Chapter 13
Reunion
Chris's (Jack's) POV
After being half-dragged back to her apartment, Melody left saying she had classes to attend. As much as I would've liked to sit in with her, I concluded that it was probably better that I didn't show my face for a bit. I probably would've been even more bored anyway.
I spent my time hopping between surfing the internet, playing around with my phone (which still wasn't working properly) and browsing the documents of upgrades in my duffel bag. It wasn't until around two o'clock that I heard a knock on the door. A peek through the peephole on the door revealed that it was Mandy.
'What is SHE doing here?' I asked myself as I opened the door.
"What can I do for ya, Mandy?" I asked as I donned my Irish accent again.
"Oh I was wondering if I could take a look at those boots you have," the otter asked as she tried to look over my shoulder into the apartment.
"Mel isn't 'ere, if that's what you're thinkin'," I told her. "And what're ya talkin' about 'boots'?"
Mandy gave me one of those looks.
"Really Jack? Your interview is all over the news," she explained. "Now can I see those boots or not?"
"Well, cat's outta the bag then," I mumbled, causing the otter to give me an odd look. "What's in it for me if I let you see them?"
"That depends," she said with an evasive stare. "What do you want?"
"A place to stay," I said without thinking.
"I thought you were living with Mel?"
"It's just a temporary thing," I said as I leaned on the door-frame. "I was thinkin' about findin' a place in the snow district."
"You mean Tundratown," Mandy corrected.
"That's what I said. Now if you find me someplace nice, say, an apartment over a café or somethin' like that, I might let you look at those boots."
"You want me to go apartment hunting for you?"
I shrugged, feeling quite smug.
"That's how the ship sails. Do we have a deal?" I asked as I offered my paw.
She took my paw and flashed a grin.
"Yeah, Jack. We have a deal."
As her eyes shifted downward her grin vanished.
"That's a very interesting necklace," she commented. "What's the cord made out of?"
'Shit! I can't tell her it's made of leather; she'll probably think I'm a murderer,' I thought.
"I made it out of a heavily weaved cotton polymer," I blurted, trying to sound convincing.
She gave me a steely glare in response.
"Okay. See you later, Jack," Mandy said as she walked away to her own apartment.
It felt like I had dodged a bullet right then; my heart was pounding. I closed the door and went back to my random activities.
? POV
It was nice to be home after a long day of work. Sure, there was no rest in the day for a single mother, but home was home.
"Sweetheart! I'm home!" I called down the hallway.
My daughter peeked her snowy head out of her room to show that she heard.
"Watt's for supper?" she quietly asked.
"I was thinking Tuna Casserole, would you like to help me?" I offered, holding up the bag that held the fish I had bought on the way.
She shook her head before closing her door again. I sighed in defeat; this wasn't the first time I had to deal with this kind of behavior, but it still wasn't pleasant.
I flipped on the news as I starting preparing supper, the usual politics and wash of rumours rattling on in the background.
"… Jackson Frost, thought to have gone missing eight days ago…"
I almost cut myself as I heard the newscaster say his name. I hastily washed my hands clean before rushing for the remote; what did they say? What was it about Jackson?
I rewound the news feed, pressing play on the PVR once the snow leopard appeared again.
"Earlier this morning, a fox was witnessed jumping off the Antelope Heights building in Savannah Central, shockingly walking away unscathed after he shook the street and the mammals walking by. Cassidy Deerbrooke was on the scene to interview the intrepid mammal just after he crashed down."
The news then showed a deer standing on the street.
"Yes, Fabienne, just this morning, in this very spot, I got to speak with the fox who survived the drop from the top of Antelope Heights. You can see that the sidewalk is still cracked right where he landed."
The news anchor, Fabienne, appeared once again.
"The fox was identified as twenty-two year-old Jackson Frost, thought to have gone missing eight days ago. He was accompanied by friends and students of the Savannah Central Institute of Technology and Engineering, testing what they called 'Long-Fall Boots'."
The TV then showed an arctic fox speaking to Cassidy; I nearly cried when I saw his face.
"These boots are experimental shock absorbers, which we've dubbed Long-Fall Boots," He explained. "As the name implies, they're meant to take the impact of a… Long fall."
"And how high of a fall are we talking about, Mr. Frost?" Cassidy asked.
"Ummm…"
He looked up to the sky.
"About the height of this building," He replied, gesturing the building.
"Is this an estimate?"
"Oh no, I just jumped it."
"Surely, you must be joking, sir."
"I'm serious, she even saw me jump off."
He pointed to a vixen next to him, one that I knew too well. I turned off the TV and ran to get my coat.
"Maddie! Get your jacket, we're going to see Melody!"
Chris POV
The sound of the door opening and closing dragged me from my mindless activities.
"I've got takeout!" Mel called as she walked into the kitchen. "I hope you don't mind curry."
"Curry's nice," I said while clearing the table.
We were just about done eating when we heard a knock at the door.
"I'll get it," Melody said as she got up and left.
As for me, I went ahead and started picking up the dishes.
'I hope it's not some amateur reporter or something,' I thought to myself. 'And I sure as hell hope that it's not-SHIT.'
I tossed the dishes in the sink before gunning it after Melody.
"Mel! Don't open the… Door…"
She had, of course, already opened it. On the one hand, it wasn't Mandy waiting in the hallway; on the other hand, I now had two arctic vixens staring at me with wide eyes.
The taller of the two, which I had assumed as the oldest, quickly had me trapped in a bear-hug.
"Oh baby, I thought I lost you. I thought I lost you," I heard her choke.
"Umm… I'm sorry, do I know you?" I wheezed from between her iron grip.
The vixen's hold fell away as she looked at me with teary eyes.
"Jackson, please, that's not funny."
"I'm not joking," I answered, sharing worried glances with Melody.
"I'm your mother for god's sake."
Fuck.
"Uh, Mrs. Frost?" Melody cut in before I said something stupid. "Would you mind if I had a talk with Jackson for a bit? The living room is just down the hall."
She dragged me away from the other two vixens before they could answer, pulling me into her room before closing the door and slipping to the floor.
"God dammit," she exclaimed.
"Mind filling me in?" I shot at her.
"That was Jackson's mother, Melody Frost," she pointedly answered.
"Yeah, I got that, why is she here?"
"Obviously, she saw your little interview from this morning, genius!" She spat. "And I was there too, so she put two and two together and came straight here."
"Okay and who's the other one?"
"Jackson's little sister, Madelyn."
"Great. So what now? Am I still playing the amnesiac fox that got hit by a car?" I sarcastically asked.
"Yes," she said as she got up and opened the door. "And you better be careful with your words or you could seriously hurt someone."
We found Jackson's family sitting on the couch. As they heard us walk in, the smaller of the two, Madelyn, wrapped herself around me in a soft hug.
"I missed you, Bro," she sniffled in an Irish accent.
Though I was surprised at first, I swiftly accepted the hug gave her a squeeze back.
"I'm sorry for earlier," I apologized in my own Irish accent. "I kind of got into a bit of an accident a week ago."
Mrs. Frost gasped as I said this.
"Yeah, he kind of got hit by a car," Melody added. "And as a result developed amnesia."
"Oh, my poor baby," Mrs. Frost wailed as she got up and started hugging me again.
I was definitely feeling uncomfortable again.
"I only found him a few days ago, just wandering through town. I'm sorry I didn't call you earlier," Melody falsely apologized.
"I forgive you, Mel, there's no way I could stay mad at my son's fiancé."
Very uncomfortable, I had to change the subject.
"So, uh, where's Dad?" I said out of nowhere.
I was met with a wall of silence. Looking at Melody I saw that she was burying her face in her paws.
"I… I-I'm sorry, did I- AGH!"
I felt a sharp surge of pain from behind my eyes, and then a flow of heat rising in my head as images flashed through my mind.
I was in a big, bright room. No, I was just small, and the TV in front of me was lighting up the room. I heard a door close behind me.
"Honey! I'm home!" A voice called in a thick Irish accent.
I turned around and towards the voice.
"Dad!" I exclaimed as I jumped at the fox in front of me.
He was white, and dressed in a blue uniform. And on his chest shone a gold badge.
TRUST INTEGRITY BRAVERY
PORT LIONS POLICE DEPARTMENT
"Hey there, boyo," he said as he gave me a noogy. "How're you doin' today?"
"I'm fine, did you catch any bad guys?"
The fox laughed and the scene blurred away.
I was sitting in the same room again, the TV playing once more; this time, I could hear rain clattering on the window. A knocking had me turning my head towards the door as a white vixen went to answer it. I saw a small white weasel dressed in a blue uniform, a familiar gold badge shining on his chest.
"Mrs. Frost? I'm Officer Stoatson, I was accompanying Officer Frost during our rounds today. We were called to handle a hostage situation, and while we managed to stop the guy, your husband…"
He sighed.
"Markus didn't make it."
As the vixen started crying, I saw my vision start to blur. I was choking on tears as I ran out of the room and up a set of stairs.
I found myself lying on the floor, staring up at three fuzzy forms; two white, one orange.
"Jack… Come on, Jack, wake up." I heard Melody say.
"Aye, I'll be fine, though I can' really see all that well. Did my glasses fall off?" I asked as I sat up.
"Kind of… Here."
I felt them being placed in my paw and instinctively placed them on my face. Oddly enough, while things were notably clearer, it seemed like my vision had gotten worse.
'That's just great,' I thought.
"Okay, gurls, wha' exactly… Happened?" I cautiously asked as I became aware of a bump on the back of my head.
Melody looked a bit more nervous than usual, while Mrs. Frost and Madelyn shared worried looks.
"You, umm… You kind of blacked out, Jack," Melody explained. "You cried out and stumbled backwards. After you hit the floor, you seemed to start crying for no reason. Did something happen?"
"I… I don' know…" I said as I looked away.
The Frosts didn't stay for much longer. While they had asked if I wanted to go home with them, I declined as politely as I could. They left after sharing more awkward-feeling hugs.
"Okay, spill it, what really happened?" Melody asked with a serious glare once the door was closed.
"I guess I'm recalling memories, Mel, but they aren' mine," I told her as I walked back to the living room. "They feel familiar, but at the same time they're not. And they all pass by like dreams; I go through 'em and jus' as soon as they're over I can' remember the details."
"Okay, that's… Interesting," the vixen commented as she followed me. "By the way, you can drop the accent any time now."
To be honest, I had hardly noticed that I was still doing it.
"Oh, uh… Sorry," I apologized.
I then remembered about the USB I found that morning. Not wanting to end the day on an awkward note, I fished it out of my pocket.
"You might want to take a look at this," I said as I offered it to her.
"What is it?" She inquired as she took the flash drive and stared at the label. "Wait, what?"
She looked up at me with an annoyed look.
"Is this a joke?"
"Your guess is as good as mine; do you want to take a look?" I suggested.
It didn't take long for her to take out her laptop and plug in the drive. Almost immediately, we found out that it was the real deal.
"Where did you even get all this?" Melody asked an awe.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
She gave me a hard look.
"Try me."
? POV
After seeing the interview on the news, suspicion was one of the few states of mind that clouded my thoughts.
"Why does he sound so familiar?" I thought out loud. "And last time I checked… Jackson Frost was dead."
The Universal Conversation
{Electro}
-Hello travellers, my name's Electro, and welcome to The Universal Conversation.
{Electro}
-Now today instead of doing an inter view or answering questions. I'm just going to say Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, and to those who don't… Happy Holidays. Now first off I just want to say that I now have an announcements board or section on my profile, which you guys should totally check out, that way, you guys can stay up to date on anything that's going on. Now how about a nice Christmas song to end this off, eh.
*Music starts to play from nowhere*
Deck the halls with boughs of holly
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Tis the season to be jolly
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Don we now our gay apparel
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Troll the ancient Yule-tide carol
Fa la la la la, la la la la
See the blazing Yule before us
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Strike the harp and join the chorus
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Follow me in merry measure
Fa la la la la, la la la la
While I tell of Yule-tide treasure
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Fast away the old year passes
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Hail the new, ye lads and lasses
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Sing we joyous all together
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Heedless of the wind and weather
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Fa la la la la, la la la la
*Music Ends*
{Electro}
-As old Sint Niklaas said "Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight"
*cease transmission…*