Cults & Vengeance

04.

04. To Make the Burn Go

Reese

MY MOM WAS IN HER ROOM BY THE TIME I CAME BACK SO I took a T.V. meal out to eat for dinner. I chose the mac and cheese one and popped it into the oven and waited for it to be done as I took my twelfth bottle of water for the day.

No matter how much I drank the burn at the back of my throat wouldn't go away. Now here I was laying on the couch waiting for my food to be done. I half considered walking to Lawson's.

Lawson's house is a lot more inviting, and I probably could have got some good dinner. But I already started my T.V. meal so there is no going back now.

I scrolled through my social media while waiting and turned on the T.V. to let the sound, fill the apartment. After an hour, my mac and cheese finished and cooled off. I went to my room and locked the door before settling down.

Once settled I began to eat my dinner before throwing it away in the trashcan located in my room. The burn at the back of my throat remained even after two glasses of water.

It was starting to become more prominent. "This is frustrating." I muttered as I plopped down into my bed before dragging the covers up. "The morning should be better." I whispered before letting sleep take me once more.

❧

That was a lie. Sleeping it off is a lie for this. When I woke up my throat was burning even more, and the water barely even quenched it. I lazily threw on some clothes before heading downstairs and toasting a bagel and getting ready.

My mom was still passed out upstairs, so I wrote her a small note before grabbing the toothbrush that is used once wet and then my bagel and running outside. Not long after I finished my bagel and used the toothbrush and tossed it in a neighbor's trashcan Lawson's car pulled up.

I walked up and got in the front seat. Lawson was in a one of his buttons up shirts and a pair of blue pants with sunglasses on. "You look fancy today." I noted.

He turned over and took his sunglasses off. "You look shit." I told him and Lawson laughed.

"Way to break it in, I feel like shit. Maybe the clothes will deter people away. I didn't sleep at all last night, my throat feels like I ate lava." Lawson responded as he placed the sunglasses over his eyes again. "You don't look that good either." Lawson commented.

"The lava part I connect with. I did sleep though." I told him and Lawson smiled.

He began driving to Emerson's after that. "Being sacrificed in the woods definitely isn't good for one's health and there isn't exactly a guide on the effects of surviving it. Who knows maybe lava scorched throat is normal for it?" Lawson muttered.

There is no way to find out either. Lawson took a deep breath as he pulled up to Emerson's house where Emerson stood outside with a cup of coffee in his hand. Once we pulled up, he got in and shut the door.

"Hey." Emerson waved at us as he took a sip of his coffee.

I turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "Your cheery. . . and very alive." I noted. His skin almost seemed to be glowing and all of the color had returned to his skin unlike Lawson and I who still had a deathly look to us. We were both pale right now.

"I feel cheery, I feel really good actually." Emerson smiled.

"Must be nice, I feel like shit." Lawson said turning around as he removed his sunglasses. Emerson's eyes widened before Lawson put his sunglasses on.

"I mean the clothes look nice." Emerson murmured and Lawson shook his head.

"My throat feels like lava is pouring down it." Lawson murmured as he started the car. Emerson nodded.