Carnations for Emily

Chapter 23: Goodbye Jack.

Jack and Emily hopped out of the cab. The two of them stood facing a massive, worn down building.
It was the old power plant, a place Jack remembers well, thanks to Harvey and the gang kidnapping him back then...

"Are you sure you want to do this with me?" Jack asked turning to Emily.
"I told you Jack, I want to be with you.
No matter what." Emily looked to the ground.
Unknown to Jack, Emily reached for Jacks hand as she said this but Jack began to walk towards the power plant entrance.
"...Never mind." She said to herself and followed.
Quietly, Jack and Emily walked into the plant. As they entered the main hall Jack immediately drew his black tube, flipped the switch and prepared the black thumper.

Standing across the way was one of the Broken Glass members.
Though their frame seemed smaller than most that Jack was familiar with.
"Jamie!?" The member spoke.
"Jamie?" Emily repeated.
"Does Jack know about his original self?" She thought.
"Where's my sister?!" Jack shouted
"Aww, you really don't remember me huh?
That's sad, it's me!
Sarah!
Maybe I'll be able to knock some sense into you." The member spoke.
When they pulled down their hood, underneath was a young woman's face.
She had brown hair just like Emily.
Jack didn't flinch, he really didn't know this girl.
She looked to be the same age as him, yet her eyes were crimson red...
She wore a vile smirk and kicked a metal pole, that was sitting at her feet, up into her hands and spun it like a staff.
"I'll ask again...
Where is my sister?!
Where's Jill!?" Jack was getting impatient and angry.
The girl's smirk quickly turned to a hateful frown.
"I don't like your tone.
You used to be so sweet to me when we were little." Emily and Jack watched this girl, Sarah, press a button on the pole.
She spun the pole again and as this was done the tip of the pole transformed into a massive hammer head.
"Guess I'll just have to break you right here!" Sarah yelled.
"Not till I get my sister back..." Jack mumbled.
He turned to Emily then.
"Stay back."
Emily nodded in response.
"No time to pussyfoot around.
A simple blow to the head should do." Jack thought.

Sarah was much faster than Jack thought though.
Even though she's using a heavy weapon and was small framed at that, Sarah brought the hammer around faster than Jack expected.
The head of the hammer smashed clear into Jack's side, sending him flying across the hall.
With a hard crash into the wall, Jack pulled himself off and used the wall to launch himself back into the fray.
As if time started to slow down, Jack watched Sarah bring the hammer around again.
"The right, jump into the air and avoid the swing." Jacks thought wasn't his own. It wasn't instinct, it was like his fight with Louis...
Was Jamie taking control again?
As the thought suggested, Jack leaped into the air avoiding Sarah's hammer.
"Now!" He thought.
Sarah looked up to see a dark blue and bright red eyed Jack come down with his thumper, effectively hitting her on top of the skull.
Though it wasn't enough.
Sarah grit her teeth and rubbed the area.
"Grrr, that hurt dammit." She huffed.
She spun the hammer again then brought it behind her.
"Guess I cant play around anymore." She grinned.
In a sprint she closed the distance between her and Jack, though Jack was prepared this time.
Or so he thought.
Jack tried to beat Sarah's attack with a swing of his own, but she ducked and went low.
Sarah slammed the head of the hammer into the floor and used the pole as leverage to deliver a mighty kick to Jack's jaw from below, sending him skyward.
She then jumped at him, ready to bring her hammer down.
"Damn." Jack thought, bringing up a guard.
The hammer clashed with Jack's thumper sending him down again.
When he landed...
His head bounced off the hard floor...

"You know she's not the only one here." Jamie told Jack.
"If you can't beat her, how are you going to save our sister?" Jamie said.
"I... I don't know..." Jack laid on the checkered floor staring up at the ceiling of the room, he was drowning in his own doubt.
At the brink of stability, Jack picked himself up from the floor and faced Jamie.
"Didn't you say you were going to give me my body back?
Ya know, like you promi-" Jack put his hands around Jamie's throat to silence his words...
"Fuck... you..." Jack mumbled.
"You... because of you..." Jack said.
"It's all because of you... that my life is like this...
You're the core of all my problems..." He wore an evil look on his face...

"You have no room to talk bastard." Jamie said.
"Huh?" Jack stopped.
"You've actually hurt people.
You know this deep inside." Jamie smirked
"Most of all, we ran away...
Or...
I... ran away... from mother..." Jamie paused.
"What? What do you mean?" Jack let go of Jamie's throat
"Remember?
We watched her die..." Jamie's voice was sad and quiet.
A memory passed through Jack's head then.

"Mommy?!"
"Run Jamie! As fast as you can!
Get away!"
The scene playing before him was terrifying.
A woman with hair as dark as night and grey eyes shoved Jack away from her, telling him to run.
He did without understanding why.
When he turned back to where the woman was standing, he saw a man in a white lab jacket grab her by the neck.
The man pulled her to the ground and stabbed her with some kind of needle.
Jack watched the life leave the woman's eyes as the world around him turned dark...

When he snapped back into the checkered room, young Jamie was I tears...
"I have to find out what happened..." Jamie was covering his right eye.
"I... my mind became scrambled after the knife got me..." he mumbled.
Jack felt a searing pain in his own right eye as he recalled a throwing knife impaling it.
It was the same scene as before...
"See Jack?
That's why I need my body back...
I need to reclaim my life..." Jamie begged.
"It's all I want, to find out what happened to mother...
what happened to me and my family...
then I want to fall into a permanent slumber...
Go out in a Big Bang ya know?" he said.
"I really am just the dream huh?
And when you wake up..." Jack thought.
"Heh, alright.
You can have your last hurrah.
It's time for me to go to sleep and for you to wake up." Jack spoke.
"Can you do it?" Jamie asked.
With a nod Jack agreed and with said agreement, light began to envelope around him.
He was fading away.
"Oh, before I disappear promise me something." Jack asked.
"What?" Jamie said.
Jack got to his knees on the same level as Jamie.
"That you'll protect them.
With all your strength.
Promise?" Jack said full of hope.
"I will!" Jamie nodded.
The light surrounding Jack began to rise from the ground up.
As it rose Jack's body began to fade away.

As the last bit of Jack's smile faded to nothing...
"Jack?! Please wake up! You have to!"
Jamie could her a young woman's voice call to him.
Jamie woke up to the world once more after nearly two decades of slumber.

"No more sleeping."
Chapter 23: End.