Free Slawter by Darren Shan

fun. He has no idea of the real reason why he’s here. He thinks Dervish is his father, that he didn’t want to spend a few months parted from his darling son. He doesn’t know about Dervish wanting to make sure Davida doesn’t raise hell, or about Prae Athim’s interest in experimenting on him.
    “I can’t wait to see the demon tomorrow — or it might even be tonight,” Bill-E enthuses once I’ve released him. “Emmet says it depends on how shooting goes today. If they finish that shot on the street in time, they’ll do his scene later. It’ll be coolio!”
    “Hmmm,” I say neutrally.
    “What are you moaning about, Goliath?” Bill-E frowns. Then, studying me carefully, his expression clears. “Oh. I’d forgotten. Your parents and sister . . .” He trails off into silence. Although Bill-E doesn’t know about his lycanthropic genes, or the battle Dervish and I fought with Lord Loss, he knows that demons killed my family.
    “Are you going to be OK with all this?” Bill-E asks awkwardly. Sympathy isn’t something that he does well.
    “Sure,” I grunt.
    “Really?” he presses. “Because they can’t keep us here. I know Dervish signed those contracts saying we’d stay until the end, but
we
didn’t. If you want to leave, there’s nothing they’ll be able to do about it. I’ve watched a lot of courtroom movies. I know what I’m talking about.”
    “No,” I smile. “I’ll be OK. I mean, we’re talking movie demons here — rubber, wire, and paint. How scary can they be?”
    Emmet’s nervous all afternoon, practicing his lines even in class. Davida popped in to see him during lunch and told him they’d definitely be shooting his death scene tonight. The way he’s behaving — pale, shivering, mumbling to himself — I think it might take quite a few attempts to get it right!
    Near the end of class, Emmet’s summoned to the makeup trailer. He won’t be required on-set for a few hours yet, but they want to run some tests. It’s going to be a gory scene — Davida wants blood spurting every which way — so they need to make sure everything’s set up smoothly before they stick him in front of the cameras.
    Salit and Bo return as Emmet’s leaving. “I can’t believe they’re letting you go through with this farce,” Bo says, blocking the doorway. “You’ll choke, Eijit. You know it, I know it, everybody knows it. So why don’t you just —”
    “Leave him alone!” Bill-E shouts. “Meddling cow!”
    “Now, Billy-E, that’s not —” Miss Jaun begins.
    “Shut up, pipsqueak!” Bo defends herself, spitting venom at Bill-E. “If I want advice from a fat geek with a lazy eye, I’ll let you know. Otherwise...”
    I stand up, flexing my muscles, stretching aggressively. “You’re going to apologize,” I tell Bo flatly.
    “Says who?” she retorts, but I’ve unnerved her. It’s not often that I threaten anyone, but when I do, I can make quite an impression.
    I step out from behind my desk and crack my knuckles, staring at Bo levelly. “
Now,
” I say firmly.
    Bo glares at me, then sneers and says mockingly, “I’m so sorry, Billy one-eye. I won’t point the truth out to you again.” Her gaze flicks back at Emmet. “But you’re still going to mess up. Let me know when you do. It’s not too late for Abe to step in and do the job properly.”
    “Ignore her,” Bill-E says, his left eyelid fluttering furiously. “You’ll be great. Davida wouldn’t have picked you if she didn’t believe you could do it.”
    “Thanks,” Emmet says hollowly, then pushes past Bo, visibly upset. Bo smirks and takes her seat.
    “That wasn’t very nice,” Miss Jaun says disapprovingly.
    Bo looks up at our teacher as though just noticing she’s there. “Excuse me?”
    “You shouldn’t —” Miss Jaun begins.
    “What was that?” Bo asks loudly, cutting Miss Jaun off. She tilts her head and pushes her lower lip out with her tongue, daring Miss Jaun to challenge her. For a moment it