Deemotay

Chapter 4

KETLIN

I practically fell asleep as soon as I got home. I was really tired. But when waking up the next morning, I was quite rested. And even if I hoped for a normal day to come, it didn't happen. The TV was on and they showed the morning news. They were talking about those strange deaths in our town. Mentioned, that Kairi hadn't still come to her consciousness. People wanted to hear her story. They also told that Kairi might fall into coma, and that the autopsy on Mari hadn't showed any results. And the worse thing was that two new bodies were found yesterday night, not far from our town. 16 year old boy and 23 year old woman, who don't seem to be related to each other in any way. But their deaths are similar to what had happened to Kairi and Mari. I was stunned. I rushed back to my room and picked up my mobile. I chose granny's number. Didn't have to wait long till she picked up.

"Granny, I know that there's something you haven't told me," I bursted out. I even forgot to say hi.

After a short break granny sighed. "Maybe you can visit me? Then we can talk longer. It's not easy for me to go around so much."

We agreed on my visit. I didn't tell mum the reason, but I'm sure she understood herself, more or less. I know that mum is even more sceptic than I am.

I took a bus at 3 o'clock. Granny doesn't live very far from us, the trip lasted only for about half an hour. She lived in an old yellow house near the woods. I knocked on the door before I stepped inside. She already waited for me in the living room. I sat on an arm-chair facing her.

"Want some tea, Ketlin?" she asked. I nodded and she went to kitchen, filled a cup and took it to me. It smelled good. Granny always did the best tea. "You can put in as much sugar as you like." She pointed at a small cup on the table between us.

"Talk then. Ask what you want to know," she said then.

I tried to think of where to start. "Do... Do you know, who's behind those deaths?"

She took a sip from her cup and put the cup on the table again. "I have a feeling that I do. I saw a vision."

"Who were they!" I asked. Question came so quickly that I wondered if it sounded rude.

She looked at me. "You already know who," she answered calmly.

"Deemotays?" I asked doubtfully. When she nodded, I was stunned. Not because she knew what i knew, but because deemotays were really real. Granny wouldn't lie to me. But then I felt frightened. Those creatures were so close to me.

"But why didn't you tell me?"

"I know that I should have. But I thought what less you know about them, that better. I planned on finding someone who knows how to get rid of them. There used to be people who knew how to do that."

Get rid of? Okay, I moved on with my questions.

"Who are they, by the way?" I asked.

"Deemotays are creatures in human forms. To live, they suck energy from people by touching their skin. All they leave behind are bodies with no injuries. It's impossible to find the cause of death. And because they look like humans, it's really hard to suspect them. They are very good at leaving behind no sign of them, at hiding or destroying the body or even framing someone completely random. That's why many people in the old days didn't believe in those creatures. And many innocent people were sentenced to death."

"But where did they come from? And why don't people know about them anymore?" I asked, barely letting her stop.

"Nobody really knows where. But they came to Estonia somewhere in the 1830. By that time they had to start keeping a lower profile, because people started to become more curious. Some even found ways to take their life. About in the 1950 they disappeared from Estonia almost completely. Some people thought that they had died out. But I believe that they became more careful when hiding the bodies, they're living among us, quietly. Probably travelling around the world much. Do you know the number of people going missing every year, Ketlin?"

I didn't know the numbers, but I knew it was a really big number.

"Really many," Granny continued. "And I'm sure, that a part of that number is caused by deemotays."

"But is there any way to make sure, if the person is a deemotay or a human?"

"If you think of those possibilities, when you don't show out your curiosity, then the only way is to notice small details, which won't be very easy. But they usually don't spend their free time near people, which means it's almost impossible."

I felt a bit frustrated with that answer, but I went on with questions. "But what can they do, what humans can't? What abilities they have?"

"Along with acute senses, strength, speed and so on, it's believed that they can also transport from one place to another. And of course they heal in seconds."

"Transport? Heal? Is that even possible?" I hesitated.

"It probably is for them. But does any of it seem real?"

This was when next question came into my mind. "Are they immortal?" I asked.

Granny thought about it before answering. "I'm not sure. There is much about them, that nobody knows."

"You seem to know much. But granny, how do you know about them anyway?"

Granny sighed. "There were some around this place when I was young. I had never seen them and didn't know what to believe, even though people died." She stopped for a second, thinking over something in her past. "In 1976 one of those creatures came into our house. At this time they were believed to be disappeared. It was night time. Me and your grandfather were sleeping. We woke up because of an odd sound and we saw a woman standing in our bedroom. The way she moved wasn't like human, so  we wanted to run." She paused again. "The woman grabbed from your grandfathers neck. Few  seconds later he fell down dead. Then she came towards me."

I was stunned again. "But my grandfather died in cancer."

"That's what I told your mother. Those creatures were almost forgotten at this time."

"But you survived?" I wanted her to carry on with the story.

"When she touched me, she screamed and jumped out from our window. At first, I didn't even know myself what had happened." She raised her arms behind her neck and took off her necklace. She showed me a small heart, shaped out from complex ornaments. In the center was a small dark grey stone.

"My mother gave it to me when I was little. I never took it off. And this was what saved me."

I gazed at the small heart. "How could this have saved you?" Then I asked something, that suddenly popped into my mind. "Granny, are you a witch?"

She only laughed at this. "There's just about same much witch in me as there is in those psychic people in TV. But do you see his small stone inside the heart? They discovered, that it's harmful for deemotays. It's not known why, but it hurts them." Then she handed the necklace to me. "You should wear it now."

I took it from her hand. "Don't you need it?"

"You have to go to school near what two deemotay's victims have been found. And after all, deemotays prefer young people to old."

I put the necklace on, staring at the heart. At least it's beautiful.

I returned home the next day. Granny told me not to take off the necklace, so I also slept with it. I didn't tell my mum everything, what we had talked about.

I left for school pretty early. Many people were talking about the deaths and were scared of what might happen next. I was thinking about what granny had told me. How do they think to get rid of those deenotays? But I just hoped that it will be over soon and no more people will be killed.

At the canteen I sat with Sara, Janely, Eva, Annika and Gerda. At some point they started talking about Adam. Then I started to wonder, why haven't I ever noticed him in the canteen. When heading towards our class, I flinched when I almost walked into Adam. But he managed to step back before I had done it.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"Don't worry," he answered, polite as always. For a moment I noticed him looking strangely at my necklace. But then he looked away and left.

Maybe he knew about deemotays. There seemed to be something strange going on with him.