Requiem for the Devil

by Jeri Smith-Ready

  Someone tapped my shoulder. It was Adam.

  “Mind if I cut in?”

  “As a matter of fact—”

  “Where’s Lorraine?” Gianna asked him.

  “She went to the ladies’ room. So how ’bout it? Half a dance, for old times’ sake?” He did an unsteady half-spin to illustrate.

  “I don’t think so, Adam,” Gianna said. “Not behind her back like that.”

  “She won’t care. She’s very open-minded.”

  “Are you okay? You don’t seem like yourself tonight.”

  Adam stopped swaying. “I’m fine. I’m just drunk, ’s all. It’s New Year’s Eve.” He turned and headed for the bar.

  “Weird.” Gianna began to dance with me again. “I wonder if he knew I was going to be here.”

  “How would he know?”

  “My parents may have told him, but I don’t know if I told them where I’d be, and even if I had, I doubt they’d remember.”

  Over Gianna’s shoulder I watched Adam down another shot. Lorraine joined him at the bar, but he barely acknowledged her on his way to the men’s room.

  “Excuse me,” I said to Gianna. “I’ll be right back.”

  I paid the restroom attendant to step out for five minutes, then waited for Adam to emerge from the stall. When he did, his skin was pale and sweaty. Without noticing me, he moved to the sink and splashed cold water on his face. I handed him a towel. He dried himself, put his glasses back on, and turned to thank me. He froze when he saw my face.

  “Feeling a little under the weather tonight, Adam?”

  “What do you want?” His voice was raw.

  “Glad you asked.” I leaned close to him. “I want you to leave her alone. Not just tonight, but for good. Do you think you can remember that, or do I need to tattoo it on the back of your eyelids?”

  “Why should I listen to you?”

  I kept my voice low and pleasant. “Because I could make your life very painful. I don’t mean an annoying, think-I’ll-take-an-aspirin-and-lie-down kind of pain. I mean the kind of pain that makes you look forward to your own death the way children look forward to Christmas, the way the working Joe looks forward to his annual trip to the beach, the way an addict looks forward to her next fix. You will greet the end with joy.”

  Adam’s face twisted with nothing that resembled fear. “How dare you threaten me.” He looked at me with a cold strength I hadn’t seen in his eyes before. “You’re not right for her, Louis. I know it, she knows it, and deep down inside, you know it.” He dropped ten dollars in the tip basket and walked out.

  I found Gianna chatting with a group of congressional staffers.

  “There you are,” she said. “I was getting worried. It’s five minutes to midnight.”

  “Let’s find a more private spot, shall we?”

  I led Gianna out into the hallway, stopping to pick up two champagne glasses.

  “Why are we going out here?”

  “Because I don’t want to kiss you in front of your ex-boyfriend. Not the kind of kiss I’m planning to give you.”

  “Ooh. Let’s sit down, then, in case my knees turn to jelly.” We sat on a small red divan in a quiet corner. “I hope Adam doesn’t try to follow us.”

  “Would you mind not saying his name for the rest of the year?”

  “Sorry.” She glanced in the mirror behind me and touched her hair.

  “You look perfect,” I said. “As always.”

  “I don’t look perfect.”

  “You look good enough.”

  “Good enough for what?” she said.

  “You’ll see.”

  “What? When? I’ll see what when?”

  “Twenty seconds to midnight, Gianna.” The crowd in the ballroom began to count down.

  “I don’t want to wait. Kiss me now.”

  I did, until the count reached seven.

  “I have to ask you something.” I brushed the hair out of her eyes. “Just let me look at you.” I reached into my pocket and as the noisemakers rattled and honked around us, I opened a tiny velvet box to reveal a diamond ring. Gianna’s face froze. Her hand trembled as it reached to touch the jewel.

  “Is this what I think it is?”

  I pulled the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger. “Gianna, will you—”

  “Yes!” She threw her arms around my neck, then tensed. “Jesus God, shit, I can’t believe I just said that.” She pulled away. “Go ahead, Lou. Ask again.”

  “Okay . . . Gianna, will you . . . would you . . . please . . . be my wife?”

  Gianna put her hand to the side of her neck. “I think I’m going to pass out.” She leaned against the arm of the divan. “This is insane, Lou, insane. We haven’t even known each other for two months.”

  “So we’ll have a long engagement if you like. Anything you want. Anything.” I took her hand. “I want to give you the world, Gianna.”

  “It seems like a lot of it is yours to give.”

  “I’ll lay it all at your feet.”

  “I don’t want it all. I don’t want the world.”

  “Then just take me. If you want.”

  When she lifted her face to me, her eyes were full of tears. “I do want you.” She kissed my hand. “For you, I’d even be a rich man’s wife.”

  “You would?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes!” I shouted to the ceiling. My joy echoed up and down the hallway. I kissed her. “You’ve made me the happiest man who ever lived.”

  She lifted her hand to examine the ring. Two tear-shaped diamonds were flanked by a tiny garnet on either side.

  “Do you like it?” I said.

  “I love it. It’s perfect. Exquisite, but not ostentatious. I know you could have bought me a rock bigger than my nose, but this shows you understand me.”

  “I try. Besides, I wanted to save my money for the ice sculptures.”

  “The what?”

  “The ice sculptures. At the wedding reception.” I slid my hand under her thigh. “Picture this. A sculpture of you and me in a moment of extreme passion, tastefully rendered in ice. It’ll be a hit, I guarantee.”

  Gianna laughed. “Oh, yes, especially with my grandmother.”

  “I can see her now, chipping off a piece of my butt to chill her Bloody Mary.” I laid my face against Gianna’s neck and felt the vibrations of her laughter. She wrapped her arms around my back.

  “Tell me you love me,” she said.

  “I love you, Gianna. I’ve never loved anyone before, but I know I can’t ever live without it again.” I kissed her deeply and pulled her tight against me.

  “Good night, you guys.”

  It was Adam again, this time with his date. I glared at him, but he ignored me.

  “Um, good night,” Gianna said. “It was good to see you again, Lorraine.”

  They started to turn away when Adam saw the jewelry box on the coffee table next to us. He looked at Gianna’s left hand.

  “You got engaged?” he said, in almost a whisper.

  “Oh, that’s so romantic.” Lorraine leaned over and examined the ring. “Gorgeous! Congratulations to you both.”

  “I can’t believe you got engaged.” Adam stared at the wall behind us as if gazing into another time, then he shook his head once. “Have a nice life.” He shuffled away towards the hotel elevator. Lorraine trailed behind him.

  “I will.” Gianna turned back to me. “I will have a nice life.”

  “Perhaps ‘nice’ is too bland a word. But it will be interesting.” I picked up our champagne glasses. “So how would you like to celebrate? Partying with the crowd? Or getting naked and sweaty with me?”

  “Can I do both?”

  “Not at the same time.”

  “Your reputation, of course.” She stood up. “I’d like to finish this glass of champagne and have one more dance, please. Then we’ll check out the naked thing.”

  While we danced, Gianna pressed her cheek against my shoulder. “I can’t
believe we’re getting married. I never really considered it before, but as soon as I saw the ring I knew I wanted to spend my life with you.”

  “Maybe you just wanted to spend your life with the ring.”

  She slapped my chest lightly. “You know me better than that.”

  “Yes, I do.” I kissed her temple. “And I want to know you even better.”

  “I’ll tell you all my secrets, if you tell me yours.”

  If we hadn’t been dancing, she wouldn’t have felt my sudden tension.

  “What’s wrong?” she said.

  “Nothing.” A lifetime of lies lay ahead of us. “Can we go upstairs now?”

  We said our goodbyes and made our way to the parking garage to retrieve our bags from my car. The garage was well lit but empty of people. My Mercedes was parked at the far end of a row behind a large concrete pillar.

  Gianna huddled close to me. “Parking garages give me the creeps.”

  “You’ve seen too many movies.”

  “You’re probably right. Even my dreams are cinematic.”

  “Mine are usually pornographic. Does that count?”

  As we turned around the pillar, a man stepped out of the shadows.

  “Happy New Year, Gianna.”

  It was, of course, Adam. My patience gave out. I moved toward him.

  “Look, asshole, if you don’t leave her alone, I’ll—”

  He pulled a gun from behind his back and pointed it at me. “You’ll what?” Adam’s laugh was full of glee. “Who’s the asshole now, huh?”

  “Adam, no!”

  “Gianna, get down!” I yelled. “Get behind the car!”

  “Don’t move!” he said to her, the gun still trained on me. “I want her where she can see me.”

  Two instincts battled within me: to preserve my facade, and to preserve her life. If he turned the gun on her, it would be an easy choice, but for the moment, I wanted to find a mortal way out of this predicament.

  “Don’t worry, Gianna,” Adam said, “this isn’t for him or you. As if I had the guts to kill someone. It’s for me.” He pointed the gun at his own head. “I want you to be the last thing I see.”

  Gianna pleaded with him. “Adam, don’t do this. You’re drunk. You aren’t thinking straight.”

  “I’ve never had a straighter thought in my life,” he said.

  “You don’t want to do this.”

  Yes, he does. Though I would have welcomed his demise, for Gianna’s sake I was trying every trick I knew to manipulate his mind into dropping the gun. But his will was too strong. He wanted to die, and he wanted her to watch.

  “You hate guns,” Gianna said. “Where did you get that?”

  “From Lorraine’s glove compartment.” He pulled it away from his head and examined it closely. “It’s a .38 Special, apparently. She has a fear of being carjacked. I guess ’cuz that’s how her brother died.”

  “Where is Lorraine now?”

  “Upstairs asleep. We didn’t . . . I mean, I couldn’t . . . I kept thinking of you.”

  “Don’t you think she’d want you to—”

  “How many times did I ask you to marry me?”

  “I—I don’t—”

  “How many times, Gianna? Answer me!!”

  “I don’t know!”

  “I’ll give you a hint—it’s a prime number.”

  “I don’t remember. Seven?”

  “You lost count, I guess. But I remember. It was nine. Once for every year we were together.”

  “Actually, nine’s not a prime number,” I said.

  “Shut up!” He pointed the gun at me for a moment, then turned it back to his temple. “Do you know what she said to me every time I proposed?”

  I shook my head.

  “No, she didn’t say ‘no.’ She said—do you know what she said? She said, ‘Not yet.’ First it was ‘Not yet, we’re too young,’ then ‘Not yet, I’m in grad school,’ then ‘Not yet, I’m in law school,’ then ‘Not yet, we don’t have the money,’ and then she gave up on good excuses and just said, ‘Not yet, Adam darling, I’m not ready.’ Then one day . . . one day ‘Not yet’ turned into never.” He sank against the concrete pillar and started to cry.

  “Adam, I’m sorry I hurt you.”

  He wiped his face. “And now here she is, and here you are, and now she’s ready. And I’ve wasted almost ten years of my life waiting. She let me wait for nothing.” I felt a dangerous shift in his mind. He lowered the gun to his side. “I’ve changed my mind, Gianna.”

  “Thank God.”

  “I want you to know what it’s like to be alone.” He pointed the gun at me and fired. I saw the muzzle flash a moment before the pain erupted in my chest. Gianna screamed. Adam fired twice more, and my abdomen felt like it was filled with flames. I fell to my knees. Hot blood soaked my shirt and scalded my skin.

  Gianna lunged for Adam and tried to grab for the gun, but he stepped back and pointed it at her. It was all I needed to see. I fired.

  The temperature inside Adam’s skull spiked. He dropped the gun and grabbed at his head before collapsing on the pavement.

  “No—” was all he said before the convulsions began. He started to flail and flop like a fish on a riverbank. Gianna stood frozen next to his thrashing body.

  It was too much. I hadn’t meant to . . .

  I lurched to my feet and moved toward her. Adam twitched a few more times, then lay still, his eyes wide and white. A putrid smell filled the air, like a raw steak left out in the sun.

  Gianna covered her mouth and nose and whimpered. She backed into me, shrieked, and whirled around.

  “Oh my God . . . Louis . . .” She saw the blood covering my chest and stomach. “We have to get help.”

  “No, we don’t.”

  “You shouldn’t be standing up. You’ll lose more blood.”

  “I’m all right.”

  “I’ll call an ambulance.” She pulled her phone out of her purse. Her fingers shook as they tried to dial. I grabbed the phone.

  “Gianna, listen to me! I said, I’m all right. I don’t have time to explain, so just look.” I tore off my jacket, ripped open my shirt and smeared the blood away from the disappearing wounds. The hole in my chest closed before her eyes. She sucked in her breath.

  “How did it—?” Gianna reached to touch me, then drew back her hand as if from a fire.

  “I can explain everything later, but we need to get out of here.”

  She backed away from me, staring at my chest and shaking her head.

  “Gianna, please. If anyone saw us like this, I’d have to . . . it could get crazy.”

  She blinked at me, then turned towards Adam. “What happened to him?”

  I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Gianna.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I only wanted to stop him, but the pain . . .”

  “What are you talking about?” Her voice started to shake. “What did you do?”

  “I saved your life.”

  “You . . . you did this?” She pointed at Adam’s still figure.

  “If I hadn’t killed him, he would have killed himself.”

  “I don’t understand. How did you—”

  “Understand later. Now we have to go.” I picked up the gun, opened the trunk of my car, and tossed it in. I took off my bloody shirt and jacket, then pulled a clean shirt out of my duffel bag. Gianna was still standing over Adam’s body, crying. I moved to the driver’s side door, buttoning my shirt. “Get in the car, Gianna.”

  “No! Not until you tell me how you did this.”

  If I give her part of the truth, I thought, then maybe she’ll be satisfied enough to shut up and come with me.

  “I . . . I have certain powers.”

  “What do you mean, powers?”

  “I’m . . . to start with, I’m pyrokinetic.”

  She stared at me. “You’re what?”

  “I can set things on fire by—”

  “I know what pyrokinetic is, and
it’s not real. This is some kind of trick.”

  “Adam is dead. That was no trick.”

  “But why?”

  I gripped the edge of the car door. “Gianna, please come with me now. If anyone finds us—”

  “No, I can’t just—”

  “If anyone finds us, I’d have to kill them, too.”

  Her jaw dropped, and she took a step backwards.

  “To protect us,” I said. “To protect you.”

  She glanced at the garage’s exit doors and started to tremble.

  “Trust me, Gianna. Please, just trust me once more.”

  For a few moments there was only the sound of her unsteady breath. She took a last look at Adam, then dashed for the car.

  27

  Lacrymosa Dies Illa

  Gianna stared at me from across the car like a rabbit at a not-too-distant fox. “Where are you taking me?”

  “Back to my place.” Her hand clutched at the car door handle. I drove faster. “Put your seat belt on. I didn’t save your life so you could get creamed by a drunk driver.”

  “He shot you.” She was staring at my chest again. “I saw him shoot you. How can you be alive?”

  “It’s hard to explain.”

  “Does this have anything to do with what you did to Adam?”

  “In a way.”

  “In a way? In what way?”

  “I’m not answering any more questions until we get home. Just try to calm down.”

  She started to take a deep breath, but it choked off into a sob. “I can’t believe this is happening.” She pressed her palms against her face. “I can’t believe Adam’s dead, and I watched you kill him.”

  “I had no choice.”

  “They’ll find his body.”

  “Mysterious circumstances, yes, but no evidence of foul play. Hopefully they’ll rule it a massive aneurysm. If anyone questions you, the last time you saw him was outside the ballroom, okay?”

  “This isn’t happening.” She sobbed again, then wiped her eyes and looked at me. “If I made you angry, would you do that to me?”

  “No! Gianna, you know I would never hurt you.”

  “Like the time you almost threw me into the Grand Canyon.”

  “You were never in any danger, I told you that.”

  “Why should I believe you?” she said. “You—”