by Brandi Bell
Becoming Ruby
Soul Twin Series
Brandi Bell
©Brandi Bell, 2018
Cover designer: Francesca Vance
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Dedication
I dedicate this book to everyone who helped make it happen. Thank you all so much!
Becoming Ruby
Imagine sharing everything with your sister, even your body. That’s my whole life. My name is Jade and during the day I am in charge of what happens, but when the sun goes down I become Ruby. Let’s just say she’s the wild one, and I have no idea where we will end up. Oh, and the only real way to tell us apart is our eyes.
Ruby does what she wants, when she wants to. Imagine waking up on a moving bus, with four hot guys. We soon learned we were all in for a crazy ride.
Contents
Prologue
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
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About Brandi Bell
Prologue
She walks up to him in the seedy bar, swaying her hips. He is totally captivated, losing track of everything else around him. She smiles coyly, which was all the incentive he needed to meet her half way. Without a word she leads him out the back door to the alley. She shoves him against the wall, and he can feel himself getting excited. She starts kissing his neck and then bites. He loses all control. It’s a mix of pleasure and pain. When he opens his eyes, she is gone. Who was that red eyed beauty, and what has she done to him?
That is my other half... Ruby. I was asleep when that happened and totally unaware at the time. I’m Jade, Ruby is my sister, and her soul shares the same body as me. When she has control I have no idea what is happening. She doesn’t know what is happening when I'm in control either. We are the result of a witch and a vampire falling in love. Normally, the two shouldn’t be able to have a child, but add in a bit of magic and boom, you get us. It resulted in one baby, but with the soul of a witch and the soul of a vampire. Not exactly what our parents were expecting. Our body is amazing as well. During the day it has the traits of a witch, and I'm able to go outside without any negative sun effects, eat food, and practice magic. At night Ruby can drink blood and has altered speed and strength.
The most peculiar trait to come from us is that our eyes change depending which one of us is in control. I have dark vivid green eyes, which is where my name came from. Ruby has bright red eyes. Our parents thought it would be funny to name us Jade and Ruby, because our last name is Stone. It was that first night my mother figured out what the price for their spell was. Ruby bit her instead of suckled. As we grew older, we discovered our body never needs to sleep. That allowed both of us to make full use of our time.
We are lucky though, our parents accepted us and rolled with having two daughters in the same body, and they treat us equally. Mom taught me magic and Dad taught Ruby the skills needed to make it as a vampire. In a way, I think we were the perfect child for them, with two of us to satisfy what each wanted from a child. They still love us equally though. Mom made time to do things with Ruby at night, while Dad would force himself to stay awake during the day to spend time with me.
Now that you have a bit of our back story, I think you'll be able to follow along with what I'm about to tell you.This is only my side of the events. I'll have to try and convince Ruby to write down her side later. Maybe reading my version of events will do it. Last year my life got really crazy because of Ruby and her lack of impulse control. Hopefully, you enjoy my story. It was a wild ride living it.
Chapter 1
It was sunrise so it was my turn to be awake. I walked to the kitchen and tripped over something. I landed hard on my knees and cursed Ruby under my breath. She’d left her dang boots in the middle of the floor again. She’s such a slob. I cleaned up after her, only because I couldn’t stand the mess.
I made it to the kitchen and made coffee, my one true love. I would be lost if someone took it away from me. When I finished my cup, I looked at my planner. I didn’t have anything going on that day, except running my store.
I owned a little occult store downtown for a living. I sold supplies witches needed. Things like tarot cards, spell supplies, and books made up most of my inventory. I also kept things on hand for humans that wanted to pretend they could do magic; there were always a few that came in. My parents helped me set it up since it would be hard to work for someone else with the body sharing.
I finished getting ready and cleaned up all of Ruby’s mess in the bathroom. She had makeup spread out across the vanity, and trash piled up with it. I don’t think she will ever learn to pick up after herself, no matter how many notes and letters I’ve written her.
The shop wasn’t busy, but stayed fairly steady that day. I glanced at the clock and it was almost six. I closed up the shop so I could eat dinner out, before it was Ruby’s turn to take over. Summer shortened her time out, so I tried not to be late if I could help it. With the shop locked up, I walked to my car, but didn’t pay enough attention to my surroundings.
“Bitch, what’d you think you were doing leading me on and walking off the other night?” A guy with a crazed look in his eye said as he grabbed my arm.
Ruby, what have you been doing at night? I wasn’t scared, one zap and he would let go. A second zap would send him running. The tough guys are all the same. I turned and looked at him to get ready to zap him. He was about five ten, had a bulbous nose, and an outdated bowl cut. Why would Ruby be interested in him?
“Shit, who are you? Are those color contacts?” He sounded confused then dropped my arm.
This was different, usually people aren’t very observant.
“No, my eyes have always been green, I think you have the wrong person. I’ve never met you. Now leave me alone before I have to force you to.”
“I’m sorry lady. This woman, she got into my head at the bar the other night. Then just left me in an alley. She had bright red eyes though. I would recognize them anywhere.”
“Again, I’m not her, so leave me alone.”
He walked off and I let out a breath that I didn’t realize I was holding. I wasn’t a fan of the adrenaline rush like Ruby was. Whenever I could, I avoided fight or flight situations.
I headed to my favorite little diner on my way home to eat a nice greasy burger and fries. After the incident with Ruby’s, well, whatever he was, I wanted comfort food, and a nice juicy burger was my favorite.
After eating I drove home. I only had twenty minutes until it was Ruby’s time to come out. I sat down and wrote her a quick note about the asshole who confronted me. I also wished her a happy birthday, and informed her of my plans, just in
case I was out later than I planned. Then I decided it would be nice of me to take a shower before I laid down. Now she wouldn’t have to when she got up. I laid down and was out.
I woke up with a start; something didn’t feel right. As I sat up and looked around, I realized I had no idea where I was. Ruby’s purse was laid on the ground next to the bed. She had planned this! My phone, her phone, and a letter to me were all in there. Thankfully no one else was in the room with me; that would have been awkward. Even more awkward than it already was anyway. I would have zapped anyone close to me. I opened the letter.
Jade,
I knew you would never agree to this if I had asked first. Sometimes forgiveness is easier to ask for than permission. I packed a bag of your lame clothes and called mom and told her to look after your lame shop after we were already gone. Sooo, get ready for an adventure girl!! Goddess knows you need one. I have been working with a band for the last six months and we just got a record contract and a tour!! It will be ok, a stipulation I had placed in the contract was I only performed after sunset so you won’t have to worry about that stage fright of yours. I know you’re probably pissed, but we'll owe more than we have if you try to back out. It’s only a six week tour and I’ll split half with you since you have done the same with the shop. Or more like because I have to because of the stupid binding agreement. You should thank mom and dad. Gawd our parents aren’t very trusting are they. Have fun on the ride.
Oh before I forget the drummer is Liam - the tall skinny dude. The bass player is Elias- he is the one with dark brown long hair. There are two guitarist, Felix, and Grady. Felix is the redhead and Grady is bald.
Good Luck
XOXO
What the heck! I couldn’t believe her nerve. Well I could, but I never thought she would go this far. I wondered how much these bandmates knew about her life; more specifically that she shares a body with me. It was just then I realized the room I was in was moving. I was so wrapped up in being pissed off, that I failed to notice this. Perfect, not only had she gotten me into all of this whatever you want to call it, but I'm already goddess knows where. I just sat there in shock for a few minutes, then grabbed my cell phone.
“Mom! Ruby hijacked us and signed up for some six week tour without even a word in advance!” I cried into the phone when mom answered.
“Calm down sweetie, if you get too upset your power can get out of control,” she warned me.
“I know but I'm on a bus, who knows where, with a bunch of strange men!”
“I got a call from her last night, and I’m upset too. I can’t tell you what to do, but if you come home she’ll probably just fight to go back and do what she wants or she will make your life a living hell until you do what she wanted in the first place.”
“I know, but it still isn’t fair for her to get what she wants, when she did it this way.”
“She has behaved somewhat until now, better than I expected honestly. I’ll run your shop for you, maybe try to enjoy this trip as a strange birthday present from Ruby? Oh, and happy birthday baby girl.”
“It still isn’t fair. She could’ve at least let me know she was in a band and this could happen. I need to plan, I don’t like surprises.”
“I know sweetie, but we all know you would have never agreed to going. It’s Ruby’s body too, I don’t agree with how she did it, but it’s already done so you can fight her or go with the flow.”
“Thanks Mom. I guess as long as you can take care of the shop I can’t think of anything that is keeping me from letting her finish this tour. Can you clean out my fridge too so the apartment doesn’t stink when we get home?”
“Of course sweetie. Call me if you need me.”
After I talked to mom, I didn’t feel a whole lot better, but at least I wasn’t ready to jump off the tour bus.Though the thought to hex the tour was still on my mind. I was still terrified of meeting these band mates of Ruby’s. The bag that Ruby packed for me was laying at the foot of the bed. Surprisingly, she did a good job packing what I preferred to wear, for the most part. She failed to pack my spell working supplies. I normally wouldn’t leave home without them. There had to be a shop somewhere on the tour that I could buy the basics, I thought to myself.
I got dressed and straightened my hair the best I could. Once I was presentable it was time to see what happened on the rest of the bus.
I left the bedroom and noticed that there were four bunks in the hallway. There was a shower on one side of the hallway. The bathroom was on the other side across from the shower. They were between my room and the bunks. I heard snoring coming from the bunks, so I tried to be quiet as I walked up the hallway. The thought of coffee sounded amazing. I hoped the kitchen was stocked with a coffee maker.
To my surprise, one of the guys was already there. He was tall, built solid, his head shaved bald, with gorgeous light green eyes. Dang it! Who did Ruby say that one was? Grady I thought. I took a chance and hoped I wasn’t wrong. “Good morning, Grady.”
“Nice to meet you, Jade,” he replied in his deep voice.
“Well that’s a relief, I didn’t know what you guys knew about us, or that there even was a you guys until I read a letter a few minutes ago. How much did Ruby tell you?”
He rubbed the back of his head,”Yeah, Ruby didn’t go about this all too well with any of us. She dropped the information about you and her sharing a body last night while we were getting set up to leave, and then she told us you didn’t know about this either. We were taking bets on if it was all a Ruby joke, to be honest. I know she’s a vampire, and she mentioned you’re a witch?”
“Yeah she has her own way about her. I’m a witch, I think Ruby and I are as different as you can get. It’s kinda ironic that we share a body, or maybe it’s a good thing we’re so different. I was honestly surprised to see anyone awake.”
“Most of the guys will sleep til noon, I’ve always been up with the sun, no matter how late I stay up,” Grady admitted. “Would you like a cup of coffee? I just made it.”
“You’re my hero! Coffee makes everything bearable!” I exclaimed excitedly.
Grady chuckled while he got another mug down and poured the beautiful brown liquid into it, “Creamer or sugar?”
“Nope, black coffee is great thanks.”
We took our coffee in the sitting area in front of the tiny kitchen area and sat and drank in silence.
I decided to break the silence. “So, I’m running off of very little information except I have to spend six weeks on tour with you guys. Where are we heading? What is your band called? What kind of music do you play?” I peppered him with quick questions.
“Whoa, slow down there lady. Right now we’re heading to Boston for a show tonight, then heading south to North Carolina. The band is called Mz Hyde. Now I get why Ruby pushed for that name. She’s like your real life Mz. Hyde. We play rock music, but not super heavy.” Grady patiently answered my questions.
“So what’s going to happen during the days? Am I going to be required to do anything? Are we going to stop anywhere that I can shop for…” I wondered not knowing how detailed I should get.
“Well, we’re going to be spending a lot of time traveling. We’ll be stopping in cities and will be able to explore during the day, so I’m sure one of us can take you shopping. As for anything you need to do, I suppose getting to know each other would be a good idea. This might sound silly, but in Boston I want to see Paul Revere’s Door. History, art, things like that interest me. ” Grady admitted while blushing.
“Me too! Would you mind if I sight see with you?” I asked, excited because I loved history.
“It’d be fine with me. We could also go shopping while we'll out.” He flashed a killer smile.
I was honestly shocked to see this big tough guy was interested in the same things I was. The saying, you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, was true in this case.
I decided to explore a bit and see what was offered on this fancy bus. I found a nice TV with a r
oku for streaming movies and a stereo system. The bus had wifi so that was a plus. It made me wonder if Ruby packed my Kindle, since I was the one stuck riding on the bus most of the time. I made my way back to the room and went through the bags, putting both of our clothes away at the same time. Mainly I did this so I didn’t have to deal with them lying about for the next six weeks.
At the bottom of her bag was my Kindle. I yipped in joy, then a tall skinny guy came barging through my door looking only half awake. Even though he was skinny, I could see the etching of a six pack on his unclothed stomach. He had short brown hair and deep brown eyes.
His face turned bright red, ”Uh sorry, I thought something was wrong. I shouldn’t have barged in. You really are Jade and not Ruby.”
“You must be Liam? I’m going off of one line descriptions in a letter from waking up here, so sorry if I’m wrong.”
“Yeah that’s me. We are learning Ruby is a wild card.” He said as he ran his hands through his hair.
“Yeah, Ruby marches to the beat of her own drum. She knew I wouldn’t have gone along with all of this. I guess you could also thank her for the trickery if this tour is important to you.”
“I guess there is that. I’ll go back to sleep and leave you be since you aren’t dying.” He teased shyly as he closed the door.
At least the band mates I had met were nice, and Grady was kinda hot. Ok, I thought Grady was really hot, especially after I found out he liked history and art. I wasn’t about to say anything though, six weeks in a small bus wasn’t the time for that.