Too Broke For Afterlife

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Looking at the piece of creamy coconut pie in front of me, I wonder how many calories I'm about to consume.

Then I wonder why I wonder about the calories.

But that makes me wonder why I wonder about why I wonder.

It's clear that my mind is trying to distract itself from what happened earlier at the coffee machine.

From Satan and his rising army.

From the prophecy and my panic attack.

And compared to the dark prince, cream pie really isn't such a big threat.

Still, why did I order it? I'm not even hungry. 

"Do you maybe want to tell me what happened?"

I don't look up at my worried girlfriend, instead I quickly glance at her hands which she has positioned on the plastic table, grabbing her mug filled with steaming vanilla latte.

"Judy?"

"Yes?"

I lower my voice. Just in case. Then I lean forward a bit.

"Are you religious at all?"

"Me?" My girlfriend seems surprised and raises her eyebrows.

"I never was but after everything that happened, it's hard to deny that there is an afterlife. But I don't know what that means. If there is a God or not."

"And what about things like...hell? And Satan?"

Now she seems concerned. "Isa? What's going on?"

"N-nothing."

"You just stuttered."

"N-no, I-"

"There, again! You never stutter! Something is wrong, am I right?"

I roll my eyes. "No. I've just been in my head lately, thinking about these things. And I wanted to hear your opinion. That's it."

"Oh." Judy looks at her mug and I feel guilty.

The last thing I want to do is lie to her. I would never want to hurt her feelings. But the way the man spoke...it felt urgent. And secretive. If his words weren't a prank, I don't want to pull her into potential danger. I'll have to gather more information first.

"So, you asking me about religion wasn't a lead up to your answer but instead you were avoiding my question?"

"Yes," I mumble and look down at my plate.

"But why? Isa, I'm worried. You seem so...sensitive lately. I want to make sure you're okay or at least help if you're not."

I grab Judy's hand and look right into her blue eyes. Her pupils are twitching nervously.

"Baby, I'm okay. It's been very stressful lately. But that's about it and if not, I would tell you. Promise."

She doesn't seem convinced but nods. 

"But if there is anyway I can help-"

"Wait." I can feel my smartphone vibrating in my pocket and sigh. Another spam call? Please not.

But then I pull it out to look at the display.

Parker is calling…

I furrow my eyebrows. Why would he call me?

"Who is it?" Judy asks curiously.

"Parker." 

I shrug and accept the call.

"Hey, what's up?"

No answer. But I can hear him breathing.

"Hello?"

"Are you alone?" 

"No, I'm-" "Go somewhere where you're alone." "Okay?"

I take the phone down and get up. "I'll be right back, baby. Don't eat my cake."

Judy grins but nods.

I make my way through the maze of tables until I reach the small restroom.I lock myself in one of the scrupulously clean stalls, sit down and return to the call.

"Okay, I'm alone now."

"Good."

I wait for him to continue but Parker goes silent again.

I sigh. "My coffee is getting cold."

"No, this is important. Something...happened."

"Okay?"

Parker clears his throat, as if he is scared of the next sentence.

"Someone approached me. They brabbled something about Satan and his army. I know it sounds crazy but it somehow feels...real?"

"Oh my god."

I lean against the tiles behind me.

"What?"

"The same happened to me. Like half an hour ago. Th guy told me that I need to save humanity and that I'm the chosen one."

"He said the same thing to me. Are you joking?"

"No!"

I'm sure now that this wasn't just some mindless prank. Someone had planned this. 

But not just someone. It had to be more than one person since Parker lives a few thousand miles away.

And unless the same thing has happened to others as well, these people also know how Parker and I are connected. Which means that they know about Afterlife. And that means that it might not have been a joke afterall.

"What do we do now?"

I think for a few seconds.

"Nothing."

"What?" Parker doesn't seem to believe what he just heard.

"You mean we both got approached by some sort of cult fighting against the devil and all we are going to do is nothing?"

"Exactly."

A long pause.

"Are you on your period?"

"No. But what do you want to do? Hand out flyers to find these people? Make a Phasebook post? Start a Red-Titty thread? If they were serious, they will approach us again. And if not, then we'll know."

Another silence. I need to get back to Judy before she starts asking even more questions. 

"But what if it is real? The whole Satan thing? Why are we the chosen ones?"

"How the hell would I know? Just stay on the low and if one of them contacts you again, let me know. Okay? I have to leave now."

"But there's one more thing!"

"What?"

Parker hesitates.

"I'm not allowed to tell you."

"Fine, then don't."

He sighs.

"No, listen. This isn't the first time something weird happened. About a week ago there was this guy at our door and he..."

Suddenly, his voice breaks and gets overshadowed by white noise.

"Hello?"

"-gave-gem"

"Parker? I can't hear what you're saying!"

"-but-don't-know-"

"The connection is really bad right now, I'll call you back later."

I end the call and hurry out of the bathroom and back into the café.

Great, right when it got interesting we got interrupted. But at least I know now that I'm not alone.

Parker and I are sitting in the same boat. Again.

Like we are somehow connected.