Demon in Town (Book 2)

Chapter 1

“The world is a book and if you do not travel you read only one page”-St. Augustine

Chapter 1

-Karen-

“Why are you so lost?” Jon Carlton, my best friend asked nudging my elbow. “Are you thinking about Nate again?”

Jon was a good liar and I had fallen for his good acting on my birthday. My repeated-birthday actually. He had pretended like he didn’t remember any of the things that had happened to us and I thought it was the side effect of travelling through a time portal because Victor had warned me already.

The thing was, Jon hadn’t forgotten anything.

It happened like this:

 “Karen, are you coming or not?” He tapped his feet.

“No,” I whispered—screamed. “I’m not going to that mansion ever.”

“Hey, calm down.” He said in a worried tone. “Why are you so jumpy tonight? Must be a turning eighteen thing. I ate the whole cake when I turned eighteen. I guess turning eighteen turns you kind of crazy.”

“We can’t go back to that mansion again, Jon,” I said. “Do you understand?”

“Again?” He asked.

“Yes, we just can’t.” I forced every word out of my mouth.

“I know, Karen.” He smiled mysteriously.

Maybe he had his memories and he was joking around. Jon was great at acting.

“What do you know?” I asked.

There was silence. Then he spoke.

“That you’re the biggest scaredy-cat ever to walk this Earth.” He laughed.

I exhaled. He didn’t remember.

“Gotcha! Look at that freaked out face. Oh my god, you’re so scared.” Jon started laughing. “This is totally a camera moment.”

I punched him and glared up at him. He remembered everything. How could I be so stupid to fall for this act?

“I just woke up from my sleep and realised that I was home. I checked my phone, calendar, and even my laptop for the date. It was the same when we had gone to the mansion, your birthday.”

“I thought you forgot,” I said dropping on my bed. “You really got me.”

“I know how good I’m at acting.” He crossed his arms on his chest. “So how are you gonna celebrate your birthday this time. Are you feeling nice about this whole thing? Getting to celebrate your birthday twice on the same day is not usual, you know. You must be pretty excited.”

“Victor said something about the side-effect of the portal travelling.” I murmured. “If it’s not your memory then what is it?”

“What?” Jon asked.

“Nothing,” I breathed.

“Hey, earth to Karen.” He waved his hand on my face. “You look lovesick.”

“I don’t love him.” I made a face.

“But you are thinking about him.” He said. “You’re thinking about Nate, who is your soul mate.”

Yes, he was partially right. I was lost thinking about the two brothers who were standing beside me some days ago. It had been two weeks without Nate or Victor and I felt hollow. If one was sweet, the other was dangerous. And sometimes it was totally the opposite.

You see, Jon and I had found a portal inside the Escoffier mansion some months ago. We had travelled to the other dimension where the supernatural creatures existed. I could name some: vampires, witches, and even werewolves. While Jon was sent back I was captured there during our escape. With time I came to know that it wasn’t so bad there.

Then we began the adventures of fighting, escaping the vampires, and finding out that I am a witch myself. Yeah, I’m said to be the descendent of a powerful witch line created by a witch named Valerie. I came to know this when a vampire attacked Victor Devries.

Now, he sent me back in time. Jon had played a joke on me of not remembering anything but he did. And he still hated Victor. I was back to the boring school life now. I never thought it would become boring.

“I am thinking about no one,” I replied. “I’m just tired.”

“Were you completing the math assignment?” Jon asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Kind of,” No I couldn’t sleep. There were bags under my eyes. I looked like a panda. A very thin panda.

“You were possibly thinking about your wedding with him,” Jon said. “I can tell this from the way he hugged you when you were coming back with me. And what’s that other guy’s name?”

“His name is Victor.” I bit my lower lip.

“The way you two looked at each other,” Jon chuckled. “I could see some sparks flying between you two.”

I looked at him sharply and his blue eyes captured mine. I liked Jon for a very long time. He was always my best friend but I could never tell him what I felt for him. I had a huge crush on him since forever. He was dating some girl and I was silently begging him to notice me. Cliché.

I was sure he didn’t. I knew that well.

“Did you complete the math assignment?” I changed the subject. I didn’t want to think of Victor or Nate Devries anymore. That made me unhappy.

“Nope, I was busy chatting with Maya.” He said shrugging.

 I cringed with jealousy. Maya White was a beautiful blonde in our class. She was on the cheerleading team. There was no reason that Jon wouldn’t like her. He was athletic and took part in most of the sports events held in school.

Our school was filled with clichés. There was a group of cheerleaders, nerds, Goths, and average students. I belonged to the average group.

My friend Beth greeted me at the entrance with a big hug and Jon whistled, parting from us. He and Beth were not on talking terms. They were always fighting like kids and calling names. He waved his hand to me and walked away. I watched him until he disappeared from sight. Maybe I was lovesick.

“I hate Jon,” Beth muttered. “I don’t have any idea how to you even stand him.”

“Come on, Beth he is such a sweetheart,” I said smiling.

“That’s because you have a sick crush on him.” She made a face. “You said he was taking you to Escoffier mansion on your birthday. Like really? That place is said to be cursed.”

Oh, Beth, you don’t know what I’ve gone through.

“He didn’t take me there though,” I said adjusting the strap of my backpack nervously. I was never nervous. What the hell was going on? Where was the witch mode when I needed it?

“You think he likes you too?” Beth asked me.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I never asked him. What do you think?”

“The way he is pushing his tongue down Maya White’s throat tells me that you should better stop liking him.” She was looking behind me. “He is not your type, Karen. You deserve someone you sees you.”

I didn’t want to turn around. I wanted to stop feeling bad but tears filled my eyes. Why couldn’t Jon see me when I was the nearest person to him? Or maybe I used to be the nearest person to him.

“Let’s go to class.” I grabbed Beth’s arm.

“Karen, are you crying?” She looked at me. “There’s one thing you got to keep in mind always. Never cry for a person who doesn’t give a damn to your tears.”

But Jon did care. He just…just didn’t know how to show his concern. I was the one who never told him my feelings. How the hell was he supposed to know that what was going on?

If someone loved me, I would know. I wasn’t that blind.

“I’m not crying,” I said smiling a little. “And by the way, there are plenty more fish in the sea.”

“That’s like my cool Karen.” Beth flashed me a bright smile.

I was only hoping for Jon to see me once. This time I was going to tell him myself. I couldn’t wait anymore. Maybe he liked me too but thought the best friendship was at stake.

I kept my eyes on the English teacher, Mrs. Jackson but I wasn’t exactly listening to what she was teaching us. Just then Jon entered the classroom late as usual.

“Jon Carlton, why are you late?” The teacher thundered. “And before you answer that, I got to tell you that it is the third time you are late for the class. May I know why?”

“I—uh just forgot to bring my English notes and went back home to get them.” He lied. “You know how much I care for my notes. I was studying late at night.”

The teacher looked at him for a while and nodded. That worked.

“Go to your seat.” She said.

Jon lazily walked to the seat which was two seats away from mine and winked at me. I blushed. No matter how many gorgeous vampires I had seen, Jon still made me blush with his small gestures.

My phone buzzed.

She bought that. :)

I smiled and typed back.

Next time she won’t :))

I put my phone on silent and shoved it in my backpack. I didn’t need any interruptions.

“May I come in?” Just then a deep voice asked.

I looked at the owner of this voice. He was tall, dark, and handsome. His black hair was plastered on his forehead due to the sweat. He was muscular and a boy I had never seen around. He was wearing a jacket over black jeans. His skin was tanned like he was always working under the sun.

“Yes, please.”  Mrs. Jackson said.

He held out a paper to her, which she took and ran her eyes on. Then she looked up from the paper.

“This is your new classmate, Xavier Woods.” She said in a sweet voice. “He is a transfer student from Canada.”

“Thank you,” Xavier smiled and his dimples showed.

He took the seat next to mine and I saw his warm dark brown eyes look at my notes. I wished he didn’t notice my doodles. But of course, he did. I knew it because his dimples were showing more than before.

The class ended and I put the notebook in my backpack while Jon chatted with a girl. He was definitely a player that Beth considered him to be but still, he was my best friend.

I got up from my seat.

“Hey, you forgot your pen.” I heard the deep voice say.

I looked down at the sitting Xavier Wood who was smiling. The pen was lying on the desk. I picked it up.

“Thank you,” I said.

“No problem,” He smiled. “What’s your name?”

“My name is Karen Michaels,” I said. “Umm…moving is stressful, right?”

“Not really,” He replied. “I have moved a lot.”

I looked at Jon who was still talking to that girl. The only difference was she was nearer to his seat now. Nearer to him now. I was jealous and out of my mind now. Anger swelled in me.

“I can show you around if you don’t mind,” I said to Xavier.

“Sure, I’ll be very happy.” He stood up. His big figure made me look smaller. “Do you travel too?”

His question was simple but that sent a shiver down my spine. I looked at his handsome face and saw no signs of reorganisation I was looking for. The word travel made me think of only one thing and that was the portals.

“Sometimes I do,” I said. “I’ve gone to many places with my family.”

We walked out of the classroom together. Girls were checking him out and giggling to each other. They were talking about how cute he looked and all. They were talking so loud. I looked at careless a Xavier. He didn’t look fussed.

We walked to the classrooms one by one. I showed him around the gym too.

“And this is the chemistry lab,” I told him at last.

“Looks pretty cool,” He said. “Thank you so much, Karen.”

There was something odd when he took my name. I shook my head. I was beginning to suspect everyone after I had come back. After Lady Adeline had warned me about the danger in this world, I was being paranoid about everything that happened to me.

“Do you think there is a world outside this?”

I turned to Xavier.

“What?”

“I asked do you think we have the same class next.” He smiled.

I looked at him confused. I had heard something else. I was getting mad. First Jon had to kiss that Maya to make me jealous and now my mind was playing games with me. My ears were teaming with my mind.

“What do you have next?” I asked.

“Math,” He shrugged.

“Same,” I said.

We proceeded towards the math class.