Unfinished Business

8

"Why would any normal human do that?" Zach asks. "I don't know, but it's really messed up," Jac replies, "But now we've got this to deal with." He looks at me. "Is he mute now?" Zach asks him. Jac hits him in the shoulder when something catches my eye. I look into what's left of the forest to see a small light. 

Denki, can you tell me what that is? I think as I feel small bits of electricity flicking through the air, barely visible to the human eye. I can see what they see. My vision clouds with the sight of grass and sky. I see them floating towards the light.

They reach the light, and my heart sinks as I realize what it is. Jasper. He's staring at me through some kind of binoculars. My vision goes back to normal as I make the electricity fade away. I start breathing hard, my heart beating faster. "Seia? Are you okay?" Jac asks. I shake my head. 

He has a worried look on his face now. He hands me his phone again and I type on the notepad "He is watching us." He looks confused as he reads it before I type "Jasper. He's alive. I see him. A small light in the woods." He reads it and turns to the face the forest, quickly scanning before stopping, mid-turn. "I see it." He says. "See what?" Zach asks. 

"What do we do now?" Jac asks me. I shrug as I feel my breath getting heavier, and my heart pounding so fast it hurts. Denki begs me to free him but I ignore his surges of energy. I crumple to my knees. This is it. "Well, let's go home," Jac says to me, winking discreetly. "Remember the old fort? Let's settle there for the night. I'll text my mom to watch Jay. Don't worry." He whispers to me.

"Let's go Zach." He says as he helps me up, and Zach follows us. I try talking, trying to let my thoughts out, but to no avail. At least I have a new trick. I think as I send out more sparks, checking if Jasper or more people are following us. I find that he has at least ten different guys with him. I don't recognize any from the lab. 

"We're here," Jac says, and I let my vision return, seeing the old fort we made as if it was brand new. "You keep spacing out, what's up?" Jac asks. I look at him, and I see his concern deep down, under all of his smiling. Oh, I don't know, I know we're being followed and I learned a new trick, and I'm mute now. I think to myself, frustrated. Zach pauses. "Seia, did you get your voice back?" He asks. 

Jac and I look at each other, confused. "I heard you talking." He turns to us. I shake my head no. "Maybe I'm going crazy." He says, brushing it off. Yeah, maybe I am too. I roll my eyes. "Did you by any chance learn a new trick?" He says, catching me off guard. I nod. "You might make that two more tricks." He smirks. "But I can't hear him," Jac says.

I look at him. Pizza Rolls. "Pizza rolls," Zach says. Maybe it's only with you. Do you know what that means? I smirk. "What?" He asks. You have to be with me all the time. I walk into the fort.

"No." He says firmly. I turn and give him a stern look. Yes. "Fine." He says, rolling his eyes. Thank you. "What is going on here?" Jac asks. Perhaps you have something special about you, Zach. We should get to know each other better. "Nothing, don't worry about it," Zach says as he walks in behind him. I sit down on the floor, worry filling my chest.

"So, what's the new trick?" Zach asks as he plops down next to me. I explain it to him and he listens silently, and Jac looks at us like we're crazy. 

"So, maybe we should name them too? Baby Denki?" He says. I shake my head. Hibana. It's Japanese for 'sparks.' He nods. I send out the Hibana, watching Jasper and his goons as they inch closer.

Suddenly, a flashback occurs, making the sparks fade.

*Flashback*

I wake up on the living room floor, my body covered in bruises and my head bleeding. What happened? Oh yeah, my dad was beating me. I stand up, my body heavy. Somehow, this feels familiar. I hear my dad screaming at my mom, calling her names. I flinch as I hear glass shatter.

I walk into the upstairs bathroom. I look at myself in the mirror, my cheek is swollen and my nose and lip are bleeding. Somehow I don't have a black eye. I shut and lock the door, taking off my clothes to take a shower.

I turn the water on and step in.

Why does everyone hate me? Everyone at school, and at home. I let the warm water run over me as I think. I can feel the bruises now, and I can feel my lip and head stinging. 

**I step out of the bathroom with a towel around my waist and walk to my room, locking the door behind me. I think it's time. I get dressed and crawl under the covers.

**I wake up, my head pounding. I slowly get dressed for 'school' knowing I'm going to ditch today. I walk downstairs, not stopping to eat breakfast. Instead of walking left like normal, I go right. I continue walking, lost in thought when I realize where I am.

I'm at a bridge near my house. I look over the side, hearing cars passing by, hurrying to work or school. Without thinking, I step onto the short wall guarding the edge. I stand up, looking at the water hundreds of feet down. 

Darkness clouds my thoughts, and I feel a tear leak down my cheek. I dangle one foot off of the ledge, leaning forward. I close my eyes, smiling as I think of the favor I'm going to be doing for everyone. 

Suddenly, I feel arms wrap around my stomach tightly, and drag me off of the wall. "Don't do it! It's not worth it, Seia!" I hear a boys voice. I turn my head to see a boy from school. "W-Who are you?" I ask. "You probably don't know me, but I know you from school. I'm here to tell you it's not worth it." He says and I can hear his tears. "Please don't jump. I was passing by, on my way to school when I saw you." His grip around my stomach tightens. 

"Let go," I say. "No, cause then you'll jump." He cries. I relax my body and turn in his arms. I awkwardly put my arms around him. "I won't jump, just let go," I say, slightly annoyed. "Swear." He says. "I swear," I say, rolling my eyes. He lets go and takes a step back. He has streaks down his cheeks from tears. I can feel the wet spot on my back.

"Who are you?" I ask. "My name is Jac." He says, smiling up at me. "I know you because I have a couple of classes with you. You always get the answer right, and you're really good at sports. But I know you get bullied a lot, so I wanted to know if you want to be my friend?" He asks, unsure of his response.

I can't help but laugh a little. "Okay. Sure." I say as we start to walk the direction of the school, stopping by my house to get my backpack.

*Flashback end*

I wake up to see Jac staring at me. "You alright?" He asks. I nod. I had a flashback of that day... I think before I realize Zach is still awake too. "What day?" He asks. I look at Jac who immediately gets what he's talking about. "It's nothing." He waves it off. "Just something that happened when we were thirteen." He smiles at me.