Dream and Nightmare

Chapter 19 - Madness

Jack pulled the cup from Anah's lips. "You've had enough," he said. It came out a lot harsher than he'd meant it to, and the look on her face told him she'd noticed. It was amazing how much Anah could look like a lost puppy dog sometimes. Her eyes widened to the point where they were nearly circular, and her lips parted in the smallest pout. Jack would've smiled at the look, but he didn't want her to think he was making fun of her. "I just don't want you getting sick again," he explained. "You looked pretty miserable last time." 

Her eyes shrank to their normal size, and he face broke into a grin, lighting up her features. "You're so sweet! Let's go for a walk; I want to see more of the town!" Anah grabbed his hand, pulling him to his feet. He almost said no, but despite Felidy's best efforts, a bruise shone dark on her wrist, each individual finger from her mother's grip emphasized against her skin. Between her bangs he could see a red and purple colored cut that had scabbed over, but the memory of a red stain on her carpet, and her face painted in blood still felt fresh in his mind. He should never have left her, and he wasn't about to make that mistake again by letting her wander off on her own.  

"What's that look for?" Anah asked him, a faint frown on her face. 

Jack quickly recomposed his face. "What look?" 

Anah shrugged it off, rearranging her hand in his so that it was more comfortable for both of them than her dragging him along. Jack wasn't sure how he felt about holding her hand like he was, or even how he was supposed to feel about it. She was his best friend, right? And he was pretty sure best friends weren't supposed to hold hands that often, or be nearly as happy about it as he was. Or were they? Truthfully, having friends wasn't something Jack was too familiar with, but at least he knew friends shouldn't want to kiss each other.  

Her hand wasn't sweaty but rather cold in the cool night air. Somehow it felt much more like early fall in that world than the sweltering summer of theirs. Jack wrapped his fingers around hers, trying to warm them. He shouldn't have been concerned about her cold extremities either, but he was.  

Some little part of his mind reminded him of Felidy, but truthfully he wasn't sure how he felt about her. He very much enjoyed her company, and kissing her had been fun, but half the time he felt like she was using him to get to Rendel, and the other half of the time he felt himself carrying this strange guilt that he couldn't explain. 

It wasn't like Anah cared for him as anything more than a friend. She'd made that much perfectly clear on the boat. Jack cringed at the memory. He had been a complete idiot for trying to kiss her like that. He'd just been so relieved that she didn't like that bastard, Rendel, and she was really pretty when she cried. God, how twisted was that?  

And who the hell looked pretty when they cried anyway? He remembered how much he resembled a zombie through the weeks that followed his grandfather's death. Damn it, Jack, he scolded himself. Stop thinking about that. Yet, even as he thought it, his mind took him back to that dark memory.  

~~~~ 

Leaving the house earlier, Jack's pockets had been weighed down with quarters, but coming back he had a necklace of tickets zipped underneath his father's old, leather jacket. The arcade was where he spent a good half of his time. He'd even gotten to know a few other regulars there. Usually he'd go out to get a soda with them after a long day of Pacman, but that day was different.  

It was more of an itching feeling like the annoyance of having forgotten to do something that he couldn't think of.  

The air nipped at his skin as he made his way up the long drive. Though Jack insisted on walking to the arcade instead of taking a car, he wasn't stupid enough to believe that the two men in suits following behind his weren't working for his grandfather.