Page 104 of Black Hollow: Awakening

The girl looked over at him, surprised, then smiled broadly.

“Hey, Will. Have fun!” she called out, then wrapped her arms more tightly around John.

“Can you tear yourself away from him for one fucking second?” Will grumbled.

“Hey, dude, what’s your problem?” John snapped, indignant.

“Okay, quick break,” Norma decided, then dragged Will into the kitchen. “What is it?”

“I thought we were going to talk,” Will said, his voice full of disappointment.

“We are talking.”

“I meant about the demon.”

Norma let out an impatient sigh.

“I’ve already told you everything I know, Will. Demons can be… obsessive. This one has apparently developed an obsession with you. I have no idea why, so don’t ask, but it’s a good thing.”

“A good thing? What’s so good about it?”

“The fact that it will allow us to catch it.”

“You haven’t managed to do that so far.”

Norma let out a snort of disbelief and, planting her hands on her hips, announced, “Well, neither have you. You’re the only one who’s seen it, so you could have reacted somehow.”

“How?” Will snarled. “You know perfectly well I can’t control my powers! And what’s that supposed to mean, huh? You think I’m making it up?”

“No, I think that instead of having fun at my awesome party, you’re throwing a tantrum,” she replied, irritated. Will stared at her, outraged. He hadn’t expected to be treated like this. “It’s just a demon that’s doing nothing but staring at you, so what’s with all the drama? We’ll get it sooner or later, and besides, knowing demons, it’ll get bored soon. If it was going to attack you, it probably would have done so by now, don’t you think?”

Will was furious. He had no desire to talk to her any longer, so he left the kitchen and headed for the exit, grabbing a can of beer on his way. Leaving the house, Will stood by the gate, opened the beer, and took a few solid gulps. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to control his emotions, then pulled out his phone and dialed Oscar’s number.

“Hey. What’s up?”

“I’m at Norma’s.”

“I know.”

“And so is half the school, so…” He trailed off, taking a deep breath. If he’d known it would be like this, he would have made plans with Oscar. He still hoped to. “Maybe you want to hang out?”

“I’d love to, but my mom’s out, so I have to take care of my brother.”

“Oh. Maybe I could come over then? I’ll keep you company.”

“Thanks, but you don’t have to. We’re just gonna watch cartoons for a bit longer, then go to bed. You’d just be bored.”

“Right. In that case, see you tomorrow.”

“See you. Have fun.”

Will wasn’t going to. To be honest, he was so mad at Norma that he swore to himself he would never set foot in her house again. He knew he’d probably get over it by tomorrow, but for now, he was truly fed up with everyone and everything.

He took another gulp of beer.

“You shouldn’t be drinking here.”

He looked up and saw Liam walking toward him, smiling slightly at the memory of a similar conversation. Will had nothing better to do anyway.