by Rue Volley
I turned and looked at her.
“Lily,” I said.
She turned and smiled.
“Thank you… I was lonely,” she said.
I bit my lip, and she walked out the door.
I turned back to the mirror, and then I heard someone yell downstairs. It was Mia, and I walked to the door and down the stairs as quickly as I could. Mia stood in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips, looking pissy. I crinkled my eyebrows and looked at Josh, who stood there staring her down.
“It is a no go,” he said.
“You suck!” she yelled at him, as she ran from the room and into Kai’s room.
She slammed the door, and I looked back at Josh.
“What happened?” I said.
Josh turned to me, ready to tell me all about it, and he stood there with his mouth open.
I blinked, and he grinned at me.
“Nice,” he said.
I looked down and Lily walked down the stairs behind me.
“She looks amazing, as I knew she would,” she said, as she touched my shoulder and walked past me.
I looked at her and back to Josh.
“Lily picked it out, but I love it,” I said.
“You make me want to do… stuff…” he said.
I tilted my head.
“All kinds of bad things?” I asked him.
He laughed, and I walked into the living room and took a seat.
I sat down, and the skirt went up. I pressed it down in the middle and grinned.
“Ooops,” I said.
Lily walked back up to me and smiled, as she handed me some shoes. I looked at them and smiled. They looked like old Victorian shoes, like a previous version of my black boots, only they had buttons all up the front, with little clasps. I took them from her hands and nodded.
“You should do this for a living,” I said to her.
“I kind of did,” she said, as she smiled and sat down on the chair across from me.
“Only all the clothes I acquired came from the meal I had the previous night.”
I looked at the shoes and frowned.
“Oh no… not these, love, I purchased these… They are new, just for you,” she said.
I let my face relax and looked at Josh.
“Why was Mia all crappy?” I asked him.
“Because I told her she is staying here tonight.”
“You are not her Dad,” I said.
He laughed and walked up the stairs.
I looked at Lily, and she smiled.
“Mia is young, and as most rogues feel, we tend to protect the fledglings,” she said.
“Is that why Josh is all goofy about her?” I asked.
Lily smiled and touched my hand. I pulled it out from under hers, and she sighed. We both looked up when Sam came out; looking like nothing I had ever seen from her. The dress she wore hugged her curves and stopped at her knee. It was green and black, with crisscrossing laced pieces over both of her shoulders.
She looked so pretty I stood up.
She stared at me and placed her hands on her hips.
“Don’t laugh,” she said.
I shook my head ‘no’.
“Sam… no, you look awesome; you really do,” I said.
She placed a small hat on her head to the side and pulled the netting down over her face. She really looked like a bombshell beauty from the 40’s, the kind of girl that would be painted on the side of a b-52 bomber. Kai stepped out in a suit, and I placed my hand over my mouth. I never ever thought that I would see him dressed up. He had cleaned up. His hair looked nice; his clothes perfect. He even had a vest on, and I almost fainted.
“Holy crap,” I said.
Kai tilted his head and grinned at me.
“I know… I look hot,” he said.
I smiled and heard a door open upstairs. I looked at Sam, and she grinned.
“I am going to warn you now… Josh cleans up really good,” she said, as she winked at me.
I stood there and interlaced my fingers, as I waited… I kind of feel like the guy standing in the entryway, waiting for his girl to come down the stairs for prom. Not like I ever did prom, really. I mean, going with Sara does not count as a real date, and sitting at a table and waiting for it to be over is not the magical night that people always talk about. I stopped thinking about randomness when I saw his shoes first, and then he walked down the stairs. I started at his feet and looked all the way up…O…M…G.
Josh stopped at the bottom of the stairs and pulled his white shirt out of his suit jacket. I wanted to say anything, but babble would have come out, so I opted to keep my mouth shut. He stood there in his suit, black and perfect… a white shirt, vest, and boots, black and shiny. Sounds simple I know, but on him it was a hottie cocktail that I wanted to ahhh… you know.
His hair was still falling in his face, but the sides of his hair looked shorter. It spiked up a little on the sides, like he actually used something in it. I had to admit; he got ready so fast and looks so good, I was jealous. But he was naturally pretty, and unfortunately he knew it. I just thought that a suit would not make him even hotter, but there he was… standing across from me, and all I can think about is getting this dress off. He looked at me and grinned. Canine teeth peeking out and I smiled back. I couldn’t help it.
I mean, come on!
Josh looked me up and down and touched his hair.
I took a breath, and Kai sneezed and covered his mouth.
“Sorry,” he said.
I smiled and looked around the room.
“Where is Theo?” I asked.
“He is staying here, to babysit,” Josh said.
“Okay, are we all done...? We need to go,” Sam said, as she looked around the room.
Josh sighed and looked up at me.
“You all go outside; I need a minute with Rue,” he said.
I stood there and looked over at my shoes on the floor.
“Oh! I gotta put my shoes on,” I said.
Sam, Kai, and Lily walked to the door and out onto the porch. I sat there on the couch and started to put my new favorite boots, in the entire world, on. Josh stepped up to me, and I looked at his shoes. He sat down next to me and pulled my feet up, and started to do all the small buttons up the front of them. I watched his fingers as he did each one, slowly. I know that he could do the flashy thing and have it done in a snap, but he was taking his time on purpose. I stared at his face and touched his hair, pushing it over a little, and he peeked up at me.
“What is it?” I asked him.
He sighed and continued to fasten my buttons on my shoes.
“I wanted to say that I remember,” he said.
I looked at him and crinkled my eyebrows.
He looked up and kept messing with my buttons.
“Remember what?” I asked him.
“When you stepped out from the shadows and looked at me, the first time I came to this house.”
“Oh…” I said, as I looked at my shoes.
“I just wanted to say that I am sorry,” he said.
I looked back up at him and grinned.
“You took my memory… I remember,” I said.
“I had no right to do that,” he said.
“Joshua Barrington, are you really sorry?” I asked him.
He kept fussing with my buttons, and I placed my hand on his.
He stopped and looked up at me.
“I am,” he said.
“I am telling everyone,” I said.
He raised his eyebrows and smiled.
“You wouldn’t.” he said, as he laughed.
“I so will,” I said, as I nodded.
He grabbed my sides and tickled me.
I squealed, and he stopped.
He looked down at his hands and opened them up.
“I just… I stopped using words a long time ago,” he said; then he looked at me. “But, you make me want to talk, about everything,”
I placed my hand on hi
s face and grinned.
“Do you want me to get you a dictionary; so you can brush up?” I asked him.
“You are a brat, Rue Volley… but my brat, and for that I am glad,” he said.
“And you are mine,” I said.
He hugged me, no grabby boobie stuff, and no intention. I held him there, on the couch… thinking about all the things that had happened over the last four years of my life… since he entered it. He let me go and sat back, placing his hand on my face.
I stared into his eyes and smiled, without showing my teeth.
“God, that dress makes your boobs look awesome,” he said.
I sighed and hit him upside the head, and he laughed.
“Let’s go kick some demon ass, you turd,” I said as I stood up.
He stood up beside me and looked down my dress.
“I mean… I have seen a lot of boobie, and you got em all beat,” he said.
“Shut up, Josh.”
He walked to the door and opened it up for me, as he laughed.
I stopped and looked back at my home.
Our home, all of us… I hope that it wouldn’t be the last time that I would see it.
***
Johnathan sat there on the floor. The door flew open, and Jonah slid across the floor past him. He stood up quickly, as he heard laughter, and watched the door slam shut. Johnathan tilted his head as Jonah pushed himself up and looked around the room.
“Jonah...? Is that really you?” he asked him.
Jonah brushed his coat off and sighed.
“The one and only,” he said.
Johnathan smiled and held his hands out.
“Dude… what is up with that crazy bitch?” he asked.
Jonah looked up at him and grinned.
“I killed her,” he said.
“What?” he said.
“Yes. It would seem that Lizzy’s body has been inhabited by a demon… by the name of Aiwass… a nasty little dick by the way, which I made possible,” he said.
Johnathan looked at him and shook his head.
“What happened?” Johnathan asked.
“Oh, well… Lizzy and I had a short lived fling and I bit her. I was hungry, and my passion got the better of me. I really had no intention of doing it,” he said.
“That’s great, Jonah.”
Jonah rubbed his neck and looked at him.
“Yes… it is a messy business,” he said.
“Messy...? You think?” Johnathan said crinkling his eyebrows.
“Listen to me… we have much bigger problems than discussing the beginning; we need to focus on the present,” he said.
“Yea… yea, you’re right,” Johnathan said, as he looked around the room.
Jonah stared at him and took a step towards him.
“What is that?” he asked.
Johnathan looked at him and narrowed his eyes.
“What is what?” he asked.
Jonah twisted his finger in the air and looked at him.
“Your skin looks pale, and your neck… is that a bite?” Jonah asked him.
Johnathan touched his neck and felt the cut.
“I don’t know; I think she may have bitten me,” he said.
“Oh, that is not good,” Jonah said.
Johnathan looked at him and shook his head.
“What...? Half the time that I have been with her, I haven’t even been awake!” he said.
“Are you itchy?” he asked him.
Johnathan grinned.
“No… why would I be itchy?”
Jonah looked at Johnathan’s crotch.
Johnathan looked down and held his hands out.
“What?” he asked.
“That demon is a carrier of many diseases,” he said.
“Oh, like I have been all humping on her!” Johnathan said.
Jonah smiled.
“On him… it is a him, not a her,” he said.
Johnathan looked at him and shook his head.
“Lizzy is a boy?” he asked.
“No. Lizzy is a girl, but the demon Aiwass is a boy, a lover of boys,” he said.
“Oh my god… he kissed me,” Johnathan said, as he looked around the room.
“Don’t get all flustered, for Christ sake… kissing a boy is like kissing a girl, if you close your eyes,” Jonah said, as he looked at his hands.
“No… I so don’t agree with that; it isn’t my thing, no offense.”
Jonah looked up at him and grinned.
“None taken,” He said.
Johnathan looked at him and grinned.
“You don’t have any binding, Jonah,” he said.
“There is none needed, this whole house is bound to trap protectors.”
He looked at the binding on Johnathan’s foot and back up at him.
“I am surprised that he bound you.”
Johnathan looked down and back up at him.
“He is a sadistic dick; I think he did it to just mess with me.”
“Perhaps,” Jonah said, as he tilted his head at him.
“What?” Johnathan asked.
“The binding on you is for demons, Johnathan, not a protector.”
Johnathan laughed.
“I am a protector, not a demon,” he said.
“Mmm,” Jonah said.
“Oh come on! If I was demon, I would know it, right? I would be eating people and killing everything around me.”
“Not necessarily,” Jonah said.
The door flew open, and Lizzy strolled in and smiled at the two of them.
She threw two bags on the floor, and they slid up to each of them.
“It is time to get dressed; our guests are coming,” Lizzy said.
Johnathan looked at her and shook his head.
“I am not doing this,” he said.
Lizzy floated to him, as the tips of her shoes screeched across the floor making a nails on the chalkboard sound. Jonah gritted his teeth. She stopped in Johnathan’s face and grinned.
“Get dressed, or I will dress you,” she said.
Johnathan looked at Jonah, and Jonah nodded to him.
Johnathan looked back at her and rolled his eyes.
“Fine,” he said.
Lizzy smiled and tilted her head.
It turned all the way around, and she continued to grin at Jonah.
“You are lucky to be alive,” she said.
Jonah cleared his throat.
“I am still at a loss as to why you let me live, Lizzy,” he said.
Lizzy moved towards him and turned her head all the way around, as her body turned. Jonah stood up straight and stared at her. Lizzy stopped in his face and looked him over.
“You smell like bait,” she said, as she punctuated the word ‘bait.’
“No… no Lizzy, don’t,” he said.
She smiled, and her teeth yellowed.
“Call me by my name, dear Jonah,” she hissed.
“Aiwass, Lily has nothing to do with this,” he said.
“Oh, you think that this is about your whore of a sister?” he asked, as Lizzy’s face turned white and black cracks appeared.
“All I can guess is that your intentions are bad ones,” Jonah said, as Aiwass leaned up in his face and licked him.
“You taste like defeat,” he hissed, and then backed up and clapped his hands together.
“Well, since we are in our last hours… I will share. I am feeling generous,” Aiwass said, as he levitated off the floor and looked at Jonah.
“You see, this is a joyous occasion, a true party… I am going to end the monkeys reign, once and for all,” he said.
“The humans?” Jonah asked.
Aiwass laughed and held his stomach.
He stopped quickly and stared him down, as his eyes rolled to black.
“No… you and all like you,” Aiwass said.
Jonah looked at Johnathan.
“You intend to kill all protectors.”
“Oh no… much better than that! I
am going for the big cheese, the one who created you and the cockroaches like you,” he said.
“The creator,” Johnathan said.
Aiwass snapped his fingers and looked at Johnathan.
“You are quick… you really are,” he said.
Johnathan looked at Jonah and raised his eyebrows.
“Listen to me Aiwass, the creator will not reveal himself to you, even if you intend to kill us all,” Jonah said.
“No… you are wrong. He will… he has to. Because tonight young Johnathan turns 21, and when he does, the fireworks start,” Aiwass said.
“Wait, it’s not my birthday,” Johnathan said.
Aiwass laughed.
“Oh, but you are wrong. You were born as the clock struck midnight on Halloween, my love… I should know; I had you,” Aiwass said.
Johnathan looked at his hands, then at Jonah.
Jonah stepped back and looked at the two of them.
“What Jonah...? You look ill,” Aiwass said to him, as he lowered to the ground and held out his hand.
“You are lying; you have to be lying,” Johnathan muttered.
Aiwass looked at him and clicked his tongue, as he shook his head.
“I know… you want to hug me; I can feel it. The truth is, I felt a slight ache for you before Caine and I hid you away in this little hole of a town… It must have been Lizzy, for she pops up every now and then and makes me sniffle,” Aiwass said.
Jonah tried to make his energy collect in his hands and nothing happened.
Aiwass looked at him and smiled.
“You have no power, for I have doused this house in protection, from the measly light you carry… In fact, as they pass through the door, all your little friends will be surprised to find that they are weak… as it should be,” he said.
“Aiwass, I swear to god, if you harm Lily, I will…”
“YOU… WILL… WHAT?”
Aiwass screamed out so loud that the walls vibrated, and both Jonah and Johnathan covered their ears.
Jonah hissed, as blood ran from his ears and over his fingers.
Aiwass’s face softened and he tilted his head.
“Oh, I am sorry for that… I really am. I have to work on that,” he said.
Aiwass stood there and tapped his head.
“Okay…so, get dressed, and we go to the party of the year. You really should feel honored, Jonah, that I am allowing you to see it… It will be glorious.”
“I can’t…I can’t believe it,” Johnathan said, as he lowered to the ground and looked at his hands.