What Goes Unsaid

“First, she shaved her head. Then, she started piercing everything.” Aunt Aggie cataloged my sins to Pastor Joe, as I waited on the hard bench outside. “Now, she has a tattoo.”

“It’s not your fault,” he soothed. “Puberty is ripe for demonry.”

I stared at the floor. “He should know.”

“We can save her from the Abyss, Agatha. Send her here after school, every day.”

I started shaking.

Amber reached for me, promise ring glinting. “Is it true, what you told me?”

I nodded, crying.

She grabbed my hand. “Then tonight, he finds out what a real demon can do.”