Author's Note: This is a character revealing chapter, so there's more dialogue and interesting interaction among characters. Enjoy!
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Chapter Twelve
It had been two whole days since Roger was released from the hospital, and he hadn't allowed Jack to leave his side once since then. The rather tall and mysterious female who had bumped into Jack on his way into Roger's room was the outside world's messenger, retrieving medicines and any other necessity to suit Roger's short temper. Jack became more and more suspicious as letters and boxes began to pile up in the factory. If nagging headaches hadn't plagued him, he would have figured it out himself, but this time, he had to ask the still weak mastermind.
Roger's female double had begun setting up a tray full of tea, dragging two chairs across the concrete floor of the abandoned warehouse for herself and Jack. Roger, who had been silently brooding since his return, sat up for the first time in his two day rest. His coal eyes fell over the coffee, which he specifically asked for. "Did you put anything in it?" His hoarse voice grumbled. "No, of course not!" His sister responded with a giggle. "I know you like it black." The invalid was quick to swallow a cupful of the mix, holding out his cup as his sister poured another glassful. In the meantime, his gaze fell upon the choir boy, who remained still, a slight shiver in his shoulders. "Jack…"
The sound of his name almost caused Jack to lose his composure completely. His blue eyes spread out and he clenched tightly onto his cup, letting the scent of chamomile float towards his lips. "JACK!" Roger waited impatiently as attention fell to him. "We've been waiting too long with our original plan. You got caught up in your little "love games" and I was in the hospital. Luckily, my sister is here to help us." Jack kept quiet for the time being, seeing storm clouds building around Roger's curly head. "I'm sure you've been wondering why I've got all these boxes and letters." The answer to the question was unfolding.
Roger slowly lifted himself off of his bed, taking his tin mug with him as he wandered the room barefoot. Slamming his hand down on a box, his devilish grin returned. "You remember my father, don't you Jack?" "The ambassador? Yes, I do," Jack answered, thinking of the stern, dark figure in perfectly tailored suits. The man no one believed had raised the beast that became Roger. "Well, let's just say I finally got my allowance. Weapons!" The red was crawling into Roger's eyes, and Jack swallowed hard. "We...Weapons? What in the world do you plan on doing with weapons?!" Angela, who sat patiently beside Jack, giggled deeply in her throat. "Silly, how do you expect to kill someone without a weapon? Roger told me all about your little friend Ralph. He's tough and he's fast. That's why you need these."
Jack saw Roger flip his wrist out of the corner of his eye as Angela caught a flashing piece of metal. "A gun?!" "Brother, haven't you taught your friend anything at all?" The sultry voice asked while the gun was loaded. "Don't underestimate him Angela. He's not as stupid as he seems," Roger responded as he walked behind Jack, stretching his arms around his lean neck. A rough hand slapped against his cheek and Roger could feel Jack's teeth clench tightly as fingers traced his cheekbone. "You look even paler than you usually do…You said you were feeling better. What, oh what, is my little Jack doing?"
"He's leaving for a bit," Jack sighed, standing and leaning slightly as Roger climbed onto his back. Ignoring the slight weight on his shoulders, Jack headed towards the light of the slightly open door. Roger growled, stubbornly keeping his arms tight enough to choke. "You'd better not see him again. Don't forget what I've told you." Tilting his head around the red hair, Roger looked into Jack's face. He was just smiling. His hand slowly moved towards the door's edge as if taunting Roger with loneliness despite his sister's presence. "If you want me better, you have to let me go." Let me go.
Jack gagged as the serious Roger tightened his grip, not amused by the jokes. "Ugh! I'm just going to the doctor! You're the one who wants me better!" While Jack had time to catch his breath, Roger slowly slid off his back, landing in a seated position on the concrete floor, his legs bent out like a confused child's. He felt a strange pull in his body as his confidant nonchalantly began stepping through the door. Small sob like noises began shooting out again, stopping the footsteps long enough for Roger to call his name and throw the sweater Jack had left behind. Catching it, Jack flashed another smile, irritating Roger further. "Thank you." "Shut up! I just want you coming back. Don't die you twit!" With that, their backs turned to each other and Roger kicked the door shut with his barefoot.
"Little brother, why are you acting so emotional? It's just the doctor. He's not going to die," Angela said in half surprise, watching Roger crawl under his quilts, the mop of black hair popping up to the pillow. "Maybe your fangs aren't as sharp as you think they are." She sat beside her younger brother, gently petting his head. When her hand reached the tan skin, it quickly retracted. "You sure about that sister?" Looking down, Angela watched blood pour from two small gashes in her hand. With a small sigh, pulling together a weak smile through tears, she stood. "I'll be back later…okay?" The still faithful sister left Roger's stuffed companion by his side and shut the door behind her. Beneath the sheets, the demon never seemed smaller and his cries never seemed louder. The only one left to watch him was his small stuffed animal.
Meanwhile, Jack had just left his appointment and hurried home. In his hands were newly bought sunglasses and in his walk was a slight tip. Never looking back, he hid his shimmering blues behind the shade, keeping his body pressed tightly together as he moved. His head never looked up until he'd traced all the way back to his seemingly forgotten apartment. It had only been a few days, but they'd been the longest ever and they would only grow.
Reaching for his key, Jack was surprised to find that his door was already opened. I don't see Roger's boots…Slowly; he entered the room and shut the door behind him, seeing no traces of a presence anywhere. He took off his sunglasses and set them down carefully, preparing to look through the doorways. Suddenly, a loud ring sent him flying into the wall, his hand over his mouth to keep from overreacting any further. After waiting a few moments, his unsteady hand held the phone to his ear. "Where are you?" An unusually quiet voice questioned.
Jack's mouth hung open for a moment as he figured out who was on the other end. "Roger? Yeah, I'm here. What's wrong?" While he spoke, the red head's knees began giving way and he had to drag the phone along to his bed just in time to save himself from the hard floor. Getting himself together, he held up the receiver again, but no sound came from the other end, just muffled cries. Why now? "Roger, what's the matter? Do you need your medicine? Did something h…"
"I'm by myself…Come home now!" Jack was becoming more and more hesitant to answer. This voice sounded nothing like the owner, and this voice created even more guilt than the previous. "Come home!" It repeated again. "Come home." Sitting with the phone cord wrapped around his fingers, Jack couldn't keep himself on one mind. The desperate voice was calling out to him again, but that same voice had pushed him away hours before and would manipulate him as soon as the door was open again. What do I do?
The chain on Jack's necklace began lifting backwards until his head hit the edge of the bed and looked straight into the hard eyes of Nicol. One of his soft hands held the phone up to Jack's ear and just waited. Jack caught the cross on his necklace and spoke quickly so he could catch his breath. "Roger…Roger! I can't come home. I just finished my appointment and the doctor said I needed to rest in a nice, warm place. The stress of this whole thing has been too much, so you need to handle yourself with Angela. It's not the first time you've taken over, so I'm sure it won't be a problem…Roger, don't say that…This isn't about Ralph! It's…" It's up to me to start this…
Sucking in air, Jack let out a small cough, clearing his throat quickly to end the conversation before his voice died out. "I'll be back in a few days. Don't come here, please. You want me alive, then let me get better." The room was silent for a moment, but Nicol could pick up a few loud yells from the other side of the phone before Jack slowly hung up, keeping his head down. "You are sure you want to do this? You're already hesitating," the thick accent beside him reminded. "I know, I know…"
"Knowing is not acting. You hesitate, you die." The added weight left Jack's bed side, turning to face the self pitying red head. "One last time. You want to go through with this?" The choir boy remained silence until he came face to face with those piercing eyes. The ice was creeping into his skin with that stare. He tried as hard as he could to freeze his own eyes as he responded, "I'm sure." Satisfied, Nicol slouched in the chair beside the bed and began speaking in a lighter tone.
"In that case, we have things to talk about. You just come back from your appointment?" Jack nodded, slightly drowsier than before. "How much time do you have?" Lifting an eyebrow, Nicol observed Jack sway slightly. His chair creaked as he lay down the even paler Jack who tried his hardest to pay attention once Nicol began again. "How much time?"
"He said I have about three more days." Jack mumbled, digging his face into his pillow. Nicol laughed to himself, putting his arms on his knees and hunching forward, his eyes still shooting towards Jack. "Can you even hold out that long?" No answer came, and the conversation moved on with Jack finally asking the question that had been bothering him for awhile. "Where exactly do you fit in?" This obviously excited Nicol, whose eyes finally burned with a little intensity.
"As I said before, I am your sacrifice. You aren't going to be around anymore, which means Roger has no distraction holding him back. With that, Ralph is dead. If I am there, things are different. As I said before, I am shadow." Waiting for him to finish, Jack lifted his eyebrow slightly. "Is that why you broke into my apartment?" He groaned as the dark haired boy beside him laughed again, holding out his hand. "I come for three reasons. Number one, I need any advice you can give me about Roger."
Jack flipped over, shutting his eyes at the exhausting thought of explaining the creature that was Roger. "Number two, I was told to tell you that you need to get in touch with Ralph." The tall form was now looming over Jack's curled up body. "You'd better get moving Romeo if we need Juliet to cooperate."
"Please don't put it like that," the ill listener begged as he turned his body to face the last number. To his surprise, Nicol was lifting his shirt over his head, revealing a slightly scarred body. "Number three," his deep voice said through the shirt's fabric. When the shirt finally hit the floor, Jack found the shadow casting over his body. "What is number three?" He questioned through tense lips.
"Number three. You need to teach me what I need to know," the voice stated surprisingly calm. Jack stared wide eyes as the masculine body began to press against his, tilting his head. Finally, he shattered his shock and pushed himself up. "What do you mean?! This isn't what I meant by helping me! You just told me to go after Jul…Ralph, and now you want me to sleep with you?! I am not getting in bed with you!" This time, it was Nicol who was wide eyed. He blinked in disbelief, scratching his head in utter confusion. "If Roger is into this, shouldn't I be prepared if I'm going to replace you? You give me impression that he does this sort of thing. You also gave me impression that he hurts you, and this is one situation where I'd like no pain. Does that not make sense?"
Jack attempted to push off the newly aggressive ally, who obliged immediately, still not understanding why Jack was so hesitant. "You don't just give yourself away like that. You're too young," the choir boy scolded softly, reaching over the bed to retrieve the thrown shirt. "This is your first lesson about Roger. If you act a certain way, he won't force himself on you. Then again, you're probably more of a mystery than I am, so you might have to fight off his natural instinct more than I have." Jack looked up and immediately turned his eyes back down as he saw the very mysterious smile he'd mentioned. "Please don't tell me you're getting excited about this…"
"What can I say? I like challenge. He sounds easy enough to understand. Anything else you'd like to tell me?" Jack immediately jumped on the question. "Don't think of him as simple. That's what got me into my situation in the first place. He can play the part of an innocent boy really well, but he's extremely manipulative and sadistic." Pulling down his shirt slightly, Jack revealed the healing puncture wounds that were made in the room earlier. "He's a modern carnivore, but his mind works like a genius. That's why you always need to watch him, that's why you need to go along with what he says. He really is a beast and he really is a psychopath, that's why you need to fear him…" Jack let out a deep breath as he finished, finally putting off a little of the burden on his chest.
Seeing as though Nicol had begun a silent reflection, Jack reached into his bedside drawer, pulling out a lighter and a carton. He sighed grudgingly and held out a cigarette. "There is one thing I can teach you to do. It's only an appearance thing." As Jack stumbled towards the window, Nicol turned over the carton, shaking his head. "You just cannot win today. I already know how to smoke. Come on, I'm just as old as you." Lighting up, Nicol stood beside Jack, who had leaned out the window. "I really don't understand you, Nicol. The first time we were around each other, you were so quiet and shy. I know you're a shadow, but you have to have a personality."
Smoke rose in ribbon like swirls. The two silently watched the streets below, too stubborn to ask or answer anything. "I know you're hiding something," Jack started, wiping away the smoke that was blown in his direction. Obviously, his Russian ally was not the open book he was previously perceived to be, but he still wasn't satisfied. "Listen, I'm not saying that I don't trust you, but if we're investing in the same struggle, than I think I'm entitled to something." When the two grey eyes across from him began building up the stone heavy stare again, Jack simply threw his hands up and shrugged. "I've said in the name of God that I would not judge, and I won't judge you."
"Please, just tell me a little bit. Besides, what harm could it do if you'll barely ever see me?" Jack finished with an innocent smile, to which he received the same dark laughter, though it was a little bit more enjoyable this time. Nicol folded his arms against the windowpane, covering his laughter until he could regain his composure. "I didn't think you could, but you win me over. The preaching needs to stop though, but I tell you small things."
After taking a deep inhalation, Nicol dropped his head onto his hand. "Born in Russia, small details not important. Father worked in government and mother stayed home with my brother and me. My father always love old home, but things keep getting worse. My father also love Lenin, but those times were over. So was my father. Government doesn't want people of the past, and that was my father. One day, he leaves, never comes home. It was now up to me to fend for my family. My mother was beside herself."
Jack began playing with the chain on his cross, listening in awe. Nicol stopped for a moment and rubbed his eyelids, trying to remember. "We sell just about everything, but it was okay because we were alive. But food becomes short, and my mother was sick, in more than one way. She could not think straight, she wasn't a person anymore. My brother's life, she tried to sell for food. She lied to me and started dragging him across bridge. I hear little brother crying, and I made my choice." Another inhalation of smoke.
"What choice did you make?" Jack asked, fully absorbed by the sad tale. Nicol laughed a little at his wonder, turned to face him. "I kill my mother. Well, I don't know if she's dead. At that time, I didn't care. I take my little brother's hand and push her off bridge. I hear her crying and screaming, but I just run. She could be alive, but we'll never see each other again, that is true. Lucky for me that I was smart back then. I can understand war…so I bargain to get my brother to Switzerland. He was good boy, and he still is. He never changed."
"Why didn't you just go with him? You had a way out." Nicol simply shook his head. "It's not so simple. People know my family, people always know. I stay behind so they have someone to recruit instead of my brother. I learn to smoke from the men I fight with, just to let you know. Honestly, I can hardly remember. I don't even know how long I was there. All I know is I was captured. They put us on a train to who knows where." The end of the cigarette. Another one was lighted quickly, and Jack watched as the pain of the past continued to grow in Nicol's face, which held a cool front.
"Do you know where you ended up?" "Germany, like most anyone you'll hear about. Like I said, I don't really remember. All I know is I was there." As he slowly finished the last sentence, his arm reached up to Jack, who curiously watched the arm turn over, revealing a set of numbers on his wrist. "I play instruments, I like cold, but what more can you say for Russian boy like me? I didn't understand what was said to me, but I know physical language. I know I am lucky to be alive…Please don't ask anymore about that part of my life. I'm still trying to deny it to myself…"
Jack immediately agreed, and the story moved on to its close. "It felt like forever, but finally, I was allowed to live again. I immediately went to find my brother in Switzerland. The ride there was so painful. All I could think about was how lonely he was and I hoped that he had lived. I needed to know I did something for someone. I felt I failed my country and my parents. All I had left was my brother. I was nervous that he would reject me for leaving him, but he couldn't have been happier to see me. He's all I have left of my old life. Him and the little we saved of our home."
"What did you save?" Jack asked, unaware of the fact that his voice was getting softer. He put more of his weight against the window's edge to keep balance, hoping his draining strength was unnoticeable. The grey eyes that glanced beneath dark locks were obviously wiser, though no words were spoken on the subject. "Little things here and there. I don't want to drag on the list. We had to sell most of our valuables, but my little brother kept a few rings of my father's. The beryl one was always his favorite. He idolized our father, so it's probably what kept him going while I was gone. Me? I kept my mother's jade necklace."
His thumb pulled against the chain revealing a green dragon from underneath his shirt. "We saved a few other collectables from the Orient, but this one is the only one I'll ever wear. It was a good thing I gave it to my brother before he left, otherwise, I would have lost it for sure. Anyway, my brother and I didn't have any way of making ends meet, and the family that had kept my brother was suffering on their own debts, so we were shipped here to an orphanage. My brother was scared of that idea from the start, and I knew it wouldn't work. There was too much of a risk of separation, and that wasn't an option for us. As soon as we got here, I looked for work.
Nicol peered down at the jade, moving it into the light slightly. "My mother gave me luck with this necklace. While I was looking, I passed by Sage's flower shop and for some reason, which I still don't know now; he wanted me to work for him. Now I have enough money to take care of my brother and myself."
Letting out one final breath of smoke, Nicol put his hands on the top of the window, turning the rest of his body to the silent listener. "From this, I learn to be a shadow, but that doesn't mean I don't have compassion for your situation. Sage told me all about you, and I do sympathize. I help you because I want to, and hopefully we understand each other now. I understand if you don't trust or dislike me, because in your shoes, I might too, but I'm just letting you know, I'm on your side. Okay?"
The window shut and Nicol returned the lighter and box of cigarettes to their original home. Jack had only moved slightly, still supported by the wall. He eventually trudged in front of Nicol, his head bowed low. "I'm sorry…Oh God I'm sorry." Before Nicol could interject, Jack had already begun falling over. His head rubbed against Nicol's tensing stomach before he was shifted towards the bed. "You need to learn when to stop. If you plan on having everything ready in three days, you'd better not push yourself."
Jack only continued to mumble apologies as he was placed under his soft blankets, still with traces of blonde hair hiding in the stitches. "I need to go see Sage now, so you just need to focus on waking up in the morning. Don't do anything bad anymore. You still have things to do," the cool voice spoke while heading towards the door. Just as the shadow was about to disappear, the weak form in the bed called out. "Did you give up on God then?" The red hair disappeared beneath the blankets as the same deep laugh denied him. "I told you before. I don't believe in gods. If we're gonna do this, we're doing it ourselves." Jack was finally alone.
He kept his eyes closed to keep the room from spinning, but his head was still bursting. He pressed his hand to his head in fear that his thoughts would split his head in two. "Three days, just three days? I couldn't even keep a fire going for three days…" Unable to keep his eyes open any longer, Jack finally let himself fall asleep, not noticing the small note on his table. The spider like cursive simply read, "Looks like I got you in bed after all. Have fun tomorrow, and don't forget your bible."
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Author's Note: This chapter actually turned out better than I thought it would, and I'm relieved that I finally got Nicol's past out now. I like how his character is turning out so far, and he's only going to develop more. He's so cool! YAY! I'm somewhat surprised at how I wrote in the relationship between Jack and Nicol. I'm almost wondering what I'm going to do in the future! Hopefully, I'll update soon, with a chapter finally with Ralph! Thanks for reading!