The Beginning Of The End

Chapter 30

I slammed into Finn who let out a yell of surprise as we tumbled to the ground, the door swinging shut behind us.

"What is wrong with you guys?" He yelled, pushing me off him and stumbling to his feet. His eyes were wide, his face fearful. And I was between him and the door.

"Where's Jaylon?" I said, my voice low and threatening even to my own ears. Finn turned his head slightly and I turned in the direction he was looking. There, beneath the sinks, was Jaylon. He was leaning on one arm, rubbing at his jaw with his free hand as he groaned.

"Are you okay?" I asked, crossing the short distance to the sinks and kneeling down in front of him.

"I'm fine, don't let him leave!" He pushed himself quickly off the ground and almost knocked me over as he lunged towards Finn. I didn't quite see what happened next. Finn, who was about to open the door, let out a cry of pain and flew backwards right into me. He back collided with my face and pain exploded in my nose. He rolled off me and I sat up, a hand to my face. The door was open and Candy stood there, yelling something at the three of us. Jaylon, looking like he could kill, had a hand raised in Finn's direction, the other boy cringing away from him, almost cowering against the wall.

The next thing I knew we were in an apartment I knew well, though it didn't register with me where we were until I saw Candy sitting in front of me and was struck by memories of all the time we'd spent here together.

"What's going on?" I mumbled, looking around.

"I have no idea," Candy said, sounding a little flustered. Candy never got flustered. "I just had to get you guys out of there. I thought you would be able to tell me what was going on?"

"Where's Jaylon?" I leapt out of my seat, vaguely wondering what had happened and why I didn't remember anything between the bathroom and now. I swayed slightly on my feet, feeling a little dizzy but I ignored it and turned to Candy, repeating my question. "Where's Jaylon?"

"In the living room with that kid with the glasses," she snapped. "Louisa, what is going on?"

"I don't know," I whispered, before rushing through to the living room. It was just as I remembered it, including my things around the place. It was like Adam hadn't moved anything at all in the month or so since I'd been gone.

I was greeted by a surprising sight. Where I had expected the two to be in some sort of heated argument after whatever had gone down in the men's room at the Banana Pepper Cafe, they were sitting on the worn, faded green sofa. Jaylon's shoulders, which I could see well because he had his back to me, were completely relaxed, which I knew him well enough to know meant he didn't have any worries about the situation at all. Finn was grinning, one foot up on the edge of the sofa and his arm tossed lazily across his knee.

"Hey," I said, walking into view in front of the sofa.

"Oh, hey." Jaylon looked up at me and smiled, motioning me to sit down beside him. I did so, leaning back into the familiar soft couch and closing my eyes. I felt Jaylon's arm go around me and I settled into his side, leaning my head against him. I had a throbbing headache, but just being near Jaylon like this seemed to help.

"I'm sorry I, like, hit your face," Finn said a little awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's not like you chose to fly across the room and land on me," I grinned and opened my eyes. "Don't worry about it. I'm sorry I knocked you over when I came into the bathroom. Now would one of you two idiots like to tell me what's going on?"

"Well, you kind of saved the day," Jaylon said, giving my shoulders a squeeze.

"What do you mean?" I raised an eyebrow at him quizzically and he continued.

"Well," He went on, "I was just about ready to kill this guy after the all he'd made and he'd hurt you. Candy was yelling, your nose was gushing out blood, Finn was terrified, and I was pretty much about to go full out psycho on him."

"He's not kidding," Finn said, shaking his head with a grin on his face.

"Yeah, and you got up and you kind of just screamed, and everyone just like, dropped where they were. I don't know what you did, but when we woke up a few minutes later we were all feeling a whole lot more reasonable, and no one other than the four of us had even heard it."

I sat and stared at him for a moment, then shook my head.

"Okay, I don't get it."

"Don't get what?" Jaylon frowned and glanced at Finn then back at me. "Louisa?"

"I just..." I stood up and shook my head, turning away them. I couldn't remember anything after... after I saw Finn cowering against the wall and Jaylon looking like he was ready to kill. I rushed out of the living room and into the bathroom, ignoring the calls from behind me.

I could hear Jaylon's voice, hear him pleading with me to let him in as he jiggled the door handle, but I didn't listen. I sat down on the closed toilet seat, in the back of my mind thinking about how it was only now that I was gone that Adam ever seemed to leave it down, and rested my head in my hands. I attempted to block out his voice but it just seemed to be getting louder and louder, echoing around inside my mind. I slipped off my seat on the toilet. On the floor, I pressed my hands over my ears, clawing at them as though that would block out the deafening chorus of voices I could hear. Nothing worked, and I was curled into a foetal position, knocking my head repeatedly against the floor, when the door burst open.

Suddenly everything went quiet. I was still, watching Jaylon's lips move as he knelt over me but unable to hear a word he said. He was moving his hands in helpless motions around my head, tugging at me and trying to make me sit up.

I let my eyes droop closed, welcoming the darkness it brought.