A Game Of Pawns

Chapter 21

The sun woke me, I blinked against its brightness, turning my head to try to find some shade. Gray lumps on the ground slowly came into focus and the fact that I had spent the night in a graveyard jolted back into my memory as the headstones became clear. I was lying on the metal bench where Saris healed Demi last night. I sat up and stretched my sore back. I would have to get used to sleeping on uncomfortable things. As usual, I was the last one up. Zack and Demi were walking around the edges of the graveyard and Saris was pacing between headstones. Every so often, he'd stop and look off into the distance, scanning past the boundaries of the graveyard. It looked like something was bothering him and he seemed on edge; more so than normal. I approached him.

"Morning!" I greeted, then remembering the plan from yesterday, asked, "weren't we supposed to leave at night?"

"No need," Saris said while looking past me. I turned to see what he was looking at but saw nothing other than buildings, streets and a couple of shades wandering around.

"Why's that?"

"The chills are gone."

Realization dawned on me. He was right, I didn't feel the familiar goosebumps anymore. The lack of that constant chill, combined with the morning sun made me feel almost cozy. I can't believe I hadn't noticed it earlier. "That's great!" While the chills were present I had been nervous, paranoid and a bit on edge wherever we went. Now that our team wasn't creating it, I felt more relaxed. It meant that no one hostile was around us. It meant we were safe. But still, "something's bothering you, isn't it?"

That seemed to break him out of his trance. "Just a feeling," he said. "Probably nothing to worry about. The others are checking around to make sure no one's waiting for us to leave." He was hiding something from me but I didn't pursue it. Saris seemed to like to work with facts, he probably didn't want me to worry over suspicions. "We're out of food," he stated simply.

"Oh. Bummer," I said, suddenly realizing how hungry I was. "I think there's a gas station close by. We can get food there."

"Sure, that'll work." It still seemed like he was lost in thought but something caught his eye and I followed it to find Demi and Zack walking towards us.

"Morning, Xander," Demi said.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty!" Zack shouted, then turned to Saris, "Well, we've been all around the graveyard," Zack reported, twirling a finger. "We didn't feel anyone or see anything other than a few shades walking around. We should be good to move out and find some grub."

"Good," Saris said. "Xander says there's a gas station nearby. We can head that way."

"Alright. Let's get moving. I'm starving," Zack said, patting his stomach. We filed out of the graveyard, leaving its creepiness and safety behind.

I was glad we went. At first, I had been skeptical about coming to the cemetery. Just because I was told that it was a safe place, didn't mean I was ready to believe it. But my doubts were gone and we were fresh and ready for the danger of the game; not that I was eager to get back to it.

Clouds had come during the night and kept moving in until the sun was fully covered. It looked like it might rain. As gloomy as the day was, I was in good spirits. I felt calm and it looked like Demi and Zack felt the same. The chills were gone, which meant that we were safe. Thanks to Saris, we had been able to heal our injuries and we were moving in the direction of food. This seemed like it would be the least stressful day I've had since Saris and I left the training house. Saris seemed to be the only one on edge. He was constantly checking behind us and around every cross street. This street was a one-way road and only had the one lane, so it was pretty tight. He seemed to be completely uncomfortable. Then we all stopped and found out why.