The Light of the World (8 page)

BOOK: The Light of the World
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They don’t look like they bought it.

Neither does the Asian girl I don’t know, who is
with them. Mona grabs the red wig and the glasses and passes them
to the Asian girl. She pulls them on. I turn back to the mirror and
finish my makeup. Michelle is Michelle Pfeiffer and Mona is Cher.
The three of them look awesome and sexy.

"You look creepy."

I smile at Mona and flash my huge fangs. They're
the real looking kind that fit onto your teeth snug. I used plaster
to mold them.

Michelle looks at me, "All that fabric and
you'll still be the most popular girl at the bar."

It's true. I'm cursed. I believe it. Ever since
that stupid waitress flashed her red eyes at me and the weird
dreams have gotten worse, I've been like a dude magnet. A gay guy
Michelle knows hit on me last week. I can't walk into the bar
without guys offering me drinks or dances or whole tables.

I look at myself and nod. I'm wearing long black
pants with a black tank top and a cape. I don’t have bare skin
except my face, which is covered in white makeup and bloodstains
and masses of black eyeliner. I look scary and creepy and I will
still be turning them away.

We leave the room and walk to the Asian girl in
the Susan Sarandon costume's car. She drives us to the bar. I feel
anxious and excited to party. I like partying now. I leave a club
feeling good for days. The beat of the music and the energy makes
me high. I don’t even really have to drink anymore. One or two but
that’s it. Otherwise I get trashed and sleep with someone. Then
Mona calls me a slut and Michelle tells me I should start charging,
so we can afford dinner out more often.

The line up is long but the bouncer is one of my
adoring fans. I walk up and flash a toothy grin.

He pauses and then smiles, "Hey Rayne. How's it
going?"

I nod, "Good. Is it busy in there?"

"Very. Be careful."

I smile sweetly, "Always." He lets us in. The
line up bitches and complains but one look from the huge lug is all
it ever takes to quiet them down.

We climb the stairs and look at the crowd. It
moves like an ocean. I feel instantly better. My stomachache is
gone and my smile feels real. It only ever lasts until I see him. I
don’t look into the crowd. I walk out onto the dance floor and
start moving with the music. Instantly a guy comes over, "Want a
drink?"

I look at Mona and Michelle. They nod.

"Four beers." I lean in and whisper in his ear.
I can smell his cologne. He smells good. I lick his neck. He pulls
back and flashes me a grin. When he leaves for the beers, I catch a
glimpse of Wyatt. He sees me and turns away. He looks angry. He
always looks angry when he sees me. I close my eyes and let the
music take me.

"Can I get you a drink?" I look up at a cute boy
in a Spiderman costume with the mask up. I smile and shake my head,
"No thanks."

"Wanna dance with me?"

"No thanks. My boyfriend is coming now." I point
to the guy at the bar watching this guy hit on me.

Spiderman lifts his eyebrows and smirks, "Is he
good enough for a hottie like you?"

I laugh and wave, "Bye." I hate being rude but
this won't be the only boy accosting me.

I close my eyes again and feel the beat.

The cold beer is pressed into my palm after a
few minutes. I take it and flash a vampire smile. He passes the
beers to my girls.

"You are sexy."

I laugh, "What's your name?"

He leans in, "Jon." He has dirty blond hair,
blue eyes, dimples and a sexy surfer look. He's actually dressed as
a surfer, but I would bet he got the outfit from his own
closet.

"I'm Rayne."

"I know. I'm Wyatt's frat brother. He told me to
stay away from you or he would kick my ass." He bursts out
laughing. I feel weird about the whole thing. I look at Wyatt and
catch him staring at us. He isn’t wearing a costume. He doesn’t
need one, except maybe some horns and a tail.

I grab the surfer shirt and press my lips into
Jon. I moan and savor the smell of him. He presses his body against
mine. I'm lost in him when something pinches into my arm.
"Stop." An angry voice blasts into my ear over the music.

I pull away and see Wyatt's crazed face in mine,
"What are you doing?"

Jon clenches his jaw and pushes Wyatt, "Back off
man. Don’t grab her arm like that."

Wyatt looks at him and points, "Leave now."

Jon looks at me and shakes his head, "No. You're
a head case Wyatt."

Wyatt grabs his arms and sends him sailing
through the crowd. People push him and shove him when he hits them.
He trips and ends up lost in the crowd.

Somehow everyone notices Jon tripping and
flailing. They miss Wyatt holding me by my arm and growling at
me.

I glance at Michelle and Mona watching me.
Michelle is in the arms of Benny. He gives me a nod and I shake my
head. They all look pissed but I don’t want a scene. No more than
the one I'm in.

"Like he would stand a chance. Why do you insist
on hurting these people Rayne? Leave. No one wants you here. No one
wants your kind." His words are venom in my ears.

"What kind, psycho? You're an effing nut Wyatt.
Stop watching me and talking to me. I hate you." I tear my arm away
from his grip and walk away. I hurry to the bathroom and push on a
stall door. When it flings open, I slide in and close it. I am
twitching in agony. If the stall were bigger I would pace.

I cross my arms and sit on the toilet.

I bite my upper lip and wait for the pain to
pass.

"Rayne you okay?" Mona asks from outside my
stall.

I nod, "Yup." My voice is weak.

"You sure?"

"No. I never did anything to him. I know I
never. I left our date early, that’s it. He's been a miserable shit
since the day HE hit ME. It wasn’t even a date. It was an early
dinner."

"Stop worrying about it. He's such a dick. I
threw my beer at him. That’s why I'm hiding in here."

I laugh. Mona is crazy. "Did you hit him?"

"Yeah. In the chest. It spilled all over him. He
came up and swore at me and told me I should move out of the dorm
and not live with you anymore. I called him a cock and the bouncer
came up. He threw him out. I just don’t want to be thrown out for
throwing a bottle of beer."

I open the door, "He's gone?"

She nods, "Yeah. He got bounced. Asshat."

I look at myself in the mirror and try to ignore
my glowing eyes. "Total asshat. He's a douche canoe that one." I
act like I hate him but truth be told I am worried the bouncer hurt
him.

Shit is wrong with me.

We leave the bathroom and head back for the
dance floor. We dance and I end up making out with Jon some more.
He apologizes for not sticking up for me. I tell him I understand.
He would have been kicked from his house. He is a good kisser and
he smells delish. I can't help myself. We stumble down the stairs
at the end of the night, laughing and leaning on each other. I'm
not drunk. I'm high from the energy.

"Wanna go for breakfast?" He asks. I want him
for breakfast. I shake my head and lean in for a kiss. I may have
my first sober sex, ever.

We walk up College Street and head home. My feet
hurt a little. My black ballet flats are not made for hours of
dancing.

"So what's up with you and Wyatt?"

I shake my head, "No clue. We went on a date
once. He's acted like an asshole ever since."

He looks confused, "One date?" I nod.

He shrugs, "Weird. He acts like you guys were
serious. I saw you leave that morning in his clothes."

I shake my head, "I was sick. He let me sleep
over. Nothing happened. I didn’t want it to."

It's weird that then when I had him attacking me
I didn’t want him, but now he's mean to me and I want him more than
food or air. My intense attraction/love for him started the day he
hit me.

Shit is wrong with me.

"He's a dick. I'm probably going to get kicked
out of my house for this. But I don’t care." He laughs. He's very
drunk.

I grab his arm, "Wait, he's going to kick you
out for kissing me?"

He hiccups, "If he doesn’t beat me bloody. He's
a wicked fighter. I saw him kick the shit out of some guy a few
weeks ago. The guy was huge and older and he still didn’t stand a
chance against Wyatt."

I know about his anger. I've felt the sting of
it first hand. Oddly enough it wasn’t enough to make hate him, not
properly.

"Yeah, he's weird about you. Any guys even
mention you and he gets creepy. His eyes go all dark." He makes a
spooky face and then laughs.

I laugh too, but I am stunned.

We walk and talk and I lose my interest in him.
I decide to walk him to his place and make sure he gets home
safely.

Halfway across the huge sprawling greens I see
him. He's standing under a tree, leaning the way he always does.
Like our encounter is casual. Like he's waiting for me after school
and just wants to chat. My stomach starts to ache because I know it
isn’t casual. It never is.

"Jon you should probably walk that way." I point
toward their house. He looks up and shouts, "FUCK YOU WYATT! YOU
FUCKER!" His speech is still a bit slurred. "I'll protect you from
him." He walks out in front of me.

"No, just walk that way. I can take care of
myself." I can't but I can scream, maybe.

"No I got this." He shoos me away.

When we get closer I'm scared. Not just for me
but for Jon too. Wyatt looks savage in the shadow of the tree.

He points at me, "You have to stop this Rayne.
No more dating." He is angrier than I've ever seen him.

I have had enough. I shout at him, "SCREW YOU!
WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME! Go fuck
yourself or ONE of those whores you'RE ALWAYS with."

He takes one of his massive steps, "I am trying
to help you Jon. Run. Get away from her. She is dangerous and
damaged goods." His words kill me inside. I feel rage building
inside of me. It makes my stomachache come back.

"Go home." He points to their house. Jon sways
and tries to shove him.

"Leave her alone. You're the damaged goods
dude."

Wyatt pushes him and sends shim sprawling on the
grass. I try to run to Jon but Wyatt grabs my arm and swings me. I
fly out of his grip and land on my butt on the grass. He grabs for
me but I pull it away.

"ENOUGH!" I cover my eyes for a split second, "I
am done with you touching me or mauling me. This is nuts. I'm
calling the cops. I know it was you. You beat up Sam."

His eyes are dark. His jaw is set. His face is
contorting into something. It scares the shit out of me. I reach
into my bag and fish for my phone.
It's in my dorm. I left it on the bedside table. I remember the
call to Willow earlier and crying over this asshole. I'm stunned at
the lengths I will go to make myself suffer. His mouth still makes
me want to kiss it. His hands, that look ready to strangle me,
remind of the feel of him against my bare skin. I get a waft of him
in the air. He smells like Axe and cologne but also the musk that
he naturally smells of. My mouth waters.

He looks at Jon and points, "Go." Jon stands and
stumbles off into the night.

My vision clears and I can see everything. I can
see his eyes grow soft and concerned.

"You're screwing with me. You don’t want to be
with me, you only want to hurt me and make sure no one else wants
me." I'm angry sobbing in the grass.

"You don’t know do you?" He takes a step toward
me again. He's out of control. One minute he's raging and now he's
talking to me gently.

I stand and take a step away from him, "Screw
you." I walk past him. When he reaches for me, I run.

I run until my stomach twists and I gag. I dry
heave and clutch myself.

He's laughing behind me.

I try to walk fast while doubling over in
pain.

His arms scoop me up and he plugs my nose, "Stop
smelling me. Don’t breathe me in." I plug my nose and it helps. I
turn my face away from him and drink in the cool night air.

"Screw you."

He looks at me and smiles his boyish smile,
"Rayne you're going to be the death of me."

My hand drops and I take in a huge breath
through my nose. I am instantly nauseous. I lean away from him and
retch. He holds me out. I throw up all over the grass.

"You have to stop puking on me."

I cough and gag and try to stop.

Chapter Seven

I feel like death.

"I think someone drugged me." I whisper into the
darkness.

He looks worried. He's sitting in the chair
across the room. The chair the man was sitting in when I slept here
last time.

"Where does she live?"

I rub my eyes and frown, "Who?"

"Your mother."

I lick my lips and swallow. "Plattsburg." I have
to call her after I call the police. As soon as I get away from
him.

"Get up and shower." His face is stoic. I have
no idea what's going on. I need to get away from him.

"Are you bipolar?" I ask and wipe my mouth.

He starts laughing.

I climb out of the bed and stumble into his
bathroom. The room is messy. The bathroom looks like a tornado has
whirled through it. Nothing is where it was the last time. There is
regular shampoo and soap on the floor of the shower. No body wash.
I wash the soap until it's half its size and then scrub myself.

When I step out of the shower he's holding the
towel out for me. I'm naked and dripping water. I hold the curtain
over my body to hide my nakedness. "Get out." I'm terrified deep
down, but something on the surface likes him. It wants to trust
him.

He shakes his head and walks toward me with his
arms out. He wraps the towel around me and hugs me. He's being
sweet and gentle again.

"I don’t know how to be with you. Not without
killing you."

BOOK: The Light of the World
3.39Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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