The Other Prophecy Child

Friends

Greg did not disappoint on his promise. After the three of us gathered a few supplies from the snake sister's camp, not that there was much that we could use other than the magically powered spotlight and heater, we set off with our very impatient rattlesnake friend leading the way. Normally, I would have been skeptical about allowing a snake to lead me anywhere. I had already had a lifetime's worth of serpents try to kill me, and it wasn't like snakes were the most honest of creatures in existence. I knew that I could trust Greg though, and I was glad that I did. By the time the sun was setting, we could see Las Vegas in the distance.

We entered the city as the sun set. I said goodbye to Greg and let him slither off into the wasteland, probably to continue hunting for his next meal. We walked through the city, Sarah and I marveling at the sight of the place all lit up like it was and Justin behind us humming, "Viva Las Vegas," and stopping to dance like Elvis every few steps. As glorious as the site of the city all lit up was, it was a virtual hellhole. People walked the streets, going every which way, yelling at others to get out of the way, and making it nearly impossible for us to get anywhere. Cars were constantly flowing up and down the streets leaving nowhere for people to cross and honking at anyone who tried. After spending about five minutes there, I already wanted to leave.

"Okay," Justin said just as his humming was beginning to get annoying, "We made it this far, what now?"

"We find a way to Los Angeles," I said shrugging my shoulders.

"Aww," Justin complained, "But we're in Las Vegas, we should savor the time here, have some fun, have a night on the town!"

"What could three teenagers do in Las Vegas," Sarah argued, "We're not old enough to get into...well, anything."

Justin's face turned sour. "I guess you've got me there," he said, "But we could at least stay the night at one of these hotels. I'm beat from traveling all day...how about that one over there?"

He pointed out a towering building that we were standing right outside of. The place was clearly a luxury hotel meant for someone with loads of cash. There was no way that we could afford a room there, and even if I could sneak us in with my powers we would be thrown out before we could get settled in. Besides, I wanted to get to Los Angeles as fast as possible.

"No way," I said.

"Why not?"

"Have you seen that place," I said, "There's no way we could afford that."

"I think I can help us there," Sarah cut in.

I looked over at her as she pulled something from her back pocket. She held up something that looked like a photo I.D. After a closer look, I realized that she was holding a dark green credit card with the name, MATTHEW LONG, printed in shiny silver letters. She was smiling as my jaw dropped at the sight of it.

"WOO HOO," Justin cheered, "I knew there was something that I liked about you!"

Sarah blushed, "Thanks."

"Sarah," I said, "How did you get that?"

"I stole it from my dad's room before I ran away," she said.

"Wouldn't he notice that it's gone," I asked.

"Please," she said, "He has a million of these things. It'll be a year before he realizes that one of them is missing."

She looked away from me and at the hotel. I could see that she had stirred up some bad memories when she pulled that card out. She was probably thinking that her dad would notice that his credit card was missing before he realized that she was. I knew it was hard growing up without a family. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like to grow up with one that didn't care about you.