Dance With The Devil

by Erin Trejo

  “Now give me this little guy,” I say, taking Julian from her arms. He’s the perfect little bundle. Ebony had a lot of issues after he was born. She couldn’t look at him for a long time but the new church she goes to helped her a lot. They showed her that he was a part of God and that this was God’s will all along. She lived through hell to give her son heaven. And so far, she has done just that.

  “Thanks for inviting me. I feel like I never get out of the house anymore,” she says with a genuine smile.

  “You are always welcome here,” I remind her. Kellin and I stayed in the apartment Lacrista had set up for us after we got out. It seemed like the perfect place for us, at least for the time being.

  “I don’t know that he’s too happy to see me,” she says, nodding at Kellin.

  “He’s still having a hard time adjusting to this little guy being his brother,” I say as I smile down at the little man. I stare at him, the blue eyes that remind me so much of Kellin’s. The same eyes that I saw in his father that made me sick. All I see now is a future, a happiness that only we can provide.

  “You look good with one of those in your arms.” A chill runs down my spine as I glance over my shoulder to see Kellin. I give him a sad smile that he notices before he spins me to face him. His hands come up to cup my cheeks, his warmth swarming through me.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “She needs you too, Kellin.”

  “She has you. She has her new church and him,” he says, nodding toward the baby.

  “He has a name, Kellin.” My teeth are gritted, and my jaw locked. I’m tired of him doing this to himself and everyone around him.

  “I can’t do this,” he mumbles.

  “Look at him! He looks just like you,” I hiss.

  “He isn’t mine, Rose!”

  “I know that, but he is your brother. Your real brother!”

  “What’s going on?” Lacrista steps up next to us. She has been the best thing that’s ever happened to us. Although she let us have our space, she is always around when we need her.

  “She’s forcing that child on me again.”

  “She’s trying to help,” Lacrista adds. Ebony walks over and takes the baby into her arms, but as her teary eyes come to meet Kellin’s, I know something is about to go down.

  “I hated him the whole time I was pregnant. I didn’t ask for this child and I didn’t want any part of him after we left there and yet, here he is. I had to face that reality, Kellin. I’m moving on and I’m sorry that you can’t see the good in him the way I can,” Ebony sobs.

  I move to grab her, but Kellin moves first. Something shifts in the air, a cloud of dust settling around us. He pulls Ebony into his arms and hugs her tightly.

  “I know you didn’t. Fuck, Ebony. You were like a sister to me.” My heart nearly breaks in my chest as I watch the two of them. Taking a step back, I walk into our room to change before we all go out. I made plans at a local restaurant for Kellin’s birthday. I wanted us all to have a normal night. A party that Kellin never had the pleasure of having. In the coven, birthdays were not celebrated the way normal people would. There was no cake, or candles, and the only gifts were the ones offered to Satan.

  As I pull the shirt over my head, I hear the door close behind me. His presence invades the room, sucking up all the air.

  “Do you know what today is?” he asks huskily. His hands land on my waist, heat coiling inside of me.

  “Your birthday,” I giggle.

  “Besides that. And I can tell you that this is the best gift I could have ever received,” he says, his lips caressing my ear lobe. I sigh and lean into his touch, his hand coming around to flatten on my stomach.

  “What is this gift you’re talking about?”

  “The tattoo, Rose.”

  “What tattoo?”

  “The one your back, right under your ribs,” he whispers, his voice causing me to shudder.

  “What about it?”

  “Rose, what’s today?” he asks again, this time his voice is a little sterner.

  “February first.”

  “And that tattoo said December twentieth.” I pull away from him with a gasp before turning to face him a smile tugging across my face.

  “I didn’t die.”

  “No, you didn’t. You’re here and you’re alive. You won, Rose,” he says, before pressing his lips to mine. When he pulls back, I squeal and throw myself into his waiting arms. Kellin laughs as he spins me around. I laugh and giggle, throwing my head back when he sets me on my feet.

  “We won, Kellin. We won!”

  “You won,” he reminds me. I shake my head, grab his face in my hands and kiss him roughly.

  “No. I would never have made it without you. We won, Kellin.”

  “We won, baby.”

  Our lives have been molded for us for a very long time. We were groomed to people that we weren’t really deep down inside. But molds are made to be broken and we are prime examples of that. No one can decide your fate but you.

  Moving my hips, I wrap my arms around Kellin’s neck as his hands move around my waist.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m having a dance with the devil.”

  The end.

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