“Grace?” a female voice calls out. “You’re not answering your phone!”
The woman is met with silence, and I flatten my lips as the sound of her footsteps grows closer. Tensing for her to inevitably come upon me and my large black mass of tail, scale, and fang, I brace to frighten this new human away so I may get back to locating mine.
Where is mine?
“Grace, where are you?” the woman calls from right around the corner, out of sight.
My Grace is apparently a wanted human.
Not liking the thought, I narrow my eyes and ready myself to scare the way only a demon can, though my muscles strain to move my tail under me. The mass of my lower appendage slidesalong the wall it’s already upon and goes no further. I crane my neck to look over my shoulder to judge how much space I have, only to discover how utterly ridiculous I look.
“Grace?” the woman calls out, walking past the stairs and deeper into the house. “Grace?” she calls out again.
“Mom! I’m so sorry!” Grace finally responds, her steps quick across the floor after opening a door deeper in the house.
Grace’s mother. So that is who has invaded.
“Oh, thank god, there you are. You were making me scared!”
“My phone got wet and I couldn’t turn it on.”
“That’s terrible. I’m so sorry. I’m sure your dad and I can replace it.”
“It’s fine, but Mom, you didn’t need to come down here. I’m about to finish up. I was planning on stopping over anyway to let you know on my way home.”
“You know I couldn’t leave you to clean up all by yourself. Why didn’t you just call me on the house phone? You’re doing me a big favor. It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t come over and help as soon as I could.”
“Yeah, but you’re paying me for it,” Grace says, laughing. Despite her cheer, it is clear to me that she wants her mother gone. Good for her. So do I. “You know I could always use the money.”
“Speaking of which, how’s that going? You know Dad and I could?—”
“It’s going fine,” Grace interrupts. “Anyways, I’m just waiting for the laundry to finish, so there’s nothing much else to do except make the beds. Sorry you came all the way out here, but everything’s already done.”
“I’m glad the witches didn’t mess up the place too badly. They were kind enough on the phone.”
“They left a book behind and some ritual trash in the master bathroom.”
“Oh… What kind of book?”
“I’m not sure. It had a few pictures in it, but it didn’t look like a witch’s diary, just a book.”
“Hmm. Okay.”
“It’s on the kitchen counter if you want to call them about it. So dinner tonight?” Grace asks, talking fast, and for the first time in the conversation I wonder if she’s going to tell her mother about me. Why wouldn’t she if her mother is a witch too? But as they continue to talk, she continues to pretend as if I am not here. I can only surmise she does not want her mother to find out about me. My annoyance is stemmed only by the fact that I do not want Grace’s mother to find out about me either. I can tell she’s a more seasoned witch than Grace and may send me back to Hell before I intend to go.
Besides, I am not at my best at the moment. I look over my shoulder and snarl at my awkward positioning, trying to make it less awkward by shifting my fins without making too much noise.
“We would always love to have you. I’ll call your dad and let him know. Which reminds me, he wants me to grab his blue suit before I leave.”
“What? Why does he need the suit?”
Footsteps head my way. “A fundraiser at the Dalace’s next weekend. He wants to get it dry cleaned beforehand.”
Another set of footsteps follows quickly after. “I’ll go grab it.”
Realizing I’m about to be discovered, I arch upward and shove my body back up the stairs, cursing vehemently in my mind.
“Nonsense, I need a few things myself too.”
