Living Violet

by Jaime Reed

  I skimmed down the page, singling out random passages. The girl in me giggled over the corny dialogue and profession of undying love. Caleb never said anything that sweet to me. For a minute, I actually thought the book wasn’t that bad. If it could bring a smile to Alicia’s face and get her to read voluntarily, then there had to be some merit to it.

  That is, until John Adams’s wife walked by with her bonnet and apron, and peeked over my shoulder. “Oh, I love that book. Nicolas Damien is so hot!”

  “Isn’t he?” Alicia’s eyes swelled as if finding her missing soul mate.

  “I saw online that they’re turning Specter into a movie. Can you believe it? I’m so excited!” The woman bounced in her buckled shoes.

  Alicia’s mouth fell open. “No way!”

  “Oh yeah! Here, I’ll Google it.” The woman dug inside her petticoat and whipped out her BlackBerry.

  And with that, my momentary insanity ended. It was one thing for kids to bug out, but adults had no excuse for their mania. Handing Alicia the book, I went back to work, leaving the two ghost chasers to compare notes.

  At the main doors, I caught the feeling of someone watching me. The vibe had me looking over my shoulder toward the adjacent building. A man stood in front of a women’s clothing store, ogling me in candid fascination. He all but licked his chops as he stared, his lips pulled into a smile that I knew from anywhere.

  “Caleb?” I moved closer, trying to see his face clearly while weaving through foot traffic. The need to just touch him took top priority in my brain. Standing mere feet away, I just couldn’t get close enough. Before I could reach him, he was gone, leaving no trail to follow.

  Maybe he entered the department store without me noticing. But why would he stare me down only to run from me? Though miffed by his sudden flakiness, I didn’t give it much thought.

  At least, not until I saw Caleb ten seconds later, ringing up customers in the music department. Judging from the items shoved into the store bag, it was a lengthy transaction. I looked to the main doors, then to the music section, and did a double take. There was no way he could have passed me to get to his side of the store that quickly. I was sure the man who had been watching me was real, as was the unyielding need to go to him. The more I thought about it, the more that feeling drained from my memory.

  Rubbing my temples, I prayed for quitting time and some much-needed sleep. I must have been seeing things, but considering the man in question, not a whole lot surprised me anymore.

  19

  Nadine agreed to give Caleb some field practice, so the three of us went to a club in Norfolk.

  Only giving a week’s notice, I had to offer up my firstborn to get Robbie Ford to make me a fake ID. When I saw the results, it was well worth it. That little plastic time machine blasted me five years into the future. Twenty-two was a good age—not too old, but old enough to pass inspection.

  The club was an overpriced meat market with an uninspired emcee. The usual suspects were in attendance: the girls with the spray-on tans who did anything for attention and free drinks, the wannabe players who did nothing but hang in the corner with other guys, that chick who laughed way too loud, that old dude who swore he still had game, and that greasy guy at the bar with the open shirt, gold chain, and taco-meat chest hair.

  Navigating through the ocean of catcalls and dirty dancing, Nadine grabbed a table and went right to business. “Okay, Caleb, we start off with simple allure. You can control how much you use.”

  I sat across from Nadine and Caleb. “I thought it came naturally.”

  “Some. Just enough to turn heads, but not enough to turn someone into mindless zombie. That comes later.” Nadine scanned the bar area, searching for a willing donor.

  The pickings were a-plenty. I couldn’t grasp the full scope of desperation women had these days. These women just showered and came to the club. Never mind clothes—that would just slow them down. Wearing a tube dress and sandals, I looked like a nun.

  “There! See the brunette? Call her to you,” Nadine ordered. When Caleb rose from his seat, Nadine pushed him back down. “No, do it from here. Look at her and will her over.”

  “Can you really do that?” I asked.

  “Yes. The cool thing is so can you.” Nadine disclosed this tidbit with shifty eyes.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, you look at someone long enough, you get response. Never discount the eye contact. It’s vital to our power.”

  “Is it like mind control?”

  “In a way, yes. We deceive our prey. We don’t need beauty. With one look, we become who they desire most. He is everything she ever wanted and she must have him. And her body responds, becomes a slave.”

  That was the freakiest thing I’d ever heard in my life, and I’d never been more turned on. I could only imagine what it was like to become enslaved by one glance.

  “Now Caleb, keep your eyes on her. When she looks this way, reel her in.” Nadine coached, steering my attention back to our mission.

  Caleb did as instructed. The stare was so intense; I got sucked in from his peripheral. I redirected my focus on the brunette.

  In seconds, she clapped eyes with Caleb and slid off her stool in half the time. The woman was pretty, thin, and what most men were looking for, especially in a club. I felt a bit self-conscious, not to mention awkward about the situation. The feeling only grew stronger as she crossed the room. I wondered what she saw when she looked at him.

  Nadine leaned in toward Caleb and murmured, “Remember what I taught you. You do not need to pull directly from mouth; the energy around her body is enough. Just a taste.”

  When Nadine told me that she wanted to help Caleb feed, I was gung ho about it, really. But now there was something very Animal Planet about it. A sense of helpless curiosity overshadowed the need to act, like when a baby gazelle drowns in a river and no one helps, not even the camera crew.

  Notwithstanding the inexplicable sense of ownership I had toward Caleb. It was one thing to have women all over him. It stroked the ego to know that women want your man. It was another thing when he encouraged it. True, we hadn’t had the “relationship talk,” but neither of us felt it was necessary.

  So why did it still feel like cheating?

  The woman slid inside the booth next to Caleb, barely blinking for fear of losing sight of the deity that struck her dumb.

  “Hi, I’m Kelly.”

  He nodded. “Caleb.”

  Slinging her hair over her shoulder, she closed in on him. “I saw you looking at me across the room. I just had to come over.”

  My muscles tightened as Caleb whispered in the woman’s ear.

  When his mouth moved toward hers, Caleb’s eyes met mine and he froze.

  “Caleb, what’s wrong?” she asked.

  He looked away. “Nothing.”

  Not wanting to see any more, I slid out of the booth and made my way toward the bar. My mouth felt like cotton, and I would’ve paid serious money for a breath of fresh air. There were too many bodies, too much heavy breathing, too much music, too much energy, too much life to consume. Once I got the attention of the bartender, I ordered water to cool my fried nerves.

  I felt Caleb’s presence before he spoke.

  “Are you all right?”

  With my back to him, I said, “I’m fine, just thirsty.”

  His breath brushed across my neck. “You left your water at the table.”

  “That’s okay. I got another. Besides, it’s not good to leave your drink unattended. Someone might put drugs in it.” I nodded my thanks to the bartender when he set the glass in front of me. “So what happened to your little friend, Kelly?”

  “I ate her.”

  If Caleb was trying to provoke me, it worked. I almost knocked over my water. That statement held so many meanings, each more disturbing than the first. I took two strong pulls on my drink before asking, “Is she all right?”

  “Look to your left.”

  The words directed me
to the end of the bar. The brunette rocked back and forth with her head cradled in her hand. Anyone else would have attributed her sudden discomfort to alcohol, but I knew better.

  “Will you look at me?” Caleb asked.

  Slowly, I turned around. “Isn’t it dinnertime?”

  He let out a heavy sigh. “Sam.”

  “What?”

  “I shouldn’t have brought you here. I can’t put you through this.”

  “Put me through what? I’m okay.”

  “No, you’re not,” he argued. “You can’t understand what’s going on. This isn’t what I want, but I have to feed. It’s nothing personal. I don’t like this any more than you do. In fact, I dislike it more, which is why I’ve been fighting it all these years, and this is why I’m paying the price now. I’ve denied my spirit for too long, and I need to supply him with what he needs.”

  His explanation didn’t help at all. “Go ahead, Caleb. I’ll stay here.”

  “I’m not leaving you alone, so you can get that out of your head.” He reached out his hand. “Come back to the table.”

  I collected my water and took his hand. By the time we reached the table, a muscular man sat in the brunette’s place. Nadine leaned in, barely touching his lips when a white coil of mist pulled from the man’s mouth. When the man tried to deepen the kiss, she pushed him away. Staring off in a daze, the man scooted from the booth and disappeared into the crowd.

  Nadine sat back in the seat, basking in the afterglow of her intake. She swallowed a lungful of air and held it until the vein in her throat rose to the surface. With her eyes closed, she exhaled.

  “So, are you okay, Sam?” she asked, peering through parted lids. A bright sliver of green light shot from her eyes.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Good. Caleb, follow me. We will do a lap,” she said before Caleb could sit down.

  He paused. “A what?”

  “We will mingle and feed. The key is to take little from each person, like sample platter. When you nibble regularly, meals are not necessary and your spirit will not want. Since yours starves, you will do more laps tonight. I will join you this time, but the next, you go alone.”

  His head volleyed between me and the dance floor. “I don’t want to leave Sam.”

  I shooed him away. “Go on. I’ll be right here.”

  “You sure?”

  “It’s cool. I’ve got my mace.” I patted my purse. Planting a peck on my cheek, he faded into the mob of dancers. The separation gave me a moment to think. And I had some serious brain work to do.

  Caleb liked me, a lot, and he really didn’t want to do this. I had agreed to come along, knowing full well what would happen. But why was I jealous? Caleb and I weren’t a couple, not officially. And I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be if I’d have to deal with this on a regular basis. What kind of relationship was that? What if I walked in on him sucking face with some chick? I would lose my damn mind!

  The underscore of my soliloquy was this: I would never be enough for him. I could never sate him. Those negative thoughts corroded my inner peace until Nadine and Caleb returned to the table. Their little exhibition had left them exhilarated and oddly refreshed.

  “Well, that was fun.” Nadine fanned herself with a napkin.

  “I never felt so ... full,” he added.

  “Well, one more lap should do. Wait a while, then go back in,” Nadine advised.

  Caleb’s eyes beamed like a kid showing off his new toy. “It’s wonderful. I don’t kiss them to feed. All this time, I thought I had to pull the energy from the mouth.”

  “That’s good. At least now you won’t catch mono,” I mumbled.

  “How are you holding up?” He seemed on edge, perhaps waiting for me to go into hysterics and toss my drink in his face.

  “Great!” My response came out more chipper than expected.

  Caleb didn’t buy it for a second. “We can go home if you want. I know this is awkward for you.”

  “Naw. I’m good. Besides, I promised I’d help you train Capone, and I meant it. So I’m staying. All that matters is that you get better and no one else gets hurt.”

  “Thanks, Sam. You don’t know how much this means to me. I’m glad you’re here to support me.” He kissed my hand.

  When Caleb left our table, Nadine looked over at me. “You know he’s in love with you, right?”

  I looked around the club.

  Her eyes locked on mine. “You, Sam. You.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Well, let us see. He can have any woman he wants, yet he chooses to be with you and your crazy friends. He lets you boss him around. He cannot stop touching you. He told you his secret, an honor only given to potential spouses, and the whole time on dance floor, he wanted to come back to table. Now if this is not love, I do not know what is.”

  “Have you ever been in love?” I asked.

  “Yes. It was wonderful, painful experience and I enjoyed every second.”

  “What happened?”

  “We grew apart. Oh, and he was married.”

  I choked on my water. “Nadine!”

  “I never said I was saint, Sam. In fact, having demon inside me precludes nomination into sainthood.”

  I dabbed my chin with a napkin. “How long did you ... date?”

  “Two years.”

  “Two years?”

  “It’s in the past. I moved on and so has he. But we’re talking about you here. Caleb loves you. He may not say this, but he shows it. I’m still helping him with his feelings, but he needs you.”

  “I haven’t even kissed him—well, I haven’t really kissed him.”

  Nadine’s eyebrows rose. “You kid, right?”

  “It’s safer that way.”

  “For who?” she scoffed. “Why have you not kissed him?”

  “Because of Capone.”

  “What about him?”

  “If I kiss Caleb, Capone will feed off me.”

  Nadine stared at me as if I were insane. “If the spirit is appeased and not threatened, it has no reason to attack. Caleb explained recognition, yes?”

  I nodded.

  “This spirit feels what Caleb feels; it corresponds to it. If Caleb loves you, then you bring him joy. Joy produces most natural strain of energy. So of course Capone wants you around. You are meal ticket.”

  “I don’t want Capone feeding on me.”

  “That should be no problem if Capone is full.”

  “How can a spirit be full? Aren’t they supposed to be infinite?”

  “By itself, yes. This spirit is limited within the body it inhabits. That’s the cost of possession: cramped living quarters. I understand your fear; I would be scared too, but you must trust Caleb. He would never hurt you.”

  “It’s not Caleb I’m worried about.”

  “You’ll never know.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

  “What if you’re wrong?”

  “I take you straight to hospital.”

  “Nadine!”

  “Go on.” She nudged her head in the direction of the dance floor. “Make his day.”

  I slipped from the booth and steered through the crowd of sweaty dancers. It only took a moment to find him. He stood in a corner, sandwiched between two women who didn’t mind sharing. Applying Nadine’s teachings, I steadied my focus, barely blinking, and in no way faltering until he looked at me. In moments, his head turned in my direction. He pulled away from his company, ignoring the pleas and insistent tugs on his shirt.

  I didn’t move, nor did I have any intention of going to him. I simply withstood the fire in his eyes and predaceous method of his stride—a creature of carnal intent. In that instant, I was the only woman alive, the only one who mattered. Heads turned, envious eyes sized me up, lips tightened and curled, and I loved it.

  When he stopped in front of me, I placed a finger over his lips before he could say anything stupid to kill the mood. I threw caution to the wind. Mom’s horror stories and my own common sense
flew right out the window. Trapping his head in my hands, I pulled him down and kissed him.

  The next thing I remembered was lying on Caleb’s lap, while Nadine fanned my face with a napkin. It took a moment to absorb my surroundings. I was back at our booth with a pounding headache that kept in time with the music.

  “Oh thank God, she’s coming around. Oh good, very good.” Nadine stammered while checking my pulse. “It’s my fault. I talked her into it. If anything happened to you, I—”

  “It’s all right,” I said, reaching up to rub my face. “I was stupid enough to go through with it. Peer pressure: it can happen to anyone.”

  Cradling me in his arms, Caleb observed me with a pained expression, marking each of my movements as a grand event. “Sam, are you okay? How are you feeling?”

  After a few blinks, I no longer saw three of Caleb. “I’m fine. What happened?”

  “You passed out on the dance floor,” he said. “You scared me to death.”

  “Really? How long was I out?”

  “Five minutes,” Nadine answered.

  My body stiffened as the truth of the situation sunk in. “Am I going to have a heart attack?”

  He ran his fingers through my hair. “No. I didn’t take much.”

  I sat up straight. “What? You fed from me?”

  He looked flustered trying to find the right words. “I lost control for a second and—”

  I pushed away from him. “What, Caleb? How much did you take?”

  Nadine scooted from the booth. “Uh, I leave you to talk. I come back with orange juice. That should help.”

  When she left the table, I asked again, “How much did you take?”

  “Not much. Sam, I’m so sorry.”

  “You should be sorry. There I was, trying to open up to you, and your pet tries to eat me.”

  His warm hand stroked my cheek. “I appreciate the effort. I just need a bit more time, that’s all.”

  “Take all the time you want because it ain’t happening again.”

  “You say that now, but give it time. I’ll have to pull you off me,” he said, all smug and sure of himself.