Taylor looked over at Zac. “What?”
“Nevermind.” Zac found something else. “Whoa! Tay! Hey these are bongs! Cool!”
Taylor looked at Zac. “How’d you know that was a bong?” He asked accusingly.
Zac replied rather nonchalantly, “Cable, Tay, what’d ya think?” This bothered Taylor. It also bothered him that they were the only ones in the store. Nobody behind the counter, and the back room was empty. The already scary shop had suddenly gotten scarier.
Zac was still messing with the bong. “Hey Taylor, do you think there’s any pot left in here?” He put his hand down into the oversized smoking pipe.
Taylor saw him and said, “Zac! Get your hand out of there!” He grabbed ahold of Zac’s arm and pulled. His arm came out of the bong with something dangling from his hand. Taylor didn’t notice.
“Are you insane?! Geezus, Zac, you never know what could have been in there!” Taylor dropped Zac’s arm. Zac started rubbing his arm where Taylor had had his hand.
“That hurt, Taylor!” Zac accused.
“Sorry, I just didn’t want you to get hurt,” Taylor confessed. His voice got steadily softer. “Sorry.”
“S’okay, Tay, don’t worry about it.” Zac knew the necklace had been in his hand the whole time. He also knew that Taylor hadn’t noticed. He lifted it up in front of his face to look at it. It was pretty cool. It was a bluish-green cross, kinda see-throughy, and it was on a black cord.
After what seemed like ages, Taylor noticed. “Whoa!” He looked at the necklace. “What’s that?”
“Oh, it was in the bong.”
“Cool, lemme see.” Zac handed it to him. “Cool.” He stood there inspecting it. Suddenly something moved in the shadows. “What was that?” Taylor asked hastily.
“What?” Zac looked around. “I didn’t see anythi.....” It moved again. “Okay, that time I saw it.” Zac moved closer to Taylor and whispered, “What is it? Tay, um, I’m kinda...” He faded off.
“Scared?”
“No.” His voice cracked.
“Yes you are.”
The shadow jumped out in front of them. “AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” They both screamed bloody murder, and turned to run for the door. They went the wrong way, and ended up against the back wall, cornered.
“Evenin’ boys.” The man was probably in his early to mid-thirties, with hair that was sort of greasy.
His voice had a slight drawl to it, and it wasn’t a southern one. Taylor could smell alcohol on his breath. “How ya like the store? My wife, well, my ex-wife, she got killed in a little accident, they said it was my fault, all my fault, but I ain’t done nothin! Nothin I tell ya, you hear me, boy?” He was yelling at Taylor. His face was about two inches from Taylor’s. It was clear now that he was drunk.
Taylor stepped back from the man. He was slightly shaken up, and although the man wouldn’t detect his fear, he didn’t want Zac to know that he was scared. Then the man noticed the necklace Taylor was holding.
“What ‘cha got there boy?” The man slurred.
Taylor replied softly, “A necklace, sir.”
“Speak up, boy! I can’t hear you!” The man yelled again.
Taylor screamed back, “A necklace!”
“Better watch yourself boy. I hurt my wife real bad like, and that don’t mean I can’t hurt you.” The man grinned a half-toothless evil smile. The man had craziness in his eyes. Taylor got a real good look at it, too. The man once again was only inches away from Tay’s face.
Then the craziness left his eyes. He moved away from Taylor and crossed the room. Taylor’s heart was pumping with fear. His legs were shaking.
Zac was shaking too. “Tay,” Zac whispered, “Where’s he going?”
“I don’t know Zac.”
The man returned. “That necklace,” The man started. He didn’t say anything else. He just stood there, like in a daze.
“Yes, what about the necklace?” Taylor prodded.
“Take it. Get the hell out of here, and take the necklace!” He was yelling again.
Taylor and Zac walked towards the door with trembling legs. They were halfway there when the man called after them. “Hey, boy, that necklace, it says ‘Wearers shall interchange souls under the presence of a star.’”
At that, they broke into a full run. They ran out the door- and right into Issac.
“Issac!” They said in unison. “Come on!” Taylor and Zac started sprinting towards the car.
Issac was following. “Hey guys, I got the plywood. They’re delivering it to the house tomorrow. I gave th..........” He was interrupted by Taylor and Zac screaming at him.
“Get in the car! He’s following us!” Taylor said frantically.
“He’s got a gun!” Zac added.
Issac looked around. “What are you talking about? Are yo....”
“Get in the car!” They both screamed.
Issac turned around. The drunk man was about twenty feet away, with a gun.
“Get in the car!” Taylor and Zac yelled again.
He hopped in the car, not bothering to open the door, started the car and pulled away just in time. The man swung the rifle barrel at the car and Taylor had to duck to avoid getting struck.
Issac sped away. They drove in silence. At the first stoplight he turned around and yelled at Taylor. “What in the hell was that all about? Geezus, that guy was crazy!” Since the convertible top was down, everyone around them in traffic could hear Issac. They received startled glances from many drivers.
“Ike, keep your voice down!” Taylor hissed.
“I won’t keep my voice down! Not until you tell me what the f.....”
“Issac!” He whispered. “Shut up!”
The drivers around them were still staring at them. Zac stood up the front seat and informed everyone that, “Don’t worry, everybody, he just got released from a mental institute!” This really got the people going.
“ZAC! Sit down!” Taylor was yelling now. Even though you couldn’t see it in the moonlight, he was a very bright shade of red.
Zac shot Tay a ‘in your dreams’ look and continued, “But, we’re gonna take him back in the morning!”
The light turned green and Issac floored it. Zac tried to keep standing on the seat, but he couldn’t keep his balance. He ended up in the back seat with Taylor and his feet over the frontseat headrest.
“Go Issac! Floor that baby!” Taylor cheered from the backseat while pumping his fists in the air.
Zac was laughing uncontrollably. He struggled to get his feet into the backseat with the rest of his body. Taylor caught the giggles too. They were halfway home when Issac asked them again. “So what really happened back there?”
Taylor rolled his eyes. “Ike, trust me, you don’t want to know.”
“You’re probably right, Tay.”
They fell into a lapse of silence, and there was no sound except for the constant wind noise. Taylor looked down at his hand. He was still holding the necklace. He uncurled his fingers to reveal the beautiful cross. He held it up to examine it under the moonlight. As he moved it, the light caught several inscribed symbols on the front of the cross. He remembered that man had said the cross said ‘Wearers shall interchange souls under the presence of a star.’ He put the cross in his pocket, for safe keeping. He slowly leaned his head back on the headrest and gazed at the stars. And Venus.
