Despair

Despair | Chapter 10

James glared at Jax. "Let's comprise and just send her to the jail."

"Fine, I'll take the offer," Jax sighed. "Lily, Julian, take Abigail to the jail."

Lily and Julian were the two other bodyguards who were standing at attention, on the sides of James.

"Move it, guys!" James shouted at them, angrily tossing death threats out of his mouth, waving his arms above his head crazily. His eyes bulged out of their sockets.

He looked like a madman more than a king.

"What do you say?" Julian asked.

James's eyes narrowed. His teeth grit.

"..Please," he grunted. Then he blinked. "Oh, wow! I actually said it."

"Good," Julian turned to Abigail, and promptly exploded. His next words were brusque.. "MOVE IT!"

Abigail tried the peace approach.

"Uh.. what do you say?" Abigail appeased.

"I SAID MOVE IT!"

"Okay."

With that, the bodyguards and Abigail disappeared.

James turned to us. "Okay. Now, do you guys want to join the Zombies?"

Sterling glanced at me.

"You won't regret it," James added. "Besides, we don't offer many people to join."

I shook my head at him. Never.

"Aw. That sucks for you." James told me, a wicked grin shaping at his lips. "Are you sure about that?"

Something about his expression unnerved me.

"..Yes, I'm sure."

James pouted. "Come on. One of you have to join. At least one. Or we're gonna have to kill you both," he added with a little smirk.

I opened my mouth, but Sterling got there first. He looked at me very quickly, and the word was halfway out of my mouth before he answered James: "No-!"

"I'll do it, James." He nodded and looked up, his eyes impossible to read. "I never liked these losers anyway."

"What are you saying?" James looked at him closer.

"I'll join your freaky little Zombie club."

"Great!" James clapped his hands together. "Guards, take him to the initiation chambers." he turned with a smile on his face. "You don't get membership that easy, punk. You have to pass at least a dozen tests, dumby."

"As for you." He looked at me as Sterling was led away with two guards at his side, "Guards, take him to the gas chambers." 

Hands, curled up in tight fists, clenching against my arm sent bursts of static pain up my arm.

"Let me go," I grunted, twisting and turning.

"You're not a Zombie, dear," James replied with a smile with a faux-English accent, walking away with a sway and motioning for his guards to follow. "You're dead."

As he walked away with slow, lazy footsteps, I locked eyes with Sterling. His eyes were so, so dark, and for a moment, that was all I had the time to take in before he turned away quickly, a perched bird taking flight into the night.

And never coming back.

Did Sterling just betray us?

Or did he single-handedly save us all?