|Eight|

•Week Three• (2)

(Sorry for the last chapter, but don't worry, y'all are gonna hate me even more)

"Sir? A voice sounded from down the tunnel. Hope would've risen in my chest if it wasn't for the fact that all my happiness had been drained from my soul.
"Are you okay?" A man in a police uniform waded through the water, steadily approaching the wooden boards.

"QUICK, GET OVER HERE. HE NEEDS HELP!" I somehow found my voice, and the words just fell from my mouth.

The policeman's features turned urgent and he quickly pulled himself onto the boards. I pointed to the opposite side of the cave where Jack was slumped against the wall.

The policeman pulled out his walkie-talkie, quickly calling for backup before taking the needle out of Jack's arm. He checked for a pulse, and my eyes widened, praying there was something.

The policeman pulled his hand away, turning back to meet my gaze. A worried smile appeared on his face.
"There's a pulse. It's faint, and he needs immediate medical assistance."

My breath caught in my throat. Jack was alive. He was barely alive, but alive nevertheless.

"Don't worry, okay? I'm gonna get both of you out of here."

After what he said, more and more cops came on the scene, and using some of their tools they pried the chains off of Jack. Two men carried Jack carefully out of the ride and probably to an awaiting ambulance.

Then, they broke the chains off my wrists and helped me to my feet. I was a little dizzy and my knees buckled. But I still limped towards the river, trying to follow Jack to make sure he's okay.

One of the officers stopped me, though.
"Can you please tell us what happened here?"

I swallowed, my eyes darting from the officer to the river of blood and back again.

"I-"

The officer raised an eyebrow, and another cop pulled out a notepad.

"I can't. I'm sorry but I need to see my brother, I need to make sure he's okay."

The officer sighed, but nodded. "Your brother will be fine, we'll escort you out of here so you can see him."

I stumbled into the water, blood and water staining my clothes. I didn't care, though. I needed to get to Jack.
Some of the policemen had to swim to keep up with me, and when I reached the entrance to the ride I didn't pause to catch my breath.

The circus seemed almost abandoned now, except for some performers and about a dozen police cars.

There was yellow tape all over the circus tent, and I briefly wondered what was going on. Jack was more important, though, so I pushed everything else away.

Jack's lifeless form came into view, and I rushed over to the stretcher he was being carried around on.
Medics tried pushing me away, but I held firm to Jack's hand.

"Will he be okay?" I said, doubting my voice could be heard over all the sirens and commotion.

A woman pulling his stretcher along smiled at me, but that didn't ease my mind at all.

"He is absolutely fine," she said, but I could somehow tell she was lying. Her words didn't quite match her eyes.

She seemed to notice my concern and placed a firm hand on my shoulder.
"I promise we'll help him, okay?"

I didn't respond.

Red flashing lights blurred my vision as the stretcher reached the ambulance, and this was when I had to let go. But I couldn't. I couldn't let go of Jack, not again.

I turned back to the woman. "Can I go with him?"

She looked sympathetic. "We only allow extra passengers for when the patient is conscious."

"But-" I stopped, my eyes landing on something farther away.
A body of a woman surrounded by policemen, the Ringmaster, and Ryan.

She was being carried out of the circus tent and even from where I stood I could see that her body was bent in an odd way.

A cold shiver ran down my spine, and I forced myself to look away. What was going on? The yellow tape, the police cars, the missing crowds....

Realization quickly hit me. The police were here because of Annie, it was just a strike of luck they found me and Jack.

The woman being carried out of the tent was Annie. The killer got away.

I couldn't save Jack, and I couldn't save her. I cursed myself.

"Sir? I'm sorry but you can't ride with the patient."

My attention snapped back to the woman who was pushing the stretcher into the back of the ambulance. Jack's hand slipped from my grasp, and the woman stopped me from going any further.

I opened my mouth to protest, but was interrupted by a shocked scream.
I winced and my eyes fell on Ryan, running as fast as he could toward me.

When he reached us, I could tell something was wrong. I mean, a lot of things were wrong at the moment, but there was something in the way his eyes widened when he saw Jack.
I brushed it off.

Ryan frantically grabbed onto the side of Jack's stretcher.
"JACK'S NOT SAFE?!"

I paused for a moment, confused by the question. "It's okay, Ry. Jack will be okay." I had to push away my own worries to make sure Ryan wouldn't be scared.

The woman tried holding Ryan back, but he held so tightly to the stretcher that his knuckles began to pale.

"He's supposed to be safe! He's always supposed to be safe! I-I cant-" Ryan screamed, his face covered with violent tears that kept coming.

Without thinking, I grabbed Ryan's arm, pulling him away.
"Ryan! Please calm down, Jack is fine!"

Ryan was forced to look at me, and his eyes held so much pain and something I would classify as guilt.

"Ry, it's okay... I Promise," I said, more  gentle.

His expression immediately changed.
And I could see something turning in his mind, the flicker of his eyes that I know so well. I instantly knew something was very wrong.

Before I could react, he harshly pulled the woman away from Jack.

She gasped in surprise.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HIM."

I grabbed him, making him let go of the poor woman who was just trying to do her job. "What are you doing?!"

This time, he didn't look at me. He just stared at her.

Several minutes passed before Ryan slowly exhaled.
"I'm- I'm sorry- it's just that..."

Sympathy leaked it's way through me, and I pulled Ryan into a hug. "It's okay...."

"Everyone's dying," he whimpered, his head buried in my shoulder. "Everywhere I go, death follows. I-I don't understand-"

I could feel his rapid heart beat, his shallow breaths, the wet tears falling gently on my shoulder.

"The killer got to Annie while I was talking to Willis- and- and she....." He trembled, more tears falling onto me. "She fell- and- I couldn't do anything. We came here to save her, and now she's dead. I'm cursed, I don't know what's happening to me. And when I saw Jack, something just...... Snapped inside of me. I-"

"Shh...." I whispered, trying to calm him down. "It's okay. We'll go with Jack to the hospital and he'll be okay."

I didn't say anything about Annie, because, I couldn't. Her death was on me.