Dead!

Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Jack Snyder and Henri Lavoie's backyard was definitely one of the last places I expected to be on a Friday night. Before I died, I would usually be partying, or if we weren't in the mood, I would just hang out with Chloe or Caroline. I would have certainly never thought that I would be here. Things had been different since my death though. I met and became friends with people that I would have otherwise ignored, and I did things that I never would have done before this. I supposed that was a good thing though. I had learned a lot from my experience in the waiting room and in Heaven, and I had developed into a much better person than I was before - one that maybe didn't deserve to rot in Hell.

Samantha, Henri, and Jack were already there when I arrived. "Hey Ivy," Samantha said as she jumped up and gave me a hug. "I still can't believe what Jordan did to you. That was so wrong of him, and nobody should ever have to deal with that. I bought some falafel from the store, so if you ever want to come to my place to chat..."

"Yeah, I might take you up on that offer," I said. "Falafel sounds really nice right now."

"Hello Ivy!" Henri said. Jack and Henri were relaxing on the two lawn chairs that were set up near the pool. "I never was able to apologize to you for what happened with Jordan. I agree with Samantha. That is not right."

"Yeah, that is really wrong," Jack said as he adjusted his glasses. "I'm glad he's in Hell."

"Me too," I said.

"But we need to make sure that he stays there," Jack said.

"I have looked around the pool," Henri said, gesturing towards the large, rectangular swimming pool that was on one side of the backyard. "There is not anything there."

"Hey everyone," Maya said as she walked in, wearing all black as usual. "Have we found anything yet?"

"Not yet," I said. "Wait, what if it's buried or something? Then what are we going to do?"

"That's a good question," Samantha said. "It's hard to do this when we don't know what we're looking for."

"Hey, is this it?" I asked as I picked up a small black box with a few buttons on it.

"No!" Henri shouted. "That's my metronome!"

"What's a metronome?" I asked.

"I use it for practicing," Henri said. "I don't know how it got out here." He got up from his chair, took the metronome, and went inside to put it away.

At that very moment, Raj walked in. "What's going on?" he asked.

"There's nothing here," I said. "I don't know what the demons are using to get in."

"I've got it," Maya said. "They're teleporting."

"Did you know that atoms can actually be teleported?" Jack said.

"They're atoms," Maya said. "That's not the same thing."

"It's still cool," Jack said.

"You're the only one that thinks that," Maya said.

"Can we stop arguing?" Raj asked. He pulled out a black metal instrument and showed it to all of us. "It's a metal detector," he explained. "I thought it might help."

"Where did you get that?" I asked.

"I was doing security when The Cosmic Nomads played here," Raj said. "It's unnecessary, but I think the owner of the stadium just wanted to make sure that there weren't any demons sneaking in. Anyways, I got a metal detector." He started waving around the metal detector when all of a sudden, it went off. "Ivy, I think you're standing right on top of it."

"I don't think so," I said. "I think you just found my phone." I took my phone out of my pocket, and Raj scanned me again.

"You're right," Raj said. "It was just your phone. Everyone, move out of the way so I can check the backyard."

We all went over to the patio while Raj scanned around the backyard. When Raj reached the center of the backyard, the metal detector went off. "I think there's something here, but I can't see it," he said. "Can someone get a shovel?" Henri ran off to get a shovel, while the rest of us crowded around that spot.

"I can't wait to get rid of the demons once and for all," Samantha said.

"Me neither," Maya said. "Then again, I'll miss seeing Brendon Urie..."

"Did you know that Ryan Ross was originally going to be the lead singer of Panic! At The Disco?" Jack said.

"Of course I know that!" Maya exclaimed. "I was the one who told you!"

"I'm sorry," Jack said. "I should have realized that."

"It's okay," Maya said.

That was when Henri returned with the shovel. He handed it to Raj, who immediately started digging. It wasn't long before the shovel hit cold, black metal. "This has to be it," I said. Raj kept digging, but after a while, it got to the point where we could finally lift the box out of the ground.

It was made out of shiny, black metal, and there were a few buttons and lights on it. The words "Demon Summoning System" were engraved on the top. "I think this is it," Samantha said as she looked at the box. "How do we turn it off?"

"It can't be that hard," I said.

"Can't we just throw it in the pool?" Maya suggested.

"No, that's not a good idea..." Jack said, but it was too late. Maya had already taken the Demon Summoning System from Raj, and she tossed it into the pool.

The lights on the box flickered for a second, and then turned red. The box made a soft, buzzing sound, and then the lights went off as the box slowly sank to the bottom of the pool. "I told you it would work," Maya said.

"I don't know much about demon summoners, but it looks pretty broken to me," Raj said.

"Yeah, there's no way that thing could possibly bring any demons to Heaven," I said. "I'd call that a success."

"I don't know," Jack said. "What if it's still working?"

"How would it still be working?" I asked.

"Good question," Jack said.

"We are going to need to take that thing out of the pool eventually," Henri said, looking down at the Demon Summoning System resting at the bottom of the pool.

"That's tomorrow's problem," Jack said. "Come on. Let's go inside." Jack opened the door, and all of us went inside. "Thanks for your help, everyone."

"Oh come on," Maya said. "Can't we stay over here for the night?"

"I'll ask my mom," Jack said. He walked off and then returned a few minutes later. "She said no, but all of you can stay a little longer. Maybe we can watch Doctor Who!"

I rolled my eyes, but everyone else seemed excited, so Henri and Jack led us down into the basement. Nevertheless, this was better than being with Jordan, so I supposed that everything was going to be alright in the end.