STATIC; JR [2]

5.9

Jake struggled hard to breathe as he bounced in the tray of the wheelbarrow, eyes glazed and glassy as he looked up into the dense trees of the forest. Sam pushed him along as fast as he could, doing what he could to dodge the bumps and fallen logs in among the pathway.

We were far away from the town at that point, but we weren't even close to the lake before something forced us to stop. I was so confident nobody had seen us, that no one harbored suspicions over us, but my trust broke apart when I heard somebody shout Felix's name.

It was Ellen.

She was enraged, visibly fearful and yet on the verge of tears all at the same time. Everything about the way she appeared was in such relation to me but I couldn't falter now; we'd come too far.

"I'm filming everything!" She called, her squeal nowhere near as threatening as she'd built it up to be in her head. We locked eyes and I saw her realise it, because then she dropped the stare and gravel rose from her throat. "What have you done to Jake?"

Felix's expression was vast. It was difficult to track down which emotion was most prominent. He stormed over to her, bracing his book bag to his shoulder and the flap flew around in the harsh wind. "Ellen, you can't do this!" He shouted, arm out in an attempt to calm her down. It didn't work.

I took their fighting as a means for us to escape and tucked Jake's shirt into his jacket, zipping it up and ushering Sam on with a subtle wave of my hand. He ran, placing all his faith in me before scurrying off down the dodgy pathway. I was behind him and so I saw the giant rock before he did, screaming out for him to pull back and miss it, but I had been too late.

Sam tripped over and dropped the wooden handles, sending Jake toppling out the side and crashing into the ground - into the earth.

In a horror I had never experienced, Jake began to convulse on the ground, shaking and whining like he was being pulled into himself - but really, we were losing him. I cried for him, cried for Sam to get it to stop and for Felix to help bring him out, but it was no use.

Tears fell off the cut of my chin and onto Jake's skin, wetting the expanse of his wrist I had pressed up against my cheek. I dropped my head to savour him, so afraid and yet so prepared to let him go. I caught Sam's brown orbs, colour accented and exactly like honey when tears pooled beneath them. He was so pure; sympathetic, ready for us all to go through this in the same way we'd started.

Together.

I saw him turn his head, watchful stare pinned to Felix's chest. His face had changed, like he was in shock for a different reason. There was less sadness to his eyes, less fear in between the speckles of hope in the shine. "Felix, it's glowing!" He exclaimed, pointing to the talisman draped over Felix's neck. He was right; it was vivid and yellow and everything beautiful I'd ever seen in the world.

A string of theories came together in my mind, like they fit there all along but I was too blind to see it. I looked over to Ellen, willing the information to properly line up as she stared back at the scene. "Felix, I think it's Ellen." I said, a sob taking over my body when I saw the cogs twist in his brain; he was onto it, too.

He sent Sam over there, and he grew so obsessed with the idea that she was our missing water element he smiled at her. "You're the one, Ellen!" He called to her, hands outstretched in a safe, approachable way. She took a few steps back in order to keep their distance, now threatening to ring the police about a kidnapping. I saw through her; they were empty.

Felix started to chant the original spell, doing what he could with the power inside him to help save our friend. He cursed when it didn't work right away, knowing we were running daftly against the clock that was bound to end Jake's life. We were almost out of time; Jake now weighed so much he wasn't able to keep seizing. He was literally dead weight.

"Sam, do something!" He demanded, unadulterated panic dripping from his entire being. "The elements need to be together!"

I looked up, connecting with Sam on a level so intense it brought me to my feet. I had gently dropped Jake's hand and stood beside him, directly across from a deeply focused Felix. In that moment, it was like Sam and I shared one mind, and it was a single notion that crossed it.

I wasn't so sure how to do it, I wasn't confident in the action at all, and yet somehow I conjured an isolated bolt of lightning and threw it to Ellen's mobile phone. I watched it spark her hands and saw her drop it, but before it hit the ground, Sam whipped a gust of wind to carry it through the air. I anticipated it's landing and jumped to catch it, my fingers closing so tightly around the electronic device I grew fearful I might have destroyed it on impact.

Sam raced to my side as Ellen cautiously approached us, all while Felix spoke the words to the spell. It almost didn't work, but in another fit of hysteria, I quickly dropped the phone and slapped my hand around Felix's shaking wrist, sending whatever magical energy I had left into his hand that held the talisman.

Slowly, but surely, the spell began to work. The colour of Jake's skin drew paler, shades and shades more natural than the orange his body grew painted with. His chest heaved up and down, heavier each time he breathed in and out.

"I think it worked." Sam said, voice so mumbled the heartening expression in it was almost lost.

I crouched down, held his head in my trembling hands and whispered his name. "Jake, Jake." I whispered, all my attention on the way he opened his eyes and lost in the way the blue poured out so vibrantly. I noticed his pupils dilate when he realised it was me and I teared once more, but for a new reason; he was going to be okay.

The way I cradled Jake on the ground was so similar to the way he held me when I'd fainted in the forest, dense black and white spots blinding me and sending me plummeting into the mossy grass beneath me.

A heart-wrenching sob rocked through me as the blond boy managed a sweet, timid smile. He was confused momentarily, frantic eyes searching the sky and then his surroundings, and then so preciously finding me within all the messiness that crowded us.

Sam called out his name in relief, a loud breath of the fresh consolation he so craved deep inside. He reached forward, shoes scuffling across the dirt as he crawled to lean against his friend; teary orbs closing in relinquishment for the moment we'd prayed we would get to experience; saving Jake's life. Sam rubbed the back of his head, ruffling his yellow locks and sighing out a short chuckle of pride.

On the other side of him, Ellen was cautiously approaching. Her fists were clenched and her mouth dropped open when she saw her phone laying carelessly in the mud. She squat down to pick it up and then backed off again, making sure to keep her distance from us. Felix looked over at her, still holding tight to one of Jake's hands and smiling brightly; her worrisome expression didn't seem to phase him. "What is going on, Felix?" She asked him, tone ordering a valid response from him that explained everything. "You'd better tell me." She said, finally coming to a stop a few meters from Sam's back.

Felix didn't lose his smile; pretty hazel orbs shining as he glanced at me and then over to her. His stare grew serious once again, slowly returning to his usually nervous state. He stood up and placed the talisman around his neck, stuffing it into the neck of his t-shirt. "We need you to come with us." He muttered, a little grim. I realised then that the happy moment was destined to be short lived; we'd saved Jake but that still left us with the task of saving Andy, too.

Her darkly-drawn eyebrows lifted and then furrowed, accenting the incredulous colour to her tone. "Like I trust you." She retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. Jake began to sit up then, rigid joints cracking satisfyingly as he moved to lean into me.

I stole Ellen's stare from my place on the ground, gently gracing the back of my hand over Jake's smooth forehead. She watched me with a strange warmth as I felt him breathe thick into the skin of my neck. "With you, we can help find Andy." I told her, head cocked to accommodate Jake's skull nudging into my shoulder. Still, she watched on, waiting for me to elaborate and diffuse the weighty tension to the scene. A small smile curved the corners of my lips and I gazed up to Felix, just knowing we were sharing the same intimate connection. "We'll tell you the truth about everything."