The Seven Devils (YA "New Adult" Romance) (17 page)

My jaw dropped. “You’ve been spying on her??”

“I’m a coward, I know,” Josh replied. “I’ve been trying to plan a way to introduce myself to her, but I’m not sure how or when. I feel like a kid, I’m so nervous. Like I said, I don’t know if she’d ever consider seeing me or if she’d think I was too old for her. There’s also the matter of the boy she’s seeing, though I really don’t see them lasting much longer.”

“Oh man,” I said, with an amazed chuckle. “She’s not even single? You’re in trouble. You really have to just go for it, though. If you like her as much as you say, you have to at least try. She may absolutely love you. If she is a free spirit and wants to see the world and all that, she may go nuts over you. An older man with a cute accent? I’m sure you’d be much more interesting for her to talk to than her little boyfriend! You just have to go for it. And whatever you do, don’t let on to the fact you’ve been spying on her! That would have me running for the door for sure.”

“A cute accent, huh? You think she’ll like it?” he asked, grinning.

“All girls love a guy with an accent! Are you not from the US?”

“My parents moved here from Russia. What about you? It’s time for you to hold up your end of the bargain. Have you always lived in Ohio?”

I answered all of his questions, sure I was boring him to tears, but he seemed truly interested. After awhile he shook his head and said, “You know, my parents both died in a boating accident when I was only eleven. I have spent every year since then wishing they were still here, knowing my life would have been better if they had been here to raise me, yet here you are in a very different situation. They seem to be bringing nothing but pain to your life.”

My instinct was to argue, and to stand up for my family. I tried to think of some good examples to prove him wrong, but came up with nothing. “There’s nothing I can do about that. You know what they say: You can’t pick your family... and I’m too young to move out. I’d have no way to support myself.” Josh nodded, and we were both lost in our thoughts for a moment.

“Can I ask you something?” I said softly.

Josh nodded and leaned toward me. “Sure.”

“You just developed your “ability” or whatever you want to call it only a year or so ago, and you and Neil suspect that there are others around, these dimmer lights you mentioned, who have not yet realized that they are different?”

Josh nodded.

I hesitated for a moment. “Can you tell me if I am one of those lights? Is there a possibility that I might be like you and Neil someday?”

Josh looked into my eyes and smiled. “No, you’re completely normal, Ellen.”

I nodded and looked away. That was not the answer I was hoping for.

***

Josh left a few moments later, swearing he’d soon introduce himself to Maya. We exchanged phone numbers and he promised I’d be hearing from him soon.

I walked outside and saw Neil sitting on the dock with his pants rolled up and bare feet hanging in the water. “It’s freezing out here, you know,” I said, sitting down beside him. “What are you doing out here?”

Neil slid closer to me and wrapped an arm around my waist. “Just lost in my thoughts,” he replied. “What do you think of Josh?”

“Oh, I like him,” I said. “He’s really easy to talk to.”

Neil nodded. “I thought you’d like him. And hopefully now that we’re both on his case, he’ll actually talk to Maya instead of skulking about in her closet.”

“He hides in her closet? That’s too creepy,” I said, laughing. “He better cut that out and talk to her face-to-face or I’m going to be tempted to smack him next time he stops by.”

“That’s actually what I was just thinking about,” Neil said.

“Me hitting famous violinists?”

Neil laughed. “Not quite. I was thinking that you should take a self defense class.”

I quietly considered that. “Because of Derrick?” I asked.

Neil nodded. “If you knew how to defend yourself, maybe you would be less afraid of him. He would no longer have any sort of influence over you.”

“It sounds like a good idea, but I don’t know what I could do against him,” I said, holding up a skinny arm and flexing.

Neil stroked my arm, and even through my thick sweatshirt it was enough to give me goosebumps. “It’s not about muscles, it’s about knowing how and where to strike.”

“I’m willing to learn anything if it helps get him out of my life,” I said, leaning in for a kiss.

Chapter 19

The house was empty when Neil dropped me off that afternoon. I was beginning to feel as though I lived alone. I checked the refrigerator to see if there was anything available for dinner and saw it was empty except for another case of yogurt. Since Mom worked at Dannon, she continuously brought home free yogurt, and it was usually the only thing in the house. Apparently feeding your family isn’t a high priority when you’re re-entering the dating scene.

When I went up to my room I saw a note on my door. My brother wrote, “Hannah stopped by.”

I smiled and grabbed my laptop to see if she was online. I saw that she was and sent her a message.

“Hey! I hear you stopped by?”

“Yes! Did you just get back from the lake?” she typed back. “I want to hear all about it and then I have some BIG BIG BIG news.”

I smiled, but immediately thought of how much I would have to hide from her.

“It was AMAZING. I <3 Neil so much. I’ll tell you all about it at school tomorrow. What’s this big news??”

Hannah typed, “Just please promise you won’t tell anyone.”

“Cross my heart.”

“Okay,” she replied. “You’re the first person I’m telling. I’m telling Garret when he picks me up for our date in about an hour.”

“What is it?” I asked. “The suspense is killing me!”

“Alright. Are you sitting down? I’m preggers!”

I gasped. “WHAT???!???” I typed quickly.

Suddenly I remembered what Neil had told me. Garret was thinking about breaking up with Hannah soon. How was he going to react to this news? “Shit,” I whispered under my breath.

She wrote back, “I know! I was so surprised. I can’t wait to tell Garret. He’s going to flip.”

“Hannah, what if he doesn’t want a baby? You’re both really young. Maybe he’s not ready to be ‘tied down’ or whatever.”

She didn’t reply for some time. “No, I know he feels the same way I do. We were going to get married and get an apartment by his school soon anyways. Our parents will have to help support us for a while—till he graduates—but it’ll be so great. We’ll be so happy.”

I nervously twisted my hair. “How can you be so sure? This is so big… such a surprise. You’re sure he’s not going to freak out?”

“Ellen why are you being so negative?? Can’t you just be happy for me?” she asked.

I was typing a reply when she logged off. I sat back and sighed. Hopefully her announcement goes better than I expected.

***

I woke up in the middle of the night. My clock glowed red: 2:14. What had woken me? I sat up and immediately noticed a figure by my window.

There was a man in my room. A scream built in my throat.

“Ellen,” Neil said softly. “It’s only me.”

I let out a long breath and fell back against my pillow. “You scared me half to death,” I whispered.

He remained by the window so I slid out of bed and joined him there. “What’s going on?” I asked, wrapping my arms around his waist from behind.

I rested my head against his back as I waited for an answer. Even through his layers of clothes I could hear his heart beating hard and fast. I held myself tight against him and ran my hands up under his shirt. My left hand moved up and covered his heart while the right rested on his tight abs. I rocked slightly from side to side and moved his body along with mine. Something was wrong. Something had happened that clearly had him upset.

Neil’s heart rate began to normalize and his breathing slowed to match mine. Still he said nothing.

I turned him so that he was facing me and looked up into his eyes. They met mine for a moment then dropped down. He looked worried. I ran my hands up and over his shoulders and made his jacket drop to the floor. Taking his hand, I led him to the bed and had him sit. I knelt on the floor before him and took his hands.

“Please, Neil. Tell me what happened.”

“Do you know that you’re alone here?” he asked quietly.

“Alone? Where are my mom and Austin?” I asked.

“Neither came home tonight. Austin is sleeping at Lexie’s house and your mother is at her boyfriend’s house.”

I pursed my lips in anger. The least they could have done was told me.

“I’m not the only one who knew you were alone tonight,” Neil continued.

My stomach dropped. “Derrick?” I asked.

Neil’s eyes, cold and hard, met mine and he nodded. “Lexie’s parents are out of town and she had bragged to Derrick that Austin was going to stay over every night until they return. He was out driving around and recognized your mother’s car at her boss Chad’s house. He immediately started to drive this way.”

“How do you know this?” I asked. “Were you watching him?”

“Yes,” he replied. “And I stopped him before he got close to you.”

I sat back on my heels and focused on my breathing for a moment, trying to stay calm. “What did you do?” I asked, trying not to imagine the worst.

Neil exhaled sharply and ran his fingers through his hair. “You’re such a good person, Ellen.” It hung in the air like an accusation. “Even now you’re worried that I hurt Derrick, even though I know you hate him. I know you do. Even though you know he was on his way here to hurt you… still you’re worried for him. And me? I want nothing more than to tear him limb from limb. I feel pleasure when I think of killing him.”

I was looking down at my hands as I listened, but Neil leaned toward me and guided my face up towards his. “Don’t you see, Ellen? How can you love me? I’m a monster and you’re this beautiful…” he trailed off, his thumb brushing away a tear that came rolling down my cheek.

“The devil doesn’t get an angel,” he whispered. “It doesn’t work that way.”

I shook my head. “I’m no angel, Neil. And I do hate Derrick, but I still don’t want him or anyone else to feel pain.” I paused and wiped my eyes and took a deep breath. “I know what it feels like to be abused. I know what it’s like to never feel safe, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Even someone who wants to do me harm.”

“My feelings are all mixed up, Neil,” I continued, shaking my head. “I don’t want Derrick to get hurt, but I’m also happy he’s not here right now hurting me.” I put my hands on his thighs. “And I love you, Neil. You’ve given me peace of mind, something I’ve never felt before. My love for you outweighs everything else. Even if you did something terrible tonight, I will forgive you. I will always forgive you, no matter what.”

I couldn’t tell what Neil was feeling as he stared into my eyes. “Tell me what happened tonight,” I asked.

“Close your eyes,” Neil said, “And I will show you.”

I leaned my forehead against his knees and closed my eyes. Very suddenly it seemed I was outside. I jerked back, but Neil placed a hand on my head to steady me. “Keep watching,” he said quietly.

I recognized that I was standing to the side of the road that Neil and I both lived on. We were just a little ways out of town, and I realized that I was seeing all of this from Neil’s perspective. He was sending me his memory of the night.

A pair of headlights was growing nearer. I could feel myself, or should I say Neil, smile. Neil knew it was Derrick in the car. He honed in on him and suddenly I was in Derrick’s mind.

It was dark and almost foggy. I remembered what Neil said about it being hard to read Derrick and I tried to concentrate more on what I was seeing. I realized suddenly that Derrick was picturing me. I was in my room, crying. I could make out bruises across my face, and Derrick was there forcing me to go down on him. He grew excited, picturing me choking on his dick. Neil let go of the connection and his anger was like nothing I had ever felt before. Fire flowed through his veins and his muscles felt tight and on-edge, begging to be used. I felt the power flowing through him.

Neil stepped into the street. Derrick’s tires squealed and I was terrified the car wouldn’t stop in time, but Neil was perfectly calm.

“What the FUCK, man!” Derrick screamed, leaping from his stopped car. He noticed for the first time that it was Neil. He hesitated. “What are you doing here?”

A fire burned through Neil as he pictured every joint in Derrick’s body being forced to bend the wrong way, from his knees and elbows to the smallest fingers on his hands. His heart raced as he pictured Derrick scratching his own eyes out and his heart rupturing in his chest. He wanted to do these things. He was about to make his move. But then Neil pictured me. I was in the restroom at school screaming, “No Neil, don’t hurt him!”

Derrick had just been standing there as Neil struggled with his conflicting desires, and he turned to go. “Whatever, psycho,” he said. “Stay the hell away from my car.”

He was about to get back into his car when Neil struck. Without moving a muscle, he made Derrick fall to the ground, screaming. His screaming worsened and I was confused for a moment, then I realized Neil wasn’t breaking Derrick’s bones the way he fantasized, but he was making Derrick’s brain think he was. Derrick’s screams echoed through the night and he writhed around on the pavement by his car. Neil calmly walked over to him and stood over his body, watching.

A sob rose in my throat and I tried to get back to my bedroom. I couldn’t watch this anymore. His screams were terrifying; I had never heard someone in so much pain. Neil’s hands held firm to my shoulders. “No, Ellen. You need to see this. You need to see what I am.”

I cried as I watched.

Neil watched Derrick for a bit longer and then sensed he was about to pass out. Just as quickly as the pain had come to Derrick, it was just as suddenly gone. He gasped and rolled on the road, and then began to feel his limbs, shocked to find them all intact.

After a moment, Derrick carefully rose to his feet, leaning heavily on his car. “What are you?” he asked Neil.

Neil moved towards him until they were mere inches away. Derrick tried to shrink back but was blocked by his car. “Stay away from Ellen and you’ll never have to find out,” Neil said.

I watched, amazed, as Derrick puffed up his chest and said, “None of that was real. I don’t know what you thought that was, but I’m fine.”

Neil smiled at him.

Derrick’s eyes grew large as he turned and walked towards his open car door. Whatever he was about to do, Neil was controlling it.

Derrick placed his right hand inside the doorframe and held the car door with his left.

“Neil,” I whimpered, not wanting to see any more. The visions didn’t stop, though.

Derrick looked terrified. “Come on man,” he pleaded. “Don’t do this.”

Neil had Derrick’s hand grip the car door harder, and I could see his arm muscles tense, ready to slam the door as hard as he could.

“Please!” Derrick screamed.

“So, where were you going tonight?” Neil asked.

“Nowhere, man! Just driving home!” Derrick cried. His arm almost immediately went to slam the door.

“Wait wait!” he cried. “Alright, I was going to see Ellen.”

Neil nodded. “What were you going to do when you got there?”

Derrick didn’t answer.

“I’m losing my patience with you,” Neil said. “Are you going to tell me or am I going to break your hand?”

“Look, I don’t know, alright?” Derrick said. “I was pissed and I needed to take it out on her. I wasn’t going to hurt her or anything, jut have a little fun with her.”

“She didn’t look like she was having fun, being forced to suck on that pathetic thing you call a cock in that little daydream you were having,” Neil said.