Evil - Chapter 16
It took Dennis a while to post my message in all the forums where he could think to do so, and when he was done, I bought him dinner at the questionable cafeteria in the student union.
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.
I chose not to eat the mystery meat or unappetizing wilted salad, but I was happy to watch him scarf down half an extra greasy pepperoni pizza.
“I don’t suppose you’ll tell me why we just did that, will you?” Dennis asked.
“If I told you, I would have to kill you,” I replied. “And you seem like such a nice boy.”
He sighed. “That’s me, Mr. Niceboy.”
“Do you mind?” I asked, reaching over to fix his collar that he hadn’t noticed was askew for the whole time we were together. “It was really bugging me. Now, what’s so bad about being a nice person?”
“They don’t get the girl,” he said.
“Yeah, cuz nice is like the bare minimum, man.” I took one of his pepperonis, and when it touched my tongue, I was glad I hadn’t invested in a full meal. “You don’t get extra credit for being nice, and nobody owes you anything for being decent. That’s the price of being in a society, dingus.”
When we were done eating, he drove me home, and that was that. I said my goodbyes and left him in the driveway of Junebug and Carl’s house. I waved as he drove away and walked inside. The phone rang in the kitchen as I took off my shoes, and Carl picked it up on the second ring.
“Yes, she’s here,” he said with confusion in his voice. “Hang on.”
He poked his head out of the kitchen. “Hey, Anjelica. Phone for you.”
“Really?” I rushed over, my hands jittery with excitement. I had not expected my pleas to work so fast. I put the receiver to my mouth. “Phil?”
“You must be the dumbest human I have ever met.” His voice was sharp. It was Phil, but he was absolutely not happy to hear from me. “Do you know how much trouble is out there searching for you?”
“Might be searching for me,” I said, feeling slightly ruffled. “They might be searching for me, and I highly doubt anybody searching for me is computer literate.”
“They can subcontract out this kind of thing. Listen, if I’m smart enough to find you, I promise you somebody else could.”
“Come on, Phil. You are easily the smartest being I’ve ever met. Do you really think anyone else is even close to as good as you?”
There was silence for a moment. “Okay, maybe not. But still, what you just did was very dangerous. Luckily, when I found your message, I scrubbed all the servers. Unless they have a tracking bot to search for any combination of my name, we might be safe.”
“Do you think I’m stupid, Phil?”
“Well, I didn’t! But now, I don’t know.”
“Can you for one moment allow for the possibility that maybe I had a good reason to reach out, one that was worth risking myself?”
“I—honestly, I hadn’t thought of that.”
“I need your help, please.”
“Now I am intrigued. How can I help you?”
“I have a friend, a sweet friend, a girl I met. She says she’s the subject of a prophecy. She doesn’t know what it is, exactly, but it’s dangerous. Last time I went out with her, a bunch of people in black suits tried to abduct us.”
“And you’re sure they weren’t after you?”
“No, but also yes. My friend seemed very sure they were after her, and I believe her. Kimberly refused to help me. She said I should mind my own business, but this is my business. My friend is in danger, and I can’t sit back and do nothing. Please, Phil.”
“This isn’t fair. You are using my insatiable hunger for intrigue against me. Okay, I will help you, as long as you promise not to do anything else stupid until I call you again.”
“I can’t promise that. I’m a teenager. We do stupid things all the time. Don’t you watch TV?”
“Yes, all of it, and it’s the only thing I want you doing for the next 24 hours. Those are my terms. Agreed?”
“I have school,” I said.
“Get the flu, then. Don’t leave that house.”
“Fine, but whatever you do, don’t tell Kimberly.”
***
It didn’t take much to fake being sick. For one, Carl wasn’t super excited for me to leave the house, and he jumped at the chance to keep me home. For another, since finding out I was a demon, I realized that I always ran hot. Spiking a 102 fever didn’t take much effort. Combine that with some heaving sounds in the shower and spraying myself down to look sweaty, and I was easily able to convince Junebug to let me stay home from school the next day.
I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in a long time, so I spent the morning napping and then watched soap operas for most of the afternoon. The phone rang three times, and I swiftly picked up each time. They all ended up being unimportant, at least to my cause. One farmer had a message for Carl about grain prices, another wanted to place an order with Junebug, and the final was a wrong number that clicked dead when I answered.
By the time Junebug arrived home and started cooking dinner, I was nervous that Phil had forgotten about me or that he never intended to help me in the first place. We were halfway through dinner when the phone rang again, and I bolted into the kitchen without even taking the napkin off my lap.
“Hello? Phil? Hello?”
There was a sigh on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry, kiddo.”
“Sorry, what are you sorry for?”
“After I found out what was happening, I had no choice.”
“What happened? What is going on?”
“I just wanted to call and tell you I was sorry. She’ll tell you everything else.”
I dropped the phone when a flash of pink appeared in the hallway, and when it dissipated, Kimberly’s sneering face was looking directly at me. “You couldn’t leave well enough alone, could you?”
“Jesus Criminy, Kimberly!” Carl shouted, jumping out of his chair. “I nearly shot out of my skin. Warn somebody when you appear in their dining room next time.”
“I’m sorry, Carl, Junebug, Lizzie.” Kimberly stomped forward. “But your daughter did something very stupid, which is becoming her M-O, and it couldn’t wait.”
Junebug sighed. “What did she do this time?”
“I didn’t do anything!” I shouted. “I swear!”
“Oh really?” Kimberly said. “So, I suppose some other half demon posted her phone number on every server in America yesterday?”
“Oh, that.” I shook my head. “No, I did that.”
“What are we going to do with you?” Junebug said, shaking her head.
Kimberly held up her hand. “Don’t do anything to her yet, but when I get done with her, you have my permission to kill her.”
“Aren’t you trying to prevent demons from killing me? Like, isn’t killing me the antithesis of the point here?”
“Yes!” Kimberly screamed, clenching her fists. “Which should tell you how angry I am right now. I have other things to do than protect you. Did you ever think of that? You are like one-thousandth of my worries and 100 percent of the pain in my ass.” She stopped talking, even if it looked like she had a lot more to say, and breathed. “Tell me what happened.”
“I already did.” I stepped forward. “And you told me to ignore it, but I won’t. You’re my age, and you’re off saving the world. Why can’t I try to save my friend?”
“Because—”
“NO!” I screamed at her. “I am not a child, and I refuse to be treated like one. I appreciate everything you’re doing for me, but my friend is in trouble, and I’m not turning my back on her any more than you can turn your back on me.”
I threw my hands in the air. “God, listen to yourself. You literally can’t stop yourself from helping people, and you expect me to be any different.”
“She’s got you there,” Lizzie said, taking a sip of orange juice.
“Lizzie!” Junebug barked.
“Thank you, sis,” I said, then turned back to Kimberly. “It must be really bad if you are here. Tell me what Phil found out.”
Kimberly sighed. “Margaret is a conduit between worlds. We don’t quite know exactly what that means, but—people are after her, on our side and theirs, and I can’t let them find her. If I do, it could mean the destruction of our world.”
“So…it sounds like I made a good call, then.”
Kimberly growled in her throat, a frustrated sound. “Perhaps, but that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that I find this girl.”
“Good luck,” Carl said, taking a sip of his beer. “I tried to find that house again ten times, and I have no idea where it is.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I can take you there.”
“You have a good heart, but you’re an idiot,” Kimberly said.
“So are you, and if you can be an idiot, then so can I.”
She shook her head. “I am sick of arguing with you. If you help me, then when this is over, you return to Plain Jane middle America, yes?”
I made an X over my chest. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”
Kimberly glared. “Oh, you don’t have to tell me you have a death wish.” She pressed her hands on my temples. “Think of the place you wish to travel. Picture it in your mind’s eye. Make it real, down to the blades of grass on the front yard and the smell in the air.”
I closed my eyes and thought of Margaret’s house. I remembered it as I last saw it, spread out across the yard, surrounded by swaying wheat fields, the smell of thistle on the air. I filled in the details until I could almost step through and touch it.
“Good,” Kimberly said.
A crackle filled the air, and we were gone. The next instant, I felt the breeze on the air, and I opened my eyes to see Margaret’s house. I stepped up to the door and knocked. The door creaked open. I looked in horror at the body of Margaret’s mother lying dead on the floor, blood pooling under her.
This is a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.