by Rue Volley
I jumped when a voice came from the right of us. Both Johnathan and I looked over to see a small boy, looked like he might have been sixteen, sitting on the bed. He was staring at the T.V.
“Need… is such a treacherous thing,” he said as he dropped the remote on the bed and looked at the boy who led us into the room.
He waved his hand at him and the boy stepped aside, eliminating the barrier between the boy and us. I stared at him. His skin was perfect, so was his hair. He almost looked like a doll. If he hadn’t talked I would have easily thought that he was.
“I just need something for the condition that I have,” I said.
Johnathan looked at the two girls as they giggled and went back to kissing. I cleared my throat and looked at him. The boy on the bed was in my face before I saw him move. He leaned up on me and smelled me. I crinkled my eyebrows and bit my lip. He looked at my mouth and then into my eyes.
“You most certainly do have a condition,” he said as he smiled at me.
I felt weird about this entire situation. I felt like I should run, but I am on a freakin train.
How convenient.
Johnathan leaned over and looked at him.
“Do you happen to have anything for an iron deficiency?” he asked him.
I continued to watch the boy as he stared me down. I felt like he was prying into my mind.
It sucked.
“For this one?” he asked Johnathan.
I cleared my throat.
“My name is Rue; I have an iron deficiency. Jack said that I should go to the shop and that I could get something to help,” I said.
“Oh,” the boy said as he backed away from me.
I watched him walk to the table and lean down.
He whispered something to one of the boys and the boy looked up at me and then stood up.
“Understood,” he said to the weird boy who had just molested me with his eyes.
The boy walked past me and opened the door. I heard it close behind me and turned to see that the doll boy was kissing one of the girls while the other one rubbed his leg.
“Okay… Um. I think that we need to go,” I said as I turned with Johnathan in hand.
The door opened and the boy stepped back in with a bottle in his hand.
I looked at it and back at the boy. He held up his hand and I looked at the bottle again.
“What is this?” I asked him.
The boy was suddenly behind both Johnathan and I. I felt my body tense up.
Johnathan turned to him and raised his eyebrows.
“Rue said that she wants to go now,” Johnathan said.
The boy tilted his head and stared into his eyes.
“You are a very attractive boy… Would you like to stay the night?” he asked him.
“No,” Johnathan said.
“Mmmm,” the doll like boy said as he looked Johnathan up and down.
“Well, that is what you asked for. Take it. If you like it, you can always come back for more,” the boy said.
I looked at the bottle and took it from the boy blocking my way. I stared him down and then he moved out of my way. I pulled Johnathan with me as I opened the door back up and stepped out into the hallway. I glanced back and the girls were taking their clothes off. I looked down and clinched the bottle in my hand. The door closed and I looked at Johnathan.
“Okay… weird,” I said.
He grinned and looked at me.
“They were getting naked,” he said.
I rolled my eyes at him and started to walk down the hallway.
I let his hand go and he laughed behind me.
“I just… that was crazy,” he said.
“Uh huh…” I said.
Johnathan caught up with me and leaned around in my face.
“Are you jealous?” he asked me.
I stopped and held the bottle in my hand tightly.
I looked at him and he knew that he had said the wrong thing.
“No… I am just weirded out… that was just bizarre back there,” I said.
Johnathan laughed.
“What?” I said to him.
He stopped laughing and rubbed his hand on his neck.
“I just… It was weird… you’re right,” he said.
There it is again, no fight. I swear, sometimes he bores the crap out of me.
“Let’s eat; I am starving,” I said.
Johnathan followed me with no more talking back to our cabin.
I stopped at the door and looked back at him.
“They were like getting all naked,” I said to him in a whisper.
Johnathan grinned and I stepped back into our room shaking my head.
I mean… what was that all about?
I immediately smelled the pizza. OMG. It smelled like heaven. I walked to the table and opened the box. It looked amazing. I smiled at it and closed my eyes as I took a big breath. I felt Johnathan behind me as he reached over and grabbed a slice and jumped onto the bed. I grabbed one too as I placed the bottle on the table next to box and decided to join him. I took a bite and then another. One thing I could do is eat… a lot. I grinned as I chewed and Johnathan flipped the T.V. back on. I leaned back and sighed as I swallowed it.
I stopped and looked at Johnathan.
“What was that?” I asked him.
He looked at me and shrugged his shoulders.
“I mean, that boy looked really young,” I said to him.
“I don’t know. He looked old enough to have a cabin on this train,” Johnathan said.
I took another bite and then talked as I chewed.
“He was in a smoke-filled room with naked girls.”
Johnathan grinned. I hit him on the arm.
“What...? I can’t control whether girls want to wear clothes,” he said.
I sighed and then swallowed some more pizza.
“I am so gonna find out what the deal is,” I said.
Johnathan turned to me and lowered his pizza slice.
“Why don’t you just not?” he said to me.
“What...? I mean that was all kinds of illegal,” I said.
Johnathan laughed.
“Listen… we are only here to get to school. Remember school, Rue...? I mean, who cares what people do or don’t do on this train? You got what you wanted, now eat,” he said to me.
I took a bite and shook my head at him.
“You should be more adventurous,” I said to him.
“Me?” he said as he stood up and walked back to the table.
He grabbed the box this time and brought it over to the bed. He placed it in between us and sat down.
“I am adventurous. I only got one cabin for us to share,” he said as he chewed and grinned.
I hit him again, not hard. It was cute… flirty cute, of him to say.
“Yea… I thought that it wasn’t a big deal.” I said to him.
“Not really, it just sounded good,” he said.
I laughed and a little pizza dropped out of my mouth. Gross.
Johnathan looked at it and shook his head.
“You will be moved to the floor if you cannot refrain from spitting on the bed.”
I pushed myself up and walked to the fridge. I opened it up and looked at the bottle of wine.
I looked back at him and smiled.
“I think that I am going to put this bottle to use,” I said.
He didn’t argue with me. Maybe he needed a little bit of it too after the strange we just experienced.
I looked in the drawer for an opener and Johnathan held up his hand to me.
“Here,” he said.
I walked back to the bed and handed it to him. He placed the top of the bottle in his mouth and pulled the cork out. He spit it on the bed and grinned at me.
“I thought the ‘no spitting’ rule had been enacted,” I said.
He shrugged his shoulders and took a swig. He handed the bottle to me and winked at me. I took it and paused before I tipped the bottle back
and tasted the bitterness of the grapes. I crinkled my eyebrows and swallowed with a cough.
He leaned back and stared at me.
“What?” I said.
“You… you are cute,” he said.
I laughed and sat down next to him. I took another drink and handed it to him.
He took it and looked at it.
“To new things, places, people… and most importantly higher learning,” he said as he raised it to his mouth.
I picked up a slice of pizza and tapped it against the bottle.
He smiled and then took a drink as I took a bite.
“I am going to find out what the deal is with that room,” I muttered.
Johnathan nudged me and I looked at him.
“Shut up, Rue,” he said as he laughed at me.
I rolled my eyes and took the bottle from his hands and took another drink.
He reached over and touched my cheek. I spit some wine out on the bed and got up in a panic.
“Crap,” I said.
He looked up at me and then back at the bed.
“Rue,” he said.
I looked at him and ran to the bathroom to grab a towel. I ran back and he was still sitting there. I started to press the towel to the bed and glanced at him.
“I am so sorry about that,” I said as I cleaned it up.
He touched my hand and stopped me from cleaning it up.
“I want you to know that I got the cabin on purpose,” he said.
I looked at him and stood up straight.
“What?” I said.
“Yea… I just thought that maybe, just once, we could act like we are together… I mean, we are together, aren’t we?” he asked me.
“I, uh… I don’t… I,” I said all stupid.
Johnathan leaned back and folded his hands.
“We… I don’t know what we are,” he said.
I stared at him and felt dizzy. This had come out of left field. Maybe it came from the bottle of wine. I held my hand out to him and he handed the bottle back to me. I took a drink and sat down next to him.
“I am cutting you off… Obviously, you cannot handle your alcohol. I promise to not make it known to everyone at school, just the cute girls,” I said, trying to make a joke.
He didn’t laugh.
I looked back at him. He had picked up some pizza and was eating it silently.
“That was a joke,” I said to him.
Johnathan looked at me and grinned.
“I know,” he said.
I leaned back and looked out the window. He placed his hand in mine and kept eating. I don’t know how I dodged that one. He just kept eating and holding his hand out for the bottle. I sighed and felt weird… weird for the first time with my best friend.
Chapter 12
Mortal Nymph
Josh and Evil sat at the head of the table, decked out in everything from duck to plums. Evil sat there rubbing his hair, looking at him… whispering things in his ear. No other protector assembled for the meal spoke. Sophia Graph walked in and everyone looked at her, except for Josh and Evil. She stepped up to her seat at the head of the table and a guard pulled out the chair for her. Everyone rose except for Evil and her puppet. Sophia glanced at her and took her seat. Everyone sat down and waited for her to speak. Evil laughed and tried to place a piece of fruit in Josh’s mouth; he opened it slowly and took it, chewing like a robot would. Not as if he tasted the food, but more like a reaction to a memory of eating.
Evil smiled and looked at Sophia.
“When do we have the ceremony?” she asked her.
Sophia turned her gaze to her and tilted her head.
“Are we anxious?” Sophia asked her.
Evil leaned back in her chair and kept her hand on Josh’s hand.
She stared at her and then grinned.
“It is something that I would like to get done. After that, it is all business,” Evil said to her.
“I would remind you that Valon has not welcomed a Lord in two thousand years, my dear. It is quite the occasion.”
“Oh, I agree! I never imagined that Josh would pull me to him, so that I could be his only mate… Surely that is something that has never been done before,” Evil replied.
Sophia looked around the table and held her hand up as a low murmur started.
She looked at Josh and stared at his face, void of any emotion.
“Would you like to tell us how you were able to pull Rue into the trial mirror, Lord Barrington?” she asked him.
Josh sat there, not responding.
Evil looked at him and stood up as everyone looked at her.
“As you most certainly already knew, I am quite unique. I am unlike any of you here. My Mother… rest her light, was a very clever woman. I am a direct descendant of the creator.” Sophia looked around the table as everyone listened to Evil’s every word.
“Yes, it has come to be known that you possess abilities that are unlike someone of your age,” Sophia said.
Evil leaned forward on the table and stared her down.
“I am not hindered by age; I assure you of that,” Evil looked around the table and grinned. “I would let all of you know that I have always possessed my power. I am not restricted by these petty rules of ‘coming of age’; although, I would enjoy the ceremonial part. I would like a blue dress to wear to the Lord’s acceptance.”
Sophia picked up her fork and started to poke at the meat on her plate.
She didn’t look up at Evil.
Evil slammed her fists on the table and Sophia looked up at her very calmly.
“You would be mindful of your impatience here, Rue Volley,” Sophia said.
Evil sat down and looked at Josh.
“I am with child,” Evil said as she smiled at Josh.
The table irrupted into chatter and Sophia stood up and stared at the two of them.
“You are unable to carry a Lord’s heir; it is forbidden… until the council had deemed it proper timing,” Sophia said.
Evil grinned and looked around the table.
“I would suggest that you all deem it proper… now,” Evil said.
Some council members started to excuse themselves from the table; Sophia allowed it. She sat there staring at the two of them, anger welling up in her chest. As the last of the protectors left the room Sophia stood up and looked at her plate. Suddenly she had lost her appetite. Evil grabbed some meat from the tray in front of her and started to eat. She ‘mmm’d” as she chewed it and let the blood run down her chin. She wiped it and grinned as she swallowed.
“You carry a Lord’s Heir. You would be mindful of what you eat and what you do from now on,” Sophia said to her.
Evil looked up at her.
“I know what to do. I may be young to you… but I know how to carry an heir.”
“You will transfer this energy to a human to feed on until it is strong enough to survive in its cocoon,” Sophia said.
Evil stood up and stared her down.
“I will do no such thing. I will carry this heir until birth… I am strong enough to do it.”
Sophia sighed and rubbed her hands.
“You are foolish. We do not carry our children until birth… it puts the child and you in danger… Let a human carry it and then, when the human girl is used up, we will do as we have always done… The child will enter the energy cocoon and from there grow to be strong.”
Evil looked at Josh and then back to her.
“I will consider your suggestion, purely out of curiosity,” Evil said.
Evil held her hand out to Josh and he sat there saying nothing. Sophia looked at him and to her. “It seems odd that our new Lord says nothing,” Sophia said.
Evil took his hand and stepped back.
“Perhaps he has nothing to say. I am sure that he will speak when he feels it necessary,” Evil said as she pulled on him and he stood up.
Evil and Josh walked to the door and evil looked back at Sophia.
“Send
two humans to our home. I fear that my appetite is overwhelming.”
Sophia nodded and watched them leave the dining hall.
Evil walked back to their home with Josh in hand. She stepped into the house and pulled Josh in behind her. She slammed the door and then let his hand go from hers. She started to laugh and then she looked at him.
“Did you see their faces? I mean they believe that I am carrying an heir. Of course I am not, but I have just made it impossible for any of them to sneak up and try to kill me,” she laughed again and looked at Josh.
He stood there not responding to her.
“Oh Josh, do you dream of her?” she asked him.
Josh gritted his teeth and Evil smiled at him.
“You are stubborn. If you would just give in, I could make you happy. I could. I have everything that she has… except her light. You have to make that happen,” she stared at him and tilted her head.
“And you will… You will have to now that they believe that I am carrying your heir. To destroy me and an heir would be certain death for you,” she added.
Josh clinched his fists and Evil laughed.
“You are angry?” Evil asked him.
Josh looked at her and shook his head ‘yes’.
Evil took a step back from him and smiled.
“You know what is going on here then?” she asked him.
He walked to the window and stared out into the lush gardens of Valon.
She laughed and walked to their bedroom. She stopped at the door and looked back at him.
“How sad that you know what is going on and you are trapped, no power to do as you wish…? Pity,” she said as she closed the door behind her.
Josh closed his eyes and leaned his head against the window.
The spell Evil had placed was weakening, but he had yet to find his will.
***
Theodore woke up and yawned. He had decided to allow Sam and Kai to romp around in the glamor he had spun to ensure that Rue and Johnathan were able to leave with no incident. He rolled onto his back and Sam stood there, arms crossed… tapping her foot. Theodore looked at her and tried to grin.
