The Demon Girl by Penelope Fletcher (each kindness read aloud TXT) 📕

Breandan stood on the grass with his hands loose by his sides and somehow, through the rain, I saw the storm in his eyes threatening to drown me. He didn’t beckon to me again, but I knew he wanted me to go to him. Afraid of the hot, fluttery feeling spreading through my limbs, I shook my head hoping he got the message. This was not okay. He could not come here and expect me to run off with him into the forest like a lunatic.

His head drooped then snapped up, his gaze directed over my shoulder.

“Rae, you right?” Alex asked from beside me. “What’s going on?” Then she spotted Breandan scowling at me. “That’s him? The boy from this morning?”

A few other Disciples got up out their desks and came over to look out the window at whatever it was we were looking at. I took a few steps back until I bumped into someone standing behind me. Devlin stood in my way and looked furious. What was his problem? He was the one on my back, not the other way round. Then his shoulders started to shake and I realized he was laughing. He looked straight at me and smiled. No. Not a smile, but a snigger filled with wicked delight. The intensity of his stare boldly probed mine, and the chill that slithered down my spine had me wound to near breaking.

When I looked back round Breandan’s entire body tensed, and just like that, with one last glance at me he turned and darted away. A sense of relief was replaced by a fiercer surge of regret. The moment he winked out of sight the longing to see and feel him, pressed upon my consciousness. The emotion was like a splinter burrowed beneath the skin, determined to settle in for the long haul.

I thought then about telling a Cleric, Breandan, a demon from beyond the Wall, could get onto the Temple grounds. Why was I was covering for some boy I barely knew? Yes, he’d told me I was a demon, but what if that had been a lie. I looked pretty damn human to my eyes. Yes, I’d done some demon stuff, but I could be a witch. The thought made me very nervous. All witches were bad, forces of evil. Did I really want to wish to be one? My mind wandered back to Breandan, the boy who made me warm and tingly when I thought about him. And that is why I resolved to keep my mouth firmly shut. That and the fact I was hiding one of the scariest of demonkind in my wardrobe.

Ro stared out the window, confused. Unlike me, he was not used to the fairy disappearing act, and I could see him trying to figure out how Breandan had left so quickly. The other Disciples had lost interest and had wandered into small groups again.

It was all getting a bit much for me, and I couldn’t keep up. My head felt light, spongy, and my limbs weak. I was hiding so many things from so many people my brain felt like it was being pried apart. Alex seemed to sense my stress since she dragged me out the door by my sleeve the moment the bell rang.

“C’mon,” she said. “We got Alchemy and I don’t want to be late.”

Stumbling out the door, I waved goodbye to Ro. “But, I thought you were ditching,” I said, trying to keep up mentally.

“I need to keep my eye on you.”

Skipping out the room, I watched the back of her bobbing head. Breathing in I focused on her drama instead of mine. “You like Ro, a lot,” I said.

Pushing out the side door to take a shortcut through the courtyard in the middle of the building, we carefully trudged down the slippery pathway and she shot me evil eye. Pulling up our blazer collars, we raced across and the rain pelted hard against my skin. My feet splashed in every puddle along the way and the wind tugged on my body. Storms never bothered me. The power and beauty of the sky churning, clouds darkened with rain and flashes of lighting made my skin goosy. We made it through the heavy doors, and I rung out my hair and clothes as best I could, wiping my dripping face on my wet sleeve.

“I don’t do steadies,” Alex said. She strutted off and I trailed behind, smiling into my shoulder.

Ro would be the perfect steady for Alex. He would take care of her, and love her for more than her beauty. She knew this, and though she kept going on and on about his fondness for guys when he wasn’t with her, that’s what the real problem was. He saw through the cocky smiles, the extrovert character to what she was about.

Marriage was an old and tired concept. The last union performed around a century before, about the time the last of the old religions died out. But if it were practiced they definitely would be suitable candidates in my mind. People didn’t tie themselves to each other anymore. Why should they? Chances were you’d find somebody who appealed more in a few years. People knew it was best to keep it simple. There were romantics, of course, who feel in love and ran away to other regions to start new lives. Two Disciples had tried that idea three years ago, and had tried to travel to the next region by going Outside. The Clerics had us Disciples visit their graves once a year as a reminder of what happens to the stupid and irresponsible.

“Lex, I can’t,” I said and stopped walking.

She spun round and frowned. “Can’t do what?” Her face smoothed. “Rae, if we don’t turn up to class-”

“I know,” I cut in and backed away. “You go on. I’m going to go sit in the Library for a while. Cover for me? Say I have a headache and went for some quiet time. I’ll deal with the punishment.” I didn’t wait for her answer, and took off at a run back down the hallway.

Walking into the Library, I gave myself a mental pat. It was empty and blessedly quiet. The library was just a bunch of bookcases pushed against the wall and a few tables and benches arranged in the centre. It smelt musty, but not unpleasant, as if it had been a while since the air was last disturbed.

I settled down on a table with a low lamp and closed my eyes, enjoying the stillness. Here I could be at peace. I drummed my fingers on the tabletop. Then I ran them through my hair and frowned when I encountered tangles. I redid my makeshift hair bun, trembling a little when I fingered the twig and remembered what had happened after I had found it. I scrunched up my face then relaxed it again. Scrunch and relax. Urgh, but my mind was not quiet. It was shrieking at me, throwing back everything from that morning. Closing my eyes did not change the fact I had a vampire in my wardrobe that was going to reanimate in a few hours. My mind lingered on thoughts of Tomas’s dark, bottomless eyes and the fact Devlin somehow knew he was in my wardrobe. How did he know? How, how, how? Breathing in deeply did not fix whatever genetic quirk made me a demon. Oh gods, how could I be a demon? Shouldn’t I have figured that out by myself? Why did someone have to point out such obvious things for me to finally add it all together to equal demon? As my thoughts touched on Breandan, my body went haywire. My heart sounded to pound and my hands became slick with sweat. Where was he? Would I see him again? In the space of one morning my whole life had been turned upside down, yet the thought of never seeing or touching him again wasunbearable.

I got irritated with myself. I’d come to the Library for a quiet place to think and figure out what I was going to do, not moan about what had already happened. I needed a plan of action. I needed to remain calm, and collected, and work this thing out. I tried to get comfortable on the hard wooden seat, but the feeling of discomfort that had appeared when Breandan left had lingered, and in the last few minutes had changed slightly. The splinter wasn’t burrowing under my skin anymore, but had almost, insistent. Like, ‘look here I am’.

The door opened. Sounds and smells of the world rushed in, breaking my reflective bubble. I jerked up. In a lifetime of habit, I shied inward and prepared myself to become part of the furniture.

A boy, blazer collar turned up sauntered into the room. White hair flopped down to conceal one of his sparkling eyes. The gods be damned, it was Devlin. Rather than launching into a tirade of accusations like I expected, he said nothing. He simply stared at me like I was the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen. It made me feel like a butterfly, entangled in a web of lies, and waiting for the spider to pounce.

The solid silence was driving me mad. “Hai, Devlin.” My voice was strained.

“You don’t like me very much,” he said.

A few responses played on my lips before I chose, “Direct.”

“That boy we saw outside Demon Theory, how long have you known him?” I looked away, stayed silent. “It was a simple question.” He paused. “Boys from the slums can be dangerous.” His voice held an undercurrent of humor that I didn’t like. It was like he knew Breandan was not from the slums. Like he knew he was

I looked down at my shoes. “I’m not talking about this.”

“May I ask why?”

There was that odd speech pattern again. There were so many different dialects mixed in with the broken slum speak, that it was difficult to determine someone’s roots just by how they spoke unless they told you. I knew next to nothing about Devlin, but his manner of speaking was familiar to me. Where had I heard it before?

“Not your business,” I replied succinctly.

His face darkened, as if he had guessed the direction of my thoughts.

“What do you want, Devlin? Making good on a bet to embarrass the misfit?” My cheeks got hot. “Why do you keep trying to be friends with me and how did you know about-” I shut up. I was meant to be pretending I didn’t know what he was talking about when he said I had a vampire in my wardrobe. Scrunching my brows, I shook my head. “I don’t know you, and you’re questioning me? Being a fellow Disciple does not give you a hold over me. Despite what you think I can talk to whoever I like. It’s my business and I’m dealing, so stay out of it.”

His eyes lit with a shocking fierceness and I jerked back. His constant intensity was disconcerting, but he seemed to know nothing else to be a threat to me. Clearly, he’d managed to catch a glimpse of Tomas, put the pale skin, fast movement together and figured, vampire. But to prove it he would first have to get someone to listen and believe him so that he could be allowed into the Bayou, the girl’s dorms, to show them. Would he risk his reputation on a whim like that? I was panicking for no reason. He had nothing. I managed a polite smile. I stood up and marched past him.

“Well, I’ll see you around.” He grabbed my arm and I lashed out with a hard shove. “Why can’t you back off?”

He staggered back and lowered his brows at my rudeness. I pushed him