The Demon Conspiracy (28 page)

Maria looked up and saw nothing but clear,
blue sky above them. She shook her head in disbelief. “That’s not
possible.”

“He’s levitating!” said the man who’d had
the card in his pocket.

Jon slowly dropped down. He staggered when
he touched ground, like he was disoriented. Everyone applauded, but
some of the people got nervous and left. Others patted him on the
back and congratulated him for the amazing feat.

Brandon laughed. He clapped Jon on the
shoulder. “Is he hot, or what? Have you ever seen anyone do
that?”

“There was a guy on TV once, but he only
went like a foot above the ground.”

Jon declared that he was tired and needed to
go home. Maria noticed his foster mother, Angie McCormick, staring
at him in shock. She must have seen him levitating, too. Maria went
up to him and gave him the flowers back.

“Jon, here,” she said, completely spooked by
what she’d just witnessed. “I don’t think we should see each other
anymore. There’s something unholy about what you just did. It’s not
right.”

Jon looked at her a moment, then held the
flowers in front of him. In a flash, his hand was empty. The
flowers vanished the same way they’d appeared.

“I agree, Maria,” he said without
expression. “I have much work to do. I must work hard and
fast.”

22

ATTACK OF THE
BULLY

KELLY

I never saw what popped me in the cheek
while I ran full stride down the soccer field. Spinning through the
air, I didn’t see the ground, either—until I landed face-first. The
force slammed my nose into the dirt and knocked the wind out of me.
I lay there and gasped for air.

Whoa! Shooting stars! They were dancing just
above the ground in front of me!

I’d never seen stars in the afternoon
before, and certainly not close up. After a few seconds, though,
the stars went away. When I got my breath back I noticed a sharp
pain in the center of my face. My nose was bleeding.

I slowly pushed up to my hands and knees and
blinked back the tears. Had I been hit by a car? I looked around.
No, I was on the soccer field behind the school. What had I been
doing? My memory gradually returned. We’d been playing soccer in
P.E. class. I didn’t consider myself to be much of an athlete, but
up to this moment I’d been having a really good game. I’d played
defense and stopped several attacks by the other team, including
one when Michael Mall dribbled straight at me and I stole the ball
from him. I remembered the startled look on his face as I passed it
off to a teammate. Not many kids in gym class could do that to
Michael. I would have smiled thinking about it, but my nose stung
too much.

The last thing I remembered was running to
intercept another pass to Michael. That’s when everything went
blank. I knew I’d gotten hit and now I was on the ground with a
bloody nose. But again, what had happened?

I never saw the foot that smashed into my
ribs and lifted me off the ground.

“Get up and fight!” A menacing figure stood
over me in the bright sunlight.

The kick hurt, but not as bad as my nose. I
rolled away from the attacker and sat on my knees. Dazed as I was,
I had no problem recognizing the voice. Donnivee Fox.

That explained a lot.
Donnivee must have blind-sided me with a punch to the head when I
was running. I normally kept better track of her, but I’d been
enjoying the game too much. The thought made me angry. Wasn’t that
the reason we were outside playing? Weren’t we supposed to have fun
and enjoy sports in P.E. class? Why should I even
have
to worry about a
bully?

My first instinct was to find Coach Lewis. I
quickly scanned the area and spotted him way across the field by
the woods, discreetly talking on his cell phone. He did that every
day, though it was against the rules. I had scanned his thoughts
once, a few weeks ago, and found out he was calling his girlfriend.
No use trying to get his attention. He wouldn’t hear me, even if I
screamed.

I tried to stand, but my legs were watery. I
couldn’t get up. Was it because I was afraid? Or was I still woozy
from the landing? I wasn’t certain, so I stayed on the ground and
tried diplomacy.

“I’m not gonna fight you, Donnivee. You win,
okay?”

“Fine. I win. I’m still gonna beat the crap
out of you.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s Tuesday.” Donnivee’s response
made no sense. But when she leaned down and punched me in the side
of the face, things got clearer. I flopped back to the ground, my
cheek stinging. If Donnivee needed an excuse to kick somebody’s
butt, then any excuse would do. In that respect, ‘because it’s
Tuesday’ made perfect sense.

I couldn’t believe what was happening. How
long was this going to continue? Why didn’t somebody do something?
When I sat up again, the class had formed a ring around us to
watch, though nobody was outwardly encouraging the fight to go on.
I mentally checked out each of the other kids to see what they were
thinking. To my surprise, most of them wanted to see me rise up
invincibly and clobber Donnivee. That gave me a little confidence,
which I desperately needed right now. But the thoughts of Manson
Stanfield, Donnivee’s only known friend, stood out louder and
clearer than the rest.

Beat her!
thought Manson, as if willing her bully friend to
act.
Beat her bad!

Two other boys in the
group thought the same thing, only they weren’t feeling personal
about it. They wanted to see Donnivee beat up somebody for the
entertainment value. That infuriated me. How dare them want to
watch a person inflict pain on another human being, just for
laughs
. I made a mental
note to deal with those boys some day. Right now I had more serious
issues.

I took a deep breath and tried to force some
strength into my legs. I got to my feet, keeping a careful eye on
Donnivee. But Donnivee had already planned her next move. She ran
forward and swung a knockout punch at my face. This time I got a
glimpse of it coming. I managed to duck. The blow glanced off my
shoulder. Donnivee stumbled forward. But losing her balance didn’t
stop her from swinging. She began to throw punches like a wild
woman.

I had no hope of keeping up with the blows
or defending myself. One struck me in the head, another in the
cheek. Donnivee was a fighting machine with one focus now: beat me
to a pulp! I did the only thing I could think of. I turned and ran
away.

The move gained me some time. Donnivee threw
a grand slam right cross at my head just as I took off. She missed
entirely and the force of the swing sent her tumbling to the
ground. When she got up, she had dirt all over the side of her
face. The other kids laughed at her. They apparently thought I’d
made a clever defensive move. Yeah, right. I was running for my
life. Laughter only made Donnivee more determined to pound me. I
heard her thoughts loud and clear.

I’m gonna rip your head off!

I considered making a break for Coach Lewis,
but Donnivee would probably outrun me. If that happened, my face
would be turned into hamburger before he ever noticed anything was
going on. Abruptly, a two-part plan popped into my head. Why hadn’t
I thought of it sooner? I stopped and faced my assailant. It was
time to initiate Plan A.

“All right!” I screamed. “Come on! Let’s do
it!”

Donnivee stopped her maniac charge and
became more cautious. She still kept moving forward.

Thank, God!
I thought, catching my breath. Plan A had slowed
Donnivee’s attack. But Plan B was more involved and potentially
dangerous. If Plan B didn’t work, not only would Donnivee beat the
snot out of me, but everyone in the class would know I was
telepathic. It was a huge gamble, but what choice did I have? I
needed an army and I needed it
now
.

I blasted mental orders to
the kids around me.
Allen! Block her!
Krista! Get in front of her! Michael! Stop her! Paul! Help
Michael!

Without knowing why, each of the kids
reacted to my psychic commands. Allen jumped in front of Donnivee.
Krista hurried up beside him and did the same thing. A moment later
Michael and Montel also blocked the way. I was so shocked I nearly
lost focus. I’d never telepathically ordered people around before,
not really. Sure, I’d sent in suggestions to influence their
thinking, like in chess matches, but a direct order? I’d always
been too afraid they’d figure out what I was doing. If I had tried
to get them to help by using my voice, they would have laughed at
me and done nothing. Something about being inside their heads,
though, made it different.

Steven! Becca! Antoinette! Stop her!

In the span of thirty
seconds I had commanded nearly every kid in the class to help fend
off Donnivee. None of the kids would have done anything on his/her
own, but they seemed helpless to resist my orders for assistance. I
became more calm and reassured. As long as I kept a tight grip on
the thoughts of my
army
, Donnivee would have a tough time getting to me.

Donnivee tried to push past the crowd, but
nobody gave way easily. “Let me get her!” she cried. She shoved at
Zack Coleman. When he stumbled aside, Michael stepped into his
place. He was much bigger and stronger than Donnivee, so she didn’t
try to go through him. But when she changed direction to go around
him, Zack was blocking her again. I decided Donnivee wasn’t going
to give up against this sort of passive resistance. I changed
tactics.

Donnivee, you’re
surrounded. We’re
all
gonna beat you up!

The class encircled Donnivee. She was
surprised, suddenly unsure of herself, but still full of bravado.
“Come on! I can take every one of you!” She danced in place, fists
ready for action. As the circle grew tighter, her eyes revealed the
fear she really felt. The group wasn’t afraid of her at all and
they outnumbered her twenty to one. She looked over at me. I faced
her just outside the circle, glaring. She knew I was doing this,
but couldn’t grasp how.

I concentrated on controlling the others.
Donnivee began to shake her head in desperation. Tears formed in
her eyes like she was afraid for her life. She quickly wiped them
away, but for the first time she fully understood the situation.
This new girl could beat her. I took in every doubtful thought as
the circle closed to within arm’s length of Donnivee. All at once
the bully fell to her knees and began to sob.

“No!” she cried. “Don’t hurt me
anymore!”

The words had a chilling
effect on me. Don’t hurt me
anymore
? Nobody had hurt her at all,
yet, so why would she say such a thing? Donnivee was confused.
Maybe she’d had enough.

I released the others and told them to go
have fun playing soccer. In a flash the kids all broke away and
went after the ball again, including the two bloodthirsty boys
who’d hoped to see a fight. The entire time Donnivee was
surrounded, those boys had stood to one side watching. They never
responded to my commands. At that point things became clear to me.
Though my ability to control other people was the main reason they
got involved, they only acted because they wanted to help to begin
with. I hadn’t entirely controlled them after all. Instead, I’d
only directed them.

Donnivee knelt on the
ground, helpless and pitiful. I looked hatefully at the girl who
had given me a bloody nose and some aching ribs. I wanted to kick
her teeth in and stomp her face into bloody mush. At that point, I
probably could have. But those haunting words came back to
me.
Don’t hurt me anymore!
I was angry at myself for having a
heart.

“Don’t you
ever, ever
try that
again,” I said, choosing my words carefully. “If you do, I’ll take
it to the next level.”

Donnivee glared up at me
helplessly. I scanned the beaten girl’s thoughts and asked the
question a lot of people wanted to know.
Why are you so mean?

Only one thing came back
out of Donnivee’s head.
She beat me. And
she never even threw a punch! I hate her so much!

All this time Manson Stanfield had looked on
in total disbelief. I detected her nearby and went hard and fast
into the cruel girl’s mind.

Why is Donnivee like
that?
What made her so mean?

Manson blinked in confusion. It never
occurred to her to wonder why the question had been asked or where
it came from. But she felt obliged to answer.

“She can’t help it!” said Manson. “It’s not
her fault. Her father beats her all the time!” She covered her
mouth in shock as she met Donnivee’s cold, hurt gaze. At that point
Manson was certain that her friend might now be her enemy. I
listened to it all as Donnivee climbed to her feet.

“How could you, Manson?” said Donnivee. “You
said you’d never tell!” Donnivee burst into tears and sprinted for
the locker room.

“I don’t know.” Manson chased after her. “I
thought you needed help!”

I looked angrily across
the field at Coach Lewis. I’d had enough of his slackness and sent
him a mental order.
Coach Lewis, do your
job!

In one fluid motion, Lewis put away the cell
phone and looked up in time to see

Manson chasing Donnivee. He ran over to me
and saw the blood on my shirt and face.

“What’s going on here?” asked Lewis. “Did
Donnivee hit you?”