#WitchcraftWednesday | ✔

Chapter 5: Saint John's

In hindsight, maybe Nathan should've taken his chances with public transport and the Bookers. It may have been safer and better for his mental health than getting into a car with Jamie Carrera.

He half-expected Jamie to own a ridiculously expensive car. Perhaps an Aston Martin. Instead, she drives a regular old Toyota Corolla. Which she treats as if it is an Aston Martin, specifically one used in a Bond movie's wild chase scene. If Nathan didn't know any better, he'd think she's fleeing from a minimum of five secret agents hot on her tail.

"Are you in a hurry to get to Saint John's?" he asks, face pale, fingers digging into his legs. He's holding on for dear life. "Or do you always drive like this?"

"What do you mean, 'like this'?" Jamie exceeds the speed limit by another five miles and overtakes the umpteenth car without using her blinker. "I'm just driving."

"I'm not sure this is driving. It's more like a game called 'how close can I get to dying in a car accident without actually dying?'"

Jamie turns the radio's volume louder. "I'm sorry, I can't hear your overreaction over the sound of this absolute banger of a song."

"Just please stop tailgating the car in front of us. I'm literally begging you."

Much to his relief, Jamie Bond does him this favour, so Nathan can briefly stop watching his life flash before his eyes. Utterly reckless drivers who think they're the only person on the whole road are the bane of his existence. Jamie's a nightmare behind the wheel. When she stops to get a drink at Starbucks (We had coffee fifteen minutes ago, Jamie, I'm politely declining), Nathan appreciates the welcome break from being on the verge of a heart attack.

When Jamie returns with her drink, he almost wants to run and escape this death trap of a vehicle while he still can, but they're still too far away from Saint John's for him to be able to justify walking the rest of the way. Nathan resigns himself to his fate and hopes the rest of this crazy ride won't end up becoming his last moments on Earth.

He raises his eyebrows when he sees the drink Jamie ordered. "Quad Shot Americano? Are you fucking kidding me?"

They really are going to die.

"Caffeine's good," Jamie comments, and before Nathan can blink, she's behind the wheel and driving again. The radio continues its blaring when she starts the Toyota, but there's no song playing this time. Nathan rarely listens to talk radio, but the subject the host is discussing catches his attention.

"Kill me," he mutters, not sure if he's speaking to Jamie or himself. "They're talking about the damn video."

Jamie, driving with one hand and holding her coffee in the other—Nathan tries not to think about the safety implications of that too much—grins. "Cool, right? Making the radio is a new milestone. Witchcraft Wednesday's a popular channel, but it never got this much attention before. The social media fame is really spilling over into the mainstream media now."

"...I don't know how to feel about that."

"You don't need to worry about it. The Internet's attention is one thing, but as for the mainstream media, I created the video on your book and I'm already a celebrity. So they'll be going after me for comments on everything, and for now, I think they care less about curtain memes and more about ascertaining whether the video's a hoax or not." Jamie snickers. "Funny as the memes may be."

They'll have to agree to disagree in that last regard, but Jamie makes a fair point. Talk show hosts, journalists blinded by sensationalism, Internet stars all needing to say their own piece about Jamie's footage... They know Jamie Carrera, not Nathan Devereaux. As long as that doesn't change, he'll be of secondary importance. Jamie's a popular, eccentric YouTuber with a famous occult-themed channel and a revolutionary video, all trendy and shiny with the blue hair and the pretty face and the blinding smile that looks genuine but may actually be a bit rehearsed.