He laughed and dodged me, cracking his bald noggin on the headboard and knocking Myrtle to the floor. Janet shrieked with joy and began jumping on the bed.
“Damn it to Hell,” Myrtle yelled. “You people need to act your age.”
She crawled back up on the bed, knocked Janet’s feet out from under her, effectively ending her trampoline time while simultaneously popping Carl in the back of the head. She was good.
“Janet’s correct.” Myrtle’s voice was calm with certainty. “You already have everything you need. Put it together.” She smoothed out the comforter and shoved Carl off the bed. “You’re shedding,” she informed him.
Ewww. I threw myself back onto the mountain of pillows. My mind registered the significance of her words. I knew it was time. "Are you sure?"
“Yes, I am sure that Carl is getting chest hair all over your sheets,” she replied matter of factly.
“No,” I snapped. “Are you sure I already have everything I need?”
My mind reeled and my stomach clenched with excitement. Who cared if I couldn’t restore Miss Evelyn’s room correctly? Did it really matter that I blew up tables and fridges? No, it didn't. I did protect Lucy from her awful father and I healed Steve with my tears. I kept waiting in vain for everything to come together. . .to feel powerful and knowledgeable and to understand what in the Hell was expected of me.
Waiting was for weenies. There was no more time to wait.
“Dixthie,” Carl said as he tried to help Myrtle remove his chest fur from my bed. “You have to trutht yourthelf. Find your balanth.” The chest hair was going nowhere fast. “You have the thkillth we taught you, you chant in a language we’ve never heard and you potheth Black Magic.”
“You know I have Black Magic?” My eyes narrowed dangerously. No one was supposed to know. Carl blanched and backed away.
“Oh sweetie.” Janet giggled. “You can freeze Demons, and your strength in a matter of a couple of weeks has quadrupled.” She tucked my hair behind my ears and placed her soft little hands on my hot cheeks. “Regular Demons can’t do that—only the strongest Demons with Black Magic are capable of such power so quickly.”
I sucked in a huge breath and blew it out slowly. "I'm a True Immortal," I said. My heart pounded in my ears. It was the first time I'd said the words aloud.
"It's about time," Myrtle shouted.
"Why is it so important I figure it out for myself?" I asked as I rolled my eyes. "Will we really turn to dust if the story gets told before its time?"
Myrtle sat back and clasped her small hands in her lap. "Honestly, we really don't know about the dust thing, but it would suck ass if it was true. The real reason has to do with destiny as opposed to pre-destiny."
"Explain."
"If you knew you were a True Immortal because we told you, you would have done things in a different order and screwed up destiny's timeline. You are the master of your destiny and you have to determine how it plays out."
"Do you already know what's coming or what will happen?" I asked, feeling stronger and more powerful with each passing second.
"No, but it's coming soon," she said and the other two nodded.
"I come from here," I said. "This is where I was born. It's why it feels familiar and it's why my father sent me back here."
"I think you're right," Janet said.
"There was an old lady who told me a story about a little girl named Dixie who died. That was me." I stood and paced. Was that little old lady my mother? She certainly didn't seem like someone my father would have mated with, but what the Hell did I know? It felt wrong, but I was going back there to find out. "Shit, as I figure it out, the ball starts rolling faster," I muttered. "Will this mean all the Angels and Demons will descend and wreak havoc?" Shitdamndamnballs. Again, I checked for balls. . .
“Relax your crack,” Myrtle rolled her eyes and scooted over next to me. “Very few immortals, Demonic or Angelic, can destroy you. . .but you, on the other hand, can do a buttload of damage to them.”
“It really would have been fucking awesome to have known this a little earlier." I shook my head in disgust.
Myrtle shrugged and grinned. I wanted to slap her. “Why do you think your father sent us with you?”
“So you could drive me insane?”
“Nooo,” Janet clapped her hands together in glee. Her cackle bounced around the room. I bit my lip to hide my smile. “Our gifts are different from other Demons,” she continued. “It’s why we were shunned in Hell.”