⊹ ｡ ﾟ⁖✦ •𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘢 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘈𝘜⁖ °✦ ･ﾟ⋆

Chapter 13

The flames flickered. After a minute, there was a sudden flash. Cesar shielded his eyes.
"Aaace of heartsss," the fire hissed.
"Y-yes! That's me." Cesar said excitedly.
"Hooowww can I heellllllp?"
"Oh, I'm so glad you asked! You see, I need help from the ace of spades. Is it available?"
After another minute, a new higher-pitched voice spoke. "You asked for meee?"
"I did! I did. I need your help as soon as possible! Please."
Cesar explained the situation with Adam.
"If it was Lucifer's decision, I am afraid I cannot interfere." The voice said apologetically.
Cesar's eyes grew wide in fear. He was anxious. "Oh no no no, please! There has to be *something!* he pleaded.
The first voice spoke up. "You muuussst confer with Lucifer firrrrssst. He is the light. The centerrrrr."
"What do I need to do? What can I say? He despises Adam the most."
"Giiivee him a reasonnn....why...he should be spared..."
"Well...the only one I've got is because his best friend in life will be a mess. It'll be very, very hard to keep things going."
"Lucifer will decide what a good reason is when you speak," the second voice said.
Cesar took a deep breath to calm himself.
"Alright...how much time do I have?"
"8 hours. And then I cannot save anyone."
"Thank you." Cesar choked.

Mark and Jonah were in the library, waiting for Adam.
"Well he wasn't at breakfast which is weird, but I'm just assuming he overslept from playing games with whoever else there is, so...maybe we should just keep waiting for him!"
"I've got time, I guess." Mark replied.
Five minutes pass. Then ten. Then twenty.
"Um, Jonah, it's been twenty minutes now and no sign of Adam. Can we start without him? We can fill him in later when we see him."
"Alright..." Jonah sighed.
They finish the meeting without Adam ever appearing.

That night, Jonah was the quietest Mark and Cesar had seen him yet. No jokes or anything, he moved robotically, not saying a word to anyone. When nightly games were done, he waited for Mark to leave the room and approached Cesar.
"I used to be on your side, Cesar." Jonah cleared his throat and said angrily.
"Hm?" Cesar looked up from the deck of cards he was shuffling and packing away.
"Oh my god. Did his existence already completely slip your mind? Adam, you jackass! Where is he?!" He yelled.
"Jonah, take a deep breath," Cesar turned and took a breath himself—just to get the air knocked back out of his lungs by Jonah grabbing him by the collar.
"WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS ADAM?!" The angry man asked, gripping Cesar's shirt so tightly, leaving wrinkles that would take a while to remove.
"Jonah, you need to relax-"
"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE TELL ME TO RELAX! What have you done?! What happened???"
"Jonah, I-"
"WHERE IS HE?" Jonah barked again, "WHERE IS HE WHERE IS HE WHERE IS HE?!?" He repeated, slightly shaking Cesar with every repetition.
"Hey!" A familiar commanding voice yelled. It was Thatcher. "What's going on here?"
Jonah dropped Cesar, who landed on his feet nearly losing his balance, and yelled while pointing at Cesar,
"CESAR MURDERED ADAM!!!"
"What? I did no such thing! I would never!" Cesar insisted.
Thatcher sighed. "Marshall, I assure you Cesar has nothing to do with Adam's disappearance. Not really, at least.."
"Not REALLY? Oh 'not really'? You both owe me an explanation! Now!"
"Jonah, go upstairs. Maybe you'll see him tomorrow." Thatcher sighed groaned.
Jonah whined like an angry toddler and stomped out of the room and up the stairs.

In bed, he couldn't sleep. His mind was incessantly preoccupied with concern for his best friend. The only familiar face he had in this place. The only real source of comfort he had.
He didn't give a fuck about the curfew or any other rules anymore...he rolled out of bed and snuck down the hallway to Adam's door. He opened it and stuck his head in, just to see a dark hotel suite devoid of any presence. The bed was made and light from the moon shined on it through the window. Jonah's heart sank further as his face fell warm as tears began to sting his eyes again. He hung his head, closed the door and dragged himself back to his own room.
Thatcher was sitting in the chair in the corner of the suite to greet him.
"Fuck," Jonah sighed under his breath.
He got into bed in defeat.
"I know it's hard," Thatcher said. "I've been in similar situations."
"Shut up." Jonah said, lying down with his back to Thatcher.
"Really. I really do. But I won't go on if you don't want me to."
"Good." Jonah grumbled.
"I'll be outside your door to make sure you don't pull that stunt again. Have a good night." Thatcher got up and walked over to the door.
"Whatever...pig." Jonah grumbled, pulling the duvet over his head.
"I've been called worse. Now good night." Thatcher closed the door. Now that he was alone, Jonah let tears erupt from his big brown eyes. His chest hurt from the overwhelming emotion he felt. The unknown can do crazy things...the fear of the unknown is innate. Did Cesar even understand that? Maybe Mark and Adam were right—Cesar wasn't human. Just some freak of nature trying to control them.