Chapter Two

        The library was a different sort of comfort. There were books there that let her escape, made her believe that she was building up a strong mind to finally escape to college. Her mother promised her that college would be better and without that hint of hope, Ruby would have nothing. 

        Despite attending a Catholic high school, Ruby was skeptical of religion. Catholicism played a minimal part in her upbringing. Her mother only mentioned it when she remembered and they went to Mass a total of two times a year: Easter and Christmas. Ruby didn't even begin to count the Mass she attended at school. Those were a joke and a half and were often either the best times to finish your homework or to make out with your boyfriend. If you had one.

        Ruby stopped at the library after school. She tried to invite Johnny but he just waved her off and biked home. He'd had enough of her today it seemed. It didn't stop Ruby from constantly thinking about Johnny her whole way to the library. Even when she lost herself in the stacks of books, her mind was still on him. Ruby was certain that she loved him, was certain that she was a fool to be in love with him as well. 

        His distraction caused Ruby to wander in the opposite direction of where her normal favorite genre was. But because this section did not look particularly eerie, Ruby decided to stay and check out what sorts of books were offered under the "Occult." This section wasn't available in her school library but neither was Harry Potter so she wasn't all that surprised.

        Most of the books seemed harmless and boring although a few did catch her attention. She wasn't necessarily into the occult herself. There were a lot of books about demonology, spells, cooking tips, and romance. She picked one up and browsed through it casually. She managed to get so enthralled by its passages that she didn't notice someone behind her.

        It wasn't until she felt hot breath on her neck did she lurch forward and dropped the book. She turned around and was immediately sandwiched between the hard bookcase and Dillon, the head of the Jocks, and captain of the football team, and the bane of her existence. Bad things come in threes, right?

        "Trying to conjure up a love spell, Rubes?" Dillon sneered. His dark eyes stared down at her breasts. In one quick motion, he tore at the front of her dress shirt, leaving her partially exposed. Dillon wasted no time, his eager rough hands sneaking in and squeezing her right breast.

        Like clockwork. He was so predictable, Ruby could murmur his lines for him if she felt as brave as she was snarky. But his bulky presence only crushed her courage and make her shake with fear. A pinch here, a grope there, a few bad lines to make her feel horrible about herself, and he would leave. Ruby caught herself praying despite her lack of faith. 

        She tried to push him away but he held her firmly with his other hand, fisted in her long black hair. Pain made her panic and she thrashed against him until he shook her and shoved her roughly.

        "Stop it!" she demanded weakly but her words meant nothing to him. He just got close enough to kiss her, shushed her instead, and then spit in her mouth before pushing the cup of her bra down to gaze at her bare breast. She furrowed her brow and held her breath. He'd never done anything like this before. But then again, he'd never assaulted her in her library before either. 

        "Trying to find some guy to fuck you, huh?" he said with a grin. "Getting tired of masturbating in the shower all by yourself?" he added in a deep gritty voice. He leaned down to bite the skin next to her nipple and Ruby tried her best not to cry out even though she knew he hoped for it.

        Dillon furrowed his brow; her lack of response annoyed him. He straightened up from her breast and worked at releasing his cock from the prison of his pressed trousers. He didn't release her hair but used it as a leash, angling her head down so that she could look at his erection. Her eyes widened in what could only be fear and apprehension; Dillon liked that, liked controlling her emotions.

        "I'll help you out with that, Ruby. Then you won't need any stupid witch book," said Dillon as he blindly pawed beneath her skirt and jerked Ruby's panties down to her ankles. He was only trying to scare her. He'd never actually... The young girl gritted her teeth, forced herself not to cry, not to think of anything but her need to escape. If only her mind could travel somewhere else, someplace tropical.

        Before Dillon could violate her further, he lurched back and sank to the ground. On the floor between his legs was a dusty leather bound book entitled Revenge.

        She peered at Dillon and noticed he was bleeding from his head, dark and shiny against his sandy brown hair.

        Something called out to her. She wanted to pick up the book, needed to have it in her grasp. She stooped quickly, avoiding Dillon's shaky hand and bolted home, leaving her panties behind to be a trophy for her assailant. 

        The last time she'd tried to make Dillon accountable for his actions was sophomore year after the pool incident. Very quietly, the school paid for half of her tuition so long as she and her mother didn't pursue the issue further. Dillon's family paid for the other half. The student body carefully, very carefully labeled her a whore. And she felt like one.

        Geneva Gallows wanted to give her daughter the kind of justice she saw on television, but couldn't get her sweet little girl to join the fight. Despite the name, Sacred Saint Academy was a very good private school and Ruby refused to transfer. She didn't want Dillon and his drones to win. And eventually, Ruby stopped crying about it and they put the matter behind them.

        But Dillon had never gotten so close to raping her before. Why would he want to? He had all the girls he could ever want, just throwing themselves at him, girls like Clare Richards. 

        Ruby gathered herself before she got home just in case her mother was home early. If she wasn't presentable, her mother would ask questions. And the questions would make Ruby break down and cry again. Ruby did not want to go down that deep dark road, not when she was so close to getting out.

        She was so worried about fixing her shirt that Ruby forgot all about the book. Ruby made herself a snack, did her homework, and pretended that today had been like every other day. And when the ache in her right breast was only a slow throb of pain, she almost believed it. 

        The book sat on her nightstand, hidden by magazines and Johnny's American History essay that she was correcting. It sat there all afternoon, well into the evening, and only seemed to murmur softly while Ruby was fast asleep.

        "Page eighty-one," called out a wavering voice through the cloud of her dreams.  A smoky hand reached out as well, touched her mouth, cupped her cheek, and caressed her all the way down to her toes.

        Ruby startled herself awake, a hand flying to her hot face. Finding that everything was as it should be, Ruby tried to go back to sleep but the voice returned just on the cusp of unconsciousness. Groggy and frustrated, she reached for her nightstand, knocking over magazines and book reports. The book seemed much heavier now than it had been that afternoon.

        Ruby turned on her lamp, squinting with annoyance, and looked at the cover of the book. It was no longer as old as it was before, and the pages were gilt-edged. She admired it for several moments, stroking the words and whispered the title.

        "Revenge." There was no author, no publisher, but the interior had modern typed words. Looking at the book made her remember the incident in the library and she was tempted to throw the book against the wall. She managed to curb her instinct however and flipped to page eighty-one.

Summoning a Revenge Demon

Items and Ingredients

5 quart saucepan

2 ½ cups of oil preferably animal lard

3 lumps of coal

a stove

one drop of blood

Add your oil to the saucepan and bring to boil on high heat.  Leave to boil for 3 minutes then add your coal. Let coal cook until oil is black. May take several minutes, the blacker the better. Once the oil is at it's darkest point, add one drop of blood and let boil while reciting:

Quaero vindictam.

Repeat the words until the boiling liquid changes from black to blood red. Remove from heat and take the concoction outside. Poor it on the ground, not on cement but on grass.

        It read like a recipe and Ruby scoffed. Was this a spell to summon a demon or to make one?

        She couldn't push the thought out of her mind that Dillon would be waiting at school, ready to retaliate, ready to take it one step further. It was already difficult being teased to no end by her classmates for the pool incident. Now she was being sexually assaulted as well. Again.

        "Boys will be boys," she remembered the detective saying to her. And since nothing happened, he told her to shake Dillon's hand and put all this childish bickering behind them. Humiliation kept her from reporting any other incidents. It was clear that the only person supporting her was her mother and Ruby didn't want to be a burden.

        The worst part about her last encounter with Dillon wasn't so much about  her lack of consensual; it was about her body's betrayal. It responded to the violence and the degradation. Ruby was ashamed by it. Ashamed that she couldn't control her body and her racing hormones. 

        Lost in her conflicted feelings, Ruby's body moved into action without her. It wasn't until she smelled oil burning that she realized she was standing in front of her stove, pulling the thumbtack out of her thumb. She pulled her hand away but her drop of blood already sank into the black bubbling oil.

        The book was open on the counter, the words conveniently highlighted in pink. 

        "Quaero vindictam. Quaero vindictam. Quaero vindictam..." The black oil bubbled into red splotches until it spread and swirled into a deep dark red. Ruby turned down the heat and took the saucepan outside. She had to dump it somewhere and air out her kitchen. The stuff reeked of badly planned camp fires and sulfur.  

        She found a secluded area and poured the liquid into the ground by a bush of suffering roses. The grass darkened in the dim light of street lamps, the earth soaked it up unquestioningly.  No further magic happened. No lightening from the sky, no rumbling of the ground, just a dark spot by the roses.

        Just a silly girl with a silly book.

        Ruby went back to bed and was no longer disturbed by the voices or the tendrils of smoke. She was disappointed by the failure of the spell and ill at ease by how natural it was for her to complete it. 

        It was easy for her to fall asleep again and when she woke up in the morning, Ruby was convinced that it had all been a strange dream.

       It would have been easy to believe that she dreamt it if not for the sight of a man sitting on the edge of her bed. He was nude and tanned with smoke rising up from his hunched wide shoulders. He had his head in his hands, his dark hair was disheveled, and he looked like he was crying.

        "Who are you?" She asked sleepily, believing herself to be dreaming still. When she came fully awake, her body tensed and her eyes grew large with fear. Oh good. Dillon's friends have come to finish the job.

        He smelled of burning coal, boiling oil, and a faint hint of roses. Familiar. These smells intensified briefly when he lifted his head and looked at Ruby with fierce dark eyes. He was beautiful. Far superior to Johnny or Dillon, a cut above any person she'd ever met, and that included women.

       Then he smiled with his too perfect lips and Ruby was as good as gone. He leaned toward Ruby and planted a searing kiss on her gaping mouth, she sputtered stupidly but caught the lovely sound of his voice regardless. 

        "Hello, Ruby."

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AN: I'm so excited to go through every chapter and expand on these little blips of ideas I had before. There were characters that I have decided to introduce earlier to make it more cohesive. Enjoy! And as always, please let me know what you think!