The Seven Devils (YA "New Adult" Romance) (6 page)

Class seemed to drag on and on and I found I couldn’t lose myself in the music as I usually did. I couldn’t wait to hear whatever it was Erin had to say. At the end of class she stalled for quite awhile, putting away her instrument and organizing her music. I could tell she loved having some sort of control over me and I couldn’t believe I was letting her use it. I waited with a patient look on my face. This was for Neil, I told myself. He wanted me to know.

Finally we all went out into the hall together, which was already nearly empty. “Well,” Erin said, “I guess you’re just dying to know about Neil, am I right?”

“I’m curious,” I said nonchalantly.

Erin’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe we shouldn’t tell her,” she said suddenly, looking at Melanie. “Maybe it’s not our place.”

Melanie frowned slightly and said, “You told her you would tell her. You should keep your promises.”

Erin yawned and said, “Oh, I guess you’re right.”

I waited. A little less patiently than before.

“The thing you need to understand is that there are two different theories. The first, which Melanie here believes, is that you can’t trust him because he can make you do things you don’t want to do. With his mind. Some people say that he secretly studied hypnotism. There was this girl, Candise, who used to be in our grade and everyone knew he had a huge thing for her. Anyways, she kept saying she couldn’t sleep at night because she kept having these weird dreams about him. And like, out of nowhere, just in the middle of class or whenever, she’d see his face. Like POW! There’s his face, just out of nowhere. She was scared out of her mind. She said she kept hearing a voice telling her to ask Neil out. It was like, so scary. She finally convinced her parents to transfer her to a different school.” Melanie nodded gravely. Erin continued, “They say he can make you do things. I hear he made this one girl take off her clothes in front of him. And he made this other girl… you know… do things for him. Sexual things. He’ll control you. Unless you’re slutty and give him that sort of thing willingly. That’s just how he is. He has also killed at least one person.”

She stopped talking and I stood there staring at her for some time. “Uh-huh. So that’s theory one?” I asked.

“I hear he worships the devil and has a shrine to him in his bedroom,” Melanie said nervously in a whisper. “He does Satan’s work. It’s why he always wears long sleeves and long pants, even in the summer. His body is covered in tattoos showing he gave his life to the evil one.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop from laughing. “And what’s theory two?”

“He’s faking it,” Erin said. “Either he had some sort of power at one point and lost it, or he’s just been faking it the whole time. Maybe he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and didn’t actually kill anyone… and maybe he paid Candi to say those things and spread the rumor right before she moved. I agree with Derrick… he’s just hiding behind the rumors so that no one messes with him.”

I couldn’t take it any longer and burst out laughing. “THIS is the big secret about Neil? He’s either a devil worshipper who controls girls with his mind powers and makes them into his sex slaves or he’s a coward who tries to pass himself off as an evil devil worshiper of some sort?” Erin’s hands went onto her hips and she glared at me. She was obviously not pleased that I wasn’t thankful for the information she bestowed on me.

“Have either of you ever even talked to Neil? Do either of you know him at all? If you did, you’d know how ridiculous that all is,” I said, getting a little angry. “Everyone in this school is crazy,” I said, walking away. “And delusional!” I added over my shoulder.

I packed up my books at my locker and then ran through the driving rain to Neil’s car.

Chapter 6

I was completely soaked by the time I opened Neil’s car door and flung myself inside. Neil’s gorgeous smile fell almost immediately and he said, “Shit. I should have moved the car closer to the school. I’m sorry… I don’t know what I was thinking.”

I laughed and scooted down the long front seat closer to him. “I’ll be fine,” I said and ran my fingers slowly along his jaw line. Neil’s eyes widened slightly with surprise. I wanted to kiss him so badly. My doubts about him had been cleared by the girls’ ridiculous accusations and I was left with a feeling of euphoria and an almost overwhelming desire to be close to him and touch him. My heart raced as I thought of him kissing me and of being held in his arms. I felt like there was fire running through my veins, but I was afraid to make the first move; afraid I would do something wrong.

Neil sensed what I wanted and drew me closer and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and ran my fingers up through his hair as I eagerly returned his kisses. My hands rubbed his arms and back, amazed at how hard and strong he felt. Neil’s breath came heavier than before and I got goose bumps as his hand traveled up and down my side. I breathed in the scent of his aftershave and wondered if his body felt as alive as mine did. Neil’s fingers grazed my neck and my body tensed and I inhaled sharply. My father’s angry snarl flashed through my mind.

“Are you okay?” Neil asked, combing the wet hair back from my eyes.

I nodded and I placed a hand at my neck. “I’m sorry. My neck… it.. it’s sensitive,” I said.

Neil smiled down at me and said, “No need to apologize. We were moving a little fast. I want you to set the pace. I want you to decide the ‘when’s and the ‘how much’s. I won’t pressure you.” He grinned and added, “Well, at least not about sex. But you are dripping wet and I really must insist you let me take you back to my place and make you something hot to drink and let you warm up. You look like a… hot chocolate kind of girl?”

I smiled and said, “That sounds great.” We sat back, buckled ourselves in, and he pulled out of the school parking lot. “You never asked what Melanie and Erin told me,” I said to Neil.

He turned to me and chuckled. “Alright,” he said, “lay it on me. What did they say?”

“Oh you know… that you’re a devil-worshipping evil hypnotist who turns young innocent girls into your sex slaves. Either that or you’re a lying coward. You know, just the usual,” I said, and he laughed again.

“Why did you lead me to believe they were saying something horrible about you? Why didn’t you tell me it was all so ridiculous?” I asked.

“Well, they don’t think it’s ridiculous,” he replied. “In the end it doesn’t matter what they think I am or what they think I do, the result is the same. It won’t be easy being my girlfriend. Are you ready to put up with being labeled the evil hypnotist’s latest victim?”

I giggled and said, “Oh sure, sounds like a blast,” absolutely beaming inside at the thought of being Neil’s official girlfriend.

Neil pointed out my house as we drove by it so I’d know how to get to and from his house from then on. “Neil?” I said. He looked over at me and I grinned wickedly. “You’re not really an evil hypnotist, are you?” I asked and tried to fake a frightened look.

“Well,” he said, rubbing his chin as if in deep thought, “I can honestly say that I don’t know hypnosis. This evil business though, I would classify that as a judgment call, and I don’t think that I am the most impartial judge in this instance. I suppose I’ll have to let you decide whether or not I am evil. Or maybe you’d find it more beneficial to assign me an evil rating, from 1 to 100 perhaps. That sounds rather fair and scientific.”

I laughed and hit him playfully on the arm. He pulled into a driveway and I stared up at the house in awe. “This is where you live?” I asked. The place was absolutely beautiful. The exterior was stone and there were huge windows all across the front. The lawn was immaculate and there were bright flowers all across the front of the house and along the walkway to the front door.

“Sort of,” Neil said. “I don’t spend much time in the actual house.” We got out of the car and approached the house. He ignored the front entrance and instead took me through a door on the side of the garage. “My room,” he said as he brought me inside.

It was a typical garage with a cement floor and room for two cars. There was a spot where a third car could have gone, but it was sectioned off with floor to ceiling black curtains. Neil headed to the drapes and opened them, revealing a small bed, lamp, nightstand, and a desk. It was horribly cramped. “It’s not much, but it works,” he said.

I smiled politely and wondered how he could possibly stand living in a cold garage when there was such a beautiful house just a door away. Picking up on what I was thinking, he said, “Believe me, it’s better out here than in there. Let’s venture in though and grab a drink and I’ll find you a towel.”

We entered the house and he led me to the massive steel and glass kitchen which, despite its beauty and its obvious expense, seemed very cold and unwelcoming. Neil put some water in a kettle and set it to boil and then found a couple of packets of powdered hot chocolate mix and mugs.

As he ran off to grab me a towel, I looked out the window into their backyard. The sight of their huge in-ground pool made me shudder, and I immediately turned my back to the window. On doing so, I saw a tall blond woman in a doorway at the edge of the room, staring at me with her arms crossed.

“Who are you?” she demanded.

“I… my name is Ellen,” I said quickly. “I’m new here. Neil invited me over.” Her eyes narrowed, and as she walked over to me I felt like a rabbit cornered by a fox.

“My son is bad news,” she said, her piercing blue eyes only inches from my own. She grabbed my arm harshly and said, “You’d do best to stay away from him.” Her fierce red nails bit into my skin and I was so surprised that I couldn’t move.

“Mom!” Neil shouted, entering the room. The woman jumped slightly and dropped my arm. I rubbed it carefully and backed away towards Neil. I wanted nothing more than for us to leave that kitchen, but looking up at Neil I was suddenly startled. He didn’t seem to see me at all and was glaring with fierce intensity at his mother. His fists were clenched and he seemed somehow much larger than he was before. I could almost feel the anger radiating out from him in waves.

His mother was holding her ground and I saw nothing but hatred in her eyes. Her eyes focused on me and she gave an icy smile. “I didn’t know you were into the white trash type Neil,” she said snidely. As soon as the last word left her lips it seemed as if the world fell into chaos. Neil grabbed a mug off the counter and threw it so hard that it exploded against the cabinets next to his mother’s head as the kettle on the stove began to whistle. Neil and his mother began shouting at each other and I dashed out, terrified of being caught in the middle of their fight. I ran the entire way home. Seeing a car in the driveway, I ran back to the clearing in the woods Neil had shown me instead of going in to face my mother.

***

The canopy of thick leaves above the clearing had kept everything pretty dry through the storm, and I lay on the soft grass thankfully. Tears streamed from my eyes as I pictured Neil’s face contorted with anger. I couldn’t help but compare his expression to that of my father’s. The anger terrified me. Was Neil dangerous?

It had been a long, emotional day. I hadn’t told Neil the truth that morning about Derrick, I had fainted in the cafeteria, and now this fight. It was clear Neil and his mother hated each other, but why? And did he move out into the garage because he wanted to or because his parents threw him out?

Lying in the cool grass and thinking these things over, I drifted into a fitful sleep.

I dreamt that I was in my bedroom back in Akron and I was scraping the old wallpaper off the walls. It felt good to be doing something productive, and I was excited to get rid of the ugly wallpaper. As I peeled strips off the wall, I began to be afraid of what I would find underneath it. I peeled more slowly and considered stopping. I knew I could not reapply the wallpaper now that it was down and in pieces, and I also knew I could never stop myself from picking at the edges if I let the rest of the wallpaper up and tried to live with it the way it was.

I was standing in the middle of the room considering the situation when Neil walked in. I was startled, sure that I had been in the house alone. It was nice that he was there; I wanted to see him, yet I couldn’t help but remember his rage. I was having doubts as to whether I could trust him completely or not. He seemed suddenly so unpredictable to me.

“Is your arm okay?” he asked. I looked down and was startled to see red welts where his mother’s fingers had dug into my skin.

I nodded and said, "It looks worse than it feels."

Neil gestured to a couch across the room and said, "Can we sit and talk about what happened?" I nodded again and we sat down together on the couch which felt as if it were filled with feathers. I seemed to melt into it and felt completely at ease and suddenly sleepy.

"You scared me," I said drowsily.

Neil took my hands and looked me straight in the eye. "What I did was wrong, Ellen. I saw her hurting you and I lost control," he said. "I could feel your fear. I hated her for it. I never should have brought you there when there was a chance she may be home."

"She told me to stay away from you... she said that you were bad," I whispered. "Why does she hate you?"

I suddenly found myself lying with my head in his lap, though I didn't remember moving. Neil ran his fingers through my hair and said, "I want to tell you everything, but I don't know if you're ready to hear it all yet."

"Why not?" I asked, hurt. He was silent for a moment and I added, “Don’t you trust me?”

“I do trust you,” Neil said. “I just don’t know how you will react to some things. I don’t want to frighten you.”

“I’m always frigh-” I began when I was suddenly cut off by the sound of a slamming door. I leapt to my feet and cried, “It’s my dad! We have to hide.”

Neil was on his feet too and the couch disappeared. “Ellen, look at me. Your father is not here,” he said. I became hysterical and began sobbing as I realized there was no place to hide in the empty room. My feet seemed glued to the floor and I screamed, hearing my father’s footsteps running up the stairs towards my room. “Ellen,” Neil said, “This is a dream. Look at me Ellen. Wake up. Wake yourself up Ellen, it’s just a dream.”

***

My eyes snapped open and I found myself back in the woods. I was stunned to find myself covered in a blanket, and when I heard the sound of twigs cracking in the woods I pulled it tighter to myself instinctively.

“Ellen?” I heard someone say.

“Neil? Is that you?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s me. I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, walking into the clearing. “I found you asleep out here, shivering, so I ran back home and got a blanket. I realized you hadn’t had lunch or dinner, so I ran back and made us a couple of sandwiches. Is turkey okay?”

“Sounds great,” I said as he sat down beside me and handed me a sandwich wrapped in plastic wrap. I was so touched that he thought to bring me the food and blanket that I felt a lump in my throat and tears filled my eyes.

“Ellen,” he began as I started to unwrap the food, “I hope you’ll forgive me for what happened earlier. When I saw her hurting you it was like I just snapped. I shouldn’t have brought you home when there was a chance she would be around.”

I gazed at him for a moment and then smiled widely. “Déjà vu,” I said. “I think I had a dream a bit ago and you said something very similar.”

“Oh?” he said. “When I was coming back it sounded as if you were having a nightmare. Does that mean you didn’t forgive me?” he said playfully.

I leaned my head against his shoulder and said, “No, I forgive you Neil. I was just startled. I’ve never seen you look that angry.” I paused and ate a bit of a sandwich. “I think my father was in my dream. He had found me.”

Neil wrapped his arm around me. “Do you worry about that? That he will come here?” he asked.

I gazed out into the blackness of the forest for a few moments before replying. “I know he will. And he’ll be so upset with us for leaving him. It’s only a matter of time until he remembers Aunt Dot’s rental here. He’ll come.”