Until We Fly

Chapter 23: Bad Guy

-James-

"I'm sure she's fine. She always is."
Myrora soothed, placing a hand on Jake's back.

"No...no, what if she's not?! What about then?!"

Jake wasn't taking the whole situation very well.

"This has happened before. With Köleil too. So Jake, you know it'll be-"

"That's the problem! Last time this happened, I lost my Guardian! She's weak, she's vulnerable and...and I refuse to lose her as well!"

In the end, Jake locked himself up in his room while the rest of us sat downstairs, wondering what to do.

Myrora sat with Köleil.
I sat alone.

Everyone was there, except for Nim, of course.

Where on earth could she be?
As the sun went down and the moon came out, I decided to head to bed early and alone. I wasn't really helping anyone down there anyway.

Perhaps they didn't even realise I was gone.

I lay on my back, wondering about...stuff.
I have no idea.
Everything just felt strange.

Knock
Knock
Knock

I sat up, staring at the door.

"...who is it?"

"Jake."

"Oh, come on in."

Jake opened the door, stepping inside and shutting it behind him.
"We...we need to talk."

"Sure. About what?"
I asked, standing up and walking in front of him.

"A...about what? James, are you serious? Nim's missing!"

"Yeah, I know! And you're not exactly doing much to help her!"

"I...I don't just want to talk about Nim, okay? There's a lot going on. And I just...I don't get you."

"What do you mean you don't get me?"

"Your parents, your old life, your new life, everything! Everything about...about you."

Taking one step back, I frowned at him.
"...everything about me? Jake, what are you-"

"Who the hell reacts to losing their parents like that?! From the very start, as soon as you knew you could escape that life, as soon as you came here it was like nothing before even mattered! Even before you knew they'd forgotten, you didn't call, didn't text and you clearly weren't planning to! What's wrong with you?!"

"I-I don't know! I didn't think anything was wrong!"

"Wh- how?! How can you be so blind?! You didn't think anything was wrong?! When was the last time you even thought about Jayden or your friend?! I spend every god damn night and day worrying about people and what do you do? Forget about them! They clearly don't matter anymore! It's not like it's your problem, is it?!"

"I-I don't think like that!"

Jake leaped forward, grabbing me by the collar.

"What's wrong with you?! What happened?!"

"I-I-"

Dragging me along the floor, Jake slammed my back into the wall, holding me up and staring into my eyes with a dangerous, threatening look I'd never seen him bare before.

"...tell me...when was the last time you shed a tear? For someone else? For even yourself?"

"...crying...crying would mean I was weak! Is that what you want, Jake?! You want me to be weak?!"