The cafeteria at Rockville High came alive shortly after the noon lunch bell. Students poured in through the wide-open double doors at either end of the spacious room, filling the previously silent void with chatter and laughter. Jocks told dirty jokes, their buddies barked sycophantic laughter, and their pretty blonde girlfriends giggled and rolled their eyes. Students snagged prime table spots while their friends got in line to get food. Plates and cutlery clanked, students jockeyed for position as the tables filled, and a hip-hop beat began to emanate from the wall-mounted speakers. The small crowd around the jukebox dispersed after a few minutes, because by then it was already programmed through the lunch hour. By the time the last student cleared the lunch counter, there were precious few empty seats remaining at the overflowing tables.

There was, however, one notable exception.

A lone table with just two occupants, a big white island in the middle of a human sea.

Kelsey Hargrove and Will Mackeson sat opposite each other at one end of a jam-packed table. The tables were arranged in four long rows on each side of the cafeteria with a wide-open space in the middle. The boys normally liked to position themselves at the edge of the open space. It was a good spot for scoping out hot chicks. But today they weren’t at their normal table. Today they were sitting one table over from that lone white island, conducting long-overdue reconnaissance work.

Kelsey shot a quick glance at the island, then snapped his eyes in another direction. “Fuck, man. She saw me looking at her.”

Will grimaced. “Christ, don’t look at them.”

Kelsey stared with distaste at the untouched lasagna on his plate. He was too sick with worry to muster an appetite. He prodded it with his fork for a moment before setting it down. “There is something seriously fucking wrong with that chick. And I don’t mean wrong like she’s psycho or something. She’s evil, dude, like a spawn of Satan or something.”

Will nodded. “Right. Yeah. She’s the fuckin’ princess of darkness.”

The boys weren’t joking. This Myra Lewis chick their buddy Trey was spending all his time with these days was bad news. The school was still abuzz with gossip about her run-in with Cindy Wells. Cindy Wells was one of a handful of girls who could contend for the title of Ms. Rockville High. She was almost universally adored. An untouchable. Royalty among students. Myra Lewis had gone medieval on a fucking goddess. She should be in a jail cell. But here she was, eating lunch with her whipped boyfriend, a serene smile on her pretty face, acting as if nothing had happened.

Kelsey picked at his lasagna some more, managed to eat a forkful or two before giving up again. He eyed Will solemnly. “We’ve got to do something, man.”

Will shrugged. “Yeah, but what? It’s hopeless. Trey barely even talks to us anymore. It’s like Myra won’t let him.”

Kelsey nodded. “It’s like he’s a trained puppy dog.”

“More like a broken-down, beat-to-hell old hound dog.” Another darting glance at their troubled friend’s table rattled Will-Myra was staring right at him. Her cold gaze raised goose bumps on his arms. She had an arm draped around Trey’s shoulders. While he watched, she twined a lock of Trey’s hair between her fingers and twisted it, pulling it taut. It looked painful, but Trey didn’t react. Feeling sick, Will looked away. “Shit.”

The same sick feeling was reflected in Kelsey’s eyes-he’d seen Myra’s blatant display of sadism, too. “The bitch scares me, man. I mean, she really fucking scares the shit out of me.”

Will shuddered. “Yeah. Me, too.”

“I wasn’t kidding about her being evil. I think she’s some kinda demon or devil lady.” Kelsey’s tone was utterly devoid of humor. “I think we should look up some exorcism shit on the Internet.”

Will shook his head. “I guess we could try, but what good would it do? With that kind of thing, how would we ever tell what’s bullshit from what’s genuine? Ain’t anything in the world more full of shit than the Internet, man.”

“So, what, we do nothing? Fuck that. Trey’s our bro. We can’t just let this demon chick destroy him.”

Will looked at his food. He hadn’t eaten all day, but the lasagna looked like something regurgitated by a rabid animal. He pushed the plate away and said, “Maybe we could go to Principal Slater.”

“Oh, sure, right, the same Principal Slater who let her get away with knocking Cindy Wells on her ass. Wow, why didn’t I think of that?”

Will flipped him off. “Okay, smart guy, what about the police?”

Kelsey shook his head. “The police will not take this seriously. Not in a gazillion fucking years. Face it, there’s no help coming from the adult world.”

“So we’re just screwed, right? Trey is doomed to be Myra’s slave forever?”

Kelsey leaned over the table and jabbed a forefinger at Will. “Wrong. We’re going to do something. I don’t know what yet, but something. We’ll do the Internet thing. If that doesn’t work out, we’ll hire a mafia goon to whack the bitch.”

“There ain’t any mafia in Rockville.”

Kelsey smiled. “Right. Otherwise that’d be plan A.”

Will slumped in his chair, frustration evident in his posture. “Shit, it’s not funny. We don’t have Soprano motherfuckers around, but there’s a shitload of Zone rednecks who’d do the job for beer money.”

Kelsey grunted. “Forget that. None of those fuckers are ever sober enough to shoot straight. It’d turn out like Larry the Cable Guy meets Pulp fucking Fiction.”

“So there goes that idea.”

“Yeah.”

Kelsey risked another glance at Trey’s table and was startled to see his friend sitting there alone. It was the first time he’d seen Trey without Myra in ages. He looked at Will, who’d noticed the same thing. An unspoken communication transpired in a heartbeat. They rose from the table and hurried over to Trey.

Will took a seat next to Trey, while Kelsey sat opposite him.

Trey just sat there, barely blinking, their presence not appearing to register at all.

Kelsey glanced again at Will before addressing Trey. “Trey, man, listen up. We know something’s wrong, okay? Myra is, like, evil incarnate, right? We don’t know what she’s doing to you, but we’re gonna do something about it, I fucking promise.”

Trey’s voice was barely audible: “No.”

Kelsey frowned. “What? You need our help, man. Don’t even pretend like you don’t know what we’re talking about.”

Trey pushed his chair away from the table and got to his feet with a sigh. He lifted his tray off the table and began to shuffle away from them, his head down as he moved toward the counter. He appeared listless, sapped of energy and life. Like a damn zombie. Kelsey and Will hurried after him. Kelsey cupped a hand on Trey’s shoulder. “Hey, hold up-”

But Trey whirled on them. His tray went flying as he slapped Kelsey’s hand away. The plate bounced off the tray and shattered on the floor. The babble of chatter and laughter around them stopped immediately.

Trey leaned in close to Kelsey, his face twisted with anger and an inner agony. “Mind your own fucking business.” His voice was a low growl. “Stay away from me, Kelsey, if you know what’s good for you.”

Then he bolted from the cafeteria.

Will muttered, “Oh, man…”

Kelsey remembered to breathe again, his breath emerging in a gasp. “Jesus…”

He saw Trey meet Myra at the open double doors. She drew him into her arms and kissed him passionately. Then she pushed Trey through into the hallway and directed one last smirk in their direction.

She winked.

And was gone.

Kelsey turned to Will. “My house. Tonight.”

Will nodded. “Yeah. Okay.”

Kelsey stared at the empty space occupied by his friend moments earlier.

And he thought, I guess I don’t know what’s good for me.