Burning Sage

Chapter 6: .

As we made our way to the hospital, I fought the urge to question Luke. I held a cupped hand over my mouth, something I wish Maple would do more often. Hope sat in the back seat among the piles of empty cups, distancing herself like a sore thumb. "Do I have to go in? Ya know I hate hospitals."

"Well no shit." Luke sneered in a patronizing tone, "You're going in. Who doesn't want to see bitch of the hour?" Hope rolled her eyes and practically leapt out of the truck as soon as Luke had parked it. She snatched up the box of syringes as she went. I, on the other hand, was eager to see Blondy. She was the only thing that felt certain at that moment.

"I got to tell you something Sage." Luke said as we approached the entrance of the hospital. Hope sat down on a wooden bench just by the entrance, visibly annoyed by the cigarette smoke and ambulance sirens. Luke pulled me over to the other side of the entrance. "I've fucked up." He testified, "Like really bad." "Well no shit." I threw my hands up like a suppressed protester, "Where do we even begin."

"Look, we don't have time for this. You don't understand." Luke cleared his throat, "Everyone's going to die."

"When?"

"Soon enough." He shrugged, "Now I'm willing to make you an offer." Luke leaned over in my ear, making sure Hope couldn't hear, "Die peacefully and feel no more, or, risk it all for me and the cult."

"For the love of God, Luke...what cult?" I sighed, wanting to throw his words into a blender. He said nothing in response. The three of us made our way inside the rundown hospital, and I didn't want to argue with Luke's delusional ideas anymore. Like my mind, the hospital was small and unkempt.

After inquiring with the staff and discovering Maple's whereabouts, we stumbled into her room without warning. "Knock next time!" Maple snapped as we rushed in, interrupting her cheesy rom com playing on the small television. Her lip was swollen and bruised, as if she had been kissing bricks all day. Bruises littered her little body like a winding, one-way road. 

A girl was sitting by Maple's bedside, fairly immodest in a nurse gown. "I'm glad you're okay," were the first words that escaped my lips. Despite the self-loathing that consumed me, I still cared for Maple deeply. Blondy, however, looked flustered, her face turning red with anger. "This hospital is like literal hell Sage. Took them two hours to get me a warm blanket. It's not like I'm asking to meet Kanye West."

I sat by Maple and the girl, pulling one of the hospital chairs towards her bedside. The nurse had a nametag, "Ember, Student Aid." She had black hair, which fell down to her shoulders - Her brittle white glasses resembled the rest of her.

"Well, I hope you all came prepared." Luke cleared his throat and stood stiff before us all. "Huh?" The nurse unnerved, looking up from Blondy into Luke's incurious eyes. Luke went around the room, handing everyone except the nurse a syringe. "What the hell." Ember chanted, swiping the syringe from me, "Is this some type of drug?"

Luke held Hope against the white wall, fretting and telling her it'd be ok. She took the shot and teared up like a little kid. She slid down the wall and sobbed, "Ugh why does it sting?"

"What the hell is in this? SIR," Ember screeched, her commending voice piercing through the thick hospital door. "You're lucky I have an extra," Luke grumbled and tossed me the last syringe. He then went over to Maple and held her down just as he had done with Hope. "I can do it myself," I told him, jabbing the syringe into my right arm. It stung and bit at my nerves, but only cowards cry over shots...well, cowards and four-year-olds.

"Any minute now, everyone who has ever lived will be reborn," Luke declared, his voice filled with a sense of grandeur. "They'll work for me and the rest of my cult in a world never seen before."