Short stories

Gone

(Warning: This story is a quite dark)

May's POV (May is not my character. May is matlovescats23 's character)

Jake has been distant lately. Ever since Amy... No. I don't want to think about it. I never was truly close to Amy, but She was still my friend. It's still hard to believe she's gone.

Her funeral was almost a month ago. Jake was there. Elijah and I were there too. Jake didn't cry. He just stood off to the side, looking somber.

I think he blames himself. It hadn't been his fault. The wolf had come out of nowhere. Poor Amy just happened to be the closest to it.

He didn't get out much anymore. Several times Elijah and I had invited him to visit her grave with us, but he never showed up.

The last time I saw him, he wasn't looking very healthy. He was thin and his eyes were dull.

Last time he looked like that was when he was starving himself when we were in the army.

It was a dark time, but he got over it. He said that he hasn't contemplated suicide since then. Do I believe him? I'm not sure.

I felt a hand take mine. I instinctively pulled it away, my hand going to the gun at my side. I looked up, eyes wide.

"Calm down love." Came the soft voice of my love, Elijah.

I relaxed. "Sorry min kjærlighet. You just... caught me off guard."

He nodded, sitting next to me. "You were lost in thought. I just thought you needed someone to sit with you... what are you thinking about?"

"Jake... I'm worried about him. You don't think he'll..."

"Jake..." he hesitated. "Is a wild card. I'm never quite sure what he'll do. One day he'll be happy, the next he'll have a pistol at his own head."

"You're right..."

"The only thing that's consistent is his inconsistency. But, we've been here for him. We've been friends with him since he showed up at the steps of the army base. He'll pull through."

I thought about that. Were we being good friends? We hadn't talked to him in a few days. We could be helping him through this, but here we were, sitting on the couch in our house.

The sound of thunder filled the air as it began to rain.

I stood. "Let's Go." I rushed to the door and walked outside.

"Where are we going?" Called Elijah, stumbling to catch up with me.

I got into the car swiftly, starting the engine.

"To see our friend." I said as he got in the passenger seat. I pulled out of the driveway and started towards Jake's house.

We were going to help him through this. We were going to make him feel better.

My mind raced with ideas. We could go to the movies. Jake liked the movies. We could go swimming. Scratch that, Jake can't swim. We could go to the zoo. We would have to steer clear of the wolf paddock though. He doesn't need the bad memories.

I pulled into the drive.

"How are we going to get in?" Asked Elijah as I unbuckled myself.

"He gave me a key a few years ago. I reckon it should still work." I responded simply, jogging up the front steps as rain fell around me in sheets.

I unlocked the door and walked inside, not waiting for Elijah.

It was dark.

It was quiet.

"Jake...?" I called softly.

No response.

"Jackson?" I said louder, moving to the kitchen.

The counters were beginning to collect dust. He must not have made the food he's been eating.

If he's been eating at all.

I walked into his bedroom. The lights were off in here too, a pocket of darkness concealing all aspects of the room and it's contents.

I flipped the switch to turn the lights on.

When I turned around, my heart froze and sank.

We weren't the friends Elijah had promised we were.

We were failures.

Those were the words in my mind as I gazed upon the body of Jackson Novo the Second, hanging from a noose tied to the ceiling.