“You coming, Meg?” Carter knocked on the wood beside my dressing room.
I poked my head through the curtain. Carter wore red jeans, a pink long-sleeve shirt, and a deep red puffer vest. Even in the odd fashion statement, he looked like he could strut along the runway with the best of them. My outfit was more grungy video game addict.
“I’ll be out in a minute.” I flipped my hair multiple directions, trying to hide my forbidden streak, but it was no use. Throwing open the curtain, I pecked Carter on the cheek. “Red is definitely your color.”
“Thanks, Coving… uh, Meg.” He beamed, his dimples pronounced, and it increased his looks to the point that my heart actually fluttered.
I had to get the thought of pushing Carter into the changing room out of my head. “Where’s Brek?”
“Still trying to find something that will fit him.” He leaned against the wall. “Apparently, no one here grows past six foot.”
A curtain a few stalls down opened, and Brek slid out wearing high water, pink jeans, a red t-shirt that was a little too snug, and a frown on his face.
I slapped my hand over my mouth. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the freak show that was my best friend.
“Let’s get out of here. This will have to do.” His face flamed a red as bright as his shirt.
As we crossed the atrium this time, most of the comments either had to do with my blue streak or Brek’s short pants. The people in this land didn’t have the tact to hide their rude comments in whispers but proclaimed their disdain to any other onlookers. Most covered their mouths, as I had, when they laughed. With Carter, most admired his fashion sense.
“Why is he associating with those trend killers?”
“Clearly, Athena would not approve. Forbidden colors… waiting for a flood.”
“Has he applied to be part of her harem?”
Carter grasped my hand, declaring his association with the trend killer, drawing several gasps from the crowd.
“It’s forbidden,” whispered two women near the front.
A man rushed at us, pointing his finger. “Arrest them!” He yelled the angry words right in my face.
Carter tugged my arm as the crowd encroached upon us on all sides. We hurried toward a sign that read restrooms. I glanced behind me, searching for Brek, but he seemed to have been swallowed up by the mob. Carter flung open the door to the family bathroom. Once inside, he locked it.
He pushed against the door even though it was locked. “What are we going to do?”
“What about Brek?” I grasped the lock. “There’s no way we can leave him out there with those bullies.”
Carter pushed my hand away. “We’ve got to come up with a plan first. If we go out there, they’ll arrest all of us.”
Based on the reaction of the crowd, I was sure whatever we’d done to break the rules had alerted the local authorities. I crouched down and unzipped my backpack. I sifted through the items I’d swiped from the box—two gas masks and the container of red and green pills. I held up the plastic bottle. “Maybe this will help.”
“What are those?” He winced as someone slammed against the door.
The pills slid up the side of the bottle as I rolled it in my palm. “Swiped them from Rosenbaum’s place. I found a box with a Red Door label.”
“Are you crazy? You have no idea what those pill do.” He took the capsules from me.
“I saw bottles of the red pills on the shelves in the clothing store.” I reached back into my bag to remove another container. “I swiped one.”
“You’re incredible.” He moved away from his guard position, knelt beside me, and kissed my forehead. Maybe he finally trusted the lock.
“I know.” I pointed to the label that surrounded the bottle in a flowery script of reds and pinks. “To ensure the special one in your life’s heart remains undivided.” I unscrewed the top and held one of the capsules between my thumb and forefinger. “Some kind of love potion?”
“If I wanted you to fall in love with me, do I take the pill, or do you?”
I glared at him.
“Not that I’d ever do that to you.” He screwed the lid onto the red capsules and stuffed the bottle back in the pocket of my bag. “Just curious.”
“I’m not sure.” I removed the two green pills from the other container. “But the green capsules might help us.” Before he could stop me, I popped one in my mouth and turned on the sink, cupping my hands to drink the water.
Carter clutched my arm. “What did you do that for?”
“We need something to protect us from Athena.” I wiped my mouth on my sleeve. “Based on what I’ve seen and heard so far, this woman has everyone enraptured. If the red capsules make us fall in love, the green must do the opposite. At least, that’s my guess.”
“Your guess? And what if you collapse and die?” Carter touched my shoulder.
“Then, you don’t take the green pill.”
A pounding sound echoed through the door again. Being so focused on the capsules, we hadn’t noticed that it had died down.
“Open up!” A man shouted. “In the name of Athena, open up!”
I held the other green capsule out to Carter.
The crowd parted, like the Red Sea, as Carter and I exited the bathroom, hands on our heads, and guns jabbed into our sides. Brek stood at the front of the crowd, another guard grasping his elbow. I stared at my best friend, but he refrained from eye contact. His eyes appeared glazed, like I’d just woken him from a deep sleep, and he still looked goofy as hell in his high waters.
One of the guards stepped forward. He wore puffy pantaloons assembled in red and pink stripes. His top was pale pink with bright red suspenders, and his hat matched his pants with a ginormous, red feather reaching at least two feet above him. “My dear Rushians. Today, our peaceful, orderly way of life has been disrupted by these strangers.” He pointed in our direction, as if the crowd didn’t already know who he was talking about. “They are being sentenced for showing affection to someone other than Athena and thus, breaking her heart.”
Many in the crowd broke into tears, hugging others nearby.
“We’ll see to it that they are justly punished.” The guard nodded to the men holding us.
What did he mean by justly punished? We were dragged through the atrium to jeers, raised fists, and swearing. Something wet sprayed across my cheek and trickled down to my jawline. I turned to the woman who spit on me. I glared into her red eyes and tried to yank free from the guard.
“No, you don’t,” the man grunted as he forced me back.
Brek kept his eyes averted as we passed him, his hands clenched into fists by his side. What had they done to him when we were in the bathroom?
Yanking on my guard’s arm, I grasped for Brek’s shirt. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
Beefcake pulled me from Brek and against his chest. “If you try to get away again, I’ll have to resort to other measures.”
I mumbled a few obscenities under my breath as he hauled me through a doorway. It was another long, red hallway like the one we’d entered through, but this one was lined with candlelight and trimmed with pink gossamer strung through red hoops. I glanced at Carter, who obeyed every order, being the upstanding citizen in the group. I’d hoped his civil disobedience would have transferred beyond our world.
The corridor sloped upward and eventually led to a grand staircase unlike anything I’d ever seen. The lights and gossamer followed the trail. The stairs were made of a red stone speckled with bits of silver and gold. I stopped to take in the massive height of the structure, just catching a glimpse of a ruby red door at the top.
“I said, keep moving!” My guard barked the order before something heavy hit my head and the world around me disappeared into a black abyss.
4
The back of my head throbbed. I rolled to my side, keeping my eyes shut. A song I vaguely remembered ran through my head on repeat. I moved my hand to touch the surface below me. My skin slid a
long a silky fabric unlike anything that had ever graced my twin bed at home.
My eyes shot open. I was alone. The room around me was like a themed suite I’d seen in photos of tacky places in Vegas or the Poconos. A thin layer of pink gossamer blurred my vision, but I could tell the walls were covered in red heart wallpaper. I twisted to my side, and the mattress moved with me. The waterbed was giant and heart shaped. Pink, shag carpet covered the floor from wall to wall. The music I’d heard earlier played from a speaker on an end table.
But all of the ambience—the bed, the music, the God-awful gossamer, was not the worst part of the décor. On every wall was a giant, framed picture of the same woman used as the model for the mannequins. I got off the bed to inspect the painting of Athena in a ball gown. Her dark hair was swept up inside her golden crown perched on top of her head. The crown and the red chiffon dress were breathtaking, but that’s where the beauty ended.
Athena appeared to be over fifty years old with crow’s feet lining her eyes. A gigantic wart protruded out of her upper lip, and her teeth hadn’t seen a dentist in years. Dirt caked her skin and was prominent in a painting in which it was obvious the artist spent a lot of time on the details. Thick ankles stuck into red heels rounded out the bizarre ensemble.
On the opposite wall was a picture of the same woman in an itty-bitty teeny-weeny, red polka-dot bikini. She lounged on a beach like a super model on the front of Sports Illustrated. Her skin was burnt and dark hair covered her legs. Now, I was all pro having a healthy body image, especially since I was built like a twig, but this? I just about gagged. This woman had really let herself go.
I jumped out of bed and pulled on the door handle. It was locked. Where was Carter?
As I resigned myself to lie on the bed, becoming one with the waves, and squeezed my eyes shut to block out the horrific world around me, the door opened.
One of the guards blocked the entryway, a spear across his chest. “Athena requests an audience with you.”
I marched down the hallway with the guard’s spear touching my back. We climbed a staircase that spiraled above. It was a surreal experience. Cheesy love songs I’d never heard before were piped throughout our entire march.
The woman in charge sat on a massive throne. At least ten beautiful women flowed around her, dancing, bringing food and drink, and providing her gazes of longing. Like her image in the paintings, the real-life queen was a mess of tangle hair and breadcrumbs. Her teeth were just as rotted in person. The stench of body odor penetrated the room, making my stomach wretch. How could these people stand being around her? On top of her hair was the golden crown. And in the center of the crown was the red jewel.
“You may approach and kiss my hand.” The ear-piercing demand left Athena’s lips as she held her gloved appendage in front of her.
The guard poked me in the back with his spear, so I hurried up the stairs, breathed through my mouth instead of my nose, and quickly kissed her glove.
“Why are you just standing there?” She waved her hands in front of her face. “Gush over me.” Her eyes were daggers that appeared to be shooting directly for my heart.
“Um… it’s nice to meet you, your highness.” I gave an awkward courtesy and retreated down a couple of the stairs. What else was I supposed to say?
Athena stood up, and the women attending her backed away. She stepped towards me. “Those who do not adore me only have one use.” She brushed imaginary dirt off her sleeve. “To breed others who will adore me.”
“Excuse me?” What kind of sick place was this?
“You heard me, creature.” Athena plopped back down, picked up a cookie, and shoved it into her pie hole. “Bring me a man.” Her mouth was wide open as she demolished the cookie.
My own mouth hung open as the guards dragged a hooded figure into the room. His brown cape blocked his face. They threw him to the ground in front of Athena. When he pushed himself up from the floor, I caught a glimpse of the man’s face—Tyran. He was like a big brother to me and engaged to Shaol. This was not going to happen. She’d have to kill me first.
“You.” She barked the words. “I need you to breed with this filthy creature. Perhaps the child will come out halfway decent.”
Horror crossed Tyran’s face as he scrambled to his feet and looked down on me. He spit on the floor. “No, my sweet Athena. My heart belongs to you. How could I possibly make love to anyone but the woman of my dreams? Please, throw me back into my dungeon, where I can spend my days pining after you but don’t make me partake in such a salacious act.” He’d crawled up the stairs and was groveling at her feet.
It was a spell. This woman held her people captive with a love potion and now she had Tyran. Why was I immune to her? It had to be the pills, which meant that Carter was also immune. But Brek didn’t take a capsule…
“I’ll do it.” Carter stepped out of the shadows and into the light of the lanterns that illuminated the throne area. His wrists were bound in handcuffs. A guard yanked him back, but Carter said, “I’m no good to you. I’d rather be with a bloated eel. You’re one ugly woman.”
She grunted and scrunched up her eyes. “Do you know this girl?” Athena raised a painted-on eyebrow at him.
“They were apprehended together in the mall.” The guard beside Carter clasped his arm tighter. He pushed him closer to the throne. “Locked themselves in the bathroom to avoid arrest. There was a third, but he’s being cooperative.”
Cooperative? What did that mean? Was Brek under her spell?
“Very well.” She waved us off. “They’re no good to me otherwise. If this disobedience wears off, bring them back to me.” She raked her eyes over Carter. “Especially that one.”
Three of the guards marched us back to the room with the heart-shaped bed. One of the men stayed in the room, slamming the bottom of his spear down on the floor.
Carter let out a nervous laugh, the two of us standing in the middle of the room, not quite sure what to do with ourselves.
“A little privacy please?” I plopped down on the bed and began untying my sneakers. “If it means our lives, it’s kind of obvious that we’re going to do this.”
The guard grumbled and exited. I’m sure he stood on the other side of the door with his ear to the wood.
“You don’t have to do this.” Carter sat down next to me. “It’s not like I haven’t been dreaming about this for weeks, but not like this.”
“What? The giant posters of Athena don’t turn you on?” I set my shoes to the side of the bed. “She doesn’t make you melt into molten lava?”
He leaned closer to me, his dark eyes searching my face. “Yeah… no. But there’s someone else in this room that does that to me.”
Now my insides turned into molten lava, but Brek and Tyran were still out there, and at least one of them had a serious thing for Athena. “As much as I’d love to have another make-out session with you, we have to find the guys and snatch the red gem. She’s wearing it on her head.”
He flopped back on the bed, his hair encircling his face. I wanted to reach out and touch him but kept my hands to myself.
“You sure know how to make a guy feel good.” He lifted himself back up. “But you’re right. The less time we have behind the Red Door, the better.”
I stared at the poster of Athena with the ball gown flowing to the ground. “She’s got a hold on these people, and the capsules we took somehow make us immune. What could it be? A love potion in the water or the air… an injection… a spell?”
“It could be those things, but how does she direct the affections to her? A spell might work if she were a sorceress.” Carter tented his hands in front of him. “Do you think we need to break the spell to get Tyran back?”
“We’ve got to figure out something because we took the only two capsules.” I opened my backpack and removed the plastic bottle. “It has to be the red capsules.”
Carter stood up and inspected the poster of Athena closer. “What’s this?” He slipped a piece of p
aper out from behind the poster and unfolded it. His eyes scanned it. “Love is patient. Love is kind. It is not boastful or rude.” The paper was ripped in half. “I think that’s a Bible verse. Someone read it at my cousin’s wedding.”
“It is a verse.” I snatched the paper out of his hand. “It’s from Corinthians. But why did someone hide it behind the poster?”
A door on the opposite side of the room cracked open, and a man poked his head out from behind it. Carter backed up against the wall next to me and removed a knife from his coat pocket. He held it up in front of us as the man slid further into the room.
“Come with me,” he whispered and sank back into the shadows. The man didn’t seem to salivate over the Athena posters in the room, so maybe he could be trusted, and at the moment, it was our only way out of our dungeon of pleasure.
Carter took the lead, still holding his weapon in front of him. Behind the door was a staircase with stone walls leading up into a turret. The man checked to see if we followed him before ascending the stairs. He made quick work of the climb, leaving me out of breath by the time we reached the top.
“No one will bother us up here.” He searched through a cabinet and pulled out two scrolls of paper. “I’m Aric, Queen Athena’s potion master.”
I stared at the man who looked like he could be a history teacher at my high school. He had dark skin, hair cut neatly, and a clean face. On his nose, he wore black-rimmed glasses as he peered at the words on the scrolls he had rolled out on the table. Three tables ran along the center or the room piled high with papers, books, and beakers. There was a desk near the wall and a door at the far end of the room.
“Are you in love with her?” The question had to be asked. I stayed close to the door in case he’d betray us.
The Red Door Page 3
