Demon Bound

by Chris Cannon

  “Not a bad idea.”

  The farther we drove out of town, the worse the road became, and there were puddles everywhere. The roadside run-off ditches were half full.

  Jake’s truck bounced in the ruts that must have been made worse by the rain. “I feel bad about the road.”

  “It wasn’t in great shape to begin with,” Jake said. “And there have been plenty of rain storms you weren’t responsible for.”

  That made me feel better. “True.”

  “Do you feel anything magical now?” Jake asked.

  “Let me see.” I closed my eyes and concentrated. Nothing. “Since we’re in the truck, I can’t feel the sun. If my magic has to do with the elements, maybe I have to be touching the earth to make anything happen.” I followed this line of logic. “Maybe I don’t create the power; I just manipulate what is already present in nature. Like with the storm. I kind of helped it along and made it grow.”

  Jake snorted. “I was afraid you were going to make it hail.”

  “That would have been…painful.”

  Jake swerved to miss a pothole full of water. “Speaking of magic, wait until you see the house. It’s glamoured to look old and broken down, but it’s really nice.”

  “Interesting.” The road smoothed out and narrowed. Trees lined both sides, creating shade. “It is pretty out here.”

  “Middle of nowhere kind of pretty,” Jake said. “Which makes it kind of spooky.”

  “Yeah, you can’t have pizza delivered out here, that’s for sure.”

  He smiled. “Definitely not a place I want to live. No pizza delivery, no deal.”

  Something dashed in front of the truck.

  Jake hit the brakes and then everything moved in slow motion. The truck skidded sideways off the road and into a tree. Glass shattered and bit into my skin. Metal crunched on Jake’s side of the truck. I slammed into him and bounced back off. Then everything stopped.

  I did a quick assessment of myself. There was pain, but nothing seemed broken.

  “Jake?” He lay forward across the steering wheel. Blood gushed from a cut on his forehead. That was okay. Head wounds bled a lot. Someone had told me that once. A lot of blood didn’t always mean a bad injury. “Jake? Can you hear me?”

  He didn’t move. Was he unconscious? I touched his face. “Jake?”

  Slowly he opened his eyes.

  “Thank God. Can you sit up?”

  He pushed back and wiped at the blood seeping down his forehead. He looked at the tree, which now seemed to be part of the truck. “I think…I think my legs are stuck.”

  I swallowed the panic that was bubbling inside of me. “I’ll call 911.”

  “Maybe if I shift around.” He put his hand on the seat like he was going to move and then he stopped and looked down. There was a puddle of blood on the seat between us. None of it was mine.

  “That’s not good.” He gave a raspy laugh.

  “It’s going to be okay.” My voice shook on every word. “We need a phone.”

  I couldn’t see mine. Jake’s was on the floorboard by my feet. I unhooked my seat belt and leaned over to grab it and fire stabbed me in the side. My breath whooshed out and I froze. Must be a rib issue. No big deal. I gritted my teeth and grabbed Jake’s phone.

  I dialed 911 and told them where we were. I hung up and smiled at Jake who seemed paler than he had a moment ago. “They’re on their way.”

  “Meena, I don’t think I can wait that long.” The puddle of blood had expanded. Rivulets were overflowing and running onto the floor.

  Jake was going to bleed out. The ambulance wouldn’t make it in time. I didn’t know any healing magic. Still I closed my eyes and tried to feel some sort of connection with the earth or some sort of power. Nothing happened. There was only one thing I could do. “I’m calling Bane.”

  “No,” Jake bit out. “No deals.”

  “You’re going to die before anyone can help us!” I knew yelling at an injured person was wrong, but he had to see reason. “I love you, Jake. I do. So it’s okay. I’ll make a deal.”

  “No.” He grabbed my hand. “If I wanted a deal I’d make one. Call Sybil. Her number is in my phone.”

  “You don’t mean that.”

  “Yes. I do. Call Sybil,” Jake said. “That way we both get to live. This is my choice.”

  “It’s a stupid choice. Bane can fix you.”

  “Sybil,” he repeated. “Please.”

  Shit. Shit. Shit. I found Sybil’s name and pressed the screen.

  “Hello, Ja—”

  “We crashed. Jake is dying. We need you now. We’re on the road to your sister’s house.”

  “I’m coming.” Thirty seconds later, Sybil appeared by the car. She yanked my door open. I scrambled out clutching my side. She took my place.

  “Oh, Jake.” She touched his face “This is not how I wanted you to choose.”

  “Do it,” he said.

  “Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll take care of you.”

  Sybil bit her own wrist and then pressed it to his mouth. She stroked his hair. “It’s going to be okay.”

  “Can you get him out of there?” I asked.

  “I want to stop the bleeding first, and then I’ll move him,” Sybil said in a kinder voice than she’d ever used with me, which meant Jake was in trouble.

  I put my hand over my mouth to stifle a sob.

  “That’s better,” Sybil said. “Now I’m going to move the truck.”

  She climbed out. I tried to see Jake’s face, to say something to him, but his eyes were closed.

  Sybil used her vampire strength to shove the truck away from the tree. There was the sound of ripping metal and then the driver side door came off the truck and hung half embedded in the tree. Everything about this seemed surreal. Maybe it wasn’t really happening. Maybe I was asleep and dreaming.

  Sybil lifted Jake from the truck.

  “Don’t leave,” I shouted at her.

  She turned to me. “I’ll take good care of him. I promise.”

  I heard sirens in the distance. My vision went kind of swimmy. “Jake.” I stumbled over to Sybil and grabbed his arm. “Jake, can you hear me?”

  “The blood takes time to work,” Sybil said. “I need to go before the ambulance gets here and they try to take him to the hospital. I didn’t bring a daylight ring for him. I need to take him back to my sister’s house. Now.” She took off at vampire speed.

  Was she lying to me? I didn’t know. I stifled a sob as I watched another person I loved slip away from me.

  …

  Jake

  Everything hurt. Why did everything hurt? Something in my arm snapped into place. Son of a…had I dislocated my shoulder? Was I at the hospital?

  Something about the truck flashed in my mind…the truck…a tree…and Meena. Where was Meena? It felt like I was trying to claw my way out of a hole. I heard a voice making soothing sounds, but it wasn’t the voice I wanted to hear.

  I worked at opening my eyes. The room was dim. “Wha?” was all I managed to say.

  “Jake, it’s Sybil. Just rest. Let the blood do its work.”

  Blood? What was she talking about?

  “You were bleeding out,” she said. “It was the only way to save you.”

  Fragmented memories tumbled around in my brain like big foam dice. Images of Meena crying…saying she loved me…saying she’d make a deal with Bane. Meena crying…not wanting to call Sybil…not wanting me to become…holy shit…I was going to become a vampire.

  “How long?” I asked.

  “You’ve been out for two hours.” She stroked my face. “I thought I was going to lose you.”

  “Meena?”

  “At the hospital with a couple of broken ribs.” Sybil grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “But she’s going
to be okay.”

  “Good.” I held on to her hand like she was my tether. “Thank you.” Then I drifted off again.

  Sometime later, I heard a clock ticking. I knew where I was. I was at Sybil’s sister’s house. And I was a vampire. That thought made me laugh.

  “Is someone finally awake?” Sybil said from the corner of the room where she was sitting in a rocking chair.

  “Yes.” I sat up. “And the pain is gone.”

  “Good.”

  I looked down at myself. My shirt and pants were crusty with dried blood. My dried blood to be exact. That was disturbing. “Have any clean clothes I can borrow?”

  “Zelda is parked in the kitchen, refusing to leave until she sees you. She brought you clean clothes.” Sybil pointed to a grocery bag on the dresser.

  Relief washed over me. Not about the clothes, but about the fact that Aunt Zelda still wanted to see me. I climbed out of bed. “Which way is the shower?”

  “Down the hall to the left.”

  “Thanks.” I kept saying it, but it didn’t seem like enough. I owed Sybil my life. Not sure how to handle that, I made use of the shower and changed into clean clothes. My reflection in the mirror made me do a double take. Fangs. I had fangs. In theory, I knew that I was now a vampire and of course vampires had fangs, but thinking about it and actually seeing two big pointy teeth sticking out of your mouth was a whole other thing.

  Once I was presentable I headed downstairs to the kitchen. Aunt Zelda sat in a chair, ramrod straight like she was determined to deal with something head on. Was that good or bad?

  As soon as she saw me, she came toward me with tears running down her cheeks and outstretched arms. “It’s going to be all right, Jake. This doesn’t change anything.”

  “I’m sorry,” was the only thing I managed to get out before she wrapped me in a hug. I could smell the peppermint tea she liked to drink and the Dawn dish soap she used in the kitchen. Drowning all of that out was the sound of blood pulsing through her veins.

  I gave her a tight squeeze and then backed up a step. She reached out to touch my cheek. “Given a choice between a deal with Bane or living life with a daylight ring, I think you made the right decision.”

  I remembered the conversation we’d had about Casey becoming a vampire and that the idea of drinking blood had sounded disgusting. I guess the joke was on me. I knew Zelda cared about me, but part of her had to be repulsed by the whole thing.

  “Let’s go sit on the porch,” Sybil suggested.

  We went outside, and the smells caught me off guard: grass, soil, manure, and woodsmoke filled the air. I steadied myself on the porch railing.

  “It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?” Sybil said.

  I nodded.

  “I brought you a few more things I thought you might need.” Aunt Zelda passed me a ring.

  I slid it on my pointer finger. “Is this a daylight ring?”

  “Yes. Carol made it for you.”

  She held out my phone. I saw there were several texts from Meena. And I had no idea what to say to her.

  “Call her,” Zelda said.

  I wasn’t ready to deal with that yet. “Tell her I’m okay but I need some time to adjust.”

  “I’m sure you do.” Aunt Zelda put her hands on her hips like she was going to lecture me. “I’ll give you a few days to adjust to your new circumstances, and then you’re moving back home.”

  I wasn’t sure about that, but I nodded anyway. “Thanks for coming to check on me and for bringing me the ring. Tell Meena…” I had no idea what to say to her. “Tell her I’ll call her once I have this under control.”

  “Walk me to my car.”

  I followed her down the steps to her Oldsmobile.

  She opened her car door and then she turned to me. “I’m sure you feel indebted to Sybil, but that doesn’t mean you have to cut Meena out of your life.”

  Right. “I doubt she wants me in her life anymore.”

  “Please. She tried to walk out of the emergency room to come see you. She was going to drive with two broken ribs just so she could see how you were doing. The only reason she stayed in the hospital is because I told her I’d check on you. Do not underestimate that girl or her feelings for you.”

  “What if I’m not the same person anymore?” I asked.

  “You can be whoever you want to be. Casey still works at the ice cream store, doesn’t she?” She pointed at my mouth. “Learn how to glamour your fangs and get on with your life.”

  My eyes burned. I wasn’t sure I could say anything, so I just nodded.

  Zelda drove away, and I headed back up to the porch swing and sat next to Sybil.

  She pushed the swing with one foot and had the other leg curled up underneath her. She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt and she could have been any normal girl. “What do you think about Aunt Zelda’s advice?”

  “I think you need to feed and adjust to your new vampire strength and senses and learn how to glamour your teeth and then you can decide what you want to do with your life.”

  I noticed she didn’t say anything about Meena. “What’s the first lesson in Vampire 101?”

  A truck came down the road toward the house. “First lesson is feeding. Here come some of my friends.”

  The truck parked and a man and a woman climbed out. They were in their twenties.

  “Smell the air,” Sybil said. “Vampire or human?”

  “Human?” I said, even though I wasn’t entirely sure.

  “You get a C. She’s a vampire. He’s a human.”

  It might not seem politically correct, but I was not biting a dude.

  Sybil laughed. “You should see the look on your face. Don’t worry, more friends are coming.”

  The couple came up and introductions were made. Another car full of people arrived. Violet was with them. She came up to me with a grin on her face. “So…what do you think?”

  “I’m grateful to be alive.” And that was the truth. I needed to figure out how to blend this new existence with my old life. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I checked and saw a text from Meena. I shoved it back in my pocket without reading it. There was only so much I could deal with at one time.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Meena

  The pain medicine they’d given me for my broken ribs didn’t dull the pain in my heart. “Why won’t he answer me?” I asked Sage for the tenth time as I lay curled up on the couch with Marshmallow and Pumpkin.

  “Zelda said he’ll call when he’s ready. He was literally turned into another species less than forty-eight hours ago,” Sage said. “Give the poor boy time to adjust.”

  “Sure.” I blew my nose for the thousandth time. “I’ll sit here and wait while Sybil shoves her cleavage in his face and tells him how much he owes her for saving his life.”

  Sage gave me a you-should-be-ashamed-of-yourself look.

  “What? You don’t think she’s going to take advantage of this situation?”

  “Meena, she saved his life. He might need her guidance for a while but that doesn’t mean he’s going to fall in love with her.”

  “I’m not talking about love.” I grabbed another tissue and folded it over and over again. “I’m talking about lust.”

  “The boy wore llama pajamas for you,” Sage said. “I doubt he’s going to forget about you overnight.”

  “You’re right. He did. And for less than twenty-four hours I had something good in my life. Despite working for Bane, and dealing with my deeply depressed father, not to mention the brief and painful reunion with my mom, I had one good thing in my life…someone who loved me enough to wear llama pajamas and hold me all night while I slept. And then poof…one truck crash later and he slid through my fingers, just like my mom.”

  “Have you ever heard that old standard, don’t assume you know what is goi
ng on, because it makes an ass out of u and me?”

  “That’s stupid.”

  “I didn’t make it up,” Sage said. “I’m passing it along, and it’s surprisingly accurate.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Don’t assume you know what’s going on between Jake and Sybil. Wait and see. Give him a chance to show you his true character before you paint him as weak-willed.”

  “Fine.” I grabbed a tissue and blew my nose again.

  I heard my dad’s car pull up the drive. He came in through the front door and gave me a tight smile. “Hey, kiddo. How are you feeling?”

  I tried to put on a brave face. “The pain meds are working.”

  He pointed at the mound of used tissues I’d accumulated on the coffee table. “And those?”

  “That’s the my-mom’s-memorial-is-tomorrow-and-my-boyfriend-almost-died-in-front-of-me debris.”

  “One of those is bad enough.” He came and sat by me. “I want to keep the memorial small. Just us and a few close friends.”

  “Good idea,” I said. “I don’t want false sympathy from the people who gossiped about her.”

  “You are wise beyond your years.” My dad stood and headed down the hall without asking about Jake.

  Once I knew that he was out of earshot, I said, “I’d like Jake to come to the memorial.”

  “Then you should invite him,” Sage recommended.

  It wasn’t that simple. “I’m not sure my dad will want him there… He seemed pretty prejudiced about vampires the last time I brought them up.”

  “He didn’t want your mom to come back as one. That doesn’t mean he’ll have a problem with Jake. The only way you’ll know is if you ask him.”

  I grabbed my mound of tissues and carried them into the kitchen trash can. Movement made me a little woozy. “These pain pills are messing with my head.”

  “Maybe you need to eat,” Sage said. “Sit and I’ll make you something.”

  “Thank you.”

  When my dad came out of his room, Sage was serving up a family sized ham and cheese omelet.

  “Hungry?” he asked my dad.

  “No, but that smells good and I can’t remember the last time I ate.” My dad sat and accepted the plate Sage gave him. He sighed and then dug in.