Beautiful Little Jay-Bird

Chapter 5- Nowhere to Go

I felt my eyes focus a bit as I whole up. I looked to my left to see Jaycee still laying on my side. I nudged her a bit softly to wake her up. She still had eyelids, so she fell asleep easier than I did. "Jaycee... Come on, wake up..." I whisperer. She yawned and looked up at me. "Daddy... I wanna go home..." she whispered softly. "So do I." I stood up and she got up with me. "I thought you wanted to go out." I said, teasing a bit. "No! Now, I wanna go home!" Jaycee began to cry and I hugged her. "I know... It's okay..."

I realized that we needed to leave, so I picked up my hoodie which Jaycee was using as a blanket and put it on myself. "Jaycee... I know where we can go... But I really don't want to..." There was one other place we could go, but I'd need to keep Jaycee close to me or she'd be dead within minutes. "Jaycee, we have one other option. Come on..." I took her hand. "We need to find a well."

We searched for a while, both of us trying to not be seen by anyone. She was very quiet until we finally found what we were looking for. "Here, Jaycee. Climb onto my shoulders..." I said. Jaycee nodded and did as told. I carried her down the well, her holding tight to me. When an immortal goes down a well, he and those touching him or her are taken to the underworld. 

When we touched the bottom, everything went black. Jaycee screamed and I shushed her. "It'll be fine, Jay. Don't be scared... You're not immortal yet, but you will be soon. She was shaking and crying. "Jaycee... It'll be fine. You won't be able to see for a second, but you'll be fine. I swear." When I could see again, we were in an area with a completely white ground. There were rocks around us, but they were pitch black. "I have no idea where we are... Jaycee, can you see yet?" I asked. She nodded. "Yeah... I can see alright." I nodded. "Good." She took hold of my hand. "Come on, Daddy... Let's look around." I gripped her hand back. "Whatever you say, Jaycee."

We looked around, seeing nothing more than more rocks and white flat ground. She was getting tired and weak, but she pushed on. "Jaycee, do you want to rest for a little while?" I asked. "... No, we can keep going." I looked at her. "Are you sure? If you need to rest, we'll rest." She shook her head. "I can do it, Daddy." She and I continued to walk for a long time before I noticed that she was dragging behind a little. "Jaycee, we're sitting down and resting. You seem like you're in legitimate pain. Sit down." She shook her head and walked on her own a few more feet before she collapsed. "Jaycee!" I rushed next to her and turned her over. I stared at her for a minute. Her chest moved up a little bit, then down. She was alive. "Jaycee... We're resting. Her eyes opened a bit. "But..." I shook my head. "You're exhausted. You'll end up hurting yourself if we continue on like this. I wish I had some water... Dammit, I should've brought some! Dammit!" I snapped. She looked at me.

I wasn't going to lose my daughter. Turning around wans't an option, and there wasn't anything. I could walk for forever here. Food and water weren't important for immortals in the underworld. We would become week if we didn't eat or drink in the normal world, but we wouldn't die. Jaycee, however, was not immortal. We must've been walking straight for a few hours, which must've been exhausting to a mortal girl. Especially a two year old mortal girl.

She needed help, and there wasn't much I could do. I sat beside her, wishing I could help her. There was someone in the distance, something walking towards us. Jaycee looked up at it. "What is that?!" she asked weakly. "I'm... Not positive." As it came into view, I recognized the figure. I stood in front of Jaycee and grabbed my knife. "Dr. Smiley! If you even come near my daughter with your 'Help', I'll destroy you!" he kept walking towards me. Dr. Smiley was a sick fucker who did awful things to his "Patients." He'd often take random girls and boys off the street and disected them. If he thought he was taking my daughter, I'd beat his head in.

"Hello, Jeffrey, sir. It's been a while, hm?" Dr. Smiley laughed. I glared at him and held my knife. "What do you want, Smiley?" I snapped. "To help you. I was sent by Eyeless Jack to come and retrieve your daughter and you. Oh, and I was supposed to give this to that little girl of yours." He tossed a water bottle at me. I'd learned one thing in the underworld: Trust no one. This guy especially. But Jaycee, she needed the water. I wanted to give it to her, but could he really be trusted? Was he working for Jack, or was he plotting something?

I glanced at Jay. She was fading, fast. If I went with this guy, he could do something to her. If I turned him down, she'd die without a doubt. I looked at the water. "This is her only hope, huh?" I twisted the cap off and stepped over to wear she was laying. "Her... Drink." I put the bottle to her lips and watched as she slowly drank all of the water. She stood up, but still seemed weak. "Do you feel odd, Jaycee?" I asked. She shook her head. "I'm tired, but I feel pretty normal." I smiled and took hold of her hand.

"Alright, Smiley. Get us out of here. I need a few choice words with Jack." I couldn't believe Jack left my Jay all alone by herself! During a fire, nonetheless! "Alright, close your eyes. The girl, too." I looked at him. "Is that some kind of sick joke?" I snapped. He looked at me with a strange look, then laughed. "Oh, yes. I forgot. You burned your eyelids off... I'll never know why, but whatever. Cover your eyes. When you open them, you'll be at Jack's house. Trust me." I pulled Jaycee closer to me in case he was planning to grab her. "Alright, just do it."

When my eyes opened, I was in a small house. Jack was sitting at the table, talking to his wife, while their son played on the floor. Jaycee was sitting next to me, looking around. "Where... Where are we?" she asked. "Jack's house." I answered. Looking to Jack, I felt fury boil up inside of me until I felt myself jump up and tackle him to the ground.