Chapter 20

Brother Sharpens Brother

All the students of the monastery were tucked away in their rooms, with Misako in her room getting ready for her night's rest. The hallway was dark and quiet. Jay made his way down and kept his head low as he glided across the wood floorboards; his hand slid against the wall to keep him from losing his sense of direction. Finally, he felt his way around a corner and turned to continue towards the front door. He reaches quietly for the door handles and opens the big, wooden door to creep out into the darkness of the night, making sure to shut the door behind him, and hearing it subtly click shut.

The quiet of the night envelops him. Cool air is circling through, filling his lungs refreshingly with each breath he takes. It's relaxing enough to make him ease his tension a little as he tries to focus on his surroundings. The moon is full, a few stars in the sky; an owl hoots in the distance. Jay closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he tried to keep his heart from pounding-all the adrenaline he had faced since their return built up inside of him, making him tremble and feel light-headed.

"Stop it," he whispered to himself. "Stop it".

"Help me, please!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Let me out of this place! I hate you! I hate you!"

Those voices drilled into his mind making him sicker by the second. Jay fought off the impulsing urge to vomit but felt the sickening bile rising in his throat.

"God," he whimpered.

Tears began to stream down his face. The bile that had been rising in the back of his throat settled down as he swallowed hard. Now the biggest issue he faced was the congestion shooting out from his nose. Salty, wet tears dripped onto the white shirt Misako had lent him and the guys. They had nothing to change into after their return, so she fetched some spare clothes she always had on hand for the students and any potential visitors. A perfectly good, new shirt that was being ruined by wet spots spreading out just below the neckline. Jay couldn't take it anymore. His legs gave out from underneath him, and he collapsed onto the dirt. Surely, no one would be able to hear him outside the gates of the monastery. So there he stayed on the ground, choking, sobbing, and attempting to catch his breath on more than one occasion. He tried not to make any noise that would attract the attention of someone who might be listening. Everything that he had been holding in since their trip to "The Unknown" was now spewing out of him. The dirt beneath him turned into mud as all of his tears collected into a soggy mess. Then suddenly, a voice called out to him.

"Jay," it said.

Jay immediately stopped and shot up his head. A silhouette appeared to his right and stood staring at him. The dim lighting made it almost impossible to recognize who it was, but as the figure slowly took a few steps forward, Jay could make out the shape of a crew cut on the figure's head. Blue lights suddenly flicked on in place of eyes, and it was then that Jay realized the person speaking to him was Zane. A shower of embarrassment immediately took over, and Jay felt his cheeks go hot. He didn't know what to say.

Jay sniffed, "Dang it, Zane".

Zane didn't move. Jay continued to sob and began to mock himself.

"I know: 'Stupid Jay' being an embarrassment again," he sobbed, "Just give me a second, okay?!".

Zane didn't reply. An awkward silence passed by in the beat of a moment, and then Zane moved closer. Jay squinted his eyes away but felt Zane sit next to him on the ground.

"I don't wanna have a conversation about this," Jay mumbled.

As if it wasn't hard enough for me to make a fool out of myself right now. He thought.

Then something unexpected happened.

"What if I just listen?" Zane asked.