Chapter 3

'Laria… Laria… Come to me Laria, I won't bit. We miss you. You belong with us. You belong in Hell!' The face that popped out at me forced me to wake up from my slumber. I was in a cold sweat and panting. Every year, on the anniversary of my escape from hell, Lucifer finds me in my dreams. It is the only time he has enough of a connection to reach me and every year he takes advantage of that. Like clockwork, he never misses a beat.

This year though, it was a bad time. Today was Friday, meaning that the bonfire was tonight. Lucifer won't disappear again until midnight. If he became strong enough he would be able to find out where I am and send his hounds and hordes after me. If they show up at the party tonight, I would be found out and be forced to leave yet once again.

I got ready for school, grabbed my bag and headed out the door and made my way towards my '67 mustang. I headed in the direction of the school and parked in the usually spot that Kali always saved right next to hers.

"Hey." She smiled at me once I got out.

"Hey." I responded and I grabbed my bag from the passenger seat.

"So, are you excited for the party tonight?"

"About that, I don't think I'm going to go."

"What? Why not?" She demanded.

"I'm just not feeling too good today."

"Grams can give you something that would have you feeling as good as new." Kali said. "Come on Laria. You can't leave me all alone. "

I groaned at her attempt. "I really don't think I should go."

"You are allowed to have fun every now and then too, Laria."

"But what if something goes wrong?"

She hit my arm and glared at me. "Quite being such a pessimist. Nothing is going to happen. I'll make sure of it."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

I smiled and pretended that that reassured me, but it was all a lie. Kali is a strong witch and so is her Grams but even with the two of them put together they wouldn't be able to fight off a herd of hell hounds and power hungry demons.

We walked up the front steps of the building and headed towards our lockers. I put all the books I would need for my first few classes in my backpack and shut my locker. I leaned against it while I waited for Kali to gather her books. I looked down the hall and saw Jensen talking to Samantha and all the other cheerleaders and jocks.

"That dude is here one day and he's already Mr. Popular." I said rolling my eyes.

Kali looked over to Jensen who noticed us and waved. Kali waved back while I just stood there. "Maybe he was popular at his old school. Popular people can spot each other a mile away." She shrugged.

"Whatever." I said, "Let's just head to class." I pushed off of the lockers and headed across the hall to our first class of the day: calculus. Taking my seat, I grab my notebook and text book out of my bag and get ready for the day to begin.

"Can I go over to your place after school today?" Kali asked. "We can get ready for the party tonight and even have a pre-party party." She always loved a party. Every time they had one, she was there, whether she was invited or not.

"Yeah, sure." I said with a smile. "I got my speaker set up and everything. They neighbors will freak."

'Quit pretending to be such a good girl. We both know how you really are, and once your little friend finds out, she'll be running for the hills.' Lucifer's voice came to me again, but this time, instead of a face, he left me with a sharp pain in my head.

I shut my eyes at the impact of it, but it did nothing. When I opened my eyes again Jensen was in front of my desk.

"You ok?" He asked. I guess the pain was written all over my face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little headache."

He still had concern in his eyes as if he didn't believe me.

"I'm fine. I promise." I looked over his shoulder. "The rest of your friends are waiting for you."

He didn't even turn around to look at them. "You should take it easy today." That was all he said to me before he walked away, leaving the classroom. I stared at him as he walked away, wondering why he showed up.

"What was that all about?" Kali asked, as if she could read my mind.

"I don't know." I said still staring at the door.

For the rest of the day, my headache remained. Lucifer's voice never came back meaning he was saving his energy for something big. By the time school had ended, the headache had transformed into a migraine.

"You sure you're ok?" Kali asked, as we walked to our cars.

"I just need to get home and take some Tylenol or something." I answered, flinching at the sound of a honking horn somewhere in the parking lot.

We drove to my apartment and parked our vehicles. Once we were inside my apartment, I tossed my keys on the counter and headed for the bathroom to find the Tylenol. I grabbed the bottle only to find it empty. "Damn it." I hissed.

"What is it?" Kali asked from the couch in the living room.

"My headaches only getting worse and I'm out of Tylenol." I answered her as I threw away the empty bottle.

"If it's only a headache, I can fix that for you." Kali said. "Grams taught me this spell a few years back that helps gets rid of headaches and migraines."

I walked into the living room and sat down on the couch next to her. "Alright, give it a shot." I closed my eyes and listened to her begin to chant. I felt a small tingling feeling surround my head and then a few seconds later it was gone, along with my headache. I sighed in relief. "You are a life saver."

"Well we wouldn't want you to have a headache at the party. You wouldn't be able to have any fun." She smirked at me and headed for my room and into the closet. "So, have you decided what you're going to wear yet?"

"Nope." I answered, following her into my room and towards my closet.

"The party starts in a few hours and you haven't even decided what you are going to wear?"

"No, I was just going to grab something and throw it on before we leave." I shrugged and Kali looked like she was about to slap me.

"Are you kidding me? That's it; I'm picking your outfit." She stormed into my closet.

I sighed and laid down on my bed. When she finally emerged from the closet she was holding a red tank top that was a little short and would show my stomach, a pair of denim shorts and my black leather jacket. "This is perfect." She beamed. She tossed the clothes at me. "Now go change. I wanna see how it looks."

I rolled my eyes and headed for the bathroom. I changed into the outfit that she had given me and headed back into the room.

"Hot!" She said when she saw me walk into the room. She looked me over from head to toe and stopped when she saw my stomach. "I didn't know you had scars there."

I looked down at the three scars on the side of my stomach. "I got them when I was thirteen." I stated.

"From what?"

"I don't remember. It was a long time ago." I lied.

Kali looked like she was about to question me but dropped it. "Alright, now help me pick out something." She grabbed her bag and began to pull clothes out by the numbers.