The Devil's Tail - The Devil Chronicles Book One - ROUGH DRAFT

Chapter Fifteen

Marty swallowed the tea from the bottle in one large gulp, not leaving a single drop. The bottle fell from her hand, clanging to the floor as she fell back, hiccupping as she swallowed the liquid down her throat, ensuring it made its way into her stomach. She laid for a moment on her bag, the heat escaping her, her arm dangling over her forehead.

After just a moment, she began feeling around her face and stomach. It was gone. She counted her breaths, inhaling slowly. Her vision cleared as she made out the wads of gum stuck to the ceiling.

"I'm okay." She sat up on her bosom and glared at the bottle that rolled under the sink. She rushed out of the bathroom, grabbing the bottle and her bag in hand. Racing through the hallway, her eyes darted across the lockers looking for someone, anyone. She found herself at the side of the school, next to the computer lab, looking through the window.

Computer Club Meeting 3:45 Every Thursday, the printed page said on the outside of the door.

She peered through the window, catching the glimpses of a few other students. One student finally approached and opened the door.

"Oh, sorry. I was just looking for Rosie."

The door next door squeaked open, revealing a short, meek boy. "She's not there. She went home."

Marty turned her attention toward him. "Michael! Have you set your projects yet for the yearbook club?"

He shook his head, gripping his beige messenger bag, moving it in front of him. "I haven't. Passing on the duty to under-classmen. Beside," he pulled out an expensive camera from his bag, twisting on a new lens, "the newspaper is taking up plenty of my time."

She grinned, pulling away from the computer club students before they shut the door on her. "How was your winter break?"

He walked on past her, fiddling with the settings on the touch screen. "Good, good. Yours? You were looking for Rosie Alvarez, right?"

She blinked, pacing her steps slower next to his. "It was okay besides my dog running away. But yeah, Rosie. Are you friends with her?"

Michael exhaled, his lips parting. "I guess so. And I'm sorry about your dog. That's too bad. Weren't you two close? I saw you jog with him every day on Millsberry."

She laced a strand of her hair through her fingers. "Yeah, we were close, but I wasn't a crazy dog lady. My parents wouldn't let me have him to begin with."

He nodded, then proceeded to take a sharp left toward the front of the school. "Rosie left for the day. She had to go take care of her sisters."

"I just saw her like, five minutes ago. She couldn't have just left!"

"Well, she did. This is the time she usually leaves. She stops by the computer club to hand in a template for them to follow, and then she goes to pick up her sisters from the middle school. Besides, they don't exactly whisper in that room. I can hear everything they say, so I tend to leave soon after when the computer nerds get too loud." He zoomed his camera to the ground.

"You wouldn't happen to know what's in her grandma's tea, would you?"

He shot his camera to the ceiling and locked eyes with her. "Why? It didn't make you sick, did it?"

"Have you had it before?"

He shrugged. "I drink it from time to time. She gave me a whole pack of it once. I don't really get sick, so I drink it more leisurely than anything."

"So, is it not for upset stomachs? And like, does it help you?"

He licked his lips and strapped his camera around his neck. "I don't really need the benefits of it, but yeah, it does help for upset stomachs. It's made for that, but also Rosie claims it's a weird cult drink that wards off demons." He chuckled.