The Disciple and Other Stories of the Paranormal (5 page)

I looked around my condo. I hadn’t wanted
the fuss of a house, though I could afford a nice one. I had
nothing but my business and staff tying me here – family was long
gone and, like Ruby, I found most people interesting but had no
close friends.

The month I’d spent with Ruby was, in
retrospect, the best of my life.

I put anything of sentimental value or
importance into my luggage, then went back to the Phoenician. She
wasn’t there. All her things were gone and, per the front desk,
she’d checked out thirty minutes after I’d left.

I sat in my car and considered what to
do.

By now I was confident Ruby wasn’t truly of
this plane of existence. Everything about her was human, except at
the same time, nothing about her was normal. She struck me as a
young woman who’d gone off to prove herself in the world, only to
find that her father’s admonitions and warnings had all come
true.

I believed she wanted to find someplace
hotter than Hell so she wouldn’t have to go home and admit defeat.
Of course, if Hell was real – and by now I knew it was – there
truly could be no place hotter. Those were the rules, after all. I
knew this, and I knew that Ruby, in her heart of hearts, knew this,
too.

She loved her father, missed her home and
her friends. Even if she found someplace where she was comfortable
on the earthly plane, she was going to go back sooner or later. I
bet on sooner.

I also knew where she was going before she’d
give up, just not where she’d choose first. So, I could go back to
work and my life and just remember this time fondly – like a sane,
normal, intelligent person would – or I could be a romantic idiot
and go after her.

It was the age-old question: Did I want to
risk my life, my soul, for love?

“
What’s a nice girl like
you doing in a desolate place like this?”

“
Shivering.” Ruby shook
her head. “I didn’t think you’d come after me. You were supposed to
realize our time together was just a fling and go on with your
life.”

“
Our relationship may have
been a fling for you. It wasn’t for me.” I looked around. The wind
blew and some dust devils sprang to life around her rental SUV and
mine. We were literally in the middle of nowhere. “This place is
really awful. Do you like it here?”

“
No. This is nothing like
home. There’s no one and nothing here. How did you know I’d come to
Death Valley first?”

I shrugged. “In your prior search you left
the most likely spot for last. So, logically, you’d leave the most
likely spot for last again. Running away from me meant you’d try to
fool me. You can’t, and here I am.”

Ruby bit her lip. “Nick, I don’t think you
understand what you’re trying to get involved with. Or who.”

“
I just spent a week
tracking you. It was the longest of my life. I’ve never felt fear
like this before, the fear that I’d be too late, that I’d never
find you. I don’t want to go through that ever again.” Some hair
flew into her face. I brushed it gently behind her ear. “At least
it’s warm enough here that you could take one layer
off.”

“
One layer isn’t really
what I was hoping for.”

“
I know who you are. And I
don’t care. I thought it was a spell or something that was making
me want you so much, but it wasn’t. It was just you. You didn’t
find me by accident – you were meant for me.”

“
You have no idea who I
really am.” Ruby sounded sad. “You really don’t.”

“
Sure I do.” I took her
hand and pulled her into my arms. “You said one of your father’s
nicknames was Nick. I’d bet it’s really Ol’ Nick.”

Ruby looked shocked. “Yes.”

“
Why are you here? On this
plane of existence, I mean?”

She sighed. “I got…bored. I thought things
would be more interesting away from home. They are, in some ways.
But…it’s just too cold.”

I shrugged. “I can take the heat.”

“
So I’ve seen.” She looked
down. “And now I can’t get back the way I wanted to.”

“
Of course, there’s only
one way to get where you want to go, at least so far as I know.” I
didn’t relish dying, but after being with and then without Ruby, if
that was how I stayed with her, dying it would be.

She shook her head with a sigh. “No. There
are…other ways.” She dug a cell phone out of her backpack. “Making
the call no one wants to make.” I raised my eyebrow as she hit 666.
“Daddy? Yes, I’m fine. Freezing, but fine. Daddy…you were right. I
don’t much like it here. I want to come home, and I’ve been trying
to find the way by myself, but I can’t.”

She looked at me. “Yes. Yes, I do. But…”
Ruby looked worried. Then she brightened. “Really? Oh, thank you,
Daddy! You’re the best! Yes, I love you, too. See you soon!”

Ruby hung up. “Daddy says he can give you
special dispensation.”

“
What does that
mean?”

“
You don’t have to die, or
cover all of the sins, or anything like that. You can just choose
to come with me. Under one condition.”

“
And that is?”

“
The same condition my
mother went under.”

I thought about it. “She fell in love with
the Devil himself?”

“
Daddy’s really charming,
and not like most of the stories say. But yes, she did. And he took
her home and married her, they had me, and the rest you
know.”

“
So I’d have to marry
you?”

“
And agree to carry on the
family business when Daddy retires.” Ruby looked a little worried.
“I was supposed to, but I’m not good at it. But Daddy says his
replacement can marry in and carry on.”

I contemplated my options again. I could
drive away like the Devil himself was after me, because he was, or
I could marry the daughter of the Devil himself. “Do you wear a lot
of clothes when you’re at home?”

“
No, not really. I’m
comfortable there.”

Hell really isn’t like they say, at least
not for me. Sure, there are some suffering there, but they deserve
it. Hell has its purpose, but it also has a whole spectrum who are
there simply because they want to be, not because they’re
damned.

Ruby wears almost nothing here, and that
makes me happy. One day, one of our children will wander up to
Earth, to try to find a better place to live. He or she won’t
succeed, will find someone, and bring them back here. At least,
that’s what Ol’ Nick says happens every time. He’s the
umpteen-times-great grandson of the original, after all, so I guess
he’d know.

I’m suited to the job. It’s easy to spot
what people try to hide. But I’d stay here even if I wasn’t. There
may be no place hotter than Hell, but there’s also no place else
Ruby can live, and as long as she’s with me, Hell’s a paradise.