Exorcize This, Julie Steimle [best books to read in life txt] 📗

killed. But they were still people. And I had killed them.

Grief swelled within me. I could hardly move for several minutes. That is, until the realization that I had to get home and reassure my mother that I was ok struck me hard.

Popping out wings, I broke into the air and flew home as fast as I could.

I went through the ceiling and dropped straight down into my parents’ bedroom. Sure enough, Dad was with Mom, holding her and rocking her as she sobbed.

I materialized so they could see me.

Both of them jumped—first in shock, then up to hug me.

“Where have you been all night?” my mother wept.

“Don’t do that every again!” my father sobbed. “You’re grounded, young lady.”

Hugging them back, I also cried. I could not help it. They were ok.

Then my father ran his fingers over my torn clothes. “What happened to you?”

I shrugged, then winced.

The knife wound. It was still there. I wasn’t the Wolverine after all. It didn’t insta-heal.

I showed them the knife wound then explained what had happened. And as I talked, I realized it was not the only wound I had. I had bites all over me. Scratches too. And bruises. But I was alive, I reassured them. Not dead.

My parents decided to take me to the hospital.

Dawn went with us.

*

I can honestly say I hate the smell of hospitals. Hospitals have a weird stink—like a mixture of bleach, medicine, vomit, iodine, and a whole slew of other stinks. And the imp chatter in there, unpleasant. Half the people in there were addicts wanting something or other (including the nurses and doctors). A handful of nurses were thieves, stealing from the patients’ purses. A couple of the doctors were perverts. One was an out and out drunk. I endured my treatment with what I considered to be borderline angelic patience and the other half manic desire to flee that second.

My parents were more patient.

They also sent Dawn off to school after we arrived, saying she did not need to be there. I begged them to let Dawn stay with me, but they didn’t. Dawn shot me an appreciative look when she left.

But the real reason I hated the hospital was the ominous presence I felt there coming one wing. Since the night before, I had become hyper aware of that feeling, now recognizing it for what it was. Death.

I had felt that same feeling when I had killed all those vampires. I had not seen the death angels that had been there, but I could feel them. While I was getting bandaged up for the vampire bites, I realized the death angels had been watching inside the trees when I had been overwhelmed with anger. They had encircled me as I destroyed those who were trying to destroy me. And I could barely see one hiding around the corner in the hospital, watching me while trying to conceal itself from me.  

No one else noticed it.

This one was not a biker. It looked a bit like an old lady, only with wings. Her wings were like that of a pigeon and hardly bigger than those toy fairy wings kids wear on Halloween. I could see the old lady if I did not look directly at her. Apparently she seemed to think I could not see her when I did that. She peeked out more, checking me out.

Her face looked battered and a little scarred. Maybe she was one of the nice ones, though she held a small short handled sickle in her hand.

“There you go,” the doctor said to me once he was done dressing the last wound. “For optimal healing, you should get bed rest.” Yet his eyes asked if I really had taken on the mountain vampires. He wanted to know.

Someone barged into our room just then. It was Officer Sheehan. He stared at me then said to my parents, “Uh, can I speak with your daughter for a moment?”

My father asked, “What is this about?”

Officer Sheehan anxiously wet his mouth and said, “Melissa Pickles is my niece. Your daughter saved her life yesterday.”

My mother and father looked to me, confused. I had not said a word about Melissa’s attempted suicide.

Turning to me, Officer Sheehan said, “Thank you. We had no idea. We knew she was upset, but we had no idea she would try to do something like that.

I nodded, not sure what to say.

“How did you know?” he asked me.

I blushed, peeking to my parents. They still were confused. I said, “I can overhear temptations people have. Melissa’s been troubled for a while, but I didn’t think she would….” I didn’t want to finish that statement.

He stuck out his hand for me to shake. “Thank you. From both me and my sister.”

This was a first. So few dared touch me, let alone want to shake my hand.

And carefully, I gripped his hand and shook it. “You’re welcome. I would just hope people would do the same for me.”

Officer Sheehan blushed and nodded. He then looked to my father and said, “You have the infinite gratitude of my family. And uh… I think have to get a root canal. Is it possible to schedule an appointment for this week?”

 My father nodded, squaring his shoulders. “Of course.”

Later, as we were about to leave, Mr. McDonald came up to us and said, “Before you go, I just want to let you know that the hiker you saved is doing ok. He has similar wounds to yours, though they are not quite healing like yours are. Do you know anything about that?”

My mind went over it, and I glanced at my arms. Vampire bites. I didn’t know much about that, but Rick did. I was sure he had a friend who was an expert on vampires or vampire bites. I looked to my dad. “Do you have one of Mr. Deacon’s business cards?”

My father nodded, feeling over his pockets for his wallet. “Yes. Why?”

I raised my eyebrows at him. Did he really have to ask? But I said to Mr. McDonald, “We have a friend who knows about stuff like this, more than me. You might also want to consult with Mr. McDillan. He might know of a good way to handle it.”

Holding out the one card Mr. Deacon had given us, my father said, “Let’s make you a photocopy of this. I want to keep this card.”

“By the way,” I said to my parents as we went back to the car, “Rick emailed me and invited us to spend Christmas at his Vermont ski lodge. He said he has to still negotiate with his dad, but…”

“We’ll see about it.” My mother patted me on shoulder.

Recovery

We went home after the hospital. And I did not go back to school for the three remaining days of the week. This gave me also two more days of recovery besides, as I spent most of Saturday in bed playing videogames and cards with Dawn while eating ice cream. She even ditched the Halloween party she had planned with her two jerk friends to stay home with me (Next Tuesday was Halloween. But everyone was having a party either Friday or Saturday). Jane visited me each day, collecting my homework for me while helping me do it. And though I went to church on Sunday with my parents and Dawn, I slept through most of the sermon.

Pastor MacDougal shot me a dirty look when we left. He said to my mother, “So… I hear you quit listening to those Mormons. Good for you. They were leading you down the wrong path Mrs. McAllister.

My father raised his eyebrows as this was the first he had heard of it.

Dawn budged up to me and tried to tug me along to the sidewalk, promising we could sneak some chocolate cream pie out of the freezer when Mom and Dad weren’t looking if we hurried home. We always walked to church so Dawn and I were able to go on ahead without them if we wanted.

But I wanted to overhear what Mom had to say because her imps had a few choice words for him, and I wanted to know if she was going to use them.

Yet she merely said, “How nice of you to be concerned for my well-being Pastor. If only you were this concerned about every one of your parishioners.”

And she walked off.

I knew she meant me when she said that. I felt all warm and fuzzy inside. That pastor needed to be told off—even if he had figured out I was a demon. That was no excuse for being a jerk.

When Monday came, I returned to school. During the first hour, Brigitte stared at me as I went through my flag routine with Dawn, probably searching for where my wings had gone. And in the second hour Sarah asked what happened to me, looking at all my bandages. I changed the subject and asked what she had done with the cardboard boxes and bones.

She cringed. “After you came with hiker and told us to get indoors, we just left the boxes.”

Remembering now, I nodded. “That was smart. That was the right thing to do.”

“You saved his life, by the way,” Sarah added. Peering at me as if I were a wonder.

I nodded again, knowing I did. Her father had said as much.

The she said, “That’s what you really are, aren’t you?”

Stunned, I blinked at her.

“You’re actually an angel,” she said. “Jane always says so.”

Then she walked to her desk, as class was about to start.

I was stunned. And flattered. It was nice to know that was what my best friend said about me behind my back.

And Deidre was still there. I had expected her to leave once the ghosts were gone, but she was still there. She watched me carefully from her usual seat across the room, but did not approach me at all that class hour. Only when it was over did she come up to me.

“Is your ghost problem gone?” I asked, just to make sure.

Shrugging, she said, “Were still sorting out the bones. Most have gone but uh… I think the problem is a little more complicated than I had previously thought.”

I close my eyes, moaning. “I am not going into those mountains again.”

Deidre vigorously shook her head at me. “I’m not asking that. You did your part. I’m just giving you an update. It is only fair.”

Fair. Wow. That was nice. Someone wanted to be fair to me. I decided to take it.

“Ok…” I then glanced at her imps who were just as sulky as ever. “So, what’s your problem with the ghosts now?”

Sighing, Deidre said, “I don’t know. Most of the ghosts fled as soon as you got rid of all those vampires and dumped those bones in the park—which, by the way, was such a prank. My father was furious, but I laughed my head off, and so did some of the ghosts. Some of those bones were shaped into curse words. How did you have time for that?”

I blinked at her. “I didn’t do it. The imps did.”

She stared back.

Huffing, I heaved my achy body out of my chair and urged her to walk with me into the halls. We had to get to our