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  He motioned toward the door. "I came in through the door, genius. I placed an out of order sign on it and locked it so we aren't disturbed."

  "You can't just pop in here uninvited and expect me to be all grateful and happy about it."

  "I don't, but I do expect you to listen at least."

  "Why should I?"

  "Because I'm going to tell you the whole truth but only if you promise not to freak out."

  "Dude, I'm already freaking out. How much worse could it get?"

  "Oh, it's going to get a lot worse, trust me."

  "Well, that's the thing, I don't. I don't have any idea who you are."

  "I'm the band's roadie. I've been with them for three years now."

  My heart sped up and my palms went all sweaty. Panic was starting to settle inside. I didn't think I wanted to hear what Trevor had to say. He was going to tell me what I feared had happened that night. He was going to confirm that I'd been raped.

  "You can tell Thane that I don't remember what happened that night. I'm not going to go to the cops or anything."

  "The cops couldn't help you anyway."

  The way he said it, the menace in his voice, made the little hairs on my arms stir. A lump formed in my throat. I looked around the bathroom searching for anything I could use as a weapon if I had to. A warning bell sounded in my head. He was here to strike fear into my heart. And it was working real well. My heart was all but dripping with it.

  He must've sensed my rising alarm, the instinct to fight or flee, because he set the drink down and slid off the counter to stand next to me. Was he going to grab me?

  In a panic, I picked up the liquid soap dispenser on the counter and threw it at him, hard. It hit him smack right between his eyes. Who knew I could aim so well?

  "Damn it!" He stumbled backward and rubbed at his forehead. "What the hell are you doing?"

  "Defending myself." I took a step back, preparing to kick him right between the legs. "Don't come any closer. I will kick your junk into your throat."

  He stopped moving closer, but continued to rub at his head with his fingers, eyeing me. He smirked. "Good shot. A little advice though, don't tell your attacker what you plan on doing to him. It ruins the surprise."

  "I'll remember that, thanks," I said, my body quaking with adrenaline. As if high, my head swam, my muscles flexed all on their own. I hated to admit it, but I sort of liked the sensation. Made me feel powerful. Like I could kick someone's ass, no problem.

  "I'm not here to hurt you, Salem. So can you please not throw any more bathroom items at me?"

  "I'll think about it."

  He smiled then, and this time it was full of warmth. He had a nice smile, with straight white teeth. There was a little gap between his top fronts. I found it endearing. Cute even. But it didn't make me fear him any less. There was definitely something menacing about Trevor. It was in the way he moved, fluid, predator like, and by the way he looked at me—as if he had dark intentions. That made my belly clench tight.

  "Are you going to listen now?"

  "Do I have a choice?" I noticed he'd taken up a spot between me and the door.

  "No. Not if you want to survive."

  "You see, when you say stuff like that, it makes me want to freak out again."

  "You're right." He sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just I've never had to tell someone this before."

  "What exactly?"

  "Thane and the rest of the band, well, they aren't...,"

  "Aren't what?"

  "Human."

  My head throbbed and I was having a difficult time taking in air. I grasped the edge of the counter for balance and worked on breathing. One breath in. One breath out. In. Out. In. Out.

  "You're not going to pass out or anything, are you?"

  I shook my head. But I couldn't be too sure. I was light-headed, and sweat was rolling down my neck to soak the back of my Goth Smurfette t-shirt.

  "Okay, I'll play. So if not human, what then? Vampires?"

  He shook his head.

  "Werewolves? Witches?" I thought about all the supernatural creatures that Hollywood had made movies about. Maybe this was a new reality TV show and I was the star. Watch as we make this gullible teenager believe there are supernatural creatures stalking the night. Catch the season opener tonight on Fox.

  "They're incubi."

  That threw me for a loop. That wasn't even on my list. "Incubi? I'm not sure I even know what that means."

  "An incubus is a demon that feeds on the sexual energy of women. Usually at night in their dreams, but these guys have found a way to do that through their music."

  And now he wasn't so much as scary, as he was crazy. Great, I got stuck in a bathroom with a psycho. Go me. "So, like, they're Satan worshippers and they are trying to convert people through the lyrics in their music?"

  He glared at me then, his eyebrow arched. "Don't be stupid."

  "Right, because that's really what I have to worry about right now, my stupidity, while I'm locked in a bathroom with a loony toon who keeps stalking me."

  The banging on the door startled me and I jumped a few inches in the air. "Salem. Are you in there?" It was Chloe. My heroine, coming to rescue me. She banged on the door again.

  Straightening, I took a hesitant step toward the door, hoping he would let me go since we now had a witness. He didn't move as I carefully crept around him.

  "I'm going now, okay? Please don't follow me again."

  "Because of your encounter with Thane, you're changing."

  I swallowed down the lump in my throat. Oh God, I'd slept with Thane. I had sex and couldn't remember it. "I don't know what you're talking about."

  "Sure you do." And just like that his eyes turned to ink. He blinked at me and smiled.

  And I nearly peed my pants.

  "You're seeing things, hearing things, and I caught your little floating act the other night."

  I put hand up to my chest where my heart thudded so loud I could hear the rush of blood in my ears. I swore I could actually taste the blood in my mouth.

  "It won't be long before you start to think differently. You'll start to do things you've never done before. Bad things, Salem."

  I backed up toward the door, my hands shook and knees wobbled like jelly that it was difficult to stay upright.

  "You're turning into a cambion. A half-incubus, well in your case, succubus, creature resulting from sleeping with Thane."

  I put my hand on the bathroom door intent on pulling it open. I wanted Trevor to go away. I wanted all of this, this nightmare to stop. But I couldn't just close my eyes. I knew that now.

  I pulled the door, but it was locked. Fumbling, I flicked the dead bolt clock wise to open it.

  "I don't believe you."

  "You will soon enough."

  I pulled open the door, and Chloe tumbled in. She bumped into me sending us both into the wall. I knocked the back of my head.

  When she recovered, she grabbed my arm. "What the hell were you doing in here? You were gone for like twenty minutes. I thought you fell in or something."

  I shook my head, trying to clear it. "No, I was talking to...," I swiveled to point at Trevor.

  But he was gone. Again. Vanished like before. But this time from a locked room. I hadn't seen him walk out.

  Chloe glanced around the room. "To who? You're imaginary friend."

  I looked at her then. Maybe that was the truth. I rubbed at my head, at the back where it ached. Maybe I was imagining all of this. And Trevor was just a figment of my imagination.

  Sighing, I turned on the water tap and splashed cold water onto my face. I needed a good night's sleep.

  Then my eyes rested on the cup on the counter. The one with the half-finished café mocha. The cup Trevor had held in his hand. And I knew that I couldn't brush this off as imaginary. This was real. He was real. And whatever was happening to me was real as well. Like it or not, I had to deal with it.

  Chloe checked her face in the mirror, her purple
eye shadow was as iridescent as it had been earlier that morning, then grabbed my arm. "Come on. Let's ditch the rest of the day and go play air hockey at the pool hall."

  I nodded and let her pull me out of the bathroom. A few games of air hockey sounded good. At least, then I wouldn't have to think. I could just detach and play.

  I liked that. Detaching. Too bad I couldn't do it with everything else. Then maybe I'd stop the bitter coldness that was growing inside me. Or at least, if I couldn't stop it, I wouldn't have to feel it.

  Chapter 9

  That night the dream started with music.

  I was back at the Malice gig. But this time I was alone. No Chloe, no bleach blond bimbo. Completely, utterly alone. It was just me in the crowd watching the band play.

  Thane was singing to me.

  I swayed to every note, to every dip and crest in cadence of his sweet sensual voice. He'd entranced me. I was caught in his spell. I was trapped but I liked it there. It made me feel wanted, craved and sexy. Like my body was a willowy flower, moving, undulating in the gentle breeze, stretching out toward the warm rays of life-giving sunshine. As if the sun desired me and only me.

  Gripping the microphone stand tightly in his hand, Thane leaned down toward me. His eyes were as black as tar. But I didn't flinch, I didn't back away. I liked that he was looking at me so intensely. Flutters of desire, deep and intense, started in my belly. I nearly gasped aloud from the strength of them.

  His voice was so powerful, I nearly wept.

  You belong to me,

  I won't ever let you go.

  I own you, I possess you,

  I dominate your life

  Follow me, Follow me

  Down below

  Remember...

  You must reap what you sow

  His words penetrated my body, twisting and shifting through my veins. I could hear them rushing in my ears, as if my heart had actually pumped them in and out like oxygen rich blood.

  Grinning, Thane reached for me. The tips of his fingers skimmed along my jaw line. His touch was both hot and cold, like freezer burn. Burning me. Searing my flesh. I lost air. I couldn't catch my breath.

  I was spinning, turning, spiraling out of control. Like Alice I tumbled down a long dark hole and ended up back in the room with Thane after the gig, at the party as if we'd never left.

  I couldn't hear anything but his voice. I saw nothing but his striking face. I wanted nothing else but him. And he knew it. I could see that now.

  "I think you're beautiful," he said.

  And I relived that moment all over again.

  I gaped at him. I couldn't possibly have heard the words he uttered. It was impossible. Cute maybe, I'd been called that a few times, but nobody thought I was beautiful. Except my mom of course.

  "What?" I stammered.

  That was the last thing I said before my whole life changed, altered beyond anything I could've ever imagined. And I had a healthy imagination.

  Thane leaned down toward my mouth, slowly inching his way. My lips were trembling in anticipation as he neared. I could feel his breath on my skin. Keeping my gaze, strong, fierce, confident, he brushed his lips against mine.

  Then I fainted.

  When I opened my eyes, I wasn't at the club. I was in another room. A hotel room by the looks of the crappy colored comforter on the two queen sized beds and the bad décor of the place, trying to imitate a chic retro interior design.

  I was lying on my back on the bed, blinking up at the dingy water-stained ceiling. I turned my head to see Thane sitting on the other bed facing me, watching me, with a dark cold intensity. I shuddered.

  "Where am I?" I heard myself ask in that detached way that only happens in dreams. My voice was hollow and tinny, as if I were speaking through an aluminum can.

  He just smiled and slid over to where I lay, his fingers stroking the hair from my sweaty face. He settled in near my hip, gazing down at me, his lips curved up sinisterly.

  "Trust me, Salem, this won't hurt a bit."

  He leaned down toward my mouth. My lips opened in anticipation. I wanted him to kiss me. At first his kiss was soft, hesitant, but then it grew into something hot and fierce, demanding. Sweeping his tongue into my mouth, he pulled and tugged at me with both his lips and teeth. He nipped at my mouth until pain made my eyes water.

  I wanted to tell him to stop, but I could hardly take a breath let alone utter a word. I braced my hands against his shoulders to push him away, but he covered my wrists and forced my hands up over my head, effectively pinning me to the bed.

  "Don't fight it. It will only hurt if you do."

  He nudged my knees apart and positioned himself between them. To my horror, I noticed he was naked.His body was as coldly beautiful as his face. Hard, slick, all angles and plains, rippling with strained muscles. I gulped in air and tried to shove him off me, but he was too strong, his form covering me completely. Tears welled in my eyes. I didn't want this. Not like this. I felt out of control and not a willing participant in this game.

  Pushing apart my lips with his tongue, he covered my mouth again, like a suction cup. And that was when I could feel something being drawn out of my mouth, and something else being pushed in between my thighs.

  I cried out, screaming against the intrusion, and bucked beneath him, the back of my heels pounding on his legs, but it didn't move him at all, not physically, not emotionally. This had been his intention from the beginning. From the very first eye contact at the gig, to offering me a drink at the after party.

  Once the revelation settled into my mind, everything else became a garbled kaleidoscope of thought and feeling. One image blurred into another. One notion magically transformed into its opposite.

  A tangled web of sensation stuck to me. Branching out onto every part of my body with its gossamer threads. Pulling on me. Wrapping up my flesh. Saving me for later, for the spider to eat.

  I cried out in my sleep. I know I did. But I couldn't wake myself up. It was if I was imprisoned in my dream and wouldn't wake until my time had been served.

  The spider's eyes were as black as pitch, watching me eagerly as it took me and sucked me dry. Every ounce of vigor I owned was pulled out of me, slowly, like air leaving a leaky rubber tire.

  By the end, or at least, I hoped it was the end; I was empty, lifeless, lying on a bed of night. No stars shown down at me in the sky. There was no beacon of hope that I could cling to in the dark. It was black and barren, like the spider's eyes as they pierced me, daring me to fight back from the abyss.

  "Is she dead?" I heard someone ask, but it wasn't the spider. It was another creature in the room.

  "I don't know," the spider answered, its voice quivering, as if it actually had feelings.

  "You can't keep doing this," another voice, this one female, "you go too far, take too much."

  "I'd rather she be dead, than turning," yet another voice said. "When they turn they can become dangerous to us."

  "Don't worry so much," the spider said, "We haven't lasted a millennia for nothing. We're stronger than they are, smarter. Nothing can take us down."

  "Well, if she's dead, let's dump her," the female sighed.

  There came a press of cold lips to my sunk-in cheek. "Goodbye, sweet Salem."

  Then nothing.

  Save for the silent scream in my head.

  "Hey. Are you going to stand there all night?"

  I jerked awake, my head pounding, my heart thumping hard against my ribs. Pain radiated from different parts of my body, mirroring what I'd experienced in my dream. I felt sick to my stomach. I was cold and wanted to curl up and snuggle into my bed covers. Except I wasn't in my bed. I was standing on a street corner.

  Across the street from where I stood was a Super 8 Motel. I shivered.

  "What's your problem girly?"

  Startled, I glanced behind me. A middle-aged man in a wheelchair sat behind me, looking agitated and none too happy. His clothes were ratty, his long, dung-brown, hair greasy, flakes
of dandruff sticking to the roots, and he smelled really bad.

  I glanced down at myself and thanked the lord that I wasn't still in my pj's. However it happened, I guess I had the presence of mind to slide on a pair of black yoga pants and to put on my extremely worn-in black leather jacket.

  "Where am I?"

  He snorted. "You're in Wonderland, Alice, and I'm the Mad Hatter."

  I glanced around the area, taking in my surroundings. It proved a bit difficult because the streetlamp above me was shattered. Pieces of plastic and glass lay scattered on the road. I didn't recognize the immediate area, but I did a few of the buildings a few blocks away. I was back downtown, not too far from where I'd been tossed into the dumpster days ago.

  I looked at the motel again. This must've been where I'd been...

  "Alice, why don't you give me some money? I'm hungry."

  I dug into my jacket pocket and came away with two crumpled dollar bills. I swung around and put the ball of money into his outstretched hand, careful not to touch his skin.

  "Did you see me show up here?" I asked him, now that he had his reward.

  Without looking at me, he smoothed out the bills, and nodded. "You came from the shadows." He motioned toward the really dark part of the street along the brick wall of an old building now boarded up and abandoned.

  I shivered at his strange words. "Are you sure I didn't drive here, or come on a bus?" Although I didn't see my mom's car anywhere. It was a POS but it would still stick out here like a sore thumb.

  He shook his head. "No buses, girly. Not at this time."

  Which was what I wondered. "Do you know the time?"

  He glanced up at the black sky. "The witching hour, Alice. Don't you know about the witching hour?"

  "Not really."

  "A time for the boogeyman. A time for those evil things that go bump in the night. The type of things that creep and slither through the shadows." He looked at her then, and his gaze was fierce and penetrating. "Like you." He grinned, and I had an urge to back away. His two front teeth were missing, the rest were yellow and decayed. He looked maniacal as he grinned at me, his fingers constantly running the length of one of the dollar bills I'd given him.