NOVEL NEXT Chapter 22
Jason didn’t know what happened to the reporter or her cameraman after the news. Words were spoken, hands were lowered to him, but Jason was completely separated from the actions of the strangers around him. There was a hole in his chest that had been digging itself out for a while now, he had been too afraid to acknowledge its existence up until now.
Shannon was gone. Forever.
Countless actions Jason could have taken, words he could have spoken, and memories he took for granted all crashed into his consciousness in a massive tidal wave of helplessness. Jason held his hands to his chest, shoulders shaking silently, as he attempted to physically hold the pieces of his heart falling away from his body. Then a new sound cut through the white noise around him and brought his blurry vision from the sidewalk and up to a black SUV that pulled up ahead of him. The driver’s side door opened up and Jason watched Kylee’s red hair and panicked face scrambled out and rushed towards him.
“You knew…” Jason whispered.
He could see it now. The guilt that had been eating Kylee up inside for the past day. Jason didn’t have time to fully process his own actions but his body lurched into motion. He sprang forward, hands from the television crew falling away at the sudden burst of movement. In six bounding steps Jason was at Kylee’s feet. He felt his hands snatch the front of her black turtleneck sweater and shake her violently.
“You knew!” He shouted this time.
Kylee didn’t ask what Jason was talking about. He could tell she already knew full well what had driven Jason to the brink.
“Not here, Jason.” Kylee’s voice was unsteady as her eyes glanced at the news crew behind him. “Inside.”
Her words fell on deaf ears.
“You knew.” Jason repeated, betrayed by a person he thought had been on his side.
Kylee’s hands clamped down on either side of Jason and lifted him to his toes. Had Jason been in his right mind, he would have been shocked by her strength. Her breathing didn’t change much as she dragged Jason up his walkway and into his home. The walls shook lightly as the front door slammed closed behind them. The noise was enough to snap Jason out of his funk. The hot and fierce anger inside him rose to the surface once more.
“How could you?” Jason shoved himself away from the detective. “How could you let me go without telling me?”
“I didn’t want to hurt you Jason. Please.” Kylee begged. “Please believe me. It was wrong. I know that. I just didn’t want to see you get hurt.”
“And how is keeping the fact that my…” Jason’s voice caught in his throat. “That’ my m-”
Tears began falling in earnest from his eyes as he struggled to say the words.
“My mother is dead.” Jason’s body shook uncontrollably.
Kylee looked close to breaking down as well. She stepped forward, arms out to try and hug Jason.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered.
“No.” Jason weakly slapped her hands away from him. “Don’t touch me.”
Kylee pushed forward, attempting to embrace Jason anyway.
Jason put his hand out and held her just out of reach.
“Get out.” He whispered.
Kylee recoiled with a shattered expression.
“Y-you don’t mean that.” Kylee’s lip quivered. “You’re in shock. Not thinking clearly.”
“Get out.” Jason repeated with the same tone and certainty in his voice.
Metaphorical cracks were visible in Kylee’s green eyes. She was tottering close to a dangerous ledge. Jason didn’t see it. Actually, if he were being honest with himself, Jason chose not to see it. Jason let his grief and pain lash out without a single thought given to any potential repercussions.
“You still need me. I’m supposed to protect you. Remember?” Kylee clung onto this idea like it was a life jacket and she was stranded at sea. “A-adaline is still out there. I need to stay here and keep you safe. I need to be here… You need me to be here…”
Jason stormed over to the couch and grabbed Kylee’s bag she had been living out of. Without bothering to check if all of her stuff was inside, Jason shoved it into the detective’s chest with as much force as he could muster.
“Jason.” Kylee was breaking. “D-don’t do this.”
Wordlessly, Jason opened the front door and held it there.
“Leave.” He ordered.
Kylee’s mouth opened repeatedly like a fish being held above water. She didn’t even fight Jason this time when he grabbed her wrist and forced her out of the door. Jason took one last look at Kylee’s broken expression before slamming his door shut in her face. Silence filled the dark front room. Jason expected to feel… different. His pain had driven him to action. A momentary distraction to mask the empty pit inside of him, if only for a moment. Yet, even after he had driven Kylee out of his home, Jason still felt that empty loneliness echo throughout his entire being. He didn’t know what to do.
“You called her your mother.” A soft voice called out from deeper into his house.
Jason blinked. He lifted his head to find Remi sitting on the stairs to the second floor. She wasn’t looking at him. Her legs were pulled up to her chest and her arms were wrapped around them. Her red and black eyes gazed at the far wall with an unreadable expression. Jason expected her to speak further, but the demon girl stayed quiet.
“My mother died when I was just a kid.” Jason said hoarsely. “I don’t really have any memories of her. Shannon raised me. She’s who I considered… I mean she’s the one I always thought of as my…”
Remi nodded slowly before turning her head and gazing at Jason. He was slightly taken aback by the genuine sorrow in her eyes.
“I’m sorry for your loss Jason.” Remi said quietly.
He didn’t know how to respond. He cast his eyes downard to hide the fresh tears stinging the corners of his eyes. Being comforted by a demon. There was something Jason could honestly say he never expected.
“A demon…” Jason felt a jolt of electricity hit his mind all at once. “Wait a second!”
He rushed forward and knelt in front of Remi. She leaned back slightly, a light blush entering her cheeks as she did so.
“W-what are you doing?” She stammered.
“You could bring her back.” Jason gripped both of her red hands with his own. “Our deal! I’ll pay whatever it takes.”
“I can’t…” Remi shook her head and couldn’t meet Jason’s excited eyes.
“My soul, my legs, take anything you need Azremir.” He said her full name with utter conviction.
Remi began shaking. Much to Jason’s surprise, she quickly pulled him into a tight embrace.
“Idiot.” She sniffed. “You can’t just make an offer like that. You need to care about yourself more.”
“Remi?” Jason didn’t understand what her hug meant.
“You must really care about her.” Remi sighed. “But… death isn’t something I have power over. I can’t bring somebody back who has already crossed the river. I’m sorry.”
Jason felt the last wisps of hope leave his body and he collapsed fully into Remi’s embrace. They sat like that for a long time. The little sunlight that had been filtering through the house’s closed blinds and draps began to fade as night fell over the world around them. Jason wasn’t all right, not by a long shot, but he had at least regained enough of his composure to hold in what little moisture remained in his body.
“Where’d you go today?” Jason finally asked, eager to find another topic to distract his distraught mind.
Remi shifted in place at the sudden question. “Oh. I, uh, had some things to figure out.”
“Like what?” Jason sat next to her on the staircase.
“Well… I haven’t really been in the mortal world in a while… and I never really stayed long before.” Remi was clearly dancing around the central reason for her absence. “I was just figuring out how my kind… normally interacts with mortals.”
Jason wasn’t following. “Like deals and stuff?”
Remi squirmed in place even harder. “Not exactly… More like… emotional stuff…”
Jason frowned and wanted to inquire further but a sharp knock sounded from the front door. The pair froze at the unexpected interruption. Jason really didn’t want to see Kylee again so soon. Since that was the most likely person the knock belonged to, Jason motioned for Remi to look out the window. The demon girl complied and quietly peeked through the front window to see who was outside.
“It’s that news lady.” Remi announced with a frown.
Remi turned back to Jason with a raised eyebrow.
“You didn’t touch her directly, did you?”
Jason felt his stomach lurch and he frantically looked down. He was still wearing Hayden’s baggy button up, school pants, and his gloves.
“I don’t think so.” Jason stood up shakily.
“Well the camera guy is out on the sidewalk. They both look pretty embarrassed.” Remi said, gazing out of the window again.
Curiosity got the better of him and Jason approached the front door. He opened right as the woman named Candice had lifted her right hand to knock again. The reporter gulped and took a step back.
“Mr. Simmons I just wanted to apologize for my inconsiderate remarks earlier. The news about the tragedy should not have come from me. It was irresponsible and not fair to you. I’m sorry.” The reporter bowed deeply and looked to be on the verge of tears.
Jason nodded. He knew he should say something to her but Jason couldn’t think of how he should respond. He didn’t forgive her. Then again, he didn’t really blame her in the first place. The hole in his chest began to resurface as the reality of Shannon being dead began to creep back into his mind. All Jason could do was clear his throat and continue to nod. Candice glanced up, full-on tears now visible on her makeup-covered cheeks.
“Jason!” Remi’s shout completely blindsided Jason.
He turned to see what caused the demon such alarm, just as Candice turned towards the sidewalk.
“If there’s anything I or Harry can do…” Candice trailed off as her cameraman came into view.
Though, he wasn’t where either Jason or Candice expected the portly man to be. Instead of standing sheepishly on the curb in front of their news van, Harry was lying face down on the sidewalk. A dark pool of red spread rapidly under the man’s neck.
“What-” Candice didn’t have time to comprehend the scene in front of her.
A knife tumbled end over end and embedded itself directly into the news woman’s face with a sickening crunch. The knife landed slightly off center, and caused Candice to topple over to Jason’s left rather than directly backwards. As her body fell lifelessly to the concrete, Jason finally spotted the knife’s origin.
Everything she wore was too big for her small, undernourished body. The slightly stained hiking boots were laced as tightly as they could be, the ripped cargo pants held in place by a belt wrapped twice around her thin torso, a discarded camouflage jacket could be seen just behind her, and an oversized hat that contained all of her matted sickly blue hair. The only article of clothing that fit was a tank top that left her arms free to move as she pleased. Jason already knew who it was, but the girl’s face confirmed his deepest fears.
With an unnaturally large smile, Adaline’s red eyes locked onto Jason’s own.
“Found you.”