The Demon Conspiracy (19 page)

“This is chemistry, Jon. Here’s the
book.”

Jon nodded. “I saw one like it in my locker.
What do I do with it?”

“You bring it to class. Or take it home to
study if we have homework, or a test.”

Parrish found a spare notebook in the prep
room and gave it to Jon, then proceeded to give notes for the
chapter. Jon took notes like everyone else, but he seemed
distracted. When the school day was over, word had gotten around
that Jon was much different than he used to be. Brandon gave up
trying to defend him. Instead he told everyone Jon had gotten a
head injury and left it at that. The last bell finally rang and
everyone left.

“Where’s your car?” asked Brandon, loading
up his backpack.

“My car?” said Jon.

“Your Mustang, man. Did you drive
today?”

“No. Angie brought me. I forgot how to
drive.”

“You forgot?” Brandon scratched his head.
“Do you need a ride home?”

“Angie told me to wait here with Dr.
Parrish.”

“Okay, that’s cool. So do you want to get
together tonight? We could go by Maria’s and try to help you
remember who she is. She’s pretty pissed at you, man, but don’t
worry, she loves you. She’ll come around when you get it back
together. Right now, though, you’re freaking her out. You’re
freaking us all out.”

“I don’t have time to get it back together.
I have much work to do….”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, you’re in a hurry.
Look, man, I gotta go. Don’t forget to study for the history test
tomorrow.”

“Test? Study?”

Brandon looked at his friend, disbelieving.
If this was how Alzheimer’s patients were, then he had a whole new
respect for their caregivers. “If you don’t study you won’t keep up
your grades. Do you know what grades are?”

“Grades?” Jon nodded slightly. “Yes, I know
what grades are now. What kind of grades do I get?”

“I don’t know, you just started school here
last month. But you got a C on a homework assignment in chemistry.
And in history you got a couple A’s. That’s probably your best
subject. You should try to get at least a B in everything.”

“Okay, I will get Bs. Then I can work hard
and fast.” Jon walked away from Brandon without another word.
Brandon felt bad for Jon. That boy was all messed up.

14

MAGIC

KELLY

We got a surprise when Angie picked us up
from school that afternoon. She’d spent a good part of her day at a
store picking out cell phones for the three of us. Travis got a
bright yellow phone that was hardly bigger than a credit card. I
got a pink one. Jon’s was red.

I couldn’t believe it. All my friends had
phones and I always felt dumb when one of them asked for my cell
number. It was kind of hard to explain that I lived with foster
parents who really didn’t have the money for something like that.
Well not anymore! I hugged Angie around the neck and thanked her
big time.

“You’re certainly welcome,” she said. “I
think it’s important that each of you has a way to call home.”

Travis gawked at his phone. “Where do I put
it?”

“Put it in your backpack,” said Angie.

“Or your pocket.” I demonstrated by stuffing
my phone into my blue jeans pocket.

“But I dunno anybody’s number.”

“You will,” said Angie. “Why don’t you get
Mathew’s number tomorrow in school? You’re going to spend the night
with him next weekend, right?”

Travis nodded. “Yeah! Thanks, Angie!”

“You’re certainly welcome.”

“Angie?” I asked. “Are you sure we can
afford these? You know how Chris worries about money all the
time.”

“Chris worries about everything, at least he
used to. I went to the basement this morning to ask him about the
phones before I ever went to the store. You know what he did? He
grunted at me, like I was aggravating him, or something. I took his
grunt as a yes and got the phones anyway.”

“Can I call Melissa?” I asked eagerly.

“It’s your phone,” said Angie. “But try not
to use too many minutes.”

By the time we got to the high school the
buses were long gone and most of the students had cleared out. A
guidance counselor gave us directions to Dr. Parrish’s room, where
we found Parrish at his desk working at the computer. He got up and
smiled when he saw us.

“Hey, kids. Hey, Angie. Jon said you were
coming. What can I do for you?”

“I was hoping you might have some things we
could borrow for a while,” said Angie. “Chris needs them for his
project and I didn’t know where else to get them. Here’s his list.”
She gave the list to Parrish.

Parrish scanned the list and nodded. “I’ve
got everything but the groceries. And there’s no rush to return it,
just bring it all in by June. Here, let me get it for you.” Parrish
went off and found a box, which he began to load up with test tubes
and beakers. Travis and I followed him.

That’s when Travis noticed Jon in the back
of the room, sitting alone at a table. He nudged me and pointed.
Jon either didn’t see us, or he didn’t care that we were there. He
sat utterly motionless with one hand in front of him, palm up. He
stared at his hand as if he were in deep concentration. I didn’t
know what he was trying to do, but I was impressed that anybody
could be completely still for so long.

Suddenly, a light green tennis ball appeared
in his hand. He hadn’t moved a muscle, so there was no
slight-of-hand trickery. It just appeared.

“Wow!” said Travis. “Do it again!”

“Is that a real ball?” I asked.

Jon bounced the ball on the floor to show it
was real. He placed it back in his hand the same way.

“Watch,” he said softly. He stared at the
ball hard.

I only had a vague idea
what was coming next, so I counted off the seconds in my head. As
soon as I hit three, the ball vanished. I blinked. That was no
ordinary trick. Once again Jon had never moved at all. Maybe
he
was
going to
be the greatest magician in the world. Could a head injury cause
such a huge change in someone? Maybe he wasn’t possessed. Maybe
he’d just gotten his brain wires crossed.

I looked back and saw Parrish gawking at Jon
as if his whole way of scientific thinking had just been crushed.
The big man gave us a look of troubled amazement, then wrapped more
glassware in newspapers and loaded them in the box. I changed the
subject away from magic and tennis balls.

“So, Dr. Parrish, you said you’re a
microbiologist. What exactly do you study?”

“I’ve developed a faster method of
classifying or identifying spores of all kinds.”

“What’s a spore?” asked Travis, giving up on
Jon. He sat on the counter and dangled his legs.

“It’s kind of like a seed, usually much
smaller. Lots of organisms use spores as a way to reproduce, like
some plants, most fungi, and even bacteria.” He put several beakers
and a graduated cylinder into the box. “Angie, I’ve got an
electronic scale that Chris might want instead of what he’s got
listed here. Would that be okay?”

Angie answered. “It’s okay with me. I don’t
even know what he’s using it for.”

Parrish nodded and set the electronic scale
in the box. “Kelly, how’d you like me to teach you a few things
about chess before your big tournament?”

“Really? That’d be cool!”

“Yeah!” said Travis. “Can I watch?”

Angie shook her head. “I can’t stick around
while you guys play chess. I want to get this stuff to Chris right
away so he can get this product thing out of his system. If he
doesn’t do it soon I might go crazy. You can play chess another
time.”

“Angie, you can go if you want,” said
Parrish. “I’ll bring them home. Besides, I need to stop by the old
place and make a list of materials I’ll need. I’ve decided it’s
time to finish the house.”

“Really?” said Angie. “That’s great, Mark! I
know Chris will be excited to hear we’ll be neighbors after
all.”

“Well, I’m not sure I want to live there.
It’s a lot of house for one person. I’ll probably just sell
it.”

Angie’s excitement faded. “That’s too bad.
Chris and I were hoping you’d move in. But it’s good you’re going
to finish it.”

“What house?” asked Travis. “Is it big?”

“The house next door to you,” said
Parrish.

“Yuck! That place is a mess!”

“You own that?” I was surprised by that bit
of information.

Parrish laughed. “Yes and yes. It’s not so
bad on the inside, though I haven’t worked on it for a couple
years. But I’m psyched now. I’m getting restarted bright and early
a week from Saturday.”

“You’ll miss the chess tournament,” I said,
half hoping he might come and support me.

“That’s true,” he acknowledged without any
hint that he wanted to go. I was a little disappointed until I
scanned his thoughts. Though he’d saved me from the demons in the
cave, he still wasn’t comfortable hanging out with kids he hardly
knew. “Maybe I can help you. Angie, how about if I bring Kelly and
Travis home right after I teach her a few things about the game.”
He winked at me and reached into a cabinet to get a chessboard and
a box full of chess pieces. He placed them on the table and I set
up the pieces.

I tried to wink back, but of course, I
blinked instead. “Sounds like a challenge,” I said with a grin.

“Are you sure, Mark?” Angie looked at
Parrish, who nodded. “Thanks, so much. And thanks for this stuff.
Let’s go, Jon.”

Jon got excited. “We’re going home? Good! I
can practice magic!”

“That’s all you’ve been doing since school
ended,” said Parrish. “How do you make that ball disappear,
anyway?”

Jon smiled devilishly. “I can’t tell you.
It’s magic.” Angie gave Jon the box of materials to carry and took
out the red cell phone as they left the room. I heard them talking
in the hall.

“I got you a cell phone, Jon,” she said. “Do
you like the color?”

“I like the color,” said Jon. “What is a
cell phone?”

Angie stopped in her tracks and gawked at
him. “I can’t believe a teenager doesn’t know what a cell phone is.
You must have hit your head pretty hard. Speaking of, I got you two
doctors appointments tomorrow. You’ve got a physical in the morning
so you’ll have to fast tonight. And you’ll see a psychiatrist
later. Maybe they can help you get some of your memory back. You’ll
have to miss school.” They went on down the hall.

Travis climbed onto a stool to get a good
view of the chess match as we sat down to play.

“You go first,” I said.

“Thanks,” said Parrish, moving one of the
pawns.

I moved my knight to see how he’d react, and
sat back in my chair. I watched Parrish carefully while he thought
about his next move. After he made it, I smiled slightly.

What do you think?
asked Travis inside my mind.
Can you beat him?

My response didn’t
surprise him.
This’ll be a
quickie
.

ANGIE

The next day Angie took Jon to the doctor
for a complete physical examination. Apparently his vitals were all
humanly normal, which was a good sign. The doctor even took X-rays
of his head, but she found nothing to explain why he had lost so
much memory and why he now spoke with a British accent. She
thoroughly searched his scalp, almost like she was picking for
lice, and didn’t find a single bump or scratch. She finally
declared that the stress and fear of being trapped in the cave
could have been a contributing factor. Jon was still young, and
though he seemed tough on the outside the prolonged worry may have
been a little more than he could handle.

She also said the amnesia and the possible
personality disorder should be looked at by a mental health
professional.

“We’re seeing Dr. Sanderlyn at one,” said
Angie.

The doctor nodded enthusiastically. “Dr.
Sanderlyn is the best! You’ll like him.” She sent Jon off with a
note to stay out of school for the rest of the week.

When Angie got him back home, Jon rushed
upstairs, wild-eyed. “Now I can practice magic!”

“Hold on, Jon!” she said, aggravated by his
newfound obsession. “The doctor said you should rest in bed and
that’s exactly what you’re going to do. Don’t even think about
practicing magic until you’ve rested.”

“How long do I have to rest?”

“At least until I get back. I need to run
some errands. Remember we’re seeing the psychiatrist at one.”

Jon nodded obediently and
went straight to bed. Angie was surprised and a little suspicious.
What? No argument about going to bed in the middle of the day? She
decided to check up on him before she left, but once again she was
impressed. He appeared to be fast asleep. The doctor was right.
He
did
need
rest.

15

SATAN’S SIDEKICKS

TRAVIS

By five o’clock that
afternoon Travis Bishop was going crazy. Not crazy like Denny
Martinez at the children’s home. Nobody was
that
crazy. Denny and Travis had
been roommates at the home and Denny would wake up in the middle of
the night screaming about monsters that were hiding in dark corners
or in the closet. They’d turn on the lights and he’d still see them
in the shadows, though nobody else saw anything. It scared Travis
to think about it. No, Denny was
insane
crazy. In fact, he’d been
placed in a crazy house two years ago, a hospital called Sunnyside
Mental Health Clinic. Sunnyside was Denny’s home now.