Taken by the fog

Busted

"Come on." Ayden guided me to the door and we walked towards the house.
"That was something else." I sighed.
"Yeah, I know. Tonight was weird, something felt off." Ayden confirmed. "Let's just get you home and we'll talk tomorrow. We're all meeting up at Jacksons in the evening. Sam knows the details."

"Are you ready?" Sam yelled from downstairs.
"For what?" I sat down on the top of the stairs. Not knowing we were supposed to be going somewhere, I was walking around in yoga pants and an oversized sweater. I stole the sweater from Lilith, no clue how she got it.
"We are going to Jackson's. Didn't I tell you?"
"No, you didn't." I quickly changed into some jeans, a crop top and a leather jacket. "Let's go."

We arrived at Jackson's house around 10 minutes later. He lived near the center of town, it kind of suits him.
"Welcome, please come in." He stepped away from the door. "Drew, come over here!"
"Drew? Who's Drew?" I asked Sam.
"You'll see in a minute."
"Roomie!" Jackson yelled once more, growing impatient. "Just go sit in the living room while I find Drew." Once we entered the living room, we noticed someone asleep on the couch.
"Jackson, he's in here!" Sam called for Jackson.
"Why didn't I think of that?" Jackson muttered to himself as he entered the living room. He walked over to Drew and stood behind the couch with an evil smirk on his face.
"Roomie!" He screamed in Drew's ear. Drew jumped awake and fell off the couch.
"You do know that there is this phenomenon called being subtle, right?" He grunted as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
"We have company." Jackson shrugged while flinging a pillow to Drew's head. Drew shot up from the floor and looked and Sam and me.
"Sam, long time no see!" Drew cheered. Sam and Drew did some sort of bro hug thing, I don't know.
"You saw me this morning." Sam replied dryly.
"It feels longer." Drew looked behind Sam and noticed me standing there. "Hi, I'm Drew."
"Jennifer, please call me Jen."
"Noted, welcome to our humble abode." He waved his arms around him.
"Thank you." I laughed.
"So, enough chitchatting. I'm making cocktails, what do you want?" Jackson announced.
"Do you make porn star martini?"
"Uhm, obviously. That's my specialty." Jackson scoffed as he walked to the kitchen.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"He takes bartending very seriously. Don't doubt him and don't take it personally." Drew told me.
"Noted."

Jackson came back with the cocktails and handed me mine.
"Tell me what you think." He asked as soon as I took a sip.
"It's great!" I replied while taking another.
"Good! Now, let's get to business."
"Where is Lilith?" I asked.
"Ayden went to pick her up. He's her cover from Orson." Vaughn explained.
"Orson doesn't let you and Lilith out at the same time?" Drew joined the chat.
"He's getting more and more anxious. The big boss in the real world is getting more upset by the day. He has a high function in this world and is afraid he's losing his status in the real world." Vaughn explained.
"Do you know who currently has a high status in the town?" Sam turned to me.
"Well, the mayor, the coach, the lady from the bakery, Yasmine and her family and Chasity. For all I know at least."
"Don't know any of them." Lilith replied as she entered the room. "I'll have what she's having."
"Good to see you again." We hugged and walked over to the window.

"Tell me, how has it been so far?" She asked me.
"Honestly, kind of tough. Everything is so weird and there is something going on but no one knows what and neither do I."
"True, no one knows anything about the fog. We don't know how the colors are chosen or what the meaning of the fog is. Vaughn, Orson and I were born in the fog. They both go to experience the real world, through the crossovers but they got to go there." Lilith told me.
"No way, that's crazy. Do you know anything about the leader of the fog in the real world?"
"Nothing more than you do."
"The guessing game continues. How is everything with you and Elian?"
"Good, but I don't know if I'll continue the relationship. Everyone is so invested in the relationship, it gets a little bit overwhelming."
"Yeah, I know what that's like. Had the same in the real world with me and my boyfriend."
"When you guys are done chatting, we have things to talk about." Drew came to get us.

"So, Ayden filled us in on most of the trip but we want to hear your side as well." Vaughn started off. I quickly told them all about the crossover and what I had experienced.
"Do you know where the border is?" Drew asked.
"Yes, I do. It's 355 steps north, 1124 steps to the west and another 355 steps to the north. From there you get split up and everyone crosses somewhere else." I explained.
"So, we can find the line?" Jackson thought aloud.
"Wait I took a map of the city. Do we have a map of the fog town?" Vaughn walked off and came back a couple of minutes later with the map I asked for.
"What are you looking for?" Lilith asked.
"Matching points between the maps, similarities. Maybe there is a connection between the location of the crossing and where you come into the real world. Maybe then we can figure out where the fog world is located." I quickly grabbed both maps and started to look for similarities.

Everyone went quiet as we all stared at the map.
"Look at this." Lilith pointed to a remote building on the side of the town.
"It looks like the shed I went to in the real world." I muttered aloud. I grabbed the map and placed the maps on top of each other.
"We need something to light underneath, that way we can match them perfectly." Drew helped out. He walked off and brought back a huge lamp. "Can someone plug it in?" Ayden plugged the lamp in and the bright shine immediately blinded everyone.
"Does it work?" Sam asked.
"Yes, it's perfect." I answered shortly. We placed the maps on top of each other and matched the buildings. Everything else matched perfectly as well. Except for one thing, the town hall.
"Does it mean anything?" Ayden wondered.
"Could be, but not a lot." I answered. "Almost everyone I just said, works at the town hall. Only Yasmine and Chasity are out of the picture, but her father just started working at the town hall."
"Do you think we could find answers in the book?" Vaughn asked Lilith and the boys.
"I guess we can try." Lilith agreed. The rest agreed as well after a minute of thinking.
"Can someone tell me what type of book?" I finally asked.
"Vaughn will tell you, I'm going to make refills." Jackson walked off. We talked for a minute, Vaughn wanting to wait for Jackson.
"Jackson forgot a glass, I'll be right back." I got up and walked to the kitchen. Jackson stood near the window with his back towards me.
"Don't wait for too long, I don't know how long they will be here for. Yes, I'll try to stall them long enough." I tiptoed towards the counter, a bottle of sleeping pills stood between the alcohol bottles.
"What are you doing?" Jackson dropped the glass in the sink and spun around.
"Dammit."

***