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"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.