Beelzebub Girl by Jayde Scott Read Free Book Online Page A

know. Life's too exciting. There's so many things to see and do before I die."
    Tanned people wearing Bermuda shorts and sweaty cotton tops were gathered in small groups, ambling toward the ticket admission in the distance. A few lingered around their vehicles, chatting or arguing. With my immortal eyes, I could see the door to the portal swirling around in a blur of bright colours. The air all around us smelled cleaned and crisp, like after a thunderstorm. Good thing humans couldn't see 'my gateway to Hell' with the naked eye. That certainly helped made the whole affair authentic, or so I thought until a loved up couple came dangerously close to the tiny particles. The air flickered, ready to suck them right in.
    Oh, crap. I jumped out of the car and motioned Dallas to hurry up. We needed to get moving before someone passed through by accident and realised they might have bitten more than they could chew when they signed up for visiting Disneyland's Phantom Revenge theme.
    "Let's go." I locked the car and grabbed Dallas's arm, pulling him into the invisible shield a few inches away.
    The strong energy crackled around us. I heard his gasp as we were drawn into the underworld. The temperature rose a few degrees; a hot gust hit us in the face. All moisture seemed to have evaporated from the atmosphere. No way would Dallas not notice the sudden and drastic change from concrete and chattering crowds to dirty ground and boulders everywhere. Although it pained me to spin yet more deceit between us, I whipped out my phone and punched in the order to knock him out.
    My phone vibrated. An instant later, Dallas dropped to the ground. Kneeling next to him, I grabbed a bottle of water out of my purse and poured some over his face. His eyes blinked open, his hand wandered to his head. "What happened?"
    I brushed his hair out of his eyes. "You fainted."
    Sitting up, he peeled his shirt from his chest, fanning air as he looked around. "Last thing I remember is being outside of Disneyland by the ticket booth. Where did everyone else go?"
    This was the hardest part. If I made a big deal out of it, he might see through my bluff.
    I gripped his hand. "I'm so sorry. We were taking the staff-only entrance where no visitors are allowed. You said you felt lightheaded, but followed me along the path, and then you just dropped. Are you okay?"
     
    He smiled. "Of course I am. How about we keep my fainting episode between us?"
    "My lips are sealed."
    He rose to his feet. The confused look on his face betrayed he wasn't quite convinced though as he peered around him at nothing but boulders and dead trees. "We're going to have to stop at the gift shop and pick up one of those fan spray bottles. You know, the ones all the tourists carry around the theme parks. I didn't realise it was this hot today."
    Yet another delay wasn't an option. I'd just key it into my phone and let it magically appear. Smiling, I nodded. "It's awful, isn't it?
    Imagine living here forever."
    "I couldn't stand it."
    "See why I left?" I could slap my forehead for my blunder. I was supposed to sell this place to him, make him want to spend the week here with me. "Look at the bright side, at least you'd never have to worry about heating bills."
    He snorted. "Trust me, air conditioning isn't cheaper."
    I pulled him around the huge characteristic boulders blocking the narrow path, which were called The Boulders of Hell on Dragon's Path—the only entrance on this dimension. The sun stood high on the pale blue horizon streaked with bands of red and orange. The earth glimmered red, a few flames leapt up from the ground. I hurried to stomp on them before Dallas noticed. The scarce trees adorning the narrow trail looked like black rubber, devoid of leaves, the dry bark was scorched in several places.
    "You should really have your dad invest in some fertilizer,"
    Dallas said.
    "I'll get right on that." Nothing was growing in this place except my frustration of how I was going to pull this