Devil's Soul

Chapter 35 (just your run of the mill pit stop)

I was sitting in the car, parked outside of a McDonald's, with no plan. I had taken the exit, thinking that the next thing I needed to do would become clear to me once I reached some sort of civilization. The problem was not so much in my ability to form plans, but in my willingness to form malicious plans to steal from people's souls. I guess I'd been hoping that someone would just happen to commit a sin next to me, and I wouldn't have to get my hands dirty.

Unfortunately, people weren't just milling around making mischief, like they might be in a city. This desolate town almost seemed abandoned, save a little girl making a beeline for the McDonald's, with her mom chasing after her, panicked that her child might be hit by one of the nonexistent moving cars in the parking lot. I sighed. I couldn't imagine taking soul fragments from either of them.

I wondered if I could put off my need for souls by eating something. I hadn't eaten in a long time, so a good portion of the inattention I was feeling could have easily been attributed to low blood pressure. I checked my pockets, hoping I had at least a little loose change floating around. I shifted my weight to check my left back pocket, losing hope because both of my front pockets had been empty. My hand came in contact with something hard and plastic-y. I froze. It felt like a credit card, but I never kept my credit card in my pocket. I slipped it out and examined it. As I suspected, the name on it was "Satan."

I contemplated whether or not I should use a sketchy credit card, given to me by the Devil. There was bound to be some sort of catch that came with using it.

I was starting to wish that I did carry around my credit card in my pocket, instead of in a wallet in my backpack. Then I realized something. I was wearing my backpack. I'd been wearing it when the Devil had brought me here. It didn't have much in it beyond writing utensils because we weren't allowed to bring notes or textbooks into the testing room, so it was pretty easy to forget about. I'm sure you still think I'm an idiot for not realizing it was there sooner, but you can try driving a car for the first time in an unfamiliar land, after having your soul sucked out of you, and then you can tell me if I was being an idiot or not.

Anyway, once I remembered my backpack, I took it off and located my wallet. I'd never been so happy to see a credit card with my name on it in my life! I snapped the Devil's card in half, got out of the car, and deposited it in a trashcan on my way inside the McDonald's. As I tossed it, it occurred to me that I could have used his card to buy a plane ticket home or at least to cover the gas money that was likely to rack up quite a bill. But the deed was done, and the temptation was gone. It was for the best.

After I made my order, I moved to stand by the mother and daughter I'd seen earlier, as well as a middle aged man and two teenage girls. The girls were engaged in rapid gossip, and the mother was preoccupied with trying to make her daughter stand still. That left me and the man as the sole loners. Apparently the man thought this was a problem he needed to fix, so he turned to look at me.

"They were having problems with the stove, so that's why everything's backed up, but they fixed it just before you got here. We shouldn't be waiting too much longer," he said.

"Oh, ok," I said with a friendly smile. "I'm from the city, so this isn't exactly what I would call 'backed up.' I'm used to having a lot more people in front of me in line." Why was I explaining this to him? I wasn't usually the type to get chatty with strangers.

The man raised his eyebrows and scratched his chin through his freshly emerging beard. "Oh yeah? What city?"

"Boston."

He whistled from high to low. "You're pretty far away from home! I've never been out that far east, myself."

I tried to imagine spending my whole life in the middle of nowhere, without ever visiting a place like Boston. I think I shuddered a little. And then I was washed with a strange sense of relief. Did he just lie to me? I could have sworn that I just absorbed a piece of his soul. I wished I could switch on my demon eyes to check. I felt the compulsive need to ask him more questions. "Are you from here?" I asked.