Traveling Backwards

My mind went into a total blank. You had to bring a human back? Why did anyone tell me this earlier? I probably wouldn’t have come if I knew that!
“Can’t I just count as the human?” I asked, staring up at Lurk with deep anger in my gaze.
He shrugged. “No. Because you came out of hell. We’ll need someone else.”
“We could bring one of your friends,” Ryder sang, trotting up beside me. “Why not the really talkative one? I like her!”
“Hell. Fucking. No.” I growled. There was no way I’d bring one of them back there. I shook my head and bit my lip, “Why don’t we just…bring a druggie or something. Maybe he’ll think he’s just caught in some illusion.”
Lurk rested his hand on my shoulder. “Ryder and I will worry about bringing the human. After all, it might be too hard of a job for you,”
I let out a sigh. “Whatever. As long as it’s not someone I know.” This was too much to think about this early in the morning.
Ryder sat down on the ground and whined, “I’m so hungry. Jaydee, is there anywherreee where we can eeeeat?”
And it was too early for Ryder’s whining.
“Why don’t you go look for something to eat?” I snapped, stalking past him and sitting on the edge of the curb. I was getting hungry too. I guess we should find something to eat.
“C’mon,” Lurk grumbled, “Before Ryder starts taking people captive.”
We walked down the streets and eventually found a small diner. We slid into a booth and lifted our breakfast menus. A pretty brunette came over to our table and asked what we’d like to have.
“I’ll have two plates of waffles, three slices of toast and two glasses of chocolate milk,” Ryder requested, smiling up at the girl.
I slammed my foot on top of Ryder’s under our table and hissed into his ear, “Why are you ordering so much?! We can’t pay for that!”
He smirked and at me and waved his hand. “Chill. I’ve got this covered.”
I rolled my eyes and sat back at my seat. “Whatever,” I mumbled. After we had all ordered and the woman left did we begin to talk about our plans to heading back to hell.
“Why did Dr. Reed send us in the first place?” I asked, arching my eyebrow, “He just told us to check up on things…and things look pretty much the same here.”
Lurk shrugged, “Doesn’t matter. We’re done now. We need to find a human sacrifice.”
“Okay. When you say it like that. It makes it sound ten times worse,” I retorted, leaning back in the booth and crossing my arms.
“Why don’t we bring the waitress?” Ryder asked, glancing back at her, “That way, we wouldn’t have to pay for our bill either.”
It seemed like a pretty stupid idea. This whole THING was a pretty stupid idea. Why the fuck did we have to bring someone back to hell anyways? Why couldn’t we just leave the same way we came?
I sighed and shook my head, “This is ridiculous.”
Finally our food arrived. Lurk and Ryder devoured their meals while I barely picked at mine. Too many things were running through my head. I glanced up at the TV. It was running the local news channel. My heart began to race. The newscaster was talking about an old neighbor of mine who had disappeared. No one knew where she went. Apparently, she was walking her dog she had disappeared suddenly, leaving the dog behind. No one had seen her since, nor was there any trail on where she might have been taken to. The police were stumped.
Once we had finished our meals, Ryder got up and approached the waitress.
“Hey,” he said coolly, “Can I…talk to you for a minute?”
The waitress raised an eyebrow but nodded her head. I think she thought he was flirting.
“Sure,” she smiled. He put his arm around her shoulder and led her outside, winking at us as we watched.
“That’s our cue,” Lurk said, getting up and grabbing my arm. He hauled me from the diner and out into the open air.
“Stop! I was watching the news!” I snapped, shaking his grip away from me. “Where’s Ryder?” I asked, looking around. He had disappeared.
“He’s probably behind the diner.”
“C’mon, let’s go get him before he causes even more problems,” I sighed and stalked towards the back. Suddenly, I heard a frightened scream followed by cries of pain. I bolted towards the back to find Ryder on his knees, his hands over his eyes and our waitress running away, screaming.
“Ryder!” I yelled as Lurk grabbed his body and slung him over his shoulder. “What happened?!”
“I was about to trap her so we could use her when she pulled pepper spray out and got me right in the eyes!” he sobbed, rubbing his eyes furiously. “It stings like fuck!” he cried as I led the way out of sight.
I knew where we needed to go next: My house.