The girl squatted down and smiled at him. “Hi,” said Blythe Forrest. She, too, was carrying a lunch tray. She sat down next to him, and looked around. “No admiring fans?” she asked.
Billy shrugged. The “reason” that had been invented for why he had been gone for more than a month had turned him into something of a celebrity. Suddenly all the people who had dismissed, ignored, tormented, or avoided him were now his best friends. He had dreamed about being one of the Popular Kids his whole life. And now that he was one, he could only hope that he wouldn’t be one forever.
“Well,” said Blythe, “I guess it must be tough, being famous and all.” And to Billy’s great dismay and horror, she consumed her own oversized helping of Salisbury steak in two gulps that would have been the envy of a three hundred pound lumberjack with a tapeworm.
Billy watched her eat—if you could call inhaling something like a vacuum cleaner “eating”—and a thousand questions ran rampant through his mind. Why was she a Darksider? Was she, as Mrs. Russet had said, one who truly believed in their cause, or just someone who happened to have been born into that group and never really realized what it was? Had she seen him on Dark Isle, as he had seen her, or perhaps later when he and his friends spoke to Blue on the cliff of Dark Isle? Had she fought in the Battle for Powers Island? If so, had she seen him as he bombed Darksiders with Tempus?
Did she know he was the Messenger, and that he had found the White King’s sword and defeated the Darksiders, at least for now?
Was she a spy?
That last thought sent a shiver through his spine. What if she was a spy? Sent by the Darksiders to gain his confidence, and then destroy him?
“You okay?” she said. Billy nodded. She laid a hand on his arm, and he felt a thrill run through him, though whether happiness or terror was its origin he could not say.
“I never told you this, but right before you disappeared, I got knocked out or fainted or something. Remember?” Billy nodded. With his understanding that Blythe was a Darksider, he knew as well that she had to understand what had happened when the zombie had touched her. But here she was, feigning utter ignorance, and her motives still completely unclear to Billy. But he forced himself not to think about that as she continued, “Well, ever since then, I dunno….” She finished her Salisbury steak and went to work on the potato side course. “I’ve felt….” She stopped a moment, clearly trying to think of what to say. Then, finally, she simply said, “I’ve felt like we were friends, Billy Jones. And that’s made me happy.”
Billy didn’t know what to say. Who was Blythe Forrest, really?
Then again, thought Billy, who am I? Who is anyone?
We are as we do, came the answer in his mind. And it again felt like it was someone else, someone wiser and smarter and stronger than he was, leading him to something beyond himself.
Blythe had rescued him from Cameron Black.
She had been kind to him.
She had treated him as a friend.
“You gonna eat that?” she suddenly asked, pointing at Billy’s almost untouched meal.
Slowly, uncertainly, Billy shook his head.
Blythe reached over with her plastic fork and speared a huge bite of potatoes. She chewed it, and smiled at Billy.
And Billy smiled back.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michaelbrent Collings is an award-winning screenwriter and novelist. He has written numerous bestselling novels, including The Loon, Billy: Messenger of Powers, Rising Fears, and the #1 Bestseller RUN. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter @mbcollings.
Billy: Messenger of Powers Page 51
