Kayla And The Devil

by Bryan Smith

  Summer shrugged and tapped a fresh cig out of the pack. “What’s this guy’s name?”

  Kayla stopped at the curb. “Lee. Lee Stanley.”

  “Well, you tell Lee Stanley that Summer Henderson says hi.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’m serious. Be sure to point me out to him.”

  “I will. Bye, Summer.”

  “Call me tomorrow.”

  Kayla smiled. “Okay.”

  Summer waved as she wedged the cigarette in a corner of her mouth.

  Kayla dragged open the Corolla’s groaning passenger side door and slipped inside the car.

  25.

  “Who is that girl?”

  Kayla glanced at Summer.

  Her new friend waved again.

  “That’s Summer Henderson. She says hi.”

  Lee stared out at the black-clad girl, a deep crease indenting the middle of his forehead. “She kind of scares me.”

  Kayla smiled.

  Cool.

  “That’s because she’s a badass. You’re supposed to be scared of people like her.”

  Lee grunted. “You seemed awfully friendly with her.”

  Kayla let her gaze slide away from Summer as Lee pulled the Corolla away from the curb. She looked at Lee and shrugged. “She’s my best friend.”

  “Oh. Huh.” Lee looked at her. “How come you never mentioned her until now?”

  “Newsflash, loser. I’m not your friend. I don’t share all the intimate details of my life with you. That’s why I never told you about her.”

  And also I didn’t know her until today, but you don’t need to know that.

  Lee slouched down slightly in his seat. “So we’re back to that, are we?”

  “Back to what?”

  “Back to you being mean to me. Back to you calling me a loser.” He showed her what she guessed was meant to be a scornful look, but it had the unfortunate effect of just making his slightly out of proportion features look even weirder. “You did a good job on the phone of convincing me you were sorry for treating me so poorly. I should’ve known it was an act, but you suckered me again. You’re a hell of an actress, Kayla.”

  Kayla didn’t reply right away, mainly because the hurt she was hearing in his voice resonated in a way it rarely did when offended people reacted to the rude things she said. His face was a tight, pinched mask of pain. The worst part was it looked like he was trying his damnedest not to cry.

  Lee had been steering the Corolla through the narrow campus lanes en route to one of the side streets that would feed into West End. But now he pulled over to the curb behind a row of parked cars near Dudley Field, the Vanderbilt sports stadium.

  “Get out.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. Get out. Get the fuck out of my car.”

  Lee reached across her lap, gripped the door handle on her side, and yanked it, popping the door open. He settled back in his own seat, folded his arms, and stared straight ahead without saying anything.

  Kayla didn’t know what to do. Cruising around with Lee Stanley was not her idea of a fun way to spend the night. It was tempting to quietly do as he said. Just get out without any further argument and head back to her dorm on foot. They hadn’t gone far, so it’d be a short walk. She could even call Summer and see if she wanted to do anything. But then she thought again of all the crazy things that had happened over the course of the day. It was all so insane, and right now Lee was the only person she knew who already had some inkling something was wrong, that something weird and not natural was happening.

  Bottom line, she still needed to talk to him.

  Many more moments passed in uncomfortable silence. A slim female jogger with a bouncing blonde ponytail went zipping by them on the sidewalk. Kayla watched the young woman until her slender form was swallowed by the shadows further down the street. And that made her think of Jack the Ripper, the self-proclaimed stealth artist who liked to lurk in shadows. Presumably, if Bathory could be believed, the Ripper was indisposed tonight. But he would be back. Soon.

  She looked at Lee. “I’m sorry.”

  He grunted. “Right. You’re sorry. I’m not stupid, Kayla. You want something from me. Maybe you can be shamed into treating me decently until you get whatever that is, but you’ll never really be sorry.”

  Kayla winced.

  Ouch.

  That hit a little too close to home. It was how she’d normally operate in a scenario where she wanted something from someone she didn’t like. She wished he’d look at her and somehow see she was sincere this time. Which was the truth. She felt bad for continuing to instinctively treat him like crap. He didn’t deserve that. Not after showing so much willingness to help her on multiple occasions now in spite of her obviously negative view of him.

  Kayla frowned, noticing something for the first time since getting in the car. “Where are your glasses?”

  Another grunt. “I’m wearing contacts.”

  “Oh. I didn’t know you ever wore contacts.”

  “Hardly ever do. I hate the damn things. They make my eyes itchy and watery.”

  “So why did you wear them this time?”

  He laughed. “Why do you think?”

  To impress me, of course.

  She had to admit the absence of Lee’s oversized glasses did improve his looks somewhat. His eyes looked less bulgy for one thing. And now that she’d noticed this, she began to absorb some other details that had eluded her until now. He was dressed nicer than usual as well, in slacks and a nice shirt. His mop of curly hair, which usually looked kind of wild, was neatly combed.

  And the car was clean.

  There wasn’t a single scrap of trash anywhere in sight. No crumpled empty soda cans in the floor. No cellophane wrappers sticking to her clothes. And the dash had been wiped down. There wasn’t a speck of dust visible.

  “You know, you get used to contacts the more you wear them.”

  Now he looked at her. Finally. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  He frowned. “Do you wear contacts?”

  “Well, no. But that’s what I’ve always heard from people who wear them. You should stick with it. You look pretty okay without the giant glasses.”

  He chuckled. “Pretty okay. Coming from you, that’s almost a compliment.”

  Kayla’s next move was done without much advance thought. Mulling it over at all might have stopped her and that would have been a mistake. The ice between them had thawed only a tiny fraction. She knew just one way complete the process.

  She leaned toward him, twisting in her seat as she took his face in her hands and pressed her lips to his mouth. It was a hard, insistent kiss. Her tongue entered his mouth. She could tell he was shocked by how tense his body was at first, but then he began to relax and kissed her back. One of his hands settled lightly at the small of her back, pressing her gently toward him. The surge of excitement she felt at that touch surprised her for a moment. But any lingering reservations quickly vanished as she continued to kiss him. It didn’t matter that Lee wasn’t anything like the man of her dreams. Aside from that short-lived make-out session with the devil at Centennial Park (which didn’t count), it had been a long time since a man had touched her in this way.

  It felt good.

  Really, really good.

  She abruptly broke off the kiss and put a hand on his leg, high up on his thigh, making him whimper a little when she squeezed. She nuzzled his neck and nipped at his ear, laughing softly when he flinched. “You have protection?”

  “What?”

  She couldn’t help laughing again at his genuine confusion. “A condom, Lee. Do you have one?”

  “Uh…in my room. I, uh, wasn’t…expecting to need one tonight.”

  She pressed her mouth to his ear again, her hot breath making him shudder. “Well, you need one now.”

  Her hand moved from his thigh to his crotch.

  He sucked in air sharply and whimpered again as he squirmed a little in his seat
. “I…we could go to my dorm, I guess.”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  His distress was so funny. It made him sound like a little squeaking mouse. Yet another in a longish series of insights she chose to keep to herself. “We can get rubbers anywhere, Lee. But going to your dorm doesn’t excite me much.” She giggled. “I’m in the mood for some backseat education.”

  “You mean…” His eyes widened in sudden alarm. “You want to…do it in my car?”

  “You got it. That a problem?”

  Squeeze.

  He gulped. “No. No, it’s not a problem at all.”

  She laughed and then cupped his face in her hands again and kissed him even harder than before, pressing the back of his head firmly against the headrest. He clutched awkwardly at her back, his relative inexperience showing in his attempts to match her passion. She almost felt sorry for him.

  He had no idea.

  No idea at all.

  She was about to wreck his world.

  26.

  Or maybe not.

  Probably she should have seen this issue looming on the horizon, written out in giant, blazing neon letters, like one of those obnoxiously huge interstate signs common in certain parts of the country for remotely located strip clubs and adult bookstores.

  She had no idea how she could have been so epically oblivious. Okay, so she had a lot on her mind lately, but when it came to something that, in retrospect, was so blindingly obvious, even that wasn’t a good enough excuse.

  No world-wrecking would occur tonight.

  There just hadn’t been time.

  Kayla squirmed into her panties and reached for her jeans. “So, Lee. Is there maybe something you neglected to tell me?”

  The guilty look on his face said it all, but something--shame?--compelled him to play innocent a while longer. “No. I don’t think so.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He was looking everywhere but right at her as he fumbled his clothes back on. “Yep. Pretty sure.”

  Kayla pulled on her jeans, bracing her neck on the top of the seat behind her as she lifted her ass up and wriggled the tight fabric up over her hips. That done, she slipped her feet back into her shoes and turned toward Lee.

  “So. You’re telling me this wasn’t your first time?”

  His face sank. “Oh. That. Yeah. I should’ve told you, I guess.”

  She patted his knee and leaned in for a light kiss on his cheek. “Don’t worry about it, sport. You didn’t do too bad for a first-timer.”

  His eyes narrowed as he regarded her in a mistrustful way. He was so accustomed to being fucked with by her that probably the last thing he’d expect from her was understanding. “Really?”

  She laughed. “Hate to break it to you, Lee, but you’re hardly the first guy I’ve broken in. You went a good two, three minutes. In my experience, that’s got to be some kind of first-timer world record.”

  She wasn’t lying. Not about his endurance, anyway. It had ended way too soon to suit her in light of her months-long dry spell, but he truly had lasted longer than any other dude she’d deflowered. His technique could use some work. All he had now was the one move--the classic stationary thrusting piston thing--but that was something he could work on with whichever girl took pity on him next. All in all, he had done about as well as could be expected given his inexperience.

  She laughed again, trailing her fingers along his thigh. “And there’s something else I should tell you. You know you’re kind of…big…down there…right?”

  He blushed. “Really?”

  She nodded. “Oh, yeah. You’re not gay, so I’m guessing you haven’t done a lot of comparing and contrasting with other dudes. But, yeah. Trust me on that one. So that’s something else you’ve got going for you. You know, other than the giant brain thing.”

  She giggled.

  He frowned. “What?”

  She smirked. “It’s just really kind of unfair when you think about it. You’ve got two bigger than average important organs. Most guys don’t even have one.”

  “Are you saying men in general are stupid?”

  “I’m saying men in general need an instruction manual on how to walk and talk. If they’re lucky, some of them maybe work their way up to the level of being stupid.”

  “Wow. That’s so incredibly sexist.”

  “All I’m saying is, you’ve got more going for you than you realize and someday it’s all gonna pay off for you in a big way.”

  This was another thing she actually believed. Lee had a bright future ahead of him once he was done earning however many freaking degrees he wanted. Which didn’t change the fact that he wasn’t her type and never would be.

  The occasional mercy fuck aside. Obviously.

  He smiled and reached for her again, puckering his lips for a kiss.

  She pushed him back. “Sorry. Playtime’s over. I’ve got some big fucking problems I’m dealing with, Lee, and I need some help sorting them out.”

  He sighed.

  “This is the only time we’re ever doing this, isn’t it?”

  “If by that you mean sex, then yeah. Sorry.”

  A wistful smile curved the corners of his mouth. “That’s sort of what I figured. I’m just grateful--”

  “Let me stop you right there. Bit of advice, Lee. Use this for future reference. Never say shit like that after you’ve had sex with a girl. It makes you come off as weak and gives her all the power. That’s fine if all you ever want to be is some chick’s whipped puppy, but I don’t think you should settle for that.”

  He frowned. “You’re saying I should be aloof?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Hell, no. What are you, stupid? Don’t answer that. Look, next time this happens--and it will--definitely compliment her, whoever she is. Tell her she’s beautiful, shit like that. Tell her how awesome it was. But don’t act like she did you the biggest fucking favor ever. Do you want to be a doormat, Lee?”

  “No.”

  “Okay, then. Jesus. Even smart guys can be dumb as hell.”

  That vaguely wistful smile was back again. “I appreciate the advice.”

  “You should. You’ll damn well thank me for it later in life. Now let’s get back to what’s really important. And by that I mean me.”

  Lee glanced out the back window of the Corolla. “You want to talk here? Or maybe go somewhere else? I’m craving a drink for some reason. And I’m sort of hungry.”

  They were parked at the curb on a narrow side street in a residential section of Hillsboro Village. The curb was lined end to end with parked cars, all the way down to the distant traffic light on 21st Avenue. This part of the street was next to a grassy field adjacent to a mid-sized apartment complex. They were a block from the nearest set of apartments and well-removed from the nearest street light. It was a reasonably private spot, what with foot traffic being relatively light here this time of night.

  Kayla shook her head. “Let’s talk here. Then maybe later you can buy me a late dinner somewhere.”

  Lee smiled. “Okay. So tell me what’s on your mind.”

  “You need to know in advance that a lot of it will sound crazy as hell. You’ll think I’m out of my goddamn skull. But please try to listen with an open mind. I promise you every word will be the absolute truth.”

  Lee ran a hand through his hair and scratched the back of his head. “I already get that something strange is going on with you. And by strange I mean not simply weird or unusual, but not natural. I’ve thought about it all day and there is no other logical explanation for the things I already know about. So, by extension, this means the additional things you’re about to tell me are of a similar…not natural nature. Now, does hearing that make this any easier for you?”

  Did it?

  His speech filled her with a sense of relief so profound she almost felt like crying. Until this moment she had suspected this would be a thoroughly futile effort, that Lee would maybe listen politely to what she had to say, then eithe
r scoff dismissively or find some lame excuse to get away from the crazy girl as fast as possible.

  She hadn’t counted on him setting her mind so at ease right at the outset.

  She took a deep breath and blew it right back out. “It all started when I met the devil in Centennial Park.”

  27.

  Lee listened attentively as she spun out her outlandish tale of mythological creatures and resurrected infamous killers, his only contributions an occasional nod or “Go on” to prompt her when she reached the parts that were difficult to talk about. Which were mostly the parts about Jack the Ripper, but also included her guilt over what had befallen Martha Atwater and her complicated feelings regarding the dead girl whose suicide was at the heart of the whole sordid mess.

  They sat in silence for several moments after she concluded her story. Lee’s expression was thoughtful. She could almost see the wheels spinning away in his head as he mulled it all over. He seemed in no hurry at all to jump to conclusions or interrogate her to probe for holes in her story.

  He cleared his throat when he was ready to talk again. “So, I suppose the bottom line here is, do you think you can do what the devil wants?”

  Kayla fought to hold back tears. “So you believe me?”

  “I believe you. Absolutely. Every word.”

  She shook her head. “But…why? I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t. I know it’s a crazy story. I’m lucky there’s not a head doctor in hearing range. I’d be in a straightjacket for the rest of my life.”

  “A head doctor might diagnose you with schizophrenia and attribute it all to hallucinations or hearing voices. I had a schizo cousin, so I know a little about it.”

  “What happened to him?”

  “He died. Suicide.”

  Kayla frowned. “Well, shit. That’s depressing. Thanks, Lee.”

  He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter as it’s not really relevant. You’re not schizophrenic. I think you’re as in your right mind as anyone I know. And I’m positive you’ve told me nothing but the absolute truth.”

  “You still haven’t told me why you’re so sure of that.”

  “Because I’ve heard you lie and talk bullshit too many times. I know what it sounds like. This time I heard in your voice your total belief in what you’ve told me. And there’s the fact that it jibes with what I already knew. Yesterday my urge to get in touch with you was overwhelming. I couldn’t stop thinking about how off everything about my behavior toward you had been since the semester started. The freakiest thing was how I couldn’t connect on any level with how or why I’d felt that way. I thought there was something wrong with me. Something in my brain. And that scared the shit out of me. Your story fits the facts as I know them. It explains the memory issues and everything else. And the thing about the movie theater murders is all over local TV today.” He smiled grimly. “So, yeah. I believe you. One-hundred percent.”