The Cult of Glow Snek

Chapter 7

"I—I—I've never seen him disappear like that," Rumon said.

"Just like the waitress," Alex whispered.

We stood in silence for a moment, unsure of what to do.

After a few seconds, Harold was there again, but he kept vanishing and reappearing in different spots in the blink of an eye. He even hovered twenty feet in the air a couple of times before I lost track of him. It's a good thing no one else was around to see.

A sudden crashing sound along with a scream drew us to the right. Near a distant prefab, there were two knocked over trash bins, and I could see the orange of Harold's jacket. It wasn't far, just five buildings over, but I was already out of breath by the time we reached him. The cold air ironically made my lungs feel like they were on fire. I bent down a bit and rested my arms against my knees as I tried to catch my breath.

"I gotta say, this candescent little buckaroo is wild." Harold stood up from the pile of white, plastic trash bags and threw his now broken sunglasses in with them.

"You can teleport!" Rumon said.

"Never when I want to." Harold pulled out a black electronic cigarette from his back pocket and brought it to his lips. "This is only the third time it happened, and I would very much like to avoid it happening again."

"Have you met anyone else who can do this?" I asked.

"Negative. I just know that those who come in direct contact with the glow buds get apprehended and sent beyond the inner wall, so perhaps you should direct your inquiry there. As for me, I have no intention of getting dragged away by those narcs in black armor for whatever secret project they're doing, so leave my name unspoken." Harold repeatedly pressed a button on the e-cig with no results. He sighed and threw the broken device down in the trash pile. "That goddamned buckaroo."

"'Secret project?'" Alex asked.

"Just a rumor I heard from an old friend who worked in the Inner Circle. They didn't tell me much, but they said those narcs were after people who were joined with the sky babies, and that they needed them to help with that project. Incidentally, my friend disappeared a few years ago. I miss them." Harold said. "Well . . . this concludes my presentation." He walked back towards the bar, and Rumon followed after him.

Alex and I didn't.

"Shit, that was cool," I said.

"Yeah, that's one way to describe that," she said.

We stood together for a moment, and I tried to process what we just saw.

"Thanks for hangin' out with me. I was having a . . . not great night, and I needed to be with someone," I said.

"Oh, well I'm glad I could help." She smiled. "Was Jules not around?"

"Honestly . . . I didn't even check. I wanted to be out with you specifically."

"Oh . . . I guess I should tell you." Her smile faded into an expression I couldn't quite read. "I joined this trip as a wild reaction to a bad breakup. I'm . . . a mess. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't. I think it would be very unfair to you if we were—"

"I—I don't mind unfair." I blurted out as if by instinct. "I mean . . . the whole world's unfair anyway, right?"

"That's certainly an argument." She laughed. "I have to get some sleep. I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, goodnight." I waved as she walked away.

I couldn't tell if I was just rejected or not—if she found me funny, or if I was the joke in my desperation. The uncertainty made my insides squirm.