Jack poked his head out of the ditch he had rolled into. He made sure the black car was gone before crawling out to find Sophia. Making his way to the car, Jack search under it. He peeped into the small crevice that was formed by the windshield holding the car up. She wasn't there, so he moved on. "Sophia?!" Jack called out.
There was moaning, but it wasn't distinct enough to locate.
"Sophia?" Jack cried again as he moved around the car in search for her. He found her on the other side of the car. He gave a sigh of relief when he found her unharmed, shaken nonetheless, but unharmed. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Jack, really," she said as she pushed herself up. She groaned as she did so, because she was slightly bruised. "Oh, no," she said as she looked at Jack. "My car." She jumped to her feet and examined the overturned car. "My baby."
"I'm fine, too, thanks," he said in a nonchalant tone.
Sophia turned with a smile. "I'm just teasing, Jack," she admitted. "But you have a nasty cut on your head there." She touched the side of his head, forcing him to flinch. "Does it hurt?"
"Yes! It hurts!" Jack yelled.
"Sorry," she said sympathetically.
"Come on, we have to get out of here," he told her as he moved toward the street. "We need to get a ticket to India, now."
"Jack, we've just been in an automobile accident," Sophia told him. "Surely we should tell the police, insurance company, and get checked up at the hospital."
"Sophia, we don't have time," Jack said. "Do you still have the Book of Origin?"
"Yes, why?"
"The guys call themselves the Disciples of Origin," he finally admitted to her. "I wonder if it has anything to do with the book."
"Don't you think they would've searched for the book if that's what they wanted?" Sophia asked.
"Not necessarily," Jack replied. "My best bet is on them wanting us out of the picture entirely. If I'm right, Yashodhan Tej is in big trouble with these guys, too, especially if the Babylonian sundisk and Hindu sacrificial knife are involved."
"Did you get the knife?"
"It's still in my bag," Jack said, before realizing his bag must have been tossed out with him. "Where is my bag?"
"I don't know," she responded as she began to search for it.
Jack moved toward the ditch and slid down into it. He couldn't find the bag anywhere.
"Here it is!" Sophia called out to him.
Jack sighed for having to crawl out of the ditch again. He looked up at her as she held the bag in hand. "Thanks," he said. "Now, let's go to your place. You better pack."
"And you better get your head bandaged."
Jack nodded and headed down the street with her. Darkness and stars filled the sky, as did a half moon.
Once they reached Sophia's apartment, she unlocked the door and allowed Jack in.
"Wow, so, this is your place?" Jack asked the obvious.
"Don't get too comfortable," she warned.
It was Jack's first time to her place. She didn't trust him enough to let him into her place. He might try something, but not forcefully. Though, she seemed to believe Jack was deeper than he pretended to be, but for what reasons, she didn't know.
"I'm going to shower and pack," she told him. "There are some bandages and medical stuff in the kitchen." She entered her room and locked the door.
Jack made his way to the kitchen and began searching for the first aid kit, which was under the sink. He didn't locate it until after searching all the drawers and cabinets first. It was the last place he expected it to be.
Once Sophia was finished, she got out of the shower and stayed in her towel as she packed. When the packing was done, she began to dress herself and work with her long dirty blonde hair. She had put on some tight fitting jeans that flared at the bottom and fit over her boots perfectly, along with a tank top.
Jack cleaned his wound and put a small band-aid on it. After he checked himself in the reflection of the glass microwave door, he moved around her living room. It was nice. Actually, better than he expected and better than his place. It was more colorful. It was a pale green, quite nice with the paintings she had. He spotted a photo album and began to look through it.
Sophia finished and sprayed on some perfume before walking out with her bag. She stopped for a moment and stared at Jack.
He was smiling. He was admiring her baby pictures and the recent family photo. Then he got the uneasy feeling that someone was looking over his shoulder.
"Jack Canyon! How dare you pry through my things."
"I'm not really prying," Jack told her. "It was sitting in plain sight. I didn't go out of my way to look through things, except in the kitchen for the first aid kit."
"Do you want to use the shower?" Sophia asked as politely as she could. She wasn't really upset about the picture album. What was going on with her? She shook her head as she thought. It must've been the way of things. She was supposed to be like this towards him. It is how it had always been.
"Sure," he answered. "I'd like to get all this grass and dirt off me. Thanks."
"No problem," she said as she watched him go into the bathroom that was joined with her room. She sat down on the couch and looked at the pictures he had been looking at.
Jack stripped and stepped into the shower and turned it on. He reached for the shampoo which had a girl-like smell to it. He frowned and poured a little into his hand before rubbing it in. Once it lathered, he rinsed it all out. He was feeling better. The shower really helped. After washing off all the dirt and mud, he turned the water off and grabbed a towel.
Sophia flipped slowly through her album smiling at some of the pictures as she spotted old memories. She didn't even notice Jack had slipped back into the room with her. He sat down beside her on the couch in his usual clothes. She glanced over at him when he sat down. "You smell like a woman."
"No thanks to your shampoo and soap," Jack muttered, which made her smile.
"You think those clothes are going to make you manly?" She asked as her smile turned into laughter.
Jack glanced over his green Carhartt pants and dark gray t-shirt. "Yes, I do!"
She shook her head as she continued to laugh. "Oh, Jack, relax."
He stared at her through the corner of his eye. "Are you ready to go?"
"Do we really have to?" Sophia asked in a whimper.
"I'm afraid so," Jack replied. "I want to know why these bastards are after me."
"It's always about you, isn't it?"
"Most of the time," Jack replied to her.
"They don't want you, Jack," Sophia stated. "What else do secret organizations do, hm? They protect secrets. There's something in this book they don't want the world to know. If we exploit it, they might kill us."
"Or back off," Jack added.
"Do we really want to chance that?" Sophia asked. "I mean, they can just cover it up, if they have someone high enough in power. We can't really trust anyone."
"They think we're dead," Jack said. "I think now is the best time to disappear. We go to India, we find Yash, and figure out this puzzle."
"What if they find us there?"
"They won't be looking for us, Soph," Jack told her. "We have the upper hand now that they think of us as ghosts. Hell, he could come back to haunt their asses."
"Why don't we just play dead? Huh? Funeral and all."
"We've just begun our adventure by finding the Book of Origin," Jack stated. "I'm not giving up now. Nor should you."
Sophia sighed heavily. She really didn't want to do this. The search for the Book of Origin was tiring enough. Now, Jack wanted to fly to India to find a professor who hates Jack and has the pieces of the puzzle that might show them the full picture. It was too much for her.
"You are my assistant," he reminded her, which received another heavy sigh. "Your father would be disappointed if you didn't help."
She knew he was using that as leverage against her. She slumped in the seat and pouted slightly.
"Maybe I should call him," Jack said as he got up and made a move for the phone.
"No! No!" She yelled. "I'll go."
"Thank you," Jack smiled as he sat back down with her.
"You're a deceitful man, Jack Canyon," she told him. She glanced up to see a wicked grin. It was so cocky, she knew he was doing this on purpose. It was one of his tricks and she was falling for it, but if Jack didn't watch out for himself, who else would?
"I need you, Sophia, you know that," he said putting an arm around her shoulder. "Who is Butch without Sundance, or Clyde without Bonnie, or--"
"I get it, Jack," she said with an annoyed tone. Anytime she called him by name, it meant she was annoyed. To what degree was a mystery until she called out his full name. Then one would know she's a step above being annoyed.
"Alright, then, let's get going," Jack announced. "We have a plan to catch."
"I hope the flight isn't packed," Sophia said standing to get her bag. "I want to stretch out and sleep."
"That's a good plan," Jack told her. "Would've worked out well if I hadn't been attacked by the religious mafia."
"Really?" Sophia asked with hopeful eyes. "We could've just slept easily?"
"Yeah, I was going to give you until after the weekend to sleep and rest."
The annoyed look returned to her face. "Tomorrow is Monday, Jack Canyon!"
"I know it is," he said with another cocky smile.
They headed down to the lobby of the apartment building and headed outside to call for a taxi cab. It was safer than traveling in their personal vehicles. Though, Sophia no longer had one. She was going to make Jack pay big time for that.
"You owe me a car," she stated boldly.
"I do not," Jack said.
"I'll tell my dad," she threatened.
Jack looked to her for a moment. "Would you like a hardtop this time?"
She smiled at her victory. The dad card worked on her, it would work on him. Finally, when the taxi arrived, Jack opened the door for her and climbed in after.
"To the airport," Jack ordered the man.
To Be Continued. . .
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