by Alice Bell
But I thought of how I’d shoved Georgie and grabbed her ear. Worse, I’d told her she was a terrible teacher. I’d wanted to hurt her, like she had hurt me.
He stroked my hair. “You have to take care of yourself, Ruby. I mean it. Take your medication. Okay?”
Why did everyone know my personal business? I felt like I had ‘crazy’ stamped on my forehead.
“Promise me,” Devon said.
“I promise. Devon?”
“Yeah?”
“Why were you were hugging Scarlet’s mother?”
“She’s going to help me.”
“Help you what?” The air suddenly felt heavy, like the night I learned my mother had died.
“Help me get back.”
“Back to where?” I felt a tremor behind my eyelids.
“To where I belong.”
“That makes no sense,” my voice started to rise. “What—are you like…stupid ET? You have to phone home?”
“Please don’t cry.”
“I’m not crying. Listen to me. You can’t. Why do you want to leave?”
“It might not work, Ruby.”
“You’re lying,” I said. “You claim you don’t lie because you can’t feel anything but you do feel and you lie about it.”
He wiped my tears with his thumb. “It’s true. You make me feel things.”
“Then why? Why can’t we be happy together? I’m so tired of being alone. I can’t bear it anymore. Devon. Please. Please don’t leave me. Please…” I reached for him. Begging had never been beneath me.
His lips were on my neck.
“Take me with you,” I whispered.
36. Devon
EARLIER, BEFORE, I had caught Sarah at the bookstore as she was leaving. She stood on the sidewalk, struggling to adjust a satchel over her shoulder, while not letting go of a bag with short handles that looked like it would topple if left to its own devices.
I relieved her of the larger bag. It was canvas with a picture of a dolphin on it.
When I tried to give her manuscript back, she said, “Keep it. Don’t you want the reference?”
“Nope. It’s all up here,” I tapped my temple. “I have perfect recall. One of my special gifts.”
“How interesting,” she’d said, in the same way she’d effused over my name. She seemed to view me as an exciting discovery.
She had stuffed the manuscript in her bag then. I held it open.
“What’s the best part of your book?” I said.
She appraised me. “Let’s go to my place. I have some other books you should see. You can scan them and put the information in your computer,” she tapped her head, like I had done. “And I’ll tell you about the best part of my book.”
We got in a rusty old VW bug with no back seat. As she drove, Sarah told me she dabbled in witchcraft too. “Nothing fancy,” she said. The potions she concocted for people paid the bills with enough left over for her daughter’s college fund.
When we crossed the bridge, the car groaned and shuddered. I gritted my teeth. My seat (pushed as far back as it would go but not nearly far enough) had broken springs.
We drove past the city limits, slowing when we neared the place I recognized as Coffeen Sanitarium. The courtyard was lit up like a Christmas tree. The fountain cascaded the colors of the rainbow.
Sarah pulled to the side of the road. “That’s the best part,” she said.
“A psychiatric hospital?” I said.
“The tunnels under it,” she said. “There’s a portal down there. To the demon realm. I can’t prove it. I’m not going to try it out myself,” she cast a meaningful glance at me. “But I know it’s there.”
My heart thumped faster.
“I came across my first demon,” she said. “Years ago, through one of my customers. He wanted to ward off a woman who was stalking him. I suspected she was a demon. I started studying demonology which led me to the demon realm. There are only seven known portals in the whole world,” she turned to face me.
“A portal for each continent?” I guessed.
“Wrong,” she said. “There are two in Asia. None in Antarctica and none in South America. Two on this continent. Coffeen sits right on top of portal number seven. Can you believe it?”
“Where’s the other one?” I said, though I was pretty sure I knew the answer.
“Nicaragua,” she said.
When we had driven past the city limits and the sky opened and the desert stretched out, I got a funny feeling.
As soon as I saw the trailers, I remembered tracking Ruby’s cat and I thought of the gawky but pretty girl on the stoop. Ruby’s jealous accusations slid into place, like a piece of a puzzle. I figured the girl must be Sarah’s daughter. I wondered though, how Ruby got the idea I’d taken advantage of her?
I carried Sarah’s bag inside. The trailer was crammed with worn but expensive furniture and Victorian antiques that must have once graced an elegant home. Like Ruby’s house, books were everywhere.
Sarah puttered around, making tea and grumbling about her daughter leaving all the lights on. She ignored me for a while, compiling ornately decorated tomes on the Formica table.
I leaned against the counter. My head touched the ceiling. When she finally turned to me, I raised an eyebrow. “You want me to memorize all those books tonight? I’m not a speed reader, you know.”
She laughed. “I thought you possessed supernatural powers.”
The books had a lot of pictures, which was a relief. We looked at the portals around the world. Their entries were marked with drawings of deities, each with their own mythology. Sarah asked about my friend who had disappeared and I told her what had happened in Nicaragua, which led to a new batch of books.
The night wore on and I couldn’t steal any energy from Sarah. I got achy for Ruby. And of course, Sarah knew. She sucked in her breath. “You have a girlfriend,” she said, like she had just discovered I robbed banks for a living.
I shrugged her off. “Don’t worry. I got the part about how I could kill her and all that. I’ll be careful.”
“No. Nooo. You can’t just be careful. You have to sever all ties with her.”
We locked eyes. I shook my head. “I don’t think so…she’s the best thing to happen to me in a long time.” I realized it was true and I got the strangest feeling in the pit of my stomach, like sorrow.
Sarah’s chair scraped across the beat up linoleum. I watched her open a cupboard and push aside bottles filled with colorful liquids. Plastic baggies of dried herbs fell out onto the floor.
“Excuse me a moment,” she disappeared.
I listened to her footsteps hurrying into the back of the trailer. I thought of making a break for it. But I needed Sarah. After what seemed a long time, I heard her chanting in a strange language. The hairs on my neck prickled.
She came back and presented me with what looked like an aspirin.
“Are you a drug dealer too?” I said.
“It will erase her memory of you,” she said.
“Are you kidding? What if this got into the wrong hands and someone lost an eye or their frontal lobe? Jesus, I don’t want it. Here,” I thrust it at her. “Take it back.”
She refused.
I put the pill in my pocket, since Sarah was the only one who could get me into the portal. According to the books, the entry was strewn with the bones of those who had been denied access.
“The pill won’t have any effect unless it’s administered by you,” she said. “It also won’t work, if you don’t want it to.”
“Perfect,” I said. “Anything else?”
“Devon, you must remember. She’s your victim. You have to set her free. If you don’t, she’ll go insane.”
She was already half way there when I found her.
“You don’t understand,” I said.
“Oh, but I do,” Sarah said. “It’s your natural instinct to prey on the weak.”
* * *
Ruby slept in my arms. She didn�
��t wake when I got up.
I felt for the pill in my pocket. Did I have to use it? Wasn’t there another way? Gazing down at her, I noticed the bruise on her neck that I had given her. Sarah was right. I would only keep hurting Ruby.
But she was my sweet beautiful tragedy. I understood her pain. It was her vice of virtue. She felt too much. More than anything, I wanted to stay with her, so she wouldn’t ever have to be alone again.
According to Sarah, the portal couldn’t be opened until the new moon on Friday the thirteenth at the stroke of midnight, Pacific Standard Time. Ruby’s alarm clock said it was 5:01 a.m., Wednesday, the eleventh.
There’s still time.
I stripped off my jeans and shirt and crawled in beside Ruby. She murmured and pressed against me.
Through the partially opened curtains, I saw the gray dawn outside. I felt like sleeping for a long time and when I woke, I would feel like having sex, and I thought it would be nice to go on like that, for a few more nights.
I closed my eyes.
Ruby’s breathing was slow and even but I couldn’t relax. The numerals on the clock were too bright. I reached down and unplugged it. Then I got up and closed the curtains so the room went black.
That’s more like it, I thought, as I got back into bed.
37. Ruby
I WOKE to the sound of the phone ringing.
I struggled to open my eyes.
A second ago, I’d been spinning through space. Creatures of light surrounded me and the most comforting song came from the beating of their wings. But now, I was trapped under darkness.
I sat up, gasping and fumbling for a light. The phone kept ringing.
Something crashed to the floor. And something moved next to me in the bed. I screamed.
“Ruby!” a hand grabbed me.
I fell back on the pillows, my heart pounding. “Oh, God, Devon. You’re still here.” Joy coursed through my body, like sunshine.
He pulled me against him and nuzzled my neck. I moaned. Morning sex, I thought. This is what it’s like…
He unclasped my bra. I wriggled out of my slip. My underthings were swallowed by the covers.
His hands were everywhere. We were slow and languid, and fast and greedy.
We took breaks. Sweat cooled on my skin. I fell asleep and woke with him inside me. I gripped the sheets. He guided me onto my hands and knees. His strokes were softer and shorter. An alien sound came from deep in my throat.
We collapsed. My whole body quivered with pleasure.
At some point, I heard the phone again. The ringing wouldn’t stop and it got louder and louder until I thought my mind would explode. I felt for Devon, relieved to find him next to me. I swung my feet over the side of the bed. The floor was cold.
My bare foot hit something soft. I bent down and picked up my sweater. I put it on. It was all I could find to wear, in the dark. I pulled it down over my hips.
I went downstairs, confused by the darkness outside. I thought it must be morning but I had no idea what day it was.
You’re dreaming.
The porch light was on, casting a dim light through the kitchen window.
The answering machine blinked rapidly, as if it would burst with its urgent need to relay messages. I pressed play. “Wednesday, eight eighteen a.m.” the mechanized voice said, and then Mr. Stroop was talking. “Ruby? Where are you?” he paused, as if waiting for me to pick up. “Okay, then. I imagine we’ll hear from you soon. Hope everything is alright. I’ll send your class to the library.”
There were six more messages from Stroop. I hit skip every time I heard his voice.
What a nightmare.
“Thursday, six p.m.”
“Hey, Ruby? It’s Henry. Look, where are you? Everyone’s in an uproar. Give me a call as soon as you get this, okay? Seriously. I don’t care how late. We’re—I’m worried about you. Maybe I should just come over…”
I sighed and dragged myself up the stairs, back to Devon and my bed.
38. Devon
THERE WAS something outside. I sensed it. I was losing track of time again, like those endless nights on my way up from Central America. I glanced at Ruby in the bed. Her hair was ratted and her skin gleamed with sweat.
I stepped over her broken lamp on the floor and went to the window. I lifted the curtain to scan the dark yard.
A pair of headlights shone outside the gate. A man stood at the intercom. It must be broken, I thought, and found myself wondering if he would find his way inside. I remembered who he was. I could easily see his chiseled profile from my distant vantage point. Henry Thorne.
I watched as he poked around, reaching his hand through the gate, fumbling for a way to open it. I felt superior, thinking how I would have been in and out in seconds flat.
Henry stared at the house for a while and then reached in his pocket. Out came the cell phone. Downstairs, Ruby’s phone rang. Her machine picked up. I honed in. “Ruby. If you’re there, please…please pick up. Ruby? Are you there? Ruby?”
Christ, man. Give up.
“I’ve called all the hospitals. I’m calling the police now…” the machine clicked off.
Something in his voice cut through the fog in my head. I rubbed my eyes. I went to the bed and gazed down at Ruby. She lay there like a wilted flower. She had shadows around her eyes. Her lips were chapped.
I reached down and gripped her shoulder. “Ruby, wake up.”
She barely stirred but I could hear her heart beating. I sat on the edge of the bed and lifted her into my arms. “Devon,” she murmured in my ear. She laughed softly. The sound sent a chill down my spine.
You’re a monster, Devon.
I carried her into the bathroom and she giggled again, like she was drunk. “Stand up, now,” I said. She was wobbly on her feet. I had to balance her. I got us both into the shower. I soaped her skin and her hair. I couldn’t find any shampoo. She closed her eyes and her head lolled.
Fear raced through me.
I turned off the water and toweled her off. She tried to lie down on the floor. I pulled her up. These were our final moments together.
I was a hungry ghost.
I dressed and felt for the pill in my pocket. It was still there.
I grabbed a nightgown from the floor of her closet. It was black and satiny. I got her into it. She looked gorgeous with her hair wet, her skin still damp. I found a jar of lip gloss and applied the shiny balm to her lips. She smiled.
“Can we go back to bed now?” she said.
“No.” I carried her downstairs. I made her sit up at the table.
“I’m too tired,” she said.
I took the handset from the wall. I was methodical, doing what had to be done. I prayed it wasn’t too late. I gave her the phone. She held it, looking at me with her big blue eyes. Without make-up, her lashes were blonde and fragile. Tiny freckles dusted her skin.
“Listen to me Ruby. You remember your friend Henry?”
“He’s not my friend,” she said.
“I need you to call him. You know his number?”
She shook her head.
I took the phone. “Well, I want you to tell Henry that you’ve been very sick and ask him to come over. Okay?”
She didn’t answer. Her eyelids drooped. I pressed star-69 and got the number of the last incoming call. When the line started to ring, I handed the phone back to Ruby. I heard Henry answer.
“Henry?” she said.
“Ruby. Thank God. Where are you?”
“I’m at home. I—I’m…a wreck.”
“Hold on. I’m turning around. You still there?”
“I’m here,” she said.
“I’m on my way…”
I filled a glass with water and brought it to her with the pill. “Here,” I said. “I found an aspirin.” She took it without question.
I knelt at her feet and held her hands. I gazed into her eyes. They were the exact color of a bright blue sky.
“I’ll never forget you,” I s
aid.
She touched my cheek. “Oh, Devon. Don’t cry…”
About the Author
Alice Bell was born three minutes before midnight on January 19th in northern California. She's a triple Capricorn, destined to be dark. Long before she could read, she was irresistibly drawn to books. Somehow, she knew they would give her what she wanted most in life. She went on to graduate kindergarten with honors and figured she was done with school. She had the secret code now and could access magical worlds. What else was there?
Since her parents wouldn't let her stay home and read, eventually, she graduated from high school too, but not with honors. After working a series of odd jobs, including theft counseling, she decided to go back to school to see if she could earn a degree by reading, which resulted in a BA in English (though not an end to odd jobs).
Currently, she lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and their pets. She loves animals and nature and considers herself a romantic of the Wuthering Heights variety. Her greatest aspiration as a writer is to show beauty in dark places.
A Note from the Author
Thank you for reading Kiss the Stars. If you enjoyed it, I would be eternally grateful if you left a review. Leave a Review
If you would like to be informed about giveaways and the release of the next Devon Slaughter book, you can visit my Google Page: Alice Bell
Or visit my website for updates: alicebellwrites.com
Or write to me directly: [email protected]. I always love to hear from readers. Thank you again for your purchase and taking a chance on a new author.
Table of Contents
Part One
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Part Two
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18