The Appeal of Evil (The Road to Salvation) (7 page)

Katie closed her eyes and reveled in the warmth of Wes’s touch. “Well, then I guess you’ll have to teach me how to fight them.”

Wes kissed her lips again. “Gladly.”

The squeak of shoes on linoleum caused the pair to look up at a nurse, who smiled.

“Glad to see you’re awake. I’ll need to check your vitals.”

He released his grip on Katie, and she stood to leave. “I need to get home anyway.  Although I’m not looking forward to facing my mom. She wasn’t very happy that we skipped school.  I’ll come back tomorrow. If I can.” She headed toward the door, but was stopped by his voice.

“You used to have a crush on me, ya know.”

Katie turned and smiled at him. “You’re right. I did.”

KATIE LAY ON HER BED
, her left arm folded across her chest. Her right arm lightly touched the wrap, as if to protect it, and stared at the ceiling. Her lips still tingled from when Wes kissed her. Again, it wasn’t the first time their lips had connected, but it was definitely different. She swore she felt his love that time. It was no longer a secret that he deeply and honestly cared for her. So why was she struggling to feel the same way? Why didn’t she feel elated and happy that she had finally gotten him to admit he had feelings for her? Was it because there was the underlying tension that he was going to abandon her again? It was still a possibility, despite the fact he had let her into his life. Or had he?

There was that doubt again. At the hospital, she pretended everything was all right. She acted like they were okay, like things had gone back to normal, but they hadn’t. Things would never be the same again. And she wasn’t sure she could continue to act like she liked him, especially since she wasn’t exactly sure how she felt.

She shook her head and took a deep breath. A Praesul. Was that even possible? She looked up the word on the internet when she got home from the hospital, but it wasn’t much help. It was defined, but the definition barely seemed to fit with what Wes did. What exactly did he do? Josh said he protected the world from demons, but what did that entail? And were there that many demons coming into the world to constitute an entire secret society? There must have been. After all, Katie couldn’t deny what she had seen with her own eyes. Or could she? Logically, she could think of several different reasons for what happened, first and foremost in her mind being drugs. She wasn’t one to experiment with drugs, but that didn’t mean Wes or Josh hadn’t slipped her something when she wasn’t looking. After all, Wes had shown up in her room in the middle of the night covered in blood. What if he did something to her then? Did she believe he would? No, but then again she didn’t think he’d be a demon slayer, either. The former sounded much more logical than the latter. She needed something tangible to cling to, and being slipped a hallucinogen explained everything.

But it didn’t ease her tension completely. It raised more questions than answers. The most important of all being why would they, either Wes or Josh, give her a hallucinogen? What could they have possibly gained out of the situation by doing that? It didn’t make any sense. Katie’s head ached, so she rolled onto her side. It was close to 11:00. She’d gone to bed around 9:00, telling her mom she was tired and needed to rest. That hadn’t been a lie. She was tired. She’d spent the day running on very little sleep. But her brain wouldn’t stop with the questions long enough for her to close her eyes. She needed answers.

Her mom had actually handled the situation fairly well. After all, Katie had the marks on her arm that proved a dog bit her, and the doctor confirmed it, so why would her mom think she was lying? She got into a little bit of trouble for skipping school, but not as much as she expected to. Maybe Mom was just happy she was all right and hadn’t been totally mangled. Not like Wes and his dad. She hadn’t seen Wes’s dad, but she could assume it was pretty bad considering the amount of blood that was on Wes.

The thought made her shiver. Would she see Wes’s dad now? Now that she knew the secret, did that mean she was part of their club and had to hang out with the entire family? Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew his dad wasn’t the monster she made him out to be, but the other part told her it was hard to let go of preconceived notions and prejudices. So much was happening in such a short amount of time, she didn’t know how to handle it. She needed to talk to someone, preferably Wes, but it was much too late to call. Besides, she didn’t think he had his phone on him in the hospital. She sighed and closed her eyes, attempting to fall asleep.

Her phone vibrated on the nightstand, causing her eyes to fly open. She reached for it and held it in front of her face. A chill ran through her. A text from Josh. Did she dare read it? Why would he send it? What could he possibly still want with her? Oh, that’s right. She was still the link to Wes. Josh’s way in to hurt him. Jerk. Curiosity got the best of her and she opened the message.

I miss you.

She pushed her eyebrows together. What an odd thing to say. First of all, they hadn’t known each other that long; secondly, Josh was using her; thirdly, and probably most importantly, he was a demon. How could he possibly miss her? 

Leave me alone, she texted back. Katie knew it was probably best if she didn’t respond to the text at all. She should just delete it and ignore him, but at the same time, she was curious. Was Josh really what Wes said he was? It didn’t seem possible. He seemed so nice, so human. Well, all except for surviving a knife in the eye and fading into dust. If it turned out she had been given drugs, she didn’t want to lose contact completely. Staying in contact with Josh could prove to be potentially dangerous, maybe even deadly, but she’d never know unless she tried. Besides, he might be the answer to some of her questions. Texting wasn’t going to hurt her, but she’d have to be cautious if he wanted to meet in person.

Her phone buzzed.

There is so much you haven’t seen, so many questions that need answering.

Katie read the text before turning off her phone and setting it back on the nightstand. Josh was right, but she wasn’t going to worry about it that night. She needed rest and time to figure out what was really going on. With a sigh, she walked to the bathroom and took two sleeping pills. She was tired of thinking, and she knew she’d never get to bed without them.

***

The alarm pulled her out of a dreamless sleep too soon. With a heavy arm, she hit the snooze and rolled onto her side. A few more minutes was all she needed to be ready for the day. She closed her eyes and drifted back into oblivion. When the alarm went off again, she flopped onto her back and stared at the ceiling. She still didn’t want to get up, but she knew she didn’t have a choice. Katie turned off the alarm and headed into the bathroom. Maybe a shower would help perk her up.

After wrapping a plastic bag around her arm, she stepped into the warm stream of water. Anger and frustration seared through her body. Stupid Josh and his Hell Hounds! If they hadn’t attacked her she wouldn’t have to spend extra time in the morning getting ready to take a simple shower. Damn Wes and his secret life! It was his fault she was targeted in the first place. If she could go back and do it again, she’d tell both boys to go to Hell. She didn’t want to be anyone’s pawn.

She finished her shower and got dressed. Mom was in the kitchen when she got downstairs to eat her breakfast.

“Feeling all right today, Katie?” She kissed the top of Katie’s head.

Katie’s mood hadn’t improved, so she grunted as she poured herself a bowl of cereal.

Mom patted her shoulder. “I’m sure things will get better as the day goes on. Try to stay in school today, okay?” She raised her eyebrows at Katie.

Katie rolled her eyes. “I will.” She turned to her bowl and shoveled the food in her mouth. Mom disappeared upstairs to finish getting ready.

When Katie was done eating, she brushed her teeth and grabbed her backpack from her room. She unplugged her phone from the charger and turned it back on, placing it in her pocket as she headed out the door. After pulling the door closed, she turned and stopped on the porch. Her heart leapt into her throat. Was she still dreaming? What was Josh’s car doing parked in front of her house? The phone buzzed in her pocket, and she pulled it out. Apparently, Josh had sent another text after she turned it off.

Let me answer them for you.

Katie suppressed the shudder that ran down her spine. She glanced back toward the street, thinking maybe it had been a figment of her imagination that his vehicle was there. It wasn’t.  Josh climbed out of the car. Placing his hands on the roof, he smiled at her. Katie’s resolve faltered with the dazzle of his looks.

Maybe Josh’s presence meant that yesterday didn’t really happen. After that smile, she really hoped that was the case. Josh was amazingly hot and could be so nice when he wanted to be. Katie wrapped her arms across her chest and her fingers brushed against her bandage.  Reality crashed in on her. Desperately, she glanced up and down the street, expecting—hoping, someone was going to save her. Except for her and Josh, the street was empty. The one person who could save her was in the hospital. As usual, Wes was leaving her alone in her time of need. She could go back in the house and wait for Josh to leave. She probably should. Instead, she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. She didn’t need Wes to save her. She could take care of herself.

Katie stepped off the porch and walked to the sidewalk. Josh’s smile grew wider, revealing his perfect white teeth, and he walked around the car and opened the passenger door.  Katie smirked, then turned on her heel and walked down the sidewalk.

“Oh, come on!” Josh called after her. “I promise I won’t hurt you.”

Katie stopped in her tracks. Her arm throbbed. Anger coursed through her and she set her jaw. So many different phrases ran through her head, mainly where he could shove his promises, but she didn’t say a word. Mustering every ounce of strength in her body, she continued to school.

Suddenly, Josh appeared before her. Katie jumped at the unexpectedness of his presence.  She glanced back over her shoulder to make sure it was actually him. He wasn’t by his car. She turned back around to face him. He held his hands out to his sides to show he wasn’t a threat.

“Katie, c’mon, seriously. I know you have a lot of questions. I have the answers. Hear me out.”

“Hear you out? You’ve got to be kidding! You say you don’t want to hurt me, but what about this?” She held up her arm. “Your dog, your Hell Hound, did this to me. After you kidnapped me and used me to get to Wes.”

Josh shrugged. A sheepish look crossed his face. “I admit, we got off to a bad start, but—”

“A bad start? You threatened to torture me almost to death, to hurt Wes!”

Josh’s hands dropped to his sides. “I did do that. I’m sorry. If it’s any consolation, I wouldn’t have killed you. And I told you that. Plus, you killed two of my Hounds.”

Katie was taken aback. She hadn’t expected an apology. She didn’t know what she’d expected Josh to do, but it wasn’t that. Shouldn’t a demon be more evil? Would it show remorse? And she did feel bad about killing the dogs. As vicious and hideous as they were, they were still living creatures—at least she thought they were—and she’d never hurt an animal before. It had been self-defense, but that didn’t alleviate the guilt.

“I had no choice.” Her anger softened. “They attacked me.”

“I know. But they shouldn’t have.” He took a step forward. “Please, let me make it up to you. I can answer your questions.”

Katie stared at him, searching his face for any sign of deception. They only thing she saw were his striking blue eyes and wonderfully charming smile. There was no hint of evil or treachery about him, only the illusion of adolescent innocence. Katie desperately wanted to believe him. In the short time she’d know him, he’d never lied to her. He probably wasn’t lying now. She took a deep breath.

“I’m going to be late for school.”

She moved to step around him, within arm’s length, but he reached out and lightly grabbed her arm. There was nothing menacing in the action, only a desire to get her to stop. His touch was surprisingly warm.

“At least think about it.”

Katie nodded, and Josh released her. She continued to school, her mind racing.

Katie made it through the day on autopilot. She went to class and pretended to take notes, but she had no idea what was going on. She couldn’t get Josh and Wes and demons out of her mind. Was Josh really as bad as Wes made him seem? Or was it just jealousy that fueled his actions? It would be nice if that were true, but Katie knew better. Josh had tried to kill Wes. She had seen it with her own eyes. The stitches on her arm reinforced Josh’s evil intentions. Sort of. After all, he did call the Hound off and seemed genuinely sorry she had gotten hurt. But he was a demon.  It could have been an act.

At some point in the day, Katie’s best friend, Deb, attached herself to Katie’s side. She vaguely recalled Deb saying she was concerned and asking how she was doing. Katie couldn’t remember what she said, but she knew she didn’t say a word about demons. Who would have believed her? Part of her was still convinced she had been drugged.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she would have to tell Deb the truth about what was going on. She was the only person besides Wes who knew everything about Katie’s life. Maybe she would have some good insight into the situation. Maybe she would tell Katie she was crazy. Katie wouldn’t mind. In fact, it was the one thing she wanted—she needed—to hear. But it wasn’t the time yet to say anything. There were things Katie needed to figure out first.

Katie expected to see Josh at school, but he wasn’t there. Was that a relief or distressing? She wasn’t sure. She wished she didn’t have to think about it. Why couldn’t she forget both of them and go on with her life? Why was she thinking and stressing about both of them? It was bad enough when she worried about Wes and what he was going to do. Adding Josh into the mix nauseated her. Couldn’t they both just leave her alone? She expected to see Josh in the hallway after each class or by her locker. He didn’t show up either place. He wasn’t in gym class, either. But that didn’t bother Katie. After the last two times, she didn’t want to go near the locker room. Thankfully, because of her arm, she didn’t have to participate in class.