Immortal Bodies

Chapter 8-The Full Moon Assembly

"Do you still think I should go tonight?" Annaliese asked, taking the mug of steaming tea from her uncle. She wondered how many cups of tea per week the man could go through before finally stopping.

He sat down on the couch across from her, using his mug to warm his hands. "I don't know. Do you feel like it?"

She paused. She did feel like it. She wasn't dizzy any longer, she was actually just feeling a little groggy. Nothing like she had felt this morning. "How many drugs will be at this party?"

Her Uncle laughed. "None, thank goodness. I think you're safe. You still think someone drugged you?"

Annaliese sighed. She knew that's not what had happened, but yesterday--going through what she had been through had come as such a shock to her as it did all her nerves, and she just collapsed. "I have no idea," she lied.

There. That seemed reasonable enough.

"Okay, well then I think you should go," he encouraged. "If you're feeling better, that is."

She nodded, and sipped her tea absently, thinking....

"Do you believe in demons?" she finally asked. The question had been stuck in her mind all day, and her mind, after hours of debating, said yes to asking. If he did, could she risk telling him about what had happened yesterday?

The question left silence. Her uncle set his cup down on the coffee table and said, "Of course I do. You know I'm Christian."

"I'm not talking about those demons," she explained. "I'm talking about the kind that can turn into monsters and try to kill you through flesh."

He stared at her. "What makes you ask such a question?"

At first, she worried that he was angry with her, but simply by the way he said it, it was more of a polite, curious way of asking things than really anything else. He was giving her that look again--that odd curious look.. "Just a thought that popped into my mind."

Another lie.

"Well, in case you were wondering, no, I don't." He picked up his mug again, wrapping his hands around it. "I think, though, its just your imagination. Your father always said it was very vivid."

Annaliese let out a little laugh, remembering just how vivid her imagination was. "Yeah, I used to tell stories of witches and warlocks--of angels and demons and princesses in ball gowns. I'd used to write stories about them."

"Yeah..." His eyes flashed at the memory. "Your father told me that."

 ***

A hand clamped down on Riley's shoulder.

She turned around to see Isaac staring at her, a glint in his eye. "Do you know how Annaliese is doing?"

Riley shook her head. "She didn't make it to school today."

"I hope she's alright....What happened? I know you were there!"

A smile played on her lips. "That's just it. I was there. But she was just sick, that's all. But I think that if you want to talk to her, you should get her phone number and still find out if she wants to go to the Full Moon Assembly."

"Yeah..." He trailed off. "Yeah, I have her number. I'll call her. Thanks, Riley, sorry to bother you."

"No problem."

And she watched him walk away, the cute boy with a nice smile--the kind of boy any decent girl wanted. The kind that no matter how hard you fought and thought about it, they'd always want you back. The reasonable guy.