Out of the Darkness

145

"Yeah, sure," I answered, with a nod. "I know that a couple of them are out on bond." "Wait, seriously?" he asked, his eyes going wide. I laughed again. "No, dumbass. I haven't spoken to any of them since then." "Oh. Well, that kind of sucks. I thought we were going to have a bad ass prison gang to back us up," he said. "It was jail, Sam. Not prison," I replied. "Prison sounds more bad ass," he said, going past me so that he could help me at the bottom of the stairs. I laughed and took the arm that he held out, just to be sure that I was steady stepping down. "Okay, back to the plan," I said, once I was off of the stairs. "I think that we should go as soon as possible. I don't want to wait for my arm to get better. Honestly, we don't even know if it will get better." "Colby, you can't think like-" he started. I held up my hand to stop him. "It's the truth, Sam. We don't know. It still hasn't stopped bleeding. The black goo is still in it, and it looks like it's about to get infected. It's hurt more now, than it did when it first happened. I can feel myself getting weaker. I can't go to a hospital with it. How would I explain a demon bite? Pretty sure they couldn't do anything about it anyway. If I'm going down, I want to take this bitch with me." I held his gaze, and felt my eyes start to water a little. I didn't want to die. I wasn't ready. There were still so many things that I hadn't done yet. I fully expected to grow up, experience new adventures, fall in love, start a family. The whole package. I didn't see death anywhere in my near future. I assumed that I would die naturally, old and in my bed, with my family surrounding me. But I guess no one really expected to die young. I took a deep, labored breath, and clasped Sam's hand. "I need to do this. Maybe we'll even find something to fight whatever is happening to me. Please, Sam." He continued to hold my gaze, and I could see his mind racing in his eyes. I heard the others goofing around in the kitchen, yelling and laughing. "Okay," he breathed out. "If that's what you want. But, Colby, you're not going to die. You gotta stop thinking like that. We will figure this out. Just like we do everything else. Okay?" I smiled and nodded. "Sure. I know we will," I lied. I let go of him and started walking towards the kitchen. My arm was throbbing horribly, but I tried to ignore it. I wanted to forget my problems for one damn night. Tomorrow would open an entirely new set of problems, because we were going back to the house. I just needed to let Sam know. And I would, but not tonight. Tonight, we were going to try and be normal guys, hanging out with their friends. We both needed that. All of the weirdness lately was really starting to take it's toll on all of us. Sam was close behind me, as I walked into the kitchen. "Yooooo, Colby! Didn't think you were coming down tonight. How's your arm?" Jake asked. I held up my bandaged arm, and smiled. "It's disgusting," I replied. "Awesome. Can I see it?" he asked, eagerly. I laughed. "Sam just changed the bandage out. Maybe next time." "Seriously though, are you feeling okay?" Corey asked, concern in his brown eyes. "Yeah, I'm okay," I lied. "A little tired, and my arm hurts like a bitch, but I'm okay." Relief shown on his face. "Good. You were pretty messed up when you came in. Sam told us what happened. That's some demonic shit, for real," he replied. I nodded. "Yeah, literally." "Are you guys coming or what? Where are the snacks? We're getting munchy in here," Kat said, walking into the kitchen. "Yeah, we're coming. Just finishing up the popcorn," Jake said, holding up a tin of Jiffy Pop. Katrina let her head fall back. "Uuuugh, you guys are impossible. You've had enough time to make ten of those. Give it to me," she demanded, taking it from Jake's hand. "You feeling up to joining us, Colby?" She asked, glancing at me, then back to the stove where she had set the popcorn. "Yeah, so far," I answered. "I'm glad," she replied, smiling. "Tara and Addy are in the movie room." "Addy is here?" Sam asked, raising his eyebrows. "I thought it was just a family night." Damn it, I didn't feel like dealing with anyone else tonight. "It was, but she didn't have anywhere to go. She doesn't have any friends yet, so Tara invited her. It's not a problem, is it?" Kat answered. "No, it's fine," Sam replied, shaking his head. "Just surprised is all." I started to sway on my feet, feeling a little weak. Sam saw me, and grabbed my arm. "Let's go ahead and get you in there, and settled. We'll bring the drinks and snacks in soon." I nodded, and let him hold onto me, as we walked towards the movie room. When we opened the door, there was some kind of move preview playing loudly on the screen. Tara and Addy were both sitting on one of the oversized chairs that were in the room. "Hey Colby," Addy said, when I walked into the room. "Hey," I replied, letting Sam help me ease down into one of the chairs. "You good? I'm gonna go help them bring the snacks back," he said. I nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay. Wouldn't mind a water though." "I gotchu, brother," he replied, smiling. He left and an awkward silence filled the room. Whatever the girls had been talking about had stopped as soon as I had entered. "So, what happened to your arm, Colby?" Addy asked, coming to sit in the chair across from mine. The one that Sam usually sat in. "Uh, I cut it," I answered. "Ow," she said, cringing. "It must be pretty bad. I can see it soaking through the bandage. Did it just happen?" "Not too long ago," I replied, evading the question, and bringing my arm down into my lap so that she couldn't see it as well. "What happened?" she asked. Oh my God, did she ever stop asking questions?! "I just had an accident, Addy," I snapped. "I don't want to talk about it." "Colby!" Tara exclaimed, as Addy sat back and snapped her mouth closed. "That was rude! Why are you being a dick?"