A Summertime Journey

The stone is my talisman, gifted to me by Emma, although I didn’t know it. There’s nothing special about it; it’s the power that Emma has given the stone. She charmed it, and it will prove to be very important later in our journey.
Holding the rock, my mind goes back to the terrible situation we’re in, and for a brief second, I think about running, running away as fast as I can, but to where? There’s nothing around for as far as the eye can see. Again, I look at Charlie for a reaction. Nothing. He is standing at the front of the car, a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth, smoke dancing with his every move. I glance at Jeremy and Joey. Side-by-side, sword-fighting with streams of yellow standing just off the side of the road. Can Charlie not hear my thoughts because of this rock? I think.
I decide I need to test my theory: I drop the rock and think, Joey is a traitor. Why is he listening to Charlie? Without turning around, Charlie explains: “Because he is my navigator, Lance.” Oh fuck, he did it again. I turn slightly so I don’t get any dark yellow pee on my rock and relieve myself. I zip up my pants and bend down and pick it up. And then I think, If I grab Jeremy and we start running as fast as we can, we can escape. Scared shitless, I quickly look at Charlie—nothing. It IS the rock. I grip it tighter in my hand, so tight my knuckles turn white.
Suddenly and with catlike finesse, Charlie leaps onto the hood of the Camaro, leaving two permanent dents where his feet land. “Boys, we’re almost there,” he says, and then tells us about the portal, our blood, and how Erebus will rule both worlds. His arms thrust toward the sky as if to pull the fallen angel from the heavens and bring it crashing down on us all. I look at Joey, Jeremy, and Jeremy looks terrified, my expression matching his. “We’re not getting out of this fucking place alive, are we,” Jeremy says to both of us, more a statement than a question. “We’re never going home, he’s going to fucking kill us, and you heard what he said—he needs our fucking blood for some kind of satanic ritual!” Jeremy finishes by kicking a dirt clod in front of his foot. He blurted it out so fast I did not have time to warn or stop him. “Get in, boys, it’s time to move. Jeremy quit being such a damn sissy your about to be part of something great,” Charlie says as he jumps down off the hood, just as gracefully as he mounted it. When his feet hit the ground, tiny red tornadoes dance around each foot and disappear into nothing. The car accelerates with the same sudden jerky force it stopped, and we’re on our way.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
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WE CONTINUE ALONG THE two-lane road out in the middle of the red desert for what seems like an eternity. Other than the road we’re on, I haven’t seen any other streets, not even trails. There are no physical landmarks to gauge our distance, and time has no meaning in this weird world. There’s no daytime or nighttime, and it’s always the same orange hue. I fall asleep, wake up, look out the window—nothing has changed, still red desert with no landmarks. It keeps recycling over and over with no end in sight. It gives me time to think (holding my talisman safely in my front pocket). How did we switch from our world to this world? How do we get back? How do we escape? I may never know the answers. I can now recall my first visit with Emma. How did I go from my bedroom to that cold stone room? Why haven’t I been able to remember any of it until now?
“In Sheol, we cannot suppress your memories as we can in Adamah,” Emma says in my head.
Oh good, you’re still with me, I respond. Why can’t you fight Charlie and get all of us out of here so we can go home?
“I don’t know how to explain this to you, Lance. I cannot fight. I can only guide and assist because you are alive in this world and your world. The man you call ‘Charlie’ uses his army of grouplings, and he has more control over their minds because they have transitioned between living and dead. Our side believes that the two worlds need to be separate, the good and evil. Erebus controls Charlie, and they want both worlds merged so they can rule you and everyone in your world. That is why all of this is happening to you and your friends right now. I know this is a lot to think about, but know this—I am always with you, and we will win.”
A million thoughts are racing through my head that I want to ask Emma when Jeremy interrupts us.
“Dude, look at that. That’s the first thing I’ve seen since we’ve been out here,” he says.
I sit up so I can see out the window better, and off to the right in the distance is a building. I can’t make it out yet, but it’s definitely a building.
Joey sees it, too, and asks Charlie, “Can we stop at that building? What is it?”
“It’s an old gas station and diner,” Charlie says.
“Well, can we stop? We’re all exhausted and can use the rest,” Jeremy says.
Rubbing the cords on his pants, Charlie says, “Ya, why not, let’s stop and get some rest and stretch our legs.” Little did we know that Charlie was going to show us his playful, sick side.


CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
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AS WE DRAW CLOSER to the building, I can see that it was once a gas station. The pump island is still standing with two gravity feed pumps attached, one red and one yellow. The glass bowls are