The Water

"Hey, hey. Are you alright?" It was her father.

Sage looked around, a little dazed. She was in her room. The lights were on. How long had he been there?

She heard her father sniff, and she looked back at him. He was crying. Sage had never actually seen him cry before. Did she do anything weird in her sleep?

"We didn't have any luck," he told her. He was talking about Kale. She realized that her parents still had no idea of what had happened to him. Somehow Sage felt like this was her fault. Her father hugged her, and she hugged him back tightly.

When Sage wasn't hanging out with her parents during the days she was there, she was mulling over how she was going to find the people she needed to join her on her journey through hell. On the plane she fretted about this too, and she also did on the uber back to her dorm. She was still thinking hard when Wiley spoke to her.

"I haven't heard from you all week. How'd it go?"

Sage tensed as she put her suitcase on her bed. "I found him."

Wiley stood up quickly. "Really? That's amazing!" She went to hug Sage, but she only stepped back.

"I'm sick," she lied.

"Oh," Wiley said, eyeing her. "Okay." she shrugged the interaction off and went back to her own bed. "Where was he? Is he okay?"

Sage sighed. "I'll tell you tomorrow. I just want to sleep for now." Wiley believed her, as it was 11 p.m.

Sage tossed and turned for hours before she fell asleep that night. When she did, she only saw black for a few hours. Sometime towards the morning, she dreamt that she saw Kale on a beach.

"Ouch!" He yelped, and when he looked at his tender arm he saw that it was boiling. He leaped up quickly, just staring at it for almost a minute.

His skin was bright pink and his surroundings were extremely hot, but when Sage looked up she didn't see a sun, but instead a ceiling. She looked around, and other people littered the beach, but most of them were lying down stilly.

"Who are you?" Kale asked finally. There was a figure in front of him. He was wearing dark jeans that were so tight he probably couldn't even sit. It was Danny.

"I have to take you back to your room now." Danny went to grab Kale's arm, and he flinched back.

"I know what you're trying to get my sister to do."

Danny glared at Kale. He opened his mouth to reply.

Sage's eyes flew open to find Wiley standing over her. She could feel her clothes sticking to her skin.

"Get up!" Wiley greeted cheerily.

Sage sat up. "What's going on?"

"Hiking. We've got to leave by 7."

Sage laid down again and closed her eyes. She had thought that it was something important. "I have to work at 11."

"We'll be quick," Wiley insisted. "Now get up! Luke's on his way."

Sage was fully awake now. "What?"

"I invited him."

Sage groaned. How could she phrase what she needed to say? "Wiley, he's dangerous."

Wiley only shook her head, crossing her arms in the process. "He already feels bad enough about his origins."

Sage scoffed, her skin on fire. "You think I give a shit? He kidnapped my brother!"

Wiley's eyes widened. "Was this when you were sick?"

This was exactly what she had been afraid of. "I'm not crazy, for the record. I saw him down there."

Wiley searched Sage's face. "Did you stop to think that maybe he had a reason?" she said quietly.

Sage just rolled over.

"Without people like him, pieces of shit would be running around free," Wiley continued, starting to sound a little heated herself.

Sage got up now. She grabbed her phone and wallet.

"Sage, where are you going?" she asked, seemingly exasperated. "Let's just talk about this."

As soon she said that, a gallon of water poured onto Wiley's head.

Wiley's head shot up towards the ceiling in confusion, but Sage immediately made a dash for her bible, which was in a drawer by her bed. When she glanced back at Wiley she was still staring up with a puzzled expression on her face.

"You saw that too, right?"

But Sage ignored her. She opened her bible, and all of it was in English. She flipped through several pages, her hands shaking violently. None of them were in latin.

"I had been thinking…" Sage mumbled.

"What?" Wiley was walking over to Sage now.

"I had been thinking that I wanted to pour a water bottle over your head."

Wiley went over to Sage's closet and looked in between her clothes.

"Hey!" Sage scolded. "What are you doing?"

"Where are the cameras?" Wiley asked. She looked under Sage's bed, and then her own.

Sage watched Wiley for a second. "You think this is a prank?"

"I know this is a prank," Wiley said, looking under her pillows now. "Did Luke set you up to this?"

Sage scowled. "Look, I don't know what just happened either." She sat down on her bed, thinking hard as Wiley double checked the closets. Sage's head was still foggy from the last time she was at Luke's place. She thought of the letter in Hell she had received at her parent's house. "Have you turned any water into wine lately?" she asked Wiley.