Chapter Five: The Secret Life of Nick Blood

When Jonah woke up all the candles and tapestries were gone. There was no sign of Satan, spray paint or any evidence of the weirdness that had happened the night before. The dorm looked just as it did every other morning he had awoken since moving into this space with Nick. He could hear Nick in the shower, the soft tones of Led Zeppelin echoing off the bathroom walls. ‘But it had been real, right?’ Jonah thought to himself. Before he could continue to process his confusion, the bathroom door opened to reveal a normal looking Nick Blood. He had a towel tight around his waist and he was using another to dry off his black, velvety hair.

“Hey, morning buddy, I hope you haven’t been awake, waiting for the bathroom long. It's all yours,” Nick started with a smile. Jonah stared at him in stunned confusion. Jonah threw the covers off and sat on the edge of his bed staring at Nick. Nick continued to dry off and get ready for the day as if nothing had changed.

“Excuse me, what the f*ck?” It came off harsher than Jonah had intended but Jonah kept his gaze firm on Nick. Nick paused with his shirt half over his head for a moment before pulling it down and meeting Jonah’s stare.

“What? Come on, I wasn’t in the shower that long, dude,” Nick replied with a chuckle, tossing himself onto his bed.

“You really think I give a sh*t about the shower? Look I admit, I needed a change. My parents were drowning me in their rules and religious crap, never caring how I felt or what I believed. I’ve gone along with you this last month: you threw away my Bible, I changed my clothes, started drinking beer with you. If my parents saw me right now I’d probably not be welcome back in the house! All of that I can handle. They are changes I wanted, but last night… last night was f*cking weird man and I need some answers. I might not be a real Christian but I don’t know if I’m ready to start straight up worshiping the devil.” Jonah took a long breath and felt a little shake in his hands. That was the most he had spoken in a long time and he had never been so direct with someone before.

Nick gave him a curious expression as if gaging Jonah’s sincerity. Nick cocked his head to the side and smirked in an almost malicious way. Jonah swallowed hard. It felt like an hour the two boys just stared at each other but it was probably only seconds.

“Are you going to answer me?” Jonah asked more timidly this time. Nick chuckled a little.

“So you’re not sure you really believe in God, but you’re worried about worshiping Satan? You can’t not believe in one but fear the other,” Nick answered, keeping his mischievous smirk.

“That’s not the point, dude - '' Jonah paused mid sentence unsure how to explain what he was feeling. The troubling worry he had.

“People fear Satan because they think he’s evil, the ruler of all things malicious and immoral. But the truth is it was God who created everything: the light and the dark. Good and evil. It all existed before Lucifer’s great fall. So many people forget that. You said it yourself God couldn’t be all that great considering the state of the world. At least Lucifer is honest about what he is - which is not the enforcer of God’s punishment by the way. That doesn’t make sense at all,” Nick explained, rolling his eyes. “God casted out Lucifer and punished him in hell, Lucifer wouldn’t be doing God’s bidding down there just for kicks. Look, sorry I sprung this on you, though I don’t understand how you’re so surprised. If you don’t want to be a part of it, I won’t force you. But if you’re just even the littlest bit interested it’s going to be more fun tonight.”

Nick stood up, threw on his backpack and headed towards the door with only a slight wink in Jonah’s direction.

Jonah threw himself back down on the bed in frustration and let his mind fill with a million wild thoughts. Nick had made some very good points towards both God and Satan but 18 years of training and forced education didn’t disappear easily.

Jonah let out a disgruntled growl and took off his pajamas before throwing on some jeans and a t-shirt. Without another word he walked out of the dorm and out into the semi-empty hallway. For the first time in his life Jonah missed class and didn’t give it a second thought. He meandered around the campus really allowing himself to think for the first time in his life about who he wanted to be and what he truly identified with. Nick hadn’t steered him wrong this far but this secret life of Nick Blood was a little extreme.

Jonah distracted himself momentarily with the girls on campus talking and laughing in their crowded groups. ‘Why must they always be in packs?’ Jonah thought to himself.

Jonah found himself unintentionally in front of the administration office. He paused outside the doors before slowly moving in.

“Can I help you, sweetie?” asked the nice woman from behind the counter.

“I know it’s only October but if I had a serious problem is there a way to change roommates?” The woman frowned at him and obsessively clicked the pen in her hand.

“There’s a form behind you, sweetie, that you’ll have to fill out. You’ll need your roommate's signature as well. Have you discussed this with him?” Jonah looked at the paper and ignored her questions. Is this really what he wanted? To ditch Nick after all he had done to help him?

Without another glance back Jonah marched out of the building and continued his meandering walk around campus. The alarm on his watch beeped at him, and Jonah made a B line for the Hallen Science building. He made it to the entrance right as students flooded out of the building and Jonah kept his eyes peeled for the one face he was looking for. It didn’t take long for Nick to stumble out of the building, throwing on a pair of sunglasses as he did so.

“I have some conditions,” Jonah started, pulling Nick to the side as soon as he hit the bottom of the stairs.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in debate right now?” Nick asked, slightly lowering his glasses to look at Jonah. “So we are ditching classes now?” Nick smirked and walked alongside Jonah toward the cafeteria.

“Stop it. I’m serious. This isn’t just music or drinking beer. This is serious and I have some conditions,” Jonah replied, keeping his voice in a whisper. He kept darting his eyes around but no one was really paying attention to them.

Nick stopped, took off his sunglasses, and looked at Jonah.

“Well?” Nick questioned crossing his arms over his chest. Jonah hadn’t actually thought this part through and stumbled through his words.

“Look obviously my ideas about Satan,” he stated in a low voice, “are a little mixed up and most likely incorrect. But I’m not okay with hurting people. No asking to, like, kill people or what not.” Nick laughed out loud and threw an arm around Jonah.

“Oh buddy, you really don’t know a thing, do you? First of all, I never ask to do that. That’s messed up and karma is really good at her job. Second, this isn’t like rubbing a magic lamp and having it produce wishes. Let’s get some food and if you’re in, I’ll show you what it’s really about.”

Nick looked at Jonah, who nodded hesitantly. Nick’s smirk grew wider as the boys walked into the cafeteria.