Free The Devil's Prey (The Demon Within) by Jessica Stark Page B

give me a lift to back to the house, where I knew I was going to be in so much trouble.
    ‘I will call you later .’ I kissed Mum on the cheek when we arrived at the house. All the lights were still on, but no one had come rushing out yet.
    W hen I got to the door, I opened it, and was surprised when no one greeted me- which I guess was a good thing. When I walked into my room, I saw Amanda and Ethan were sitting on my bed, and the looks on their faces. Oh, shit. I knew now why Lauren hadn’t found me yet. I dropped my bag and crossed my hands over my chest.
    ‘ What is your problem?’ I finally said, glaring at them.
    ‘You tell me ,’ Amanda said. I could tell she was pissed off at me.
    ‘W hy are you so annoyed? What, because I didn’t hang out with you? Because all my attention was on someone else? And Ethan, why are you mad? You didn’t give me a chance to explain. It really shows how much you trust me.’ I stood my ground and tried to keep myself calm, but I was doing a horrible job at it.
    ‘S ince we got to school this morning, you pretended we did not even exist, and when you collapsed in PE, you still did not talk to us. We do worry about you.’ Amanda took a step closer to me, but Ethan stayed silent on my bed.
    ‘Well , I am sorry. Did you ever think that maybe I want to hang out with my old gang of friends? Did you ever think that maybe that is what I need- a little bit of normal? No, you didn’t think. You just assumed, just like my buddy Ethan over here.’ I could hear Ethan mutter something snarky under his breath, but I turned my attention over to Amanda, who was looking at her feet.
    ‘ I am sorry. I didn’t know that’s how you felt.’
    ‘N o, you didn’t. No one seems to know how I feel, because no one asks.' My voice was calmer and I sighed, so Amanda took that as an invitation to come and give me a big hug. I knew that we had sorted our problem out. One down- now all I had to do was get Ethan-the-pig-head to listen to me before he started accusing me again.
    Amanda left to give us time.
    ‘So are you going to listen to me, or just assume the worst?’ I crossed my arms again in a defensive position.
    ‘Fine ,’ he muttered under his breath.
    ‘So you ’re going to be like that? Well, two can play at that game, Ethan.’ I picked up my bag, turned to my desk, and started taking out all my books.
    ‘What are you doing?’ h e grumbled.
    ‘What does it look like I am doing ? I am going to start my homework.’
    ‘What , you didn’t get time to study at your dinner date? Too busy with other activities?’ He raised an eyebrow at me, and I knew what he was implying. It made me so furious that I picked up my paperweight and threw it at his head.
    ‘You arrogant pig- head! I was with my mother, for crying out loud, and I didn’t get time to do my homework because I was too busy catching up with her!’ I yelled at him, and I could hear thunder in the distance. He was rubbing his head where the paperweight had hit him, and I give myself an internal high five.
    ‘I’m sorry . I didn’t know.’ He had his eyes downcast, but I was still mad at him.
    ‘No , you didn’t. You just assumed the worst, like at school. We were just talking, and I felt a little light-headed, so I sat down and he made sure I was fine. And before you ask, I don’t know why he was there in the first place.’
    Ethan let out a sigh of relief. I couldn’t believe him. Did he really not trust me? I was about to push it further, but he spoke up first.
    ‘I am sorry , Summer. I should have just waited and let you explain. I jumped to conclusions, and I am sorry for that. Forgive me.’ He looked up, and I was staring into those amazing green eyes. They made me forget everything we were fighting about.
    ‘O f course I forgive you.’

Chapter 9
    The nightmares were back. The devil trying to kill me, the knife plunging into the depths of my stomach, blood spilling into the ground, leaving my body into the