Boyfriend From Hell (Falling Angels Saga) (26 page)

I wished we’d had the time to draw a hexagram on the floor. Now my mother was paying the price.

“My head,” Suze called, as the flames danced around her. “It hurts so bad.” There was a distant look in her eyes. She was losing it.“Make it stop!” she cried.

I couldn’t help but notice the heat. The room was like a furnace. Yet, while the room seemed to be on fire, nothing was burned or scorched. It dawned on me:
This must be what it’s like in hell.

Perhaps Armando isn’t gone
. The thought crept into my consciousness, chilling me to my bones.

Just then, Armando’s malevolent laughter filled the room.

“We didn’t defeat him,” whispered Maudrina. There was genuine fear in her words.

I was too stunned to say anything. The spell hadn’t worked. I had no more tricks up my sleeve. All I could think was:
We are all doomed.

The floor in front of my mother’s bed began to quake and then buckle. A crevice the size of a jagged manhole opened up. Steam began pouring out.

“I’m ba-ack!” Armando’s voice called from beneath the rising steam. And then the laughter. It was loud and confident, saturating the air, as if in stereo.

A figure began rising from the hole in the floor—a shirtless black man with a thick afro and a beard that was curly like lamb’s wool. Steam poured out of the hole around him, engulfing him in a vapor cloud.

It seemed like a cheap magic trick, an illusion you might see on a TV show from Las Vegas, but it was real.

Once the man’s torso emerged, I realized the bottom half was that of a horse. My eyes widened in disbelief as an eight-foot-tall centaur struggled from the hole.

Totally out, the centaur reared up on his hind legs, and then let out a whinny that echoed throughout the room.

“Excuse me for using this form,” the strange centaur said in Armando’s voice. He came to rest on all fours and gestured toward his body: “The spell you cast trashed my old body. Would you believe that just five minutes ago, the former owner of this fine frame was diving off the Great Barrier Reef?” He chuckled. “Then he got bitten in half by a great white shark, and well… he was the closest thing available, so I had to improvise.”

It was then I realized the man’s torso had been jammed unnaturally on top of the horse. Blood oozed freely from where the two bodies had been joined together.

“Why are you still here?” I asked, still incredulous that the spell hadn’t worked.

“Problem with the spell. Seems when you break it up the way you did, it loses power.  So you got rid of my old body, but not me. Shame, huh? That was a really good body.” His arrogance was back and shining through.

He grinned at us, obviously pleased with himself. This version of Satan had the same awful teeth from the face I’d thrown the holy water in. His eyes were narrow slits, glowing yellow. I’d recognize those eyes anywhere.

A torrent of dread flooded my belly.

He saw the panic in my eyes. “I told you you cannot defeat me.” His tone was low, malevolent. “Now you will pay with all of your lives.”

Just then, my mother screamed again.  She held her hands to her head as if it was about to explode.

“It huuuurts!” Tears streamed down her cheeks. She was crying, pleading for the pain to stop.

I had one weapon left—my crucifix. I yanked it off my neck, extended my hand, and started running  toward the centaur.

He reared up on his hind legs and I was instantly air born, flying across the room and slamming into the wall. My left arm hit first, shielding the rest of my body from the blow. But the damage had been done.

A tidal wave of pain rippled through my arm. I could tell it had been broken it in several places. It hurt so bad I thought I might pass out, but I ignored the pain. I had to. Ignoring it was my only choice if I wanted my mother to live.

I bounced off the wall, landing on my feet. “Don’t you have any other tricks?” I hollered—mostly to make him think he hadn’t hurt me.

I again lunged  toward him, crucifix first. He puckered his lips and blew in my direction. A blast of hot air knocked my legs out from under me. I flew up, feet first, coming down hard, crash landing on my derriere.

“Ooof!” My teeth slammed together. My jaw shuddered on impact.

“How’s that for variety?” he called. Then he got serious. “Megan, I am getting tired of your insolence. I am going to kill your friend over there, and if you still refuse to be my bride, I am going to kill your mother. And trust me, hers will be a slow and painful death.”

I looked at my poor mother. She was lying face up on the bed, unconscious. The pain had been too much for her. My eyes moved to Maudrina. The fear I’d sensed in her earlier was gone. She yanked off her crucifix and started for Satan.

“We are going to send you back to hell,” she said in an even tone. She was fearless.

“Oh, please!” he called, seemingly annoyed with the game. “Don’t you know that doesn’t work?”

He jerked his head upward, and both our crucifixes flew from our hands, clinging to the ceiling as if they were magnetized.

The room began to quake.

A large chunk of concrete fell from the ceiling, narrowly missing Maudrina. If she hadn’t danced away, it would have killed her. It crashed to the floor, sending up a cloud of dust.

“Now then, last chance, Megan. Renounce this life, or witness the carnage.”

The room continued to burn and quake. Chunks of ceiling were falling everywhere. Maudrina dodged them as best she could. But for how long?

This time, I had to accept it was over. I had no more weapons to use against him. They had all been neutralized. I could not allow my friends and mother to pay for my mistake. I had given it my best shot and had failed.

I got to my feet.

“Don’t,” Maudrina called, the word coming off her lips like a weight. “We can do this.” She dodged another hunk of ceiling debris.

I shook my head. “You’re a great friend, Maudrina. Really. I don’t deserve you. But this time it’s over. For sure. I can’t risk your life or Mom’s.” I shot a weak smile in her direction. “It’ll be okay.”

I faced the devil. “No more tricks, sir. You win. Tell me what to say, and I’m all yours. Just don’t hurt them.”

The evil grin returned to his lips. He was pleased that he had beaten us.  The quaking subsided.

Then he pricked up his ears, as if listening for something.

“Tell me what to say,” I repeated.

“No,” he said softly.

“What?”

 “NOOOOO!” he screamed. “It cannot be!” he said incredulously. His voice was beginning to weaken. “It is
impossible.
”

Was this another trick?

His yellow eyes turned a pale blue. The look in them was so sad. His shoulders slumped forward.

“Our son would have ruled the world,” he said, staring at me sadly.

And then he began shrinking in stature. As he wagged his head in despair, he began fading away.  He was now shrinking and fading.

“I would have given you everything,” he called weakly.

“What’s happening?” whispered Maudrina.

“I don’t know.”

Satan was turning into vapor right before our eyes. Something was up. I didn’t trust it.

“What kind of trick is this?” I demanded.

“It is not a trick. I underestimated you, Megan Barnett. An excellent play.” He was nearly vanished now, the voice coming from a fading mist.

An excellent play? What had I done?

 “The choice has been made,” he continued. “So it shall be.” These last words were a distant whisper, hanging in the air like smoke.

And then he vanished.

“What happened?” asked Maudrina, looking around nervously.

“I don’t know.”

“Is it some kind of a trick?”

“I’m not sure, but I don’t think so. I’m not sensing his presence anymore. He’s really gone this time.” With my next words, my voice cracked, and my tears began to flow. “I don’t know how we did it, but… I think we won.”

#

Later that night, we discovered there’d been a terrible accident on West Glendale Avenue. Matt had been driving his Corolla at a high rate of speed. He skidded off the road and hit a telephone pole going almost a hundred miles an hour. He died instantly at nine thirty-seven p.m. Authorities suspected he may have taken his own life.

My mother believed what she’d witnessed that night was the result of a raging fever.  She told herself she’d been delirious. But in her heart, she knew something extraordinary had happened at the hospital that night.

She’d never admit it. Admitting it would mean the world she’d known all her life wasn’t the real world at all. It meant that boogie men weren’t just the stuff of children’s nightmares, but in fact, walked the earth. She couldn’t allow herself to believe that. But she knew in her bones, something miraculous had happened.

I spent the next several days in the hospital, recovering from my own injuries—injuries sustained from a fall during the freak earthquake that had hit the hospital that night.
Right.

While I was there, Suze rarely left my side.  I was drugged much of the time. But whenever I looked up, there she was, sitting across from me with anxious eyes.

One time, I awoke from a deep sleep and heard her on the phone. I didn’t open my eyes. I listened.

“Hey, Mando, it’s me again. Are you okay? I’m here at the hospital with Megan. Like I said in the earlier messages, she’s had an accident. That’s why I haven’t been home. Call me. Love you.”

She had been trying to reach Armando for several days and never got a response. Go figure. Armando was back in hell where he belonged.

I knew she was hurting. A boy she’d loved as a son had suddenly died in a car crash. And she’d been dumped by a man she was falling in love with. The reason for all this misery didn’t matter. I had to get back on my feet quickly. In addition to my own broken heart, I had hers to deal with.

I realized how childish I’d been, how selfish I’d been, wanting to keep her to myself. In two years I’d be off to college, and she’d be alone. She deserved to have someone in her life.

“I love you, mom,” I said, pretending to wake up.

“I love you, too.” She clicked off her phone and put it back in her purse.

#

Maudrina came to see me on Thursday. She sat at the foot of my bed, small-talking. Finally, Suze got up from the chair she’d been glued to all morning.

“You’re in good hands. Think I’ll pop out and get a quick bite to eat.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll just be in the cafeteria,” she added.

“Okay.”

“It’s right downstairs.”

“I know.”

“I won’t be far. If you need anything, call me.”

“Mom! Go, already!”

It was like I was a kid again. And as much as I hated her treating me like a baby—I loved it.

“Aunt Jaz wants you to know you’re a hero in the good-magic part of the occult community,” Maudrina said when we were alone.

I looked at her, surprised. “What are you talking about?”

“Word of what you did is spreading. It’s also spreading in the evil-magic community. The people you encountered at Armando’s that night are not happy with you.”

“It’s not my fault. Matt’s sacrifice sent him back to hell. His original deal was for Matt’s soul, which is why he had to accept it. It was Matt’s doing, not mine.”

“I know, but I think they liked the idea of you and Satan having a child. You cheated them out of that.”

I shuddered at the thought of being Satan’s bride. “But he
is
gone?”

“Yes,” she said, and smiled. “He’s gone. Aunt Jaz said he can never bother you again.” I didn’t like the way she said it.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, of course not. We need you to get better and out of the hospital.”

I stared at her for a full minute. Finally she looked away. “There is something wrong. It’s got something to do with those evil-magic people feeling cheated, doesn’t it?”

“They’re just nutty Satanists, Megan. Most of them are old. So what if they have it in for you.”

 I was about to ask her what she meant by
have it in for me
when my mother came back in.

“You finished eating pretty fast.”

“There’s a boy outside.” Her expression was not happy. “I told him to come back later, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“Who is it?”

“You tell me,” she said, her eyes probing.

“I don’t know. Tran?”

She sighed. “He says his name is Guy.”

“Guy?” I couldn’t hide the hope in the way his name came off my lips. They both heard it.

“Isn’t Guy the boy who got you kicked off the mathletes?”

“I got myself kicked off the mathletes. Is Guy really outside?” I was dying to see him, to find out the truth, or to hear a lie. I didn’t care. I wanted him to take me in his arms one more time, even if he was every awful thing he could possibly be.

“Please, Mom, send him in.”

She looked at me for a long moment, sighed, and bustled out the door.

“Guy?” asked Maudrina. “The boy you thought was the devil’s disciple?”

“I was wrong about that.”

“Maybe. But maybe you weren’t. How do you know they didn’t bring him in to distract you?”

“I don’t. But if that’s the reason he was here, wouldn’t he be gone by now?”

She thought about it for a moment.

“Well, just in case, I’m not leaving you alone with him.”

Just then, my mother reentered. Guy Matson trailed her in.

His eyes seemed tired, and what had once seemed dreamy was now glassy. The whites were faded as well. Yet as bad as he looked, he was still adorable.  My heart skipped a beat. I looked at Maudrina. “I need to know,” I whispered, urging her to leave with my eyes. “Please!”

“Okay,” she said reluctantly.

As much as she didn’t want to, my mother exited with Maudrina. Guy and I were alone.

“Who
are
you?” I asked as soon as they were out of ear shot.

He smiled his smile. “Wow, you really did get banged up pretty bad. It’s me, Guy. Remember?”

I didn’t smile back. “Cut the crap. The most beautiful, intelligent boy I’ve ever known comes into my life, and I’m lucky enough to have him as
my
boyfriend.”