Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

EVEREST

As we’re eating breakfast the next morning, I click on the television and catch the tail end of the news. According to authorities, Mitch was found this morning by the server that opened. They suspect a robbery gone wrong. What they can’t explain is how his brains ended up on the wall more than six feet in the air and how they’re also practically falling out of his head, but as far as I can tell, the authorities aren’t looking in my direction.

I’m glad. I figured I’d be the first one they questioned, since the whole town knew how much Mitch mistreated me, and I was the last one to leave last night. But they would have a hard time explaining how I, a five-foot-five, one hundred and forty pound man, would be able to lift Mitch, a six-foot men weighing almost two hundred pounds, high enough in the air to bash his brains against the wall almost two feet higher than me.

With a smirk, Raven grabs my hand. “They will not think it is you. What with how he treated you, you had more reason than anyone else to do it and you did not for years. They will not be able to explain why you waited so long and the abuse continued. Besides, you are tiny.” He pinches my arm and I laugh.

“I’m not that tiny,” I say without venom because I really am. I haven’t really gained any weight since I was around fifteen. It’s hard to do when I don’t have much to eat. I’m surprised I weigh as much as I do. If I didn’t sneak food at the diner, I’d be skin and bones.

Raven winks. “You are perfect.”

I roll my eyes and take our empty plates to the kitchen. After rinsing them and putting them in the dishwasher, I go back to the couch and curl up beside Raven.

We watch mindless television for another hour before Raven shuts it off. “We should go away for the weekend. You quit last night, so you are not expected at work. Even if Mitch were still alive.”

“Go away where? To Xendail?” I bounce at his side, hoping he’ll take me to his dimension of hell.

“Not yet, baby. I was thinking somewhere on this plane. Anywhere you want to go.”

“Anywhere?”

Raven nods seriously. “It does not matter where.”

Sitting back on my heels, I wrack my brain for a place I want to go. There are so many places I’ve wanted to visit. So many things I’ve wanted to see and do, but I could barely save money for a trip to the grocery store, let alone somewhere to take a break and see the sights.

Having too many options sucks. With the knowledge I can go anywhere I want, I can’t narrow it down. The paradox of choice is real. I’m almost giddy with excitement because I never had too many choices.

After several silent moments, I snap my fingers. “Thrill Realm!”

I’m shocked when Raven’s black eyes light up. “The amusement park? With rollercoasters?”

“Yes,” I say with a chuckle. “You know about Thrill Realm in hell?”

He gives me a deadpan look and I laugh, leaning on him and kissing the underside of his chin. “Yes, Everest. We know enough about this plane to know what you humans like. And I have heard tales of it from other demons.”

Pretending to be affronted, I lean away from him. “You’re the one that got excited about rollercoasters.”

Raven’s cheeks pink, and I swear it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. “Okay, Thrill Realm it is.”

Squealing, I race up the stairs to get our clothes packed. Then I realize we don’t have luggage. “Raven!” I shout to him.

“Yes?” he asks, walking behind me and wrapping an arm around my waist.

“Can you get suitcases? I have all these new clothes I want to wear.”

Raven snaps his fingers and two suitcases appear on the bed. “Do these work?”

“They’re perfect.” I kiss his cheek and get us packed.

Even though Thrill Realm is only a three hour drive, I didn’t go because I didn’t have a car or people to go with. Not like my dad wanted to do anything fun. Especially with me. And where would I get the money to go on a fun vacation like that? A ticket to Thrill Realm alone is almost fifty bucks. That doesn’t include the rides or games or concession stands. If you pay for a wristband, rides come along with the purchase, but that’s close to one hundred dollars.

I had the opportunity to go once. Or at least, that’s what I was led to believe. But it was cruel trick, and I still feel like a fool for falling for it.

That thought deflates me, and I sit on the bed with a partially folded shirt on my lap. The memory is painful, mostly because I haven’t thought about it in years. It’s like I shoved it away so it wouldn’t hurt me, keeping it as far away as I could. Now the Band-Aid is ripped off and I can’t stop the same feelings I felt when I was thirteen from bleeding into me now.

Almost appearing out of nowhere, Raven kneels in front of me, a look of worry etched across his handsome face. “What is wrong?”

Swallowing past a tight throat, I ask in as cheery a voice as I can muster, “What makes you think something is wrong?”

He taps the side of his head. “I can feel what you feel through our link, remember? You were happy a moment ago, now you are crushed. Why?”

Shutting my eyes, I let the memory flow over me, and I have to part my lips to breath past the boulder lodged in my throat.

“Everest. Hey!” Joey said, patting me on the back and sitting beside me at my lunch table. I always sat alone, no one wanting to face the wrath of Joey and his crew. That meant there was no one to have my back now that he caught me unawares.

I looked over at him, eyes wide with shock. Joey was never nice to me. He beat me up all the time for no reason and made my life hell. He was the reason I hated coming to school every day. Even though I didn’t have money and his family was rich, he’d make me bring him a quarter for his ice cream. On days I couldn’t get the quarter, I was beaten by him while his friends watched.

Swallowing my limp peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I said in a small voice, “I don’t have any money today, Joey. I don’t ? —”

He waved me off. “I don’t want your money, man. Look, I wanted to say sorry for all the stuff I been doin’. Beating you up and stuff. It’s wrong.”

My mouth dropped open, but I closed it quickly, nodding like it was no big deal that he’s been bullying me for years. All I wanted was for Joey to be nice to me. The apology isn’t necessary, but it’s nice to hear. “It’s okay.”

“Good.” Joey stood up and pulled an invitation from his pocket. “I’m having a party at Thrill Realm on Saturday. My parents said I can invite some friends. You should come. They paid for everything, and we get these cool wrist bands. We can ride any ride we want!”

Through my apprehension , excitement bubbled up inside me, thinking about doing something fun with friends. Are me and Joey friends now? He wouldn’t invite me to his birthday if we weren’t. He said it was only for friends. That must mean it’s true. His parents don’t make him invite the whole class anymore. “I’ll ask my dad.”

Joey gave me a thumbs up and went back to his table. His friends turned to look at me and they all waved. Stunned, I waved back, thinking it was the beginning of a new chapter in my life. One where I had friends.

I begged my dad for three days to go, finally getting through to him. To make sure he had no reason to keep me home, I cooked dinner the night before and froze it, ensuring he had something to eat while I was gone. It was the first nice thing he’d ever done for me, and I thought that really meant my life was starting to look up. If dad would say yes to me going away with my friends, anything was possible.

That Saturday, I woke up with butterflies dancing in my belly, excited to go to the first party I was invited to personally, not as a group thing. The only parties I went to were the ones the whole class were invited to.

We didn’t have a car, so I had to walk to the address on the invitation. I woke up extra early and walked fast to get there, so I wouldn’t make them wait. Couldn’t make a good impression with my new friends by being late.

Just as I was turning down the street that was written on the invitation, I saw a van driving towards me. I did a double take when I saw Joey and all his friends packed inside. I looked at the shitty watch I found in the locker room a few months ago and saw that I was ten minutes early. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I stopped at the curb, thinking his mother would see that I was there and wait for me to get in.

But that didn’t happen. Joey made eye contact with me and a sinister smile spread across his face. He got his friends attention, and they all looked at me, laughing. He rolled the window down and said, “Go home, Piss Pants. You’re not invited with the cool kids,” and laughed again as his mother drove off. Even though I could tell she was scolding him for his remark, it did nothing to fix my trampled feelings.

I winced at the cruel nickname he gave me when we were in the fourth grade. He had beaten me up in the bathroom when I had an emergency, and I wet my pants. He went around and told anyone that would listen that I peed my pants on purpose. The name stuck until we were in high school.

He never had any intention of being my friend or having me at his party. He wanted to enjoy knowing he hurt me that badly. He wanted a different way of bullying me besides using his fists.

After that, I tried to stay as far away from Joey as I could, as he was the only one that really bullied me. His friends never joined in, but they didn’t stop him either. He still beat me up some days, but none of the physical pain could come close to that emotional blow he dealt me that day. I never tried to make friends in school again.

A growl fills the room and I open my eyes, almost forgetting that Raven was there and I was traveling down memory lane. Shit, did I say all of that out loud?

“I will … fucking … kill him!” Raven roars, making the walls vibrate, cracks forming and pictures falling to the floor. The walls warp and bend, a haze drifting over them before they resumed their normal shape, though not their original condition. “Where the fuck is he?”

I shrink back, but not in fear. It’s amazing to witness Raven’s magnificence. I don’t even think Raven notices that he’s in between his two forms, half of his face the tanned and chiseled human and the other half his red and gold demon form. His horns have made an appearance, and his hands are three knuckled, claws extended. They tighten against my legs where they’re resting on my thighs, but he’s not hurting me exactly. The pain feels good. It grounds me to the here and now—I’m not the frightened, hurt kid that was treated horribly for no reason. I’m with Raven, the only place I want to be.

Stammering, I say, “Um … last I heard, Joey was in Las Vegas. He’s been there since after college, I think.” Sitting back in my original position, I ask, “How …?”

Before answering me, Raven takes several deep breaths. I watch as his horns disappear, and his face resumes the handsome tanned human one he initially introduced me to. His fingers don’t immediately revert back, still the deep red and gold with three knuckles. He flexes them, looking down like he hates their current state.

“You were thinking about it,” he says finally, looking up at me with hurt shining in his deep black eyes. “When you feel that strongly about something, I can see it as you do. Your memory …” he growls again, eyes taking on a dark, angry quality. He pulls me into his arms, holding me tight, giving me some of his strength. “I am so sorry, baby. I should have come for you sooner. I should have found a way to be here for you.”

Wrapping my arms around him, I breathe him in, his heady scent of man and something spicy I can’t place, tunneling into my senses. It’s smells amazing and helps me feel more grounded. It also reminds me that I can get my revenge because of how Joey mistreated me. The memory stings and probably will for years to come, but with Raven by my side, it’s not too bad. He’ll make it better when he rips his fucking head off.

I frame his face with my hands and smile at him. “You’re here now, my demon. And you’ll make it right, won’t you?”

“Of course.” He kisses me gently. “We can go somewhere else. We do not have to go to Thrill Realm. I do not want to bring up bad memories for you.”

It would be easier to go somewhere else. Somewhere I can have the same amount of fun without the shitty memories. But why would I alter the plans I have because Joey was a piece of shit bully?

No, I’m going. I’ve wanted to go since I was a kid, and I won’t let what Joey did cloud that. And Raven looked so excited about the rollercoasters. The look of excitement warmed my heart, and I won’t let Joey take that from me. My demon will get on those rollercoasters, dammit!

Lightly brushing my fingers on his face, I say, “I want to go to Thrill Realm. We can make good memories there, you and me.”

“You and me sounds good,” Raven says between kisses and I giggle, my terrible memory forgotten.

After we kiss for a few more minutes, Raven tells me we can’t take things further so that we can start our drive to the theme park. It’s not a far drive, but it’s the weekend—there is bound to be a lot of traffic with parents taking their kids there to enjoy a bit of fun. Before we go, Raven snaps his fingers, and two bright green wristbands with Thrill Realm embossed in black appear in his palm.

I laugh, putting his on after he fastens mine around my wrist. Now we don’t have to stand in line to get wristbands, and we don’t have to buy tickets for rides. We can go through the express line and get front line privileges.

We plan to get a hotel before we hit the amusement park so we don’t have to drive back tonight. After we tire ourselves out, there’s no way I’ll want to get on the road for three hours.

The drive there is nice, both of us firing questions at the other. Raven asks more about my graphic novels, and I tell him about the first one I finished with Mitch.

“I wanted you to kill him like I drew, but you got the job done.” I wink at him and Raven grins, not looking sorry at all. He shouldn’t be. I don’t think what I drew would have been half as satisfying as watching what Raven wrought. That was ferocity in its purest form.

Snapping back to what I was saying, I explain, “I was terrible when I first starting drawing. But I had nothing else. I had no friends, and I was in the house all day with my dad. And he wanted me away from him as much as possible. So I kept at it. Trying to recreate the comics I managed to keep hidden from my dad. After a while, I started to get good, my pictures almost looking like the ones from the papers. It took years, but I finally got good enough that I could create my own characters. From there, I made up Nightshade.”

“The hero you draw?” Raven asks, paying rapt attention to what I’m saying. I’ve never had anyone hang on my words like this. I could take advantage, make sure he did what I said without question, but that’s not the kind of mate I want to be. I want Raven to want to listen to me, and I want us to do things together because we choose each other, not because I command him.

I grab his hand and thread our fingers together. “Is he still a hero if he’s killing people in such brutal ways?”

“It depends,” Raven says with a smile. “Do these people deserve it?”

Grinning over at him, I say, “Fuck yeah.”

His hearty chuckle fills the cabin of the car, and I smile as it seeps through me. “I love your art,” he says. “When I would see it in your mind before I was set free, I admired it. Have you thought about producing your own graphic novel to sell?”

Nodding, I tell him something I never told anyone. “That’s my dream. I’d like the world to know Nightshade. It might give a kid like me hope, even if it is a little dark and twisted. They’d know they had a hero out there, doing what they probably can’t.” Thinking back to my last drawing before I left home makes my eyebrows dip. My blood boils as my mind goes back to how my father abused me, then destroyed all of my hard work. “I wish I could kill like Nightshade.”

Raven squeezes my hand gently. “Good thing you have a demon mate that can. Do you want the others to be killed in the manner you drew them?”

“Yes,” I answer quickly. “The last one I drew of my father had his heart ripped out and his face stomped in. The one of the sheriff, he’s pinned to the wall, gutted like a pig. The one of Joey’s head is ripped off. I want them all killed just like that.”

“You shall have them as you wish, sweet baby.” Raven kisses the back of my hand and I smile, knowing he means it.

We get checked in to our hotel room and change into more comfortable clothes for a day of fun. Raven speeds to the amusement park, his dark eyes alight with excitement.

I’m glad I came as an adult. As a kid, I would have been limited by what I did, since I was never especially tall and would have been scared shitless on a rollercoaster. And since I didn’t have money, I wouldn’t have been able to taste or eat whatever I wanted. As an adult, I can do more. I can appreciate it more.

Raven and I go from rollercoaster to rollercoaster, jumping the line since we have the green wrist bands that gives us access to a different line. Parents give us dirty looks when we move ahead of their kids but fuck them. This is my childhood that I’m trying to recreate. They should have sprung for the green wrist bands.

Or had a demon that could summon the passes for them.

While on the rides, Raven holds my hand tightly, letting me squeeze as hard as I want and scream my head off. We have the best time, going from ride to ride without a care in the world. He wins me stuffed animals and somehow sends them to our hotel room. I don’t ask how he does anything. I trust Raven.

We take plenty of pictures and for once, I have someone to send them to.

The first picture I send to Danae is of me and Raven in front of the first rollercoaster we got on. Both of our smiles are so wide, our cheeks look like they hurt. The reply I get back in response makes me laugh, and I hug the phone to my chest.

Danae: I want an invite next time. You’re a terrible friend. *laughing emoji* Have fun and bring me back a stuffed animal!

When we get back the hotel, I’m too tired to do anything but shower and climb between the sheets. Raven spoons me, pulling me closer to him. “Did you have fun, baby?”

“So much,” I answer honestly, voice low from exhaustion. “What about you?”

He kisses my neck gently, then breathes me in. “I had the time of my existence. Thanks to you.”

Shoring up some energy, I turn over to look at Raven, putting my hand on his face. “No, Raven. It’s all thanks to you. I’m free because of you. I’m getting revenge because of you. All of this is because of you. And my great great great great grandfather.”

His smile is gorgeous as he looks down at me. “Yes, thanks to him. You are welcome, baby. I will do anything to make you happy. If it means taking you to amusement parks, I will do that. If it means killing for you, burning down the whole fucking world, I will. Do you understand?”

My eyes burn with unshed tears, my heart thuds and an unexpected but not unwelcome feeling washes over me. Butterflies fill my belly as I try to swallow the lump in my throat. “I understand.”

Raven gives me a lingering kiss, stroking his tongue over mine without heat. Instead, it’s full of comfort and affection, exactly what I need right now. “Sleep well, Everest. I will keep you safe.”

In a low voice, I reply, “I know you will, baby.” That unfamiliar, pleasant feeling dances in my belly again, urging me to say … something. To get something off my chest so my heart can stop fluttering.

Before I can figure it out, I’m swallowed by the darkness of my dreams.