Aloveen Rising

37. Loyalties Fade

Jake sniffed to clear his nose and stared blankly at the mirror, he could barely recognise his reflection. His eyes were swollen and red and his usually neat hair resembled a bird's nest. He fought the tears beginning to form again, he vaguely wondered how much he would need to cry before his body ran out of tears. There was a quiet knock on the door,

"Jake" Jacie said softly, "I know you are feeling like a mess right now but we made some food,"

"Thanks but I'm not hungry," Jake said numbly,

Jacie was quiet for a moment, "I'll leave some pasta in the microwave for you, just in case you get hungry later,"

Jake didn't answer, food just wasn't on his list of priorities. He looked down at his hands, a faint wisp of smoke was rising from each hand. He frowned and shook his hands, the smoke had been there ever since. Jake's eyes watered at the thought.

How could this even happen? I'm sorry Ethan, you deserved so much better. He slumped against the bathtub and slipped his phone from his pocket. Just as he had expected there weren't any new messages, his phone beeped and a temperature symbol began flashing. He quickly dropped his phone into his lap and waited for the symbol to disappear. There was another knock at the door,

"I don't want pasta," he said quietly,

The door opened and Nate walked in, "You doing ok?"

Jake laughed derisively, "That's a stupid question,"

Nate held his hands up in surrender, "I still had to ask,"

Jake's expression softened, "I know"

"So," Nate said, "Why the bathroom?"

Jake shrugged, "The tiles are cold in here, my body feels like it's on fire,"

Nate watched the smoke drifting up from Jake's hands, "Probably because it is," He held his hand under the tap and let droplets of water fall onto Jake's arm, the moment it touched his skin it hissed and disappeared in a puff of steam,

Jake stared at his arm blankly, "That's new,"

"Try pulling your temperature down but if it doesn't work, have a cold shower," Nate ordered,

Jake took a deep breath trying to focus on the fire he knew was just waiting for him to call on it, a burning pain shot through his head and he yelped,

"I can't do it," he said breathing heavily, "I guess I'll try the shower,"

Nate nodded and left the bathroom, the door swung shut behind him with a click. Jake stared at the door for a moment then sighed and got into the shower.

"I'm really worried about Jake," Nate said,

Jacie sat heavily on the lounge, "I'd be concerned if you weren't,"

"He's just so different."

"Can you blame him?"

Nate shrugged and sat beside her, "He wasn't this bad even when he told me about Greg,"

"He just needs time," Jacie said gently, "We all do,"

"I wish we could have done more,"

Jacie smiled sadly, "He kept us safe if he hadn't acted so quickly that generator would have blown up pretty much in our faces"

"Yeah, I just can't help thinking. If we hadn't let him be our friend, he'd still be here right now. None of this would have happened,"

"I'm glad we had him," Jake said quietly, he joined them on the lounge and together they sat in silence, no one wanting to be the one to break it.

Justin groaned and fell hard on his knees, blood dripping from his nose. He shook his head trying to get the black spots in his vision to disappear,

Next to him, Lucy grappled with the man who had just elbowed him in the face,

"Get off me," Lucy spat, kicking at her attacker's legs,

"As I have already said, due to national security concerns you are being detained," the man said sounding bored as he effortlessly blocked her wild swings,

"Stick your concerns where-"

"Lucy" Justin interrupted, "Let's just go with them unless you want to get a few body mods," he said eyeing the rifle strung on the man's back,

Lucy scowled and white filled her eyes, the man groaned and fell to the ground twitching in pain,

"Don't think I will," she hissed, there was a moment of silence then Lucy screamed as she flew into the wall behind her with a sickening crunch, with her focus broken her eyes returned to normal,

Max stepped through the doorway, his hand outstretched, "Refrain from killing my agents" he ordered,

Justin got to his feet, his eyes darkened and darkness covered his hands. Max flicked his hand but the darkness spread like a wall leaving Justin unaffected,

Lucy punched the ground in frustration, her eyes drained of colour leaving only the cold white, "Why can't I hurt you?"

Max and Justin glared at each other giving no indication that they'd heard her,

Lucy tore her phone from her pocket and flung it at her father angrily, Max lifted his hand and the phone froze inches from his face.

"You are messing with something you lack the ability to wield effectively," He smiled thinly, "Much like your boyfriend here,"

"Is that so?" Justin asked snarkily, he looked down and Max followed his gaze, darkness surrounded Max's legs. Max grunted as the darkness turned pointy, dark spikes pierced the skin on his legs digging straight through the muscle,

"That's enough," Max ordered through gritted teeth,

Justin raised an eyebrow looking amused, his amusement quickly turned to confusion as steel wires tore through the ground tying his legs together and pinning his hands at his sides. Another agent walked into the room his focus entirely on Justin,

"Anything else sir?"

Max cast a cold glare at his daughter, "Do you need the same treatment or are you going to come quietly?" He growled,

"Go to hell," Lucy spat,

The agent shrugged and more wires pulled themselves out of the ground wrapping themselves around her,

"Thank you Tee," Max said examining the bloody wounds on his legs,

"You should probably see the medic about those sir,"

Max stepped forward experimentally, his legs shook but he stayed on his feet, "I'll be fine. Get these two back and into a cell until I am ready to question them,"

Tee nodded, "Yes sir," He whistled and more agents rushed into the room and working in groups of two carried Lucy and Justin back outside and into the waiting van.

Max stood silently assessing the damage to the hotel room as blood dripped down his legs, splinters covered the floor and dust. He frowned and brushed the dust from his pants, the gun at his side bounced slightly from the movement. Not that it mattered it was no more than a prop for him, an inferior tool being used as a showpiece to placate potential witnesses. He limped out of the hotel room and climbed into the waiting car, his leg twinged from the movement.

He glared out the window as the car pulled out of the driveway and drove down the street, his hand throbbed and surges of pain shot down his fingers. His phone buzzed but he ignored it flexing his fingers, his hand shook as he reached for his phone.

"They aren't going to help us," Tee wrote,

Max ground his teeth impatiently as he typed his reply, "It doesn't matter, just hold them there. I want to speak to them."

Max's eye twitched as the thumbs-up emoji appeared beneath his message, Tee was becoming more argumentative lately. He sighed, perhaps it had been a mistake to bring him here, perhaps fear-controlled loyalty was beginning to fade.

He sighed again, it was time to start looking after things personally.