One month had passed, and Tessa had no idea she was being spied on.
She was a lot busier now, so she barely got to see Will much, and when they did see each other, it was just a nod of acknowledgment, but nothing more. Obviously Tessa was disappointed, but she tried not to let it get to her. She didn't want to seem clingy.
Will had been spending more time with his psychiatrist lately, Mr. Baldwin, which was highly peculiar. Will was sort of depressing at times, so maybe that was the case, though she wasn't really sure.
Also, the little mini vacation everyone had appeared to have slipped away into the air. Now they were working all day, only a few people getting to relax for only just a few short hours. Tessa was always exhausted and was getting dark circles under her eyes. Gideon, Gabriel, and Jem were too. Tessa was counting her days till Christmas, the only week she had off so far. (Everyone says she works too hard, not that they're wrong.)
The only good thing that had happened recently was Ethan Peterson was moved to the left wing, so he was no longer bothering her, thankfully. But that was it.
Tessa tied her hair into a tight bun, staring at herself in the mirror for a few seconds to see a tired, yet serious young woman, whose eyes were starting to dull each day from being here. She didn't hate being there, but she certainly didn't like it. She put on her hat and straightened it, letting a faint sigh escape her lips.
She turned away from the mirror and started walking out of her room, and met with Bridget in the hallway. Their instructions weren't completely clear; they were assigned to guard the building, so they weren't sure if it meant that they were just supposed to guard the general area (which was very unclear), or perhaps the entrance. She just knew Bridget was supposed to be with her, unfortunately. No one really liked Bridget.
They silently agreed to go to the entrance.
Tessa kept her earpiece on in case of an emergency—you could never be too careful. Four hours had gone by and absolutely nothing happened. She was already uncomfortable in the presence of Bridget Daly, so that kind of dulled her typically sharp senses.
At the moment, she would do pretty much anything for a coffee.
There was a coffee maker in the front office, but the coffee was horrible. No one dares to go anywhere near it.
There was a faint buzzing sound in her earpiece that soon transformed into static. She pressed the microphone closer to her mouth and opened her mouth to say something, but the person radioing her had beaten her to the chase.
"Patient 00291 is requesting you, miss," a gruff, scratchy voice said to her.
"He in his cell?"
"Yep."
Patient 00291. That was…Julian Blackthorn. What was up with this kid lately?
"Confirmed. I'll be there in a minute," Tessa said, glancing quickly at Bridget.
The red-headed girl was obviously displeased. "Where are you going?" she asked, her accent thick.
Tessa smiled. "I'm about to pay someone a visit."
Julian was not acting normal. He was trembling on the floor and was scratching at his arms to the point where blood was starting to come out. His dark brown hair was ruffled, he was paler than usual, and his blue-green eyes that Tessa admired were bloodshot with bags under them, and they were looking up at her, wide and fearful.
"Jules?" Tessa found herself asking.
He shook his head fervently, dropping his gaze from her and started muttering things under his breath. The only words she caught were, "No. Jules. Please. Emma. Silla, Silla, Silla."
"Emma?" Tessa's head went sideways. She guessed he didn't want her to call him Jules? "What did she do to you, Julian?" she inquired in a smooth tone.
If possible, Julian scratched even harder. Tessa inwardly winced. "It wasn't her. It was me. Silla, Silla, Silla."
Silla? What?
Tessa had to be honest. She was a little afraid at this point.
"Julian, what's Silla?"
He once again shook his head. "I trust you."
Tessa only stared.
Julian banged his head against the hard cement wall, groaning out, "Drusilla…"
She yelped and widened her eyes, crouching down next to him. He was still shaking. "Julian… Who's Drusilla?"
Tears were starting to flow down his cheeks. "She was just thirteen." She didn't want to come off as impatient, but she wanted to know more. Why did you request me? Who's Drusilla? What happened to her? Are you okay? What's wrong?
Julian was quiet for a very long time. The only sounds coming from him were his breathing and sniffling.
When he composed himself, he finally answered, "Drusilla is my sister. Was my sister. I killed her two years ago and here I am acting like nothing's wrong." Then he slammed his fist hard against the wall and his knuckles were bleeding. "I'msosickohmygodkillme."
He groaned and his head felled into her shoulder. "Don't even," she said sternly. Then she changed her tone to a softer one. "Do you want me to get your psychiatrist?"
Julian laughed, but it was a hollow and bitter sound. A cold shiver crept down her spine. She was terrified of him. But he couldn't be. She was trained for these kinds of things. "God, no." His head rolled to the side, and for a moment, she thought he might've fallen asleep. But he continued. "Emma was blamed. That's why she's here. She's fine." He said 'fine' like it was something he had said thousands of times already.
"I killed her," he reiterated. "And I'm the crazy one. But she took the blame and I had to kill Mark so I wouldn't have to leave her alone."
"You didn't have to," she whispered, but she knew it was pointless.
"Yes, I did. I love Emma and I just had to be the selfish bastard I am. And you know what's even worse? I don't feel anything. Yeah, I cried, but out of frustration," Julian went on. "But I do love Emma. That's the one thing I'm capable of feeling. You know what Silla said to be before the knife hit her? 'No, Jules, please.'"
Tessa was sort of speechless.
"Thirteen," he gasped, dragging his fingernails across his face. She flinched upon seeing the red lines on his cheeks.
Silence passed between the two of them. Tessa absorbed the newly acquired information, not quite sure if she should comfort him or run away screaming. She did neither and just stayed quiet.
Then he grasped her hand. She stared at him with wide eyes. Julian was staring at her intensely; she felt cold all over. "Tessa, listen to me. Bring Emma in here. Just… Please." Then his eyes softened and he smiled faintly. "You're a great friend. You know that, right? I won't forget you."
Tessa stammered, and then said, "What? Julian, what are you saying?"
"Just get Emma. You mean a lot to me and I will be forever grateful that I met you."
"What?"
"Thank you." And then he turned around and was crying again.
She staggered out of his room, locking it and making sure it was locked. The whole thing creeped her out, but she did as he asked, and retrieved Emma for him. After letting her in, she made a mental note to call his psychiatrist later, regardless of what he said.
Tessa started walking away and bumped into Gideon. Overwhelmed by relief, she nearly hugged him. "Gideon," she gasped out. "Oh, Gideon, it was awful. Julian…I just…" She covered her face with her hands and shook her head.
"What did he do?" Gideon asked.
She stayed quiet for a few moments, and then uncovered her face, explaining what happened. His grayish-green eyes grew wider with each sentence and his eyebrows were furrowed. "And here I thought Julian was the normal one."
Tessa nodded, her hands put in fists and tucked under her chin.
"You better head back to your post," Gideon said in a low voice. She attempted a smile, and walked along to Bridget who looked like she was about to shout at Tessa, but upon seeing the look on her face, Bridget shut up.
Minutes later, Jem was running to her looking frantic. "James, what is it?" Tessa asked, searching his eyes.
Jem was staring at her, but he said nothing. Then, he pulled her away from Bridget and into the nearest hallway. This hallway was especially dark and quiet in sort of a chilling way, which made Tessa a bit more alert.
Jem was good. He was kind, funny, and her best friend. He told her everything and immediately after they happened, and vice-versa. But never before had he ever told her anything so tragic, nothing as painful or as terrifying.
"Emma and Julian are dead."
A/N: I am REALLY sorry for such a short chapter (and that I had to leave it here) but I had to update. School's been overwhelming, soI apologize.
Julian…Wow, right? *cough* So far, based on the information Cassie's given us, it seems like Julian is like the Jem of TDA, yay! But I made him into a super-psycho *wiggles fingers* sp00ky!
If you enjoyed this chapter, please review/favorite/follow! I'm so grateful for each one and I'm so glad you all like my writing. Thank you all so much :)
Disclaimer: I do not own The Infernal Devices or anything else mentioned in this story.
