Keeley Thomson (Book 4): Demon Trap (23 page)

Then she went back to the kitchen and got her mother to show her what was needed for the various party decorations. They were cute, but very tasteful, things. It took hours to put them all together though, and she had to eat while she worked, since she was pushing herself to do it faster than was actually possible, even with her new natural speed level. It meant she was fast, but there was a whole lot to get done and not much time.

At ten in the morning she helped the others load the vans that came to take it all away, the last one being set up was Bertha, since the party that was being handled by Clara and her mother was the closest one.

"There we go!" Clearly tired, Sherry forced herself to sound chipper. They were all working very hard, but at first Keeley didn't get why. They didn't need the money. Even Clara and Glen didn't. Not really. Not so much that they had to work through their own holidays at least.

It wasn't until she hugged her mother goodbye for the day that she got it.

She was hiding from the fact that this was the first Christmas in twenty odd years that she was spending without her husband. True, they'd been about to divorce when he died, but that didn't mean she wasn't still raw and in mourning for the man. Her plan was to work and sleep, if she could, doing nothing that would remind her that things were different now.

"I love you mom. Make sure that you get some rest. We have Mass at midnight. Clara, are you and Glen going to be around tomorrow? You have the time off, but if you're working through it, we'll get you some different days off to make up for it."

The woman froze then and seemed baffled.

"Sorry?" She didn't add an honorific in, which meant she was
really
baffled.

Keeley explained it all and then shrugged, a pretty smile on her face that seemed companionable, she thought.

"So, you get the time off. Of course you and Glen can have that time whenever you want, but this one is official and all that. If you want to go somewhere for vacation, let me know, and I'll get Fram or Bal to take you. That way you won't have to trade with them for anything." It made sense to her, but Clara acted as if it were a great honor, instead of just vacation. Keeley didn't let her bow and scrape though, since, slave or not, she wanted the woman's good will.

As they drove off in the blue flower van, which was half filled with food at the moment, the rest of the space being filled with decorations for some rich and lazy person's last minute party, Keeley sighed.

For half a moment she felt almost free, not having a lot to do. Of course that wasn't really true, there was always something and right now she needed to get in touch with her other friends. The real ones.

Hally, Eve, Gary. After a few second's thought she realized that Becky Hoader and Maria Gonzales should be in the mix as well. They were her friends now too, if she could keep them.

The first call was easy enough, since it was to Darla, who was basically the leader of the group anyway. She agreed to go out to lunch with them, sounding pleased by the idea.

"I can pay even." That would make her the one in charge after all, but Keeley wasn't going to argue about the check. The point was making
connections
, at least for her. These were, except Hally, all Darla's people. That didn't mean they weren't her friends though.

It turned out that Eve was actually busy already, but the rest of them could come, which was nice. Becky seemed shocked when she got to the phone though, for some reason.

"Keeley? Hi! Is something wrong?" She sounded worried, as if it might be about a death or at least some kind of teen drama thing that real girls might have been going on about instead of a get together.

"Yep, we haven't hung out in
weeks
. What's with that?" She chuckled, and spoke before the girl could respond, explaining the whole thing. "So, Fritters at noon? Do you need a ride or anything?" Maria did, but Becky had a car.

"I... no, I can be there. Thanks. I was just going to sit here all day anyway. My parents went out of town."

The girl sounded a little sad, but Keeley couldn't tell why that would be, over the phone. It probably just had to do with being left behind like she was. Maybe not though.

"Well, we have a thing tonight, Church. Tomorrow I don't know what's going on. I'm pretty sure that my mother is planning to work. Do you want to come here? It won't be a huge thing, but we can make brunch or something."

"Really? I'd... is that OK? I don't want to be that girl, you know? The one that everyone feels sorry for?"

Keeley nodded, knowing that Becky wouldn't hear it at all, not consciously at least. There
was
probably a bit of that involved though, Keeley thinking of her that way.

"
Never
. You, my friend, are incredibly awesome and anyone saying otherwise is a dork. See you in an hour and a half?"

"Yeah. Um, bye?"

"Bye!" She made her voice bright and happy sounding. Becky was a good person. It was pretty clear that she'd been more than a little remiss on the subject, if she was that close to having to spend Christmas alone like that.

Charles had never been a super dad, maybe, but he'd
always
been there for Christmas. It was part of why Sherry was running from the day now.

Keeley took a quick shower, then spent some time doing her make-up and making sure she was dressed nicely, but not too much so for a lunch date at a hole in the wall cafe. Throwing caution to the wind she wore red and green. It was a horrible and clashing color combination, but no one looking at her would think she was the scrooge at least. She did her make-up normally though and figured that she was within what would be normal for a school girl at this time of year.

Then she drove, being aware of her surroundings the whole time, and parked across the street from the diner, waiting for someone to jump out at her and attack. It was, it turned out, unneeded and almost dangerous, because just outside the door her friend Gary rushed her, grabbing her up into a big hug that moved her feet from the ground.

"There you are!" His muscular arms went around her warmly enough that most people would have thought they were dating. She was the wrong gender for him though, at the moment. It was clear he was pretty lonely. He had been since his boyfriend, Rob, had died. "Everyone else is already here. This is so cool. I thought that I wouldn't see any of you for weeks."

From the contact she picked up that he kind of thought they weren't going to be that close much longer anyway.

After all, he was planning to kill himself the next day.

Keeley forced a smile and shook her head.

"Are you kidding? I couldn't go that long without seeing all my friends."

They didn't wait, going inside directly, after that. It wasn't freezing out, but was cool enough to make the warmth inside seem nice.

Everyone really was there already too.

It was almost nice.

Chapter twelve

They were, as a group, almost everything that teenagers were expected to be in public. A little loud and happy seeming, ordering food that was more junk than main course, and a tiny bit messy. The waitress just smiled, being a tolerant sort, even if it wasn't the normal lady that Keeley recognized. She was tucked between Hally, who was pressed up against her obviously enough the Maria and Darla both clearly got it, exchanging looks and nods every five minutes or so and Becky, who was at least as close, but not as friendly about it. She just felt nervous.

The reason for that wasn't directly on the surface really, but had to do with Keeley not liking her, which was ridiculous, since they were buddies really.

It was Gary that spilled things though, which was a relief, because Keeley didn't really feel like rooting around the slightly heavy girl's feelings and emotions for the information. She'd have to, eventually, but later, when Hally wasn't being so entertaining. She kept having to resist the urge to cuddle back, but that would be a little over the top, considering the other girl had a boyfriend.

"So, Becky, did you ask Mitch out yet?"

There was an awkward moment, and finally she nodded.

"Yeah... that was
horrible
. He just looked at me like I was a slug and said that he liked someone else already, so couldn't do it. I mean, he was less rude than that, but... I got the idea. The marshmallow girl had no business asking out someone like him." She looked at the side of Keeley's head, and thought about who that other girl was that she picked it up almost instantly.

Her.

Well, that explained a lot, didn't it?

She didn't bother to hide the slightly disgusted look that crossed her face then.

"Mitch Barris? Maria mentioned him at that slumber party we had. Well, his loss then. We'll get you someone that can see how incredible you really are. Kind of dumb of him really." Especially since Becky, for all her slightly straight laced exterior look, was both really nice
and
willing to do a lot more fun stuff than Keeley ever had.

The girl next to her on the right, sighed.

"Yeah, so, you know, kind of friendzoned there. It's... We should talk about something else. My dad said that the fire the other day across town nearly took out a lot more than it did. That would have been horrible."

Hally turned bright red, but Keeley nodded and didn't let anything show on the outside.

"I was there, for part of it. He's right, your father. The fire hydrants were too damaged to be used, so they had to let a bunch of buildings burn. What if that had been a daycare center or a school? Or near the hospital? We all got really lucky."

She made a point of looking at Darla, who was sitting with her arm around Gary. She knew then, what he had planned. Good. That meant Keeley wouldn't have to tell her about it. Hopefully she'd stop him from doing it, since they really were good friends and Keeley didn't want him to be gone from her life yet.
She
could handle it, if needed, but the decision as to what to do about it was up to Darla, not her.

They talked about things that, thankfully, amounted to almost nothing for a time. The food was sugary and sweet for the most part, since Keeley treated herself to a giant cinnamon roll and split it with Becky, who still felt guilty about eating it. That had a lot to do with the fact that everyone else at the table was thin and she just wasn't. It was, she was certain, why Mitch had treated her the way he had.

It wasn't really, Keeley didn't think.

The girl wasn't hot, that was true, but she was sweet and nice enough looking. A five most of the time, but she didn't go out with make-up on much or bother to dress up. That would push her up to a seven in most people's eyes right there. It was worth it for her to make the effort at least. For some people it really wasn't.

They chatted and sang a bit, which got the people there to all smile and applaud, since Maria had a nice voice and so did Darla. The rest of them were quiet enough to let that really work too, so no one complained. By two they were all leaving, with Becky following her back to her place. It made sense to her at any rate, as long as she wasn't attacked.

It was a risk, but everything around her always would be. If she didn't do things because there might be an attack, she might as well go and find a tight and cozy cave somewhere. Not wanting to do that, she had Becky with her for the day.

Once they got inside, the cars parked out of the way so that Bertha the van wouldn't be blocked when Sherry finally got home, Keeley moved straight to the kitchen.

"I'm going to make some cookies and cupcakes. For the local police and firefighters? They have to work over the holidays, so, you know, I thought it might be nice. Some decorated things, and all that." She had a plan, but Becky wasn't so hopeless in the kitchen that she just sat, pitching in without even waiting to be asked.

They worked for about four hours on it, with Keeley waiting for the girl to leave the room before quickly eating a large jar of peanut butter on the sly. She also made a point of drawing energy from the world around her the whole time, it was nearly even enough. She'd need to get them both dinner later, and sneak more food, but it was doable.

They made the deliveries as soon as they had the decorating on the cookies done, using some of the professional equipment that Clara had left for that kind of thing. It made a big difference in how things looked. They weren't perfect, but the people eating them probably wouldn't notice that at all. They looked handmade, not store bought, but that wasn't always a horrible thing.

In the Police station, the man behind the counter, who was an older officer, named Miller, nodded at her.

"Keeley. I heard from the Chief what you did for Gladys the other day. Good work. She's a distant relative of mine. That little punk Bryce..." He stopped and shook his head. "You heard about that?"

She shook her head. She knew what was coming, but there was no way that she'd actually know about it, was there?

"No?"

"Dead, in his cell. They sent him out for an autopsy, but there were no marks, probably overdosed on something he snuck in. It happens. People don't want the drug charges so they swallow it, or something like that." He didn't seem that upset, considering Bryce had to be a relative too.

She just nodded and moved on, like she didn't care.

"We brought some things, since people have to work tonight and tomorrow? Here." She handed the boxes over, trying to seem a little sad about it all. The whole thing was messed up enough that it wasn't that hard to manage.

"These look great! I'll let everyone know who they're from. Keeley and..." He glanced at Becky and smiled, which seemed almost like work for the man, the expression not really reaching his eyes.

"This is Becky, Becky Hoader. She did all the Christmas trees, aren't they great?" They weren't bad, but the officer acted like they were truly special for a few minutes.

Then, just as they were starting to leave, Roy came out of his office, his face looking completely normal for him. Professional and calm. Not like he suspected his daughter of murder at all. He did, of course, but he wore it really well.