Radiant (10 page)

"
You don't plan on going out with someone else?" she asked.

He chuckled.
"Is there a rule that says I have to?"

"
That's not an answer."

"
You asked two questions in a row."

"
So?" she said.

He chuckled again.
"Well, it's my turn at any rate. Have you forgiven me for insulting you?"

She
started to say, "opt-out." But what came out instead was, "I don't know."

"
I will apologize again, if that will help," he said. "I will do whatever I can to make amends."

"
Why is this so important to you?" she asked.

"
Because it's important to you," he said. "And that makes it important to me."

"
I didn't say it was important to me," she said.

"
No, you didn't," he said. "But you brought it up with a tone that suggested it was."

They were both silent for a moment.
Mary didn't like where this was going. And since it was her turn to ask now, she changed the subject. "My turn. Why did you save me that day from the bus?"

Carter
sat back in his chair quickly. He looked like he had been shocked.

Brrrriiinnnngggg!
went the bell.

Carter
stood. "Opt-out." And he was gone.

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Salt
and Holy Water

Mary
went to Anna's after school one day to get more paint. "Hey," Ben greeted when she came in. "I got your tickets for the show." He gave her an envelope with three tickets inside.

"Thanks
," she said.

"Did you ask your mom about making the mobile?" he asked.

She nodded. "She said it's not a good time right now. Money-wise. Plus, she thinks you're going to steal me and sell me into slavery if I come over here more often."

They both laughed.

"Well, if things change, just let me know," he said.

"I will," she said. "And thanks for the tickets."

After she bought what she needed, she started back for the bus. But she stopped in front of the fortuneteller/psychic's shop for a moment.

Carter had been avoiding her again
for the past couple days. He sat in the back row in Physics, and he didn't speak to her in the halls or wait outside her classrooms. Mary had debated for a while what to do about him. She seemed to be the only one who figured out what was "wrong" with him. She didn't tell anyone else that he was possessed, for fear of looking like a lunatic. Perhaps she was. But when it came down to it, Mary figured that no one should be possessed by something he didn't want. And even though she didn't like the old Carter very much, since she was the only one who knew, it was her responsibility to try and help him.

Mary
didn't know the first thing about this possession stuff. And maybe the best person to ask was someone who dealt with spirits and otherworld-type things regularly. Ben's purple-curtained neighbor seemed to know what he or she was doing, since the shop had been there for a long time. Mary took a deep breath and went inside.

She expected skulls
, black cats, and crystal balls. But to her surprise, Mary found herself in an ordinary waiting room, like in a doctor's office. There were chairs, a desk with a computer, and some tall plants. A sign on the desk read, "Lakshana has been expecting you. Please have a seat."

Mary sat
down and waited. Her knee began tapping nervously. Most of her bruises had healed, but there was still one on her knee that was taking longer to go away. She looked around and saw a poster on the wall. It had a picture that was shaped like a person, but the inside of the person was colored to look like stars and space. The edges of the person were glowing, like a light was shining behind it. At the bottom of the poster were the words, "Radiant. The Energy Within."

Mary
heard voices. A door in the back opened and two women emerged. One of them mopped at her red face with a wad of tissues. "Thank you so much, Lakshana."

The
non-crying one patted her hand. "You're most welcome, dear." Like her shop, Lakshana didn't look very unusual. No bohemian skirts, bangles, or scarves holding back a wild mess of hair. If anything, Lakshana looked like a teacher at Mary's school. "I'll see you next week. And remember what we talked about."

The crying woman
nodded. "Yes. I will. See you next week." And she left.

Lakshana
turned to Mary. "How can I help you, dear?"

Mary
stood. "Hi. Um, I was wondering if I could ask you some questions."

Lakshana went to her desk and pushed the sign aside. "I'll see if I have some answers. Is this for a school project?"

"Well, sorta," Mary said. "Have you ever dealt with anyone who was possessed?"

Lakshana looked at her curiously. "Possessed? Like by a
demon?"

Mary nodded
. "I know this is gonna sound nuts, but I think a boy at my school is. And I was wondering if you would know how to help him and—"

"Whoa, wait a minute," Lakshana said. "Are you asking me to perform an exorcism on him?"

Mary nodded. "I don't have a lot of money. But I—"

Lakshana raised her hand. "Listen
love, I work with spirits. But this is beyond my expertise."

"So,
there's nothing you can tell me to help him?" Mary asked.

"Have you tried throwing salt on him?"
she suggested.

"Will that get rid of it
?" Mary asked.

"I
've heard that demons don't like salt," Lakshana said. "Or maybe that was slugs. Anyway, maybe you should check with a church and ask them."

"Oh," Mary said. "All right. Thanks."

***

"Mom? Do we have extra salt?" Mary asked the next morning at breakfast.

Mom looked in the cupboard and pulled out a canister. "Here you go. What do you need it for?"

"Art," Mary said. "I want t
o try this technique with watercolors in class." And that was true, so she wasn't lying. However, she had more plans for the salt.

Carter w
as still avoiding her, and Mary had several challenges with her plans to exorcise him. She couldn't chase him down the hall and throw salt on him, but she didn't know how to get him by himself to where she could do it. She didn't really want to do this at school and freak other kids out, since she wasn't sure what an exorcism outside of the horror movies looked like. But she didn't have many options, so she had to plan things out carefully.

In between classes, Mary found David
at his locker. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure," he said.
"What's up?"

Mary
sighed. "Here's the deal. It's gonna sound weird. And you have to keep it a secret. Is that okay?"

He eyed her suspiciously. "Um, okay."

Mary took the canister of salt from her bag and gave it to him. "You have Physics one class before I do, right? After the bell rings and everyone's out, can you sprinkle some of this on the second desk from the left in the back? But you can't let anyone see you doing it, so it has to be after everyone leaves."

He looked at the salt. "Are you serious?"

"I said it was gonna sound weird," she said. "Please?"

David
thought for a moment. Then, he shrugged and put it in his bag. "Well, you let me borrow your brushes a bunch. I think I can handle this."

She thanked him, and they both headed to class.

Mary didn't concentrate at all during English. They were supposed to be reading
Romeo and Juliet
. But since it was reading, she had little interest. And since it was Shakespeare, she had even less. Plus, she was nervous about Physics. She hoped that David was able to sprinkle the salt on Carter's desk. Her knee tapped nervously.

When the bell rang, Mary raced to
Physics. She got there just as David walked out.

"Mission
accomplished." He gave her back the canister of salt.

"Thanks
," she said and went into the empty room. Mary went to her seat, but not before glancing at Carter's desk. White grains littered the surface. It looked like David also spilled some salt on the seat. Perfect.

The other kids started coming
. Carter walked in without looking her way, and he headed to the back of the room to his desk. His brow wrinkled when he saw the salt.

Mary held her breath.

Carter put his bag on the floor and then started sweeping the granules from the seat and desk into his hand. He took it to the waste bin and dumped it before returning to his desk like normal. The bell rang, and Mrs. Stanton began class.

Darn.
Mary had hoped that when the salt touched Carter's skin, it would cause the possessing thing to leave him. But it didn't seem to have any effect. She thought of what she should do next.

T
here was a church not far from her apartment. On her way home from school, Mary walked a few blocks towards the pointed steeple. There wasn't a service going on, but a few people inside sat on long wooden pews or knelt at altars with statues on them. Mary wasn't sure where she should go. Then, she spotted a gift shop off to the side.

"I didn't know churches had those," she said to herself as she went inside.

The walls were covered in crucifixes and the shelves displayed statues of the Virgin Mary, jewelry, Bibles, and all kinds of religious stuff. In glass cases, there were sculptures of angels. Mary studied them for a moment. Most had white robes, golden wings, and predominantly Caucasian faces as they raised their hands and appeared generally peaceful. If Mary had known that
that
was how they really looked when she was younger, she wouldn't have thought the stars were guardian angels. These ones looked like they couldn't help anyone.

Mary saw
a shelf with several clear bottles. When she picked one up and examined it, she read "Holy Water" on the label. She brought it to the counter, where a young nun sat reading a Bible.

"Is this real?" Mary asked.

"Oh yes," the nun said in a smallish voice. "It's the same water used in our services."

"I see," Mary said. "What about with possessions?"

The nun looked at her curiously. "Possessions?"

"Yeah," Mary said. "If I poured this on someone who was possessed, would that help?"

The nun's jaw dropped a little. "Well, um, it would actually take a priest to do an exorcism."

"So, I'd have to bring him here?" Mary asked.

"Who?"

"The possessed guy."

The nun blinked a few times. "Are you sure he's possessed?"

"Pretty sure," Mary said.

The nun stepped out from behind the counter. "Why don't you come with me and we'll talk with Father Cohen?"

Mary followed her up some stairs that led to the church offices. They came to an open door with Father Cohen's name on it. The nun gently knocked on it.

The white-haired man at the desk looked up. "Yes, Sister Emily?"

"Father," she said. "This young lady has a question she'd like to ask you."

The priest nodded. "Come in, please, and have a seat. Tell me what your concern is."

Mary
sat in the chair across from his desk. It was like coming in for a teacher conference. She then took a deep breath and told him how she suspected Carter was possessed. He asked her a few questions, and she answered them as best as she could.

When Mary had finished
talking, the priest said, "Well, Mary, I thank you for coming to me about your friend. But it doesn't sound to me like he's possessed."

"
It doesn't?" she asked. "But what about him speaking Viet?"

"Are you sure he never learned it before?" he asked.

"Well, no," Mary admitted. "Then what about him suddenly not being an ass?"

"Eep!" Sister Emily yelped, covering her own mouth with her hand
.

"Sorry," Mary said. "I meant to say 'jerk'."

The nun squeaked again.

The priest chuckled. "It's all right. But y
ou said Carter was in an accident and almost died. He might've decided to change his ways. Big events like that can do that type of thing."

"I see," she said. That was the same thing that Mom had said. She felt
a bit discouraged.

Father Cohen
studied her for a moment. "Tell you what. Why don't you bring him here to see me? I'll talk to him, like how I talked with you just now. Maybe I can find out a little more."

"I don't know," she said. "He's not really talking to me right n
ow. And it'd be kinda weird just ask him to come here."