Chapter Three

        Before he could even finish saying her name, Ruby screamed at the top of her lungs. The noise that came from her throat shocked her thoroughly for it varied so inelegantly in pitch. He let her scream unrestrained and watched with casual amusement. When Ruby was out of breath, and before she could hurriedly gasp down another mouth full, he decided to speak again.

        “No one’s coming. Your mother already left for work hours ago, and you’re late for school,” replied the nude smoking stranger. Smoking was not a euphemism for his good looks. Wisps of smoke rose up from his shoulders and he was so near that the charred scent burned her nostrils.

        Ruby turned her head to look at her clock and stumbled out of bed in a manner that was both impressively quick and horribly clumsy. She grabbed her cellphone from her desk and fumbled to unlock the keypad. It was ten thirty and everyone in this neighborhood was either at work or at school. No one did hear her scream, but perhaps she could call the cops.

        “No one would believe you, Ruby,” said the beautiful man. His voice was like cream, thick and rich and slightly sweet around the edges. How did Dillon come by such a friend? Money? Oh God! He’s probably some kind of gigolo come to rape me in my sleep.

        She dialed the number anyway.

        “No one would believe that you summoned a demon and now he sits steaming in your bedroom,” he grinned, her heart throbbed, “naked,” he added.   

        Ruby glanced down his body. Shadows played a modesty shroud and draped itself over his groin and legs. He looked too appetizing, too good to be true.

        Hold the phone. A demon? Ruby didn’t want to take his word. That would make her both stupid and gullible. And yet, her eyes traveled over his form once more. He sat perfectly still and allowed her eyes to sweep over him as though her gaze were the sweetest caress. He made no move to stop her. In fact, he seemed to be lazily enjoying her leering and visibly relaxed under her scrutiny          

        Ruby didn’t hit send. 

        “I thought that was a dream…” She said, staring out her window where she knew those rose bushes were dying. She planted them there last year even though her mother said they wouldn’t get enough sun on that side of the house. She’d insisted and they’d been slowly dying ever since. Now the mixture of coal, oil, and blood would seal their doom.

        “It was no dream, Ruby. I’m as real as you are,” said the demon. He was devilishly handsome and he had a slyness about him that Ruby would have equated with the devil had she believed in such things. Faced with the possibility of a demon, though, made her falter in her convictions. 

        From across the room, Ruby looked at the book. It still lay beneath all the magazines and book reports. Nothing looked disturbed; the book did not look any fancier than it had before. In fact, it might have looked a little more decrepit than when she last held it, too severally cracked at the spin with torn edges and flaking gold trim. It was a very ugly book that was once very beautiful.

        She was about to ask for him to prove it but he vanished in a flash of black swirling smoke and reappeared behind her. His hands were hot on her shoulder, his breath warm as he leaned in and whispered in her ear. 

        “Quaero Vindictam,” his soft lips grazed the shell of her ear. His voice was gentle, rich, and held a little rasp that reminded Ruby of crackling wood. Everything about him was smoky, surreal, unfettered to this would. That was all the proof she needed. 

        She knew he was not lying to her. Knew herself to be in some sort of trouble, but could not grasp the extent of her error. Summoning a demon was wrong. There was a cost to having him here, of welcoming sin. She had not believed in such things before, but now felt wholly overwhelmed by thoughts of Hell.  When she pulled herself away from him and turned to face this creature, the look in his eyes promised her a place there. Somewhere under his foot, was her prison in Hell.

        “How can I be of service?” He asked as he bowed to her. He seemed either unaware of his nudity or uncaring of it. Ruby forced her eyes to remain above his neck even though that promise of Hell burned her to the core.

        “This is a mistake, y-you can leave,” she managed even though her teeth clattered. He only laughed at her and closed the distance even as she tried to create it, like a predatory tango in the tiny space of her cluttered bedroom. Surrounded by the artifacts of childhood, Ruby was fighting a demon for her own soul. Not exactly the coming-of-age she was looking for.

        “You’ve summoned me. Now you can either use me,” he cornered her by her bed and gently nudged her to sitting. She struggled against him briefly but realized he had far superior strength to her.  Ruby stared up at him as he loomed over her, still forcing herself to retain eye contact even as he seemed to flaunt himself before her. “Or return me to the Underworld yourself,” he finished and pushed her shoulders back onto the bed.

        He hovered over her, climbing on top of her, and touched her with every part of his body. Every part! The heat from him seared through her pajamas and Ruby gasped as she tried to pull away from him. He let her go, let her stumble off the bed and land painfully onto the ground for the second time that day. On hands and knees, Ruby sloppily crawled across the room again, then towards the door. When she opened it, he was on the other side.

        “Use me or send me back, otherwise, I’ll be waiting right here,” he said to her. He advanced upon her again and closed her bedroom door behind him. 

        “How do I send you back?” Ruby asked desperately. There was a quick flash of annoyance in his eyes that shielded the look of Hell briefly and Ruby was glad for it. She could annoy a demon. There was some victory there. 

        “Do your own research,” he replied snidely and reminded her, just for a moment, of Dillon.

        “I’m late for school. Will you let me leave?” Ruby tried to ice herself over. He wasn’t Dillon, he was much worse. This demon could harm her with powers. At least Dillon gets tired and stops. She had no idea what this creature in her room was capable of. 

        “Certainly. Your education is the key to your success,” he responded slyly. She knew he meant something else, implied something terrible in that statement. There was no way for her to know because he vanished in a sizzle of smoke and left her room smelling like campfire and pungent roses. She could only stare at that empty spot where he stood, nude and commanding before she broke herself away from her revelry and began to dress for school. She had a terrible feeling he was still around, watching her somehow.

        Ruby hurried to school, was briefly scolded by the administrator, security personnel, and her teacher, and made it to lunch just in time to realize that she hadn’t brought her own. This was a recipe for disaster. 

        Dillon approached her while she was in line buying lunch and she couldn’t avoid him for long. He walked beside her silently until they were a fair distance into the center of the cafeteria before he flipped her tray out of her hands. The contents, turkey club, chips, and grape juice, scattered to the ground. He crushed the juice carton just as she bent to reach for it, splattering purple liquid over her face and chest.

        She left her food there, left the sound of ridicule behind as she rushed into the girl’s bathroom to mop the juice from her tear sticky face. Ruby was done crying. She’d experience this from Dillon and his cohorts before and hardly shed a tear. But the events of yesterday’s assault, the demon’s presence, and renewed humiliation in her cafeteria made Ruby realize just how alone she was in her suffering. 

        Not once had she spoken to Johnny about this. She’d fantasized that he’d be her white knight and save her from Dillon. But last Spring, she’d watched him gazing disinterestedly at a group of teenagers hassling a young kid for money. As beautiful as Johnny was, he was an empty shell. A stupid beautiful boy without feelings. She couldn’t even call him a friend.

        Angrily, she blotted herself with a paper towel. Her dress shirt was a lost cause; the purple marks might as well have been burned into the cloth, and angry splotches clinging to her breasts, certainly ruining her bra as well. She couldn’t look at herself in the mirror. It was too pathetic.

        The door opened as she finished washing her face. From the steps, she knew it was Dillon. You always know the footsteps of your bully. They echo in your dreams, she thought to herself as she turned to face him. She tried to push the fear out of her voice and her eyes but she suspected he could smell it on her. Animals had such curious abilities. 

        “This is the lady’s restroom,” Ruby stated as plainly as she could. 

        “Then why are you here? “ He replied with that smartass tone. He usually had an audience to laugh at his cleverness but it was only Ruby. It was just the two of them. 

        He closed the distance between them much like that demon had. His gait was so arrogant and cocky. She noticed that he had a bandage against his hairline. The area was slightly raised. His eyes lingered darkly over her breasts, her shirt clung just enough for the outline of her bra to appear. Ruby backed herself up against the sink and could go no further. 

        “Let’s finish what we started yesterday,” he said. He reached for her but paused. She didn’t understand why and blinked to dispel her confusion. When he didn’t move again, Ruby wiggled free from his body’s case and rushed toward the door. 

        Before she could reach it, the demon appeared before her once more. She collided with his strong body, now dressed in her school's uniform, looking completely out of place in it. So much so, Ruby nearly didn’t recognize him. She backed up immediately. Today was all about loosing ground, backing up, and retreating.

        Ruby was tired of it.

        The demon reached for her, turned her around to face Dillon, and walked her closer to the other male. Dillon wasn’t even breathing, completely frozen in time.

        “What will you do to him now that he is at your mercy?” he asked against her ear. The demon forcibly took her hand and stretched it out toward Dillon, made her hand stroke his cheek, roam over his chest, and even as she struggles against his still grip, he moved her hand briefly over the erection in Dillon’s trousers. 

        “Stop!” Ruby demanded, and struggled violently in his grasp. He released her and she fell to the cold titled floor. She was tired of falling today too. The demon’s lovely eyes roamed her body but she saw no obvious lust there. They were too calculating, too dark, too promising. She looked away from him and was at a stand still. She knew why he was here, knew that Dillon played a part in their union. But both were taunting her, demanding things of her she had no desire to give 

        “You’re just like him!” She cried out to the sink because she was unable to meet his assessing gaze. In the best teenage melodramatic way she could, she stood and stormed passed him. The ice in her eyes seemed to hold him back long enough for her to leave. Ruby skipped the rest of her classes and headed to the library. She had to find a way to send him back. If a book wished him into existence, another one would surely wish him away.

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AN: I’m so pleased to bring you the third chapter of this little adventure of mine. I hope you can see why I labeled it as Mature. I removed a crazy ton of sexual bits and pieces but I’m going to keep just enough to keep the story sensual or alarming.

Any input on the matter would be greatly appreciated! Would you believe someone if they told you they were a demon? Let me know in the comments and don’t forget to read, vote, and comment!