Chapter Thirteen: Unlucky Chance
It had been…maybe four days after the execution. Jack didn't know and he didn't care. His lessons had been cut short and he wasn't forced into association, at least not for now. There was nothing any of the staff or even any of the inmates could do to move the silent twenty five year old. He was like a statue made of ice, in the permanent position of being curled up with his knees under his chin, arm curled around his legs as he stared forward.
He was sitting on Bunnymund's bed, Manny noticed as he entered silently with blunt eyes and his breathing caught up in his sore lungs. He hadn't really been the same either since…
He stood in the cell doorway, trying to catch the attention of his friend with no succession.
"Hey" he called softly and Jack blinked slowly.
"Look, Jack, I just came to…well…Jamie is getting worried, he has called the prison a few times and…it might be…best to call him, yeah?" Man in Moon approached him with a shaky smile; Jack sniffed and curled up even tighter.
Manny stopped and the smile disappeared like the moon behind a ghostly cloud on a chilled night. He sighed and turned to leave, this happened every single time he tried to come round. But this time, Jack grunted and spoke in a quiet, rasped tone, sore with heart-breaking sobs that he had wrung out of himself over the last few days.
"Yeah…alright"
Manny took in a deep breath and smiled sadly, making no sudden movements as though in fear of frightening the younger man off, he left without another word.
Jack picked up the phone slowly; he was in the yard during association, Manny leaning against the wall beside him, staring up at the sky, Jack hadn't looked up or spoken to anyone, not even Man in Moon but the older inmate didn't mind, he was just glad Frost was out and getting some fresh air. Although in this renewed lighting, Jack looked awful.
His hair was thin and paler than ever, but more of a toned down grey rather than the shocking white of before, his eyes were dull and bordering a stone like shade instead of his former marble blue irises, he was thinner, his cheekbones clearly defined against his chalky flesh and dark rings circled his eyes from sleepless nights and stress.
But he wore his new hoodie and had read some of his new books; he was using all the gifts of his friends as coping mechanisms and would fall to sleep with a single shard of Bunnymund's broken ornamental egg beneath his pillow each night. He had not yet been assigned a new cell-mate which was best as no one knew what the icy younger man would do if the new cell-mate was…brutal.
The phone was purring and beeping until Jamie picked up, he sounded alerted and breathless.
"Hello!?" he called and Jack flinched slightly at the sudden noise.
"H-Hey Jamie…"
"…Jack?"
"…Yeah"
"Oh my god, thank god you have called, I have been so worried about you, none of the staff would pass my calls onto you and I haven't been allowed anymore visits so…oh my god, Jack is you okay?"
Jack paused to let the sudden flow of words process in his hollow mind, he coughed onto the edge of his sleeve and shivered, the air wasn't particularly cold, but he felt hypersensitive to just about everything recently.
"Right, sorry I've been…busy" That was a lie. He hadn't done a thing since his birthday, wallowed in his cell like a phantom. That's all he had been doing really.
"I see, well…Sophie and I am coming to visit next time, mom might even come along!" Jack could feel Jamie trying to pass his enthusiasm on and some of it lit Jack's torn soul up a bit, but not even the whisper of a smile cracked onto his mouth.
"That sounds nice, I look forward to it, hey…you made any progress with that girl you like at school yet?" Jack tried to clear his throat and speak with a sense of interest and optimism but this was the first real conversation he had had in a while and it felt unfamiliar and…empty to be so talkative so soon.
Jamie chuckled and Jack could practically hear him blush.
"I'm not sure…I'm being stupidly shy about it really but every-time I see her, I can't fucking talk!" he chuckled but the sound faded off as Jamie realised what he was saying. These were NOT the kind of things you should say to someone who has just lost the love of their life, he felt the weight of guilt crush him and he sighed.
"Jee…I'm really sorry Jack, I didn't mean to-"
"Hey, hey, it's fine; I am the one who asked" Jack leant against the wall, tucking the thick black handle beneath his jaw and over his shoulder.
"I know…but…well, you must be running out of minutes now"
Jack hadn't checked but when he did, he had little less than two minutes left.
"It's fine, I will call another time, when…well just see you soon Jack, take care…yeah?" Jamie continued without even waiting for the inmate to reply and as the phone clicked off and Jack put it back, he felt ill with shame and guilt. He shouldn't be so…harsh on Jamie.
"You were not being…overly cruel to the boy, he was just a bit excited" Manny suddenly piped and Jack had the momentary suspicion that people could read his mind all of a sudden but he shrugged and pulled his sleeves down over his fists, winding his arms round his body and heading over to the once usual table, sitting down on the salty wood, he pushed his hood up and sat there silently. Manny soon caught the drift of 'leave me alone' and headed off to his other allies.
This was a considerable mistake as the next person to turn up over to the younger inmate, was none other than Groundhog, on his own at least but since when was Groundhog's presence ever agreeable. Jack didn't look up but didn't have to, to know the older inmate was looming over him like some savage, salivating dog. He could smell the grime and lust off him.
"Well if it isn't…was if Frostbite that he used to call you?"
Jack flinched at that low blow, it was tasteless and vicious but Jack didn't give him the satisfaction of response.
"Going to ignore me, are we? How mature…" Groundhog seated himself far too close next to Jack and placed his hand heavy on his right thigh. Jack looked up at him with a stony gaze, amazed and horrified by Groundhog's lack of respect, but what…did Jack think the older prisoner was going to hand him mourning flowers?
Instead the older prisoner took his time in rubbing his hand back and forth across the upper part of Jack's leg, heavy and hot, it felt rotten and wrong. Jack tried to move away but an arm around his slim shoulders prevented much movement.
"Fuck off, Groundhog, are you this fucking low?" Jack snarled beneath his breath and Groundhog simply got a calloused hand beneath the younger prisoner's chin and turned him towards his ugly face.
"Oh darling, I have missed you" he chuckled sinfully and kissed Jack with his vile fat lips and his dry tongue threading its way between the pale lips of the white haired prisoner. Jack pushed him off and rubbed his mouth furiously, turning away and curling up; trying to block all the bad things out.
"Shame about Bunnymund turning out to be a…rotten egg-you get it?" Groundhog paused his dark words to laugh and pull Jack closer into him so he could speak into the younger inmate's ear.
"Then again, he isn't the one to blame is he?"
Jack stopped then turned to stare up at the older man with something of a frozen shock and sense of foreboding.
"…What do you mean?"
"I mean, my icicle, that I am the one who hired some poor bastard to poison those guards and inmates, couldn't have an old Australian ranger keeping a hold of you all the time could I. besides, no one would suspect me. I don't know a thing about poisoning and have been leaving you alone...and I'm apparently not smart enough to imitate someone's crime" he mocked his words into a playful innocence that he soon laughed at as Jack sat there and stopped breathing.
Oh god no, was it true? Was his lover dead because of the foul beast beside him?
"You…you monster…are you fucking proud, are you...oh my god, it was you, you killed him, you killed him you sick fucking bastard! I hate you, I hate you, god I want to kill you, fuck you, oh my god…no, no, no! NO! NO FUCK. GOD NO THIS CAN'T BE REAL. HE'S DEAD. HE'S DEAD. BECAUSE OF YOU!" Jack was screaming and beating at Groundhog's chest with a blind fury; Groundhog simply bellowed and pushed him off the bench onto the ground.
"Calm yourself, twinkle toes, you will get new inmate and lover all too soon" Groundhog winked and wandered off, Jack beat at the ground, clawed blunt nails into the cement and screamed, tears marring his features as he couldn't breathe. His body ached and he wanted to die.
The sky was cloudy, chalky and grey with a sombre atmosphere of an uneventful morning. At least, that is what the weather left off, but the sudden clatter of footsteps and a hurried tone hurtled Jack out of his frantic demeanour and he turned sharply to the newcomer. Jack was surprised when he saw Manny's cell mate panting and looking rough as he caught his breath and glanced down with startled dark eyes.
"Jack, come with me, right now" he grabbed the younger man's arm and Jack was hauled through the crowd back into the prison, down a corridor. None of the guards seemed bothered and the white haired inmate was experiencing confusion and thankfulness for being dragged away from his pain, he wailed and sobbed as he was senselessly taken somewhere he didn't care about.
Nothing made sense anymore, everything hurt and everything was lost. He wanted to kill himself, he wanted to join Bunnymund, this was it, and he wanted nothing more than to die.
The corridors were long winding, grey as the mountains and just as cold. Empty and confining like the cage around his heart, why did Wolf want him? What was going on? He soon found out as they turned into a room Jack had never seen before and his heart lurched painfully at the sudden fear of the situation.
He was thrown into a dim room where light peered through a high window onto the solid, charcoal ground.
What the-Jack's heart skipped a beat and he scrambled backwards to grip the wall, his white hair pressed against the wall as he stared and stared and breathed sharp and fast like a startled animal. It was a nightmare, a sick play of dreams. Groundhog being the one to blame, being trapped in some mysterious room, and the man before him who he recognised all too well.
"B-Bu, no…no stop, please, STOP!" Jack gripped his head and screamed, he was losing it, and he was going insane. He yelled and stamped and screamed and screamed, head hung low and eyes closed tight as he screamed until his throat was rough and his lungs were sore.
The warm arms around him calmed him and the tears flowed like an angry waterfall as he buried himself into the pale blue overalls that suited the Aussie so well. Jack silenced himself and gripped his lover as the pain he felt consumed him all over again, when he was taken away to be killed.
"Alright, calm it down" a professional tone rang out and the general of the prison stepped forward into Jack's line of vision over the shoulder of his Australian.
"What" was all he managed, he couldn't even pronounce it into a question as he felt Bunnymund crying as well.
"We will explain when you two have gotten over each other" the guard rolled his eyes but stepped out nonetheless with Wolf whose face gave nothing away. As soon as they were gone, Bunnymund pulled Jack's face back to stare with wild joy in his eyes and in his wide grin.
"I'm here, I'm here, Jack I'm here, god I love you so much, I love you!" he cried and kissed Jack over and over again until Jack was dizzy with confusion and glee.
"You are not…but how-I don't-"
"The general will explain but…Jack I am so sorry, I love you so much"
Jack didn't ask about anything else and held the Australian close as he kissed him until he was breathless and mindless to everything but the thick scent of a fresh meadow and the blood and heartbeat racketing through his ears. They calmed down eventually and sitting together with each other's hand wrapped tightly in the other, Jack was given the explanation as to why his lover was not dead.
Apparently Wolf, who was originally a detective for some time; meaning his stalking crime was all the more efficiently done, had his suspicions on Groundhog to whom had been a bane in Jack's existence for some time and had thorough motivation to frame Bunnymund. He relayed this to the guards and staff who came up with the plan of blaming and 'executing' Bunnymund; who was genuinely a top priority suspect and wait to see Groundhog's response.
Naturally such a confession in the yard had been very unexpected but wonderful nonetheless and immediately proved Bunnymund's innocence, although if such a confession had not been relayed within the next month, Bunnymund would have faced punishment. Wolf had even obtained packs of information and evidence regarding Groundhog committing the crime which enhanced the guard's belief Groundhog was to blame.
In the end, Bunnymund and Jack were reunited and held onto each other as though their separation could happen again at any moment, the Australian didn't know of this plan until the day before his 'execution'. They couldn't let Jack in on it, so manipulating a false truth from Groundhog could not occur. Even Manny was unaware of this scheme. Until Bunnymund and Jack returned to their cell and his face lit up like the moon in a starlit, night sky.
A/N: This is not the end, I always tell people because it always seems like a finish, but not quite yet folks.
What will happen to Groundhog, how will things continue for them in prison, is Pitch up to anything, and Wolf?! Who knew…?
-LAW09
To Cookie Guest: Aww! I am so sorry! I cannot take your tear-made cookies, it would break my heart. Thank you so much though, on the site? Holy crap, it's an honour! Thank you so much!
To RueRajaram: Not the computer, ANYTHING BUT THE COMPUTER! *screams all the way to shop to buy cookies and milk, screams during queue and screams way back home to hide under desk with laptop* oh god, sorry, sorry, forgive me but thanks for the review!
To Kid Darkness: Believe me; I think everyone is my child, I am awfully motherly. I am glad you liked the small balance, I wanted Bunnymund to sound a bit more…rough than Jack I guess, thank you so much for the review, I am sure it will get better, I am having loads of fun writing this story, thank you!
To slyangelfox: Aww, thanks for the sympathy, it does actually, although it is healing fast! Thank you for the review and sounds like you could be a decent detective, haha, I am sorry you got so emotional but glad you got into it! I am not looking forward to ending it, but all good things come to an end sooner or later, oh well, thank you so much for the lovely review!
To yay: Aww, I hope you also get better! Good of you to play with your siblings though, I have loads of siblings and am sometimes too lazy to play too much, and…yeah to be fair, he…freaks me out sometimes with how low he can get but…things might play out alright, but I am quite sure we are not getting together, well your prediction was sort of accurate, Groundhog did try to have a go but he will get sorted out! I hope the tail does lead to more…interesting situations, hehe, and thank you so much for a wonderful review!
To the black raven: Aww, worry not, all is well now! That sounded like a very hysterical review, sorry you got emotional, but thanks for getting into it and thanks for the review!
To LadyMiunialwen: Aww, sorry! But thanks for the review, all is well now!
To Night-Fury1: You have an adorable Profile Picture, may I just say but regarding your review, AWW, your cap locks was kind of amusing actually and made me smile, don't blush! Hehe, I remember when my caps-lock got stuck once, it was a dark time, hope it fixes soon and thanks for the review!
To I'mBelleGoose: At least you felt sadness, thanks for getting into it! Thanks for the praise, I tried to make it as empathetically accurate as possible, so thanks for the appreciation, all is well now at least and to be fair, this guy is freaking me out so I am going to calm things down with him soon, thanks for the care, its true though, his humour is nothing short of upsetting. Haha, thanks for the lovely review!
To RizReviewer: Oh god, please don't kill me, all is well now, yes?! Alright, whoa, thanks for the hate on groundhog, always nice to have a healthy dose, hehe, I tried to include something of an aftermath in this chapter to build up tension and have a go at writing in this kind of emotion, hopefully I pulled it off, thank you for the slightly frightening yet amusing and as always, lovely review!
And to all my followers and favourites, thank you all so much!