The Devil's Prey (The Demon Within) (2 page)

When we arrived at the school parking lot, students were milling around, happily talking to their friends about how their holidays had been. We pulled up into a spot and Amanda parked the car. We sat in the car for a few seconds before we all got out. The moment I opened the car door, I could feel people looking at me. I let my hair fall over my face so no one could see it.

‘It’s
going to be fine, just be yourself,’ I heard Ethan whisper in my ear. That was easier said than done. People whispered stuff when I walked by them, and I wanted to scream at them.

‘Oh my god
, did you hear? She tried to kill herself!’

‘I heard she also tried to kill her boyfriend and best friend
.’

‘Well
, I heard she thought the devil tried to kill her.’

T
he last one caught my attention. I looked around to see who said it, but everyone looked away from me like I was a plague. I felt myself go into a panic fit, and the words under my bandage began burning.

‘Summer
.’ Amanda’s voice made me jump. She placed her hand on my shoulder.

‘
I cannot do this,’
I thought at Amanda.

‘
Yes, you can. Just ignore them and stick with us.’

‘Did you hear what someone said
?’

Amanda did not respond
, but looked at me with pity.

‘Summer
, I can take you home, if you want.’ Ethan was so caring. I felt bad, leaving him in the dark, but it was for his own safety.

‘No
, I can do this.’ I took a deep breath and continued walking. Amanda and Ethan were new, so they had to sign in, and I waved them off before making my way to my locker. When I reached my locker, I felt someone wrap their arms around me from behind.

‘Summer
, I am so glad you are alright!’ Amy was squeezing me so tightly that my chest began throbbing.

‘Amy
, do you mind please?’

She let go straight away.
‘I am sorry! I have just missed you. Your mum would not tell me where you were, and I do not believe a single thing people are saying!’ She kept ranting on and on about how her holidays had been while I put my stuff in my locker.

‘That’s nice
, Amy.’ I shut my locker to see Amber walking past.

‘I know
, right? She also tried to kill me.  She was out of control! They should have not even let her back in school!’ Her whole group looked at me and laughed.

Amy went to walk
up to them, but I stopped her, and she turned back to me, disapproval etched on her face. ‘Summer, you cannot let them walk all over you like that.’

‘It’s ok
, Amy. They are not worth your time.’ I sighed at the thought of how easy it would be to hurt Amber, but Amy interrupted me.

‘So
…are Ethan and what’s-her-name coming this year?’  She really didn’t like the thought of me having two best friends, but I figured she would learn to live with it.

‘
Yes. They are in the office at the moment.’

W
e heard the bell ring, which meant time for roll call.

‘Hey
, which class are you in?’ Amy asked me.

‘Same as you
.’

W
e both smiled and headed to our roll call class. When we were inside, we took our seats at the back of the class.

‘Ok
, students, my name is Mr. Timberwood, and I will be your roll call teacher,’ our teacher announced from the front of the room.

W
e all laughed at his name, but there was something about him that seemed familiar to me. We heard a knock on the door, and I saw Amanda and Ethan standing in the door way.

‘Is this roll call class
…umm…365?’ Ethan asked in his familiar, sexy voice, and I heard all the girls sigh.

‘Yes. You must be Ethan
- and you must be Amanda.’ Our teacher let them into the class, and they both took seats in front of me.

‘Ok
, students, time to get to know each other. Push all the tables back, and arrange your chairs in a circle.’ We did as we were told and made a circle. I sat next to Amy and some kid I did not know. Ethan and Amanda sat across from me.

‘Ok
, so you are going to tell us your name, and something about you.’

Amber was up first.
‘Hi! I am Amber, and I have the best boyfriend,’ she said in that chirpy voice that I hated.

‘Ok
…not what I wanted from you, but I guess it will do.’ We went around the class until it got to Amy.

‘Hi
, I am Amy, and I love to meet people.’

I heard Amber whisper something
, but it was not worth getting worked up over.

‘Ok
, that’s always a good quality,’ our teacher said. ‘Next?’

I sat there
, trying to think of what to say.
‘Hi, I am Summer, and I am the last pure fairy, and everyone wants me dead.’
I saw Amanda cough at my idea, and Ethan looked at her.

‘Hi
, I am Summer, and I like to-’

‘Try to kill myself
!’ Amber shouted out from across the room. Suddenly, there it was- the burning sensation of power running through me, the thought of how easy it would be to end this once and for all. I knew how easy it would be to kill her in the blink of an eye, and nobody would know. It would be so easy to make it look like nothing happened.

‘Amber
, you will not speak when someone else is. Now apologize for what you said,’ Mr. Timberwood told her, but Amber just snorted and looked away. Typical.

Mr. Timberwood didn’t press the issue. ‘So Summer, you were telling us what you liked?
’

‘I like to play volleyball
.’

‘Ok
, so are you on the team?’ our teacher asked. I just nodded and looked down at my desk.

‘
What was that all about before? You were thinking about how easy it would be to kill her. Remember, I can read your thoughts.’
Amanda was obviously concerned.

‘It was just an idea
! Now leave me be.’
We had gone around the whole class, but I was buzzed out and not listening to anything anyone was saying.

‘Ok
, so I will hand out your timetables once the desks are put back to the way they were,’ Mr. Timberwood told us.

I got up and moved my stuff
, then sat down and waited for the rest of the class.

‘Summer
, are you ok?’ Ethan asked when he walked past, but I ignored him and kept my head down. I got my timetable to see I had Advanced English first with Mr. Timberwood, then Biology with Mrs. Hampton.  Everyone was comparing their timetables to see what classes matched up, but I just sat there, waiting for the bell.

‘Ok
, I will see those of you I have for first lesson,’ Mr. Timberwood announced.

T
he bell went, and I bolted out the class into the bathrooms. I splashed water onto my face and looked at myself in the mirror. I could not even recognize the face I was looking into. I undid the bandage to see the words still on my arm. I sat on the cold floor and put my hands on my head. I took deep, slow breaths, in and out.
Suck it up, Summer,
I thought.

I got up,
put the bandage back on, and went off to class.

I knew I was late
, as no one was in the corridor. I made my way to the classroom and went inside. I sat alone in the back, and Mr. Timberwood did not take notice of me, which was good.

‘Ok
, students, for those who don’t know me, I am Mr. Timberwood. I am handing out the book you will be reading. It is called
To Kill a Mockingbird.
You will have to read it, as there will be an exam on it.’ The books were getting handed out, and someone put the book on my table. I looked up to see Ethan handing them out with Amanda. He smiled at me, but I looked down, trying my best to become invisible.

‘So today I am going to teach you
…’ Mr. Timberwood talked about how to analyze a book, and we had to take notes. Normally I love English, but I was so distracted that I was not paying attention to what I was writing. I looked down at my page and was surprised to see weird symbols instead of words. I closed my notes and saw Mr. Timberwood writing our homework down for the next lesson. ‘Make sure it is done. You can go now.’

W
e all got up to leave the class. I quickly put my books away so that I could make a quick escape, but Mr. Timberwood caught me.

‘Summer
, can you stay behind, please?’

I groaned inwardly at the thought of stay
ing behind.  I waited for everyone to leave, and when the class was empty, my teacher spoke again. 

‘Summer
, I knew you were late today, and that is ok. I have been told you are going through a rough patch, and if you need someone to talk to, you can trust me.’ He smiled at me, but I looked away.

‘I am sorry
, sir. It won’t happen again.’ I clutched my book to my chest, fighting back the tears, and went to my next class. Biology went fast. I had Amanda in this class, which was good, but I did not sit with her. In fact, I didn’t sit with anyone all day.

The day flew by in the
blink of an eye. People still whispered every time I walked past them. When it was time for lunch, I went into the cafeteria to see everyone at their tables, eating. The nerds, the jocks, the emo kids…you name it, they were all there. I had always sat with the volleyball team, but this time I walked straight past them and sat at a table by myself. I played with my food for a while before two people sat down with me.

‘I like this school
, but it would be nice if I knew where I was going.’

I smiled at the voice that was talking to me
.

‘You know
, that is the first time I have seen you smile today.’

T
hey were both trying to cheer me up, but it was not working. I was just too distracted.

‘Summer
, you might want to keep Ethan on a short leash. You should see how friendly all the girls are being towards him,’ Amanda told me. I looked up to see Ethan smiling at me, which made me smile back. I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.

‘What is wrong
, Summer? You have been ignoring us all day. Did we do something wrong?’ His voice was soft, like he was afraid I was made out of glass and about to shatter.

‘
No, it’s me. It is hard. Please tell me you have not heard what they are saying about me. The way they look at me when I walk past- I could crush them all like bugs, and no one would know!’ I stopped, as the last part was not meant to come out, and I looked back down at my food, ashamed I would even think such a thing. Ethan grabbed my hands from across the table and threaded his fingers through mine. My body went into shock straight away. He always made me happy, somehow.

‘W
hat else is there?’ he asked, his voice gentle.

I grabbed my notes from English out my bag
and placed them on the table. ‘When we were meant to be writing notes in English, I wrote this.’ I showed them, and they both studied the symbols on the page.

‘I have seen this before in a book
. It is called Manarick,” Amanda said. “Only the highest of fairies write in Manarick and are able to read it.’

I looked at them both
.

‘W
ell,” Ethan said, “it makes sense…since you are a pure fairy.’

I cringed at the idea
.

‘So can you read what it
says?’ Amanda asked.

‘Well
, that’s the thing. I don’t have a clue what it says.’ I squinted to see if I could get any idea of what I’d written. Before I could really focus, I heard someone scream. I looked to see that Amanda and Ethan had not heard the scream, and chills ran down my spine. I heard the scream again, and then I saw it. Lucy stood at the other end of the cafeteria. She was smiling, her long blonde curls stained with blood. She held out her hand, and I saw a burn- the same burn that was on my arm. The mark of the devil.

My body froze up. She was laughing and moving closer. I knew I had to leave, but my body would not move. I heard Ethan call my name. I had flashes of memories from the night I died- the laugh, the knife. I felt my face go pale. I felt sick to the core. I looked around, trying to distract myself, but I saw the devil’s face everywhere I looked. I felt like it was only me and the devil. I heard Amanda talk to Ethan, but the only voice I could comprehend was the devil’s voice, and the ice cold feeling that went along with it. I could feel a pair of warm hands on my shoulders as I stood up. I realized I was moving. We left the cafeteria, and I could no longer see the devil’s face.