Demon Girl (Keeley Thomson Book One) (5 page)

   “As for why she let you come over... Well, think about it Keeley, it's Friday and if you're gone for a few days, your parents can actually go and do something. Or stay in and do something. Actually, wait, don't think about that last part.” Darla got a wicked look on her face. Gleeful.

   Keeley made a point of that, because, ugh. Her parents didn't do things like that, not in her mind. She knew it wasn't true, but still... Ugh.

   From the back seat Hally called forward, voice loud to compensate for the wind, which wasn't fierce at residential street speeds, but didn't make conversation easy either. The girl pulled forward a bit and tucked her head between Keeley and Darla's, a little cozily really, considering they didn't really know each other all that well, having just met. The sports car was small, tiny really. It made close conversation both difficult and mandated at the same time.

   “What's the plan for tonight?”

   Darla didn't take her eyes off the road but gestured with her head toward Eve who sat directly behind her.

   “Ask her. Eve's turn to pick the entertainment.”

   This got an exaggerated shrug and a mysterious look from the black haired cheerleader in the back. Keeley just hoped it wasn't going to be based around a spot of her-centric torment. Eve wouldn't talk though and the others seemed curious too, so maybe not. She decided to be wary just in case. Darla was really paying a lot more attention to her than seemed right.

   OK, she admitted to herself, any attention would have been over the top, so not a huge leap to say it was too much, but she'd been watching her? OK, that was normal. Totally and completely.

   For a stalker.

   The next big shock was that Darla's house, a real house, nicer than the one she and her parents lived in, with two levels and a sunken garage connected to the house, technically making it three stories, was only about two blocks from her house. That could, possibly, explain how the girl knew where she lived, without it being too fishy, right? Just seeing her walking in and out?

   Still, the blond was strange and possibly had weird mind powers. Keeley chuckled at her own joke, which just got a small nod from the driver as they pulled into the garage. They had to wait for a bit while the door opened. Automatic, but not all that fast.

   “Yeah, my powers are kind of amazing, aren't they?” The girl said with a wink.

   She winked a lot. Too much. Only dirty old men winked that much. On top of the comment it was off. Wrong.

   Darla immediately hopped out and started moving everyone into the house while the door closed.

   “Let's not leave the door open too long. I left the air conditioning on and I don't want to cool down the whole state.”

   Keeley blinked and didn't move for a bit. How had she known to say that right then, about the powers?

   Coincidence? A lucky guess?

   That... or strange mind powers.

   She moved with the others, her nerves slightly on edge now. Had she said something that led Darla to assume she'd been thinking that? She had asked about what she'd done to her mom, so maybe that was enough? A reach though. Maybe she was just trying to be all mysterious or something, but if so, why?

   The house, a light tan color outside was fabulous inside. Really nice. Like a very wealthy person had decided to go slumming, but couldn't quite leave their old life all the way behind. Hard wood floors and white carpets, a kitchen that Keeley wouldn't have even known what to do in, all in stainless steel and, she noticed as Darla showed her which room she'd be in, of the four possible that were empty. Several guest rooms.

   Seriously. Who just kept that many rooms waiting empty like that?

   Keeley just shook her head.

   She was supposed to believe that the girl was just a regular person and lived like this? Alone while attending high school? The weird thing was that everyone else just went with the idea. Her dad was rich and her mom had died a long time ago. So Darla attended public school in Arizona while he worked off in Japan?

   They really thought it made sense even. Mind powers for sure. Keeley shook her head gently again, making her ponytail bob. The cool air of the house kissed her skin gently. The air smelled like flowers, lavender and jasmine. It would have been relaxing if not for all the weirdness. Both of those were soothing scents. Powerfully so even. She'd read an article about jasmine being used to replace Valium even.

   Wouldn't a rich girl like her be in a boarding school? And why were there no pictures around of people? Her dad or even her friends, or her mom. It was... really a very lovely place, but it looked like a decorator had done it all up without consideration for who would be living there and hardly personalized it at all. Even the paintings on the walls were that same generic style that she had hanging on the walls of her own house. Barns and country fields, an ocean scape, a few mountain scenes. Nice, but not special. They could have even been done by the same artists.

   In fact, in at least two cases, they pretty clearly were.

   The picture in the guest room, the one Darla had given her, was of a barn. The same barn she had near her bedroom door in the hallway. But the angle was different. Closing her eyes she brought the picture up for comparison. Both unsigned, both very well done, but the same structure clearly, even the same tone and colors of paint. The frames were different and this one was under glass, but yeah, that was a bit odd.

   Really strange.

   “Keeley, come and join us in the living room when you're ready? I'm going to start dinner soon. Do you want anything in particular?” Darla stood outside her door, not entering at all, just waiting for her new friend to come out.

   Or her potential victim.

   At least it wouldn't be some freaky identity stealing thing, Keeley decided. Darla had no reason to leave the life she had. Not a sane one at least. Plus they looked nothing alike. Of everyone in the group of cheerleaders Keeley thought she probably looked most like Eve and that only because of the dark hair.

   “Just a minute. I can help a little. Cooking I mean. Not in deciding what to have. On the good side I'll eat almost anything.” She made her voice happy and a little wry.

   “On the bad side, I'll eat almost anything...” Keeley looked down at her waistline, something she didn't normally worry over, but being around all the cheerleaders had left her feeling a little self-conscious. She wasn't fat, only a size six, having filled out a little early in the hips, but that suddenly seemed like a cow by comparison and her jeans felt a little too restricting, like she'd have been better off in a mu-mu.

   Darla laughed and held her hand out, as if to draw her into the hallway.

   “Don't worry. We'll burn everything off before the weekend's done. Do you like Mexican? Italian? I could make pizza or we could have Chinese if you like? I make a really credible General Tso's chicken. Decent fried rice too.”

   That all sounded pretty good to her really. Better than the canned chili she would have probably made herself.

   “We can vote on it. I don't want to alienate everyone the first time I meet them. After all, what if I wanted escargot? I really doubt that would go over well, though it might compliment the frog's legs. Taste just like chicken I hear.” Snails and frogs, Keeley smiled at her own little joke trying to sound playful.

   Darla just shook her head.

   “I have the snails in the fridge but I don't have any frog legs, so we'd have to run out for those. I do know a shop...” She sounded flatly serious.

   Keeley shrugged, an exaggerated thing, hands coming up just a bit, “See? There I go making more work already. Hardly polite of me... I definitely think that I'll let someone else suggest dinner. That way the disaster from it being a bad choice can be their fault. Shall we?” She tried to put all the strangeness out of her head and walk down the white carpeted stairs without tripping.

   As a rule she wasn't clumsy, but if she was ever going to take a dive head first into anyone, it would probably be Darla, wouldn't it? It was like the whole world wanted to organize with her at its center. Drawing things toward her. It was a subtle thing, but Keeley felt the pull too. She tried to keep a smile on her face and seem lively, even as she felt a growing suspicion that the blond girl just wasn't what she seemed. After all, Keeley had powers of her own, in a way. Maybe Darla had something like that too? Everything just fell into place around her so easily.

   “Great, get with the others on that while I change really quick? Cooking in my cheerleader's uniform seems a little too much like some forty year old pervert's fantasy to be allowed I think. Especially if he's not even going to be eating with us.”

   It was a good point. Plus it would keep food stains off of it. Darla disappeared into the room at the top of the stairs, walking past her quickly. Just as she passed, everyone else in sight in the sunken living room, the girl whispered to her softly.

   “Watch Eve. I think she may try something. She has that look she gets.”

   Then, without breaking stride, she continued on.

   Keeley made herself smile again. What was she supposed to be looking out for? Physical attack? Forced make-overs? Being cheered at? How was she supposed to know? She'd only met the girl two hours before, if that, and hadn't even touched her. It was a way of getting information, but it was too hard to do casually. Really, she probably didn't want to know that much about the girl. For every bland normal thing she got, like a person's favorite color, she also got things that no one else should know. She didn't really want to know what she fantasized about before bed or that she accidentally killed her pet turtle at five or whatever it would be with Eve.

   Knowing secrets sucked, as often as not.

   Shrugging, she decided to just keep and eyes open and see what came. After all, the evening had only just begun. Eve had a bag with her, a very large one. She guarded it carefully and wouldn't let the others look in, even if they wanted. Gary kept trying, which had Hally nearly lying on the floor, laughter coming out hard. Some kind of in joke maybe, because Keeley didn't get it at all.

   “So, what do you want to eat?” She asked the group of near strangers, making sure the whole room heard, her voice pleasant sounding.

   That got laughter too.

   Keeley didn't let it show on her face, but decided right then that the main course had better not be her. For one thing it would take way too long for her to cook.