“Me too. Um, we kind of need to figure out what to do with Balthias though. So far he's following along with what I say, but...”
This got a hand wave.
“He has to. You said the words and so did he. Making it a bargain. It can't be gotten out of now. Well unless you release him. But I suggest you don't for a while. A pet lesser demon is quite a treasure for one so young. Like a human girl getting a pony. You just have to make sure he doesn't find out that you're as new as all that. It won't change its bargain, but if it ever tricks its way free it could be a danger. You want to make sure that if that does ever happen it respects you.” This musing was all serious, but still said with a smile.
That just saying “deal” made the whole thing real... Well it wasn't the word, was it? It was the intent. The language was just a guide. If it held that kind of power though, she really needed to be careful. It would be simple to bind people without meaning to, or to be bound if she got mentally lazy. That could really suck.
They climbed into the car slowly, Keeley thinking as she moved to the passenger side.
“If Balthias didn't kill Rob... Then who did?”
“That... is what we need to find out. I have some ideas, but I don't like them at all. Not any of them. Blaming an angry lesser demon was a lot easier than some of the other options.” Darla got quiet then, and didn't speak the rest of the way home. Her house.
Keeley's.
There was a police car out front and several people flooded out before they could even get out of the little car. For a second Keeley wondered if something bad had happened, a crime or a death, but her mother and father stood there, both looking worried, then relieved, then... really angry. At her. Ah. Right, she'd been gone for over a day hadn't she. Hadn't even called.
Oops.
“Keeley!” Her mother said, running over to hug her. It was warm and comforting, though she could hear her father's voice anyway. That was a bit harsher.
“You are so grounded. For a month. No three months! And that's only if you have a darned good explanation young lady!” Her father didn't growl really, not compared to the lesser demon she'd been dealing with all night. He tried though. It was really a valiant effort. He even went raspy, his balding head glistening just a bit in the sun.
The police officers, there were two of them, didn't seem happy to see her at all, but not mad either. A girl going missing was a bad thing, but finding her again, before the massive search got underway wasn't that big of a deal. Kids stayed out late, getting drunk and high. If they made it home, the police could just let it go, job well done.
Before anyone could say anything, Darla sighed hugely.
“Car breakdown, my van, the axle broke. They all got stuck and had to walk to a phone, Keeley tried calling here first, but she couldn't get through. We just got everyone else back and came straight here. I have the number for the tow-truck company if you want to check.” She dug in her purse, but the officer closest to them just held up a hand palm up.
“Let me see that?” He took the piece of paper, and their names then went and sat in the police car, talking to someone. Five minutes later he got out and handed the paper back to Darla directly.
“Story checks out the van's in a shop being fixed, looks like it hit a rock they said. Well, I think we can just be happy that everything worked out. It sounded like there was very little that could have been done in this case. A broken axle is a broken axle. But do try to be careful in the future, alright girls?” He didn't sound smug, just a bit bored. The police left then, barely making civil excuses.
That the story had been something very different than what Darla had said meant that she'd rigged everything somehow. The easiest way would be to have the officer on their side, but it could be anything. Keeley couldn't even ask at the moment, because her parents were watching, still looking angry. She suppressed a sigh. This wasn't over then.
Her father spoke first.
“You're still grounded. Being irresponsible isn't a good reason to stay out all night. We were so frightened... If you ever do that again we'll ground you for a lot longer than a month.” He frowned at her.
“Honey, isn't that a little harsh for a car breakdown? Should we punish her for a mechanical failure?” Sherry sounded reasonable, but Charles glared at her too.
“Darn straight. What was she doing that far out of town anyway? Off sleeping with boys or slutting around with her girlfriends? Who knows what she could be up to, she's your daughter after all.” The words were bitter and angry.
Sherry sighed.
“She's your daughter too Charles and you may want to remember that before you go and accuse her of anything...” The words were soft and hard at the same time, tight and more upset than Keeley could remember her mother ever sounding.
“Is she? Then maybe she shouldn't be allowed to run all over town with... people like that.” He waved at Darla who grimaced a little. She didn't say anything though.
Sherry stared at him.
“What? You mean the girl that bailed our daughter out when she couldn't get in touch, and brought her back to us? I really don't see the crime here. I agree that we need to be good parents, but accusing our daughter of being a slut isn't a good way to do that at all. She's a good girl. Her grades are nearly perfect and she got a job at your own workplace in the mail room. If that isn't responsible enough, what is?”
“What? She got a job? But...”
“She did. Just a few days per week, but it seems very responsible. I suppose she'll have to refuse it though, if she's grounded because a car broke down...”
Charles actually gritted his teeth in anger.
“Fine... Straight there and back, and school. Nothing else. A boy was killed after all, and then you just disappear, what were we supposed to think Keeley?”
Not that she was out having sex all night. Especially since the only date she'd ever had planned was the same guy that was killed. The rest of it was... reasonable enough really. She nodded.
“OK. Sorry I made you worry. Am I allowed to have guests here or am I just going to be isolated totally? I haven't had a real friend in years, I finally get some and days later... well, I guess if that's what you want, what can I do?” She just made her voice sound sad, not manipulative.
Was it passive aggressive? Heck yeah it was. What was she supposed to do though? Scream at him for being a mentally crippled moron? Like that would work.
Charles didn't buy it, not really but he waved at Darla.
“You can have visitors, but only one at a time. And no overnight guests.” That part was because he didn't trust her, the feeling practically dripped from his voice.
Keeley nearly laughed.
“Alright then. Um, guess I'll see you soon Darla? Maybe? Oh, could you get the paperwork out of Freida? The work stuff, there was an envelope that I didn't read in it, could you check that for me and let me know what it is?”
“Of course.” She didn't glare at Charles or Sherry, she just looked embarrassed instead, like she didn't want to see the scene of domestic confusion and awkwardness at all.
Keeley wanted to get away from it too, but that didn't seem likely. Not for the next month.
A pet lesser demon and grounded in the same day. That was probably a first in world history, wasn't it? A sad and sorry first.
Chapter fourteen
Keeley felt embarrassed that she'd missed a day of school. OK, a lesser demon made a decent excuse, but no one really knew about that. Her father said that she'd just have to work it out on her own, but her mom promised a note the next day. It was clear the fight about Keeley being grounded wasn't going to end any time soon. Probably not within the next month. She decided not to argue about it herself.
If she was a normal girl that had gotten stuck out like that she'd have been grounded anyway, right? It sucked, it wasn't fair and nothing she did would make it better, since just explaining what had really happened didn't seem a very good option. Bringing Balthias over might get her ungrounded, but that could also do severe and long term psychological damage to her parents and they had enough problems without her adding to them like that. As it was she worried about Gary and the others, Balthias having scared the crud out of them like that. What could she do? Not much, they'd probably either believe it happened and never speak of it or make up their own story. That's what the memories in her head said at least. The ancient ones she'd been given.
So instead she just sat on her old bed spread, the one that was made of quilted cotton bits and had blue and red flowers on it, the pattern slightly faded. She didn't know where it had come from, but it had been hers for years, ugly but comfortable, which at the moment meant comforting.
On the good side she found that by remembering to be interested she could get rid of boredom. Grief too. The only downside was that she didn't really have anything to do. There was no television in her room and while her parents didn't think they were starving her, they didn't know about her new metabolic needs, did they? She got rid of the hunger, but knew she needed to eat more. Her abs were starting to show, which was a cool effect, but that could go from toned to “she-male” in look awfully fast. That meant she couldn't even really exercise for now, or she'd be a stick inside a week.
At midnight, after her parents went to bed a soft knock came on her bedroom door. Keeley figured it was her mom, come to placate her and apologize for the wrongful imprisonment, but when she opened the door Darla stood in front of it, dressed like a ninja.
Or at least she was if ninjas dressed in slightly shining black silk and wore their bright blond hair tied back with scrunchies. A “cheer ninja”? They wore black at least, so it matched her outfit. The shoes coordinated too. The demon put a finger to her lips, as if Keeley were going to yell and announce her presence, which earned her a head tilt and a wrinkled nose. She brought the girl into her room quickly, then closed the door slowly, so the click wouldn't wake anyone.