Riley's Box

Part 40

We then wandered up the stairs and into my bedroom. I locked the door behind us and Jason's eyebrow shot up. 

"This is beginning to weird me out..." he trailed off. 

Oh, so now it was beginning to weird him out? Good old Jason. 

"Please don't freak out," I told him. 

He could panic later, but right now was simply not the time. 

Jason didn't panic, though, thankfully. Instead, he grinned. The sunlight, that filtered in through my window, captured the subtle amusement in his eyes. 

"No promises," he said. 

I then wandered over to the closet and opened it. Managing to pick up the box, I carried it into my room and set it down on the floor. 

"You're going to need to touch the box. It's the only way that you'll be able to see them," I told him. 

His eyes questioned the logic of that, but nothing about this was logical. It was on the opposite end of the spectrum, and I could imagine for Jason, someone who usually explained everything with science, he was rather troubled by this notion. 

Regardless, he crouched down and pressed a hand onto the lid of the box. He then moved it side to side, as though he was stroking a pet. 

I couldn't keep the smile from emerging onto my face. 

His eyes flitted back up to mine and he tilted his head to the side slightly. 

"Okay, I'm done," he said and stood back up. "I know this is crazy, but something here tells me that you're telling the truth." 

"How kind of you to believe me," I said. My mouth twitched. 

"Well, you know me. I'm very good at spotting a liar," Jason said. 

He was right about that much. 

"I just can't help but wonder what all of this means...How come you got the box?" he asked me. 

"My grandmother used to be the keeper of the Sins. Now, that responsibility has been passed onto me," I explained. 

He didn't seem to question that. 

What he did seem to question, however, was when the box lid opened and a bright golden light emerged from it again, followed by the presence of Avidicci and Adina. 

"What the- wait. What- I need a paper bag," he said. 

"Jason. Calm down. These are my friends. Queen of Lust- Adina. King of Greed- Avidicci." 

He turned to me and his eyes flashed with a silent apology. 

"I'm sorry I doubted you," he said. "Please, don't let them kill me." 

Adina raised an eyebrow at him, looking rather unamused by that utterance. 

Avidicci smiled. 

"Why would we do that, young boy?" he asked. "Murder is such a senseless way to go..." 

Jason's eyes widened, as he looked quickly between the two of them. 

"So, you're not here after my blood or complete damnation?" Jason asked. 

"No," Adina said. She looked tempted to chortle at the suggestion. 

"We're here to save the planet from the shadow spirits," he explained. 

"Just like what I said outside," I said. "I know it's hard to believe but-" 

"I knew something weird was going on. April mentioned that she had seen a shadow spirit the other day and...I don't know," Jason said. "This is weird, I'll admit it, but not completely insane." 

I shook my head gently, as I couldn't help but smile at him. 

Honestly, I was so glad that I had him as a best friend. 

There was then a cough from the box and Ira was the next one to come out of the box. 

"It is far too cramped in there! We need a bigger box," he said, dusting down his clothes. 

I sighed. It was good to see that some things stayed relatively the same, even while the whole word changed around me. 

Jason glanced at Ira and then looked back to me. 

Right, right. It appeared that I needed to provide him with another introduction. 

"This is Ira," I said. 

"King of Wrath- and you are?" 

"Jason Zircon- King of Friendship," Jason said. 

I eyed him with some curiosity. 

"What? It has a nice ring to it," he said. 

Jason then glanced around at the three Sins that stood in my bedroom. His expression became one of consideration. At last, he spoke again. 

"I'm going to help you get the last few shadow spirits," he said. "Then you can go home, right?" he inferred. 

"Then they can go home," I confirmed. 

The Sins nodded in agreement, as small smiles formed on their faces. 

"I don't...hate this one," Ira said with a kind smile, as his eyes glanced over Jason. 

"Indeed. Why aren't the two of you dating?" Adina asked. 

If I could have, I really would have elbowed her, in that moment. 

"What?" Jason asked. 

I turned to Jason and whispered to him. "She's always trying to get me to date someone." 

"I think you would be good for each other," Adina said. "But...what would I know? I'm not the Queen of Love, for good reason." 

Jason turned to me with some sympathy in his gaze. 

I was glad that someone could see what I had to deal with! 

The Sins were my friends, in some way or another, but they could certainly be a handful. 

"It's getting a little late," I said, as my eyes glanced towards the sky that was starting to turn pink. 

"We need to talk about this more tomorrow," Jason told me. "About all of this." 

I knew that we had much more to discuss, including about my grandmother. I really hoped that she would make a speedy recovery. 

When I walked downstairs to say goodbye to Jason, he turned to me again, before he could leave. 

"Something else is bothering you, isn't it? Is it about what Adina said?" he asked me. 

I wasn't about to answer that question. 

"Jason, we'll talk tomorrow. Thank you for being here," I said. 

"Of course, I'm here for you, Riles," he said. 

"As you should be," I replied. The corner of my mouth twitched slightly. "See you tomorrow." 

"See you tomorrow," he said and then made his way back to his car. 

I watched as he sat down in the driver's seat, closed the door behind him, and disappeared down the road.