Past Passages

Journal 3

"Calling your foster mother a materialistic, self-centered bitch is exactly what I meant about having a bad attitude." says Josiah, who for some reason insisted on coming with me on the ride to my next foster home.

"He's right, Selene." says my caseworker and I almost punch her in the face.

I did not want to hear that Josiah is right. What I want is for him to go away.

"It's comments like that that make people want to leave you." Josiah says.

So I turn in my seat to face him sitting next to me and say in my most serious voice, "You are a materialistic, self-centered bitch."

Josiah makes a surprised face and places and hand over his heart, and then he smiles and says, "If we weren't such good friends I might have taken you seriously."

I roll my eyes.

~~~

My new foster parents are an old couple in their late 50s. As soon as I lay my eyes on them I know how I'm gonna get kicked out of here. The woman looks at me as if I'm her long lost daughter coming home after a long disappearance and the old man leers at me like I'm a brand new set of dentures made especially for him. I nearly throw up at the sight of him.

Josiah notices the man's leering and leans down to whisper in my ear, "He's still just an old man. He can't do anything to you. Don't do anything too rash."

I nod and approach my new 'family' who greet me with big hug, and in the old man's case, a firm grip on the ass. I groan inwardly but try to ignore it.

The first day at my new foster home passes without incident and at night after the old geezers are asleep, Josiah comes by to check in on me.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" I ask him when I catch him trying to sneak in my window.

"Well," he says as he makes his way to his picture on my wall and starts pulling out all the darts, "now that I've reclaimed my rightful place as number one under the Supers, yes. I'm absolutely up to my neck in work. But don't worry, babe, you're always top priority."

I ignore the last part of what he said and instead focus on what came just before. "Josiah, what did you mean the other night when you said that they make you go on secret hunting missions? To kill what? Why is it a secret?"

Josiah sighs. "Selene, there are some thing's that just..." he trails off, placing the last of the darts on my dresser. He looks around like he was considering telling me something pressing, something that obviously held a lot of weight on his shoulders. "I swear I did this to protect you, Selene. There are things out there that... That you just can't unsee. Things that- that are just not human. Vampires, however evil, are still human. Werewolves, too. But those things... Those things are demons. Created straight from the devil's hands. They have no conscious and they're so, so very hungry for blood. For human flesh. And they have powers, too. I'm not talking about powers like ours; the super speed and strength. They can make darkness with their words and cause a person to hallucinate with one scratch. These things are dangerous, Selene. And they're real."

When Josiah talks like this, with such seriousness and concern, it's easy for me to remember how close we used to be and what attracted me to him in the first place. It was the gentleness and eloquence with which he spoke and the confidence that made it possible for you to never wonder if what he said was the truth or not. Josiah never lied. For all his faults, Josiah is never dishonest. Never.

"I have to go." he says suddenly and heads for the window.

"What? Where?" I ask, standing to go after him. "Where are you going?" I'm actually legitimately afraid for Josiah. After hearing the anxiety in his voice just now, I don't want him going out and fighting those creatures he told me about. I may hate him for what he did to me but I don't want him dead.