The Rift [Daryl Dixon]

Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell

Emma's son looked up from the coloring book he had found around the house. His eyes fixed on his mom, she had passed out not too long ago. Emma slept on her stomach, her right hand under the pillow where she hid a knife.

She was as paranoid as ever, but with good reason.

Jack dropped the pencil and ran a hand through his blonde locks. It was now or never.

Jack knew better than to sneak out of the house, specially when his mom was asleep, thinking he was laying on the bed, safe and sound, right next to her. He also knew he had to be fast, whatever he was going to do out there, he better hurried it up, 'cause Emma would freak out if she woke up to an empty bed.

Tiptoeing out of the room, Jack found himself in the middle of the living room. It was dark and quiet. It reminded him of home. That small cabin in which he used to live with Emma, where he grew up, only home he knew. It held so many happy memories. He missed that place immensely. He wished he could go back to the time when he felt like he had it all. Daryl would come over everyday, he would usually hang out with Jack, teach him stuff that he made sure the kid knew were very important for survival, or so he said. Emma had never seemed happier to the little boy back when Daryl was around. They were a family, she liked that. Jack liked that. But now, it was all gone.

Jack closed the door behind him and walked down the steps until his bare feet were no longer touching the wood of the porch, but went grass.

The boy gazed up at the starry sky for a moment. His body shivered under the cold wind. The thin fabric of his pajamas wouldn't keep him warm in those temperatures.

Jack shut his eyes closed and thought of his father, but he soon found himself struggling to picture what he looked like. He had never met him, never seen him before, so the image was blurry. Despite that, he tried praying. He had never done that before, so he didn't know exactly where to start.

He prayed for Carl. He asked him to help his friend, to assure his full recovery. Jack also asked for a sign of his presence. He was disappointed when he didn't feel anything.
Jack decided to try again, this time with Castiel. He remembered him, how he helped him and his biological mother. Emma had also talked about the angel. She painted a very good picture of him, so he focused on the angel. After a couple minutes of meditating, he gave up.

A sigh escaped his lips as he dropped his tensed shoulders. "Why isn't it working?" He wondered. His eyes watered as the desperation began to settle in. What was the point of having such powerful father, if he wasn't there when his son needed him most?

He had seen the interaction between Rick and Carl. Their relationship was beautiful. It was everything he had wanted, expected, but couldn't have. It wasn't fair. "What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?" Jack gasped out in surprise. He felt the man's intimidating glare on him, making him feel small, so he turned around to look at him. "It ain't safe for you to be out here, where's your mom?" The boy shrugged, he didn't want Daryl to know he had caught him praying to his father. He was ashamed, embarrassed even. "Don't even think about lying to me, kid."

Jack sighed in defeat. "I was praying." He said.

"Praying to who?"

"Whoever is willing to listen, God, Cas, my father..." Daryl groaned. He didn't exactly know whether he felt disappointed, angry or hurt about that statement. "Why is no one responding to me? Am I that awful?" Jack broke down into tears and all anger in Daryl's heart disappeared. "Not even my father wants to be part of my life. He won't answer my prayers, why? At school I was always the weird kid with a single mom. I never celebrated father's day because I never had a father. Why?" The hunter had managed to keep his emotions under control until Jack's blue-ish eyes met his. They were puffy and red, injected with blood. He was emotionally distraught. The sight simply broke Daryl's heart. "I just want a dad, like everyone else. I want to be normal, Daryl."