FIRE & ICE I

(6)

"She's takin' a bath." Jacob takes a long drag from his cigarette, moving the glass of whiskey to Thomas.

"I told her I'd go and find you, and then there you were at our doorstep looking a bloody mess." Jacob chuckled and blew smoke up into the air.

His ears lifted hearing those words. "Had she asked for me?"

Jacob wanted to say no, but the man looked so optimistic, he was almost glowing. "Yeah. She was."

Thomas smiled, she asked for me.

Silence filled the room. Thomas sat uncomfortably in a creaking chair, shifting and turning. Unable to get settled. He decides to stand and walks towards a cracked white wall, he doesn't lean against it. He needed to see Jade. Soon. "Is s-she... okay?" He starts there.

"She was strangled by the looks of it." Jacobs eyes fix on Thomas's, "You think she'd be okay after that?"

His stomach turns at the thought of someone harming Jade. Thomas trots over and reaches for his glass of whiskey. He leans into the drink, it smells like what he used to drink before drinking what he has now. He takes the whiskey down in one gulp, subjecting himself to drinking through his nerves.

"Do you know who did this to her?" Jacob rasps, leaning in he rubs his palms against his knees.

Fidgeting, Jacob's eyes were all over the place. Thomas smelled alcohol and opium on his breath, the second he was allowed inside the nearly empty house. There were troubled men like him, Thomas remembered when he was like that. Using drugs to help him sleep, help his mind feel at ease when all he really felt was pain.

Thomas knew, because of the relationship with his own sister Ada, that Jacob would kill whoever hurt his sister. Just as Thomas would protect and honour Ada. But as he looks into Jacob's eyes, he knew that the man wasn't capable of hurting a fly. He was passionate to hurt the man who hurt Jade, and when you mix passion with harm, you end up dying for it.

No, unlike Jacob, Thomas was strategic. He was already mapping out a plan as to how he's going to hurt Oliver. Yes, he will make him pay.

"No," Thomas lies, draping his tongue over his bottom lip. He raises an eyebrow at Jacob. "I didn't get your name."

He clears his throat. "Jacob."

Thomas gets up, reaching his hand out. "I'm Tommy. Its nice to meet you."

Nice to meet you, Jacob wants to laugh.

"I ain't shaking your hand." He sounds serious, despite that smirk on his face. "If I had it my way, you'd be waiting outside like the wild animal you are."

Thomas's gaze narrows, he chuckles, turning away. He sits back on that creaky chair. Thomas looks around, really taking in the place Jade calls home. Thomas took his time looking around the nearly empty living room. There was a couch with stains on it, a record player sat on top of a tiny coffee table. A set of books stacked on top of each other on the hardwood floor. There was a dining table, set between the couch and kitchen. It sat four, the wooden table was circular with dents all over, and in the middle sat two bottles of whiskey. Thomas could see the kitchen from where he sat, it looked vacant in every way. The walls were a pale white. The place looked as though they had just moved in. Thomas shivered seeing the conditions in which they lived in, he shivered, hating the fact that such a gem like Jade was stuck living in such conditions. He turns his eyes and looked at the shoes by the door, Thomas immediately looks down at his shoes that are buffed and polished. He pressed his lips together. Taking a jab at Jacob's obvious state of mind, he uses his finger to circle around the house.