Charming In Handcuffs

Extra - Chapter 16: Jack's POV

-Jack-

My temples were throbbing again.

After the meeting today and after getting back from Juliet's, I went straight to my room and locked myself in. My dad locked himself in his office again, my mom...I don't know. She doesn't do much when she's alone in the house. On rare occasions she'll sit and read, which is funny considering her occupation.

I wanted to write now, but my mind wasn't going to let me.

My mind was swimming with useless information from today. Absolutely nothing to help my case. All I wanted to do was remember.

Why couldn't I just remember?

This whole situation was so frustrating I either wanted to cry or throw my fist through a wall. Maybe punch a wall and then cry.

Most of my theories were so far fetched I started laughing.

There was one where I even considered sleepwalking. But then ruled that out because I woke up in the hospital with a head injury. The memories come in flashes and broken voices. There's nothing I could make out.

Maybe if I slept I'd be able to remember something. Dream about that night and let it come to me. But I knew that probably wasn't going to happen either. So instead, I got up and sat at my desk. I pulled out Juliet's notes and some of my worksheets to study some.

Anything's a distraction at this point.

Never thought I'd use studying as a distraction.

After I completed a worksheet, there was a knock on my door. "Yeah?" I called out without looking up from my paper.

The door opened and I saw my mom from the corner of my eye. "We're going out for a bit. Will you be okay?"

"No, but it's not like you guys care."

"Jack," She grounded. "We're doing everything we can-"

"I know," I said quickly. "I'll be fine. It's not like I can go anywhere."

"Call us if you need anything."

As she started to leave, I called her back, "Mom."

She popped her head back into the crack of the door.

"I'm sorry," I murmured. "I'm just...stressed out. And worried."

"I know, Honey. We are too. And we're going to do anything we can to get you out of this, Jack. I can promise you that."

I nodded and gave her a small smile. "Thank you. Have fun tonight."

She left with slight reluctance and closed my door. I didn't mean to take it out on her. I'm just so out of it lately, I don't even know who I am anymore. Or who I was before all of this.

I never wanted to lose myself and I did.

In the worst way.

My concentration has officially been lost. I rose from my desk and walked to my messy bookcase. It really needed to be organized. Books were piled on the shelves, some spines were facing the wrong way, and some were actually on the verge of falling off. And looking down, there was also a small stack of books that have fallen off.

I ran a hand roughly through my hair and sighed before randomly plucking a mystery novel from my shelf. My mom had an endless supply of mystery novels. And where she works, she always gets free ones before they're released. The amount of mystery novels I've read in the past few years is astounding.