Chapter 50: Dante

I woke in the afternoon around two 'o clock. My shoulder ached, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. My back actually felt fairly relaxed. I ate a blueberry muffin for breakfast then dressed in a pair of jogging pants and a tank top. After my daily run, I rinsed, dressed in my normal jeans and a t-shirt then hopped in my truck. It didn't take me long to get the normal herbs, but the home improvement store looked at me funny when I drove off with thirty small rose bushes.

By six, I had the plants unloaded in the backyard. Various people, some naked, some robed, came in then disappeared with them back into the forest. I was starting to notice strange features about some of them. One robed figure had goat feet. Another woman had pointed ears. There was a naked man that was completely pink. I tried not to stare, but eyes probably lingered longer than was normal.

I had some time to kill while I waited for the mystical herb shop to open, so ate some dinner. I cooked up a bit of instant noodles and sat at the table slurping the hot ramen. Remi coalesced in front of me.

"Hey."

He nodded his head once in greeting.

"Does accepting the deal mean you'll be hanging around more?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I don't have my freedom yet."

I slurped at my noodles. "Will you be excited to eat food again?"

"I eat food now."

I cocked an eyebrow at him. "I thought you were dead."

"I am. I have like a shadow body, but even shadow bodies need sustenance. I just live on a different plane of existence. I have to sleep and eat there, and I come here for work."

"If having charges is just a job, then why don't you quit? Why do you have to make a deal?"

"I don't have a choice to quit. Think of it more as enslavement. When I don't do what I am supposed to, the way I am supposed to, I get yanked back to the dark side."

"Hell?"

"Sure."

"Is it all flames and devils?"

"More Dante's Inferno meets a corporate world."

I nodded. I had to read Dante's Inferno as one of my assignments from Mother. I didn't intake a lot of it, but the simplified notes online made it easier to understand. "When they yank you back, what happens?"

"They torture me until I am obedient again. Time works differently in different realms. That is why I am two hundred years old about. I haven't actually lived two hundred years per se, but my soul has."

"When did you die? Like here, in this world?"

"January 1999. I was twenty-one."

"Wow, really? Am I your first charge?"

He nodded.

"Whoa, wait really?"

He nodded again.

"Are you this close to all your charges?"

"None of my charges remember me because of the Veil. But you're different. Your mother has prepared you to work outside the Veil. Your mind remembers more of it."

Mother walked into the room drawing our attention away from the conversation. "Have you gotten everything on the list yet?"

I shook my head. "I was waiting for the herb shop to open then I will have the rest of it."

Her eyes darted to the clock on the wall. "You can leave now. It will be open by the time you get there."

I nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

Isabell turned on her heel and left. My eyes followed after her. A bit of longing and an edge of bitterness filled me. She was always like that. Curt and straight to the point. She never had an ounce of compassion.

"I guess I should get going. Are you going to come with?" I asked Remi as I stood.

He shrugged. "Sure."

"You don't have other charges to save?"

He wrapped an arm gently around my shoulders then leaned in and whispered, "Is that jealousy I hear?"

A blush rose to my cheeks. "What? Of course not." It most certainly was. I reveled in his touch and his breath in my ear.

We started walking towards the front door. He let his hand fall as he fell in step behind me. I had to get a grip. There was no way this was going to work out. And there was no way he felt the same. He was just messing with me. And I was just lonely. I pushed all those thoughts aside.

"You fixed the truck," I stated looking at the bumper wired up.

Remi scratched the back of his head with his hand. "Yeah, I didn't want you getting pulled over again. I didn't realize how annoying it was to change a tail light."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

I climbed into the truck. Remi hopped in. The metal doors creaked as they shut. The radio started as the engine roared to life. The song on the radio played "Hey There Delilah". My cheeks burned red. I didn't dare change it or he might pick up on my discomfort. He might know what I was thinking.

I kept my eyes on the road. The radio switched from song to song. Each one seemed to make me squirm even more. So many of them were about confessing their love. Why couldn't I get a sad song or one about drugs or anything else right now?

"You're speeding." Remi's voice broke into my thoughts.

I released the accelerator. The truck costed back down to a comfortable sixty-five mph.

"What's got you so distracted?" He asked. He kept his eyes on the road.

"Nothing."

He chuckled.

I glanced over. He was grinning.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked sarcastically.

He turned to me. "You."

My cheeks filled with color. I snapped my eyes back to the road. "Stop messing with me."

He laughed. "I'm not messing with you. I'm wondering about what has you distracted. That's thinking about you."

I changed the subject quickly. "I'm wondering what this ritual is all about. It's not like the previous solstice festivals. This one feels like Mom is gearing up for something big. But you know her, she never tells me anything. Do you know what is going on?"

"I don't. She has been keeping me at arms' length, too."

"I have a bad feeling about it."

He turned to me again. "You do?"

I nodded. "It's like a deep pit in my stomach. I don't know. I think something is going to go wrong."

"Or go right," he mumbled. More clearly he said, "Don't worry. I'll look into it."

I wanted to feel relief but instead my stomach just sank a little deeper.