There was a funny smell in the room, too. It seemed to be coming from the floor, which was made out of concrete that was starting to rot, with pits Luke was certain must be full of mold and mildew. "What's that?" he asked, pointing to a grate in the middle of the floor.
"It's the sump," Jared replied. "If it gets real wet, and water starts collecting down here, it all runs in there. Then when that gets too full, a pump goes on, and pumps all the water outside."
The room, already close to a complete zero on Luke's list, dropped another notch. "You mean you want to sleep in a room that might flood?"
Jared shrugged. "Even if it floods, it's not going to be that bad." Then he grinned, his eyes glinting in the bright glare of the bulb that hung from the rafters. "And I'd sure rather be down here than upstairs where everyone'll know what I'm doing."
"There isn't even a bathroom," Luke said sourly.
"Sure there is," Jared countered. "It's over in the corner, near the stairs."
"So what are you gonna do if you have to take a leak in the middle of the night? There's gotta be all kinds of spiders and stuff down here."
"Jeez," Jared groaned. "Haven't you ever heard of a bug bomb? You just set it off and close the place up for a few hours."
"Your dad's gonna love that idea," Luke observed.
"It was my dad's idea in the first place," Jared retorted. Then: "You got a joint?"
Luke's expression clouded suspiciously. "What if I do?" he asked, his voice carefully neutral.
Jared's eyes rolled. "If you do, we can smoke it."
Luke stared at him. "With your folks right upstairs?"
Jared shrugged. "Why not? That's the great thing about being down here-nobody's gonna walk by, so they won't even smell it if it leaks under the door a little."
Luke's eyes narrowed. "Bet you wouldn't," he said, with just enough challenge in his voice to tell Jared he did, indeed, have a joint.
"I'm gonna go up and get some food and Cokes," Jared said. "Then we'll smoke it, and figure out how to fix this place up."
In less than five minutes he was back, bringing not only Cokes and potato chips, but the radio from his room as well, along with a couple of candles. Plugging the radio into the single socket jury-rigged onto one of the walls the same way the light had been hung from the rafters, he turned it on, but kept the volume low enough so it wouldn't bring anyone down from upstairs. "So how about it, Luke?" he said. "You gonna share the joint?"
Luke frowned. "How'd you know I had one?"
Jared's lips curved into a mysterious smile. "I know all kinds of stuff," he said.
Luke reached into his pocket and pulled out a red tin box just like the ones that practically everyone Jared knew carried. Opening the lid, Luke carefully lifted the paper that cradled the peppermints inside. Underneath were three neatly rolled joints. After taking two of them out and placing them on the floor, Luke slid the box back into his pocket.
Silently, Luke handed one of the joints to Jared.
Jared struck a match, lit the joint, and sucked the smoke deep into his lungs. Holding his breath to keep the fumes in his lungs as long as possible, he passed the joint to Luke. "See?" he said after they'd each taken three tokes. "No big deal." Both of them sank down onto the floor, leaning against the oak wall.
"Good shit," Luke muttered as he sucked a fourth toke into his lungs.
Jared got up and lit the candle, pulled the string that shut off the glare of the naked lightbulb, and settled down against the wall opposite Luke. "Not so bad, is it?"
"Can't see anything," Luke groused, temporarily blinded.
But as the joint took effect and his eyes grew accustomed to the glow cast by the candle, the whole look of the room seemed to change. The rough surfaces of the planks that formed the room's walls softened, and the ceiling seemed to rise above them until it seemed there was no roof at all.
"Cool," Luke breathed.
"Shhh," Jared hissed. "Just let your mind go." He picked the second joint off the floor, lit it, and passed it to Luke.
The light in the room began to flicker and swell.
So, too, did the texture of the walls. No trace of the planks was left at all. Instead, the walls seemed to have turned translucent, with rainbows of color rippling through them. Then the walls-like the ceiling a few minutes ago-began to recede.
It seemed to Luke that they were in a chamber as huge as a cathedral, with a ceiling vaulted so high they could barely make it out. The walls were gold, set with stained glass in swirling patterns that made the light appear to move as it flooded through from somewhere beyond. In front of Luke something that looked like an altar appeared, above which-apparently floating in the air-was a woman.
A woman more beautiful than Luke had ever seen before.
She moved toward him, a silvery robe flowing around her, and as her feet touched the floor, she reached out, her fingers stretching toward him.
She knelt, and gently caressed his cheek.
"Touch me," she said in a voice that sounded like the most beautiful music he'd ever heard. "Touch me."
Hesitantly at first, Luke reached out to the perfect woman.
Her robe fell away, revealing the perfection of her firm flesh and her golden skin.
Luke's fingers touched the woman's flesh, and he trembled.
"I want you, Luke," the woman breathed, "like you want me…"
The vision of the woman blotting everything else from his consciousness, Luke Roberts let himself sink into an ecstasy such as he'd never felt, and knew that when it was over he would be changed forever.
"Yes," he breathed. "Oh, God, yes…" As Luke surrendered to the pleasures of the perfect woman, Jared Conway watched. Watched, and smiled.
October
CHAPTER 20
Sandy Engstrom eyed Kim Conway anxiously. Over the last few weeks-ever since Kim had asked if she could sit at Sandy's favorite table in the St. Ignatius cafeteria-the two of them had become best friends. Sandy had been surprised that first day, because only the day before Kim had hardly spoken to anybody but her brother. Her gorgeous brother, Sandy amended to herself, though she'd been careful not to let Kim know that she'd developed a crush on Jared Conway the minute she saw him. In fact, the main reason she'd been friendly toward Kim was in the hope of meeting Jared. But by the end of that first lunch, she knew she'd found someone to replace Melissa Parker, her best friend since kindergarten, until Melissa moved to New Orleans just before school started. As for Jared, Sandy's crush on her new friend's brother had faded almost as quickly as it had come over her. Maybe if he hadn't started hanging out with Luke Roberts…
But he had started hanging out with Luke, and as far as Sandy was concerned, anyone who was a friend of Luke's was off her list, if for no other reason than the way Luke had dumped Melissa Parker last year. He hadn't even had the guts to tell her he was breaking up with her himself. Instead, he'd invited Dawn LaFrenier to the homecoming dance, and by the time Melissa found out, it was too late to get another date. Sandy hadn't had a date, either, so the two of them went to the movies that night, and struck Luke-and all his friends-off their list of boys they'd have anything to do with. And just because Melissa was gone, Sandy wasn't about to reinstate Luke Roberts to her list of friends.