The Crimson King

X. Regrets

Just a week after his latest victory over a God, Jake had an important meeting. To call it a meeting is an overstatement, but it was important. Today he had plans to have dinner with Kate and her family. His attire said it all, Jake was going to pull all the stops in order to impress Kate's parents.
Sporting a black jacket and some nice jeans it was obvious he was taking things seriously. In fact, he bought a burgundy button up just for this occasion, but in typical Jake fashion it was untucked. Even his hair was combed, though he wasn't a fan of it. He never was. Jake messed up his hair again, only moving it to the left so it wasn't in his eyes. Even so, Jake would have liked it more if he could live his life with hair in his eyes. In the mirror he could see the bags under his eyes.
"This is so not my thing."
Jake hung his head low before turning from the mirror. He wasn't nervous, but the idea of going to a fancy restaurant made him uneasy. Those places weren't his image. Fancy clothing, expensive food and the whole atmosphere wasn't something that suited Jake. He belonged in restaurants that were more for the public, not high society, but Kate chose the restaurant and that was final.
Another problem was that one of the potions he was taking was starting to wear off. However, he can't just drink another one when that happens, it would destroy the whole cycle of the potions and potentially kill him. His arm was aching, the Leviathan Illness always attacks the dominant hand first. That meant that the strength in Jake's left arm was currently only half of what it normally is.
"Come on Jake, it's only three days away. You can handle that."
The pain got worse, even with his good pain tolerance, Jake felt it get worse. He rolled up his sleeve above his elbow. The black veins on his forearm were expanding, going to his upper arm and about half way to Jake's wrist.
He could feel the cold sweat slowly roll down his face. Jake's condition was getting worse, wielding Jericho was going to kill him sooner or later. But at this pace, it was going to be sooner. His throat tightened, panic was slowly taking over. For the first time since he joined the Order, Jake was scared for his life.
He could feel his knees get weak, it was a feeling Jake wasn't familiar with. To feel such fear that he was stumbling was like talking to a stranger. Somehow, Jake managed to lean on the wall before sliding to the ground. He sat down, leaning against the wall while trying to calm down. What a terrible time to feel this way.

His phone couldn't have rung at a better time. Jake reached for his pocket and took it out, but once he saw the caller, his mood soured even more. It wasn't Kate that was calling, it was the Witch. He didn't have a choice, Jake had to answer, otherwise there could be people he let die.
"What is it?"
"We got a call for reinforcements at the old watermill. You're currently the only one that's not fighting."
Jake almost dropped his phone. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. The timing on things today was not in his favour. Even if he wanted to go to the dinner, there was no way Jake could turn his back on this request. It wasn't about slaying a God, it was about the fact that Slayers were the final and only defense line in this unfortunate situation.
"You're kidding, that's half an hour away from here. I have dinner with Kate and her parents in forty minutes."
"Think Jake, the watermill is out of the part of town nearest to the place you have to go to. If this God escapes from there, not only will the civvies be in danger, but your precious girlfriend too."
"I know, I'm a Slayer first, a normal teen second. Protecting is my job."
"I'm sure Kate will understand."
"Here's hoping."
Jake ended the call, his hand just dropping to the floor with defeat. He hit his head on the wall, just wishing that for once things would go his way.
Somehow, despite the pain in his arm and feeling lightheaded, Jake managed to get on his feet. Jen was still home, so he grit his teeth, hid away the pain and went back to his calm self. With the pain still lingering, Jake grabbed his car keys and left for the old watermill.

It was ten minutes after Jake had to meet up with Kate and her family. The four of them were already there, all dressed up. Kate was in a fancy black dress she was dying to show Jake, but at this moment she was furious. He was late, something Jake wasn't known for, but today of all times? It was a reason to be mad.
"Kate, maybe we should head inside."
"I knew that punk was a good for nothing. Why are you with him?"
"Shut up dad. You guys go inside. I have a call to make."
While her parents went inside along with her brother, Kate got her phone out. She called Jake a few times, but he didn't answer. On the fifth try however, she heard the noise of the call connecting. Jake didn't have a moment to answer before Kate yelled into the phone.
"Where are you!?"
"Kate? Sorry, I tried to call you, but you didn't answer. Something came up, I had to go take care of it."
"Spare me the details Jake, you were supposed to be here ten minutes ago. Does this mean nothing to you?"
"What are you saying? Of course it does, but I can't just turn my back when I'm called to fight."
Kate grew more and more irritated with each word Jake spoke. Granted, she was emotional right now, but Jake wasn't helping the situation.
"Jake, shut up. I am not going to tolerate this. You can't do this, not when this was planned over a month ago."
"What am I supposed to do? Just let people die? I am not going to have blood on my hands for inaction."
"I'm done with this conversation."
"Hol-"
Before Jake had the time to finish his sentence, Kate ended the call. She was properly mad now and it was because Jake didn't say what she wanted to hear. There were a lot of times he didn't say things Kate wanted Jake to say. Though that was simply because Kate would often put impossible expectations on him.
She took a deep breath to calm down and went inside. Her family was already sat at the table, Kate's dad obviously complaining to her mom about Jake. There was no way to stop him from saying bad things about Jake, despite how much it upset Kate, she was too mad at Jake to even care.
"Where's Jake dear?"
"He's not coming."
"Why?"
"Something came up and he had to take care of it."
Her dad just flicked his tongue. There was no way he would ever like Jake. Not with Jake not going to college and just seeing him as a bad person in general.
"Why are you even with that failure?"
"Mind your own business dad."
Kate looked at her phone, staring at Jake's profile. Hoping he was typing or that he would come online out of nowhere. But he was offline and he would stay that way for the rest of the day.