Divine Love: Him

[1]

The McWood's sons loved playing a role as edgy teenagers and invite their friends under darkened living room with only two (candy scented) candles placed in the middle then talk about ghosts, monsters, unexplained events, and conspiracies ritually.

Jimmy Stevenson was one of the five out of approximately 39 million people living in California that was unfortunate enough to be forced into this cult.

His friends might deny his statement regarding their unofficial club status (one that brought doubts from Han's and Jerome's parents. McWood's parents and his own, though, would just let their children be happy as long as they didn't bother the neighbors) however, who spent their time every Saturday, at times whenever Friday the thirteenth happened? Who huddled and talked about ridiculous stuffs Jimmy could barely recall? Of course, only cult members did that.

Or some obsessed, single teenagers.

So, there was Jimmy, hugging an animal plushie that one of the McWood's sons-Nate-owned. While he listened to his friends discussing what Jimmy caught as summoning spirits rituals. Every week someone would submit new ideas they discussed exactly seven days later, Jimmy usually put some half-assed ideas so he could go home faster or sleep early if they were having a sleep over. It worked most of the time.

Last week, their youngest member, Jerome submitted an idea. He said he had been curious regarding spirit rituals. He wanted a boring ass discussion instead of something real that could get them possessed, maybe get exorcised, cleansed.

But everyone excluding Jimmy, as always, loved it. Any of them could just ask about 'what is ghost' and five of them would find a way to talk about it at least for an hour.

Jimmy rolled onto his stomach. He put one hand to support his chin before he looked around. His movement must bothered Nate because his friend pushed his shoulder, Jimmy glared at Nate under dimmed light.

"Why did you push me?" Jimmy harshly whispered into Nate's left ear, making the guy flinched. The movement sent his black-rimmed glasses onto the floor. Nate moved away from Jimmy subtly, hands frantically searching his glasses without looking down.

"Please don't whisper into my hear, they're fucking sensitive man," Nate whispered back, his tone was tamer than Jimmy's, "I did it because you're disturbing us. This is an important meeting, I'd appreciate it if you concentrate too. It's the least you could do."

"Important meeting my ass, Nate, we've been doing this since years ago yet not once it brings my grade up," Jimmy nudged Nate's ribs with a small force using his elbow. Jimmy looked at another McWood-Trevor, the younger one, loudest, brightest-brother, a red bowl pressed against his chest, "Hey, could you bring the popcorn bowl to me?"

Nate fixed Jimmy a quick confused look, pursing his lips in a pensive manner, "What popcorn bowl?"

Jimmy sighed, "The red bowl, Nate. One that filled with bunch tiny red popcorns inside it. Come on, please? I'm hungry, bored, tired. I finished my soccer club later than usual, I'm tired and hungry."

Nate clicked his tongue, looking away from Jimmy. He took the red bowl out of Trevor's embrace. It emitted a loud protests that immediately being hushed by the rest of them excluding Jimmy. Nate put it gently between them, taking a huge amount into his hand. Jimmy rolled his eyes when Nate's expression turned into one akin to playful, devilish even. He pushed the bowl away each time Jimmy's hand got near it. Annoyed, Jimmy purposefully knocked Nate's glasses off his face, accidentally grazing his fingers against his friend's eyes.

"Jim, that fucking stings," His friend's hissed under his breath, putting a palm on his injured eyes. Jimmy felt rather guilty but not enough to apologize so he just stuck his tongue out.

"Karma is a total bitch, Nate," Jimmy smiled widely when the bowl appeared before his eyes, patting his friend's back, "Thanks. The popcorn is bomb."

When Nate turned his head into his direction, Jimmy could felt Nate's breath hitting his face, he scrunched his face, "Man, your breath stinks. Did you brush your teeth or no?"

Nate shoved Jimmy roughly, "Of course I did. What the fuck does that supposed to mean?"

"It means you should probably brush your teeth more, or eat mints," Jimmy said while laughing, he held up both hands as Nate's eyes sharply land on him again. Jimmy patted Nate's back lightly for the second time indicating he shouldn't take what Jimmy said to heart even if it was rather true, since Jimmy was sure that Nate ate something bad.

He thought he saw Nate sneaked out earlier, it was probably that. Nate laughed silently at him.

It was nice and all before someone coughed loudly, catching their attention. Jimmy casted the person a care less glance. His mouth never stopped softening the sweet popcorns inside his mouth. Maybe the reason he kept coming back to the McWood's house like an innocent lamb was because they made a great popcorns like no other could, he would be an asshole if he missed that out.

"Jimmy and Nate, mind sharing what are you two gossiping about?" Trevor titling his head in fake curiosity. Jimmy shrugged at that. He looked at Nate who hung his head and eyes casted down in shame. That was why he sometimes regretted his decision on joining his friends' cult, literally everyone but him took every moment seriously. If Jimmy remembered right, they wrote a written rules that was placed near on one of the living room's old cabinet because McWood's parents forbid them to stick it at the wall. Bless them, it had been abandoned since nobody really cared about the poor old cabinet.

"I was asking for the popcorn bowl, you know, the one that was taken from you," Jimmy pointed at the bowl, "Then I said Nate should brush his teeth more, or eat mints because his breath stinks."

Trevor shook his head, holding his hands up, "I don't want to hear it."

Didn't Trevor just ask whether he minded or not sharing piece of information about what did he and Nate talked about?

"Didn't you ju-"

"Silence, Jimmy," Trevor cut him off. He glared at Jimmy who huffed.

"You asked whether I mind or not and I didn't, so answered you!" Jimmy defended himself, once again huffing, fully annoyed, "Gosh. Didn't you hear what you yourself said?"

"Excuse me? You don't just come inside my house and disrespect me like that," Trevor whined, sitting up straight.

"No, I'm the one who should say excuse me, you don't get to do that," Jimmy rolled his eyes, looking straight at Trevor, "First of all, you invited me. No, begged me to come here because you said I'd betray you if I didn't, even after I said I'd be tired because of the practice I had today. Second, you said it that it was okay for me not to listen. Your words, not mine."

Trevor pouted. His eyes widened into that puppy eyes that seem to beg for forgiveness, Jimmy almost melted, almost, "Fine. I did say that, but this is important. Also fun. Mark my word, fun. We are discussing which ritual we should try tonight."

- END OF CHAPTER ONE PART ONE -

1: PART TWO

Jimmy's interest perked up at that, though, Jimmy hide it under his calm demeanor, "The spirit calling ritual? You're going to do it?"

His friend nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah. We want to know if it's going to work. We were discussing which one would likely work more than the others."

Now, Jimmy was a little bit interested.

"What rituals are you talking about?" Jimmy asked curiously, moving closer into Trevor's direction. He hugged the animal plush tighter.

"Well, there's a lot, really," Trevor said, moving his hands, "Like, listen, there's one that's using this doll and one drip of blood, we'll play hide and seek with them. Then there's this one that use water, some sort of. Clean water. The last one is the most famous one, Bloody Mary."

"I don't want anything involving doll," Jimmy found Han moving closer, almost on Trevor's lap, his voice was desperate. It caught Jimmy a little bit off his guard, not because the fact that his friend seemed to be against rituals involving doll, rather he thought Han wasn't listening as he played around his phone more than usual.

"You're just saying that because you're a scaredy cat," Trevor jutted his lips out, gnawing his lower lip between his teeth, "I could see the doll one immediately crossed out of the list though."

"Why?" Jimmy asked.

"All are dangerous, if the legends are true, obviously. However the one that involving a doll has a spirit that has been known thirsting for vengeance, or aggressive. However with the water one, or Bloody Mary, some are saying they have a calmer, kinder spirits," Trevor picked two stack of paper. He handed it to Jimmy who threw it down in seconds.

No way he was going to read it. Heck, he could barely concentrate on this conversation now, but he was more intrigued than he ever did before.

Trevor continued his explanation when Jimmy voiced out his curiosity, "The doll one, or it's actually is refered as One Man Hide and Seek involves one of us hiding all dangerous and potentially harming tools such as scissors, knives, all those things, mechanical pencils if they could be used to poke our eyes out since the spirit or spirits usually use them to chase us down with. That's one way the scenario could go."

"And I don't want that," Han whined, hiding his face on Trevor's shoulder. Trevor wrapped his arm around Han's body, running his hand on Han's head.

"I don't think anyone really want to play hide and seek with spirits, Han," Nate's tone was taunting by making it like the most obvious thing in the world. Which Jimmy admitted it was an obvious thing. It made Han frowned though, still being half-hugged by Trevor.

- END OF CHAPTER ONE PART TWO -

[1] : PART THREE

"Do we do these things individually or all of us?" Jimmy ignored a growing tension between Nate and Han, knowing it would disappeared in minutes like it always did. They both were born in the same year, rivalry became a normal occurrence whenever they kept fighting over maturity. Proving further they were not yet an adult, it became funnier to see and more aggravating to watch each time they did it. They just never stopped.

"Definitely only one of us, unless you want to play Oujia or something, but we crossed it out because it's overrated," Trevor stood over, walked over so he positioned beside Jimmy. He nudged Nate using both his feet, "Also Nate isn't really a fan of board games as we know, with an unknown reason he refused to say."

Jimmy would laughed if he wasn't not overwhelmed by his interest, his friends have finally managed to string him out of his boredom. If before Jimmy lied down with an animal plushie on his stomach, eyes lidded down heavily and lips jutted out. This time he sat straight, massaging his shoulders. He looked out intently on what his friends had to say next.

"I don't want to be the lamb, as you all should know," Everybody looked at Han, they shrugged it away. It showed that they expected it.

"We all know, Han," Jerome spoke up, voice cracking at the end of his sentence. He cleared his throat, "We are not expecting you to be one. It probably would be me, or Jimmy. Or Nate. Trevor is too timid and too soft to leave Han alone with the three of us if he's the one who becomes a lamb. In short, he doesn't trust Jimmy, nate, or I."

"I won't trust under you three care," Trevor muttered, "All that in a perfectly good reason."

Jimmy groaned, "Honestly, Trev. That was long time ago, we were just a child."

"A child or not, you were a murderer."

Nate defended them, "We were curious. So we cooked your fish, Trev. We knew nothing, nothing sort of good. Anyway, it was Jimmy's idea."

Or not. Fuck him.

"Oh, fuck you, Nate," Jimmy spat, "You can't just throw me under the bus like that."

Nate threw his head back, laughing, "I'm sorry, man. A guy just gotta do something so they survive."

"I know no traitor," Jimmy pretended Nate was not beside him, poking his arms teasingly. Jimmy smiled softly.

"So who's going to do it?" Jerome asked. He pointed at himself, then Nate, then Jimmy.

Jimmy raised his hand up almost immediately. He saw Nate narrowed his eyes at his wide grin, everyone turned their head to look at him, "Let me do the honor, everyone."

Jerome was eyeing him curiously, "What's the occasion, Jimmy? You don't usually like these kind of things."

"Yeah, what's the occasion?" Trevor asked.

"This is exciting," Jimmy shrugged, "What you guys do usually is boring. Who wants to gossip about spirits every Saturday for hours without actually doing anything? Not to mention you guys showed no creativity."

Several shouts of offended people made Jimmy's grin widened, "I'm not taking it back. What you did was boring and this is not."

"Fine, you can do it, even though you disrespected me," Trevor muttered. Jimin rolled his eyes in expiration.

"So, what should I do?"

"Are you sure we're going to let him do this?" Jerome asked, running a hand down his arm. He looked down for a few seconds before looking up again, watching Trevor intently.

Trevor ignored his gaze and instead discussing it with Nate. Arm still around Han, he shifted a little bit, instinctively moving his head closer into Nate mouth when the older motioned him.

Jimmy snickered, watching Jerome curling himself into a ball. There was no reaction from Trevor even after he shoved the guy lightly. Without further attempt, Jerome pulled his glass of apple juice into his lips, drinking half of it.

Trevor turned his head, looking at Jimmy, "Are you sure that you want to do this?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, "Why not? I'm here, might as well do the most I can."

"There are certain rules about the spirits, you know," Jimmy answered with one raised eyebrow and a nod. He knew.

Jimmy was not actually an unbeliever. His family was one that believed there was life out there that humans didn't really come contact with, not usually and not habitually, whether it was visible or not. Some had humans' form, some didn't. He didn't seek out for answers, he didn't fuck with spirits. However he did spent good amount of his time hiding under the sheets, scared out of his wits and filled with childish nightmares.

If he remembered clearly, his mother used to put his music box out of his room so nobody would bother him at night. Though, he couldn't remember was it him who requested such thing because his fears or it was his mother's own idea. But, as he grew up, at times the concept of spirits being feared or talked about became dull in his mind. He had seen more lies about spirits being spouted so fame could streamed down for the person who told the story than those who genuinely reaching out. It made him wonder if there was an actual spirits out there, or would they show themselves.

He was not an unbeliever of the spirits, rather the humans.

"You've seen my family," Jimmy sighed, brushing his bangs behind, "Do I look like someone who doesn't believe in spiritual things?"

His friends answered 'yes' in unison.

"It's just weird how you show sudden interest, we've seen you slept through our meeting at least four times," Trevor said while looking down on papers he handed him before, "I mean we know how your mama and pops are, we spent good amount of time with you. You, however, never seek it out."

"Fine, I can't blame you, but paying a respect to a spirit is not that hard you know. I don't know about your rules. You know how mama always asked me to do lots of things even when I don't fuck with them, " Everyone nodded at him, "Mama paid respect to them, teach me bunch of times. I learned a lot while chanting begone demons."

"A spirit is not equal to a demon." Trevor piped out.

"I am now perfectly aware of that, Trevor, I'm no longer a five year old who knows nothing but fears."

"Well, if you're sure.." His friend drifted.

"I am sure," His friends looked at each other one last time, shrugging their shoulders.

- END OF CHAPTER ONE PART THREE -