Sympathy For the Devil

16

The door to Josh's beach house was ajar. A gust of wind kept blowing the wooden door farther open until the pitch black room foyer was in full view.

The November air felt cool and bone chilling. A puff of air escaped my parted lips and produced a misty cloud of frost. I would not have been overly concerned about seeing my breath, but when we left, it was in the mid fifties. The temperature was dropping rapidly.

I shivered as Bennett warmed me by rubbing my back up and down.

"You're not cold?" I shivered. 

"Not particularly. Killian did mention that it's a side effect to being what you are if someone is dead or dying." 

My teeth chattered as I said "Then we might be too late?"

"We can't think like that. Hey, do  you remember last year when you were Lydia in our school's production of Beetlejuice?"

I nodded. Last year was better before the calamity ensued in April. That version of me was too focused on her own life to understand half of the bullshit going on. "What about it?"

"The level of confidence you had when belting out Dead Mom is the level of confidence you need to have now." 

"Ironies of all ironies since my mom faked her own death a month later." I grumbled.

"Killian told you? I told him he should have mentioned it a while ago to shed some light on your life." Bennett took a breath of relief. 

"You knew?" My jaw hardened and a vein in my forehead popped as my gaze sharpened like a dagger. "How long?" I asked as my voice cracked. 

"Not too long. A sliver of time." He was lying through his teeth as he began to mull over every excuse in his head that he could think of.

"Bennett? You knew since last April, didn't you?" I accused with a shove. 

"A little. Yeah, but-" I cut off his words. 

I don't know why, but my anger was fuming and his face looked extremely punchable which led him to being knocked on his ass and stumbling off of the porch steps that were caving in from age and inattentive care.

"I know I deserved that, but ow. Your right hook swing is no joke. I'm guessing nobody mentioned the super strength you now have, either. But that was totally deserved, so I get it, but ow." Bennett rubbed his cheek as his deep-set brown eyes glistened in the moonlight.

"You just got demoted to lookout duty and after I save Josh, you won't ever have to see me again. I can promise you that." Tears swelled in my eyes. "Stay away from me and stay away from my family. We've been through enough as it is." Screw the supernatural rules that have fucked with my family for the last six months. We deserved to know that she didn't die. 

"Ellie wait." Bennett stumbled up off of the ground.

"What?" I spoke through gritted teeth.

"Duck!"

"What do you mean?" Before I could turn around pain pinged and resonated throughout my body.

Talons dug into my side as the wind was knocked out of me and I was tossed like a sack of flour into a sand patch diagonal from the perpetrator.

"Friends!" Bennett screamed the inane safe word as I remained on the ground curled up in the fetal position groaning. My whole body burned and a fiery blaze hummed on my injured side. I held the side that was now mangled to the point where you could see all the innards of my body. I stiffened at the sight of the blood flowing out of my body. It was no longer red. It was black. Oh God. I felt woozy and faint.

"Bennett grabbed a gun out of his pocket and shot at the creature that sent me straight to a world of pain.

"You have a gun?!" I shrieked. "Why on Earth do you have a gun?!" 

"It's my mom's. I sorta borrowed it." Bennett yelled as he pointed the gun at the girl. 

Before I puked up my dinner, I attempted to stand on shaky legs that were not working properly at the moment. Each move forward was another step backwards. The world spun as my sides ached and called out in pain.

"Put the gun down. We both know that you're not man enough to use it unless you're still trying to impress Ellie here? Pathetic." The girl spoke in that sickeningly sweet like cotton candy voice.

 She was dressed in the same bodycon dress with spaghetti straps and black combat boots.

"It's a pity that you became what you are. Truly. But did you actually come here to save that weasel, Josh? I was doing you a favor by killing him. Now he has no world. His soul is no longer problematic. Pigs like him should be slaughtered." The girl smiled wickedly. "I didn't want you to save him, Ellie. His body is for the maggots now." Black blood pooled at her red painted lips. Her laugh was maniacal and intimidating. "But lie I told you before. He won't be dead for long. He will be revived and better than ever. His soul just won't inhabit the body any more. Not that he had much of a soul to begin with. His body deserves to be inhabited by a worthy soul."

The girl smiled again as her head tilted. 

"But wait. It gets better, Ellie. You see, I found this little hunk of deliciousness in the kitchen sneaking around." The girl stroked Killian's chin with a dark manicured nail.

A smirk was plastered on Killian's face. God, even when he's in danger nothing seems to phase him. He's only caught up on the fact that she thinks he's a hot commodity like every other dim witted female on this planet.

"The things I could do to him would be phenomenally X-rated." The girl winked lustfully as she stroked his face with her pristine fingers. Lingering a curled finger on his defined jawline.

"You're not my type you vapid self entitled bitch." Killian will make any excuse to sour someone's day.

The girl's face fell before being masked by another smile. "You're right. I am a bitch. But I'll make a deal with you because I'm in such a pleasant mood. Hand over Ellie and the rest of you can walk out here without a scratch. I'm as good as my word."

"And what if I refuse?" I spoke with a scowl. 

"Then you die with everyone else. And you don't want anyone's death on your hands when they didn't deserve to die, do you?" The girl took a cherry red lollipop from her pocket and sucked on it until her lips turned redder as she waited for my answer. 

"Why not? It's not like you didn't get even by digging into my stomach." I pointed out as I winced in pain.

I unclamped the Raven necklace Killian lent me and brought it up the steps as the girl eyed me suspiciously.

"I won't be needing this anymore." I spoke to Killian. I dropped the necklace and crushed it in my heel for emphasis.

"Ellie, don't do this. I know we haven't gotten off on the right foot since we were twelve, but joining her would be a poor judgment call that you don't want to make. Sluaghs are a product of chaos."

"Chaos can be fun sometimes" I smiled and laughed the best evil laugh I could muster.

"Ellie, I'm sorry about not telling you about your mother." Bennett pleaded.

"Me too." My face morphed into a sulk. "But it's too late for apologies."

Bennett's face fell as he continued to hold the gun. His hands shook as he fumbled and dropped the device.

"You know what I want to do right now that I'm one of you?"

"What's that? The girl dropped the sucker from her mouth as her teeth clung onto the cherry  residue.

"I just want to fucking scream."

And that's exactly what I did.