Free Demon Girl (Keeley Thomson Book One) by P.S. Power Page A

you think?”
   Keeley nodded.
   “That seems about right. And the big one really only seemed interested in you. A personal thing?”
   “Exactly. It was a nuisance at the time and I tricked it into the container you saw earlier. The holding limit must have been breached though. It shouldn't have been yet, but materials do wear out over time. As to how I know they aren't demons... well that's easy.” She winked at the other girls playfully and walked to sit by Hally, holding her hand gently.
   “I know they aren't demons, because I am one.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chapter five
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   “Hah!” Keeley said as the others looked on, a bit shocked at the pronouncement.
   “I knew you Jedi mind tricked my mom.” She crossed her arms and tried to glare at the girl.
   Everyone laughed.
   Hally hugged Darla and laughed weakly for a bit, the scene was surreal now, as if it hadn't really happened at all. Eve went and joined them, but Keeley didn't. She just shook her head instead.
   “And who, exactly, makes their own sodas? Definitely a sign of the devil. Yep. Should have known.”
   The odd thing was, even as she played the whole thing off, Keeley realized something strange. It made sense.
   Darla hadn't lied to them at all. Those things weren't demons and she knew that as a simple fact. Because she was one. The other girls just took it as a bad joke which earned her a playful slap to the side of the arm from Hally.
   “That's not funny. I know you're just trying to make us feel better, but what were those things and are we really alright?”
   Keeley looked at Darla who shrugged and looked back at her then smiled and nodded brightly.
   “Well, you know, ergot mold. It must have gotten into the flour. It's like... LSD. We'd been doing the whole Ouija thing earlier and if that got into the tortillas, well, there have been shared delusions and hallucinations reported when it comes into play...”
   That of course, Keeley knew was a lie. Ergot lived on rye and they'd eaten wheat flour. The rest was right, but the others glommed onto the idea as if it was a life preserver and they were drowning on the ocean. Darla didn't even have to do more than nod emphatically a few times.
   “So...” Eve said, sounding worried, but a lot less so now.
   “What do we do?”
   Keeley tilted her head, obviously, if they were worried about mold in the flour there was only one thing to do.
   “We throw out all the flour and scrub the kitchen down with bleach.” She said as if it were real. It really would have worked after all, bleach killed just about everything. Nothing lent credibility to a situation like acting in a realistic fashion.
   Darla nodded, a serious look on her face.
   “Right. We should do that now. Sorry, I know it's not as much fun as playing with ghosts, but it needs to be done. It shouldn't be dangerous at all, but I don't want to be making cookies in two weeks and then have to spend the evening babysitting Santa's elves.”
   That got a tilt of the head from Keeley.
   Because really that sounded like a lot more fun. Little elves capering and making merry? Though two weeks away would be a little early. Push that back to five weeks and it would be about right.
   They worked frantically, going over the whole kitchen space several times, even though it started out cleaner than any space like it had a right to be. Keeley decided that whoever Darla had in to clean normally must be very well paid. That or mind controlled. They even moved all the appliances and cleaned behind and under them carefully, just to make sure there couldn't be anything hiding in some dingy nook or cranny. They didn't find anything, because there was nothing to find, but everyone else seemed to feel better by the end of it. It had given them something to do that sounded like a plan, which left them feeling better.
   “So, that fixes it, right?” Hally