Becoming Ruby

by Brandi Bell

  “Fine, I’ll try.”

  Then he was gone, that man didn’t like goodbyes apparently. Liam went to the car and drove it as close to the door as possible, while Elias carried Felix. I helped navigate him towards the exit. The doorman looked shocked to see us at the entrance.

  “I hope you enjoyed your time at The Time Warp. Do come again, you may never want to leave,” he said.

  As we walked through the exit, the chill of spell passed down my back once. I knew I was right, magic kept everyone entranced.

  Liam was waiting outside the door with the car. Elias dumped Felix in the back as I jumped in the front passenger seat. I looked at the odd assortment of cars in the parking lot. There were cars from the 70’s up until now. How long had everyone been in there I wondered. As we pulled out of the parking lot another strong spell crawled across my spine.

  “Seriously, you guys can’t feel that?” I said.

  “Feel what?” Elias asked.

  I looked back and it was an empty parking lot around a normal looking club. There was a spell on the parking lot, and one in the club, “I could feel the spells as soon as we crossed them.”

  “Maybe that’s why you broke us out of the trance, most witches probably turned the other way when they felt a spell in the parking lot.” Liam observed.

  “That sounds about right. I wouldn’t have wanted to go there. I would’ve told you there was a spell and find a different club” I admitted.

  Then under my breath I said, “Not that I have ever been to a club.”

  Elias started laughing in the backseat, damn his shifter hearing. “It’s ok, Jade, I have no desire to go to any club for a long, long time. My whole body is sore.”

  “Me too,” agreed Liam.

  The sun was fairly bright when we returned to the parking lot where the bus was. I got out first, and unlocked the door so Elias could get Felix inside quickly.

  I walked into the hotel and felt bone tired, the spell must have really drained both Ruby and me. I knocked on Grady’s door to let him know we were back. He scooped me into a bear hug as soon as the door opened. His eyes were bloodshot and he had a day old stubble on his face.

  “I thought that lunatic stalker got you, I was so scared, Jade,” he said in my hair, as he crushed me to him. “No location spells worked, I was frantic. I’m so glad you are safe. I don’t want to let you go.”

  “Shhhh, I’m right here, safe in your arms. It’s ok, Grady. You need to sleep. Do you want me to lie down with you for a little bit?”

  “Please stay, Jade.”

  “I just need to change out of these clothes. Give me a few minutes.”

  I walked across the hall to my room, Grady followed me. He sat on the sofa while I put yoga pants and an old t-shirt on. He was nodding off when I came back in the room.

  “Do you just want to sleep here?” I asked him with a yawn.

  “Umhum.” He mumbled and crawled into my bed, then wrapped his arms around me. For the first time I could remember, I fell asleep, and dreamed.

  I woke up later and the lighting in the room was different. Grady still had his arms wrapped around me, so I tried to quietly and carefully reach for my phone without waking him up. It was six in the evening. We had slept the day away, and it was kind of nice.

  Grady sat up and looked around confused until his eyes landed on me. There was a passion there that made my insides tighten. He grabbed me up in a hug again. “I really never want to let you go, but I know Ruby will be around before long. Thank you for laying with me when I slept, it was probably boring for you.”

  “Actually that spell zapped us so bad that I had to sleep too. It’s a first, I thought I was sleeping when Ruby took over but this was different,” I explained. “Let’s go eat a burger before Ruby is back.”

  We rode the elevator down to the hotel restaurant for a burger again. As soon as I hit the lobby I felt creepy eyes on my back again. I stopped moving and started glancing around. Over by the fountain was a guy hiding behind a newspaper, no didn’t feel right. I couldn’t find the source of my unease again.

  Grady glanced around as well, as he picked up on my immediate mood change, but there was nothing to find. I was frustrated at feeling so out of control that I wanted to turn around and go back to my room. Grady grabbed my hand and walked forward. He wasn’t going to let this jerk ruin our time together. I think that’s part of why I loved him. Wait I loved him? My feelings were growing stronger than I was ready for.

  We ordered our food and sat and chatted about trivial stuff, Grady tried to keep my mood as light as possible. Our food came and we ate in silence. I could still feel Mr. Creepy Eyes watching me, so I tried to act as unaffected as possible.

  We finished our food and I checked the time, “We need to get upstairs, I need to write Ruby and explain what happened, so she can be more careful.” I said, then muttered under my breath, “Yeah right.”

  I finished my letter shortly after we arrived upstairs and our body made the switch.

  My bed was moving, my eyes flipped open, and I was in my room on the bus. I looked around confused. I thought we had one more day in Orlando. I noticed all the stuff that had been in the hotel room dumped in a corner with a note laying on top. I sighed, still feeling bone tired.

  Jade,

  After the incident at the club the guys voted to leave a day early. They also thought it might confuse stalker dude. I slept all night too so whatever is draining us, is affecting both of us.

  XOXO

  Well that explained why we were moving. I put on comfy clothes again and went up front to see what was going on.

  “Here’s your coffee, baby,” Grady said, as he handed me a large cup.

  “Where are we?”

  “Heading to Atlanta, to go somewhere other than the next tour city for one day, after everything that has happened. We hoped it would give you a break from the stalker. Then our next show is in Memphis.”

  “Elvis here we come,” I said, raising my coffee cup.

  Grady rewarded me with a laugh. I started yawning again, “Sorry, but I’m still wiped from that spell Ruby was under. I think I’m going to sleep the day away again.”

  “Not until you eat, but it doesn’t surprise me. Everyone slept most of the day and most of the night and still haven’t gotten up. Whatever the spell did to you was some bad juju,” he explained. “I did some reading last night and sleeping off the effects is all you can do. Thankfully you weren’t under it longer. It’s almost a Venus fly trap. It lures people in, then feeds off of their emotions, and time stands still for them until they exit the spell, if they exit. Then time hits them all at once, and they're overwhelmed with the sensation.”

  He sat a stack of pancakes in front of me and my stomach rumbled in anticipation. “I guess I was hungrier than I thought.”

  “Eat and I’ll cuddle with you until you fall asleep if you like?”

  “Deal!” I said and started digging in. I finished my pancakes in record time, excited to be wrapped in Grady’s arms again, even if it was only to go to sleep.

  We went back to the bedroom. Once we were there I sat down feeling awkward, even though we slept next to each other the day before, this somehow felt different. He sat next to me and turned my head, then took my lips with his in a devouring kiss. It was hot and I felt my panties start to wet. I tried so hard to stifle the yawn that was threatening to appear, but I failed.

  Grady just chuckled, “Let’s get you to sleep, baby. We can resume this another time.”

  I was grateful he understood, but disappointed we had to quit, even though I could barely keep my eyes open. The last thing I remembered was feeling safe in Grady’s strong arms.

  Chapter 7

  I awoke with a start, this dreaming stuff was very different. Grady was gone, as I had expected. I decided to go through the bags in the corner and put everything away the best I could. When I finished that chore I checked my cell phone that I found in the process. A missed call from Mom, I had a
few hours before Ruby came back so I decided to go ahead and call her.

  “Jade, I was worried sick why didn’t you answer your phone!” my mother exclaimed.

  “Mom, Ruby went into a spelled club and it drained us. I was sleeping. Sorry, I can’t answer when I’m not awake.”

  “Jade, you haven’t slept since you were a baby. Are you sure you’re ok? Maybe you should just come home. We’ll find a way to pay the breach of contract.”

  “Mom, it’s fine. One of the band members is a witch, and he was researching it since he didn’t go to the club. They were only there one night til Ruby turned into me and I got us all out. The creepy stalker hasn’t reached out again, maybe the club was the wheel card.”

  “It doesn’t feel resolved, Jade, be careful at least. And call me tomorrow.”

  With that she hung up. She was really upset with me for not coming home, I can’t say I blamed her, but I was now committed to see everything I could before I went home to my simple life.

  There was a light knock on the door. “Come in,” I said.

  Elias poked his head in, “I’m running out for some Chinese food, would you want any?”

  “Yes, honey chicken with fried rice, no onions please.”

  “Got it, Jade, be back in a bit.” He shut the door after him.

  I decided it was time to be social, and went out to the sitting area. Liam and Grady were there. Liam sat on the couch looking very ragged, and Grady perused a book.

  Grady looked up and smiled when he saw me, “Hey, Jade, would you want to help me do additional research. I don’t like how bad Liam looks.”

  “Sure, hand over some books and I’ll dig in.”

  I started by reading the titles, After Effects of Curses, Spells Gone Wrong, and Magical Creatures Who Create Magic were the first ones I grabbed. Some odd title names, I chose the last one first, wondering about my thoughts on succubi and incubi. I read about their ability to cast certain spells that sound similar to what we experienced at The Time Warp. What we missed, was the spell isn’t the issue. There was a third spell that allowed them to remote feed from those who have been in the club. We needed to break that spell for me to quit sleeping and Liam to get better.

  I waved Grady over and showed him what I found. He agreed we were on the right path. The next step would be how to break the remote spell on all of us.

  Elias returned with the food, so over dinner we explained to him and Liam what I had found. They just stared at me like I lost my head.

  “Those aren’t real,” Elias said. “When have you ever met a succubus?”

  “People used to think witches, vampires, and shifters weren’t real. Maybe they just want to stay hidden since, you know, they feed off of people's emotions.”

  “It’s the best theory we have, we’ll see if we can break the spell they talk about in the book, and if that doesn’t work we'll move onto the next theory.” Grady said with confidence.

  When we finished eating, Grady and I grabbed the books he had with him and went back to my room to try to find something that would work. I asked him, “Should I call my mom and see if she has any advice?”

  “That’s a good idea, I’ll call mine too, four heads are better than two.”

  He stepped back out of the room to call her and I reluctantly dialed mine.

  “Jade, what happened, is everything ok?”

  “Everything is the same as it was when we talked earlier. Grady and I were looking through some books, trying to figure out why Ruby and I are both sleeping, and Liam looks like death. So I found an entry about succubus and incubus using magic like that club has, and using a remote feeding spell. Have you ever heard of anything like it? We need to figure out how to break the spell if that is what it is.”

  Mom was really quiet for a few seconds. “Honey, give me an hour and then I'll call you back.”

  She hung up and I was left feeling more confused than when I began. Grady came back in the room, the look on his face showed his mom wasn’t helpful, but I asked anyways.

  “No, she’s never heard of a spell of that nature but said she would go through anything she could find to help. She wasn’t too concerned when she learned I wasn’t under it though.”

  “My mom’s going to call back in a hour, so maybe she’ll have some help. How do you have room for so many books on the bus anyways?”

  “We have a trailer that follows us with clothes and belongings we wanted to bring. I thought you knew about it.”

  “What! Why didn’t Ruby pack my spell supplies? I could have had more clothes, and shoes. No fair.” I pouted.

  Grady shook his head, “Well it’s Ruby we’re talking about.”

  We sat down and started looking through books, to see if we could find something specifically related to remote feeding spells. There was nothing in there. My phone rang.

  “Jade, what I’m about to tell you needs to stay between you, me, and the witch that’s helping you. I want a binding promise from both of you.”

  “Let me put you on speakerphone Mom, hold on a sec.” I placed the phone on speaker phone. “Ok, Grady, can hear you now, go on.”

  “As I was telling Jade, I need a binding promise that the information I’m about to share with you won’t be shared with anyone else.”

  We quickly made the binding agreement, that meant if we tried to tell other people the information wouldn’t physically be able to be shared.

  “So when your Dad and I wanted to have a baby, it was impossible for us to, because of our being different species. Jade knows the story of how I used a spell, what she didn’t know is that I didn’t perform the spell. There’s no witch magic that would allow that to happen. I met a succubus, I’m still friends with her, and yes, Jade, you’ve met her. No, I won’t tell you who she is right now. I just talked to her, the spell is very real, but it’s super easy to break. Are you near the ocean?”

  “Um, let me check,” I said, as Grady pulled out his phone.

  “We can be there in four hours,” Grady replied.

  “That’s good. All you need to do is go stand in the ocean for 20 minutes. Make sure your entire body is cover in salt water at some point. Oh, and since the spell was placed on Ruby, she’s the one who needs to be in the water.”

  “That’s all, just go play in the ocean and bam spell is broken.”

  “That’s what my friend says. It’s simple, but no one would think of it on their own.”

  “Thanks Mom.”

  She hung up. What’s with people not saying goodbye anymore. Grady went to find the bus driver, and we were off on our way to the ocean. I had a few minutes before Ruby took over so I wrote her a quick note about needing to spend twenty minutes in the ocean to break the spell. Then I laid down and fell asleep before Ruby even took over.

  Chapter 8

  As awareness hit me. I was sitting up and in a moving vehicle, I opened my eyes and saw a piece of paper. What was with Ruby and taping notes to my face?

  Jade,

  Thanks for finding the fix for the spell. I got you dressed(ewwww try to get some fashion sense someday huh) So you can hang out with Grady longer. Don’t get used to it. Oh and seriously thanks for saving Liam.

  XOXO

  Wow, that was the most sincere I’ve ever heard Ruby be. She must really have a thing for Liam. I turn and look around and Grady is grinning at me.

  “We left for Memphis as soon as they were done in the ocean. So let's eat breakfast and decide what today should be spent doing. we'll be there by nine.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I grinned.

  We finished eating and started looking up what to do while in Memphis, outside of visiting the King’s house. I had a brief stint of jealousy when I read about the nightlife on Beale Street, but shoved it down. We decided we would tour Graceland and go to the Nation Civil Rights Museum.

  We pulled in and parked and Grady grabbed my hand and we were off to explore. We decided we would start with Graceland, then end with lunch after the museum. It
felt so right when I was with him, I didn’t care where we went.

  We got in line at Graceland for the tour. I wasn’t very interested, but we decided you couldn’t go to Memphis and not tour the King’s house at all. Grady was interested in the King’s tour bus and The Lisa Marie plane, even if I wasn’t.

  Next, we drove to the museum. It was more interesting than I had anticipated. I was worried it was going to just make me depressed, but it had an uplifting vibe focusing on the positive strides that have been made, and the amazing people who stood up to make them. After we finished at the museum, I had a very different outlook, they don’t teach enough about the civil rights in school.

  We went out for BBQ for lunch. We found a place downtown and stuffed our faces. We’d passed a park near the museum and decided to return there. I wanted to walk around, since it was a nice day out. Grady held my hand as we wandered through the park talking about what we see for our futures, and discussed our families. It turned out our moms had known each other growing up. I needed to ask my mom about it when I talked to her next.

  It was dinner time when we headed back to the car, so we stopped off and grabbed some Chinese to take back to the bus after calling and getting everyone's orders. It felt like a really perfect day.

  We ate with the guys and I was happy to see that Liam looked way better, although he said he was still a bit tired. We assumed that since he was human it would take him longer to heal than the rest of us. I got up the courage to ask about relationships. “So, which one of you is dating Ruby? She was acting very protective when I started on the tour.”

  Elias ran his hands back through his hair, acting uncomfortable, “Well, Felix, Liam, and I are all with Ruby.”

  “Like in a committed relationship with her?” I asked with my jaw dropped.

  “Yup, we love her and she loves us. It just works,” Liam said.

  This is just like the romance novels I read. I still couldn’t imagine how, scratch that, I no longer wanted to imagine what she was doing with our body. “If you’re all happy, I’m happy for you.”