I opened the door to Katy's Family Restaurant, where a crowd of people was mulling about. Most were people who had been eating at the restaurant before the incident, but there were also police, and even reporters with cameras and notepads. A feeling of anger overcame me; it was so disgusting how they were here just for the story, not because they actually cared. It had been five minutes since Carey called me - where was the ambulance? And where was Carey? I looked around for him, when I noticed a girl with chin-length blond hair running toward me. She was probably a year or two older than I was.
"Are you Fi?" she asked, a little breathless.
"Yes," I said slowly. "Who are you?"
"Jennifer," she replied. "I'm Carey's... friend." I was a little surprised, eyeing her light sweater and blue jeans. She seemed so... plain. Well, I mean, normal. I had this whole image of her built up in my imagination of a bimbo cheerleader supermodel-wannabe with long, bleached blond hair, too much makeup, and too little clothing. "You can call me Jenny," she added, with a friendly smile. Taking my hand, she said, "Come on, let's go find Carey."
She led me to their booth, sliding in the seat across from Carey. I sat next to him, and he immediately pulled me close to him, wrapping his arm around me and holding me tight. It was just what I needed. No longer able to hide my sadness, I sobbed into his chest.
"It's okay," he murmured, rubbing my back gently. "Everything will be all right." But he didn't sound too sure.
A few minutes passed, and I managed to regain some control. I sat up, and saw that Jenny's eyes were full of sympathy. Carey's eyes were full of redness, and I'm sure mine were as well. "Who would do this?" I asked quietly. "Who would shoot my mom?"
"We don't know," Jenny said softly.
"Nobody saw," Carey added. "It happened so quickly."
"I saw," a voice said suddenly. We all turned to look at the tall, middle-aged man standing near our table. He found his way out of the crowd and walked closer to us. "Sorry, I couldn't help overhearing your conversation. She's your mother?"
I nodded. "You saw the person who shot her?"
"Yeah," he said. "I saw him walk out of the men's room over there," - he gestured towards it - "take out a gun, and shoot your mother. I was sitting at that table right by the door, so I know what I saw next." He shook his head in disbelief. "He just disappeared. Vanished, right before my eyes, before the bullet even made impact."
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Carey and Jenny give each other looks, but I wasn't about to give up on this man just yet. He might be the only person who had any information. "What did he look like?" I asked.
"Well, he had dark brown hair, and he looked about twenty or so. I couldn't see his eye color because he was wearing these dark sunglasses... and oh, there was another thing, too. A scar - right on the side of his face."
Chapter Five
My head was throbbing with a sudden headache. It was all too much. I could hear the siren of the ambulance outside, letting out its shrill shriek. The noise of the crowd was growing louder, and I leaned on the table to rest my pounding head. And then, everything went silent - and black.
"Fi?" It was Carey, and I slowly opened one eye, then the other. We were in a small, dark room - but it wasn't really a room. It was like the back of a truck, but it wasn't on the road.
"Where are we?" I mumbled.
"We're in the ambulance," Carey replied. "We just arrived at the hospital, and your mom was taken inside on a stretcher. They're coming back to get you... but I guess you're okay now."
"What happened?" I asked weakly.
"You fainted, a little after that man told us what he saw."
I groaned, remembering the headache. And then I remembered what the man had said. "Carey, there's something I have to tell you."
"Well, let's get out of here first," Carey responded, stepping out of the ambulance and onto the hospital parking lot. "Are you able to walk?"
"Of course I'm able to..." I trailed off as I stumbled onto the pavement, falling into Carey's arms. "...walk," I finished, a wave of dizziness hitting me.
"No, you're not," he insisted, scooping me into his arms and carrying me all the way to the waiting room. He set me down into a chair carefully, and then approached a lady behind a large desk.
"I'm here with Molly Phillips' daughter, Fiona," he said. "Can we see her?"
The lady peered at him over her reading glasses, and shook her head. "Not yet, son. Mrs. Phillips is in the emergency room right now. But if you wait right in those chairs over there, I'll have the doctor come out and tell you when she can have visitors."
Carey walked back over to me, his shoulders slumped down. He sat in the chair next to mine and took my hand in his. "What did you want to tell me?"
That I love you, I answered silently. "I know who shot her," I said.
"You do?" Carey asked. "You know who the man described?"
"It was Rob," I said, feeling the headache on the verge of returning.
"Are you sure?" Carey was the only person who I had told about Rob - I told him everything. I remembered how he had been there for me that night, holding me, letting me cry into his shoulder - just like now.
I nodded.
Just then a doctor came bursting into the room, and we looked at him with wide eyes. Either he was going to tell us that we could visit Mom now... or something much worse.
Carey squeezed my hand more tightly as the doctor walked towards us, his expression grim. "I'm so sorry."
Chapter Six
I closed my eyes, wanting to be enveloped into the darkness. It welcomed me. I was alone here, but then again, I would be alone wherever I went. I didn't want to return to reality - the truth was too hard to bear. The truth was that I had lost my entire family, the man I loved didn't love me back, and a demon that I thought I was rid of was coming back to destroy my life.
"Do you think we should wake her up?"
I recognized Ned's gruff voice immediately, and sat up straight. Why was I in a bed? I looked around the room and realized that it was the guestroom of the Bells' house. Ned and Irene were standing in the doorway.
"Good morning," Irene said. "Do you want some breakfast?"
I wasn't hungry, but I nodded anyway. How was it morning already? Why was I here?
Irene left the room and Ned came over and sat at the foot of the bed. "We decided it would be best if you'd stay with us for a while," he explained. "You can go with Carey later this afternoon to get your clothes and whatever else you'll need." He took a deep breath. "The wake is tomorrow."
I nodded again, unable to make eye contact with him. Instead I gazed out the window. Why the hell was it so sunny? I didn't feel like crying anymore. I didn't even feel like speaking, to sort out my emotions. It wouldn't help anyway. I just wanted to slide back into the darkness and let it take over.
I couldn't avoid it forever, though. After Carey and I brought my belongings back to the house, he had to leave for another date with Jenny. He had been so nice to be over the past couple days, comforting me, keeping me company, understanding me. He knew exactly when I was ready to talk and when to just leave me alone. He knew everything. So how could he be so oblivious to the fact that I was completely in love with him?
And Rob. My head hurt at the thought of him, but I had to face it: he was back. Killing my mother had been no accident. But why was he doing this to me? Who would be next? And how could I stop him?
I turned on my laptop, hoping that maybe the Internet could give me some answers. Was it possible to kill a demon? And how?
After much searching, something on a website caught my eye: It is nearly impossible to kill a demon, but it has been done before. The actual process is still unclear, but may involve a supernatural force and strong love.
That's helpful, I thought sarcastically. "Unclear" couldn't be more accurate. And sadly, that was the best information I could find from all the different websites I went to. I was about to sign off, when I decided to check my email.
I quickly skimmed over the "From" addresses when I saw the word, unknown. There were two emails from that person, and I opened the first one quickly.
Demons come from every side... the first one read. My heart was pounding - I knew who "unknown" was. The second email read, Meet me tonight at midnight. In your front yard.