Radiant - By Christina Daley Page 0,20

away in one of the nicer neighborhoods. But if he wanted to walk, that was his business. "Um, okay. Well, see ya."

He smiled. "Good night."

She climbed aboard and took a seat next to the window. Outside, Carter was still smiling. He waved when the bus pulled away.

Mary watched him. Even when the bus was a block away, he remained in the same spot. She finally lost sight of him when the bus turned the corner.

Mary sat back in her seat, thinking about everything from that afternoon. Carter's reaction to the painting. His talk with Ba. His behavior at dinner. He was polite, decent, and friendly.

She was positive now. Carter Maxwell was possessed!

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When Mary got home, she got on the computer and did a web search for "possession." The first hits didn't help much. Mostly movie descriptions and a band's fan page. Farther down the list, she found websites for psychics, wiccans, and priests advertising their various services. One site gave step-by-step instructions and a list of ingredients to perform your own exorcism.

She did come across some articles about spiritual vs. demonic possessions. Apparently, in parts of Africa, Asia, and other places in the world, witch doctors were not uncommon. They used the powers of various "spirits" do all sorts of things. If someone pissed you off and you wanted to curse them, they could do that for you.

The next link Mary clicked took her to an online Christian Bible. She skimmed through a couple books before she started reading some of the Gospel of Matthew. It had several stories about demon-possessed people, and it listed demon possession with seizures, pain, and paralysis as similar ailments.

One story that caught her attention was in the seventeenth chapter. It was about a boy with seizures that were supposedly caused by a demon. The boy's father brought him to Jesus' disciples and asked for help, but they couldn't do anything for him. But when he brought his son to Jesus, the miracle maker scolded his followers for their lack of faith and healed the boy himself. By the time Mary looked at the clock, it was close to midnight.

She abandoned the search to finish her homework. Then she crawled into bed and she tried to force herself to sleep. That was, of course, impossible. Tons of thoughts resumed their circus in her head. All the information she had found online was about bad possessions. The things that had taken control of those people had made them suffer. Whatever possessed Carter—if that was the case—wasn't like that. It made him decent. Even likeable.

That wasn't bad, was it?

In a way, Mary had answered one of the questions plaguing her since this "new" Carter showed up. Whatever possessed those people she read about didn't leave on their own. They had to be exorcized or, in Jesus' story, cast out. If that was the case, then whatever Carter had wasn't going on its own. It was staying until someone else did something about it.

***

"Good morning," Carter greeted Mary as she got off the bus. He looked at her eyes. "You didn't sleep well."

"I was up late getting stuff done," she said.

They crossed the street and went into the school. He followed her to her locker.

"Um, Carter?" she asked as she got her books.

"Yes?"

"What do you normally do for lunch?"

"Not much."

"I usually spend it in the Art room," she said. "Would you like to meet me there today?"

He smiled. "I would."

The bell rang.

"Okay. I'll see you then," she said.

"See you later, Mary."

Pre-Cal was a fog. Mary even had trouble concentrating in Art. As she brushed white gesso onto a canvas to prime it, the thought of meeting with Carter occupied the foremost parts of her brain like a whale in a kiddie pool. She had to get answers. But she couldn't just ask the obvious questions. "So Carter, been possessed lately? Spirit or demon? Is there a difference?"

No, she would have to take a subtler approach. If anything, she didn't want to chase him away again. This was going to take some extra thought in her words. Something she was never good at.

When the lunch bell rang, everyone else left for the cafeteria. Mary got out her sandwich and an orange from her bag as Carter walked into the room.

"Hello," he greeted.

"Hey," she said. "Have a seat."

"Thank you." He sat across from her.

"Aren't you eating?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I'm not hungry."

"You know, lunch is pretty important," she said. "My mom sometimes