Disclaimer: All of the original and familiar characters are property of Meg Cabot and her series The Mediator, but the plot and new faces are property of me.
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Chapter 8
Where the hands are around my neck I feel burning, but the rest of my body is as cold as ice. I want to scream, but as soon as the thought comes into my head, the hands squeeze tighter. I close my eyes so I don't have to see Jesse's horrified face.
Then I hear it. That familiar voice. "Susannah," the demon "Seirios" says, while clutching me closer to him. "I want to give you some advice: try not to toy around with people's emotions. It's bad news, and if you do it again, you'll find yourself transparent. Heed my warning." Once the voice stopped, the hands let go of my neck, and I fell to the floor.
Jesse's arms wrap around me, "Susannah! What happened? What was that? I couldn't see anything, but I felt hot and cold at the same time, just like last night in the Mission. I tried to touch you, but I couldn't get close to you! Susannah! Can you talk?"
I open my eyes, and see Jesse's brown, kind eyes searching mine for an answer. I feel my neck, it's sore, but I feel like I can talk. "It was a demon, Jesse." My voice sounds just a little hoarse. Jesse envelops me in a hug, I just sit there on the floor thinking about what Seirios said to me. He must have been talking about Paul's feelings, but why would he be worried about Paul?
"A what, Susannah?"
"A demon, the same one that held a knife to your throat last night. He is warning me."
"What did he say?" Jesse says while helping me up to my feet.
"He said that I shouldn't toy around with people's emotions, and the next time I do it, I'll be transparent."
"He threatened to kill you?" Jesse asks, a new edge to his voice.
"Yes," I say in a whisper. There's a knock on my door. "Yes?"
"Jesse? Suze?" Doc says from behind the closed door. "Dad says dinners ready."
"Thanks, David," Jesse says while putting an arm around my shoulders. "We'll be down in a minute."
I hear Doc's footsteps fade away down the stairs. I turn to face Jesse in the embrace. Jesse looks down at me, and then he pushes some of my hair out of my eyes, "Do you want to go out to dinner tomorrow night, querida? I think you need to get away."
Suddenly, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. "I would love to, Jesse."
Jesse kisses me lightly on the lips, and we walk downstairs for dinner.
I look around the dinner table, which is loaded with salad, burritos, and chips and salsa. There are two extra place settings. Jesse holds out my chair for me, and then he sits down next to me. Doc looks at me from across the table. "Who else is coming?" He asks me.
I shrug and then drop my napkin into my lap, where Max's head is strategically placed. Mom walks into the dinning room, and sits down at the head of the table. Andy comes in and sits at the other head of the table. Then Dopey saunters in, along with Sleepy and some girl. She looks like a Victoria's Secret model. Thin, big boobs, and blonde hair. She's like a Kelly on steroids.
"Everyone, this is Victoria," Sleepy says and then sits down beside Andy, while Victoria sits in-between Sleepy and Dopey. How appropriate, I think ironically about her name, and then see that Dopey's mouth is malfunctioning. I shake my head. I glance over at Doc, who is also staring at Victoria. Ew! I don't even want to think about Doc like that!
I look over at Jesse, and he is staring at Victoria too! I glare at the side of his face. I feel like I want to smack him. Suddenly all of my other emotions disappear, and I just want to have Victoria face down on the floor dying. She has stolen my guy's stare…oh, this bitch is going down.
DEEP BREATHS…DEEP BREATHS…
I look at Sleepy who looks unperturbed and oblivious at all the attention Victoria is getting. He looks over at me, and raises his eyebrows, to show that yes, he does know. I shake my head and a small laugh escapes me. Everyone's eyes turn to me now.
"Suze," Andy says, "would you like to say the grace?"
"Uhh," I stumble for words, but thankfully Jesse helps me out.
"I'll say it," Jesse says, and Andy nods his head. Taking my hand, Jesse begins, "Gratias ago tibi, dominus."
For a moment, everyone is waiting, and then Jesse says, "Amen." I glance over at him, wondering if he got into Dopey's steroid stash. What kind of drug is Jesse on?"
"Dig in, I guess," Andy says and in an instant, most of the food is gone. Sleepy, Dopey, and Doc, have gone and done it again. "BOYS!" Andy yells.
They look over at their father… "Sorry Dad," they say together, and each place one of their three burritos back. Jesse takes one and places it on my plate, and then he takes another one and places it on his. I begin to eat, well, really just put stuff in my lap, and then have it sucked down by Max, my little doggie vacuum.
"So, Jesse," my mother says while piercing some salad onto her fork. "What did you say in…Spanish, was it?"
"Oh no, it's Latin for 'I give thanks to you, Lord'. Father Domi—" he stops and Mom, Andy, Doc, and Jesse all look at me. Jesse's kind eyes tell me that he's sorry.
I just stare down at my plate. I can't look at their pity filled faces, watching me. It's like they expect me to just burst out in sing-song tears. It's a horrible feeling, having everyone take pity on you.
Jesse leans over and whispers in my ear, "Are you okay? Do you need to leave?"
Even though I would love to leave, I can't leave Jesse all alone to fend for himself with my step-brothers! And especially my mom and Andy. My mother would be telling him all these embarrassing stories, while Andy would be making sure he isn't being anything but stellar to me. Uh, families, they're death.
"I'm fine," I say a little loudly to make it clear to everyone, but no one takes any notice.
It's the story of my life.
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The rest of dinner was a bore, and Jesse left afterwards, and he didn't even kiss me good-bye.
I'm up in my room, lying on my bed, thinking about Paul of all people. Was the demon's warning really about Paul's emotions? I mean, why would the demon care about Paul?
Suddenly I sit up very fast, and all the blood rushes to my head.
"What if Paul is the demon's master's good friend?" I ask my room. I let the question hang there for a minute, while my mind races. "No. Paul is a lot of things, but he is not in touch with the Devil. That would just be beyond weird." I shudder.
I lay back down on my bed and my mind doesn't stop going until past midnight. After turning over all the events in my mind, I take a shower, but even that doesn't stop the flow of thoughts streaming through my head.
And what about Victoria? Is Jesse suddenly losing interest in me? I know I'm not all that attractive (especially compared to Victoria), but we are supposed to be true lovers. I mean, he was supposed to be the person I spent the rest of my life with. What is happening to him?
I finally get into bed and turn off all the lights around midnight. But my mind still doesn't stop. I don't think I finally fall asleep until like two in the morning. And even then I dream about this Jesse/Paul love triangle. Can you say confusion?
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Max, who licks my face at seven, awakes me. I jump out of bed, thinking that I'm late, which I am, and again I just throw on some sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I sling my backpack over my shoulder, and I run down the stairs. On the second landing, I trip, and fall on my face.
I just lie there for a moment, trying to remember why I thought my life was going good for a while. I sat up, slowly, already feeling dizzy. While I was sitting up, Doc was coming down the stairs. He sees me, and then rushes to my side, while pulling out a tissue.
"Here," he says and thrusts the tissue on my nose, and I whine in pain. "You tripped, didn't you?"
I nod my head, and he shakes his. "I think you need to take a day off from school, relax a bit. Maybe hang out with Jesse. He seems to have a relaxing effect on you."
"You know, David, you are a really observant kid."
David blushes, and I take the tissue away from my nose. I glance down and I see blood, and then I pass out.