Sparks

Chapter 29

"Aryn? It's time to go patrol."

I groan and sit up, blankets falling off my body into a haphazard pile on the bed. I'm still wearing my clothes from yesterday - I was too mentally exhausted to bother changing.

"I'll be out in a minute, I've just gotta change."

"Alright. See you in the kitchen."

I swing my legs off the bed and stand up, walking over to the wardrobe. Today I think I'll wear a black tank top underneath the standard gray sweatshirt. A nice reminder of my mental state.

As it's getting hotter, I put on long shorts instead of standard jeans. The still-strange network of belts that holds my weapons is hanging in my closet now, as I'm using it so often.

I tighten a few straps and pull on the sweatshirt before quickly throwing my hair into a messy bun, brushing my teeth, and heading downstairs.

"You're supposed to wake yourself up. I'm a little annoyed that I had to do it today," scolds Carrie. I look down at my feet.

"Sorry. I forgot to set my alarm." She sighs.

"What's done is done. You ready to go?"

"Yeah." I grab a granola bar, swing my backpack over my shoulder, and clip the camera barrette into my hair. "Let's go."

The car is unpleasantly warm when I open the door. I make a face, try and fan the air inside the car with my hands, and when that fails I simply sit in the seat with the door still open. Carrie scoffs at my antics.

"You're kind of a wimp. You know that, right?" I roll my eyes.

"So you've said."

She starts the car and begins to drive in the very familiar direction. I, quickly becoming bored, start to examine the knives on my belt.

"You know, Carrie, I thought you said when I first got my rapier that I would be using it in the field. Why haven't I got it instead of all these knives?"

"While I wish we lived in a society where we could just carry swords around, we do not live in such a society. We're trying to make you not stand out."

I nod. "Makes sense. So when will I use it?"

"There will come a time that we have to battle out in the open, and we won't care about being seen. That's what the rapier's for. The knives are for preventing situations like yesterday." She gives me a stink eye and I shudder.

"Please don't remind me. But what will happen if we do have an exposed battle like that?"

"Depends. When it's happened before sometimes they try to kick out the squad involved," shrugs Carrie. "Sometimes the police try to arrest them. Sometimes they even succeed, usually in the bigger cities with better police forces. It's even happened a few times that the people in the town see the squad as some sort of supernatural assistance. That's generally what we go for."

"What, do they like, pray to us?" I ask, incredulously.

"We don't generally ask them that. Usually, we just give them our phone numbers and tell them to call if they see any unnatural threats."

"So what sort of people are more likely to do which thing?"

"The big cities and older people are more likely to shun us. The younger crowd trust us more and some of the small towns will believe anything they think will keep them safe, which is definitely not a bad thing."

I sit and think for a few minutes. It's odd to think about. There's a non-zero chance that an entire town of people will worship me as a god. That's really strange... Of all the people to be worshipped, it's possible to be me. This town would fit the bill, too. It's a tiny town in the middle of Kansas and though I don't always pay all the attention to how old people are, this town seems to be generally younger.