Rebels

Ch. 33

Jack had followed after Arin once he had gone down into the basement. Jack was still mad at Luca, who had decided he was mad at Arin and was going to hold a grudge against him. Nevertheless, Jack found himself in front of the basement door, with a heavy feeling in his stomach. He had thought he may have still been sick, and that he may not have recovered, and this left his whole mind down in the slumps.

He knocked on the door, hearing nothing from the other side. "Arin, what's going on?"

There was a pause before Arin spoke from the other side. "Don't open the door!" He shouted. "I-I'm going to blackout. Jack, whatever happens, do not let me get past this door."

Jack noticed that Arin's voice seemed close, and he thought Arin was leaning against the door from the other side. Jack nodded to Arin's request, though Arin could not see him. "Okay. Arin, the crates in there-"

"I'll be fine." Arin interrupted. "I won't use any ammunition."

Jack frowned. "How can you be so sure?"

There was a momentary pause. "I can't. Jack, just don't let me get to anyone. Shoot me if you have to."

Jack couldn't promise to that. He couldn't even muster up any response as he thought about Arin and the chaos that was about to unfold. He leaned his head against the door, sensing a migraine coming on. He couldn't promise to shoot Arin. Though Jack did not know the man very well, he knew that Arin was a friend. After all, Jack had helped Arin escape from the guards when they both were prisoners. Jack also had never met anyone as crazy and out of their mind as Arin was, for he had decided to go with Jack, who was none other than a thief.

A violent pounding came from the other side of the door, shaking the entire door in its frame. Jack took several steps back in surprise. He knew that Arin must have turned already.

"Let me out!" Arin screamed at the top of his lungs, all the while banging on the door.

A lump formed in Jack's throat. He did not want to listen to this for the rest of the day, and he was also taken aback from this outburst. Usually when Arin would blackout, he would be more quiet yet violent. For him to burst out like this was a bad sign.

Jack forced himself to walk away from the door, though the screams did not stop. He found himself standing before the sink, with bile rising up his throat. Bore he knew it, he had vomited all that was left in him into the sink, and his legs felt weak. When he had managed to stop vomiting, he stepped back, with shaking knees.

Luca had stood at some time when Jack was vomiting, and he was examining Jack with a look Jack had not seen before on Luca's face. "I'm sorry." Luca said with sympathy.

Jack did not respond as his feet automatically slugged towards the bed. He collapsed onto it, feeling cold. "I thought I was past this." He mumbled.

Luca frowned. "If anything, you seem worse now than before. I don't think the flu is going around..." His voice trailed off as he was deep in thought. "What did you last eat?"

Jack closed his eyes as he tried to remember the last time he had eaten. It was when Lyla had brought food from the market, and he had eaten a sandwich, like everyone else. He knew that that was not the cause of his sickness, so he tried to think of anything else Lyla may have brought from the market. After the sandwich, he remembered talking with Lyla about Luca. He recalled noticing a single water bottle that was filled with some substance Jack had not questioned, and now thinking back upon it, Jack had a strong feeling that that water bottle was what had made him sick. "There was a water bottle on the dining table... I assumed it was from Lyla because she had gone to the market..."

"A water bottle?" Luca repeated. "Was water in it?"

Jack kept his eyes closed, his body feeling heavier by the minute. "It was orange... It seemed like it was just orange juice."

Luca walked towards the bedroom where Lyla was, ignoring Arin's screams that made him angry. He was about to open it when Lyla did from the other side, seeming annoyed. "When will Arin stop screaming?" As her eyes took in Luca standing before her, she became concerned for him. "Luca, why are you standing? You're going to hurt yourself even more!"

It was then that Luca realized he was taking in shallow breaths and that he was leaning heavily against the door frame for support, but he brushed the pain away to the best of his ability. "I think Jack's been poisoned."

Lyla's lips pressed into a thin line as she read her brother's face, determining if he was being serious or if this was another one of his cruel jokes. "How so?"

Luca pressed his hand against his stomach, beginning to succumb to his injury. "A few days ago, when you brought back food. A drink was mixed in with it. You didn't happen to buy any orange drinks, did you?"

Lyla shook her head no. She noticed how her brother was slowly declining by the minute, so she took this into account. "I'll take care of it. You need to rest, before you drop dead."

Luca had wanted to make a smart remark back to his sister, but he didn't, for a bed sounded good to him. He didn't resist and walked past his sister, closing the bedroom door behind him.

Lyla sighed, looking around the room. She found Jack sprawled out on the bed, and from across the room he seemed like a ghost. She hurried over to him, finding that his eyes were closed, and beads of sweat dotted his head. "Jack, can you hear me?"

His eyebrows wrinkled together. "Why are you screaming?" He mumbled so low that Lyla could barely hear him.

She bit her lip, butterflies swarming through her stomach. She knew close to nothing about poison, and because Jack had gradually gotten worse over a few days, she was afraid of how much time he had left. She ran a hand through her hair, beginning to panic.

Arin's screams from the basement were brought to her attention. The ironic thought of having him help her out passed through her mind, but she quickly brushed that thought away. Arin was a prisoner of war. It would simply not make sense for him to know anything of poison.

Jack began to stir, his eyes moving rapidly beneath his eyelids. "L-Lyla," it came out as a whisper. He pointed with shaking hands to his throat. "It b-burns."

Lyla's shaking stopped for a small moment. She didn't know what to do. His throat was burning, so surely his time was coming to an end. She knew they needed the antidote, but she hadn't heard of a poison that had done this to a man over the course of days.

She noticed that it seemed too quiet. Her head whipped towards the basement, where Arin's screams had ceased. Her heart pounded in her chest. She had the sickening feeling that Jack wouldn't be here for long.