The Devil's Prey (The Demon Within) (8 page)

‘So…are you not going to tell me your name?’ Michel flashed
me a smile.

‘No
,’ I croaked out, surprised I could even talk. I could feel myself getting better, and I kept telling myself over and over again that what had just happened was my imagination.

‘Fine by me
. I will guess.’ He scratched his chin and crossed one leg over the other. ‘Is it Bethany? No, that is not right. How about Julia?’ he shifted his head to one side, and I could feel those blue eyes assessing me.

‘N
o! It is not Bethany or Julia, and if you don’t mind, I have to go.’

He jumped up from
the desk as I collected my books, fumbling them awkwardly in my haste. Once I had all my books, I realized that Michel was still watching me closely.

‘
Ok, but are you sure you are alright?’ he asked again.

‘I told you
, I am fine,’ I grumbled. My patience was wearing thin.

‘Ok
, so I will see you around.’ Before I could respond, Michel was gone.

Once I left the library
, I made my way to my locker, where Sarah was waiting for me. ‘Summer, I am glad to see you. Are you ok?’ She gave me a huge hug, which felt nice and made me feel normal.

‘
Sure.’ We walked into the cafeteria together, and that was when I saw Ethan and Amanda waving at me to sit with them.

‘Summer
, come sit with us!’  Dylan yelled from another table. I looked over at Ethan and Amanda, and I was reminded of my encounter with the devil in the library. They would know the minute I sat down that something had happened, and I didn’t feel like talking about it just then. I moved towards Dylan’s table.

‘Sorry,’
I whispered in my head, but Amanda never replied.

‘Three cheers for our captain
, Summer!’ They all cheered as I sat down, laughing at the scene they were making. The conversation was light and easy all through lunch. They were glad to have me back, but halfway through lunch, I felt someone fishing around in my head.

‘
Amanda, please stay out of my head!’
I was trying to juggle two conversations, both on two entirely different subjects.

‘
Maybe if you didn’t ignore us all day, I wouldn’t have to!’

I sighed
at the tone of her voice in my head. ‘
Sorry. I haven’t been around “normal” people in such a long time. Remember, I had a life before I found out I was a fairy.’
I didn’t mean to sound spiteful,  but by this point my good mood had completely dissipated.

‘S
ummer, you ok? You look sad.’ Perry frowned, and I sighed.

‘I
t’s nothing. I was just thinking about something.’ I grimaced as the image of the devil sitting across from me came to mind, but I shook that off before Amanda could fish it out of my head.

‘Y
eah, thinking of something is what I say!’
I could tell she was mad at me, but that was still no reason to scream it into my head.

‘
I would appreciate it if you did not scream in my head. It does hurt.’
I rubbed my head, feeling as if someone was pounding it with a rock.

‘
Summer, I am not yelling.’

I put both hand
s on my head and moaned.

‘S
ummer, you ok?’ Sarah asked, putting her hand on my shoulder.

‘Y
eah, just a headache. I will be back.’ I got up and left the table, and I could tell Amanda told Ethan, because they both got up at the same time as me.

‘
I am just going to the bathroom- or do you need to follow me there and hold my hand?’
  I grumbled at Amanda, and left. Once no one could see me, the headache got worse, so I bolted to the bathroom.

‘Summer… Summer… S
ummer…’ voices whispered in my head. I splashed cold water on my face. and the voices were gone, but my head was still throbbing.

‘Do you always like to hid
e out in the bathroom?’ a voice said from the door, and I jumped and squealed.

‘What the hell?
’ I placed my hand over my heart to try and calm myself down, and saw Michel standing in the doorway of the girls’ bathroom. ‘What the hell are you doing? Trying to give me a heart attack?’

He had
a wicked grin on his face. ‘No, I am not trying to give you a heart attack. And I saw you run from the cafeteria, so I followed.’ He was still grinning at me, and I let out a puff of air.

‘D
o you even go to this school?’ Because I was pretty sure that with looks like that, the girls would be raving on about him constantly. When I saw that wicked grin grow even larger, I thought,
No, that’s impossible. He definitely does not go to school here.

‘You could say I got bored, and I wanted to see what all the hype was about.  They always make such a big deal on the telly
, so I wanted to see for myself.’ He rubbed his chin and tilted his head to one side. ‘You want to know my opinion?’

‘No
, not really,’ I said, and crossed my arms.

‘W
ell, I am going to tell you anyway. I think that high school has
no
drama. Like, all you do is sit around. Where are the fights? And the people running around saying, “I am so much better then you.” I personally think Hollywood got the idea of high school all wrong.’ He was smirking to himself when I started to laugh. Not a giggle, but a full belly laugh. I put my hands on my knees and laughed. I couldn’t remember the last time I laughed like this, and it felt good. When my laugh started to die down, it turned into little giggles. I wiped tears from my eyes. When I looked up, I saw Michel with an amused look on his face.

‘S
omething funny?’ he chuckled.

‘Y
es, you. You said high school has no drama, but you have not seen my life. I have been chased and nearly ki…’ I stopped and frowned. Oh my god. I was just about to tell a complete stranger about fairies and the devil. I felt all the blood drain from my face, and I knew Michel could see something was wrong. He walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder.

I was hit with a electrical spark that was both warm and welcoming. He was
smiling at me, and I was about to smile back when I was hit with a wave of coldness. Like the way that demons feel.

I took a step away and pulled a lambo in my hand. I could
feel the wall against my back. I had nowhere to go. I heard the class bell ring, but I could not move. Michel took a step closer to me, and I raised my hands.

He stopped.
‘I am not going to hurt you.’

I remember
ed the warm feeling I had felt before the cold came over me, but I shook that thought away. You are either warm or cold- there is no in-between.

‘Stay away from me
.’ I was surprised my voice didn’t shake, but I had already seen the devil today, so maybe demons didn’t seem so scary anymore.

‘
There is no need to be scared. I am a fairy.’ He smiled…and it seemed genuine, but I shook my head.

‘No
, you are not. I felt it. You were cold.’

His smile slipped, and he frowned. 
‘Well, maybe if you got rid of those, I might be able to tell you without getting my head blown off.’

I look
ed at my hands to see two very large lambos.

He took
another step closer, and I could feel the warm vibe coming off him. ‘You feel it, don’t you? The fairy side.’ He placed his hand on my arm, and he was right. I felt the fairy side, but then it was replaced with coldness again. ‘But you also feel the demon side,’ he added. I wanted to shrug him off, but I was lost in his blue eyes, which seemed to be telling the truth.

‘I don’t understand
.’ I shook my head and closed my eyes, half-wishing that I could will him gone. I felt his hands leave my arm, and I thought that maybe he’d left me alone. When I opened my eyes, though, I saw him looking at me. It looked like he was waiting for me to run screaming down the school halls, like in horror shows.

‘W
ell, I am half and half. A fairy with demon qualities, or a demon with fairy qualities- but I personally like the first one better.’ He had his arms spread wide, and he was grinning. I looked into his eyes, and I knew he was telling the truth. I felt light-headed again, so I sank into the floor, pulled my knees up to my chest, and rested my chin on my knees.

‘You are not going to be sick
, are you?’

His voice wa
s laced with worry, so I shook my head. 

‘G
ood.’ He stood for a bit, looking at me while my mind was racing a thousand kilometers an hour. How was that possible? You can’t be half demon, half fairy. You are either a demon or a fairy with a demon inside. I argued myself for what must have been several minutes. Every time I’d almost convinced myself that it was impossible, I looked to see Michel standing there, watching me. Living proof.

‘How?’ m
y voice squeaked. He walks over to me, crouched in front of me, and took my hand.

‘Well
, when my mother and my farther were alone one night, they decided to have s….’ I slapped his arm before he could finish. ‘Ow! That hurt,’ he said, rubbing the spot where I hit him.

‘I am being serious
, and I know how babies are made, you idiot! I want to know how it is possible.’

He chuckled and sighed.
‘Really, we don’t even know. My mother was a fairy, and my father is a demon. They both loved each other, and here I am. A miracle, I guess.’ He shrugged his shoulders, and I could not help but notice how he used past tense when he said his mother
was
a fairy. I didn’t get a chance to ask, because Ethan walked in then.

‘Summer
, what is going on?’ I looked over Michel’s shoulder to see Ethan growling. Michel turned around to look at Ethan, then looked at me.

‘So that is your name! Summer
. It is very pretty for a pretty girl.’ He smirked, and I blushed. Ethan was still growling.

‘Get your hands off he
r,’ he rumbled in his chest, and I could hear the hint of jealousy in his voice.

‘Ethan
, don’t worry, ok?’ I said, and got up. Michel gave me a hand. Ethan was shooting daggers at Michel,  so he let go of my hand. ‘Thank you,’ I said, picking up my bag and turning to Ethan.

‘Ethan
,’ I said in a soft voice, trying to calm him down.

‘No
, you don’t get to
Ethan
me! You ignore me all day and push me away, and when you don’t show up to class, I get worried- and I come in here to find you with another man!’ he shouted, and I saw his beautiful green eyes flicker almost black.

‘Ethan
, it is not what you think.’ I stepped towards him, and he held up his hand.

‘I don’t want to hear it
.’ With that, he stormed out of the girls’ bathroom.

‘That is what I am talking about!’ I turned around to see Michel grinning, and I remembered what he had said about high school not having any drama.

‘Really
, that is what you have to say?’ I said in disbelief.

He shrugged his shoulders and gave me an innocent look. I ra
n my hand over my face, and wonder how this got so out of hand.

‘So let me guess
. He is the boyfriend?’

‘Y
ep.’

‘He is a dick. He didn’t even wait to hear what you had to say
.’ Michel was shaking his head, but I could see amusement in his eyes.

‘W
ell, you don’t know him,’ I snapped back, then sighed. I really was too hot-headed these days. ‘Sorry. It’s been a long day, and I better get to class. I am already late.’

‘Sure
, but I need to ask you one thing. You cannot tell anyone about me. Yes, your boyfriend saw me, but don’t tell him my name. Make something up. If someone found out about me, that could be dangerous.’

I nod
ded, understanding. ‘Sure.’ When I was about to leave, I turned to see Michel disappear into thin air, and I hoped I would never have to see him again.

When I go
t to class, I knew I was late. I opened the door and saw that Mr. Timberwood was already engrossed in teaching, so I tried to sneak in.

‘Summer
, if you going keep being tardy to my class, I am going to have to do something about it,’ Mr. Timberwood said just as I sat down. So much for sneaking around.

‘S
orry, sir. It won’t happen again,’ I said, and opened up my book.

‘I know
, because I will be seeing you after class.’ I sighed. Great, just what I wanted. I looked around to see Ethan sitting next to Amanda.

‘
Hey, Amanda.’
I did not know if she would answer me, and my guess was right me. She was ignoring me. Great. Was everyone mad at Summer today? The rest of the lesson was quiet. Everyone had their heads stuck in their books, doing work. I finished early and was looking around the classroom, when I swear I saw a book fly across the classroom and onto the teacher’s desk. I frowned, and Mr. Timberwood looked at me.