“Okaaaay we have 15 minutes at the supermarket, each one of you has $10 to spend,” I was swiveled in the drivers seat looking back at the passengers of the van.

“Be back here by 6:30, sharp! And please, I beg if you, don’t create a messy situation. Just try to act as casual as possible, for my sake.”

Everyone grunted in response, some yawning and some only just waking up. Drew, who’s hair looked kind of purplish blue right now, was wide awake, jumping out of the doors immediately.

A cold shiver ran down my spine, and the passenger seat next to me darkened. The foggy figure of Cornelius semi-materialized, still looking like a blob of smoke. His voice emulated through the van, making everyone shiver: “I want breakfast, too.”

“What do you mean, ‘you want breakfast’,” I was tired of this guy, tagging along with us and making the journey more difficult at every turn.

“Lotion is my favorite food.” He said.

“Huh.”

“You heard me, I like lotion. It’s so smooth and buttery, great for my throat.” His bright yellow eyes finally materialized on his face, staring straight into my soul.

I had to look away, it was way too creepy. I liked him more when he was camping out in the car engine.

“Okay, fine, I’ll get your lotion, jeez.”

He laughed maniacally, and funneled back down into the seat where I couldn’t see him.

“_What a weirdo,” _I muttered under my breath as I got out of the van with the last of my passengers, locking the door behind me.

~~~~~~~~

“Cornelius looks like he’s tryna do something.” Drew was standing next to me in line at the self checkout, holding a bag of Doritos and a bottle of chocolate milk. It was 6:23, and I was holding a pack of muffins and a coffee.

“What, can you see him?”

Drew closed his eyes, his hair shifting from a dark blue to a light pink.

“Can’t see him right now, but 2 minutes ago he was laughing like a psycho and fiddling with something in the wheel.”

I let out an exasperated sigh, dreading what he might be doing to my beautiful van.

“Whatever happens, don’t let him know you can watch him. Let him believe your hair just changes colors for no reason.”

“I know, don’t worry. I’ll let you know if he does something really bad. As for now he just looks like he likes to pull stupid pranks.” Drew smiled at me, which gave me some confidence.

I smiled back, and my stomach decided to let out a growl so loud it made the lady behind me look up in concern.

Me and Drew burst out laughing and proceeded to the checkout, switching the topic to planning our next checkpoint on our journey.