Ace of Hearts [Loki Laufeyson] BOOK I

Booze and Cigarettes.

Loki had to admit, this book he was reading was pretty good. The abstract spells and amazing relation to his life interested him. He was about halfway through the captivating story when he heard a faint pang. Loki looked up and saw that that girl - what was her name? Ah, Jaylynn, or Jay - Jaylynn had fallen asleep against the glass. He looked at her in confusion, wondering why she would fall asleep when she most likely knew that he could take her and use her as leverage for his escape. Loki had to admit, the girl was intriguing, so he ignored it and looked back down at his book.

His head snapped back up, however, when he heard a soft groaning coming from her mouth. Loki saw her face scrunch up in pain before a low growl escaped her mouth. Loki recognized this immediately. She was having a nightmare. He contemplated getting up and waking her up but thought better of it. If he even got close to her, alarms would probably go off. Besides, how bad could it be? So, with that, he chose to ignore the quiet whimpering and returned to the book.

Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream erupted from her throat, instantly making him stand up in alarm. Cards flew out of her pocket, gradually beginning to make a light breeze as they flew around the cell extremely fast. They all suddenly stopped, instead fluttering slowly to the ground. Suddenly, her back arched and her eyes sprung open to reveal that they were burning bright red light. Loki noticed that her left eye seemed to be flickering on and off.

He finally ran to her side, shaking her awake to end the nightmare she was experiencing. Her eyes snapped open and her hand shot to his wrist, gripping it with inhuman strength. Her left eye continued to flicker red, the other back to its original dark blue color. Jay seemed to finally realize what she was doing and let go of his wrist, scrambling away from him. Her chest rapidly rose and fell as she seemed to frantically look around for something that wasn't there.

Jaylynn looked around at the cards littered around the floor, finally settling her gaze on Loki. "I...I didn't hurt you, did I?" She whispered quietly, hugging her knees nervously.

"No, of course not." He squatted down in front of her, clasping his hands together. She couldn't quite make out what was going on in his eyes, but she saw a few glimpses of concern and pity. Jay couldn't understand why he was concerned. Why should he be, after all?

"I should...I should get going." She quickly stood up, shakily running a hand through her hair. "Thanks, for...uh...waking me up and stuff." Her eyes glowed red and she waved her hand, the cards flying into her pocket. With a twitch of her wrist, the green tinted glass raised into the ceiling, allowing her to exit the cell and walk out of the large room. Loki simply stared at her as she left, wondering what on earth she was dreaming about. 

It had been a full six days, and Jay still hadn't gone to see Loki. She had been cooped up in her room, the floor of her bedroom littered with empty beer bottles. Jay was currently sitting on her bed smoking a cigarette. Tears were streaming down her face, and the room smells heavily of alcohol and smoke.

Suddenly, there was a loud banging on the door. She had finally gotten around to placing extremely unnecessary amounts of locks on her bedroom door after deciding she didn't want to see anyone.

"Jaylynn Stark, open this door right now." Tony directed sternly, banging on the door a few more times.

"Go away, please." She said it as quietly as possible, but it sounded like a scream with several more voices resonating behind it. "P-please..."

"Jay, you're hurting. You need someone to talk to!"

"Do you even know what I'm going through?" She took the cigarette out of her mouth, blowing a plume of smoke before putting it back in again. An image of ten dead bodies lying at her bloody feet flashed in her eyes, making her wince and take a swig of beer.

"No, because you won't talk to me!"

"Have you ever considered that I don't want to talk to you?" She growled, rubbing her eyes. She hadn't slept at all in the past six days. To be honest, she probably looked terrible.

"Jay, you're going to starve to death. Please, at least come out and eat something." He said it more quietly, generally sounding concerned for her well being. As he should, he was her father. "I'll tell you what. I'll bring you food as long as you let me come in and eat with you." She faintly heard the retreating steps and the opening of the elevator.