Chapter Seven

Demons in Classrooms

Jen walked into Blue Sky Academy early Monday morning, clasping her favourite charm around her neck.

She knew what she was going to do but hadn’t known how to do it. The previous night, she had called up Jeremiah to ask him for information.

“Jer?”

“Did you talk to Chase?”

“Yeah but…we’ll talk about that later. First off, I need you to find out where the schools water supply comes from. I need maps of the building and I need a detailed plan of the fire drill.”

“Are you doing what I think you’re doing?”

“Probably.”

“Fine then.”

Jeremiah found all she needed and slipped some maps into her bin. Jen had studied them all night, memorising them until she could draw them with her eyes closed. Then she devised her plan, drawing over each of the blueprints in black crayon.

Once she memorised it all, Jen pulled on a pair of comfortable black slacks with a stretchy black long sleeved and sneakers. Last but most importantly, she pulled on her balaclava.

It was five a.m. Jen and only had two hours before teachers started to arrive.

“I have to do this alone Jeremiah.” she had warned Jeremiah the day before. “So don’t tell Chase.”

“Jen…this is possibly going to either the dumbest or brightest idea you have ever had. You might need backup, even if it’s me.”

“Thanks for the offer Jer, but I’m okay.”

“Chase told me something’s bugging you.”

“It’s nothing, Jer.”

Jen pulled the spray paint from her bag and shook it before heading into the enormous hall. She looked around. It was where all school meetings were held, plus it was a basketball court. Jen crossed the court to where she knew there were loose floorboards. She slammed her foot down making one fly up and caught it in her hand. Jen repeated the action then used her hands to pull up a few more so she could fit through the hole.

She sat on the edge of the hole and pulled out a flashlight from her bag. Jen lowered herself in and looked around. Below the basketball court was nothing interesting. Cobwebs, dust, more cobwebs and a rat or two. But Jen didn’t mind. She faced off with demons and spirits daily.

Then she got to work. Pulling on a dust mask she started to spray paint the floorboards from underneath. After an hour she had finished faze one to her elaborate plan. She lifted herself out of the hole and replaced the floorboards, nailing them in more perfectly than they had been before.

Jen climbed up the wall of the hall, using the curtains ran as fast as she could to the school water tank and took a wooden rosary from around her neck off. She said a few brief words before dropping it in the water.

******

On Monday morning, Edmund sat in Miss Harrison’s office, looking between Principal, Vice-Principal, Graceland Smith and a Detective. “You should tell nothing but the truth, Mr Williams, or you shall suffer the due consequences.” Miss Harrison warned him.

“Speak up boy, or we’ll expel you.” Mrs Naturale broke it down for him.

But Edmund didn’t pay attention to them. Instead, he concentrated on Detective Andrew Crane. His hair was thick and full and his eye dark and warm. Edmund half believed the man should have worn a trench coat, but instead he wore a pair of black jeans, a white shirt and a suit jacket. “Son, can you tell me what happened Saturday night?”

Edmund nodded then stayed silent.

Crane looked at the Miss Harrison and Mr Naturale then back at Edmund. “Well, can you?”

“I can.” Edmund answered.

Again, Crane found himself met with silence. “Well, will you?”

“If you ask.” Edmund was testing his patience, pushing the boundaries of Crane’s patience for his own personal investigation. He wanted to see how far this man was willing to go to find a truth that didn’t exist. He wanted to see if Crane would use his power to corrupt Edmund into admitting to something he didn’t do. But that would be done quicker, if Crane lost his patience. “May you please tell me what happened on Friday night?” Crane said at last.

Edmund smiled. “Well on Saturday night, I do believe I went to McDonalds with my friends, early in the evening. I ate a cheeseburger, chips, nuggets…”

“At Graceland Smith’s home.” Crane snapped, losing his patience one way or another. “What happened in Graceland Smith’s home?”

Edmund paused and looked out the small window that gave little light and air to the place. When he looked back at Crane, he said, “I wasn’t in the home.”

“But you were in the apartment blocks, weren’t you?

“Yes.”

“What were you doing there?”

Edmund looked back at Crane. “To save Saint.”

“Save him from what?”

“His Aunt.”

“Why would you have to do that? His Aunt is very concerned about his safety and wellbeing and want him back home.”

“His Aunt tried to kill him.”

Now Crane leant forward. “Did you see her trying to kill him?”

Edmund shook his head. “But I saw her try and kill me. I saw the knife in her hands that she tried to stab me with.”

“Maybe she thought you were stealing Saint.”

“Maybe she thought she should kill me.” Crane watched Edmund and then pushed himself off the desk. “One final question, Edmund, and then you can be off. Do you know anyone by the name Emerald Hunter?”

Edmund frowned and shook his head.

Crane raised his eyebrow. “Are you sure? She’s a female most likely with green eyes.”

“I know no one by that name.”

“Maybe she goes by a different name.” he said.

Brief recognition flashed across Edmund’s eyes and Crane saw that. Edmund stayed silent, contemplating something then shook his head again. “Sorry. I don’t know.”

“Okay. Well, there were two more boys with you that night, according to Ms Graceland Smith. Care to give us there names?”

Edmund sighed and nodded. “Tony Arcadia and Zekehill Jonas. But neither of them have done anything wrong. Saint called us up, crying and begging for us to save him. We were together so we went to get him. We didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I believe you, Edmund.” Crane said and both Miss Harrison and Mr Naturale looked on in disbelief. “Emerald called me and vouched for you on Sunday and if there’s one thing I know Emerald doesn’t do is stick her neck out for people who don’t deserve it. You have a good friend watching over you.” Crane looked at Edmund, still probing a reaction.

Edmund nodded and got up out of his chair, walking out of the office and into the playground. He pulled out his mobile and flicked through the numbers he had. One of them was Jennifer’s. He went into the editing mode and under nicknames wrote: Emerald Hunter???

******

None of the announcements in morning assembly were that interesting on Mondays so no one was actually listening when Miss Harrison announced that the school basketball team had won and that the cricket team was disqualified for attempting to knock out the other school with the posts.

Zeke, Tony, Edmund, Greg, Angel and Saint had all noticed however that Jen was no where to be seen. In fact, no one had seen her at all that morning, even though Edmund had searched the entire school for her.

They were ten minutes into the assembly when a large crash was heard and the lights were turned out. A few of the girls and less of the boys squealed in fright while the others looked around in confusion. A minute later the fire alarm went off.

“Okay everybody! Evacuate this instance.” Miss Harrison yelled as people started to whisper and murmur. Everyone knowing that tone of voice instantly ran out of the building, blind because of the lack of light. However two people stayed behind as the doors which led outside were slammed shut and the lights turned back on.

Mrs Tarnette and a year eight boy with long green and brown hair. The two looked at each other as a figure with a balaclava fell from the ceiling. “Jehovah.”

Both Mrs Tarnette and the boy’s eyes flashed black. “Emerald Hunter.” The boy nodded.

“So you know me.” Jen grinned walking up to them but staying just outside of the line where she knew the pentagram was drawn on the floor boards underneath. “Do you know I’m going to kill you?”

“Well of course we do.” Mrs Tarnette grinned back. “We get the magazine.”

Jen chuckled. “So which demons are you?”

“I’m Damien, born as a possession demon.” The year eight boy bowed.

Jen’s eyes swivelled to Mrs Tarnette. “And you?”

“Linu.” she answered. “Turned into a possession demon.”

“Are you a boy?” Jen frowned. “Because Linu is a boy’s name.”

“Yes. I’m a boy.” Mrs Tarnette’s face scrunched up angrily. “What of it?”

“You couldn’t find a male body?”

She growled low, “I don’t like men’s bodies.”

“Ah, a transgender demon.” From her pocket, Jen pulled out a thin chain made from iron. “So now is my favourite part of the game… the handing over of information.”

The two demons looked at each other and smirked. With a small grin Linu said, “We’re thousands of years old. We know you can’t kill us without walking into the circle you oh so intelligently painted underneath the floorboards. But we all know that if you step inside that line, we will kill you.”

Jen laughed. “I guess my sixteen years of life trumps your thousand, because I’m not stepping into the circle.” Jen threw the iron chain across and twisted her wrist, “Hover.” The chain did as she said, floating in the air inside the circle. The two demons looked on confused. “I practiced all night.” Jen said. “Circle.” she twisted her wrist again and watched it wrap around the two demons, trapping them inside a circle of iron. “Now, what were you saying about killing me?”

The demons looked panicked and Damien attempted to run under the iron, his human form short enough to do so. “Lower.” Jen said clearly, and the iron dropped down, burning Damien.

“Tell me what demon is running this joint.” Jen said. “Tell me their name and tell me what they’re trying to do.”

“You won’t let us live.” Damien whispered, a gash across his face where the iron touched. “So why bother?”

Jen withdrew a her athame and stepped into the circle. In a quick movement, she leant over the iron chain and nicked both Linu and Damien in the face, causing them to scream in pain. She snarled, “I can make it as painful as I want.”

“You have five minutes until the fire department comes.” Linu growled. “You won’t get much torture slotted in.”

Jen grinned, “Really?” She ran outside of the circle and ran up part of the wall of the hall. Before she could fall, she pushed herself off and grabbed onto one of the basketball hoops, pulling herself up and balancing on top. She jumped into the air and grabbed one of the wooden beams in the ceiling and pulled herself up again. “There’s a sprinkler up here.” Jen walked across, balancing and leaping across like a gymnast. “I learnt very early this morning how to turn it on and off with ease.”

“That won’t do anything.” Damien hissed.

“It won’t if it’s normal water.” Jen stopped in the middle of one of the beams. It was in the middle of the entire hall and when she bent down, the demons could both see the sprinkler system. “But I just blessed the water tank this morning.”

Both demons looked at each other again. “We can’t speak his name.” Linu said.

“Linu.” Damien growled.

“We can’t speak his name or he’ll be summoned.”

“Linu!”

“But I can tell what he wants.”

“Close.” Jen said, tightened her fist. The iron chain closed around Damien, tightened around him and causing him to his and writhe in pain. “Keep talking.”

“He can come to earth in small bits and pieces. He is a very powerful demon. The first son of Lillith and Lucifer. He is rumoured to be more powerful than Lucifer himself. He can’t manifest totally because he’s trapped. Many thousands years ago, he was trapped by witches in an iron cage. His spirit sometimes leaks out, but if he comes in his full power no Human, no Supernatural could get in his way. He’s trying to get out.”

“How?” Jen asked. In the parking lot, she could hear the fire trucks. She knew they would inspect the hall soon. “How is he trying to get out?”

“He needs witches.” Linu said. “There are five locks, like on a pentagram, made from iron. Only thing that can melt wrought iron that’s been magically enhanced is Witches blood.”

“Why this school?” Jen asked. “Why here? Why now?”

“Don’t say anymore Linu!” Damien screamed through the pain. “You say more, he’ll kill us both then bring us back to kill us again.”

Linu looked more panicked. “I can do the exact same thing, Linu.” Jen gripped the sprinkler system. “Just in a different way.”

Linu went to open his mouth but Damien had had enough. “Adramalech!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.

“No!” Linu shouted and Jen was suddenly suffocated by a black smoke.

She held onto the beam of the ceiling and grabbed her throat as black smoke overwhelmed her. She grabbed her pentagram around her neck as she choked and choked on what was a demon.

You think you can stop me? A powerfully ancient voice erupted inside of Jen’s head. Emerald Hunter… You are pathetic.

Jen grabbed her throat and tightened her own fingers around it. She was being controlled and slowly was choking herself.

The black smoke in her vision disappeared and Jen felt someone else inside of her. Something dark, gruesome and horrible. Her actions were no longer her own as she started to fall from the rafters and onto the floor.

Only I have control. Not you.

Damien came into her vision, bloody and battered. He snarled and grabbed the iron chian with bits of his shirt he’d ripped off. “Nighty-night, Emerald.”

Jen was forced to watch as Damien came out her with the iron chain and wrapped it around her neck.

You are a foolish human.

I’m not a human… Jen thought clearly. I’m a Witch.

With that in mind, Jen commanded, Release, focusing her thoughts on the chain around her neck. The chain flew high up into the air and landed on the rafters above. The demon inside of her panicked and she felt him shifting restless inside of her. Turn. The chain flew around the sprinkler and twisted it sharply, causing water to fly out.

Linu and Damien’s screams were nothing compared to her own.

Jen felt the demon inside of her bouncing of the walls of her own body, trying to escape from the pain but he couldn’t. He was trapped. With each splatter of water against her body, she felt blood erupt from her skin. She regained control of her body again, just enough to discard the balaclava so she could breathe properly. Then she grabbed the pentagram around her neck and slammed it against her heart. “God, Allah, Yahweh, Jehovah, Raphael, Michael, Ophelia…” she wheezed. This is not over. The demon growled he started to pour out of her mouth and into the sky above.

It rose far above her head, but then depleted in the rain from the holy water.

Jen felt horribly weak and when she raised her hand up in front of her face, she saw what looked like a rain of bullets and touched her skin. The water still pouring from the ceiling was washing away the blood but did nothing for the pain. She looked to her right and saw Linu and Damien, dead, their eyes wide open, staring as blood pattered down their skin.

Jen pushed herself up off the ground, weak and everything inside of her hurting, and she headed for the back door of the hall, stumbling out and then going to hide under a desk in one of the classrooms. From there she dialled Jeremiah’s number, panting into the phone as she tried regaining her breath.

When Jeremiah picked up, she didn’t feel the need to explain to much. “Jer, come get me… I’m going to need to go to hospital.” She saw red and black blood still rolling down her arm. “Hurry.”

******

Edmund lined up in the school parking lot with the rest of the school. He walked up to his rollcall teacher and told her he was there, then walked off looking for his friend.

“Mysterious!” Tony called out to him and Edmund jogged over.

Zeke kept looking around, “Did someone just pull it?”

“It wasn’t me.” Greg denied it.

Angel scoffed, “Sure. That’s what you told Sophie when you set her blinds on fire.”

“See, I set things on fire. I don’t pull alarms.”

The five of them walked away from the parking lot and towards their usual hang out behind the hall. Water was splattering on the windows of the hall and Zeke frowned. “We were just in there. There was no fire.”

“Maybe the sprinkler just went off.” Tony jumped up onto the seat and then grabbed the bottom of the bars. He kicked his feet onto the brick wall and started climbing up the window bars.

Zeke rolled his eyes and sat down, pulling out a cigarette. “Saint’s going to be disappointed that he missed a fire drill.”

“Oh s**t.” Tony dropped down from the window and stumbled back, falling onto the ground.

“What?” Zeke got up and knelt next to Tony as did Greg and Angel. Edmund was the only one who went over to the window and climbed up to look inside.

Tony reached out and grabbed Zeke’s cigarette and took a long drag. “There are dead bodies in there.”

Zeke looked up and Edmund had already dropped from the window and was running around. Zeke followed quickly after him, followed by Tony, Greg and Angel.

Edmund and Zeke both burst into the hall while Tony, Greg and Angel went to go get teachers. The boys looked into the room and Zeke bolted to the bodies. They were getting soaked by the sprinkler and eventually their clothes were waterlogged.

Zeke tried getting Mrs Tarnette and Stephen Armand from year eight. Zeke only knew Stephen because he always tried hanging out with Saint. “Eddie, come help me out.”

But Edmund didn’t reply. He was walking around the room slowly, looking at things. He looked up to the ceiling and saw a long chain dropping down from the rafters, wrapped around the sprinkler. Edmund looked down below the sprinkler and saw a pool of blood and something black. It was smeared across the floor, heading towards the back door of the hall. Edmund followed the blood trail down and found footprints. He followed them out into the hall where he heard whispered voices. He ignored Zeke’s shouts and walked down the hall and into a classroom.

He heard whimpering and heavy breathing and followed the sound and then looked under the desk. “Jen?” he whispered.

Jen looked up at Edmund and hissed. “Go away.”

“What have you done?” he asked.

She shook her head, “Nothing. Just go.”

“You killed them.”

Jen looked away, “It’s not what you think.”

Edmund then looked her up and down. “You’re cut up.” he knelt next to her. “What happened?”

“It’s really hard to explain.” she said, shivered and looked down at her bloodied skin. “Really, really, really hard.”

Edmund looked out the window of the classroom into the hallway and then at Jen. “They can’t find you like this, can they?”

“My friend is coming.” she told him. “He’s coming now to help me.”

“You didn’t kill them, did you?”

“It’s hard to explain.” She repeated.

The door of the hallway opened up and a fireman came into the hallway. Edmund looked down at Jen. “Give me a second, okay?” Edmund walked over to the door and looked at the Fireman. “Go back. You saw nothing. Keep everyone out of this hallway.”

The fireman nodded and walked back into the hall. Edmund went back to Jen and knelt down next to her. “I can get you out of here.” He lifted her up into his arms and for a second, Jen tried pushing him away. “Calm down.” he said.

Jen sunk into his arms straight away and he walked her out the back way of the hall. “Tell your friend to pick you up from the back gate. No one should be there.” Edmund walked her through the bushes around the oval and towards the back gate as Jen messaged her friend the details.

At the back gate, a black van skidded to a stop. The back door rolled open and a blonde guy bolted out and over to Edmund. An African man jumped out of the front seat and he too ran over to them.

“What the hell Jen?” the blonde guy took Jen off of Edmund and only then noticed him. “Who’s this?”

“Edmund, Chase, Chase, Edmund. And this is Jeremiah.” She pointed to the African man. “But I really need to get some first aid right now, so please save the introductions for later.”

“I’ll stay here.” Edmund said, walking away from them. “But you have to call me later and tell me why I have saved you neck twice today.”

Chase glared at him, “She owes you nothing.”

“I’ve saved her life and reputation a couple of times now.” Edmund glared at Chase. “I think she at least owes me an explanation.”

Jeremiah looked between Chase and Edmund. “We’ll figure it out later. You, kid. Go back inside. Speak a word of this to anyone and I will end your life without a second thought, understood?”

Edmund put his hands up in the air. “Understood.”

Chase put Jen in the back of the van. Jen waved at him weakly. “Thank you.”

“Call me later.” he said.

Chase glared at him once more and wrapped his arms protectively around Jen before kissing her head. Edmund received the message loud and clear that Jen was Chase’s and no one else could go near her.

Edmund turned his back on the van and started walking to school, only listening for it to roll out. He looked back over his shoulder only when he was sure that the van was gone and then looked down at his wet black clothes. I just helped a killer because I think she’s beautiful… Great.

Author's Note

Spelling and that spiel, please? Oh and maybe dialogue if you've got some pointers...