The Appeal of Evil (The Road to Salvation) (26 page)

Despite the multitude of Wes’s failings, he was a superb listener. When he was around, Katie could tell him anything. He always had the best advice, too. If Katie missed anything about him, it was that. She hadn’t realized how much she’d relied on him until he was gone. If she really wanted, she could suck up her pride and apologize. She could tell him that she knew he was only acting in her best interest and she was being stubborn. But why should she? That would put her right back into the same situation she had been in before where Wes would feel free to break her heart and treat her like crap. He told her he didn’t trust her, and she no longer trusted him. How could they be anything without that? She wasn’t going to be sucked back in to Wes’s game. For her sanity, she couldn’t be. This was her one chance to get out. She had to take it.

She shut off the water and grabbed a towel. Stepping out of the shower, she stared at herself in the mirror. The steam had fogged it up, so she couldn’t see herself clearly, only her outline. Dark spots indicated where the features on her face were, but otherwise her reflection looked like a faceless shell. Was that how Josh saw himself? Just an empty husk that he dropped his true form into? From there he molded it into what he wanted it to look like. Would Katie do that if she took Josh up on his offer? She wiped the condensation away and stared at herself.

Why was she even contemplating taking him up on his offer? She didn’t want to steal souls or become a demon. She didn’t want to push people into sin. She didn’t even know what college she wanted to go to. Her whole life lay ahead of her, and she wanted to explore the different possibilities that existed. Part of that exploration was getting involved with boys and figuring out how relationships worked. Was it her fault that a demon happened to be the first one besides Wes that paid her any attention? She was curious about that world, she could freely admit that, and she was happy to have the chance to explore it. If Wes stopped being a jerk long enough to let her in, she would gladly explore his side of the world too. But curiosity was as far as it went. She’d seen enough and experienced enough to know it could only get darker, the sins more horrific. After going to Hell with Josh and seeing a few of the things he did, she didn’t want to see more. She could only imagine what Wes saw while fighting evil. Katie had her experiences, and now she was happy to take the knowledge and move on. She’d learned a lot in the process, but she didn’t want to stay there forever. Unfortunately, Katie didn’t think she had a choice in the matter. She highly doubted Josh was going to let her walk away.

Katie dried off and pulled on her pajamas. She headed back to her room and climbed into bed. The house was dark, quiet, so she glanced at the clock. 3:00 a.m. Wow. She was shocked it was that late. How had time flown so fast? How long had they been at the club? She wasn’t tired at all, but she figured she should try to get some rest. Sunday was going to be a long day, especially if she had to devise a plan to get out of Josh’s grip. She pulled the covers to her chin and stared at the ceiling.

Why wouldn’t Josh let her go? There was nothing she could do or say that would hurt him. They could part ways and he could continue sucking souls from the world and she could finish high school and move on with her life. Neither one of them would lose anything. It would be beneficial to both of them. And the best part would be that Katie wouldn’t have to lose her soul to Hell. As much as she didn’t want to be a demon or involved with demons, she found it hard to resist Josh’s charms. He was so attractive and he seemed to know exactly what Katie needed. He’d told her the truth about what he did and genuinely seemed to like her. But on the other side of that coin was the sinister. He’d used her and put her in harm’s way. He could literally be the death of her if she wasn’t careful.

Katie rolled on her side and placed her arm under her pillow. She had to cut things off with Josh. It was a simple as that. She would take the direct approach, tell him flat out that she was done. If that didn’t work, she’d figure out a harsher method, maybe drive him away like she’d driven Wes away. It was in her best interest to cut all ties with both of them. After that, she would figure out a way to stop falling for boys that were bad for her soul.

Closing her eyes, she pushed the thoughts from her head and attempted to fall asleep. She would deal with the mess in the morning.

***

Sun pierced through the shades and hit Katie right in the face. Squinting and moaning, she rolled over and placed the pillow over her head. Why hadn’t she closed the blinds the night before? Her head pounded, and her body was heavy with exhaustion. She didn’t want to get out of bed. The clinking of dishes from the kitchen sounded through her door, and the scent of coffee drifted to her nostrils. With a huff, she pulled her head from under the pillow and stared at the clock. 10:05. It wasn’t horrifically late or early, but Katie certainly didn’t want to get out of bed yet. Her mom’s voice drifted into her ears. Due to the distance and the fact that her door was closed, Katie couldn’t tell what she said, but she found it odd her mom was talking. Who would she be talking to? A gruff male voice responded. Gritting her teeth, Katie threw off her covers and stomped downstairs. She had a pretty good idea who was in her house. What did he want? Was he coming to spread more lies about her and sway her mom to their side? Not this time. Katie was going to stop it before it got out of hand.

She stood in the doorway of the kitchen and folded her arms across her chest. Randy sipped his coffee and stared at her over the rim of his mug. His eyes were bloodshot and dark circles shadowed his cheeks. His hand shook as he drank. A sinking feeling entered Katie’s stomach. Something had happened. She sensed it. Her mom walked across the kitchen and embraced her in a hug. It felt great to be in her arms, but there wasn’t time for this. What was going on?

“What’s he doing here?” she asked her mom softly.

Mom pulled away and stared at Katie. “He’s hoping you know where Wes is.”

KATIE’S STOMACH KNOTTED
and her eyebrows pushed together. Randy took another sip of his coffee and continued to stare at her. What was he trying to do? Make her feel guilty for being so mean to Wes? It wasn’t going to work. Wes had put her through hell since kindergarten. Once she had the courage to stand up to him and this was how they treated her? Like a criminal. She hadn’t done anything wrong! If Wes ran off, that was his problem, not Katie’s. It wasn’t her fault he couldn’t handle rejection.

“Why would I know where Wes was?” She tried to keep her voice calm. Anger seethed just below the surface.

Mom moved some hair behind her shoulder and patted her arm. “We thought maybe he contacted you and let you know where he was going.”

Her gaze turned to her mom, her mouth fell open in surprise. “Did you not see what happened in this kitchen last night? Do you really think Wes is going to talk to me after that?” She gestured toward Randy. “Why didn’t he tell his dad where he was going?”

With an unsteady hand, Randy set his mug on the counter. “After leaving here, he said he needed to get some air. He wanted to cool off. He never came home.”

“So then why do you think he came and told me where he went?”

“He sensed a…um…disturbance. And came back to investigate.” Randy raised his eyebrows, as if Katie was supposed to pick up on his hidden meaning.

Katie realized he referred to the portal. Randy must have thought he’d followed her and Josh to their destination. He could have; Katie didn’t know. She hadn’t seen him anywhere, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t lurking in the shadows. Maybe one of the locals found him and did something with him. If Katie had known where Josh took her, she could inform Randy and he could conduct his own investigation. Or if he really wanted to know, he could head through the portal and figure it out himself. He had more options at his fingertips than asking Katie what was going on, especially since she really didn’t know.

Mom placed her hand on the middle of Katie’s back. “See, honey, he still cares about you. Wes came back to make sure you were all right.”

Katie rolled her eyes and continued to stare at Randy. “I didn’t see him last night. I honestly don’t expect to ever see him again. I’m fairly certain our friendship is over.”

Randy averted his eyes to his coffee cup. “That could very well be. He hasn’t spoken to me about what’s been going on.” He raised his head and met Katie’s gaze. “But this isn’t like him. Even with how angry he was. Something has happened to him.”

Katie threw her hands out to her sides. “What do you want me to do about it? Can’t you use your divine influence to find him? I know you can track where we went. Just do that and see if Wes was there.”

“Went, Katie? What are you talking about?” The confusion was apparent in Mom’s tone.

Katie huffed and turned to her mom. “Josh and I went out last night, Mom.”

“Where did you go?”

Katie shrugged. “I don’t know. Some club.”

“But how could that be? You were in your room, listening to music. No one came to the house.” Mom’s eyes searched Katie’s face, as if the answer would be written there.

Katie really wanted to tell her mom what had happened with Josh, but she couldn’t. Mom wouldn’t believe her. It was best to leave things as they were, to let Mom’s mind make up any story it wanted to explain Katie’s disappearance. In the end, it would make things so much easier than trying to get her to believe the truth.

She tightened her grip on Katie’s arm and turned her to face her straight on. “Why are you still seeing that boy? I thought I told you to stay away from him.”

Katie tried to wiggle out of her mom’s grasp, but she held on too tightly. Her nails dug into Katie’s flesh. She grabbed at her mom’s fingers to lessen the grip. “Ow! You’re hurting me.”

Suddenly, her mom released her grip and laughed. Had she completely lost her mind? She tossed her head back and let the maniacal sound shake her entire body. Katie stepped back, wondering what in the world was going on. She glanced at Randy. His eyes widened. He stepped forward, reaching into his back pocket as he did. He wasn’t fast enough. With lightning quick speed, Mom was across the kitchen and had her hand around Randy’s neck. She slammed him into the counter.

“Mom!” Katie would have run forward to do something, but her legs wouldn’t obey her commands. All she could do was stare in horror as the scene unfolded in front of her.

Randy grabbed the mug from the counter and slammed it into Mom’s head. Pieces clattered onto the kitchen floor; her mom stumbled backward slightly, lowering Randy so he could get his toes on the linoleum. He clawed at Mom’s hand, trying to get her to release her grip. Katie felt the urge to punch Randy in the face. How could he whack her in the head like that? But she still couldn’t move. And something really wasn’t right. Randy wasn’t Katie’s favorite person; she would like to attack him too, but where did her mom get that kind of strength? She had just lifted a full grown man off the floor and carried him several feet. That wasn’t natural. Katie glanced around the room, looking for a weapon. She didn’t want to hurt Mom, but she needed to get her away from Randy.

Mom recovered from the blow to the head and slammed Randy into the counter again. He grunted in pain, and the clawing at her hand weakened. Mom smiled, then tossed him across the room into the fridge. He hit, then slid to the floor. His head shot up immediately, but he had trouble pushing his weight up on shaky arms. Katie intervened. She placed herself between Randy and her mom, holding her hands out to her sides to make herself appear larger.

“Leave him alone!” Katie yelled.

Mom snarled and continued to move forward. She grabbed Katie around the neck and lifted her from the ground.

The air left Katie’s lungs, and pain radiated through her neck. Feebly, she kicked at her mother’s chest. She landed a few, but they were in vain. The grip tightened. From somewhere behind her, a low, growly bark sounded. Black dots danced in front of Katie’s eyes, but she was able to see Mom snarl once again before Katie was dropped to the floor. Sucking in deep breaths, Katie couldn’t get oxygen into her body fast enough, and it felt like broken glass tore at her throat. Her vision returned, and she watched Mom walk across the floor toward Randy. He had gotten himself to his knees, using the fridge as support.

Mom grabbed the back of his hair and helped him up. Once again, Katie glanced around the kitchen for a weapon. Irritation and panic gripped her chest. How many knives did they have in that house? And she couldn’t find one of them. Her back was against a cupboard, so she threw it open, planning to use whatever she could find. Inwardly, she hoped she wasn’t against the cupboard that held the grocery bags and dish soap. Those probably wouldn’t be much help. She reached in and grabbed the first thing she felt. Leaping to her feet, she raised the frying pan over her shoulder and swung with all her might. A dull thud sounded as the metal contacted the side of her mom’s head, causing her eyes to roll in their sockets. Mom’s grip loosened on Randy and she stumbled slightly but didn’t go down. Thank goodness it wasn’t a bottle of soap.

Randy used the momentum shift to his advantage. He slammed his shoulder into her chest and shoved. Mom lost the rest of her balance and splatted onto the linoleum. Randy scrambled on top of her, reaching for her flailing arms as she punched and scratched at his face. Without thinking, Katie stepped forward and grabbed her mom’s right arm, pinning it to the floor while Randy finally got a hold of the left. Mom attempted to rear up and bite, but Randy was planted firmly on her chest. Mom howled. The sound rattled Katie’s skull, threatening to explode her eardrums. She desperately wanted to cover her ears, but she knew she couldn’t let the arm go. She gritted her teeth. The frying pan was right next to her. If she could get a hold of it and smash it into her mom’s face, that would stop the sensory onslaught. Katie adjusted herself so her knees were on her mom’s arm and one hand was free. As she reached for the pan, something slammed into her back and knocked her over.