Ashes Of The Throne | Part I

Chapter 106 | October 16th | Armageddon

Timeline - October 16th | ( Next Day)

No amount of training could mend the turmoil within him. Slaying monsters only fueled his restlessness, and each tequila shot forced him to confront thoughts he'd rather avoid. Hours later, having barely slept, he found himself in the cafeteria, his finger hovering over the tablet on the table, his knee bouncing and his foot tapping on the floor. Besides that, he could feel Snow's power relentlessly pressing on him, wherever the hell she was. But what consumed him more than anything was Eko's email announcing her reassignment, sent at 3:54 am that morning. It loomed before him, ending with a huge 'fuck you' as her sign-off. The message only served to anger him more, stoking the fires of his frustration and unresolved emotions.

As he sat amidst his friends—Jesse, Richie, Toni, and Jasmine—all nursing hangovers, Matthew reached for his coffee cup, hoping its warmth would provide a distraction from thoughts of her—the soft, sweet moans that escaped her lips when she reached her peak with him. But as he lifted the cup, he realized it had long since gone cold.

Frustration simmered within him as he stood up abruptly, without a word. The others at the table watched him leave, and before anyone could ask what he was doing, he was already making his way to the front of the cafeteria, appearing as though he was going to order another coffee.

"I'd love one as well!" Jesse called out after him, a hint of sarcasm in his tone. "Thanks for asking!"

Ignoring the comment, Matthew reached the counter and ordered another coffee, his mind consumed with thoughts of her and the email announcing her reassignment. He couldn't shake the feeling of frustration and anger that had been building since he received it in the early hours of the morning. He needed to do something about it, and he needed to do it now.

After receiving no response from Matthew, Jesse turned back to the table, her fingers pressed to her temple. "Can somebody tell me what happened with those two? I thought it was fine, they left together."

"She came back in," Jasmine replied, struggling to recall the events of the previous night. "To be honest, it was all a blur. They were gone for like half an hour or something." What she did vaguely remember was dragging Eko's sorry state back to base with Sawyer after she got into a brawl with some of the fan club girls.

The scene had been chaotic: Eko, already incredibly drunk and emotional, had been cornered by a group of girls. They had started with snide remarks, but things quickly escalated when one of the girls shoved Eko. Fueled by a mix of alcohol and pent-up frustration, Eko had swung back, landing a solid punch that set off a full-blown fight. Jasmine and Sawyer had to wade into the fray, pulling Eko away from the fight as fists and insults flew.

When they finally managed to extricate Eko from the chaos, she was a mess. Her nose was bleeding, her hair was a tangled mess, and she kept muttering incoherently about wanting to vomit and killing Matthew somewhere in between her gagging.

They had dragged her back to base, where Madison was waiting, clearly unhappy. When Eko vomited, Jasmine was pretty sure Madison was reminding her that her mother would be horrified and embarrassed by her behavior. Jasmine honestly didn't really care at that point. Additionally, Eko was going to be in a far worse state that morning than any of them. The fan club had been circling around, waiting for her. Jesse had already told them to back off when they got there, and Matthew was in no mood for any of them after whatever had happened between him and Eko last night.

"Just, someone please fill in the gaps?" Jesse moaned, looking up. "Where was I for this?"

"In the bathroom," Toni grinned, "you were throwing up like you always do."