“He wants your power or he wants you dead. What he doesn’t want is you completing your transformation on your birthday,” Muriel added. “Now that the hobgoblins have been around, the next demon you can expect to see is an Evil. One of us turned bad. You won’t know who it is, and you won’t know when you’ll see them. That’s why our parents want us to stay in pairs, or larger, at all times. Azazel wants you bad, Milayna. You’re a big target. It wouldn’t surprise me if he skipped over the Evils and went straight for the demi-demons.”
I stood up and started clearing the table of the empty burger wrappers and fry boxes. Shoving them into the garbage can, I grabbed the sanitizing wipes to scrub the ketchup that had oozed onto the table. My hands shook and my insides felt like Jell-O, wobbling all out of place. I was scared, confused, and overwhelmed. I didn’t want to hear anymore, so I played Molly Maid to distract myself. I’d just have to learn on the fly, because the more they talked, the more I panicked. I was polishing the water faucet when Muriel ushered everyone out of the kitchen.
The other group members went into the living room and sprawled out on the floor, playing video games and joking around to blow off steam. I sat at the dining table and watched, drumming my fingers on the table. It felt like my fear was pressing down on me. I couldn’t get up, I couldn’t talk, all I did was sit and think—something I didn’t want to do. Seeing I was upset, my dad shooed the group out of the house about an hour later. I stood at the door, saying goodbye as they left.
“See ya, boss lady.” Lily gave me a tight smile and brushed by me. She hadn’t said anything to me all night. She sat in the corner with her arms folded over her chest and listened, never saying anything. But her tone told me she was ticked about something.
“‘Bye,” I answered quietly and watched her walk to her car.
Chay was the last to leave. He stood at the door, his eyes boring into mine. “So now that you know the types of demons you’ll be dealing with, do you feel better?”
“No.” I shook my head and wondered why standing so close to him seemed to steal the breath from my lungs.
“Good. As soon as you start feeling comfortable, that’s when you’ll find yourself in a situation that will send you straight to Hell or get you killed.” He nodded once, slipped into his U of M hoodie, and walked out of the door without another word.
He sure has a way with words.
They’re chasing me. I’m alone. It’s dark outside. None of the houses on the block have their lights on. I run home. The door is locked. I reach for my key, but it isn’t in my pocket.
I run across the street to Muriel’s. Pounding on the door, I scream for her to let me in. No one answers.
I dart around a group of demons and through my backyard. Chay. I don’t know which house is his. I find the only one in the neighborhood with lights on and pound on the door with both fists.
“Help me,” I scream.
The demons advance. I can smell the sulfur and see their gray skin as they enter the pool of light created by a street lamp just a few feet away.
The door opens. I fall inside and hit the floor with a grunt. Scrambling away from the door, I kick it closed.
“Thank you.” My breath comes out in pants, my chest heaving so hard it hurts. Like someone is squeezing the air out of me.
“I told you not to get too comfortable.” I look up and see his blue-green eyes. He stares back at me. It’s cold, hard. Chay opens the door and the demons walk inside, grotesque smiles pulled across their yellow, dagger-like teeth.
I bolted upright with a scream, my breathing heavy and heart racing. Pushing my sweaty hair off my face, I took two deep breaths to calm myself, kicked to free my legs of the sheets twisted around them, and crawled out of bed.
Standing at the bathroom sink, I stared at my reflection in the mirror. My hair was soaked with sweat; the red waves hung limp around my face. My green eyes were dull and had dark smudges under them. They were swollen and bloodshot from crying in my sleep.
“Milayna,” my mother called. “Are you okay?”
I jumped when I heard her voice and then rolled my eyes.
Stop being so jumpy. It’s just Mom. Big baby.
Sticking my head out of the bathroom door, I answered, “Just a nightmare, Mom.”
“Evils. Demi-demons. Chay said I wouldn’t know who they were. Why does my subconscious mind think it’s him?” I whispered in the empty room.
***
Five weeks, one day until my birthday.
I rolled out of bed an hour before my alarm went off. It didn’t really matter. After the nightmare, I hadn’t gone back to sleep. And when the one thing you didn’t want to do was think, lying in bed in a dark room all alone was not the best place to be.
I walked across the street to meet Muriel. We were riding to school together because of the whole buddy system thing. Demis had to be in pairs or larger. So Muriel drove, which she did normally, and it suited me just fine. She had a nice sporty car. I couldn’t tell you what it was, other than it was blue, about twenty years newer, and definitely cleaner than my truck.
“You look horrible,” Muriel said as soon as she saw me.
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, and you’re a freakin’ supermodel.”
“What’s up? And don’t tell me nothing. Even if I didn’t know you, I could tell something’s the matter. So spill.”