by Raquel Dove
The First Book of Demons
By Raquel Dove
Copyright © 2012 Raquel Dove
1
Alexandra felt the cold steel of a blade cutting through the soft flesh of her throat. She felt the blood begin to pool beneath her on the white silk sheets. Her eyes stared up at a ceiling that was foreign to her as her body began to convulse uncontrollably. The last image to swim through her hazy vision was pale blue skin.
Immense pain pounded on the back of Alexandra's forehead as her eyes snapped open. She sat up in her bed, her fingers immediately feeling at her neck. She half expected to see them covered in blood as she pulled them back to look at them. Her relief was momentary as the little alarm clock buzzing by the side of her bed finally grabbed her attention. According to the bright red flashing numbers, it had been going off for quite some time. She groaned. She was going to be late for school again.
Thirty minutes later, Alexandra came down the stairs in search of breakfast. Her long black hair was piled haphazardly atop her head, loosely secured with a ponytail holder. Wide green eyes that normally sparkled with excitement were dull and half lidded. The images of her nightmare had replayed in her mind as she had gotten dressed. She just couldn't shake the feeling of it all. She had never dreamed anything that felt so real before.
“Good Morning,” Aunt Tammy chirped with a broad smile as she looked up from the hot pan in front of her. Her jet black hair was braided in a long plait that went all the way down to her ample backside. The smile faded from her aged face when she saw the sleep still clinging to Alexandra's eyes.
“Morning,” Alex said, her eyes avoiding her Aunt Tammy's. She slid onto a bar stool at the kitchen island and reached for a freshly washed strawberry from a pile on the plate.
“How did you sleep?” Aunt Tamaya asked. It was the same question she asked Alex every morning, and most mornings she didn't mind answering. When she had nightmares, though, it was a different story. Aunt Tammy insisted on knowing every gory detail about them. Usually, that wasn't much of a big deal, but this one was different. She didn't want to relive what she had just seen. This one felt too real. Her gaze trailed around the kitchen, looking for an escape. She was a terrible liar and they both knew it.
“Alex,” Aunt Tammy said, pausing her stirring to cast a stern look at her. Alex knew there was no point. Aunt Tammy was pretty lenient about most things, but this wasn't one of them.
“Bad dream,” Alex admitted with a heavy sigh. She avoided eye contact with Aunt Tammy. “I'd rather not talk about it.”
“What happened this time?” she persisted, returning to her cooking with a frown.
“Just let it go,” Alex groaned, “please.”
“Tell me,” Aunt Tammy said. She didn't turn back to look at her. The tone of her voice told Alex that she wasn't going to let it go.
“It was really violent...bloody,” Alex said with a huff of annoyance. “There was a weird blue guy. He had writing...tattoos all over his skin.” Her brows furrowed as she tried to remember the details of the dream. “I just remember bits and pieces…someone died. But, it was just a stupid nightmare. I don't know why you insist on always hashing them out. I don't like it, ya know.”
“Are you certain?” Aunt Tammy asked. She switched the stove off and moved the hot pan onto the marble countertop, turning around to look at Alex.
“Yeah,” Alex said. “I'm pretty sure I don't like talking about my nightmares.”
“I mean, are you certain the man had blue skin,” Aunt Tammy shot back, not at all amused with her answer. “Blue skin with tattoos? And someone died. Who?”
“Yes, I'm sure,” Alex said, her voice rising a bit as she grabbed another strawberry and popped it in her mouth. She chewed it angrily.
“Who died?” Aunt Tammy demanded, her cold almost black eyes piercing through Alex.
“I don't know,” Alex said with an exasperated shrug. “All I know is he had weird grey eyes.”
“Weird how?” Aunt Tammy pressed her for more minute details that Alex didn't want to go through.
“Weird like how you keep asking me about this stupid dream, weird,” Alex said. She slid off the bar stool and went to the cabinet to grab a plate. She refused to answer anymore questions about her nightmare. She was done reliving it and she just wanted to get to school. She was late already.
“I want you to stay home from school today,” Aunt Tammy said suddenly.
“I’m fine,” Alex said, waving a hand in the air as she began to pile her plate high with eggy chunks. “It was just a bad dream. I don't know why you insist on making such a big deal of it all the time.”
“Alexandra,” Aunt Tammy said, her voice high with irritation as her eyes continued to watch Alex.
“Aunt Tamy,” Alex said raising her brows in emphasis, “It was just a dream, and I can’t miss any more classes. I'm going to school.”
Tamaya hesitated but finally let out a heavy sigh, realizing Alexandra wasn’t going to relent. She was almost an adult and she had learned to have a mind of her own, and a strong will to go with it. It was just as well, Tamaya thought. They were traits Alex would need if this dream meant what she thought it did.
“I should get going,” Tamaya said, glancing at the clock above the kitchen sink, “I have an appointment.”
“You have an appointment? Today? For what?” Alex asked. It was her turn to be the interrogator. Aunt Tammy worked from home and she rarely went out for anything. If there ever was a reason for her to leave the house, Alex always knew about it well ahead of time.
“Its...I,” Tamaya stuttered, “I have a dental cleaning.”
Alex narrowed her eyes at her aunt. Something fishy was going on, and Alex had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with her upcoming eighteenth birthday party.
“Ok,” Alex said, not in the least bit convinced that Aunt Tammy was being honest.
“We'll have a talk tonight though,” Aunt Tammy said, following Alex around the island counter to give her a hug.
“Ok,” Alex said again. Aunt Tammy's hug lingered longer than usual. “I’m fine. Really.”
“I know,” Aunt Tammy said, pulling away from the hug. She looked Alex in the eyes and smiled before giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. “I just worry about you is all.”
“Totally not necessary,” Alex said, smirking back at Aunt Tammy. She really did love the old woman. She wasn't really Alexandra's aunt, but she was an old friend of her parents and she had taken her in when they died. Alex was so young at the time that she had no memory of anyone but Aunt Tammy.
“I should be home by the time your back from school,” Aunt Tammy said as she grabbed her keys and headed for the door.
Alex continued her breakfast as she read over the already shuffled through newspaper. It wasn’t long before she heard the hum of Sam Trevino’s brand new black mustang pull up in the driveway. His parents had surprised him with it just two weeks earlier for his eighteenth birthday. Alex helped them pick it out, and insisted on black, knowing it was Sam’s favorite color.
“Why am I not surprised?” Sam said as he came through the door and saw Alex, a forked clump of egg dangling before her mouth, her attention clearly lying far from her food. Sam raised a perfectly groomed, but still unusually bushy eyebrow. His black hair was perfectly tousled with copious amounts of hair products, framing his narrow face.
“I’m almost done,” Alex said, with a roll of her eyes, as she popped the last bite of eggs in her mouth.
“Where’s Aunt Tammy?” Sam asked, noticing her unusual absence.
“She said she had an appointment,” Alex said pushing back from the counter and putting her empty plate in the sink.
“A
n appointment?” Sam asked, following Alex out of the kitchen. “She never has appointments. She never even leaves the house.”
“Tell me about it. She’s been acting really weird lately” Alex said, holding the front door open for Sam and following him out. “I don't suppose you'd know anything about it?”
“Me?” Sam said, raising his eyebrows as he pointed a finger at his chest and tried to look innocent. “Why would I know anything?”
“Oh, I don't know,” Alex said as they walked to either side of the car and climbed in. “Maybe because you and my Aunt are always conspiring against me.”
“Conspiring against you?” Sam asked, trying his best to sound offended but failing miserably as the smile cracked the corners of his lips. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”
“Whatever,” Alex said, smirking back at him. “Just so you know, I hate surprises.”
“No you don't,” Sam snapped back, giving her a look.
“Whatever,” Alex huffed again, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back against the seat. He and Aunt Tammy could keep their little secrets. Alex knew better than to try and get anything out of either of them. They were some of the most tight lipped people she had ever met.
The school day crept by, uneventful and dreadfully boring as usual. Alex didn’t have a great many friends at school. She was more the kind of girl who had lots of acquaintances. She often felt like her and Sam occupied their own little bubble outside of everyone else they went to school with. None of that really bothered Alex though. It was a comfortable anonymity, and she liked it that way.
Walking out the double doors at the end of the school day, and into the front courtyard, Alexandra could see Sam waiting on the other side of the parking lot. He leaned against the passenger side of his pride and joy, opening the door for Alex as she approached.
“I’m starving,” she said as she tossed her bag in the back, “let’s get Chinese.”
“Not Chinese,” Sam said, a whine in his voice, “we had it yesterday.”
“But I want it again today,” Alex said, flashing Sam a toothy grin. She knew he would relent, he always did when she smiled her cheesy little smile at him.
“Alright,” he said, with a sigh. It wasn’t so much the goofy smile Alex always used on him that made him give in. It was the fact that once Alex had made up her mind, she always got her way and he had learned it was easier not to argue.
Sam and Alex ate at The Golden Panda on a weekly basis. The hostess recognized them, and ushered them to their usual table at the back of the restaurant. Settling into the worn red cushions of the booth, Alex noticed another patron already piling his plate high with the buffet delicacies. Her cheeks immediately flushed to a nice pink hue and she regretted her decision to not wash her hair that morning. She fidgeted with her top, wishing she had chosen something cute to wear instead of something comfortable. She knew in the end it wouldn't matter, though. It never did.
“Why don’t you go talk to him?” Sam said, noticing his best friend suddenly becoming flustered at the sight of a cute boy. He could always tell when she saw a hot guy, because she got that same doe in the headlights frightened look on her face as her cheeks lit up.
“Yeah right,” Alex scoffed, her cheeks heating further at the mere thought of randomly approaching some hot guy.
Sam really didn’t understand this problem Alex had. Any time a guy tried to talk to her she turned into a blubbering moron. She was an attractive girl, though he had never thought of her in that way. Still, he knew what all the other guys in school thought about her, and he had eyes. She was a knock out when she really tried. Even on days when she was slumming it, she was still very beautiful. He'd told her many times that any guy would love to just talk to her, but for whatever reason she never believed it.
“Just wait for him to go up to the buffet and when you see him reaching for something, smile and ask him to leave some for you. Say it’s your favorite or something,” Sam said, leaning back and slinging an arm comfortably over the back of the booth.
“You really think that will work?” Alex asked, her eyes darting away as the blonde haired Adonis glanced over in her direction. He had on a fitted tee that showed off the ample amounts of muscle he had built onto his tall slender frame.
“Yep,” Sam reassured her. “I know it will work.”
Alex chewed lightly on her lip, mentally fighting with herself. She wished she was the type of girl who could just walk fearlessly up to a guy and part a short time later with a phone number and a promise to call. Unfortunately, anytime she tried, it ended in a miserable failure of heated embarrassment.
“Seriously,” Sam said, urging her on. “Cause we won’t be able to eat until you do something about this. I know how you are. You're gonna sit there all googley eyed until either we, or he, leaves. So, really. Go talk to him.”
“Ok,” Alex said finally, sucking in a deep breath as she found a kernel of courage deep inside her. “I’m gonna do it.”
Sam gave her a good luck nod as she stood shakily from the table, adjusting her top again. She made her way over to the rows of food, forcing positive thoughts through her mind. She wiped her clammy palms on the front of her jeans. She could do this, she thought to herself. It was just some cute guy. No big deal.
Her pulse quickened as she neared the buffet. She covertly cleared her throat as she rounded the corner, picking up a plate from the still warm, newly cleaned pile. She saw the guy reaching for the tongs of the Orange Chicken, and she picked up her pace, closing in on her prey.
“Hey that’s my fav—“ she managed to blurt out, just as her right foot caught on a bump in the tile floor and she face planted. Hard. The plate in her hand clanged loudly as it went tumbling across the floor, attracting the attention of the entire restaurant.
“You ok?” the cute guy kindly asked her as he extended a hand to help her up.
She opened her mouth to say something and then promptly shut it, her entire face painted fire engine red as she accepted the hand up and brushed herself off. She quickly turned away without another word to the guy and shuffled back to her table where Sam was shaking uncontrollably, a hand over his mouth as he tried to contain his laughter.
“This is your fault,” she hissed at him, her face still burning as she slid into the booth.
“No, I think it’s your own clumsiness,” Sam said, laughing out loud.
“Can we just get the hell out of here, please?” Alex had lost her appetite at the whole embarrassing incident and there was no way she was spending another minute in this place.
The two friends made it back to Sam’s house rather late, after picking another restaurant free of handsome patrons. It truly baffled Sam how poorly Alex seemed to get on with the opposite sex, himself excluded of course.
“Let me call Aunt Tamy and let her know what’s up. You know how she worries,” Alex said walking out of the room to make the phone call. She came back only a short moment later with her cell phone still in her hand.
“She didn’t answer,” she said, plopping back down on the dark leather couch next to Sam. “That's so weird.”
2