Luminaries

Chapter 5

Zira couldn't bring himself to look in the rear-view mirror to see if the monster was tailing them or not. His heart was hammering, and his fingering were flexing.

"Oh my God, they're after you too?!" Zira turned to the girl in the driver's seat as she continued to talk. "I thought I was the only one! I mean, as soon as I unlocked my front door, I saw that scary monster just chilling on my kitchen island! When I tell you I ran so fast back to my car. I've been trying to lose it for the past fifteen minutes! But I ended up losing myself. We're by Grand Central, right?"

Wow, the girl was loquacious.

Loquacious with no idea where she was going.

More panic settled in his chest as he gulped, his throat parched for the second time that night. She batted her hand at him. "Don't worry about it. This car's got everything from surround sound speakers to an eight-disc CD player and a built-in GPS." Her cheery reassurance did little to calm his spiking heart rate. Pulling his braids over his shoulder, he took the opportunity to focus on his unexpected savior. She was tan, but not the gruesome orange color most white girls achieved through tanning booths. Her skin had more of a dark olive tone to it. Her honey blonde hair whipped around in the open night air, flying in every direction. It had lost all the volume and definition from earlier that day. Her burgundy school blazer, tie, and headband were missing, leaving her in only a long-sleeve white polo with the first two buttons undone. Those features were foreign to him. He had never seen the girl before today, but there was something faintly familiar about her that he just couldn't seem to place.

"It's something!" He sank further into the leather seat, his eyes widening at her sudden outburst. Her thin brows were furrowed as she gripped the stirring wheel tighter. She was also back at the heavy breathing again.

"Dang it! I said I got it!" She hit a fist against the stirring wheel.

Was she having a nervous breakdown or something?

On the road?!

He was starting to regret the impulsive decision he made. Maybe he would have had a better chance with the demon instead of the crazy girl.

"Would you shut up?!"

He didn't say anything.

Her eyes flickered over to him, fear consuming them. "I..." She trailed off, running a hand through her hair. "I wasn't talking to you." Her voice was meek compared to her previous yelling as she went back to focusing on the vacant road. He simply nodded and turned to face the road also, silently forming a plan on how to escape her. She tapped her finger against the built-in screen above the radio. It instantly showed a 3-D geological map of their current location. Zira had mostly saw them in rapper's music videos. She pointed to a glowing red dot a little further than where their blue dot was located. "This will take us to the nearest precinct."

Excellent. Once they made it there, he would thank her for the ride (somehow) and be on his way. Even if he went to the police precinct, what were the chances the demon would still be at his house? If the police didn't find anything and left, what were the chances of the demon coming back? He didn't have much knowledge on demon attacks, only the stories he'd heard and newspapers he'd read. The realization frustrated him. He wasn't used to being completely clueless on things. A grim chuckle erupted from deep in his throat, his brain soon realizing the biggest problem he'd missed.

What were the chances of the police helping him?

His mind went back to his boss and his past difficulties with law enforcement. Being blamed for other people's actions simply because of the way you looked. It wouldn't be any different for him. Hell, they'd probably blame the demon attacks on him.