Almost Demon (The Sigil Cycle) (23 page)

I walked back to my room to get my own things, checking myself in the mirror one last time. I fingered the necklace underneath my blouse in a solemn promise that I figure out its potential and maybe a way to get rid of the Dybbuk. I opted for a chunky sweater instead of my jacket, hoping that the nice weather would hold up and my ride to school would do the rest.

“Ready?” My dad said, jingling his car keys. The collar of his trench coat was mildly askew and although he looked like he was working way too hard, he still managed to be in good spirits.

“I think so,” I said, realizing that no matter how much time passed I would think of the crash every time I got into a car.

When we reached his navy blue sedan, I waited for him to get in first. My breath was getting ragged and forced. I was starting to panic.

This isn’t Charlotte. This is Dad. I’m the reason his life is so awful right now. 

Then an idea dawned on me that might help the situation. I looked at Ash’s sigil and focused my attention at the gem at my neck. I felt a strand of power. It was like spider silk held taut between me and the other side of the veil. I could feel the tug between this world and the Otherworld. Then, without warning, the energy came pouring through like waves from whatever was holding the other end. 

I let the power wash over me and I relaxed into my own body. The panic had disappeared with the tide and I settled into the passenger side of the BMW. 

“I’m proud of you, Gem.” 

“Thanks.” I smiled and looked out the window. He was driving ten miles below the speed limit and I appreciated the gesture.

The lyrics of the Nine Inch Nails song that came on as I left my room were looping through my head.

Nothing can stop me. Nothing can stop me now.

When I walked into homeroom, I could feel the solid tension in the room. Ian was eying Thom. Thom was eying Ian. Neither of them breaking away from their private staring contest.

I sat next to Ian. 

“Good morning, Miss Pope,” Mr. Flynn called out in a loud clear voice.

“Good morning,” I replied and turned my attention to Ian after making sure I was marked down as present. “Hey,” I said, breaking whatever spell had taken over the two.

“I feel a little silly,” Ian started.

“Why?” I said, finding it hard to believe that someone so sure of himself as Ian was could ever feel anything but confident.

“I never got to ask you something and I really wanted to do it in person. I think it would have sounded a little lame in a text.”

“So, ask me now,” I replied.

“Okay. Here it goes.” He cleared his throat. “I was wondering if you wanted to be my girlfriend. Okay, that was really lame. I’m sorry.” He went back to his dog-eared copy of Hamlet.

“No, it’s not. It’s sweet. Yeah. I’d love you. I mean, I’d love to.” 

Nice Freudian slip there, Gem. Smooth.

We spent the rest of the period huddled together. All the while, I could feel Thom’s eyes on me but whenever I turned to check, he was deeply engrossed in writing in a thin black soft- covered journal. When the bell rang, Ian and I parted ways with shy affirmations of seeing each other in English class. 

When I reached the girl’s locker room, I hesitated. 

I’m sure I can find an empty classroom where I could change quickly. But what if someone walks in. I don’t need to add to the list of things that make Gemma strange. 

That’s when I remembered my new strategy. My Gemma’s gonna kick ass instead of stand there like a loser while everyone else messed her up. I slammed the door open, ready to brawl, but there were only a few people inside who looked right at me and then away again. I pulled my uniform out, figuring now would be the best time to try it on and see how it feels during a routine. 

A chill brushed my ankles as I fastened the hook eye closure of the blue and gold pleated skirt, letting lose a wave of goose flesh that ran up my bare legs up to my shoulder and turned down my arms. The energy proceeded to raise the fine hairs on the back of my neck. I turned and found the room had emptied out. Allison was standing ramrod at the end of the line of dark green lockers. 

“What do you want, Allison? I’m really not in the mood.” I jerked the matching long-sleeved, cropped jersey shirt over my white tank. 

“It’s time, Gemma.”

“Yeah, yeah. Time for you to lay down the law. For a total smack down. I get it. You’re going to show me who’s boss.” I shoved the rest of my clothing into the locker along with my backpack. I tucked my cellphone into the waistband of my skirt and started to head down to the emergency exit door that led to straight to the field. The alarm was forever out of order, leaving it one of the prime short cuts to get onto the field or for slackers who liked to sneak off and cut class. 

I didn’t make it two feet before Allison was lunging for my bag. The two of us were on the floor and the side of my cheek made contact with the cold tile. I tried to push myself back up but she forced my shoulders down to the ground. The coppery taste of blood filled my mouth.

“Time to go, Gemma,” she snarled.

That was when I noticed the additional set of shoes in front of me. I looked up and saw Matt blocking the exit, with his arms crossed in front of him. 

“Matt,” I managed to eek out before Allison shoved her elbow between my shoulders, knocking the wind out of me. The room began to spin. My thoughts grew panicked when I felt Allison binding my wrists behind my back. I rested my forehead to the floor to stop the waves of nausea when I caught a glimpse of the rose-colored stone swaying back and forth away from my neck as if it were begging to be noticed. 

Rage filled my every pore. I was letting things happen to me all over again. I wanted to be the one in control. I wriggled my fingers and pulled at the bindings. 

“Let me go,” I said.

“Don’t worry. I’m not the one who’ll be having all the fun with you.” Allison stood, her heels clicking against the hard floor. She pulled me upright in one swoop. Matt was there in an instant, holding me steady as my knees began to wobble. 

As they began to argue over the logistics of getting me out of the school without anyone else noticing, I focused on Ashtaroth’s sigil. He was the most bad-assed out of all the one’s I’d met so far. If anyone was going to pack my punch, it would be him. I focused on channeling the energy from the sigil to the stone. I felt the tug at my neck, tethered to the Otherworld. I tried to imagine what that place looked like. Was it all fire and brimstone like we were all taught?

The power coursed through my veins until the excess began pooling into my hands. When I could no longer hold on to it, I let out a deafening scream and spun on my heels, releasing the orbs that weighed heavy in my palms. A blinding white light filled the room, pulsing like the strobe lights in Sam’s club. I kept the stream going as I heard thrashing against the hard metal of the lockers. The longer I held my ground, the easier it was to channel the power out at Allison and Matt. 

I turned to check on them. They lay writhing on the ground, convulsing, their eyes rolling to the backs of their heads. Allison’s blonde hair stood on end as if she had stuck her finger in an electric socket while the skinny blue veins in her face began to zig zag across her pale white face. 

I watched them as they convulsed across the floor, going this way and that. Part of me was appalled at the smile that was on my face but I couldn’t help reveling in proactive Gemma.

“Gemma!” A strong voice boomed through the ionic haze that engulfed the three of us.

I looked up from the two sickly forms at my feet. I couldn’t make out who this intruder was. The silhouette burst at me with such speed that I could have sworn it had flown straight at me. Thom’s face pierced the thick cloud that was being continually expelled from that bit of Otherworld I had tapped into. 

His presence didn’t faze me. I kept all my cylinders going until I could see the black inky tendrils of Dybbuk begin to withdraw from my peers. 

“Stop it. This instant,” he yelled at me, over the whooshing tunnel of energy that erupted into a larger force, headed straight for Allison and Matt. It encased them in a brilliant green light that began to squeeze the Dybbuk out of their forms. 

“Now,” he mouthed over the rushing noise. His eyes turned from the trusting warm brown to a hideous blood red. The sight had my concentration tripping over itself. I felt the connection tumble out of my hands and watched as the Dybbuk eased their way back into Allison and Matt’s bodies, curling as a snake would curl back into their dens.

The power was sucked back through me, back to where it had come from. God only knew where. When my eyes and ears began to readjust to the dank and humid room, I saw Thom kneeling beside the two limp forms on the floor. He had his fingers on their necks, checking for pulse. 

“Are they alright?” I asked, not quite sure about which answer would have relieved me more. There was a definite silver lining to not having Allison wake up for a while. 

“Yes. But I reckon we get you outside and into a crowd before they decide to wake up.” He ushered me through the door and out into the brisk light of late morning. He placed his body between myself and the squad that was still mulling about. I’m sure they were waiting on me.

“Why did you stop me?” I asked, extremely peeved at the way he had rudely interrupted my Jackie Chan, Kung Fu, kick ass styling.

“We will not discuss this here.” His eyes had not changed back to their trusting warm orbs. They remained on the verge of implosion. Red helixes of fire churned where his pupils should have been. 

“Why not? I don’t have the right to defend myself? I guess it’s okay for Allison to keep torturing me.” 

“You will do as I say or you will perish.”

“Is that a threat?”

“No, but it’s a warning. You could have gotten yourself killed like that.”

“I can handle it.” I looked away, ashamed to think that I would crumble in front of this man.

He came round to face me while blocking my view of my friends. “I am trying to protect you, Gemma. Can’t you see that? It’s not right to use your power like that. For every action there isn’t an equal reaction. It’s much bigger, and will come back looking for you for payment.”

“I said I’ve got it. I don’t think I can stand around doing nothing for much longer.”

“We’ll get to the bottom of this. You just have to trust me on that one,” he said. “But you can’t go letting loose willy nilly. It’ll only end badly for you.” 

“But they were about to…”

“Then you need to find a way out. Violence isn’t the answer.”

I looked over the field and saw the line of Dybbuk that had congregated around us. That was when Morgan looked up at me. I could see the shadow blackening her soul from a distance. It was rooted deep into her heart. It wasn’t coming out to play just yet.

“What about them?” I asked. “They have no problems terrorizing everyone,”

“Come after class. We’ll figure it out. I think I’ve got something.”

“I hope you’re right because I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” I said. “What about Matt and Allison?”

He briefly took my arm and checked the sigils. As he turned my wrist and examined the markings, I felt the heat envelop my hand. 

“I’ll take care of them,” he said, already heading back into the locker room. His face, half in the light, half in the dark, appeared restless as he surveyed the field once more before letting the door slam behind him. 

I let another minute pass, wracking my brain about the excuse I would make up about my swollen cheek, and how to handle Morgan now that I glimpsed the Dybbuk within her body. Then I headed over the short sparse grass, equally perturbed by Thom’s nick-of-time appearance.

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-O
NE

Principal Kelly caught me once again as I was headed to chemistry. “Just the person I was looking for.” She wasn’t smiling this time. Her hair was pulled into a severe bun atop her head and her clothing was of a darker palette than usual. Her blouse reminded me of a Picasso and the navy pencil skirt polished off her look. She was even wearing pumps.

“Me?” I asked, looking behind me for someone else she may have been talking to.

“Yes, Gemma,” she said. “Please join me in my office. I’d like to continue our conversation from the other day.”

“I’d love to but I have chemistry. I really don’t know what’s flying in that class. I shouldn’t really miss it.”

“Gemma.” She looked over the purple frames of her glasses. “I doubt chemistry is your biggest problem right now.”

There was an intelligent twinkle in her eye. If she knew more than she was letting on, I guess I had to find out. I needed every bit of information I could get my hands on. 

Today her office was sunny. The ferns on her windowsill languished in their pots as flakes of dust danced in the air.

I heard the door close behind me as I sat down. I hugged my bag closer to my chest and wrapped one arm around the other so that the sleeve wouldn’t pull and call attention to the tattoos. I didn’t want her revisiting that lecture if that wasn’t first on her mind.