* * *
“Have you heard?” Claire asked as she sat across from me in the cafeteria. Her eyes were wide as she looked between Avan and me. We both looked at each other and just shrugged, having no clue what she was talking about. She took in our surroundings as if to make sure no one would hear. The cafeteria was packed, though. The weather had been cold and drizzly out, and we were all stuck inside. It was stuffy and it felt impossible to breathe.
Two guys on the wrestling team were at the end of our table, but they seemed content to be stuffing their faces and barely noticing anyone else.
“Two kids from school were found dead right behind the sheriff’s office.” She stared at me as if I were supposed to know what had happened. I let go of Avan’s hand and reached for the apple I had in front of me, feeling suddenly uncomfortable.
“What happened?” Avan said, carefully pushing my legs off his lap and leaning over the table.
“They said some kind of animal got them.” She shot me another look. What was she getting at?
I leaned on Avan’s shoulder and said, “Well, if an animal got them, why were they right behind the sheriff’s office? That sounds strange. It’s smack in the middle of town—it’s not as if we had bears downtown.” No sooner had I said it than the light bulb went on.
That was why Claire was giving me those looks. Someone had done that to them, and even if it was an animal, it wasn’t an accident. Someone was trying to send a message. Could it be that Lilith was back?
Avan was shaking his head in disbelief, “How did you found out about it?” he said. “What else are they saying?” He was still shocked and intrigued about the news. He obviously didn’t see the connection we had made.
It must be nice to be blind to all this. How I wished none of it were true. Then maybe, just maybe, my parents would still be alive.
I looked at Avan, envying him for how naive he was of the unknown, of what was happening right under his nose. But now more than ever I was determined to keep him in the dark. He didn’t need all this. And if he knew that I may be the reason for all these new deaths, he would never accept who I was. It was too dangerous.
Claire looked at him and tried to play it off as she reached over for a slice of my apple. “Ah, I was at the front office filling in some paperwork when the deputies showed up. They didn’t really care that there were other students in there; they just got to the point.” She turned to me again, looked in my eyes, and then looked down at her hands. There was more to it than just that—I could see it in the way she was now avoiding my eyes. Without looking at me, she said, “They may be coming to ask you a few questions, Jade. They think it may be the same animal that attacked your parents.” She didn’t look at me again.
“And what could I help them with?”
Avan took my hand in his and gave me a faint smile. He knew that talking about that day was something I didn’t like to do. I hadn’t really talked about it at all, actually.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “They must want a description of the animal, just so if anyone sees it again they shoot it dead.” He seemed so sure of his answer, it made me feel the slightest hope that he might be right.
Two kids were dead because of me. I tightened my hand around Avan’s. What would keep Lilith away from the one good thing that remained in my life? From the one thing I loved? It was actually a surprise that her warning came with random kids from school and not Avan. Maybe she was keeping him for the grand finale.
I shook my head. I could not allow those sorts of thoughts in my mind. It was a relief when the bell rang. It was imperative that I talk to Claire, and I had to do it now. I kissed Avan and sent him on his way. He gave me a long, slow look and made sure I was fine before walking away in the crowded, noisy cafeteria.
“We need to talk,” I said as I grabbed Claire’s arm and pulled her along toward the cafeteria restroom. After making sure there was no one in the stalls, I said, “Why did she go for those kids? She could have gone for Avan.” It was hard to say, because doing so made everything suddenly, starkly real.
She pulled a paper towel off and wiped the counter, then sat on it and started to play with her nails, taking off the nail polish she had just put on last night. “She’s sending a warning. If she got Avan, it wouldn’t be fun anymore. There wouldn’t be a game for her to play.” She looked at me in the mirror. “But she’ll be coming for him sooner or later, and I would hate to see that happen, Jade.”
I swallowed the large lump in my throat. Thinking about it was one thing, but for someone else to agree made it tangible.
Claire had been right; in the middle of music class, two deputies came into the room, looking for me. A few kids snickered as if I was in trouble and had been sent to the principal’s office. I followed the two young men outside and leaned against the wall as the big guy closed the door behind him. The other one had curly red hair and looked barely out of high school. Curly pulled a pocket notebook out of his trouser pocket and opened it.
“Good afternoon, Miss Lovecraft,” he said without looking up at me. He just scribbled on the small piece of paper.
I hadn’t even said anything. What could he possibly be writing down?
“Do you mind if we call you Jade?” he asked, his eyes rising and meeting mine. He waited for my nod before he went back to scribbling.
It is my name, idiot, I thought to myself. I wondered whether this was his first interview. It seemed as if he had spent the past couple of days practicing all the clichéd mannerisms in the book.
“Did you know . . .” He fumbled with his notebook, looking for the information. This was going to be kind of fun, in a gruesome sort of way.
I looked over at the big guy. He had a military haircut and aviator glasses on. He was sort of cute, tall and muscular, if you were into those things.
“. . . Melanie Kats and Jeffrey King?”
I stared at him. Was he for real? They came to school here—of course I knew them, even if I never spoke to them. We lived in a rather small town, after all. “Um, yeah, we all know each other around here.” I was never the sassy type, but there was just nothing I could do for them. They were putting all their attention into an animal when the threat was a demon. Would I ever get used to this new world I was living in? Angels and demons, and who knew what other supernatural creatures were crawling about?
“Were you friends with them?” he asked as he scrawled something else onto his little pad.
“No, just know them from here.” I rolled my eyes, but he was already writing some more and didn’t catch it. I could tell the big guy was getting antsy, too.
“What do you know about their deaths?”
I put my right foot up against the wall and played with the hem of my skirt. “Not much more than the rumors going around.”
He stopped writing and looked at me, his glasses riding midway down his nose. He looked the way a psychologist might while awaiting a patient’s answer. “And those would be what exactly?”
“That an animal killed them, just the way my parents were killed.” My voice was getting louder and angrier. This was not something I was in the mood to be talking about. I didn’t need another reminder of how they were dead because of me.
“Yes, it is very peculiar that an animal would strike again this way, especially so close to such busy streets.” He stared into my eyes as if he was implying something. Something I couldn’t really catch. I mean, they couldn’t think I was responsible for this, could they? There was no way!
I stared back at him, not backing down. If he had anything to say, he should just spit it out. And yet, it caught me by surprise when he did. “Where were you last night?”
I stared at him blankly. Was I really a suspect all of a sudden? This could not be happening. “The same place I am every night: my house.”
The big guy finally spoke. “Seems there’s nothing else we need to know from you, ma’am. Appreciate your time.” He opened the door to the classroom, and I ducked under hi
s outstretched arm and quickly disappeared inside.
I sat back down in my seat and could feel everyone looking at me, especially Claire. Her gaze burned through me, as if trying to steal the memories of what had just occurred. I didn’t return her gaze—I was too busy trying to figure out how I had gotten to this place. Could they really be questioning me as a suspect? Did everyone else in town think I not only murdered those kids but did in my own parents as well? This was not good.
Everyone’s eyes followed me all the way to the parking lot. And even though I couldn’t actually hear them, I had no illusions about what they were thinking. They all thought I was some kind of murderous psycho running around town.