The Devil's Prey (The Demon Within) (4 page)

The hail was still coming down
, and the wind got stronger. I had no idea where I was going, but I needed to be with someone who would at least try to understand. When I arrived at the house, the storm had died down a bit. I knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer.

‘I told you to leave me alone!
Oh- Summer, it’s you.’ I tried on put on a smile for Amy, and she stood back, motioning me into the house. ‘Come inside, you are soaking wet.’ When I walked into her house, it smelt of lavender.

‘Can I get you anything?’

‘No, I am fine. Could I crash with you for a few days?’

She gave me a wa
ry look. ‘What happened?’ I could tell from her expression that this was the first time she had noticed my bag.

‘Well,
it is a long story.’ I stared down at my feet. ‘I ran away from where I was staying. I got into a huge argument, and no one understands me…so I left.’ I sat down, realizing belatedly that my wet clothes would soak her couch. Amy didn’t seem to notice.

‘S
ure, you can crash. And I won’t tell your mom.’

I smiled at
Amy. She always understood me.

‘S
o what did you do?’ she asked.

I took a breath
. ‘Well, I have been suspended from school for two days.’

H
er eyes glittered at the sound of this. ‘First day, whoa! Even I never managed to pull that off! What did you do?’ She sounded excited that I was now the bad-ass one instead of her.

‘W
ell…I kind of broke Amber’s nose.’ I tried not to smile, but Amy’s grin was huge, and I couldn’t help but smile with her.

‘You broke her nose? Oh my gosh
, Summer!’ She gave me a huge hug, then looked at me with a serious face. ‘What did she do this time?’

‘W
ell, you know what’s been going around school? Well, she wrote all over my locker saying I was a sociopath, and then when I was waiting for Ethan and Amanda, she insulted my mother and father, saying my mum killed Dad and that I would do the same to Ethan.’ My eyes were too puffy to cry, but it felt good to tell someone who did not look disappointed in me. Amy didn’t say anything, but she wrapped her arms around me.

‘W
ell, I can’t wait to see her tomorrow.’ She pulled away and clapped her hands excitedly.

Amy’s mum was out of town
, which was good, because she probably would have called my mum. When Amy left for school the next morning, I was all alone.

By midday,
I was bored out of my mind. All that was on were soap operas and Dr. Phil. I went to the fridge to get a drink when I heard a voice.

‘
Summer, can you hear me? I know you can.’
I sighed at Amanda’s voice. I did not want to speak to anyone, but knowing Amanda, she would not stop until she got an answer.

‘
What do you want, Amanda?’
  I got a drink and sat back on the lounge.

‘
Where the hell are you? When I went into our room, everything was everywhere, and your clothes were gone!’
Even in my head, I could feel how disappointed she was in me.

‘
I need space to think, ok? Please.’

‘
You better tell me where you are, Summer!’

I was not going to tell her
. ‘
Nope, I am safe. That is all you need to know.’
I felt a little sorry for her. She could hear me but not find me.

‘You do know that Lauren has put out a warning to every fairy in the world that you are missing.’
Great, I thought. Every stinking fairy knew I had run away. Just great.

‘
I am sick of all this protection. Why won’t anyone respect what I want to do?
G
od, I wish I wasn’t a fairy!
’

‘S
ummer, every time you say that, you have no idea how hurtful it is to both me and Ethan. What you said yesterday about being sick of everything related to fairies really hurt me and Ethan. We were both devastated.’

‘I didn’t mean to hurt you
, but I am just tired of everyone expecting so much of me. I am losing my mind, but no one seems to see that. Yes, what I did to Amber was not right, but if you heard what she was saying…’
I stopped because I heard something outside. It was too early for Amy to be home. I saw a shadow cross the backyard. My body tensed, and I stood up with a lambo in my hand. I took a step towards the backyard, only to realize it was just a cat. A freaking cat scared me! I sat back on the lounge, trying to think of something to say to Amanda.

‘
Summer, this is why you need to come back home.’

‘H
ow did you- never mind. Home? How could you call it home? I am treated different. No one ever says, “Good job, Summer.” All I get is disappointment from everyone . Did you know not one person has asked me how I am doing? They all assume, “She is a pure, she must be fine.”’
Amanda did not say anything, so I went back to watching god knows what.

‘
Summer, the thing is, nobody can begin to imagine what you went through. You have no idea how proud we are of you. I know it may not seem like it, but we all are. Everyone is too afraid to confront you because they have no idea how. They are scared you might bite their heads off for bringing it up, and after the way you had a go at Lauren…well, I think they are right.’
I could tell from her voice that she was sorry, but I knew by the way she spoke at the end that she was hiding something from me

‘
Ok, spit it out! What are you hiding from m…’
I could not finish the last words. I rubbed my eyes to make sure that I was not seeing things. I saw a beautiful lady standing in front of me. I knew who she was, even though we had never met. I blinked my eyes, and she was gone.

‘
Amanda, I think I am going crazy. I just saw Katarina, and I know that is impossible!’

T
here was silence before she talked.
‘You are not crazy, trust me.’
And our conversation ended
.

When Amy
came home from school, she was in high spirits. ‘You should have seen her nose, Summer! It was bad, all puffy, and she had black circles under her eyes. Even funnier, she tried to cover it with makeup!’ Amy laughed at herself. She spent the afternoon talking about how her day was. She asked about mine, and I told her what I had done, soap operas and all. We got take-out for dinner, and after dinner we sat down to do our homework.

‘S
ummer, how can you understand this stuff?’ We were doing calculus, which I’ve always been good at, but I can’t say the same for Amy.

‘I don’t know
.’ I shrugged my shoulders, and we continued our work. After all our homework was done, we went off to bed. Amy went for a shower, but I fell straight asleep.

The next day of my suspension went fast
. I talked to Amanda, and she talked about how boring some of the teachers were. Amy always came home with delightful gossip about everything.

‘So
, ready to go back to school?’ Amy asked as we got ready for bed.

‘I am not sure
. I am glad to be out the house, but I am terrified of what might happen.’ I was a bit more scared of facing Ethan and Lauren.

‘W
ell, the latest news on your state is that you are still crazy, but people like the crazy you, because you broke Amber’s nose.’

I smiled at that. Who would have thought?

‘Well, we better get to sleep. Big day ahead of us.’ Amy yawned and fell asleep, unlike me. I sat awake, staring at the ceiling.

‘
Amanda, are you up?’
I got no response, so I went to sleep.

When
I woke up in the morning, Amy was still asleep. I went downstairs to get breakfast and was surprised to see Amy’s mum back. ‘Oh…sorry, Kim. I didn’t mean to interrupt you.’

S
he turned to see me and gave me an evil eye. ‘Oh, Summer, what are you doing here?’ She watched me as I got a glass of water.

‘I stayed the night
.’ I drank the water and went back into the room.

‘I
s Amy awake yet?’

‘N
o, she is still asleep.’ Something was off with her, which was strange because Kim always loved to have me over.

‘O
k, stay down here until she wakes up.’ This was weird, so I sat on the lounge and waited for Amy to wake up. She finally did, about twenty minutes later.

‘Morning
, Summer, and hey Mum! You are back.’ She smiled at her mother.

‘Y
es, and I got a surprise this morning.’ Kim looked over at me with a strange gleam in her eye. Amy told her mum that I had stayed the night to work on a research task. After that, we got ready for school. I just wore my jeans and vans. I wore my hair up, and Amy- well, she wore what Amy would typically wear. We went down and left the house.

‘Amy
, can I speak to you please-
alone?’
her mum asked. I waited outside the door, but she did not close it, implying that she wanted me to hear.

‘I want you to stay away from Summer
.’

‘But M
um, she is my best friend!’

‘I don’t care
. I never want her in my house again, you hear that? I don’t want my daughter hanging out with a sociopath!’

I felt sick
. No one wanted me. No one wanted a freak.

‘M
um! She is not! You have known her for her whole life, you know what kind of person she is!’ Amy was standing up for me, and that made me feel a little better.

‘N
o, Amy. You will never see her again after today. Do you know what she did to poor Amber? She is using drugs, Amy. She is a bad influence!’ Drugs, bad influence- what? She was talking about me, right?

‘Please
, Mum. Do you not know me?’

I wanted to walk away
, but my feet were glued to the floor.

‘N
o, I don’t. The other mothers say she should not be allowed at school, and you and I will support them.’ I could see her mum look at me.

‘No
, Mum, I will not! She is my best friend, and I will be there for her!’ Amy left her mum and we jumped in the car.

‘A
re you ok to drive?’ I wanted to make sure, because I did not want to end up in a tree.

‘Yes
, I am. How could she…well, I don’t care.’ And at that, we drove off to school.

When we arrived, I looked for Ethan’s car.

‘It’s
ok, Summer. You can stop sweating,’ Amy told me. I tried to relax, but it was impossible.

‘What do you do once you have been suspended?’
I asked. Amy was always getting in trouble, so she would know.

‘Well
, I get out of the car and walk with my head held high.’

A
nd I did just that. I got out and walked beside Amy to my locker, but before I even reached the school, I spotted Ethan’s car pulling up. I could not face him yet, so I walked to my locker.

‘See
, was that so bad?’ Amy said with a smile.

I
had thought it would be worse. Yes, people stared at me and whispered, but I ignored them.

‘I guess it was not
.’ I saw Amber walk past with her posse. She glanced at me and walked away.

‘You were right
, I got her good!’ Amy and I both laughed and walked off to roll call. When we arrived in class, we took our places at the back. We were talking happily, but I caught my breath when Ethan and Amanda walked in. It looked like he had been crying. We just looked at each other, and there was such sadness in his eyes. I gave him a weak smile, but he just turned his head and took a seat in the front.

Amanda smile
d at me and sat next to Ethan. ‘
He still loves you,’
was all she said to me.

Mr. Timberwoo
d started calling out our names.

‘Summer
?’

‘Here
.’ Everyone looked at me, but I kept my head high.

‘Nice to see you back
.’ He smiled and continued roll call for the rest of the class.

‘Ok
, so everyone who wants to join the cheer team or football team, tryouts are at lunch.’ People moaned in the class, and Mr. Timberwood went on reading. I didn’t pay much attention until he mentioned volleyball.

‘Tryouts for volleyball are
today after lunch. You will be excused from that lesson, but only serious people, okay?’

I sat up in my
chair and wrote the tryouts down on my notebook so I would not forget. The bell went off, and I left the class. Ethan had to stay behind, so I waited for him at the door.

When he came out
of the room, he kept walking. ‘Ethan. Please wait.’ I had to chase after him because he was walking really fast. When I finally caught up, I grabbed his hand and turned him around. His hair was all shaggy and unkempt, like he’d just rolled out of bed.