Chapter 3: Taking A Bite

We had long left the church and were cruising our way down the road.

My brother was driving and I of course was running shotgun.

Even after having left the church, we couldn’t help but gossip about just how crazy the events that just took place were.

“Man what the hell was that crackhead on about? I knew church men were desperate for followers but that? Man, he's different.”, Tenshi expressed, as the memory brought a smile to his face.

“Especially when he whipped his stick out and casted his spell on you.”, I added as we started laughing.

“So why did you want to go there anyways?”

As he dropped such a question on me, I couldn’t help but start sweating bullets. I mean what was I gonna tell him? That I had sights from a strange dream about an angel? Absolutely out of the question.

So as most people would in such a situation, I thought of the best lie I could muster at the time. Using all the brain cells I could, I conjured the best fable that I could.

“Uhh.. My friend wanted me to convert so I decided to check it out.”

A cunning lie, I know.

“I agree on the converting part, but that pope was a terrible example.”, Tenshi said. “And haven't I tried converting you a couple times? Why the sudden change for this friend?”, he continued.

If you wouldn’t be able to tell, my brother is actually a faithful believer of god.

Though I’d say he’s far from a role model.

We’ve even gotten into our handful of debates on god’s existence over the years.

“Enough about that. I say we go to the Burger Queen over there”, I shared as I pointed to it, in hopes of changing the subject.

“Fool, you got Burger Queen money? Cause I’m broke as hell”, Tenshi replied.

“Bro I know you got some dollars on you, I don’t know why your lying to me”

“That doesn't mean I’m trying to spend them on you! But whatever, I’m starving too so let's go, eat on me”.

My brother proceeded to pull over in the nearest Burger Queen parking lot and just as he always does, he parked far away from any other cars since he liked to go where it looked empty. This annoying habit made us walk far more than what was necessary just to get to the restaurant.

The exterior of the restaurant was mostly clear windows for walls with a few gray slate pillars between each window a black smooth roof and a vast sign on the very top that said “Burger Queen”.

Walking inside you would see white cushion seats with long marble tables to the left, and red chairs with brown and red tables to the right.

Straight ahead you would be met with the cashier front with an enormous menu on the wall behind them. Though this was the layout of the restaurant, what you would have noticed first, was the line long enough to make you forget you were hungry.

“Damn, we're gonna starve before it’s our time to order”, Tenshi let out as he witnessed the colossal line before us.

“On me. And I was tryna tear that burger up.”, I agreed.

“By the way, you wouldn't happen to have told that crazy cult our address or anything like that right?”, Tenshi asked as we entered the line.

“Of course not, I don’t know those dudes”, I answered.

“Mhhmm.”

As Tenshi and I spoke about our ordeal, the line moved up faster than we had initially expected and it was our turn to order.

We were immediately greeted by a cute female cashier that looked to be in her early 20’s, short, blonde hair that she wore in a ponytail and the black and red striped Burger Queen uniform.

“Hello, welcome to Burger Queen, what can I get you today?”, the cashier greeted us, with a voice of warmth and silk.

I was no stranger to fast food jobs or peoples true mind so I knew that she was faking that smile. All the same it set a peaceful and chirpy mood to the restaurant.

I don't know if it was because he was actually a fat bastard by heart or some weird sense of big brother leadership, but Tenshi, who had originally turned down my offer to get some food in our bellies, was the first to make his order. The nerve of some people.

“I’ll take the “double cheeseburger deluxe combo” with a large drink”, he said.

“Alright. By the way, we're having a special promotion on ice-cream. Buy one small for half price and you get two. Would you like to try it?”, the cashier asked.

“Sure i'll take the vanilla flavor”, he answered back.

Hearing him order vanilla flavor made him sound like a complete npc in my eyes. Like I get it’s a classic and everything but come on man, switch it up sometimes.

“Coming right up, Sir… And what can I get you, Sir?”, she asked as her gaze switched to me.

Staring at the menu the whole time my brother was ordering, I decided to go with something cheap but new.

“Let me get the “Double Nerdburger Combo” with a medium drink.

Hearing the name of my burger leaving my tongue, I now realized the outrageous meal that I just ordered. Like what the hell is a “nerdburger?”

“Your ice-cream?”, she asked to clarify.

“Oh umm… lemme get the cookies and cream”, I answered.

“OK, and will that be all?”

“Yeah!”, Tenshi and I answered in unison.

“Can I get a name for your order?”

“Tiryns”, we once again answered in unison.

“That's a pretty unique name”, she remarked as she giggled. “Ok, your total is $23.45. Would you like to round it up to $24 and donate the difference to the Child Cancer association”, the cashier asked.

“Why of course”, I answered with a bright smile on my face, knowing damn well that wasn’t my card.

Tenshi gave a deathlike glare that spoke volumes. But I mean, what could he say? No? Then he would look like a monster. And no one likes monsters. Especially the ones that walk in human form.

After paying she gave us our cups for our drinks and informed us that she would call our name when our meal was ready.

We walked to the first open table we could find and sat vertical from each other. Passing the time as we waited for our food, we decided to make small talk.

“Man, I got so many assignments I need to do. I really need to stop procrastinating”, Tenshi complained while letting out a sigh.

“Easier said than done. Even though I'm failing ELA, because none of her assignments are interesting, I had the amazing decision of writing a book.”

“How you writing a book, while failing a class about writing books? Kids be different with it these days!”, Tenshi joked as he sipped his soda.

“It’s really packed full in here. Maybe it’s rush hour or something.”, Tenshi voiced, as he looked around. “Maybe we’ll see cult mania around here.”

“Sure hope not, leaving this food behind would be a shame”, I replied.

“Hell yeah it would, especially since I already paid for it”, he added.

Maybe because I was bored waiting for the food, but my gaze seemed to wander in all sorts of places.

The first thing I noticed was the happy couple that walked through the door. On the left was a young woman who had short twintails. Her outfit of choice were some blue jean shorts, a white top and white slides. The young man was on the right and had a curly afro. He wore some basic white jeans pants, a red shirt with a black skull print at the center and white sneakers. The guy was far taller than the girl so she was hugged onto his arm as they made their way to the cashier.

(Must be nice!), I thought with jealousy, as the couple reminded me of Alice.

The second thing my sight wandered to was the big family sitting by the window.

There were 6 kids and two adults that I’m guessing were mom and dad.

I couldn’t help but notice how happy the family seemed, it was kind of heart warming actually.

The youngest looked to be about 3 years of age and she was nipping on a little slice of apple. The whole family had big goofy smiles on their faces as they looked like they were having the time of their lives.

“Tiryns!”, a male cashier screamed, to get our attention.

“Guess that's our queue”, Tenshi informed me.

We both got up and started to make our way to the cashier front. We were almost there. Just a handful of steps away. We could almost smell the feast that we were about to completely

Devour. All of a sudden, as if at the speed of instant…

KABOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!

Everything..was reduced to cinders.