The Darkest Souls

The Thirteenth Chapter: A Lifetime of Words

"Your brother!?" Michael exclaimed.

"Yes," I replied. "Now shush so he can answer my question."

Jackson laughed happily and sat us against the wall. "Well. It isn't as great a story as you might think, Lacey. It's very boring in fact. There wasn't actually a time when I got even close to dying. You see, when you blacked out you could only assume that they'd gotten me too. That's what everyone else in your world was saying as well. The nurses, pouring lies into you during your upbringing there. After you were out I tried to carry you to the hospital, I apologize, but I never even got you off the floor," he mused, "Anyways. I was a weak boy back then. So, the soldier who put that cursed blade through your skin ended up taking you there, and bringing me here with him. He wasn't really supposed to kill any of the children there. I guess he just wanted to keep from getting fired from the army or something. Who knows. Whatever. I hated the ride here though. Not because of the prison thing, but because I had to endure the entire time sitting obediently beside the man who nearly killed my little sister. Thankfully he was murdered in some other attack. I had Addison keep an eye out on the reports for me. She's a good person, just, she could have been a better one if she'd stop following hell's path."

"Hell's path?" I asked. "Gosh, Jackson. What's gotten into you? You sound a bit insane if you don't mind me saying."

He rolled his eyes. "People view State, Country, and World differently. Some from a governmental point of view and others like myself, from a religious point of view."

"Wait," I said, "So you're religious about following World?"

"Well- if you put it that way it sounds bad," Jackson complained.

"Gosh, Jackson," I sighed, "Mother would murder you herself. You sound like some obsessed moron. They aren't religions, they're orders."

He stuck out his tongue. "You make it sound worse than it is. I don't go around performing rituals-"

I cut him off and interjected, "Not yet you haven't."

"Lacey, you're a pain," Jackson laughed. "I feel bad for your friends now. Introduce me."

"Well. That's awkward," I muttered. "Von, Philip, Nadia, Tsuri, Perry, and Michael."

"Why am I last?" Michael asked obnoxiously. 

"Because I didn't think Jackson would really care as much about who you were," I joked. 

Jackson flicked my arm. "Behave girl. Or am I going to have to start rattling off embarrassing childhood stories?"

My eyes widened in fear. "No," I stated, "Not the stories."

"Well now we're intrigued," Von laughed.

"Okay, I guess it won't matter," Jackson said with a smile.

"Nope, Jackson. Nooooo," I replied. "My stories. Not yours."

Jackson laughed and ruffled my hair. "I'm only kidding. You think I'd want my little sister turned against me the minute I got her back, after years and years of waiting?"

"Waiting?" I asked.

"Yes, Lacey. Waiting. I always had this obscure hope that you would come here and beak me out," he answered.

"But I thought you were dead, how could I have?" I asked.

"You would have found out about the Prison sooner or later, and I knew you'd come to see it for yourself. So whether you found out I was alive or not, you would have run into me," Jackson said.

"You've sure got high hopes in me," I muttered. 

"As always," Jackson replied.

"What do we do here?" Nadia murmured.