"So, did you kiss Shantel yet?" asked Luke.
"I can't kiss her at Delilah's," said Troy.
"Why not?" asked Luke.
"She's kind 'a nerved up there."
"Go to her house."
"I don't like going there," said Troy, taking a sip of orange juice.
"You don't want to deal with Ryan there?"
"Not really."
Ryan stared at Mr. Ross anxiously.
---
A white SUV drove into the parking lot.
"My dad's here," said Luke. "Are you ready?"
Ryan ducked down and Mr. Ross played a game on his smartphone. Luke and Troy glanced around the restaurant and left.
"Don't worry, Rye," he said. "They don't know me. They didn't see you."
"Shantel didn't say she went to Delilah's," said Ryan. "What's up with her and Troy?"
"Girls like to have a buddy and a boyfriend," he said. "What do you care?"
"I shouldn't," said Ryan. "But I thought I was the boyfriend."
"You are. Did you see Troy and his dad there stuffing their faces at a free, Thanksgiving meal?"
"No."
"Let it be. You survived a death drop and you're not even at Wee Wee World."
---
Ryan removed the sling in the bathroom at home carefully. He took a shower slowly, washing white dust out of his hair. Then he dried off.
The strange man with crazy eyes appeared behind him in the mirror and he ran in his room.
He typed "Delilah's" in the search engine on his tablet.
A picture of a mahogany counter with a wide stage in the background and tables in front of it popped up in the window. "Delilah's Coffeehouse, Where Songwriters Thrive in Chicago" titled the page on top.
Ryan read:
Open Mic Night Invites You
Saturdays from 6 to 9 pm
Registration Required
All Ages Welcome
Under Eighteen
With A Parent Or Guardian
Ryan clicked on the menu and the coffeehouse served appetizers mostly. The coffees cost a pretty penny, but the bar drinks cost much more.
Then he logged on to www.eljorian.org and clicked on "Lucifedors":
Lucifedors carry a printed photograph of their victim which they acquire from a relative of friend. When something sets them off they stare at the photograph repeatedly until they send a proprietary to the victim.
A lucifedor can send a proprietary to someone he or she knows at any age. But the proprietary doesn't attach to this victim until the soul is fully developed which is usually at age thirteen.
Ryan clicked on "Angelkin Rituals":
At the first sign of odd behavior or occurrences, the victim must write down as much about the experience as possible and conclude if a proprietary or proprietaries caused it.
The victim must seek a counselor to identify the proprietary or proprietaries. The counselor decides how to banish it or them with help from an angelkin.
YOU ARE READING
Sing Today Die Tomorrow
Mystery / ThrillerSomething wants him to die. Something else wants him to misbehave and another something wants him to hear lies. And he just turned thirteen. Ryan Ross doesn't understand what on earth is haunting him until a mysterious stranger leads him to a secret...
