Evil - Chapter 11
“Are you out of your dang mind!” Carl shouted at me across the gym. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”
This is a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.
It's not easy being the Antichrist.
Anjelica’s mother never told her that she was a demon. Now, all she wants is her old life back, but that’s not possible for her. Not after what she’s seen.
Anjelica used to be a popular cheerleader with an awesome life, but that was before an evil cult of demons tried to use her blood to open a portal to Hell and start the Apocalypse.
She was rescued from that fate, barely, and because of the imminent threat to her life, her saviors ripped her from Los Angeles and brought her to a safe house in the middle of nowhere.
They said it was for her own good, but she would rather be dead than stuck in boring, old Bronard, Missouri. She was from the big city, so a sleepy, rural life wasn’t for her.
She longed for excitement.
So, when she met a young witch with a mysterious past who promised to show her everything she knew about opening portals and traveling between distant lands, they bonded immediately
I mean, what’s the worst that could happen, right?
It’s not like they would open an intergalactic gateway to another planet and get thrown into a brand, new world with no way to get back to Earth, right?
Join Anjelica in her own solo adventure and find out what happened to her immediately after the events in Magic.
“Are you out of your dang mind!” Carl shouted at me across the gym. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”
“Who is that?” Chrissy asked.
“It’s my dad…I guess?”
“You guess?” Harriet said. “How can you guess?”
“I’m adopted?” I replied. “It’s kind of complicated.”
“Why is he pissed?” Ella said.
“I might not have told him I was trying out.”
“That’s not good,” Harriet replied. “You should strive to be truthful at all times.”
“I should probably go before he blows a gasket,” I told the three of them. “Thanks for this. Really. I appreciate your consideration. I hope—” I stopped to gather myself. “I look forward to hearing what you have to say.”
I gave Carl the universal signal for one minute and rushed into the locker room to change back into my clothes. I had no interest in running outside in the little booty shorts that the school provided for us. Bundled up again, I ran out toward Carl.
“I thought we talked about this,” he said, walking me out to the car.
“I know,” I replied. “Time got away from me.” I took a deep breath. “Can you appreciate how hard this is on me? I have never had a dad, dude. My ‘dad’ is a demon. My mom worked all hours, odd hours. I’m used to my independence.” I grabbed the pendant from my neck. “And now I have none of that. I have nothing. Everything’s changed.”
He opened the door to his truck. “Maybe Kimberly’s right. Maybe we should home school you.”
“What?” I shouted, sliding into the cab of the truck. “How do you get ‘let’s be even more Draconian’ from me wanting more independence?”
He turned to me after starting the truck. “I do appreciate how hard this is for you. That’s the only reason we agreed to take you in. Can you appreciate how hard this is for us, though? We just got another kid in our lives, double the responsibility, and if we don’t take care of her right, she can put everyone at risk, including herself.” He pointed to the school. “You ever think what would happen if a demon came to attack you during that little practice?”
“I’m sorry.” I had said it a lot recently, and this was the first time I actually didn’t believe it. I had every right to have a bit of fun.
“You can’t join that team.”
“I know that!” I shouted, tears streaming down my face. “I absolutely know that. You made it very clear. I just wanted one normal day, okay? Just one. I’m sorry…I am sorry I was late…I should have taken better track of my time, but I’m not sorry for doing it, for trying to have one second of normalcy in this life I’m being forced to lead.” For the rest of my life. I left that part out. I wasn’t looking for a fight, but I wasn’t a doormat.
***
“I think you better go to your room,” Carl said when I walked into the house. “I’ll talk with Junebug and have her bring you up some dinner.”
“Fine with me,” I mumbled. “I have a lot of homework.”
I ran up the stairs and poured my stack of books out on the bed. Where to begin?
Did it even matter? There was no way Carl and Junebug were gonna let me keep living here if I couldn’t follow their rules. Would that be such a bad thing? Maybe Kimberly would have a different family, a better family. Who was I kidding? She’s the one who put these stupid rules on me in the first place. If anything, the next place I went would have bars on the windows.
Maybe I should just run away, go back to Los Angeles, try to summon my father for help. God, you are such a wimp, Anjelica. Your grandparents didn’t even have refrigerators. General Grant barely had indoor plumbing. He had to use an outhouse on the battlefield, and you’re complaining because you have people trying to look out for you. You suck.
There was a knock on the door, but it sounded too soft to be Junebug.
“Come in,” I said, and the door eked open to reveal Lizzie with a plate of chicken tenders and fries in her hand.
“Mom said I should bring this up to you.”
I took it from her. “Thanks.” I set the plate on top of my books. “She hates me, huh?”
Lizzie shook her head. “She—they’re just getting used to you. It happened to all of us. I remember when I first came here, it took me forever to get adjusted.” She sucked her teeth. “I’m still not adjusted.”
“Wait, you aren’t their biological kid?”
She shook her head. She snapped her fingers, and an ice crystal formed in her hand. “I’m a freak, just like you. They can’t have kids, which is probably why they are so into collecting strays.” She looked me in the eyes. “They’re good people, though. They’ll give you a lot of chances. You just have to make the best of them. They really are looking out for your best interests, the best way they know how, even if it’s not the way you want.”
“My mom never cared about where I was or who I was hanging out with.”
“You had a mom? Nice.”
“You?”
She shook her head. “Nah. I’ve been bouncing around for years in the system. Then, Kimberly found me.” She pulled up the sleeve of her shirt to reveal a black opal pendant on a bracelet around her wrist. “She brought me here, and I just never left. Carl and June never tried to get rid of me, and eventually, we just fell into whatever this thing was between us and made it official.”
“How did you cope with not being able to be out after dark?”
“Listening to metal music—I just got a Nintendo. It’s pretty sweet.” She tapped the top of my stack of books. “And I do homework. Lots of homework.”
I grabbed a chicken tender and took a bite. “Noted. I guess I’ll get back to it.”
Lizzie nodded. “It’s not the end of your life, just the end of one part of your life and the beginning of another. How you deal with that is up to you.”
***
Later that night, I was doing homework in the wee hours when the house began to rumble. “Earthquake!” I shouted. But it couldn’t be an earthquake; we weren’t close enough to a fault line. In the distance, a horn began to blow.
A gigantic crash echoed through the air, and a moment later, the Bronard water tower tumbled, the black funnel of a tornado in its wake. I had never seen one before except in movies, and it was much scarier in person than when watching The Wizard of Oz.
The tornado ripped through the field across from our house and snaked its way toward me, ripping up roots and branches as it carved a path of destruction through the farmland. It tore through the shed in an instant as the rusted tractor and farm equipment spun high into the air, followed close behind by Carl’s pick-up truck. I tripped, trying to pull my feet from the hardwood floor, but they wouldn’t listen to my commands. I was locked to the ground, helpless, as the tornado made its way toward the house.
The tornado crashed through the wall of my room, tearing out the window and pulling the floorboards, snapping them like twigs, before it engulfed me in its cyclone…and then I woke up with a start, a piece of paper pressed against my forehead. I had fallen asleep doing homework.
I smacked the bad taste out of my mouth and stuffed the homework into my bag. I managed to get everything done, though it took until near daybreak. I was tired, but school waited for no woman. I managed to shower and eat a quick piece of toast before I left for the day without seeing either Carl or Junebug. The truck was already gone, and I heard the mower in the back. Everybody too busy for each other was the kind of household I was completely comfortable in.
“We made a decision,” Chrissy said, walking up to my locker when I got into school. I looked over at her, but she didn’t have a smile on her face. “In light of the fact that you lied to your father, I just don’t think you’re Catgirl material. We value honesty, Anjelica, and we can’t abide by liars.” She patted me gently on the wrist. “I hope you get the help you need.”
“You too,” I replied, smiling as sweetly as I could, given the circumstances. She frowned, confused at what I said, and then walked off scratching her head. I wasn’t even that mad, honestly. I would have probably done the same thing in her position. You have to look out for the whole squad when you’re a leader. I had probably voted against people like me in the past, but being able to sympathize didn’t hurt the sting, and it remained with me all day.
It didn’t abate until later in the afternoon when I got off the bus and saw a friend waiting for me on my porch. It was Margaret, sitting with a cup of cocoa and waiting for me. When she saw me, a very nerdy smile accompanied a dorky wave.
I loved it.
This is a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.
such an interesting idea!