Riley's Box

Part 36

Ira inhaled and then went about answering my father's question. 

I had to admit, it was a good question, too. I suppose in all the time that I had spent with the Sins, I had never really considered the other elements to their existences. I knew that they were beings from Hell- that fact alone was enough to deter me from finding out anything else about them. 

"Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the whole box thing..." I muttered under my breath. 

"You think?" Ira asked me. "This is your own doing," he added, looking pointedly at me. 

Regardless, he soon managed to answer the original question. 

"If we're going to go over the whole logistics of the situation, which I expect you wish for me to go over, I am literally centuries old. Physically? I'm frozen at eighteen," he said. "I was born in Hell, but beings of Hell never die." 

"Is this some sort of game?" my father asked. 

I thought about grandma for a moment. She would have believed me. She would have because she knew all about the Sins, too. 

I wished that I could speak to her in that moment, but that was simply going to have to wait. 

I had a lot of explaining to do and something told me that my father wasn't going to let me leave the car until I had finished explaining things. 

"No. He really is from Hell. You know how I mentioned that it was Ira plus six more? They're the-" 

My father's voice cut me off. 

"Seven Deadly Sins. My mother told me about them, when I was just a kid. I thought that was a simple myth though. Ancient history, not to be taken seriously." 

"I'm Wrath, otherwise known as Ira," Ira said then, extending his hand, "Pleased to make your acquaintance." 

"He doesn't seem so bad..." my father eyed Ira sceptically. 

"What? You think just because I'm a being from Hell that I am 'bad'. I'm offended," Ira grumbled, returning his hand to his side. 

Dad then sighed. Understandably enough, this was a lot for him to take in. 

"We can't enter the hospital with him here," he said.

"We need to," I said. "He's my responsibility. Besides...the only people that can see him are those that have touched the box." 

My father glanced towards me with a thoughtful expression for a few seconds. 

"And you're sure about this?" he asked me. 

"I wouldn't have taken them to school with me, if I wasn't," I said. 

At my response, my father exhaled. I considered whether or not he was actually going to believe me for a couple of minutes. 

Eventually, he nodded. 

"Alright," he said, cutting off the engine and getting out of the car. 

Ira and I followed. 

"Don't do anything weird," he said to the both of us- mostly to Ira. 

"I won't," Ira promised. His fist clenched up by his side. He was really trying not to be angry. I had to be proud of him for that. 

We walked towards the hospital entrance and over to reception. 

My father explained to the receptionist that we were there to see my grandmother. 

After a couple of seconds of typing away and clicking, she nodded. 

"Alright. Her room is down the hall, turn left, turn right," she said, "Then it's on your right." 

"Should we pass go? Should we collect two-hundred dollars?" I asked. 

My father had a serious expression on his face. Understandable. 

However, the receptionist's lips twitched in the ghost of a smile. 

"Thank you," my father murmured to her, before he led the two of us down the hall towards my grandmother's room. 

"I hate hospitals," I heard Ira mutter under his breath. "Too bright. Too uncomfortable. I am a being of Hell, not of...the other place." 

"Is Heaven really that bad?" I whispered to him, as I went to walk beside him. 

Fortunately, there was nobody around who could give me a weird look, as I talked to what appeared to be empty air. 

"No. It's just...not home. Heaven is run very differently, as you might expect. They don't have crises like us and if they want to teleport to Earth, they can simply beam down. They don't have to teleport through boxes."

I gave an understanding nod of my head at that. I could understand his frustration. 

Eventually, my father and I turned right again and managed to find my grandmother's room. 

We walked on in to find that she was awake, eating some toast in her bed. 

I was glad to see that she was able to eat. I had been so worried! 

I rushed to her side and my grandmother smiled at me, then turned her gaze to Ira beside me. 

"Wait," my father said, "Can you see them, too? So, Riley and I aren't suffering from hallucinations?" he asked. 

I turned to my father with an accusatory expression. 

"You should not have such little faith in me, dad," I said. "I barely ever lie." 

If I was going to lie, it most certainly wouldn't have been as elaborate as this. 

"Hello, Ira. It's been a long time," my grandmother, Rachel, spoke with a small smile, then. Her eyes held some thoughtfulness in them, as though she was thinking back on the last time that they had seen each other. 

"So you can see them?" my father asked. 

"Yes, Steven. For goodness' sake, pay your daughter some respect. She wouldn't lie about something like this," she said. 

I really did love my grandmother all of the time, but especially when she defended me.

"Grandma- what's going on? Are you sick? Do you need some more toast? A bath? A game of Monopoly?" I asked. 

All I knew in that moment was that I wanted to make her feel better.

"I don't think that will be necessary. As I said, I'm fine," she said. 

"She had a fall. Her blood-pressure is incredibly low," my father said. 

I swallowed down a lump that had formed in my throat.