Keeley Thomson (Book 4): Demon Trap (12 page)

Keeley leaned in and kissed her suddenly, on a whim, which got the girl to do it back, using enough tongue that it was clear she wasn't all that surprised by it at all. It was interesting, but not what she'd come to do.

Eve however, didn't move away, putting her arms around her instead. After a few minutes she finally sat back.

"Well, I
guess
I could try a girl."

Keeley shrugged.

"Maybe later? Right now I just want you to know that I really like you. As a friend I mean. That's all tied up in sex for you though. We should work on that, but for the time being... I want to talk to you about what you have planned, as far as killing those men? Balthias, Fram and Elis will help you. I've already set that up." It was a bit like telling someone that they had a battle group to handle a school bully, but Eve actually looked away, scared and tense. It was why Keeley had made out with her first, to help her know she wasn't being pressured.

The problem wasn't that she didn't want it done though, not at all. There was a deeper issue.

"I know that Elis is supposed to kill them, but I was thinking. Maybe I should do it? Is that... Alright? I'm not saying I'm some badass or anything, but..." She really wanted to. The idea also terrified her more than she could say or would want to, if she had the words. Seeming weak wasn't high on her list of things to do.

"That's fine. The others will help with that then, if you want, and back you up, so that you don't get caught. The thing is, I think you should do it. Now.
Today
. The longer you wait, the harder it will be for you to get it done. There will always be a reason not to. That's fine as well. If you don't want to be involved, we can do that, or if you change your mind about it." The men would still die, but Keeley would see to it then. Probably still ordering Elis to do it, since it was part of what needed to happen if he was ever going to redeem himself.

There was a long moment of utter silence, but finally she stood up and offered Keeley her right hand.

"Let's get it done, then. Before I chicken out and let even more little kids get raped. I took too long already."

Not hesitating Keeley called for Fram and Bal, asking that Elis be brought along. They were in the room about ten seconds later, with Eve staring at the Greater Demon that looked like her old cheerleading buddy. They hadn't been close, maybe, but as much as anyone could be with Xenses, they'd been friendly.

Keeley explained the plan, which had the others ready to go about a minute later. Bal had already tracked down all the men after all, having had months to work on it. Elis was ready to simply get it done. He didn't speak, but then she'd told him not to, unless it was actually needed. The very pale Vampire was still being punished after all. Even killing these men was part of that. It was a message to him, that said that harming her friend was
very
serious. It still worked though, if Eve did it.

After all, though different, it still said something, didn't it? That the girl wasn't prey anymore.

After they all left, Balthias taking Eve to get some weapons first, Keeley could only hope it all turned out. Oh, the men would die, but how her friend reacted to it was slightly uncertain.

Since it could break her. Or make her much stronger than she'd ever been.

Either way, they'd know in a few hours.

Chapter seven

 It would have been nerve wracking, just waiting for Eve to come back and tell her how things went, except that Keeley decided not to worry about it. The boys wouldn't let her get hurt at all, and the worst thing that would happen would be that she had a bit of a meltdown after killing a few people.

To pass the time she decided to do some cooking and make a casserole for Gladys. After all, the woman had been traumatized, and was probably feeling a little lost and alone now, after the last of her family turned out to be an uber creep. That reminded her. As soon as she had that done and delivered, Keeley needed to see about making sure Bryce made a full confession, and then killed himself. It would be best if it happened on video, so that Roy and his people wouldn't be blamed for it. That or something that would look natural, like a heart attack or choking to death on some food.

It didn't take long to assemble everything, it was a simple recipe, so she made two, because a light snack seemed to be in order. It was tuna flavored, which wasn't her favorite, but was both cost effective, and good enough for now. Gladys loved the stuff though. Keeley pulled that from her memories, and used the woman's own recipe to make it, so it would be familiar.

While she waited the forty minutes it needed to cook, Keeley practiced drawing, and then absorbing energy into herself. It was a matter of practice now, and adaptation to the new technique. At least that made sense. Most Greater Demons learned it pretty slowly, but this particular trick didn't damage her at all, so it was just a matter of repetition and focus, not healing the entire time, which was good, since she still wasn't back to normal as far as energy went yet.

She actually managed to go and deliver the casserole while it was still warm, and sit with her and her friends for about half an hour. They didn't say a lot, but she could tell that none of them were overly shocked about the whole thing. Bryce had never been a good guy, always picking the absolute worst things to do as a child even. Killing the neighbor's dogs and cats, that kind of a thing. No one had ever caught him though, they assured her, or they could have gotten him help.

She felt a little bit mean when she spoke, but it was something that they needed to understand, so she did it anyway.

"You can't really help psychopaths. Doctors, medications, these things don't fix them at all. The best you can do is give them a set of rules and hope they see the value in following them. He chose not to, so I doubt that having had him committed or sent to therapy would have honestly done much for him. This isn't anyone's fault, it's most likely biology." That was close enough to the truth that the four woman and the Catholic priest that sat there with their plates of food all agreed with her at least.

They also didn't expect a sixteen year old girl to sit there with them all day, and thanked her for bringing food quickly, so she could escape. Most of them seemed to think it was special enough at least. One woman didn't, but she figured that Keeley was trying to get into Gladys's will or something. The others all knew that the woman didn't have enough for that to be very likely at all.

She passed out hugs, to some of the women. The priest, Father Donnelly, didn't allow that for himself, keeping well back, but extending his hand politely. He was a good man really. For all that some of his fellows in the church had done some rotten things, this man wasn't involved in it at all. His worst sin was overeating on occasion, and she hadn't really tempted him to that with the tuna casserole, since, like her, it wasn't his favorite.

"Thank you so much Keeley. We'll be seeing you for mass on Christmas Eve?" He tried to say it with enough expectation that she'd say
yes
, that she smiled at him.

"That
is
the plan. Of course I reserve the right to skip out if need be. A lot's been going on lately. I don't know what my mother has planned for instance." She actually didn't. It would probably be church, since Sherry wanted to be involved with other people and that was one way to do it. Darla wouldn't be coming, she didn't think, since her sister was hard enough to get around on Sundays for it, much less a holiday. Even one she didn't really care about. Of course, that was part of the reason for going, wasn't it? They didn't care about the religion, but attending the services made them look like normal people.

The man just looked a little sad, but seemed resigned to the whole thing.

"At least you didn't promise something you might not be delivering. Well, we'd love for you to be there. Please try."

She shrugged.

"Alright. I'll pass the word and see if I can work up a group." There were a few of them after all, that should be going. Roy and his wife, Karen, for instance, as well as Eve, since the Police Chief was her father. Really, that's who she should be living with, instead of her rather neglectful mom, but no one had mentioned it yet at all. Maria Gonzales and Becky Hoader would both want to go. Maybe Hally too.

It would be a whole thing.

Gary wouldn't want to, most likely. He was Gay, with a capital "G" on it, and the church frowned on him for it. That was another thing she needed to look in to. He hadn't been around in days. A few weeks before he'd started to rally a bit and go out again, after Darla killed the Durgs that had beaten his boyfriend Rob to death. They were all from Wilson High, so there was a giant fear in the city that someone was killing their children. It was true, after a fashion, but no one had demanded a curfew yet. Of course it was the middle of winter, so no one really stayed out that late. Keeley was almost certain that it would be coming.

She got back before anyone else did, Bertha being gone from the driveway already. That meant she had time to actually just sit and think for a while. There wasn't even homework to see about just then. She'd done it, and all the extra credit already, so it would be out of the way. The presents were wrapped and everything. Keeley had even looked in on all her people that day, more or less.

Well, not Deborah Forbes, but the woman was fine. They talked about twice a week. Keeley was working to get her a job at a major television network. It was going well. Honestly, she could have done it already, even starting without any contacts, but moving the woman around too fast would draw attention. She could get an offer from one of the big players, but not without a few more major stories and some exposure. Not if it was going to look natural, like she'd just gotten a big break, instead of someone pulling strings for her.

That reminded her of something, so she got her little prepaid cell and dialed the number anyway.

"Debbie Forbes." It wasn't the way she always answered the phone, just the way she did it when she was mad at one of her honeys. They bickered a lot, and since it was a rather unconventional relationship, having a man and two women in it, things could escalate quickly at times. The clipped tone probably meant Keeley had interrupted a fight.

"Can you meet me tomorrow at Fritters? Bring a cameraman and just be happening to come by at one twenty or so. Don't ask how I know, but there will be a story, if you do. One that might just make the national news on a slow day, as a bit of ironic humor."

"Keeley?" She sounded baffled, but the second the name was said, there were some biting words from the background and a man and a woman started going at each other, making accusations about who was sleeping with whom, outside of the relationship. On the good side Deborah didn't seem to be directly involved in this part.

"That's me. So, you
might
want to covertly get things ready." She gave the time again and then waited while a spectacular screaming fit started. It was answered with a manly bellow. It was loud enough that when Deborah spoke, she sounded more than a bit angry.

"Sorry, it's been like this all day. I can't take much more of this. I love Linda and Justin, but this is... I don't think it's going to keep working." She whispered the words and then hung up the phone without saying goodbye. Probably because at least one of them had heard her, and hit the button to end the call, as if
that
would undo the words.

From her perspective it was a good thing. The others had their own lives and jobs and frankly, they were slowing her asset down. They were needy, and complained when she worked too hard, instead of supporting her. Yes, relationships were a two way street, but neither of them were actually ambitious enough to keep up with their girlfriend or content to sit back and play a supporting role either. It was a bit sad, but they would have had to go anyway. This way, when Keeley got things ready for her, Deborah could just leave and go off to New York, or Dallas, without any fuss.

With that though, she was about done for the day. She planned to take both the police and local fire station some goodies for Christmas, but not that day, since she didn't want that much attention from them at the moment. Showing up
after
the fire would be good enough. The plans for that got reviewed, and changed a bit, but there just wasn't a lot to do, until Eve got back.

It was kind of nice, she decided. Just sitting there and not being worried or bothered about anything. That didn't last long of course, since there was a sudden crash outside her house. A car accident by the sound, though it was a bit off. Instead of running out to see what was going on, since there was no crying or screaming in pain, she stood and started to pull energy from the world around her again. It was, most likely, just an accident.

That was what was most likely in any case.

The problem was that at least a few Greater Demons had already tried to set her up, bringing in Fram to make an attempt for her very being. That was, of course, a ruse the whole time. Oh, she had Fram locked up pretty well. That part was real enough and she was nearly certain that the Demon couldn't fake that kind of thing for long. No more than a few hours at any rate. That meant that there was a deeper plan involved. Something complex enough that someone thought she wouldn't get it, and might just fall right into their trap.

This, the sounds from outside, could very well be the bait.

Worse, Keeley didn't have a freaking clue what could be going on. She got that, in any normal situation she'd probably run right out to see if she could help. It would make her look good and cost her almost nothing, so why not? That would be foolish at the moment though. Unless whoever was setting her up, if they were at all at the moment, knew that and had something else in mind that she was just too young and foolish to work out in time?

She stepped onto the inroads with a thought. It was possible to fight from there and, she noticed, she was able to keep drawing energy. The flow of it even increased a bit, which was interesting to note. The amount she was able to absorb stayed the same the whole time, and the color of the light cast by the disruption in the fabric of the universe over her head turned silver to match the world around her, but it was stronger, none the less.