Lone Survivors

VI (Everyone's Got A Secret)

I drained my phone and laptop's battery before we even reached the venue in San Jose. Amias gave me his portable charger so I could at least have my phone back. Spencer's eyes had gone back to their normal eye color after his set. I asked his friends if he had had any kind of contacts in, when they shook their heads, my research went into overdrive. I was now convinced Spencer was either a demon, an Incubus demon, or a vampire. The more my mind dwelled on it the crazier I felt.

As an avid reader I held a secret hope the Clandestine world existed. A world of vampires and werewolves, angels and demons, they always captivated me. At the same time, if it was real, if he did make a bargain to damn his soul, why did he do it? Was it really worth the cost of what made my best friend the man I knew and loved?

"Kait, are you alright?"

I gave a little scream, jumping right out of my chair at the venue meeting the apologetic eyes of one Ricky Olson and Vinny Mauro. I quickly looked over my shoulder meeting the concerned eyes of my friends. My research had led me to have nightmares on top of the ones I already had. I made a special trip to the gas station buying a bottle of Code Red Mountain Dew to keep me functioning.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry I didn't get much sleep last night." I smiled apologetically attempting to calm my racing heart.

"We came by to see if you wanted to join us for lunch today." Vinny smiled. I had done a little bit of research on Motionless in White while on the road. Vinny Mauro had replaced Angelo Parente and Brandon Richter as their drummer. Band members had rotated out from what I could tell Chris and Ricky seemed to be the only original members left. I could be mistaken.

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm going to have to decline. I'm going to be eating with my crew today." I answered.

"No prob, Chris may text you later. See you around, Porter." Ricky waved heading back towards the buses.

"I seriously need to bottle your luck." Nadine mused from behind me. "Girl what is your secret?"

"I don't have one." I admitted. "Is Amias done grilling?'

"Almost, he says you can't rush perfection." She rolled her eyes. "Tell that to my stomach." I chuckled, my eyes falling on Kambria sitting in the corner reading a book while Milo and Toshi were playing games on their phones. I made my way over to Kambria she had seen snippets of me researching. Her eyes held silent questions. I didn't want to give everything away, but there was no harm in answering them.

"I got you something." Kambria said, looking up at me over her book. She pushed a small box in my direction. I raised an eyebrow, I'd seen her disappear for a few hours this morning, what had she been up to? I opened it slowly seeing a black beaded rosary alongside an index card with the Lord's Prayer in Latin.

"This is beautiful, Bria! I can't accept this, it's too much!" I exclaimed. She set her book down putting up her hands.

"You can accept it, without you Paul would still be around, and I would be fearing for my life." She said. "Besides, something tells me you will take great comfort in having it close to you."

"Thank you." I gave her a small hug. "I have a question for you, did your abuelita believe in demons or the supernatural?"

Kambria went quiet for a moment, her hand went into her pocket with the rosary. I sat down next to her holding the box containing mine in my hands. She took a deep breath tucking her dark hair behind her ear.

"She was heavily religious and extremely superstitious. She believed my parents had been killed by el diablo. When she took me in, she had a priest come to the house and bless me. She said I'd been marked by Satan himself. She had said..."