Being Ruby

by Brandi Bell

  Ruby,

  That club you went to was spelled. I came to in the middle of a dance floor with Liam and Elias acting drugged. Felix was on the floor, dead to the world. I managed to snap them out of it and get everyone out of there, but I have been sleeping all day. We went down to get food and creepy eyes was watching. We still couldn’t spot him though.

  Love,

  Jade

  Well damn. I was tired too, but the show must go on. I texted the guys but no one answered. I texted Grady, and he explained that they had slept all day as well.

  I started banging on their doors, and once they were all up we went to the venue for our final performance in Florida.

  Once we hit the stage, I knew it wasn’t going to be the performance we normally put on, but we gave it our best shot. Thankfully the crowd was still pumped to hear us, and we managed to make it through the entire set without falling over.

  In the backstage room, it was a different story. Grady was the only one with the energy to really mingle. The rest of us sat there using all of our energy to keep our eyes open. Fuck, I wanted to sleep.

  We left the venue and I asked the guys on the way out if we could leave town. We took a vote, and all decided it was best to leave in case stalker guy was a Florida native.

  We got to the hotel, packed our bags up, and loaded up the bus to leave. I didn’t even have the energy to find a meal, so I went to the bedroom, laid down, and I was out.

  Chapter 6

  Someone was shaking my shoulder and I slowly opened my eyes. I was still exhausted. I looked around and we were still on the bus.

  “Ruby, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to wake you at all,” Felix said.

  “Why? I normally wake up on my own at dusk,” I countered.

  “It’s past midnight. You need to get ready to break this spell.”

  “Huh?”

  “Read the note Jade wrote you and then come to the front,” he said, then left the room.

  I took the note and read it.

  Ruby,

  So in order to break the spell Mom said you were the one who had to do it since you were the one who had it placed on you. Go stand in the ocean for twenty minutes. Make sure your entire body gets wet. That’s all, but don’t come out before twenty minutes.

  Love,

  Jade

  I crumpled up her letter and threw it. She was such a know it all sometimes, and it drove me crazy. I put on one of my sexier swim suits and went to the front of the bus.

  The guys were all in their board shorts ready to get in the water. Liam was sitting on the couch and looked really sick. I was worried he wouldn’t be able to walk to the water. Apparently Felix and Elias had the same thought since one took each side of him to help him walk.

  We made it down to the ocean and hung out in the waves. I felt stupid just standing there, and began to wonder if Jade wasn’t putting me on. I sank under the water until I was fully submerged, the others doing the same. I stayed under as long as I could, then came up gasping for breath.

  It felt like we had been out there forever when Grady shouted, “Ten minutes, you’re halfway through.”

  “Thanks,” Elias answered.

  “This is taking forever,” I whined.

  I glanced at Liam, and his color had begun to return. Damn, I had to suck it up for his sake. I moved over to where he stood and hugged him around the waist.

  “If this is helping you, I’ll quit whining, but I don’t have to like it,” I told him.

  He just grinned at me and returned my hug.

  Finally, Grady called out it was twenty minutes, so we made it to the shore. It was then it dawned on me I wasn’t as tired anymore. I still wanted to crawl in bed, but I didn’t feel like I would fall asleep standing up.

  When we made it inside the bus, we each took turns in the shower, to get the salt water off of our skin. Once we had all finished, we piled in the bed in the bedroom and took a long nap.

  I woke up when the bus stopped moving. It was close to dawn so I woke the guys up to leave the bedroom, wrote Jade a note thanking her for saving Liam. That was hard to do, I hated saying thank you. Then I got her dressed in her lame ass clothes. I taped the note to my forehead then I laid down and the dawn came.

  Chapter 7

  There was a fucking piece of paper taped to my forehead when the sun had set. Jade was growing a pair, I didn’t like it. I pulled it off and read the note.

  Ruby,

  Damn girl, three guys? You are lucky. They seem to adore you. Glad the spell is broken.

  Love,

  Jade

  I rolled my eyes, I couldn’t believe it took her that long to figure it out. I got ready to go to the stadium, which was quick since we were dressing there tonight.

  Liam looked back to normal when I finally saw him in the sitting room, and I gave an inner sigh of relief. He was the one I worried about most, because he was the most fragile. Humans didn’t tend to last long in our world, but I’d be damned before I would let something happen to him.

  We arrived at the venue with plenty of time to get dressed for the show. The outfits the label picked for this venue were over the top, all leather and chains. I liked the look on me, but it looked odd on Liam and Grady. Both of them wore jeans and t-shirts on a normal basis. It was hard to see them dressed so differently.

  We took the stage and the crowd was lit. The front row was so into us, they were high on our music. I took it all in, feeding off of the energy, making me sing better and better. We lost ourselves to the music. We fed the crowd and they fed us right back.

  When the set was over, I was riding high on the euphoria of performing. This had to be my favorite show so far. I thought that Memphis was all about country and blues, but the crowd showed me they were into us too.

  In the backstage room, the band was still high on the performance as well. Everyone was mingling with the backstage passers, including Felix and myself.

  We were finally done at the venue and Grady spoke up, “You guys want to hit Beale Street?”

  “Hell yeah!” I replied.

  “Wait, Grady, you want to go out?” Liam questioned.

  “Well, yeah. How many times are we going to get the chance to party on Beale Street?” Grady replied.

  “Let’s go,” Felix said.

  Elias shrugged his shoulders and followed us.

  We arrived on Beale Street and went from bar to bar enjoying the Jazz and catching drinks along the way. This city knew how to lay on the entertainment.

  The drinks were plentiful, and somehow even being a vampire, I was getting drunker than normal. The night was passing in a blur. We danced and sang, and laughed. Grady was more fun than I had ever seen him be. He never once complained or asked to leave early.

  Elias checked the time and noticed it was past five in the morning. Felix and I quickly picked our meals, then we caught a cab back.

  We arrived back at the bus and we were all still hammered. I didn’t know Grady could loosen up, but I suspected he wasn’t as drunk as the rest of us. I barely had time to change clothes before the sun came up.

  I was still wearing Jade’s clothes when the sun set. I could feel their scratchy fibers on my skin. Ugh, she could’ve stripped naked instead.

  I got ready for the venue, I had on a hot red leather mini skirt, with a corset top, then went to the front of the bus. We walked over together. We had extra time before the show.

  I went into the bathroom and Felix followed me.

  “What are you doing?” I asked coyly.

  “You,” he stated, as his lips came crashing down on mine. He lifted me up and my legs wrapped around him. He slammed my back against the wall, and I moaned with pleasure. There was too much fabric between us, so I reached down and unbuttoned his pants. He held me up with one arm while he ripped my panties off then pulled out his large cock.

  He wasted no time filling me up, with one quick thrust. I moaned loudly, he took that as incentive to pound his cock hard into my
dripping wet pussy, the wall supporting me while he did. The angle he was positioned hit me at just the right spot, so it didn’t take long before I was fully gone, taking Felix with me.

  I cleaned up the best I could with toilet paper, then made sure I looked perfect before stepping out. It was minutes until show time. I stepped out on stage and felt that familiar rush of adrenaline that hit when I laid eyes on the crowd.

  All of the sudden, I felt creepy eyes on me again. It felt like he was right in the front row, but I couldn’t spot him. Damn it, I was tired of this asshole.

  I ignored the feeling and finished out the set before going backstage. A roadie had an envelope for me. I took it from him and opened it, what I read pissed me off.

  Ruby,

  I found you bitch. How dare you leave me in the alley like that? I know you really love me so I will forgive you. Ditch these losers and come home. I will be waiting.

  Forever yours

  Wow, this guy really was deluded. I crumpled up the letter and threw it in the trash can. I wasn’t about to let some idiot human stalker ruin my night.

  We hit the clubs, drank our drinks and danced. We heard whispers of a rave that sounded fun. We talked to one of the locals that was passing out the location and decided to go.

  We arrived at an old warehouse that had seen better days. There was a man at the door asking to see a flyer. I handed it over, he looked down at the flyer then back up at us several times.

  “Is he human?” he asked, then pointed at Liam.

  “Yeah, what’s the problem,” I asked.

  “You’re responsible for his safety in here,” he said, then opened the door.

  The warehouse had been transformed inside. It was lit by black lights, and the party goers were painted in fluorescent paints. The bar served drinks that lit up under the black lights as well. People were wearing flashing light jewelry, and a strange dust fell from the sky. I was instantly happy and wanted to get a drink and join the dancers.

  We made our way to the bar area, my guys all had goofy grins on their faces. The drinks all had strange names.

  “Surprise us,” I said.

  “This will be fun,” the bartender said with a shit eating grin.

  He returned with three pink drinks and a blue one. “The blue one is for the human, have fun,” he said, then laughed.

  We turned away from the bar and drank our drinks. It wasn’t long before I was tasting colors and seeing sounds. We danced and lost ourselves to the beat of the music. Everything was so pretty.

  “I love this place,” I yelled over to the music to the guys.

  “Me too,” Elias yelled back.

  Liam and Felix seemed to be lost in the music, more glitter dust fell from the ceiling. I was lost to the music again. Slowly exhaustion began to set in, and I felt like my body was made of lead.

  I glanced at my phone and we had to leave right then.

  “Come on guys, the sun is going to come up soon,” I yelled.

  “So?” Felix said with a goofy grin.

  “Dude! You fall asleep when the sun comes up!” I screamed at him.

  “Oh, shit right. I forgot,” he said, a little clarity returned to his eyes.

  I grabbed Elias as Felix grabbed Liam and we made our way to the door.

  We arrived at the bus shortly before dawn. I sat down and wrote a note to Jade to make sure she watched her back, and to let the guys know about the note I received from crazy stalker dude. Whoops, she’d have to deal with tempers.

  I taped the note to my forehead, and smiled as the sun came up.

  Chapter 8

  There was a piece of tape on my nose, I felt it and smelled the paper. Jade needed to learn her own tricks, she was so lame. I pulled the note off and read it.

  Ruby,

  The stalker guy is beginning to freak me out big time! Grady and I went out today, and at the last minute decided to go to the zoo. He showed up there. Not sure how he is following us or if he is using a tracking spell, but you need to keep your eyes open. We haven’t been able to find him yet.

  Love,

  Jade

  She was always so dramatic. The guys and I would figure this out. I got dressed for the show in St. Louis and headed out to talk to them. I was met with three sets of glaring eyes.

  “What the fuck, Ruby, we said no more secrets,” Elias growled at me.

  “Technically you said no more secrets, and I wasn’t keeping any. I told Jade to let you know, I just didn’t want to ruin our night over some lame stalker,” I replied.

  “You should’ve let us know yourself. I thought we were important to you,” Liam said with an intensity I’d never seen from him.

  “I do care about you, but I didn’t want you worried all night,” I tried to explain.

  “Can the crap, Ruby! You didn’t respect us enough to let us know what was happening. You don’t treat people you care about like that,” Felix said before he stomped off.

  We walked to the venue somberly. My guys didn’t even want to look at me. I really messed up. I thought about apologizing, but then decided fuck that. I told Jade to tell them, I wasn’t keeping secrets, they could fuck off.

  We did our set, it was ok, but you could tell the magic was off. I decided then that I had to apologize even though it hurt me to think of it. Before we went into the backstage pass area I pulled my guys aside.

  “Look, I fucked up ok. I do care and I make stupid mistakes. That’s part of what makes me, me. You can’t hate me forever. I will tell you anytime anything happens from stalker guy from now on instead of telling Jade to tell you,” I explained.

  “Is the mighty Ruby trying to apologize?” Liam teased.

  “I didn’t hear an apology in there,” Elias replied.

  “I don’t think she’s capable you guys,” Felix snarked.

  “Fine. I am sorry. Ok? I’m sorry,” I said.

  They all looked at me like I grew an extra head. That was the first time I had ever apologized in front of them. It’s the first time I could recall apologizing to anyone outside of my parents.

  We started walking towards the backstage pass room and a roadie stopped me with a letter again.

  “Hey, wait! Who gave this to you?” I demanded.

  “I dunno, some ugly guy, said it was important,” the roadie replied, then walked off.

  That pissed me off, but I managed not to attack the messenger. I opened the letter and let the guys read over my shoulder.

  Ruby,

  Why didn’t you come home? I told you to. You’re supposed to love me. I love you so much it hurts. I want to hurt those men that are keeping you from me. I will start hurting them soon if you don’t come to me. You have three days before I get angry, and you don’t want me angry. I just want to love you, why won’t you let me love you already.

  Yours forever

  Well shit. The stalker has gone from creepy to downright crazy. Elias cursed, and Felix looked like he was going to lose it.

  “Pull it together, we have to kiss ass to these fans, then we can lose it,” Liam said. He was always the voice of reason.

  We stepped into the room, I took my seat at the back and Felix followed me. Somehow Elias pulled it together and mingled well with the other two.

  Finally it was over and we went to the bus to talk.

  “We should let the label know about the stalker,” Grady suggested.

  “I agree, they can up security so this guy can’t get back stage anymore,” Liam said.

  “I’ll go get Chuck,” Felix offered, then took off out the door.

  “I didn’t smell anyone backstage that didn’t belong there,” I admitted.

  “Neither did I,” Elias stated.

  “So, what’s our plan?” Grady asked.

  “Wait for Chuck, then we will decide,” Liam answered.

  We waited in silence for Felix and Chuck to arrive.

  “What’s all this about?” Chuck asked, clearly annoyed we were making him work.

  “Th
ere have been two occasions, in two different cities now that someone has been able to get a letter backstage for Ruby,” Elias started.

  “I have a creepy stalker, these aren’t nice letters, they are threatening. And he has called me during the daytime at the hotel in Florida,” I lied, trying to explain the severity.

  “Why the hell didn’t you say something sooner!” Chuck yelled.

  “Because you don’t do your fucking job already,” Felix replied.

  “Well the label is going to be pissed off, and it’s my head on the chopping block,” Chuck grumbled.

  “If you were doing your job this asshole wouldn’t have been able to get these threats to Ruby in the first place,” Elias reminded him.

  “I’ll take care of it, stay on the bus tomorrow,” Chuck said before he stomped off.

  “Should we listen to him?” Liam asked.

  “I don’t care, it’s up to you guys,” I said, not wanting to upset them again so soon.

  “I wouldn’t mind staying in,” Felix said, then stretched.

  “I’m game for staying in,” Elias replied, then waggled his eyebrows.

  “Well, looks like you guys decided to listen, but I’ll let Jade decide if she is going to stay cooped up tomorrow. It’s not fair for her to be tied to your decisions,” Grady added.

  We watched movies in the sitting room. I let the guys decide, though they kept giving me strange looks when I didn’t offer my opinion.

  No one was in the mood to join me in the bedroom, so I stayed cuddled up between Elias and Liam until they were too tired to stay up any longer. Once they headed to bed, Felix and I cuddled until almost dawn.

  I went to the bedroom and wrote Jade a note about what had happened and let her know the label was increasing security. I even admitted to being worried, I couldn’t tell anyone else that part. When that was finished I wrapped the note around her cell phone, put pajamas on and laid down to wait on the sunrise.