Demon High (6 page)

I stared at the screen, wishing I could tell Nana to refill her prescriptions, that money was on the way.

But there was no way I could admit to my grandmother what I was doing. She would never take another pill. She would walk away from this house where I had grown up and my mother had disappeared. She would do anything to keep me from doing what I’d already done.

Followed in my mother’s footsteps.

o0o

Two days later Brittany and I were back in her car, headed to the cow pasture. We hadn’t really talked about Theodore after I called him. We hadn’t really talked at all. She hadn’t obviously avoided me at school, but she hadn’t asked me to join her at lunch either. It was okay; I wasn’t doing this to rekindle our friendship.

She did, however, pick me up while Nana was still awake. That made me think she didn’t see me as a total pariah.

Nana had raised a brow when she saw her, told Brittany she hoped she’d outgrown digging up pirate gold in people’s petunias; then she’d switched the TV channel.

I’d flushed.

One of our last play dates together, Brittany had brought over a shovel. We’d dug about fifty holes in the neighbor’s petunia patch before Nana found us.

I’d forgotten about that, but obviously my grandmother hadn’t.

In the car, Brittany asked, “Does she…you know?”

It took me a second to realize she was asking if Nana called demons. It took another for me realize that was why Brittany had ventured into my house. It wasn’t a sign of acceptance. She was just being noisy.

“She’s against it. Make sure you don’t say anything around her.” Bristling, I slumped lower in my seat.

Brittany nodded. “I’m good at keeping secrets.” Then her hands wrapped firmly around the wheel, she glanced at me. “He was real, wasn’t he?”

Still angry, my nod was stiff. I kept my gaze straight ahead and stared out the windshield. “Yeah.”

She twisted a little in her seat. “I know you said…and I know the rumors, but to see it….” She flattened her hands out, steered with just her palms for a second. “I was scared. I didn’t even realize it at the time, not
how
scared I was anyway.”

Mum’s bag lay in my lap. I placed my hand on it. I had been scared too. At least that’s what I’d been telling myself, but there was also an exhilaration.

Brittany kept talking. “Theodore. He didn’t seem scary. At first he was kind of comical in a pathetic way—someone weak, like would get picked on at school.”

“Maybe he was,” I murmured. “Back when he went to school. Maybe that’s why he sold his soul.”

I could feel her gaze on me. “Is that what happened? Is that how he became a demon?”

I shrugged. “That’s the rumor.” I wasn’t in the mood for small talk.

“So…” Brittany gave me a sideways glance. “I think we can make a lot of money with Theodore—if he can do what he says. I recorded a bunch of music videos on my DVR, burned them to DVDs.” She gestured to the zippered nylon bag between us. “I also brought some movies. I think actors will be the biggest pull.”

She turned the car into the field. The tires rattled over the cattle crossing. After she’d brought the vehicle to a stop, she turned and faced me. “But why do this? Why bring me in on it? Why not just call Theodore up and ask him for whatever you want? Isn’t that kind of the purpose of calling demons? You get them to give you whatever you want?”

I wasn’t sure why she was asking. With Brittany you could never be sure. I stared at her for a second. It was dark, but my eyes had adjusted a while back. She looked sincere, curious, not conniving at all, but that was Brittany’s major talent—looking innocent when she was far from it. And I’d already caught her acting like a friend when in reality she was just studying me.

“It isn’t smart to ask a demon for anything,” I replied.

“And doing any of this is?” she asked. “C’mon, give me an answer. I mean, I’m glad you brought me in. This is big, huge. No one else can offer this, but I need to know why. Need to know exactly what I’m getting myself into.”

I was tempted to tell her she didn’t need to know why, that she was either in or she was out.

She touched my arm. “Please, Lucinda. I need to know.”

So I told her, as much as I could anyway. I told her about the house first. I didn’t look at her while I was telling her that. I didn’t want to see her pity or judgment or whatever I might see behind her green contacts. Then I explained how calling a demon and asking him to out-and-out give you something was just stupid.

“Demons always want something in return,” I said. “My original plan was just to call a demon, let people see him, then send him on his way. But, after talking with Theodore, I realized we can give him what he wants and it won’t cost us a thing. By giving him an audience we’re doing him the favor, not the other way around.”

“So, there’s no way this can blow up and bite us in the ass?” she asked.

No way I could see, but I didn’t want to say that. I didn’t want her to doubt me. I wrapped one hand around Mum’s bag and put the other on the door latch. “As long as we don’t ask him for a favor, or answer his questions, we’ll be fine.” I said it with conviction. Believed it, or tried to make it sound like I did.

I don’t know if she bought my act completely, but when I got out of the car, she followed. Together we walked back across the field, back to the circle we’d covered with limbs two nights earlier.

Theodore was prompt in appearance this time. I’d left the DVDs and magazines we’d brought inside the circle before closing it and making the call. As we watched he shuffled his appearance from one mega star to another like Nana shuffled a deck of cards when she was playing solitaire.

As I watched his face morph from one chiseled chin to another, my stomach swayed. I forced myself to stay steady, to keep my gaze strong. When he was done, he settled into his normal form, and I let out a sigh of relief.

“So, these are guaranteed crowd-killers?” he asked.

“These are stars popular today.” I replied, careful to keep the statement one that I might have said independent of his question. “When we come, I’ll give you a sign letting you know which one fits that crowd.”

“You found a new venue yet? This one is none too fancy—of course, if you’d let me out, I could fancy it up a bit.” He waved his arm and the area inside the circle transformed. Polished wood floors were under his feet. Burgundy velvet curtains hung behind him and brilliant lights cast him in a golden glow. A top hat appeared in his hand and he lowered his upper body to his thighs in a sweeping bow. “How’s that?” he asked, as he stood. “I bet the crowd would like sitting in something like this….” Another flourish and a padded theatre chair appeared beside him.

“Goodbye, Theodore.” I squatted, athame in hand.

His eyes narrowed, but didn’t change color as they had when Brittany had insulted him the first time. Still, as I plunged the knife into the ground, I couldn’t help worrying a bit. Theodore seemed harmless. But demons were liars. It was the one thing you could count on.

If Theodore appeared to be harmless—what was he, really?

It took less than a week for Brittany to find a buyer for Theodore’s first performance, a little longer to actually work out the details. Actually, her cousin, Joshua, who was a student at the state college, found her. Joshua and Brittany had apparently been close at one time. She said they’d grown apart but shared secrets, that because of that he helped her out when he could.

The girl he found was a sophomore. She also had a thick wallet, compliments of her CEO daddy. He’d dumped her mother six months earlier. From what Joshua had told Brittany, our client had already got a car and two trips to Mexico. Our little hosting fee was nothing.

She had invited, counting Joshua, fifteen close personal friends to take part in the ceremony.

After seeing her, I wasn’t surprised these “friends” were all male.

“This is a cow pasture,” she said flicking a length of glossy brown hair over her shoulder.

We were standing by the cattle guard, waiting for Joshua and the rest of her guests.

“It’s also a cemetery,” Brittany informed her. “There are graves dating from the 1800’s there—slaves, land owners, criminals. You name it.”

“Really?” Colette twisted her lips to the side. “Anyone famous?”

Brittany darted her eyes to me. I looked away. I wasn’t getting involved in whatever tale she was weaving.

“Oscar Mullin,” she announced. “He died when he was only seventeen, but he owned all of this.” She spread her arms out to her sides.

Colette looked around. “Impressive.” She scuffed the toe of her tennis shoe over a dried cow patty.

“It was then. He was the richest man in this part of the state at the time. The biggest land owner. He donated the lot for Caldera’s courthouse.”

“Why isn’t anything named after him then?”

It was a good question. I watched Brittany to see how she’d cover it.

“He didn’t ask for it. Didn’t ask for anything. His parents and sister died when he was fifteen, a bunch of their slaves too. They all got some kind of fever, all but Oscar. What I read said he became a shell after that, just walked around not caring about anything.”

I stared toward the trees, where the cemetery and Oscar Mullin’s grave lay.

“So, how’d he die? Did he commit suicide?” Colette asked.

Brittany had turned to look toward the field too. Her shoulder brushed against mine. “Not that anyone could prove. There was some kind of a fight. A man pulled a gun on another man, and Oscar Mullin walked right in front of the bullet. He was a hero.”

Collette feigned a yawn.

Brittany placed her hand on Collette’s arm and leaned closer, as if someone might be trying to overhear. “There’s a mystery tied to his death, too, though. The family was wealthy. His mother never went out without some piece of jewelry. Her favorite was a ruby necklace.” Brittany flashed her eyes to the side, checking her audience.

Collette was with her now, her lips parted as she waited for Brittany to continue.

“When he died, there were no heirs. They sent people in to claim everything. The furniture and household goods were all there, but no money and no jewels.”

Collette’s eyes sparkled. “What do they think happened?”

Brittany lifted one shoulder. “No one knows. Robbers could have got there before them, but since everything else seemed to be in place, they didn’t think so. They think Oscar hid it, buried it to forget the pain of all he had lost. People have been looking for it ever since, but no one has found it.”

Just then three cars loaded with students pulled up. Colette glanced at them as if not wanting to leave, but finally jogged over to greet her guests.

I looked at Brittany. “What’s with the story?”

She shrugged. “She needed something to get her past this.” She gestured to a group of cattle who had wandered closer. “I told you image was important. With this, you need a lot of set up. You have a problem with it?”

I shrugged. “Guess not, but why’d you have to make him sound all tragic and sad? And the treasure? That was over the top.”

“Because girls like tragic, and he was. I may have embellished a little with the treasure. But the town did reclaim the property, and his mother did own a ruby necklace they never found.”

I still wasn’t believing her. “Really?”

“Really. I looked him up.”

I pulled back, surprised. “You looked him up?”

“Yeah, I saw his grave and got curious. Is there something wrong with that?”

“No, it’s just….” I let the words fade. I didn’t know what my objection was. Then I realized there was no
good
reason for me to have one. I just didn’t like Brittany knowing more about the cemetery or who was buried in it than I did.

“We’re ready.” Colette wandered forward, flanked on both sides by geeky looking guys who reeked of beer. One of them staggered closer to Brittany. He slung an arm over her shoulder. I waited, expecting her to shove him aside, but she rose on her toes and murmured something in his ear instead.

Her cousin, Joshua, then. I frowned. It didn’t matter. I couldn’t have drunks wandering around my circle.

Seeing my expression, she separated from him and stepped closer.

“What?”

“Are they drunk?” I asked. “They can’t go out there if they are drunk.”

“Since when did you become liquor patrol?” she asked.

“Since I agreed to call a demon for them.”

“It’s Theodore. What’s he going to do, bore them to death?” Brittany asked.

“Remember the big winged version of Theodore? The blazing face he showed later?”

Brittany’s posture changed. She let go of my arm and walked back to her cousin and the two guys who had arrived with him. After a short discussion with Brittany doing much eye fluttering and waving of her hands, all three turned and walked back to their cars.

Brittany strode back to me. “There. You happy? It cost us seven fifty, but I got rid of them.”