The Evil Inside

“What if I’d wanted to be Maleficent, from the Disney movie?” Angela whispered.

“You’d be cool,” Sam said, grinning. “She was a fairy!”

“Oh! You made it!” came a loud voice.

Jenna didn’t realize at first that the wood nymph in the colorful eye mask who hugged her at the door was Cecilia.

“Of course. Thank you so much for having us. Oh, Cecilia, meet my friends, please!” Jenna said, and performed the introductions.

Cecilia laughed. “Hey, Sam gave us a very nice donation over the price of the tickets. And it is for a good cause. The area covens get together to donate their time, decorating expertise and money to put this on. All the revenue goes to the children’s hospital.”

“That’s wonderful,” Jenna assured her.

“Go in! Eat, drink, be merry and dance like a maniac!”

They went in. Jackson and Sam went for drinks with colorful names such as Wiccan’s Brew, Bloody Mary and Lew, Hallowine, All Souls-Tinis and Salem-hattans.

“Look!” Angela said suddenly.

Jenna turned. There, not ten feet away, was a party-goer dressed as the horned god.

She started toward the being, but Angela tugged at her arm. “And over there!”

In the other direction, there was another horned god. This one, however, was busy drinking, and his mask was pushed back. He was a man of about forty, with a friendly smile and a lot of laughter in his crinkled face as he chatted with the pretty belly dancer before him.

“Two more over there,” Angela said glumly.

“Wish we could just strip them all and have their costumes tested, too!” Jenna said.

Jackson and Sam returned. Sam handed her a glass. “Wiccan’s Brew.”

“What’s in it?”

“Bourbon, cranberry, Sprite, if I got it right. Liked the color,” he said and shrugged. “Should have been called Witch’s Brew. You know, don’t you, that they would have hanged you? Witchcraft, magic, were illegal. I’m not sure how I would have defended you. If they had allowed for the accused to hire defense, of course.”

“I have never danced with the devil,” she told him.

He smiled. She waited. “I just needed some time,” he said.

She nodded.

“And what did time do for you?”

“It made me know for certain that I didn’t want to sleep alone tonight.”

Jenna lowered her head, trying not to laugh. “I have a feeling there are dozens of women in this room who would keep you from that fate,” she told him. “Including the snake charmer over here. Madam Samantha Yeager is here. With her boa constrictor.”

“I draw the line at snakes in bed.”

“I’ll bet she’d give it up for you.”

“I just don’t think that you’d want to let her in,” he teased.

“And would you?”

“Nope, nope, don’t think so. Not in this lifetime, that’s for sure.”

“Ah, so do we have more lifetimes?”

He grew serious. “I believe that we do have something. The soul. Heart and soul. Whatever makes us unique. Whatever that is about me-nope, nope, still no. Just not my type. I love redheads. Especially when they have just a trace of an old accent.”

Jenna started to speak, but the band abruptly stopped playing and the microphone gave out a sudden loud shriek. “Ouch!” the speaker said.

He was dressed as a Native American, and looked good in the outfit. It was Councilman Yates.

“Welcome, one and all. The good sisters and brothers of the Coven of Light have allowed me to address you all. First, welcome, and thank you all for coming out for this wonderful ball, and for supporting our children in their need!”

His words were met by applause and shouts of approval.

“Secondly, we know that the area has been deeply concerned by some horrible things happening, and despite the fact that they have a suspect in custody, an investigation is still ongoing. I want to warn you all to be smart and practical-well, I mean as far as your personal safety goes! With the cops-be open and honest. Give them everything that they need. We’ve come a long, long way! We don’t give in to superstition, and we don’t condemn a man until he’s been proven guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt. That said, I know you’re all still going to whisper about recent developments, but while you’re doing that, be helpful and be careful. And that’s all I have to say, except, Blessed Be!”

The audience responded with applause and the band started up. Dancers drifted to the floor again. Jenna took a long swallow of her drink, which wasn’t half-bad.

“So, they’re all whispering. We’ll hear what they have to say,” Sam said, nodding to Jackson. The two, apparently, had found an instant and easy rapport.

“I’ll drift toward horned god number one,” Angela said.

“Think we’ll make it to all twenty of them?” Jackson asked.

Jenna adjusted the lace and black velvet eye mask she was wearing and drifted casually toward the stage. She’d noted that Councilman Yates had come down from the stage and was speaking to an outstandingly beautiful peacock.

He kissed her, and by moving a shade to her left, Jenna could see the peacock’s face. As she had expected, it was Councilman Yates’s wife, Cindy, the same woman she had seen on the playground the first day she had arrived chastising the children.

The same woman who seemed to hate Pastor Goodman Wilson so much. The mother of David Yates.

She decided to move closer.

“Why were you so late?” she heard Yates ask his wife.

“Me? Where were you when I was trying to get our daughter settled with the babysitter?”

“Cindy, you know I have responsibilities.”

“To everyone but your family!” Cindy replied.

She must have noticed Jenna near them because she looked right at her, frowned and turned away. Yates watched her go, letting out a weary sigh.

Jenna started to move on.

The microphone screeched again. The band stopped playing, the lights blinked and a spotlight shone on the dance floor.

Couples cleared off.

And a scantily clad snake charmer appeared. Samantha Yeager.

She was stunning with her long black hair, ribbed abs, and jeweled harem costume. She wore a gold snake crown around her forehead and held her boa high and undulated like the snake as she moved through the crowd. She swayed and sashayed with lithe talent, and a hush fell over the crowd.

She went from man to man, but she’d also draw women out onto the floor and try to entice them to dance with her.

At the end, she found Sam. She reached out with a free hand, touched his face and drew her hand down the length of his body before doing a sleek fall to the ground.

“Madam Samantha! See her for all your mystic needs!” the lead singer from the band cried out.

“It wasn’t my idea!”

Jenna turned to see that Ivy, lips pursed, was at her side. She looked at Jenna and grimaced. “She paid a lot for that performance.”

“Well, she’s getting a lot of applause. It will prove to be the ball of the season, I’m sure.”

“Slutty twit!” Ivy said, and, shaking her head, walked back toward the door, ready to welcome any