it was as though I accidentally ate our cat or something.

“What?”

“I thought you were sick,” Summer said. “But the way you’re eating—it’s making
me
sick.”

Beth laughed. “It’s good she’s eating,” she said. “It means she’s starting to feel better.”

The way they were talking about me, it made me self-conscious. It made me slow down and take small, dainty bites. Or try to anyway. But it was kind of hard. It
was
spaghetti.

“Gage’s been calling for you,” Beth informed me.

“Like, constantly,” Summer added. “He can’t possibly call Addison half as much as he calls you.”

With a yawn, I tried changing the subject before the two of them could get started again about Gage and me—they were always speculating, thinking we were more than just friends. I was going to ask “So, who’s the guy, Summer?”—knowing the question would instantly make her forget any thoughts of Gage or my pathetic love life. But before I could ask her, she said something that made my heart stop, made it totally freeze. “I guess you really scared Gage today,” she said as she reached for more garlic bread. “He said you were shaking and wouldn’t stop.”

I choked on my food.

“Are you alright?” Beth handed me my milk and made me gulp it down.

“Gage said that?” I gasped, when I was finally able to talk. “He said I went to school?”

“I told you not to,” Beth said.

“But...I did?”

Summer looked at me as though I was nuts. “Yeah. I gave you a ride, remember?” The way she said it, it was as though she was speaking to a small child with a learning problem. Well, not even that, an idiot.

I was shaking again. I couldn’t even hold my fork. I hid my hands under the table so Beth wouldn’t notice. But I felt sick and frozen, just like I did this morning...only I thought this morning didn’t happen. I thought it was a dream.

I tried to remember being at school, but it was all kind of fuzzy. Logan. Something about a boy named Logan. Oh! He was the demon from my nightmares...but he was there, at my school! No! That couldn’t have happened. That had to be a dream. It had to.

I looked at Beth, then at Summer. What they were telling me—it couldn’t be true. It couldn’t! I couldn’t have gone to school today. The way I remembered things, I fainted before I even got to the front door. If everything really, truly happened—how did I get in the house?

“But...when I woke up,” I said. “I was in bed.”

Summer and Beth both looked at each other, like: “So what?”

Finally Summer just came out and asked it, “So?”

“So, how—how’d I get in bed?”

Summer shrugged. “You were there when I came home—sweating like a pig.” She eyed me closely. “You really don’t remember going to school today?”

A shiver ran through me. “I remember. I just...I thought it was a dream.”

“Geez, you really are sick,” Summer said.

I swallowed, saying nothing.

The thing was, if this morning really happened the way I remembered it, then life really was the spooky place I’d always feared it was. The realization made me want to crawl back under my covers and never come out.

CHAPTER 20

Up in my room, I laid curled up in a tight ball, still trembling. Scary thoughts whirled around in my brain, making my heart pound in my ears. Today really happened. I met Logan Ryan, the demon from my nightmares.

I pulled the comforter up around me, trying to get warm. But it couldn’t happen. I’d never be warm again.

Summer barged into our room, making me jump. She looked at herself in the mirror a while, then sat beside my curled up body on the bed, probably assuming I was still sick, having no clue I was dying of fright. “Listen, Michaela,” she said, rummaging through the CDs I had scattered around me. “I’ve been thinking. We should trade lockers.”

“Hmm?” I curled up tighter, not really listening to her. I do that all the time. She never notices.

“Well,” Summer flipped her hair, “Since Logan and I are going to be science partners . . .”

I stopped breathing, stopped functioning. The only part of my body that could move was my heart. It started beating like crazy. “Did you say you’re science partners with
Logan
?”

Summer looked bugged, mad that I interrupted her story. “Yeah. So?”

I couldn’t talk. I was probably turning purple from not breathing. The boy Summer had been talking about non-stop—it was Logan?
Demon
Logan.

Summer furrowed her brow, watching me shake. “What’s the matter with you? You’re scarring me, Michaela.” She got off my bed. “I’m going to call mom.”

I grabbed her arm, pulling her back to the bed. “No, don’t. I’m okay.”

She studied me, not looking convinced. “Then what’s going on? I
told
you I’m science partners with Logan. I talked about him all through dinner.”

“I know. I just, I wasn’t listening.”

“Thanks a lot.” She headed for the door, but turned back to me before leaving. “So, can we trade lockers?”

I didn’t say anything. I was still too stunned. But Summer was waiting for an answer, looking annoyed.

“He’s so not your type,” she said, as if I was contemplating trying to keep him all too myself, which was, you know, insane. But then, she didn’t know he was a demon from hell. So she was all huffy, “Give it up.”

I rolled my eyes, knowing she wasn’t going to leave the room until I gave her what she wanted. And as much as I didn’t want to be alone, I didn’t want to be stuck here with Summer even more. Besides, did it really matter? I mean, did a demon really
need
a locker? I waved her away. “Whatever.”

Summer smiled, smug and happy. “Thanks!” she chirped as she headed out the door. I watched her go, knowing I should warn her. But what could I say? No matter what, she wouldn’t believe me. And really, the truth was, I couldn’t talk about it—Logan—out loud. It would make him too real. That was too scary.

So, I watched Summer skip out of the room, saying nothing.

After she left, I stayed curled in my ball, staring at nothing.

Logan Ryan. Demon Guy. He was really here.

***

Finally, like after an hour, I pulled myself out of bed and reached for my guitar, trying to work on a song instead of think. I started playing
Fade to Black
. Just ‘cause. I mean, it went with my mood. It was dark and haunting and exactly how I felt. I felt like my world was fading to black.

Thump, thump
.

The noise sent me flying to the ceiling, my heart practically exploding.

It took me a second to realize it was only a knock at my window, and it wasn’t Logan from my nightmares, it was Gage from down the street. But still, my heart was thumping out of control. I didn’t think it would ever beat normal again.

Once Gage saw he had my attention, he gave me the peace sign and opened my window, coming in like he did that sort of thing all the time, which he used to back in like, the fourth grade, but hadn’t done in a long, long while.

“Hey.” He grinned, lighting up my dark room, my whole world, making my heart suddenly beat all wild for a completely different reason. Ugh! I had it bad. But it seemed it was even more than that. Since I brought him back to life, it seemed he shined even brighter, shined like a star, or maybe I was just more connected to him now, since I saw him dead, maybe bringing him back to life tied us somehow. He seemed to feel that way too, maybe. He was always looking at me now, like I was Goddess or something. But I only caught him looking that way when he thought I wasn’t looking—kind of like Jade was always telling me.

“How are you doing?” he said.

I put down my guitar. “Smokin.’”

He laughed. “Yeah, you sounded smokin.’ I heard you through the window. You’re getting really good.”

I bit my lip, looking around my cluttered room. I’m not very good with compliments, especially when they come from Gage. They get me all spastic and smiley—but I don’t know what to do with that. It’s easier to be mellow, and slightly down. That I can work with, that I know.

I glanced around my dark, cluttered room some more. It was kind of embarrassing just having him come in like this. I could have been naked. As it was, my bra and yesterday’s underwear were in a heap at his feet—that was something I could do without. Still, obviously, I was glad to see him. He looked really good. I think he got his hair cut or something.

“You almost gave me a heart attack,” I said, putting down my guitar.

“Sorry. I kept calling, but you never called me back. And the phone’s been busy all night. Is Summer chained to it or what?”

“She has a new boyfriend, I guess.”

“Who? That guy Logan?”

Just hearing his name sends a chill through me.

“Yeah, the demon from hell,” I wanted to tell him, but I just nodded. The whole Logan thing made my stomach-churn and my body shake.

“Yeah, he seems pretty cool,” Gage said, then shrugged, sitting on my bed beside me. “Well, Addison thinks so anyway, but what does she know?—she likes me.”

That made me smile, despite my Demon-from-Hell anxieties. Gage is the cutest, sweetest, nicest guy in the world, but he was really modest about it, and he wasn’t just faking. He really had no idea what he did to my heart. “Did you get your hair cut?”

Having his hair mentioned, he absently ran his fingers through it, getting it all messy, which was adorable and kind of his look anyway. “Yeah, I got it cut. You like?”

I did like. I liked a lot. Gage was sort of heartbreak perfection. Beautiful. But sometimes I wished he wasn’t. Sometimes I wished he had a big nose, or unruly hair or...something—anything. Then Goddess types like Addison wouldn’t be so into him. They wouldn’t even notice him. ‘Cause he’s not into the stuff they care about. Gage doesn’t live to be popular—his goal in life isn’t to be part of a click. He’s really into his music. He likes to write songs.

I nodded, picking up a pillow from my bed, not the one I sleep on, a really mooshey one. I started mooshing it now, absently squeezing it in my arms. “It looks good.”

 
“Thanks.” He grinned. “Yours looks good too. Stylish.”

I laughed, ‘cause he was being a jerk, I had major bed-head. “Hey, don’t pick on me. I’ve been sick.” I threw my pillow at him, playfully hitting him in the head. And of course that started a major pillow fight.

We smashed and threw pillows at each other, laughing and really having fun, but then Beth came in, super mad (which was weird ‘cause she doesn’t get mad). She told Gage to go.

“Let him stay just a little longer,” I begged, holding on to his arm. I really didn’t want him to go. I’d been sick and scared and totally terrified and having him here was the only cool thing that had happened in a long time.

“No, that’s okay,” he said, getting up. “I’ve got to go anyway. I just wanted to make sure Michaela was okay. She seemed really sick at school this morning.”

“She
is
really sick,” Beth said.

They discussed me a while like I wasn’t even in the room, and then Gage left, leaving me feeling even lonelier than I did before he came. He caved so easy. He didn’t even try to stay. That kind of hurt my feelings ‘cause Beth was a pushover and he knew it. She would have let him stay forever if we begged hard enough. What really hurt though was knowing he was probably trotting off to Addison’s to climb in her window. He probably did it every night.

I picked up my guitar, and started working on Fade to Black again. It was such an appropriate song. My world was fading to black.

There was another tap at my window, and again, my heart started pounding, but this time it wasn’t because I was terrified, this time it was because it was Gage. I secretly hoped he would come back. I wasn’t counting on it, just hoping. I couldn’t really believe he would just abandon me like that. He wasn’t one to give in so easy.

“Hey,” I smiled, not even trying to hide my happiness that he came back.

He smiled back at me, his eyes lighting into mine, shining down to my heart. “Sorry about that. I figured it was just easier to sneak, than try to mess with an angry mom.”

I guess he was probably used to working with angry moms. He went through girlfriends pretty fast. Except Addison. He’d been with her for almost a year.

“Also, I forgot to give you this,” he said, pulling Bananas, the stuffed monkey I won for him at the carnival last year, out of his back pack.

“Bananas!” I held the little monkey in my arms and squeezed him tight.

“He’s just a loner, though. Until you feel better.”

I burrowed my face into his soft fur. “Thanks.”

I’d given Bananas to Gage as a birthday present last year, as when we were eight he had tried for hours to win a monkey just like it. “I’d been trying to win the monkey for you,” he said with a laugh when I gave it to him. “Thanks! He’ll be our band’s mascot.

Gage had brought him to every gig they had, tying him to Conner’s drums. Every single gig.

For some reason him bringing me Bananas seemed like the sweetest gesture in the entire world and I could have easily started crying over it. I think it had a lot to do with having been sick, and being so weak, and then being so scared after seeing Logan. All that mixed and added together left me emotionally out of control.

Gage sat on the bed beside me and picked up my guitar. He started playing something I’d never heard before. It was soft and pretty and kind of sad. I sat listening to him in awe. He caught me gazing at him and smiled. “You like it?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty. Did you write it?”

He played a little more. “Yeah. I’m writing it for you.”

Tingles ran threw my body. We were silent, just looking at each other. “I missed you so much while you were sick,” he said softly. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah. I guess so.”

I wanted to tell him about Logan. Right then, while everything was silent and still, while we were alone. At that moment I felt incredibly close to him, like I could tell him anything and he would understand. And talking about it might help. Maybe. Maybe it wouldn’t seem so scary if I verbalized it, got it out in the open. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It frightened me just to think about it.

Hugging Bananas, I looked up and was suddenly flooded with tingles. ‘Cause Gage was watching me. The way he was gazing, it was as though he’d been doing it a long time. My heart fluttered.