Carnations for Emily

Chapter 14: Floating

When Emily got in the door to her apartment she practically floated inside.
Her flight took sometime and she basically spent all night on the plane so it was well into morning when she arrived back in Seattle.
She was tired but, in bliss.
"You look happy." Her roommate, Mary pulled Emily from her blissful dream.
Emily just nodded.
"Why?" Mary asked.
"I got to meet him." Emily smiled.
"Who?"
"Jack!
I got to meet him and remember him after so long!" Emily practically bounced in joy.
"Calm down." Mary said.
"It was strange though...
He had changed again.
His hair was black and red and he looked exhausted.
He worries me." Emily wore a small smile.
"Eh, I'm sure he's fine." Mary said trying to reassure.

Later on Emily was relaxing in the bathtub thinking about Jack.
"I feel like there's something about him that I'm forgetting...
But what?" She said to herself.
"I don't remember how his hair turned red.
I remember his hair being black when we were younger.
Then there's the memories of high school, his hair just turned red as crimson one day, and he was all wrapped up in bandages, even his leg was in a cast...
Matt and his group bullied him then Jack stormed out of the school." She paused.
"Then the next day he came back his hair was red and his eyes were red too.
He had a knife on him, cut Matt up and scared his face up pretty bad.
It was like he was a totally different person.
I remember him being pretty scary for a while...
But it hurt...
So much when he left..." Emily made a moan of sorrow, she ended up making herself sad.
she had puffed out her cheeks then breathed a sigh.

"When I saw him again...
His hair looked even more strange...
He's changing again..." Emily said to herself.
She sat in the bath twiddling her thumbs.
"Maybe I can do something to help him." She said.

Later on in the night Emily was watching a few videos on the internet.
Some songs, some funny videos, even a few cooking clips.
Trying to come up with something she could do for Jack.
It was late and she was still jet lagged.
"Hey Em you probably should go to bed soon.
I'm sure you're tired." Mary said.
Emily just mumbled some kind of gibberish that Mary couldn't understand.
She was clearly tired because Mary could see a little bit of drool running down Emily's chin.
"Alright, c'mon time for bed." Mary pulled Emily out of the computer chair and dragged her to her room.
Emily just plopped into her bed and was out like a light.

As she slept, Emily dreamed of her childhood.
How lonely she felt before she moved to Jacks hometown, which eventually became hers too.
And how worried she was of Jack when he started to change...

"My... parents are getting... divorced." Jack no older than eleven mumbled to Emily.
"Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear that Jack." She said as the two rode the bus to school.
Jack just leaned his head on the window and shrugged.
He couldn't honestly feel anything.
Emily felt bad, she didn't know what to do or how to cheer Jack up.
He only ever cheered her up.
She didn't know a whole lot about Jacks dad, but did know Hellen wasn't a bad person.

Emily just rested her head on Jacks shoulder and wrapped an arm around his.
Normally when she did this Jack would respond shyly.
This time Jack didn't budge.
Almost like he wasn't actually there.
"It'll be okay Jack..." she paused.
"I'm here for you." Emily said.
Jack just nodded.

Then the dream skipped forward to the day before Jack physically changed.
"Gah!" Emily heard a shout of pain from around one of the corners of the school hallway.
Her class period was study hall so she spent most of it just walking around the halls.
When she followed the sound, she saw Jack sitting on the ground, his back against the wall.
"Can't you guys just leave me be?
I already gave you all I got." Jack was gritting his teeth trying not to show anger.
The group surrounding him was Matt's gang, a few sports players and wrestling kids.
"But we just wanna play with ya Jack, is that so wrong?" Matt exclaimed.
"By beating the hell out of me?!" Jack yelled in frustration as he stood back up.
He brought a fist back, ready to let it fly.
As he did, aiming for Matt's face one of the other guys just stepped in between and caught Jacks fist.
As the guy did this, he pulled Jack in close for a blow to the stomach.
"Ack!" Jack had the wind knocked out of him and fell back.
When Emily looked closer at him she could tell he was in a lot of pain.
His left eye was blackened, and his shirt was a little ripped.
Some blood was trickling from his mouth.
Emily bit her lip and worked up her nerves as she stepped around the corner she yelled.
"Hey!
You leave him alone right now!"
As soon as Matt turned in her direction Emily closed the distance and smacked him hard across the face.
Matt put a hand to his cheek.
"Tch, whatever.
Let's get out of here." Matt and his buddies just walked away leaving Jack and Emily in the hall alone.

"Jack! Are you okay?" Emily reached down to him.
"Don't touch me!" Jack shouted.
"Just leave me alone!" Jacks anger had boiled over and Emily was in the cross fire.
"But Jack... you're hurt." Emily whimpered.
Jack picked himself off the ground and brushed himself off.
"I don't care." He said harshly.
"But-"
"Shut up!
I don't wanna hear it" Jack roared as he tried to calm his breathing.
"Just go to class, I'm leaving." He said as he turned around and walked out one of the school doors.
Emily rushed out after him.
"Jack!"

The dream skipped even further to the day Jack left for New York.
Emily recalled driving like a maniac trying to get to the train station before Jacks train left.
The road was icy and slick as snow harshly fell on the cold winter night.
"Please don't leave yet." She thought to herself.
Emily was driving too fast and could tell her car was slipping on the road.
She didn't care though.
She had to tell him how she felt...
As she made it to the station she hoofed it to the loading area.
Sure enough Jack was going to his train.
His hair was as red as the lipstick she wore earlier that day.
He was cladded in black and walked like he was trying to appear invisible to everyone around him.
She noticed he was holding something...
As Jack took the steps up to the train Emily yelled out to him.
"Jack!"

He stopped in his tracks and turned around.
Emily could tell he hadn't been sleeping well.
While his eyes weren't red this time, they were an empty blue, almost like there was no soul alive inside.
"Emily..." he breathed.
Jack went down the steps and up to her.
"I had a feeling you'd chase after me." He said.
"Where are you going?" Emily asked.
"I have to leave.
There's something I have to do.
...I'm going to New York..." Jack replied.
"What?!
But you said you'd go when we graduate.
...you promised you'd take me with you..."
Jack couldn't look her in the eye.
The two of them were in their senior year of school.
Emily was eighteen while Jack was nineteen.
"You can't leave!
Not yet!" Emily beat on Jack.
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes as she whispered:
"Don't leave me here alone..."
Jack just gave her a sad smile and took her hands in his.
"Don't be sad Em.
I'll come back soon, I just have to get better." He said.
He brushed tears from Emily's eyes as she wailed:
"What do you mean?!"
The two walked over to the train, Emily continued to cry and Jack stepped back up onto the train.
"Please don't go..." Emily whimpered.
"Here, take this." Jack handed her a red carnation.
"Huh?" Emily gave a questioning glance.
She grabbed Jacks hand and put something in it.
"Come home soon." Emily said.
The train started to pull away.
As this happened Emily's grip on Jack started to come loose.
Jack shouted over the sound of the train.
"Don't be sad!
I'll come back!
I promise!" He said.
"I know you will!" Emily shouted.
After she said this she lost her grip and the train stole Jack away from her...

As she was walking back to her car Emily kept looking at the carnation she was given.
It was crimson red.
"I never told him... how I felt..." Emily clutched the flower to her chest.
As she got in her car she sped off down the road with tears in her eyes.
The road was still slick...
As the dream began to fade away, Emily's car slipped badly this time and went off the road.

Emily lurched up, awake and in bed.
She was hyperventilating but soon got a grip on herself.
"I've got to help him some how...
He's always helped me..." Emily mumbled.
She had a floating feeling in her chest.
She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and checked the time.
"6:00 a.m. ..." Emily said.
It was still dark out, well for the most part.
The city light shines ever so brightly along the street.
Emily just rolled back over and went back to sleep...

Chapter 14: End

"Jack... I promise I'll help you..."
- Emily.