DIE ➳ JACK JOHNSON

XI. JUST TAKE MY HAND

i said that i wouldn't have time to update, but surprise!! i actually did have some time, and i updated because i love you guys!!

chapter eleven - july 3

jack had come into the diner half an hour ago, expecting to meet with alaska here, but she was nowhere to be found. he tried calling her, but his calls didn't seem to go through. so he was now pacing around the diner, tapping away on his phone, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"what are you doing?" jack stopped, and turned around to meet alaska's co-worker. he didn't give jack a chance to talk before speaking up again. "alaska's not here if that's what you're wondering."

"where is she?" he asked, concern latched all over his voice.

chad smiled a bit as he caught onto that. he then laughed slightly which only resulted in a glare from jack. "i'm sorry," he said before sobering up. "she called in. said she couldn't make it. boss thought she was with you, so he let her."

jack grew even more frantic. "well, she's not with me."

"i can see that," chad spoke slowly, nodding his head.

"then, where the hell is she?" jack demanded.

"i don't know," chad shrugged like it was nothing, but in reality, he was amused. "though, i remember her saying something about it being her birthday this month or something. maybe she just wanted a day off to herself."

"it's her birthday?" jack asked shocked, a bit hurt that alaska didn't share that information with him. it made him realize that he truly didn't know anything about her. she was still the mysterious girl he met all those weeks ago, and it frustrated him a bit, because he's been trying so hard to get her to fully trust him.

chad clicked his tongue, suddenly remembering. "actually i think it was yesterday."

"i missed her birthday?" jack asked.

"huh, seems like you did."

- [ that was just some info to get started so carrying on to better parts ]

alaska grimaced as she stared at herself in the mirror. all she could see were bruises, then the huge purple-ish, black-ish smack at the side of her stomach. she sighed as she let her shirt fall down. she began to pick up all the contents on the floor had father had thrown down. she bit down on her lips to prevent the teas, but she gave up on that.

just like all the times before, her dad had managed to find her hiding spot. the same exact spot she thought was secret, so she kept all of her money there. the money she worked so hard to save up to get out of this dump was mostly gone.

she was at the same position she was all those years ago. she was trapped, lost with no way out. she couldn't get out. she'd never see the light of day as long as her father was here, but what else could she do?

she crawled over the corner of her room and rested herself against the wall. she carefully picked up an old picture that had fallen out of her small chest. she smiled lightly, before heaving a sob. she ran her thumb across the face on the picture.

she had kept this picture through all these years, because of the fact that they had looked so happy. she was so little then, and she envied the girl in the picture now, because she was so innocent, unaware of the dangers of the world. she was so carefree and happy, and never let anything stop her. she had her mom who was kissing her forehead with a distinct smile on her face at her daughter's disgusted look. she laughed lightly as she remembered how her father had just licked ice cream off of her mother's face before giving her a passionate kiss.