MAKE IT GO BOOM | JINX

T H R E E

C H A P T E R   #03   //   A F T E R M A T H

        Two weeks had passed since the night at the warehouse with Mylo. To Sage, it felt like it was just last night. Bad dreams plagued her mind every time she slept. She referred to them as nightmares because nightmares were nothing but figments of someone's imagination. They could not hurt you after you woke up. They simply were not real.

What she saw every night was so much worse than nightmares. They were flashbacks, memories, actions that she had done, and a crime she had committed. She had been trying to convince her brain that what she saw every night was nothing but nightmares, that it had not happened, and that it could not haunt her during the daytime. It was to no avail, though.

The young girl sat near the bridge that connected the two sides of what was once one united city. She had been considering whether or not to simply cross the bridge and turn herself in. Maybe she deserved the consequences, or maybe she just wanted to start a new life away from the people who knew what she had done. Or maybe she was just a coward who was too weak to live with what she had done.

None of her friends knew about what had happened besides Mylo and, to her dismay, Vi. Mylo had kept his word and took the blame when talking to Vi about what had happened. But it did not go quite as planned.

After Sage and Mylo had returned home, they were drenched. Mylo had instructed Sage to get changed and then head to bed. The girl had listened and exchanged her wet clothes for dry ones. After she had changed her clothes, she lay down on her bed and stared into the darkness until the morning had arrived.

That was hours ago; the day had passed by in a blur for the young girl. Now the group of five was sitting in their room playing a game of poker. Sage had chosen not to participate. Instead, she simply sat on the couch next to Powder, who was trying her best to win.

Sage kept to herself throughout the day. It was no different now. She passed her time fiddling with her fingers or clothes. She had noticed the looks her friends had been giving her every now and then, but she did her best to smile in reassurance every time she caught their eyes.

"Oh, come on now!" exclaimed Powder after Mylo slammed his cards down onto the table, saying he had won. Everybody around her laughed at Powder's reaction. Mylo's win tied him with Vi.

"One more round, and you're done for, Vi," said Mylo, teasing Vi with the words and a light nudge.

"I think I'm done for today," Vi said whilst taking the cards from the table and stacking them. Sage furrowed her brows slightly at Vi's foreign behaviour. It was unlike her to leave a game in a tie, especially when it was between her and Mylo. "We still have to run that errand for Vander, and it's already pretty late. We should get going."

Sage heard Mylo scoff, so she turned to look at him. She watched him stand up from his seated position and heard him disapprovingly mumble, "One more game couldn't have hurt." Vi remained silent whilst picking up everybody's cards.

Sage stood up and looked towards Powder. She watched Powder's face flush with a happy smile before the blue-haired girl reached out for Sage's hand. Sage held onto her friend's hand and followed her towards the stairs along with the others.

"Sage, could you help me put the cards away?" asked Vi when Sage was near the door. Sage looked over her shoulder toward Vi and gave the older girl a confused look since she had already picked up most of them.