“Mini demon?” he asks.
“Full-sized more than likely,” I tell him. “Maybe jumbo.”
“We can take a full-sized demon, right?”
The mini bat shakes because my hands are trembling. “Yeah. Totally.”
We can’t.I’m lying.
I’ve only sort of trained with Buffy and all those times she held back to not hurt me. I know how to throw a punch but Idon’t think the demon is going to stand still for me and cheer me on like Buffy did.
“That’s it, Meadow! Don’t put your thumb in your fist, you want to rotate through the hips and follow through. Now swing!”
I glance over at Charlie and see that he looks like he believes me which is really his fault because I’m a terrible liar. The only thing I’ve been able to lie about is my smile and even then I’ve only pulled it off on account of the brainwashing.
I swallow hard and try to think positively about our odds against a demon but no matter how I slice it, it’s not looking good.
I can maybe float? But that was only one time and I was asleep when I did it… Awake, asleep, whatever, I don’t know that I’ll be able to pull it off if a full-sized demon is chasing me. I give myself a mental slap and take another step forward.
“You have to try, Meadow. No matter what, just try,” I coach myself.
We’ve already come so far in this plan, this crazy harebrained plan, that we can’t back down now without even trying. And I can’t leave, not without getting answers. Whatever is in that rock brought me here for a reason.
“I’m going to try something.” I take in a deep breath and start to pull on the magic inside of me. I feel it come awake when I reach for it. It brushes against my fingers and I grab it. I weave it together until I feel the Earth and the trees humming around me. The clearing around me sparks with energy. It rushes forward, washing right over me.
I feel powerful.
“Okay, I-I have my magic, I think I can use it.”
“To do what?” Charlie asks.
“I don’t know! Whatever you conjured a witch up to do. I can blast a demon, I guess.” I test my hold on the magic. “It feelslike I can throw it.” The energy buzzes under my skin, almost overflowing like a too full water cup ready to spill. If I took too much, there’s no turning back now. My hands shake from holding the energy in tight and I have to work to steady my grip on the mini bat.
When I’m ready I nod at Charlie. “I’ll go first. Stay back until I call for you.” I take a shaking step forward and then another, each one feels harder than the last, like I’m walking through molasses. When I’m close enough to the rock fissure I lean close and try to look inside.
I was wrong about it not being a fire. What the hells? I can hear the steady roar of flames burning merrily away in the fissure. A wave of warm air billows out and pushes my hair back. Sweat beads on my brow and I clench my jaw from the effort of stilling my magic. I focus on honing it into something I can use while I peer inside the rock. A weapon. Something deadly like a flaming sword. I look down at the mini bat in my hands. Maybe a full-sized flaming bat? Yeah, that’s good. I raise the bat and crane my neck to look inside as I creep closer but there’s nothing moving, just the crackle and popping of flames. More warm air hits me and it’s a nice contrast to the cold night air.
I clear my throat and inch closer. “Hello?” I try because what else are you supposed to do when there’s fire burning inside of a boulder you’ve been dreaming about and now you’re pretty sure a demon lives in? “I-is anyone there?” No answer comes. A second ticks by and then another. I count to sixty and then do it again.
“Is anyone there? Hello?” I call out once more. I lower my mini bat to touch the boulder. The rock is warm to the touch. Interesting. I trail my fingers over the surface, testing for hidden doors or any hidey-holes that might have a key to get us inside when Charlie hisses at me.
“Psstttt.”
I ignore him and start pressing my palms to the stone in front of me. I knock on the stone and it’s solid through and through. Damn. No hidden doors here then.
“Pssssstttttt.”
“What?” I whisper and start tapping the stone with my bat.
“What do you see?”
I smack the rock with the mini bat. It thunks against it and my palms ache from the vibration of the hit. Magic leaks out of me and goes splat against the rock in a silver shimmer.How embarrassing.
“Nothing. Just fire,” I tell Charlie while I try to frantically mop up the magic with my sleeve.
Charlie huffs. “That makes no sense. There can’t be fire in a rock.”
I nod and start pushing on the rock. “I know. There’s got to be a way in. Maybe around back?” I move back to the fissure and run my fingers along the jagged crack in the rock. It feels normal, but there could be a latch I just haven’t found yet. I kick a rock at the boulder when I don’t find anything. It skitters forward and bounces through the opening before disappearing inside and that’s when an idea hits me.
