What Lies In Me

Chapter 12

Sadie quickly flips through the pages of the book we found, scanning for any useful information. Her eyes dart back and forth as she quickly scans through the pages for mention of anything we've encountered. I'm sitting across from her in a fast-food restaurant booth, eating a mediocre roast beef sandwich. It tastes amazing. I guess anything tastes pretty good when you are as hungry as I am right now. My body aches from being thrown around earlier, but luckily my head is still clear of pain, and I am able to enjoy my food. Tony wanted to sit alone with Jackson for some reason, so he and Jackson are eating in a booth behind me.

"So, anything useful?" I ask between mouthfuls.

"Not much so far," she replies, without looking up. "I'm looking through to see if I can find anything else, but right now it's just that picture, the fifty names, and a bit of text classifying them as demons instead of gods. Well, that's all of the useful information anyways. The book has a lot of drivel about the priests of their demonic religion. For now, you should probably just eat, and let me handle this. I don't know how much blood you've lost over the past twenty-four hours, but it was probably more than normal."

I nod and resume eating. "It's a start. Thanks for helping out."

"No problem. I'm as interested in figuring this out as you are."

We resume our comfortable silence. Jackson and Tony are discussing something at their booth, but I can't quite make out what it is. Looking up at Sadie, I can see she's very absorbed in what she's doing, so I finish the rest of my sandwich, pick up my large container of fries, and slip into the booth my friends are occupying. As I sit down, I feel a momentary flare of pain in my back, but it subsides.

"So, what's going on, guys?" I ask. "Plotting something?"

"Yeah, actually." Tony replies. "We aren't really that useful when it comes to the whole demon-fighting thing, so I came up with something helpful that Jackson and I can do."

"Oh, really? What is it?" I ask, intrigued.

"It's a secret." Tony grins. "You'll find out about it if it works. I've been messaging a friend from school about it, and we'll need to go visit him. I also have some things at my dorm I need to pick up, so it'll be a profitable trip regardless. On the downside, if you and Sadie have any other plans, we'll need to split up for a bit."

"Oh."

I wasn't expecting a need to split up. I've gotten used to the four of us being together in the last twenty-four hours. Oh well.

"Jackson, I'm assuming you'd drive him there?"

"Yeah, that'd be me."

"You guys know that keeping secrets isn't really fair, right? That we aren't playing a game?"

"Yep," Jackson cheerfully answers. "But if you aren't having a little bit of fun with whatever it is you're doing, then what's the point in doing it?"

"Besides," Tony pitches in, "we know what the secret is, and trust me, it wouldn't help you to know about it sooner. And if it doesn't pan out, I don't want you disappointed."

"Mm, fine. I'll have to figure out what our plans are before you split off. After all, you've got the truck."

"Okay." Tony says. "No rush here, we aren't done eating yet." Jackson holds up his milkshake in agreement.

"Right." I look down at my fries and, to my horror, find that I only have one left. I've been absent-mindedly eating them this entire time, and I feel cheated of the time to savor the taste. I snatch up and eat the last one, only to note that I haven't actually been missing out on much.