Burn (Drift Book 3) (13 page)

I shook my head in agreement.

“You’re an interesting character, Leo. I have a feeling that the mysteries of who you are, what you have within you, and what you’re capable of doing with those things will continue to come out. Your path to self discovery may have just begun, yet it seems well underway at the same time, and in that enigma I feel you will gather answers to the things you know now, and the things you know nothing about…yet. As for the other questions you may have, that is why we are here, Leo, to keep the advice coming.” Argento smiled.

“Why are you doing this for me?”

“Christian has counsel from those that rank above him in Hell, it’s only fair that someone can extend you the same courtesy. Balance, Mr. Cutler…balance must always be maintained.”

“Fair enough…is there any more
counsel to offer me today?” I grinned.

“Actually, there is just one more thing. There will be more advice I’m sure you’ll need later, but that isn’t necessary at this point.
Only this…” He motioned for Elysia to take over.

“Christian has the ability to physically manifest himself in many places at once. There have been times
when you have directly encountered him while on earth, there were other times that it was merely a manifestation that kept you thinking it was him. It’s like having your vision, except not only does Christian possess vision, he can actually appear other places while being somewhere else without the help of a portal. Of course he cannot transport himself to the future or past, just the present,” Elysia informed me.

“He’s a Doppelganger?” I questioned.

“Well, that’s the human version, but we call him a ‘Throg,’” Elysia answered.

“What’s the difference?”

“It is believed in the physical world that when a human sees a Doppelganger, the spiritual manifestation of self, or in other terms, seeing yourself in the spirit form while you’re still alive, that it is a sign that death will come to the human who sees it. A Throg in the spiritual world is when a being can manifest him or herself in many places at once while being elsewhere—”

I interrupted her.
“What does this mean for me? He’ll use this as some sort of weapon?”

“Of course he will
,” Argento chimed in. “Christian will use whatever power he has to beat you. If he can use, say five manifestations besides himself, he will. Most beings are only powerful enough to share themselves up to five times, so as far as we know, he can’t go over that number.”

“You’re saying that I might have to battle up to
six
Christians?” I said in shock.

“Well, technically there is only one Christian…but yes…although
they are weaker forms of him and not equipped with his full powers and abilities, you may still have to deal with that very possibility.”

“Great…that’s encouraging. Is there anything else I need to know
?” I said, discouraged.

“Yes, but not now. In due time, Leo, in due time.”

“Well, that has certainly given me enough to think about.”

“That’s why we will stop here until next time. All we want to do is make you aware, Leo, that’s it.”

“One more thing, Argento. I have the Demon Dagger. He hasn’t come for it yet, but I’m guessing he will, what should—”

“He won’t
,” Argento cut me off.

“He won’t what?” I was confused.

“He won’t come for the dagger.”

“Wait…what? Why?”

“Another time, Leo. For now, prepare for him. That’s all.”

“I will. Thanks again…to both of you.”

The two of them nodded and placed their hoods back over their heads. Their beautiful white wings extended and flapped them into the sky. There were out of sight in no time. I decided to stay and take in the sunset from where I was standing.

Chapter 13

FRIENDSHIP

The sun began to peek over the horizon and I watched the sky light up in a beautiful array of colors. The earth is truly a beautiful place. Before daybreak set in, I took off and went back home.

For days I repeated
this same routine. I avoided going into town for
any
reason, and during the day I mainly stuck to my spot and the forest that surrounded it. At night, I didn’t go over to Shade’s like I used to, I wanted to honor her and her family and give them some space until things got sorted out. I knew Shade wouldn’t mind me slipping in at night, but I think we both wanted to respect her mother and father’s wishes of distance, so instead of going to stay with her each night I’d take off to various locations around the state, country, even in space. I was incredibly lonely and missed her company, as well as my cat…who wasn’t a cat, after all.

Then one day, about a week or so after the meeting at the small convention hall, I heard the sound of a car struggling up the hill to my spot.
As usual, I laid low until I could see who it was. When the vehicle got to the top, I could see that it was a small, black pickup truck. When the dust settled, I could see that it was a little worse for wear. It had a few dents here and there with quite a few large paint chips as well.

The door creaked and then slammed shut. It was Scruffy.

“Leo! You here, man?” he shouted.

I leaped from the tree I was hiding in and landed in front of him. This caused him to stumble backwards before falling on his butt. I laughed at him before reaching down to pull him back up.

“Very funny…
very
funny.” He dusted himself off.

“It was
,” I kidded.

“Good to see you, buddy.” He smiled as we shook hands and hugged.

“Your parents know you’re here?”

“Actually, yes, they do. They were concerned about you and wanted me to look in on ya.”

“That’s really cool of ’em.” I bowed my head.

“Even though you’re a demon, you’re still my friend. They know that. They might be uncomfortable about it, but at least they know everything now.”

“Is that yours?” I pointed to the truck he pulled up in.

“Yup, suuuuurrre is! Isn’t it sweet?” He jogged up and patted the hood.

“Whatever you gotta tell yourself, buddy,” I harassed.

“Hey…it’s more than what you’ve got at the moment
,” he fired back.

“
Touché, sir.” I grinned.

“I think my parents were a little embarrassed about Sandra having to come get me all the time, so they got me this.”

“Does that mean you’re going to be able to take me for a ride soon?”

“Hell
, man, I can take you for one anytime. My parents are cool with us hanging out as long as we do it around them. Looks like you and I will be over at my house more often than not now, if ya wanna hang.”

“I can handle that, bro.”

“As a matter of fact, my parents want you to come over for dinner sometime soon if you want to.”

“I’d love to, but
…” I took this time to finally tell Scruffy a little more about myself, “I’d rather not eat if I can avoid it.”

“Why not?” Scruffy looked a little offended.

“Don’t take it the wrong way, part of being a demon means missing out on the finer things in human life…like food.”

“I’ve seen you eat…you eat all the time!”

“True. I have to eat. I’m still in a physical human-looking body, so I need to eat and drink or the physical part will of me will become very, very weak, or even die, I don’t know. The part that sucks is that I can’t taste or smell any of it. Everything I take down tastes like a shovel full ash, while everything I smell reeks of sulphur.”

“Dude, that really sucks.”

“Tell me about it.”

“So, then a no go on dinners from now on, I take it?”

“Not at all. Like I said, I still gotta eat. As a matter of fact, I’ve been bored as hell around here lately. Can I go over to your house tonight?”

“Hell yeah, bro, let’s go. My parents will be tickled to see you
. Even though they know what you are, they got close to you over the past couple years. They’re a lot more wary of you now, but they’re still concerned for you out here alone.” Scruff jumped into his truck and waved for me to get in.

Excited that I had something to do for the night, I leaped into his truck, pushing some trash off the seat as I did.

“Damn man, already junking up your truck?” I harassed.

“Shut up and put your seatbelt on.”

I looked at him in surprise. “Doesn’t really apply to me, but okay.”

“I forgot
, Mr. Demon…guy…thing…whatever you are. Besides, I don’t need a ticket, so wear it. It’s a human thing.” He laughed.

We small talked all the way to his house. When we pulled up in the driveway, I remembered something that had been bothering me about his parents for a long time.

“Hey man, I know this sounds terrible, but I’ve only known your parents as Mr. and Mrs. Spears.”

“So
?” He pulled out the keys and we got out. “That’s their names.”

“So…what are their
first
names?” I shrugged.

“Really? All this time and you’ve never known my paren
ts’ first names?” He looked perplexed.

“No, you’ve never told me.”

He shook his head as we strolled up to his front door. “Their names are Benjamin and Amanda Spears, Leo. Ya frickin’ goober.”

“Cool.”

The rest of the day we stayed around Scruffy’s house doing a whole lot of nothing. I noticed that his parents were a little hesitant around me when I first arrived but they relaxed over the course of the day. They even asked me to stay the evening, being that they knew I had nowhere to go.

It was great being able to tell them about my food issue, well, Scruffy did, while he took pot-shots at me the whole time. They
were naturally curious and I told them about not having a heart, which I let both of them feel for my missing pulse. I told them about how I don’t even have the luxury of being self-aware. I have no idea what I look like to the human eye so they spent all of dinner telling me about myself. It was a trip.

Again, Scruffy couldn’t resist taunting me during the
entire evening. He was getting the biggest kick out of harassing me. Much like being around Shade’s parents, I felt like I was part of their family. It almost seemed as if Benjamin and Amanda were embracing me as one of their own. Scruffy was already like a brother to me, so it felt natural.

Day after day, Scruff’s parents
wouldn’t let me leave without extending another offer for me to stay. After about a week or so of going to school with Scruffy, the only place where I was able to see my beautiful girlfriend lately, and Sandra, I got the impression that they might not want me to go back to my spot at all.

One night, we were all gathered in Scruffy’s living room watching television when
Benjamin abruptly turned it off.

“Leo
…” He leaned forward and rubbed his hands together. “Amanda and I, and of course, Mark, have been doing some talking. We know how close you and our son are…and we don’t think it’s right to alienate you more than you probably already feel you are.” Scruff leaned over from the couch and patted me on the back as I was sitting propped up next to him on the floor.

“What I’m trying to say is, well, we understand that your situation is…unique. Although we know what you are, it wouldn’t be right to refuse someone aid who needed it. We’d like you to move into our home, Leo. Become a part of our family
…so long as you do your best to keep trouble away from our house, that is.”

I was totally stunned. That was the last thing I expected. I was honored that the Spears family wo
uld take in a stray like me.

“So what do ya say, homey?” Scruff pushed me for an answer.

I paused for a second. “I gratefully accept…with conditions.”

They all looked at me
a little confused and possibly offended. There was more than one reason why I couldn’t stay with them full time, one of course being Christian, and the other had to do with me hanging around humans full time. Much like the vegetation in my environment, they would sooner or later get sick and die if I was around them constantly. I wasn’t going to tell them that particular secret about me, though.

“Let me elabo
rate. I am honored and humbled to be asked to be a part of your family…and I would love to. Just know that I’m still at odds with quite possibly the most evil being ever known to man and he’ll do whatever he has to do to weaken me, even if that means hurting you. So, since you want trouble, naturally, to stay out of your home, until this thing is fully over, I will have to stay at my tree as often as I can. I don’t want him getting wind of your kindness or he may come after you. Given that knowledge, do you still want me under your roof?” I winced.

“We know what the cost is, son,” Amanda
said. “It doesn’t matter…well, of course it does, but your well-being should be in play here as well. Not just everyone else in Mountainside
besides
you. Just know our place is open to you, anytime. Do what you think is best.” She smiled and I returned the gesture.

Scruffy was apparently restless because I didn’t give a direct answer
. “Well? Are you gonna stay here, basically full time…or not?” He shoved me in the shoulder.

His parents chuckled and so did I
. “Of course, I’d love to. That’s awesome. From time to time, I still have to do what I have to do…ya know?” I glanced around at all three of them.

“Understood
.,” Benjamin clapped his hands together once. “Just so you know, we have rules here too, but we’ll discuss those later. For now, welcome to the family, Leo…glad to have you.”

“Not really
that
glad, but we’ll manage,” Scruffy added with another shove to my shoulder.

After that night, I spent most of my time between staying with the Spears family, going to school to visit Shade
, and occasionally taking off to spend time at my spot. Shade began to ask me why I hadn’t come to see her at night and I told her why. We both agreed that it was the right thing to do in honoring her parent’s wishes. She was worried though that they may not get over their concerns before senior prom. If that was the case, I might not be able to take her.

This separation
really sucked, first she was kidnapped by Shimmer, now this. It seemed like every time I made progress being around one person, something else popped up that prevented me from hanging with another. Only being able to see Shade at school was really depressing. I wanted to be with her as much as possible, but for now, I’d have to settle on Scruffy as a cheap substitute.