Read Online Psyched by Juli Caldwell [fantasy] - Free Book Online

Vance?”
    Beeeeep .
    “I’ll take a grilled cheese and some fries,” he said, dropping the equipment in his hands and looking at her through narrowed eyes. He folded his arms and studied her. Her stomach flipped again as she walked away. Why was a cute boy spending so much time looking at her?
    As Aisi stepped behind the counter, she heard Zinnia talking. “So what are you studying, Vance? What’s all this stuff for?”
    “He’s a ghost hunter,” Colby said, and from the tone of his voice it seemed clear he thought the whole thing was hilarious. “He’s just doing it to tick off his dad, who wanted him to go to med school.”
    Aisi heard Vance sigh. “My major is parapsychology. I study paranormal phenomenon. I wanted to come here because I’m doing a final project for my demonology class, and one of the world’s most respected and experienced demonologists lives around here.”
    Just then, the sound on the television rose to almost intolerable volumes. Aisi ripped the order paper from her pad and handed it to her father, who accepted it quietly while never taking his eyes from the guys and Zinnia. Aisi couldn’t read his expression. The television kept getting louder. She hurried to the corner and reached up to turn it off, but the knob on the ancient set snapped off in her hand. She turned to her father. “Should I just unplug it?”
    Beeeeep!
    “Wait!” Vance said excitedly, rising from his seat to get closer to the TV despite the volume that continued to turn itself higher. “That’s the guy I came looking for! That’s Father J!”
    The volume reached unbearable heights, and Aisi covered her ears. A picture of the little church in the trailer, the one she ran past every day, flickered onto the screen right before the camera panned over to the creepy old house right across from it. “…demonologist who prefers to be known simply as Father J has an impressive career exorcising some of the fiercest demons ever to possess a human soul ,” the narrator said as the camera zoomed in on the image of a man.
    “ Perhaps he seems young,” the voice continued as the picture changed from a still picture to an action shot of the priest on the screen. Aisi recognized him as the one who peeked from behind his curtains as she ran past earlier. “…but he has seen a lifetime of horrors in his impressive career. Where other demonologists and exorcists have failed, he steps in to send any evil presence back where it belongs .”
    “That’s the guy I came looking for!” Vance repeated with excitement. He turned to Zinnia. “He’s supposed to live around here. Do you know where that church is?”
    Zinnia shook her head, and Aisi sat back down in the booth as she handed a shake to Colby and a glass of ice water to Vance. “Never seen him,” Zinnia replied. “Pretty sure I know everyone in town, too, thanks to all those stupid meetings and hoity-toity parties my mom drags me to. Have you seen it, Aisi?”
    Aisi opened her mouth to tell them she knew that place better than she wanted to, but she felt Vance watching her closely, so she shrugged and got up. Spying the table she should have bussed when the Cutlers left, she walked over and started clearing dishes. A moment later, she felt Vance behind her and turned to face him. He was inches away.
    Startled by his closeness, Aisi let out a little squeal of surprise. She sighed and rolled her eyes when more beeps rose from his table. Colby reached over to turn everything off.
    “You know where that house is, don’t you?” he asked. He stood so near her, she almost couldn’t breathe. Aisi had experienced many things in her life, but she’d never been so close to a guy who was, it turned out, really nice to look at. She looked up into his probing gray eyes and then glanced away quickly. His deeply tanned hands took the coffee mugs she held and he walked them into the kitchen for her. Leo shouted, “Hey, thanks! Fist bump it!” Vance walked back out and helped