22. Where Has All the Fruit Gone?
Chapter 22
Where Has All the Fruit Gone?
T he moment I saw Jared, my reaction was instant and fierce. I threw my arms around him, hugging him to me like I would never let go.
“Whoa, easy there, Red, anyone would think you like me,” he teased, making me pull back long enough to see that everything was different. For starters, we were no longer in Hell and if that wasn’t the biggest indication of something going on here, then the second was that Jared didn’t exactly look like he was relieved to see me. Pleased, yes, but not relieved.
“What’s going on?” I asked, making him grant me a gentle grin, now pushing back all my hair and telling me,
“You were having a bad dream.”
I then looked around my small bedroom, astonished to see that we were back to being in my trailer. I frowned, not wanting to quite trust it as I sat up, barely believing this could be real.
“I don’t understand, how… how did we get here?” he laughed and told me,
“Man, that must have been one hell of a nightmare if you can’t remember that.” Jared’s easy grin was most definitely a comfort, just like the smell of him was, and everything about this certainly felt real. Even the way he dressed was tugging on my memories, like it hadn’t been long ago that I had seen him dressed this way.
“Am I really here?” I asked what felt like a stupid question.
“Sweetheart, just where do you think you should be?” he asked, framing my face with his hands and lifting my head up so as I could get lost in his gorgeous silver-grey eyes.
“The Underworld,” I said, making him jerk back and frown down at me.
“The Underworld? Baby, why would you be there when you could be here with me?” he said before pulling me in for a hug, holding me tight and making me feel the safest that I had in what felt like years.
“You’re right where you are meant to be, in my arms where you will stay,” he told me, before kissing my forehead softly and making me feel treasured.
“Looks like I am also in my trailer,” I remarked, making him chuckle.
“Well that too.”
“And is that coffee I smell brewing?” Again, he laughed at this.
“But of course, as if I would risk rousing the beast without having coffee on hand,” he said, making me tense shortly after replying with mocking laughter.
“Ha, ha.”
Only the moment it was out of my mouth, something in the way he had said the word beast had me tensing. Hadn’t I been fighting one? Why was it that my memories of what I had just dreamt of were quickly starting to fade away? As if I was scrambling to scoop them all back up and put them into place, whereas they were already falling from reach.
“Come on, let’s get you up and back to the land of the living,” he said, taking my hands and pulling me up off the bed.
“Land of the living,” I murmured to myself, but it was something he ignored.
“Why are we here?” I asked after catching myself in the mirror and seeing that strangely I was wearing something I hadn’t worn in years. A T-shirt that didn’t really fit me that well anymore, not since I had grown in the boob department. Yet here I was, wearing it for some strange reason, and with a pair of sweatpants that weren’t exactly flattering on me. Not when they were baggy in the bum area and reserved mainly for nights alone when the word comfort was the theme of the evening.
“You know why, so quit playing games, Ella,” he said, making me grimace again, because Jared rarely called me Ella. In fact, we even joked about it since meeting in the club in Germany, back when I was unsure as to if he even remembered my name. No, it was always Red or babe or sweetheart. Ella was usually only reserved for times he was serious and right now, he seemed relaxed and teasing.
“But what if I wanna play games?” I replied, deciding to play along.
“Oh well in that case, I have a game we can play.”
I laughed and said, “Well, if it’s hide the banana, then I think we already played that one.”
He burst out laughing at this before composing himself enough to wink at me.
“Oh, you mean my favorite game… well what if I tell you that it does involve fruit.”
I smirked before nodding to my little kitchen, telling him,
“Then I would say you’re shit out of luck because I doubt you will find anything healthy in my cupboards.”
He laughed again, then reached for my keys to my truck and said, “Grab your jacket, we are heading to the store.”
I gave him a curious look before asking, “Er, since when do you say store and call it a jacket , my coat wearing English man?”
He gave me a playful look in return, before snaking his hand down my waistband and using it to yank me closer. Then he told me,
“Since I started living with a smart mouth American, that’s when.” After which he started kissing my neck, making me groan at the feel of his lips on my skin.
“Now time to go.”
“Or we could fuck the fruit and stay,” I suggested, making him pull back enough to catch the way he bit his lip, as if weighing up his options. But then he must have really wanted to play this game, because he told me,
“Nice try, Ella, now get your coat.” And there was that name again.
“I am not going anywhere dressed like this,” I protested, making him spin me around so I was back to facing my bedroom, then he gave my backside a light slap and said,
“Then get to it, woman!”
“Oi! Don’t you woman me!” I threatened without a single ounce of bite.
“You wanna be a dude?” he asked, making me admit,
“Well no.”
“Then get to it, Cookie,” he said, making me frown this time, because that definitely wasn’t right, and it wasn’t one I could let slide this time, questioning,
“Since when do you call me Cookie?”
“I will call you anything you want, if it gets your arse moving,” he argued with a playful roll of his eyes.
“Fine, I’m going, I’m going,” I said, lifting up my arms dramatically before closing the door and getting ready to change. However, it was strange because even as I was pulling my jeans up my legs and grabbing a shirt, one that fit, from my draws, little things were niggling at me. Like him now calling me Cookie. And where was Duke? He hadn’t come to greet me like he usually did in the morning. And what was that I was now seeing?
“Oh no!” I shouted, making Jared quickly run back inside.
“What is it?” he asked.
I was leaning over my bed to the shelf behind and reaching for my snow globe.
“It’s cracked,” I told him in a devastated tone.
“Yeah, baby, you did that the other day, don’t you remember?”
“No… I must… I must have forgotten,” I said, my voice sounding unsure and vulnerable.
“It’s okay, you’ve had a lot to process the last few days, it’s easy to forget. Come on, I will get you a new one soon.”
I shook my head a little, as if shocked he would even suggest this. Especially when knowing what it meant to me.
“But my uncle gave me this one.”
He ignored this as I put it down, making it clear he wanted to go. So, I forced myself to forget about it, while reaching up and grabbing all my hair to tie it back in a ponytail. Then I walked out into the kitchen, asking,
“Where is Duke, is he outside taking a pee?”
“Oh, no he’s with your buddy.”
I jerked to a stop, unable to stop myself from asking,
“My buddy? Since when do you say, buddy?”
“Jesus, Red, what’s with the twenty questions? Come on, let’s go, I’m hungry,” he said, and the second he said the name Red again, it was like a soothing balm to my troubled mind.
“For fruit?” I asked with a raised brow.
“Yes, for fruit, now come on, will you?” he said in a teasing way, making me giggle.
He then handed me my jacket as he too grabbed his own. But I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw it was a thick winter parker style, that was heavily insulated. I was about to ask him when he started wearing that and worrying about the weather since he also joked that the cold never bothered him. But then I stopped myself, because he was right, since I had woken up, all I had done was question him.
So, I ignored another niggle and followed him outside after donning my boots. There were quite a few inches of snow on the ground, making it crunch under my feet as we walked hand in hand.
It was a beautiful day, but I was surprised to find the lake not frozen, like it usually was this time of year. Although, that was strange, because I suddenly couldn’t recall what time of year it was. In fact, I very nearly asked but then stopped myself, because I didn’t want Jared to think I was acting weird. After all, there was no need to give him cause to worry and besides, hadn’t I recently had a car accident…? Maybe I had hit my head.
Yeah, that must have been it.
But then why couldn’t I remember the details to that either?
“So, when are we heading back to Devil’s?” I asked when we were near town, to which Jared looked shocked, before teasing,
“I don’t think the Devil would know what to do with you.”
“Ha, ha, you know what I mean…” Although one look at his confused face and I found myself reminding him, “You know, the club, the Devil’s ring?”
“Ah of course. I don’t know. Why? You miss it already?” he asked, making me grin at the thought, amazed to find that I did miss it. The place I had once dreaded now felt more like home than my trailer did.
“We had good times there.”
He nodded but said no more, which I thought was also strange. I thought he would have been itching to get back there.
After this, our time consisted of basically flirting every minute until we got to the store and Jared became a man of his word, dragging me to the produce aisle. He picked up a few items, teasing me when we got to the bananas and making me practically howl with laughter. In fact, I laughed so much around the store that by the time we were on our way back, all my doubts before had gone and vanished.
After this the rest of the day went by quickly, and before I knew it, night had fallen, and Jared was making good on his promise. He had told me to go lie down while he fixed me dessert after just cleaning the dishes from eating pasta. I remember being surprised when he mentioned pasta at the store, teasing him about it and asking why he didn’t pick his favorite, steak and potatoes. An answer I received with his lips kissing their way up my neck and making me forget about the damn food.
As for now, he opened the door to reveal a tray of freshly cut fruit. The vibrant colors and smell of the juice made my mouth water. But nothing compared to the even more tempting sight of Jared shirtless. In fact, the fruit didn’t hold that much of an appeal to me in sight of something far more delicious, something I told him as he got closer to the bed.
However, when I tried to take the tray off him, he held it up out of reach and tutted down at me.
“Remember, this is my game, which means my rules, so lie back while I feed you.”
“Well, that’s not much of a game,” I pointed out, making him smirk.
“I haven’t finished explaining the rules,” he said, tugging a length of silk from his back pocket with his free hand.
“Now where did that come from?” I asked, not recognizing it from anything I owned.
“Never you mind. Now as for these rules, I am going to blindfold you and you have to tell me what the fruit it is.”
Well, that sounded easy enough.
“And when I guess it correctly, what then?”
“For each one you get right, I will keep score and you will receive your prize at the end.” Mmm, now that did sound promising.
“Ah okay, now I like the sound of this… but what happens if I guess wrong?”
“Mmm, we will find out, won’t we?” he teased before placing the tray down and coming toward me with the blindfold held out. I then let him tie it around my eyes, humming when I felt him smooth out the silk gently over my nose.
“No peeking,” he warned, his tone light and mischievous.
“As if I would cheat,” I said, making him chuckle before I felt him run his nose up my cheek before he said seductively,
“Open wide, baby.”
“Okay, but if it’s a banana, then I know who’s really cheating.”
He laughed and before long I felt a juicy piece of peach placed on my tongue.
“That’s so easy… peach,” I told him, making him whisper temptingly in my ear,
“Good girl. Now a little harder. Open,” he said and again, I felt another piece of fruit placed in my mouth.
“That’s not hard at all, it’s melon.”
“Ah, but what kind?” he pressed, making me grin with my answer.
“Honeydew.”
“Very good. Now time for your hardest one yet,” he said, his tone excited.
“Okay.”
“Now this will be very juicy so you will have to swallow it quickly or it will make a mess.”
I chuckled and quipped,
“Are we still talking about fruit?” My tease made him moan sexually in my ear before warning in a deeper tone,
“Behave.” Then he asked, “Ready?”
I nodded and opened wide, this time feeling a totally different texture place against my lips. He was right, I could feel the juice dripping, so when he told me to bite down, I did so quickly. The sweet flavor burst across my tongue as my mouth was filled with seeds.
“Swallow them down, baby.”
I felt strange doing this, suddenly not so into this game anymore. But why when it was only fruit?
No, not just fruit.
It was a pomegranate.
“Be my good girl, swallow them and next thing you get to taste is me.”
Hearing this was enough to shut down my irrational worries, and I did as I was told, swallowing down the seeds I could feel gathered in my mouth. However, the second I did as I was told, my reward came in the form of a sinister laugh, making me quickly reach up and pull away the blindfold.
This was also when my world was cruelly snatched away from me and plunged me straight back into the Hell I had never left.
“AH!” I screamed, now coming face to face with who had been tricking me all along. There never had been any Jared. Only a puppet master pulling at my strings. I became furious at the thought, sickened by not only the demon above me, but by anyone who dared try and infiltrate my mind and take with them a piece of something sacred.
A piece of Jared and I.
“You are going to regret that!” I warned the hooded figure above me, quickly commanding my souls, “Kill him!”
However, he started laughing once more before telling me in a scratchy, high-pitched demonic tone,
“I don’t think so, Princess. In fact, I think you will find yourself as being quite useless now without your souls to protect you.”
I looked to the side and saw that he was right. All that was left of my summoned souls was a fading green mist because each one of them had disappeared.
Which meant the danger I now faced came rushing at me, and I realized too late that my Summoner’s powers were…
Gone.