Demon (3 page)

She nudged his arm and wiped away a few tears, careful not to smudge her eyeliner. “How
dare
you make me cry?”

“I love you, Mom,” Justyn whispered. “You’re the most amazing woman I know.”

“I love you too, kiddo.” She embraced him one last time. “You call me later this week and let me know how things are going, okay?”

He nodded. “I will.”

Again, Rebecca felt a little sad as she watched Darlene glide out the door and disappear down the stairwell. Over the last few months, she had become like a second mother to Rebecca. She would miss her almost as much as her own parents.

“You called Darlene
mom,
” Rebecca said once they were alone. “I’ve never heard you call her that before.”

Justyn shrugged. “It’s a special occasion.”

“I guess it is,” she agreed. “I can’t believe we’re actually here. In
our
place. It sort of feels like a dream.”

“A dream come true.” Justyn smiled. “I’ll miss Darlene, but having
you
all to myself definitely has its advantages.”

Rebecca blushed for what must have been the tenth time that day. She glanced awkwardly at the freshly made bed that was visible through the open bedroom door. She and Justyn had only been able to sneak in a few nights alone together since the prom. As much as she looked forward to waking up beside him every morning, she was still a little nervous about things like bedhead and morning breath. She wondered if he would still think she was beautiful with sleep-encrusted eyes.

She didn’t have time to worry about her insecurities for long. They still had tons of unpacking to do, and only the sound of Gizmo’s cheerful chirps to speed them along until they located their MP3 players. As Rebecca went through boxes from her bedroom, she came across the crystal geode Justyn had given her shortly after they met. He had been busy unwrapping one of his favorite gargoyle statues, but stopped to peek over her shoulder as she placed the stone on the nightstand by their bed.

“You still have that?”

“Of course I do. It’s the first gift you ever gave me.” She smiled at the memory of him turning over the plain rock to surprise her with the glistening crystal cavern within. “It means a lot to me.”

“Really?” He was teasing her, but she could tell by the sparkle in his dark eyes that he was pleased. “Some girls would prefer diamonds over crystals.”

“Some girls are idiots.” She touched her new ammonite pendant. “Luckily, I have an amazing boyfriend who taught me what
really
makes a relationship magical.”

Justyn grinned. “Perhaps you should show him how much you appreciate those lessons.”

He dropped the statue he held back in the box, crept up behind her, and kissed the back of her neck, sending shivers up and down her spine. His hand ran along the outline of her waist, admiring each curve. Instantly her heartbeat accelerated. Even after a year, his touch still sent electric currents surging though her body. It made her throb with a yearning that was hard to ignore.

“Maybe I will.”

Rebecca turned to face him and pressed her lips against his, savoring the sweet softness as his tongue explored the contours of her mouth. She wasn’t usually so assertive, but the thought of being alone with no worry of interruptions made her feel more aggressive than usual. She used one knee to pin him against the wall. She was pressed close enough against him to feel his urgent response to her touch.

“I think the rest of these boxes can wait until tomorrow,” he whispered huskily when she finally allowed him to come up for air.

Rebecca nodded, almost too breathless to speak. Justyn led her over to the bed, and any nervousness she had felt before completely melted away as she fell into the luscious security of his familiar arms. Hours later, when they were both spent, she slept soundly beside him, filled with hopes and dreams of what their future together would hold.

As usual, Rebecca was a nervous wreck as she prepared for her first semester at college, while Justyn hardly seemed fazed at all. It was just one of the ways they were polar opposites. She was a high-strung mess, while he was the epitome of calm and collected. He ate two bowls of cereal, whereas she could barely choke down her coffee. He winked at her nonchalantly as he combed his hair into place while Rebecca applied her lip gloss with trembling fingers.

“How can you be so calm?” she asked. “I haven’t been this terrified since the opening night of
Phantom
.”

Justyn shrugged. “I’m from Vegas. The college campus here isn’t much different than my old high school.”

“Really? The campus seems so
huge
. My classes are spread out farther apart than the whole neighborhood I grew up in.” She shook her head in defeat. “I just know I’m going to get lost.”

“You aren’t going to get lost.” Justyn put his arm around her shoulders. “Everything is going to be fine. So calm down!” He laughed lightly. “Stop being so dramatic.”

“Well, I
am
a drama major, after all. I think I’m entitled to occasional hysterics.” She sighed as she locked the clasp of her ammonite necklace. “I wish we had some classes together.”

Even though Justyn and Rebecca were both majoring in acting and drama, they had a wildly diverse schedule. It was mostly due to the fact that Justyn had been studying acting and music for the last decade while Rebecca was just a novice. Even though she had what Mr. Pessagno the scout had called “raw talent” she didn’t have half the discipline that Justyn possessed. So her campus advisor had stuck her in what was basically Acting 101 while Justyn was in more advanced programs. They both had some standard math and English courses that were required for their teaching degrees, but because the rest of their schedule didn’t mesh, they couldn’t even take those classes together.

“Listen to me. You’re going to be fine. After a few days, it will all be second nature,” Justyn promised. “And at least we’ll be in the drama club together. I heard a rumor around campus that we’re doing
Demon Barber
this semester.”

Rebecca crinkled her nose in distaste. “Isn’t that play about a crazy barber who kills all his customers? Then his girlfriend bakes them into meat pies? I think I saw the movie version awhile back.”

Justyn nodded. “That’s the one. Delightfully demented, isn’t it?” He rubbed his hands together excitedly. “I hope we get good roles.”

Rebecca wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic. “Demented maybe, but I’m not sure how delightful it is to make a musical out of a throat-slashing maniac.” Rebecca sighed. “But it doesn’t really matter how I feel about the play. I’m sure
you’ll
get a good role, but I’ll be lucky if they let me in the stage crew. This is a much bigger pond than it was back in New Jersey.”

“That may be true,” Justyn agreed. “But not many people who had no training get full scholarships because they have such an amazing, beautiful voice. I’m sure you’ll get a part. Just try not to be so nervous.”

Rebecca smiled when he gave her a gentle nudge. “I don’t think I would be able to do
any
of this without you by my side.”

“Yes, you would,” Justyn assured her. “Don’t sell yourself short. You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

Rebecca wished he was right, but she still shook as she applied the last of her makeup, brushed her curly brown hair, and tossed a few extra notebooks and pens into her book bag. On the way out, she made sure Gizmo’s food and water bowls were filled. She clicked her tongue at him, and he tweeted “Becca” in response. It made her smile and gave her a little more courage as they walked out to the small shed where their landlord allowed them to store their bikes. No one else was using it, so he had given them their own key, which Justyn had harnessed to an oversized clip with a silver skull design. The key ring was attached to the belt loop of his black jeans, and Rebecca couldn’t help but take a moment to appreciate how perfectly he filled them as he pulled their bikes onto the sidewalk.

They had brought a car with them, choosing Rebecca’s little sedan over Justyn’s ancient black Mustang, only because they weren’t sure the Mustang would survive the four-hour drive. But since the weather in the early fall was mild and the campus was only a few blocks away, they opted to enjoy the sunshine as long as possible. There would be plenty of time for driving when the snow started to fall. So with backpacks in place, loaded with fresh notebooks, Justyn and Rebecca made their way to their college classes for the first time.

The campus was nestled deep in the suburbs of New York, but was only a few hours away from Broadway. It was surrounded by at least a dozen acres of woods, and the trees were just starting to turn golden hues of red and orange as summer overlapped into fall. Along the sides of the pathways, Rebecca saw several brown bunnies and even a few deer grazing lazily. Most of them were so used to the foot traffic on the campus they didn’t even run away until people came within petting distance. Rebecca enjoyed every minute of the ride and was glad Justyn had suggested it. The wind whipping through her hair made her feel more invigorated, and the exercise burned off some of her nervous energy. Plus, it was impossible not to enjoy the lovely scenery.

Less than twenty minutes later, they arrived in front of the regal structure that housed the majority of the lecture halls. Made from mortared stone that looked like castle blocks and standing three stories high, the building had a foreboding presence. There were also several other smaller academic buildings on the campus as well as dorms, a cafeteria, a huge library, and two gigantic theaters that rivaled even Broadway’s massive stage. However, the building they stood in front of was the largest, oldest, and most threatening of them all. When she had first come to visit the campus the previous spring, Rebecca had found the old-world charm of the eighteenth century construction appealing. Now those looming cathedral steeples seemed only menacing. The decorative gargoyle statues appeared to alternately snarl and laugh at her jitters. Rebecca had to swallow back the lump in her throat. She gripped the handles of her bike so hard her knuckles turned white. Justyn saw the panicked look on her face and rolled his eyes.

“Try to remember to breathe, Becca,” he teased. “It’s only college.”

She knew he was right. There was nothing to be afraid of. There were tons of other kids loitering outside the building, laughing and hugging friends they hadn’t seen all summer. None of them seemed nearly as nervous as Rebecca felt. Still, it was easy to pick out the freshmen in the crowd. They were the ones standing alone because they hadn’t had time to make any friends yet. At least she and Justyn had each other. She wondered how Carmen and Tom were making out when they were both completely alone in strange lands. It made her realize again just how lucky she was.

“I know.” She took a deep breath. “I can do this.”

Rebecca pulled her bike over to the rack and tried to puff out her chest in a show of confidence. Justyn watched her with a cocky smile and balanced on his own bike while she got ready. He didn’t have class for another hour, but had come along just to see her off. He planned on riding around the campus for a while, exploring and checking out the scenery. Rebecca wished she still had an hour to procrastinate, but she only had a few minutes before her class would begin. The last thing she wanted was to be late on her first day, so she scampered to get the lock fastened and hoisted her bag on her shoulder.

“Okay then.” She took another deep breath. “I guess I’ll see you at the theater around three?”

Justyn nodded. “You bet. I’ve got my mask all ready. It’ll be just like old times.”

Justyn leaned down. She only expected a peck on the cheek. He took her completely by surprise when he swooped her into his arms and pressed his lips against hers. Only the handle bars of the bike kept them from merging completely into one as his tongue teased its way into her mouth. All the while his fingers ran along the small of her back, giving her goose bumps and hot flashes at once. Justyn was never one to be concerned about public displays of affection, and when he touched her that way and sent that surge of fire coursing through her veins, Rebecca didn’t care who watched either. When they finally parted, she felt breathless and a little giddy.

“Until this evening then, my angel of music,” Justyn whispered.

“It’s actually going to be the afternoon,” she teased once she caught her breath. “Not the evening.”

He shook his head, but his smile was playful. “Yes, I realize that, Becca, but evening just sounds better. Jeez, you sure know how to ruin a moment.”

“Maybe I was just hoping for an encore.”

“Well, you really will have to wait for the evening for that. You’re going to be late if I keep distracting you.” He put his feet on the pedals and pushed off on his bike. “See you in a little bit,” he shouted over his shoulder as he rode out of sight.

“Love you.”

She called out and waved, but he had already disappeared into the swiftly growing sea of students. She knew she was really on her own now. She sucked up her fear, lifted her head high, and walked into the school. As Justyn had predicted, it wasn’t nearly as bad as she had imagined it would be. She took one wrong turn, but still managed to find her way to her English literature class on time. In fact, she was one of the first to arrive and had her pick of the seats in the stadium-sized classroom. Aside from the rooms being so large and the giant movie-size screens that the teachers used as lecture aids, it wasn’t much different than high school. After a few minutes, Rebecca actually started to relax.

The professor had no pity on the new arrivals and assigned them a five-page essay on the hidden meanings in classic literature that was due, typed and complete with footnotes, in two days when class reassembled. On the bright side, they were able to pick any story from the nineteenth century. Rebecca already decided to make use of her
Phantom
obsession and write about the lessons learned from Gaston Leroux’s classic tale.

When the two-hour class was finally over, she reported for her first day of work study in the campus post office. It didn’t pay much, but helped to cover books and things that weren’t included in her scholarship. Then it was off to trigonometry, and by the time that class drew to a close, Rebecca’s brain was fried. She couldn’t believe she still had tryouts and her acting class on the opposite side of the campus before she could call it a night. She had no idea how she would make it through the whole day. She already needed a nap. Instead, she had to head across campus to the theater to meet Justyn for auditions.

Rebecca glanced at her watch and realized she only had about twenty minutes to get to the tryouts. She struggled with a heavy bag filled to the brim with new textbooks and fumbled with the lock on her bike. She was just about to take off when she noticed a piece of paper stuck in the spokes. Mumbling under her breath about littering, she pulled the paper out. She intended to crumble it and toss it in the nearest trashcan when the large bold letters caught her eye.

WARNING: SERIAL RAPIST

It was the kind of thing that was usually hanging in police stations or on the occasional telephone poll. Underneath the announcement was a bad sketch of a bleary eyed man in a ski mask. The vague description fit at least ninety percent of the guys on the campus. Underneath the warning was an advisory that women on campus shouldn’t travel alone at night. The paper was slightly worn from the elements. On closer inspection, Rebecca noted it was dated from the previous semester. She told herself that meant the man had either been caught or had long since moved on to new territory. Yet, something about it still made her shiver. It was like an eerie sense of premonition—the kind of feeling Darlene always had before something bad happened, the same kind of feeling Rebecca had had the night of her debut performance.

Rebecca shook her head to try to shake the bad memories away. This was a day for new beginnings, not dwelling on the past. She was just being silly, letting herself get freaked out over nothing. Yet, for reasons she couldn’t explain, instead of throwing the piece of paper away as she intended, she stuck the poster in her book bag before she rode off to her next class.