Two weeks.
Two weeks of pure emptiness.
Each day lasted longer than ever before, which was saying a lot, since Jakira had had a lot of endless days filled with loneliness in her life. Now, the pain of her solitude was so agonizing, she couldn't make it through an hour without crying.
Despite the waves upon waves of silence that crashed over her like acid every hour of every day, all she could hear were voices. The voices of her mother and two best friends from the past. Although the words were merely things they'd already said echoing around her head, they stung like nothing she'd ever felt before.
Why was there no one?
"Mom," she whispered distantly one day, sitting on the couch staring into space. "I really miss you. I'm not going to lie; I'm kind of tempted to just give him the stupid gem so you can come back to me." She swallowed, a sob threatening to burst from her chest. "And Night . . . and Alex . . ." Tears started to fill her eyes as she said their names. She'd thought constantly about what had happened to Alex. Her first thought was that Preciser had taken him, but Night had said he was the only one there. Unfortunately, she could easily believe he'd maybe wandered off somewhere in his mentally shattered state, but then . . . If Night was alone in Preciser's dungeon, where was her mother?
Maybe he's keeping her and Alex somewhere else, if he has another dungeon? It was her only hope; although she desperately wanted him to be safe, she would feel more relaxed knowing where exactly he was rather than wondering if he'd been abducted or had just left somewhere, anywhere . . .
She took a deep breath, then reached over and picked up a newspaper clipping from a week and a half ago: the day after Night had been captured. The front page was an article on that very matter, but the main reason she'd kept it was the picture of her partner they'd put in. He wasn't looking at the camera, per usual, but instead was looking off to the side with a tiny smile on his face like someone had made a joke and he was just starting to get it.
The only part about it that she didn't like was the caption, in bold, all-capital letters— "MISSING."
She touched the picture gingerly and murmured, "I miss you . . ."
-
Time passed, and she began to understand why Alex had basically been starving himself in the last couple weeks he'd been here. Although she didn't feel extremely anxious like he had, except about the condition of her three missing loved ones, she had a huge loss of appetite, and skipped several meals more than a few times. Despite how far her health declined as a result, she did nothing to help it.
Why was there no one . . . ?
-
I don't know.
I just don't know anymore.
Why can't I . . .
. . . smile . . .
• • •
Two Fridays after her solitude had begun, she more or less found herself alone on a bench in one of the parks, one that she and Alex used to come to all the time on weekends to hang out. She stared at the spot next to her in blank silence.
It was the place Alex always used to sit whenever they'd come here.
Preciser hadn't attacked in the previous days at all, and she didn't expect him to that day, either. But she'd still transformed the last Monday and Friday, spent several hours sitting atop the city, and pretended things were normal again.
YOU ARE READING
Where Light Meets Dark
Teen Fiction[COMPLETED ~ TO BE PUBLISHED... eventually] Sunray was the light, lonely and shining. She was a beacon of hope to the public, but quiet in her own life. To everyone else, anyway. Night was her shadow, sworn to protect her just as much as his home. H...
