"What did Patty say?" I asked Zak as I set my bowl full of cereal on the table next to his. He looked up at me, his hair was a mess and he still had a spoon full of cereal in his mouth. We had both just woken up from some seriously good beauty sleeps.
"Mmph?" He looked at me. I just giggled. I'm pretty sure that I'm the only person he feels comfortable enough to look like that in front of.
He swallowed his food and repeated what he said before. "What did you say?"
I took a sip of my green smoothie he made me earlier and cringed at the dull taste.
"I asked you about what Patty said. When you called her to talk about me?"
He nodded his head at my question, and then took another spoonful of cereal. I had to wait for him to finish chewing before he answered.
"She said you must've crossed the veil between the living and the dead when you died, and you might've left a piece of yourself there. That piece that you left behind is kind of like a telephone cord, its connecting your living body to the part of you left behind"
I frowned. "A piece of me? Isn't that a little dangerous?"
He shook his head. "Nope, I asked Patty the same thing. She thinks all psychics have the same thing, a piece of them behind the veil. But I'm sure not all of them died in order to achieve that" he joked.
"Very funny" I mocked. "So I'm all good? This isn't going to kill me or something?" I asked. Zak visibly shifted at the mention of me dying. He dug around his cereal bowl with his spoon and looked up at me.
"Of course not Charlie, why would you think that?"
I shrugged. "I don't know? Bear with me here okay? I'm still new to all this... kind of" He just sighed and went back to playing with his food.
The rest of our breakfast was relatively silent. There were the few occasional questions with him only answering with "I don't know" or "Let's see".
When I finished eating all the cereal in my bowl, I slowly lifted it to my mouth and unattractively chugged the remaining almond milk in my bowl. I made sure every last drop was in my mouth, which allowed the entire inside of the bowl to take up all of my vision. When I was done I slammed the bowl onto the table and deeply exhaled, making sure to wipe the remaining milk off my chin. I looked at Zak with a smug smile as he looked at me with a horrified face. The spoon he was holding still had food in it, but was hallway between the bowl and his mouth, just sitting in his hands and is watched me chug my breakfast.
"That was disgusting" His spoon was still in the same place.
I faked offence to his comment. "I think that was very lady-like of me" He just groaned.
I started to stand up and made sure to take my bowl with me and put it in the sink. I looked back at Zak who threw his spoon back in the bowl and pushed it away from him in disgust. I guess I made him loose his appetite. Oops.
I grabbed a glass from one of the cabinets and filled it with water from the fridge dispenser. I turned around, leant against the countertop and looked at Zak. "What's the plan for today?"
He sunk his head down in sighed. "That was what I was going to talk to you about"
Uh oh. I took a sip of my water.
"What's up?" I said cautiously.
He raised his head and make eye contact with me. "We never really got rid of our Jafar problem" He trailed off.
I sucked in through my teeth, realizing what he was about to say.
"No" I said abruptly.
He sighed. "Charlie, I have to"
"I? What are you talking about? There is no way you're going in there alone"
He shook his head. "There is no way you're coming with me. Remember the last time you were in there with me alone? It didn't go so well"
I cringed at the horrific memories of the events that took place that dreadful night. "Will you at least take the guys with you? It'll be so much safer if you're not alone"
"Pfft... Of course I will" He broke eye contact and looked away.
"You are the worst liar I have ever met"
He puffed out his cheeks and exhaled.
"Charlie, Jafar terrified them. We've been through some seriously traumatizing lockdowns, but that was one of the most terrifying demons I have ever come across in my life" He was looking at me with wide eyes.
My heart was pounding just thinking about going back to the museum. I rubbed my face with my palm. "Okay. I am coming with you, we just have to be very careful and make sure neither one of us is getting possessed...again"
"Are you not hearing me? Charlie you are a psychic! You have more energy radiating off of you than the damn sun! You are the first thing it will go for!"
I crossed my arms across my chest. "So what? I'm supposed to sit here and worry while you deal with "The scariest demon you've ever seen" alone and twiddle my thumbs?" No fucking way"
He seemed taken aback by my feistiness. "You really are your mother's daughter"
I just glared at him as he thought about what to do. After a few seconds he ran his hand though his bed-hair and sighed. "Fine. But I swear to God, if one thing happens that threatens your life, you are out of there"
"Fine" I shot around and walked up the wooden stairs and into my room.
We are getting rid of this demon.
**********************************
"Charlie! Let's go!" I heard Zak yell.
"Coming!" I yelled back, although I don't think he heard me.
"C'mon Charlie!" He yelled again, but louder.
"Mother of Christ" I whispered under my breath. "COMING!" I yelled even louder.
I walked to my wooden bedside table and unplugged my phone from its charging cable. I walked toward the door to my room and grabbed my backpack, full of all my personal equipment, and walked out of my room and down the stairs. As I rounded the corner to the front doors, I saw Zak, in all black, standing with his arms crossed.
"Took you long enough" He huffed.
I scoffed. "Yea, because it totally matters on what time we get there" He just rolled his eyes and grabbed his bags.
"Shut up and get in the car" He bent down and grabbed his own duffel bag from the floor and opened the front doors. I let his rude comment slide.
We were both on edge about this whole thing, and we were both acting out because of it. He was especially mad since he didn't want to me to come along at all, but what can I say? I'm persistent.
****************
Halfway through the drive to the museum, I realized we were going the complete opposite direction.
"This isn't the way to the museum" I said aloud.
He shook his head. "No, it is not" He kept his eyes on the road. I gave him a few seconds to tell me where we were going, but he remained silent and watched the road.
"So where are we going then?" I asked. It took him awhile to answer.
"It's going to be hell when we start pushing buttons. So, we need to be as calm and prepared as possible"
"So where are we going?" I repeated. His nostrils flared a little. He was really starting to get annoyed with me.
"We are going somewhere peaceful and quiet. There is no way I'm walking into the museum with this attitude" He took one hand off the wheel and gestured to himself.
I rolled my eyes under my sunglasses. "I'd sure hope not" I heard him let out an annoyed breath.
I looked away from him and out the window. We were outside the city, and all I could see was complete desert. The view reminded me of Phoenix, which calmed me down immediately. I didn't need to go to some nature spot; all I needed to think of was Phoenix. I couldn't tell you how many times I wondered down the streets or strolled through the outside of the city and admired its beauty. No matter how many bad things happened in that city, I still loved it.
"We're here" Zak's voice pulled me from my thoughts.
I looked out Zak window and saw giant rocky mountain. "Are we going to climb that?" Zak looked at me with a small smile and nodded. It was the first time I'd seen him smile all day.
It had only taken less than ten minutes for us to reach the top. Once we reached it, I stood and looked over the landscape, it truly was quiet. You couldn't hear any cars or anything. You could only feel the soft breeze that slightly cooled you from the hot sun.
"It's beautiful" I breathed. The sun was starting to set, which only added more beauty to the view. I took in a deep breath of desert air. It smelt dry, but it also smelt earthy. I felt like I could taste it, it was so strong.
"I usually come out here before I leave for investigations. No matter how far I go, I always have this view set fresh in my mind" Zak was looking out into the desert, not moving a muscle.
"Come here" He gestured for me to step close to him, and so I did. When I was in arms reach, he draped his arm over my shoulders and squeezed. "This really is going to be a nightmare"
How comforting.