Lyla
I woke up the following morning to a knock on the door. I covered my head with the blanket like it would make them go away. I was seconds away from screaming. My mind and body were so tired that even the thought of being awake was like a hammer to the head, literally.
“Housekeeping!” A woman yelled after another loud knock.
“Go away, please!” I called, rolling over in bed, pounding a fist into the pillow. I hit it so hard that I thought it was going to break open.
I waited about a minute before I was sure she was gone. I rolled back over in the bed to try and get comfortable, but I couldn’t.
Man, I really wanted another hour or two of sleep. I growled softly, and then, I felt Ethan tug me to his side. His grip was like iron. He pressed a soft kiss to the back of my neck, sending shivers cascading down my spine. His stray hand found the bottom of my shirt, and gently pushed it up so he could touch my skin. I sucked in a breath, and melted into him.
“Good morning.” he rasped near my ear. “Happy birthday, Lyla,” He pushed himself into me, and I started to tingle all over.
“I really have to get up.” I said. As much as I wanted to stay in the warm bed with him, I knew I couldn’t.
“Not yet, I’m not finished with you…” He pulled me closer, and I could feel his fast heartbeat on my back.
I would really love something more to happen, but I had to get ready. There was nothing I could do about it.
Ethan groaned in disappointment.
I went over to my luggage, and starting rustling around in it, feeling, more than looking, for something to wear. When I found what I wanted, I stood up, and went over to the microwave, and grabbed a foam cup off the top so I could rinse my mouth out. I did all of this while Ethan watched me from the bed, never moving.
I didn’t look at him.
I stood by the sink and started brushing my teeth, and I slipped on a light, soft, pink summer dress. I wanted to look presentable for when I met the queen, so I decided to check my bag for makeup. I really hoped Ethan thought to pack some…
I rummaged around until I felt the silkiness of my blue makeup bag. I pulled it out, and out came the cord for my curling iron. I immediately went to plug it in. I kissed Ethan after he emerged from the bed for being thoughtful in what he packed. I don’t know any guy who would remember to grab their girlfriend’s makeup and hair stuff.
Katie and Hannah would probably swoon over it… If Lacy knew… Oh my gosh, I just realized that I haven’t thought about her in, like, a month. What kind of friend am I? I’m sure she had her baby by now—it was due in... I think January. I wondered if she still thought about me, or just ignored that I wasn’t in her life anymore. God, what was Tanner doing? Did he think I was dead, or did he think I abandoned him?
I shook my head slightly and metaphorically bombed every one of those mind-boggling and unthinkable thoughts from my head.
I started with my hair first. I put small ringlets all throughout my head. I did a double check in the mirror to make sure that I didn’t miss any strands in the back. Then I sprayed hairspray all over, coughing in the process, because I got it a little too close to my mouth and I inhaled some of it. Then I put a touch of light green and blue eye shadow on, and some lash-lengthening mascara. I puckered my lips up, and applied a coating of pink, lip-plumping lip gloss. I twirled around, and found that I looked amazing. I sprayed a small bit of my perfume on my neck and wrist.
At least now I was presentable.
I look beautiful, I thought to myself.
Ethan whistled, causing me to flush bright red. He came over and brought me in for a small kiss. He gripped my arms and kissed me more deeply, but I pushed him away.
“Don’t ruin my masterpiece.” I said, pointing to my face and making a circle hand movement around my hair.
“As if I could, you’re a masterpiece without any makeup on. I think you’re hot as hell.” he murmured into my hair. “Mmm, you smell delectable. I really am glad that I decided to get you that perfume. You don’t realize how badly it turns me on.”
I moved away before this led to something further. For one, we didn’t have protection. And for two, I really didn’t want to take a shower again and ruin my hair.
Not long after that, we were on the road heading to New Orleans. We had four hours to go before we got there, and I was already bored. I didn’t like long car rides. I was the type of person that liked to get somewhere in two seconds and not have to wait. We really should have taken a jet down. I was still waiting for the opportunity to ride in one of those fuckers.
Ethan went through a McDonalds drive thru, and got himself a coffee. I declined food when he asked, but I did get an orange juice. I was hungry, but grease didn’t sound too good right now.
My stomach was in knots because I didn’t know what to expect when I met this lady. I hoped everything ran smoothly. I hoped she wasn’t a mean old woman that had a thousand cats.
“So, did you… remember anything that we did when you were a toddler?” Ethan asked all of a sudden.
I turned to him. “What do you mean?” Was he talking about what we did every day? Like watch TV and stuff?
His hands noticeably tightened on the steering wheel. I was afraid he would snap it in half. “Us having sex,” He clenched his jaw, and his eyes never left the road.
“Um, kinda? It was kind of like a dream, I told you that last night. My mind was too young to really focus on it. I knew you meant something more to me than a friend, but the feelings were out of my grasp… do you get what I’m saying? It was like trying to catch a butterfly with a net. You come close to getting it, but you never quite swing far enough.”
He glanced at me. “I was so afraid that you would think I was a child molester. If you remembered anything like that and told me, I was going to punch myself in the balls. I wouldn’t be able to handle a kid saying something like that to me. It just made me feel dirty and wrong to think you would have remembered us doing that.”
“Yeah, but, Ethan… what we did wasn’t wrong. We did it because we love each other, right?”
He nodded “I do you love you, with my whole heart.”
“Then it wasn’t wrong. If I mentioned something, it wouldn’t make you a pervert or anything like that. We had sex when I was seventeen, not when I was three. Please stop beating yourself up over this. It’s done and over with now.”
“You don’t understand, Lyla… when I first saw you… God, I almost started crying. For God’s sake, my girlfriend was practically a baby again! And not to mention we had sex the day before. In my mind, I didn’t know how I could love you another way. I felt desire for you, but little you… I didn’t anymore. My feelings were so confused; I didn’t think I could even be with you anymore because of it. I didn’t wanna be with you anymore. I wanted to break it off with you as soon as you turned back. It would have hurt me because I love you so fucking much…” he said with a voice tight with emotion.
“Ethan…” I interrupted, turning around in my seat to face him.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.” he muttered under his breath, reaching over to turn his music up.
I reached over and rested my hand on his shoulder.
“Stop worrying about it. Please, you’re really upsetting me by talking how you are.”
His face fell. “I’m sorry.” he repeated again.
“It’s okay. I mean, I don’t know how you feel, but maybe if I was in your shoes I would feel differently about this. I know it wasn’t easy for you, but you have to let it go before it eats you up inside.”
He turned to me, grinned, and slid his black driving glasses up his nose because they were slipping down.
“When did you get so astute, my darlin’?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, I’ve always been this way.”
“That’s good, ‘cause you’re hot as hell when you act like that.”
A few hours later we pulled into a rest area. I got out and stretched my legs, grateful that the place was deserted. I paced up and down the sidewalk by the long brown building trying to ease my growing nerves about meeting this voodoo queen. What if she sent me packing and didn’t wanna help me? What if she was a royal bitch and was stuck up?
I went to the vending machine, and took out my wallet. I really needed to put something into my stomach. I took out three dollars and fed them to the machines. I got a couple bags of snack mix, and a Mountain Dew. I put everything on my seat in the truck, and continued waiting by the building.
My attention turned to Ethan when he walked out of the doors. He was buttoning up his pants, and his shirt was slightly lifted so I could see the fine trail of hair that ran beneath his belly button to under the front of his pants.
Why couldn’t he do that while he was still in the bathroom?
I raised my eyebrow at him and shook my head.
Typical guy… “What?”
“Try getting dressed next time before you walk out in public. Someone could have showed up!” I said with a small laugh.
“I always do this, it’s no big deal, and it isn’t like my something was hanging out.”
I rolled my eyes. “So now it’s called a “something”? I thought you used a different term last night? You called it a c—”
He didn’t let me finish talking. He came up to me and pulled me to him. I rested my head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. It was calming. I loved the sound of it. The thump-thump was deep and rhythmic. I was almost like a drum cadence in a marching band. I closed my eyes for a few seconds, in absolute peace.
I let my hands slide up his shirt and rest on his shoulders. I tilted my head up, and with my stare I begged him to kiss me, and he did just that. His soft lips caught mine, and his tongue ran over my bottom lip, making me deepen the kiss.
His arms came around my back, and held me in place. Desire started to work its way from my chest down between my legs. I took my left hand and rested it right over the button on his pants. I stuck my finger under the band of his jeans, making him groan.
“Ethan…” I whispered, want unmistakably heard in the way I said his name. It was a whisper/purr.
“Lyla…” he said with a slight growl. He tugged my hand, and led me back to his truck. He opened the back door, and I climbed in, him following. He shut the door with a small slam and reached into the middle to open the center console, pulling out a small box. I knew what they were, because Cherry bought me some a while back.
The things that I thought were balloons.
Without warning, I pushed Ethan on his back, making his eyes go wide in shock. I didn’t care about my appearance anymore. I began taking his pants off.
Of course, Ethan left his shirt on and I left my dress on, but that didn’t make me any less cautious.
I settled over top of him, and watched him slide the condom on. I moved forward, pushing us together.
I sat up after a couple of minutes and took him farther, release coming over me almost immediately at changing the way I was sitting. Warmth spread through my body in breathtaking ripples, and I felt like a puddle of warm custard when I was done. Ethan rocked up into me for another minute. He held us closely together as he finished.
We were both breathing hard. I kissed him softly, and moved to put my undies back on. “That was astounding.” I said without looking at him.
“Never did that in the truck before.” he said, causing me to glance at him.
“Never?” I asked in disbelief.
“Nope, not in the truck, but, I’ve done it in my old car plenty.”
“I’m sure you have.” I said drily.
He gave me a teasing smile, and stuck his tongue out at me like a little kid. His metal stud caught the sun and glinted.
“I guess you hung out with little me for too long.” I said.
He shrugged, and gave me a lopsided grin. “Okay, we really need to get going; we have another half hour of driving before we get there.”
“It wasn’t my idea to stop.” I said pointedly. “You’re the one who “had to pee really bad.”
“I know, Hall, but it was the coffee’s fault,” he said with a small chuckle. “But, it wasn’t my idea to have sex, either.”
“No, but you didn’t protest the idea. Oh and when did you start calling me by my last name?”
He winked. “Just now,”
We got back on the road and it took no time at all to arrive at a place called Mystic Adventures. It was a small building in downtown New Orleans on Bourbon Street. The place was painted a light blue, and flowers were everywhere. Some were in pots by the door, and others were hanging from hooks on the awning.
We both climbed out of the truck and walked inside holding hands. The place smelled like incense, and there were all sorts of weird things everywhere. Like shaped skull candles, feathers, bones, herbs, books, and everything someone who was interested in this kind of stuff would want.
There was more stuff than I could ever begin to list.
A lot of it I didn’t even have a name for, it was just all really, really weird, and a little freaky. My mind was warping trying to process it all. Maybe, just maybe, I would buy something from here as a memento. I brought the idea up to Ethan, and he told me I could get whatever I wanted.
I rang the bell on the counter and smiled a nervous smile at Ethan. We both turned to the noise in the back, and watched a beautiful black woman walk out of an orange and purple beaded-curtain. She was a lot younger than I expected, maybe a few years older than me at most. Her hair was fully braided, and she wore a sweet smile on her face. She also had on a pretty green sundress that I was a little envious of.
“Hey, y’all! What can I do for you two?” she asked, nodding from me to Ethan. “My name’s Charlotte.”
She had a weird accent… It was kind of like the man’s from the hotel… I think Ethan called it something “hillbilly”, whatever the heck that meant.
I cleared my throat before I spoke. “Hello, Charlotte, my name is Lyla Hall, and this is my boyfriend, Ethan Killman. My friend Rylan…” God, I didn’t even know Rylan’s last name. “Pointed us in your direction. I’m a Fire Bringer and Ethan is an Ice Bringer. We came to ask you for help. We need our souls back.”
She clapped her hands together. “Ah, Rylan. Yes, he told me you both were coming, and to expect you sometime today. I think I will be able to help you two out. Come with me.” She motioned, and we followed her back behind the beaded curtain. She waved at a table, and we both sat while she took a seat across from us. There was a crystal ball sitting in the middle of the table, and some glass skulls.
She already had a bowl on the table. There were two unlit black candles and one white candle lit. “It should be no problem getting your souls out of Hell. The problem is that they’re so far in the pits it’s going to take a couple of months before they are reunited with your body. Is that alright?”
We both nodded, and took each other’s hands, holding them under the table.
Charlotte closed her eyes.
“Wait,” Ethan said, making Charlotte open her eyes again. “Can you get my mom’s too? Her name is Sherry Killman. Everyone calls her Cherry, though. She has terminal cancer, and I don’t want her to die and go to Hell, she doesn’t deserve that.”
“Yes, I can do that.” she said. “And I’m sorry, that’s terrible. You never know, she might get well again. I’ve known someone who was told they had six weeks left to live and they inexplicably got better again. That was six years ago, and they’re still alive.”
“Thank you, I needed to hear that.” Ethan said, giving my hand a hard squeeze. It looked like he was trying not to cry.
Charlotte closed her eyes, and began doing a bunch of weird stuff. She was whispering and dipping a black feather into the wax of the lit white candle. Next, she opened up a jar of something, and stuck it inside. She lit both of the black candles, and lit another feather on fire, filling the air with a nasty smell.
She clapped her hands together. When she did that, I felt a jolt from deep within my chest. I was sure Ethan felt it also, because he was rubbing his sternum nimbly.
“What was that?” Ethan asked a second later, releasing my hand. I missed its warmth right away, I wished he had never let go.
Charlotte looked at him. “Just your soul finding a connection to your body. That was a little freaky, huh?”
“So, is that it?” I asked. “I thought it would be a little more complex than that.”
She shook her head. “A powerful spell can be cast with hardly anything as long as the person who does it is strong, and believes in it.”
“That makes sense.” Ethan said, nodding.
“There’s something I wanted to tell you two. When I was calling your souls up, I felt something… unusual. It wasn’t like anything I’ve done before. I mean, I’ve called souls up in the past, but yours felt really peculiar. Almost as if you’re not what you say you are. I felt something different than normal…” Charlotte trailed off, looking puzzled. She looked at Ethan. “Especially from you…”
“I’m sure we are what we say we are.” I replied with a small laugh.
She giggled. “Okay then, I guess you two can be on your way. Rylan already paid the fee so you don’t have to worry about it.”
“Fee?” Ethan and I asked at the same time, stopping in our tracks.
“Yes, he paid me two-thousand dollars for each of you. What, you thought I was doing this for free?”
I swallowed hard. I didn’t want Rylan spending that kind of money to help us. He really shouldn’t have done that. I mentally reminded myself to yell at him the next time I spoke to him. I had to make it up somehow.
We left the room and went back out to the front, and I immediately began looking for something cool to take home. When I saw a necklace with a weird shaped purple rock on it, I knew this was it.
Ethan had a gothic-looking four-headed dragon that was sitting in a shallow base with skulls and a sword. Charlotte told him to fill it up with water to make it mist.
When we rang up our purchases, it came up to one-hundred dollars.
I winced.
We shook Charlotte’s hand, took her number in case something went wrong, and went back out to Ethan’s truck.
“I guess we head back to Toledo now, right?” I asked, clicking my seat belt in place.
“Yep, but first I might stop and get us something to eat, I’m really hungry.
We ended up eating at a seafood place, and I ordered shrimp and Ethan got something called tilapia. This is the first time I’d ever had any shrimp, and I really liked it. When we were done, I clicked my seat belt in place.
“Are you prepared for the long drive home?” Ethan asked.
I groaned.
***
Ethan
By the time we made it back to my house, it was well after midnight the next night.
I had a surprise for Lyla in my room for her birthday. I wanted to bring it with me, but I didn’t know how the soul thing was going to work out, and I didn’t want to bring a gift if she wasn’t happy enough to open it.
I climbed out of my truck with heavy eyes. I was having a hard time staying awake. Lyla insisted on stopping at a hotel to sleep, but I pushed on. Coffee was my best friend right now. I probably drained twenty cups over the last eight hours.
I stuck the key into the lock, and turned it. We both went into the house and immediately down to my room. I tossed our bags onto the couch, and went over to my dresser to get her gift. I stuck it into my coats pocket.
When I turned back around, Lyla had turned my fish tank light on, and was feeding the fish. She was giggling, and making the puffer fish follow her finger through the glass.
“Stop teasing my fish, Hall.” I said softly, coming up behind her. I don’t know why I started calling her by her last name, but I thought it was kinda cute. I smiled a lopsided grin, and pulled her to the couch, making her sit.
I glanced to my left, because something shiny caught my eye. It was something wrapped up in silver paper. I picked it up, and it had Lyla’s name on it. I instantly knew who it was from. I knew the handwriting.
It was from my mom.
I held it out to Lyla, and she took it. I told her who it was from, and she immediately began to tear off the paper, throwing it to the floor.
When I saw what was inside, I had had enough. I ripped it out of her hands, and began taking off to the stairs.
“Ethan? Where you going? Bring back my present!” she said loudly, but it didn’t make me stop.
I made it to the landing and took off up to my mom’s room. I really couldn’t believe she would go and buy Lyla something like this. The condoms and lube, I could see.
But this? It was way over the line. I couldn’t handle it anymore.
When I got to the top, Lyla came flying around the turn of the stairs, and grabbed the package from me. She held it to her chest, and gave me an innocent look. I knocked on my mom’s door, and she immediately called out and said to come in.
I popped the door open, and snatched the damn thing back from Lyla. My mom was lying in bed, with her feet propped up, and reading a book. She looked happy to see me, but that wasn’t the case in my attention toward her.
I was disgusted, actually.
I held up the toy, and shook it around. I waited for her to shut her book before I spoke. I tried to calm myself down before I said anything too harsh. There was so much I wanted to say, but so much I couldn’t, or I would hurt my mom’s feelings. That was the last thing I wanted to do, but I needed her to understand that this couldn’t keep happening.
“Why in the hell would you get Lyla a vibrator?” I asked, barely controlling my anger. My left fist was clenched, and my jaw was, also.
“Why? She’s old enough to have one, Ethan. And besides, it’s for if she ever gets lonely.”
I pointed to my chest. “I can take care of her needs for her, thank you very much, Mom. You need to stop with all this sexual stuff. It’s really creepy for me to know that my mom is so involved in my sex life. If Lyla wanted one, I should have been the one to buy it for her, not you. I appreciate the offer, but please, no more. The condoms and lube were a bit much, but this is over the line.”
“But it’s pink, and it’s really good for hitting the g-spot. I know, I have one. Lyla is a female, and has needs.
She needs it, trust me, Ethan.”
God…
Lyla hit me, and took back her… thing. “This is mine, Ethan. Stop getting mad at Cherry; she’s only being thoughtful and nice. By the way, what is this used for?” she asked, taking it out of the package. It was long, pink, and had about ten different settings on it. I almost wanted to smack my hand over my face, but I refrained. I took a deep breath before I could talk.
“It’s a fucking toy for self-pleasuring. You know, it’s supposed to replace a dick.” I said, not caring if my mom was listening.
My mom gasped. “I’m sorry, son. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble. I just thought Lyla could use something like this. It’s normal for a girl her age to want to try something like that out. I know I did.”
I was going to throw up.
I turned to her. “No, I’m sorry.” I said, stomping out of her room. I couldn’t even go on. I was bound to get sick.
I heard Lyla murmur her thank you when I reached the bottom of the steps.
I didn’t speak the whole way down to my room. I stopped in front of my couch, and yawned widely. “Lyla, I’m sorry. I just don’t like her giving you things like this.”
She smiled. “It’s okay. Maybe we can try it out tomorrow?” She stretched, and yawned, making a sweet noise that almost put me over the edge.
I smiled warmly, resting my hand on her shoulder.
“Sit.” I said softly, pointing to the couch.
I held out my hand, and she took the small wrapped pink package from me.
She fingered it gently. “What’s this for?” she asked in a small voice.
“Your birthday, Lyla, geez, what did you think it was for? Now open it before I die of anticipation here. I want to make sure you like it. If not, I’m taking it back and getting you something better.”
Without another word she tore the tape off of the bottom, and pulled the paper off, setting it next to her. She opened the small velvet box, revealing a ring.
The ring was silver, and had a small ruby cut in the shape of a heart in the center. She plucked it out of the box, and held it up in the light.
She gasped.
I didn’t know if it was a bad gasp, or a good gasp. I hoped she liked it…
“It’s gorgeous Ethan! Oh, my, God, oh my God, I love it!” she cried.
I took the ring from her and slid it onto her right ring finger. It fit perfectly.
She admired her hand, and then met my gaze. “Is this an engagement ring?” she asked suspiciously.
I shook my head no. “It’s a promise ring. A promise that I will always love you no matter what.”
She clutched her hand to her chest, and happy tears filled her eyes. “I’m so in love with you.”
“Me too, babe.”