Jayfeathers Room of Lightning 2

Chapter 1: After the Torture

Hello, world

You're so cold

My heart beats like frozen gold

Hard to find, out of reach

Lose my breath and blank my speech

Hearings gone, sight impaired

Like I'm drunk without a care

Click, click

Pulse fails

Life support or go to jail?

"Can I borrow your lighter?" Eli asked. Sparks looked up from the book he was reading to see his sister standing awkwardly in front of him, shifting her feet nervously.

"Why the hell do you need a lighter?" Sparks mumbled. "Gonna go smoke some crack?"

"Dad asked me to get it for him," Eli mumbled, annoyed.

"Why couldn't dad get it himself?"

"He's not feeling well and doesn't want to get off the couch," Eli explained.

"I think he's just making excuses to be lazy," Sparks replied, throwing his red lighter at Eli. "Make sure he gives it back."

"I will," Eli promised, and then walked out of his room. She walked down the stairs to where her dad sat in the living room, combing her fingers through her short brown hair to brush out the tangles.

"Here dad," Eli tossed him the lighter. "Sparks wants me to make sure you'll give it back."

"I will," Jayfeather sighed. "Jeez it's like he doesn't think I have any responsibility at all."

"Where's mom?" Eli asked, realizing she hadn't seen her mother since breakfast. "Did she get called in to work today?"

"No," Jayfeather said as he lit his cigarette. "She went to spend the day at your aunts house."

"Oh," Eli grumbled, and the picture of her aunt's face crossed her mind involuntarily. Her aunt, Hollyleaf, was Jayfeathers alcoholic sister who always insisted she needed to borrow money for her rent. Jayfeather told her kindly that she could stay at their place, because he thought her dirty apartment was gross and not fit to live in. Hollyleaf had taken this invitation to heart, and was now inviting herself to dinner three times a week and walked in without knocking as if she owned the place. The last time she was over, Hollyleaf had spent an entire hour explaining to Eli that if she continued to dress like a 12 year old boy, the only boyfriend she would ever had would be either blind, deaf, or retarded. Eli despised her.

"She'll be coming over for dinner tonight," Jayfeather announced, snapping Eli out of her thoughts.

"Oh that's a surprise," Eli said sarcastically.

"I didn't want her to come either," Jayfeather smiled slightly. "But she somehow found out we were going to be having steaks."

"Remember last time we had steaks?" Eli snapped, wincing as her tone sounded a lot more sharp than she intended. "She swiped two off the grill and put them in her bag for later!"

"Those were expensive steaks too," Jayfeather agreed crossly. "This time I'm going to keep a better eye on them."

"Make Sparks stand guard."

"That will not be helpful at all," Jayfeather muttered. "He'll eat them all himself." Jayfeather threw the lighter back at Eli. "Give this back to your brother," he said, smiling kindly. "And tell him I said thank you."

"Okay."

Jayfeather shifted his eyes back down to his newspaper and didn't say anything else. Eli noticed he looked wary, but that was no surprise. Lately Jayfeather had been acting wary of everything. Eli couldn't help but glance down at her father's hands. His white scars had turned purple against his skin, tracing up through his fingers and down his wrists. His plaid flannel shirt hid the rest. Eli tried not to think about how he was a bit odd for a father, and failed. Jayfeather was very young to be a dad; he was 32 years old while the rest of Eli's friend's fathers were near 50. Jayfeather didn't really look like a dad, either. His hair was getting long again, brushing the tips of his eyelashes at the front. A week ago Eli had told him he needed a haircut, but that only succeeded in Jayfeather going off on a rant of how barbers always screwed up his hair.

"If I want a haircut, I'll get a haircut!" he had yelled. "But I'm not letting no punk ass barber screw up my hair again."

Jayfeather was also very skinny, but he hid his scrawny frame with baggy clothes that only succeeded in making him look skinnier. Jayfeather had a collection of about 12 different coloured plaid shirts, which he wore every day on a regular basis. He refused to wear anything else, even to a formal occasion. One time Kit had a formal business dinner, and she had forbid Jayfeather from wearing a plaid shirt. She dressed him up in a white dress shirt and told him he wasn't aloud to change. Jayfeather had worn the shirt to the dinner, but had brought one of his shirts in his briefcase. The second he got the chance he ran to the bathroom and changed. Kit was so angry, but he refused to take off his blue flannel plaid shirt. Eli remembered them arguing about that for days. Besides his odd appearance, Jayfeather also didn't act like a father. Often he tried to hard, or didn't try hard enough. But he was always kind, Eli thought he was the nicest man in the world. But Eli knew he was damaged, well, emotion wise that is. His eyes were always so hollow, dead to the world even when he was smiling. He had told Eli a long time ago that Kit and him had gone through some very difficult things when they were young, but neither of them had ever given her a straight answer of what happened. Jayfeather just said his father, Crowfeather, had physically abused them. When Eli asked how, Jayfeather just shook his head and told her he would tell her when she was older.

"What?" Jayfeather asked.

Eli snapped back to reality, realizing she had zoned off lost in thought. "Nothing," Eli mumbled. "I was just thinking that you need a haircut."

"MY HAIR IS FINE!" Jayfeather howled. Then he winked and smiled, to show he was kidding. "I'll get around to it eventually."

"Kit," Jayfeather whispered. "Kit, please, please wake up."

Kits head lolled to one side, eyes stretched wide open in disbelief at what she just saw. Crowfeather lay in front of her, blood pooling on the ground. His eyes were wide in terror, and the electric collar buzzed in the distance.

"He's dead," Kit didn't know how she managed to function to talk, but the words just bled from her. "He's gone."

"He's gone," Jayfeathers eyes were scared. "Are you okay?"

"I can't breathe," Kit choked. Her breath came in short gasps, and she felt her brain numb with the lack of oxygen.

"I called an ambulance," Jayfeather said, reaching out and grabbing her hand. "They'll be here soon. I need you to help me get rid of Crowfeathers body."

Sparks sat in his room, trying to plug in his TV. The cord was messed up, because Sparks had accidentally dragged his dresser over it, which resulted in stripping the wires. The picture on Sparks TV flickered on and off, making Sparks hiss in annoyance. He leaned forward to grab the plug out of the outlet, but accidentally brushed against the naked wire. He jumped back with a jolt as a buzzing sensation flew through his arm. It stung, but Sparks found himself smiling. He slowly reached out and touched the wire with his finger. Tiny blue volts shot through his skin again. It tingled. He grasped the wire with his full hand, closing his fingers into a fist around the wire. Shock waves flew through him, making the hairs on his arms stand straight up. Sparks then let go, and examined his hand. Little white scars had formed on the palm of his hand. His eyes drifted up to his wrists, where other fading scars lay. Sparks liked electricity, a lot.

He liked the way it made him feel.

He liked the way it burned his skin.