“I-I… I lost him…” William said, his face dismayed.

His partner Archard had returned from controlling the chaos that was ensuing from earlier. He patted himself along with wiping off smears of smoke on his cloak when he saw his master's back trembling.

“Sir William, I’ve returned from subduing—”

“I lost him! How, how in blazes did I lose Jack?!” William shouted, raising his arms to the air. “He was right there! I watched the young man confront that bastardly teen! Then my damn screen went misty for hours… and it still is!”

Archard came over to his master's side, wondering why he was so upset. “Uh, Sir William, what do you mean you lost Jack?”

William shot his right arm to the misty screen. “There, you see it, right? The bloody screen!”

“Yeah… I do see the screen that shows emptiness, Sir. Wh…at happened? If you don’t mind me asking to not piss you off any further.”

William ground his teeth, the holiness inside of his righteous body wanted to spill Sin out his mouth. Every word possible to curse and damn his creator was close to exploding out. Feeling damned and responsible for the disappearance of Jack Samr made William mad enough to show a glimpse of his anger. An Aura of ghostly white expanded out of the lines of his body, swirling around like smoke, twirling gently around William’s vicinity.

Archard felt the hairs on his skin beneath his heavy clothing rise in fear. “Sir… William…”

It’s been awhile since Archard’s seen his master this angry and especially, a glimpse of his might. Seeing William ready to explode made Archard quickly spring in front of him to get his attention.

“Sir William, please cool down! Whatever’s angering you can easily be resolved by your mightiness.”

William took a deep breath but his might stayed visible for Archard to stay in fear. “You think I didn’t try that? My dear friend… I did everything that God has bestowed upon me to find what has gotten in my freaking way.”

Archard’s face grew more dismayed than his master did earlier. The glands in his body started pouring, drenching his holy clothing in his scare. Watching his master battle his emotions made Archard back away to not get in his way, but being his closest friend, he had to calm him down.

“William, please… I don’t like seeing you angry. It’s not you.”

William took another deep breath but his anger showed no signs of disengaging. Instead the hotness inside his body blew out beneath his feet, forcing Archard to cover his face. The sheer intensity from the brewing wind that Archard was feeling is enough to melt the skin off a normal person's skin. For Archard to endure it, this showed that his master was trying to cool his anger, otherwise he too would’ve fallen victim to the heat.

“Sir… William!” Archard shouted, blocking the continuous wind as it was beginning to push him back.

William raised one of his hands and balled it, crushing his annoyance of his own responsibility in front of his arched eyes. “I look away for one bloody second and something—or someone has intervened in my plans! Fornicating, defecating all over them! Who… who, in the name of all God’s protectors, watchers, has he sent to block me from fixing this lost lamb's soul!”

William’s anger did everything that it could to rupture out of his body. The holy aura around him expanded, creating a magnificent display of the universe if it were in heaven; his eyes glowed a mixture of holy white and gold, an intense pressure greater than that of matter from a neutron star brought Archard to his knees, collapsing to face down.

Archard did his best to lift his head to look at his master. “William! Think of what you’re doing! Think of…”

William clutched his head, and his aura slowly transformed again, sparkling around, glittering the dimension that they were in. The intensity, the rawness of his might began shattering the world that William created like the most fragile glass. Archard slammed his fist on the ground, it too cracked like thin ice.

Archard took in a breath of air and with all his lungs could hold, he yelled, “THE PROMISE OF—HER! WHAT WOULD SHE THINK?!”

Those words struck William like a harpoon, piercing his heart. It worked and distinguished the roaring madness of his emotions. His world molded back together, gravity went back to normal allowing Archard to get up on his feet, and William's might had vanished.

William felt ashamed and embarrassed about losing his cool. Normally it would be Archard that would be this hotheaded, but in this situation, this was something that the great William H. Christ couldn’t let dwell. It had to be shown otherwise he would’ve fallen into the hands of delusion.

Finally feeling composed, William was ready to answer his partner. “I apologise for my immaturity there.”

Archard patted himself and blew out relief along with his breath. “No need… it’s just been awhile since I’ve seen you that angry, Sir.”

“Indeed. To finally answer your question, I did lose Jack; Rather, an inconvenience has intervened in my trials.”

“What inconvenience would that be? Knowing you, you would never allow anything to get in your way. I mean, who in their right mind would try, you’re the greatest being alive!”

“No need to put me in that much appraisal. Remember I’m still human, well, barely. In other words, I have to sit back and wait till this occurrence goes away—naturally…”

“Huh? Naturally? What does that mean?”

William felt hesitant to answer. This occurrence made him feel sick to his stomach, almost gut wrenching. It felt like a slap in the face to someone who he’s praised for as long as he can remember since being alive. He almost feels distrusted and betrayed from the actions that are being displayed before his eyes.

“Whoever is intervening is close to God. An entity whom I’m not familiar with.”

Hearing this answer made Archard’s jaw drop. He can hear the hurt in William’s voice. “No no no… that can’t be. That would mean that God doesn’t approve of what you’re doing. It’s like he sent one of his people to watch over your actions personally.”

William deeply sighed, and diverted his eyes back to the screen. “Who knows my friend… who knows.” He squinted his eyes and balled his fists, “despite this, there’s something fishy about it… whoever this being is; They have a smudge of Sin stained on their righteous soul.” he whispered.

Even if they’re closely tied with God from what I’m sensing… there’s something ominous of that other detained feeling I felt. Whoever they may be, I can feel we’ll be meeting—sooner than later.

Archard turned around to the screen, watching it with his master. Even though he can’t sense what William is feeling, Archard knew there was something wrong with this situation. The two Exorcists stood there, watching, wondering what on earth happened to Jack Samr; Where could he be? What happened to him? But most importantly, if the boy’s alive and hasn’t succumbed to what William is fearing, death.

***

Feeling small finger tips tickling his skin, a gentle breeze blowing on his back, Jack Samr was laying on a grass field in the middle of nowhere. The sky was dark, grim, sad, a damp of darkness shadowed on the grass with a touch of chill that made Jack’s hairs stand. The young man opened his eyes and immediately got on all fours, coughing, grabbing his stomach. His breathing frantic, his face as pale as snow, he soon realised that he was alive and not burned to a crisp.

Sitting on the back of his legs, Jack glanced around in disbelief. “Wh…at happened? Where am I now?”

Jack could hardly see, all he saw were black shaped objects and from what he could make out of were flowers and tall grass around him. As he continued scanning, something caught his eyes, making them burst out of their sockets with shock. There was a tree, not just a tree, but the very tree he’s seen multiple times in numerous dreams, especially with a particular person called—

“Lily…” Jack muttered.

The young man grew shockingly excited, enough for him to get on his feet and run up the hill to the tree. Ignoring past events, Jack could think of nothing more than to see the girl who made him feel confident again, tarnish the fear he had for his sister and face the demon in his dreams. He panted, tripped, stumbled, Jack grew closer to the wondrous tree that would normally be blooming in beauty; At the moment, it had been covered in a shadow of pure black. Once the young man was close to the big roots of the tree, he immediately heard sobbing and the air felt sad.

“L…ily…?” he whispered.

Jack carefully walked around the tree to see where the whimpering was coming from. With his hand on the bark of the tree, going around in a never ending circle, getting around one more edge, he found someone softly crying with their head buried into their knees. Jack stood out from the edge to get a better look on the person and again, it was hard to make out who it was; not until they finally revealed their head and sad drenched face to Jack. Sitting before him with the purest bleached blonde hair reaching her shoulders, glittering hazel eyes was none other than Lily. She was wearing a long skirt, long knee socks, a tight turtle neck long blue sleeve shirt with blue boots.

This made Jack’s heart melt seeing her this sad. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to say anything, instead he cowardly stood there, watching her wipe off her sadness and softly cry again. Jack clenched his fists and bit his lip, wanting to comfort her, but he just couldn't. The gentle breeze blew one of her tears off her face, flying it at Jack and making it splash on his cheek. Upon impact, it broke Jack, transforming his cowardly face into that of a man wanting to save someone so dear to him. It gave him the courage to finally say something.

“Lily, are you… okay?” he asked.

Hearing a familiar voice made Lily freeze for a second. She wiped her eyes and quickly glanced around, trying to see where the voice came from. She was so excited she even got on her feet to see who just spoke to her. With this, Jack finally saw just how much she grew. It was captivating even in this environment of blacked sadness. Her elegant short hair fluttering, her unique clothing fit for a modelled scholar, it made his heart race. Lily tried her best to find the source of the voice, wandering a little bit out and checking behind the tree, but to Jack’s surprise, it seemed as if he were invisible to her.

“Lily?! I’m… right here, look!” Jack said as he put his arms out.

Despite hearing his voice, Lily couldn’t find the source. This made her eyes quiver. She grew sad again and slowly walked back to the tree, leaning and falling back on the ground.

“Huh…?” Jack didn’t understand what’s going on, instead it annoyed him. “Can she see me? Or am I… wait…”

Jack rubbed his stomach and flashes of his recent death stormed into his mind. He wondered if he truly was dead and is now a walking spirit who’s trying to communicate to the living. It was driving him crazy, to the point he started shouting her name. Hearing his shouts made the poor girl cover her ears and whimper again.

Jack’s eyes quivered too, he felt hopeless and sad. “I’m here! Right here, standing in front—”

“Shut up!” she shouted.

Jack did, and it left his bone marrow frozen. Her shout felt personal, and fierce. It’s as if this wasn’t the first time she told someone to shut up with a tone backed up with that much anger.

Lily’s eyes grew sharp yet her face expressed nothing now. “Why is my mind playing games with me… why do I live such a terrible life where my only friends aren’t visible to the human eyes. Why can’t I be normal like everyone else!”

Poor Lily’s eyes poured and she was having a mental breakdown, finally changing her face to that of proper agony. Jack watched as she let her emotions get the best of her, reminding him of his own mental state. She gripped her hair, dragged her nails across her face. Her precious skin became pierced from the remnants of her frustrations, slowly pouring out a long stream of crimson. Jack couldn’t take it, he went up to her and tried grabbing her, but his hand went through her.

This made the young man grit his teeth, wondering why this was happening. “What in God's name! Why did my hand go through her… I can’t be truly dead?!”

Again he tried grabbing, placing, and even went as far as tried using his own body to grapple her. It was no use, every attempt resulted in the same, Jack going through her body, falling to the ground, or hitting against the tree. Feeling frustrated and furious, he ran at her to tackle her body, but instead ate the ground.

Jack slammed his fist on the cold ground, abruptly turning his head to her. “Lily!”

She grew angrier after hearing her name being shouted, growing a sharp glint in her eyes. “Stop messing with my head… stop, stop stop stop stop stop—STOP STOP ST…OP, STOP!”

Jack too grew angrier, getting up on his feet and thinking of a way to get her to recognize him. As he thought of an idea, the world around them started transforming. The ground shook, the sky grew bloody, dark clouds whooshed from the horizons, raining ash, but the biggest transformation came when Jack saw Lily’s eyes glow hellish red, and something was trying to rip through one side of her skull. A stream of blood flowed over her right eye, and something glowing hot red that of metal being torched started poking out of her skull.

“What’s happening to her?!” Jack wondered, “everything’s falling apart, but I have to help her, but how?!”

As Jack watched Lily cry into oblivion, the pitch in her voice grew lower and demonic. This made Jack stop any further action on helping her. Instead it raised a concerning question of who she actually is, but this wasn’t the time for him to ask or seek the answer; he has to save her. Yet his body became full cowardly, stopping him from doing anything now. His knees wobbled, his spin tingled, the young man was frozen with fear. Jack screamed as the world trembled and the clouds rained sparks of fire. He grew tired of this charade and battled his body, damned God as he always did and mustered enough courage to spring into action. Jack punched himself in the face and shot his hand out to her, reaching out to her.

Jack’s hand once again was inches off her shoulder and he yelled, “LET ME SAVE YOU!” before finally, his skin made contact with her shirt.

At last, Lily felt his warmth, and her emotions prelude to a gentle cycle that simmered the environment back to the way it was; when they first met and the many encounters they had before. The darkness blown away, the tree glistening, its leaves being shone from the brightest sunshine, and the endless flower fields all around them had returned.

Jack stood on edge, watching as Lily was regaining consciousness. “Lily…” he muttered.

Her hazel eyes returned, the blood drawn from self inflictions evaporated, and she became aware of her surroundings. She stayed seated, keeping her sorrowed face as she gently rested one of her pale hands on Jack’s. The hot iron that wanted to come out of her skull went back into dormant. The young man felt her light touch, her warmth smearing on its roughness. The same sensation he’s always felt from her slowly cleansed away his sins.

Lily shifted her head to where the young man stood, seeing his distraught face. “This… can’t be—real…” she mumbled.

Jack couldn’t say a word, but to only stare, a stare many would find insulting. He was looking at her if he were staring right into the eyes of death. This made Lily feel uncomfortable the way he was staring into her soul, but she also didn’t believe he stood before her.

She shed another tear as she clutched his trembling hand, and ground her teeth. “This is all a ruse… my mental state, playing games with me once again.” she said.

The young man saw her face turn to that of a Nohl mask, back when he properly encountered her in the train station of depression; the dream he saw her meet her demise to an oncoming train. The many encounters he’s had with her she’s hardly shown any emotion like she’s doing right now, at the very moment, but just before that’s the most he’s ever seen her do so. Although, seeing her transform into something cataclysmic has made Jack still as a rock.

What was that…? how come she was transforming into something horrific when she expressed her emotions? Jack wondered.

Lily felt her tedious emotions ready to burst out again, but the girl that Jack remembered stayed abroad, showing Jack how quickly she can control them. Her face still, Jack’s portraying scare, Lily closed her eyes and let go, getting up to her feet and looking off to the flower field. Seeing her not show any care in the world now made Jack dissatisfied with her attitude.

With that, it finally gave him a state of courage to say something again to her. “Lily, are you… you?” he asked, his tone shakened and timid.

Lily portrayed herself into that of a display, one of loneliness and silence. A painting for Jack to seep into his heavily stacked memories of terror and remembrance. He wanted her to respond, not to ignore him and stand there basking in the sun as if nothing happened moments ago.

“Say something, Lily!” he said, taking a step forward to her.

Lily took a glance at Jack, and never has the young man seen such emotionlessness from a person other than himself. Her eyes still sparkled, but the shade of loneliness really made her seem like a doll staring into Jack’s soul. Again, he got nothing, a continuation of the repeated silence and silent agony of a girl desperate need of saving.

Jack raised one of his hands to his chest, expressing the worry for her from the exposing wrinkles at the edge of his face. “Answer me! Lily, please… I’m here for you, what’s wr—”

“Whether you're a figment of my imagination of Jack, a hallucination of a boy who came to me at my worst times…” Her eyebrows knitted, a deep wrinkle formed between them, “...for my mind to play games with me this much. Even if the things you say are true… then where—”

“It is me! Me, J—”

“Jack… where were you when I needed you? When I needed you… two years ago.”

“H…uh?”

That sentence had pierced Jack’s heart. It left the young man completely stunned and reminded him of his abandonment of the people he deeply cared about; doing the exact same thing three years ago. This left his jaw dropped, made his brain hurt, the ache in his heart to grow tenfold; he’s completely speechless yet again. Lily erased the anger that showed temporarily, returning back to the emotional doll that she is. Diverting her attention back to the flower field, her hair fluttering along with her clothes, she balled a fist and shut her eyes.

“Where were you when I needed you at my lowest… I cried for someone to hear my pain, to give me words of encouragement besides the only person I can look up to as a father; a man who I owe my life to.” Tears broke through the shut dams, flowing freely down her cheeks. “After all the years of never ending loneliness, suffering alone… for once I thought I made a friend, a friend… one who didn’t try to use me.”

Jack furrowed his brows in disappointment, crushing his hands, urging his nails to pierce his palms. Hearing her say statements that represented similarities to his livelihood made him feel the worst of all, but for what reason? It wasn’t his fault for leaving her or so she says. He’s not responsible to be there when she’s at her lowest; how else would he even know in the first place? Thinking of this tarnished his sorrowed and guilty emotions, in its place, the anger of being blamed for everything, repeatedly told to him by everyone else made its way back into his mind.

It punched his brain, quickly making his face show utter disgust. “You shut your mouth…” he said, quickly getting a response from Lily who brought her attention back to him.

“Wait… wh…at, did, you… just—?”

“How dare you… how fucking dare you accuse me of your current suffering; when you yourself have no idea of the blunders and agony I’ve endured these past… three years!”

Lily regretted her previous paragraph of sorrow. With him saying that, it confirmed that not only was he real and not her mind playing games with her, but that Jack Samr had finally returned to her life presence.

“J…ack?” Lily muttered.

Deeply regretting her actions from earlier, the words that came out of her mouth moments ago gave her jabs of guilt. Lily’s body reacted on its own, trying to approach Jack. Yet despite trying, the young man backed away, his face expressing melancholy, which made Lily grip her chest. The young man looked away, fighting the urge to shout at her like a mad man. He usually would insult those who always tried blaming him, but he couldn’t do so to Lily after seeing her mental breakdown. Ultimately, Jack decided it was time to end this conversation, and thought of a way to get out of this lucid dream.

“Don’t come near me… I don’t want to talk anymore, Lily.”

Words have never struck her so hard, even before said to her by many in the past. Instead of retracting, tucking her tail beneath her legs, she wanted to retaliate to Jack’s emotions. She became blinded by joy although it wasn’t being shown to Jack, the stillness of her face remained.

“Jack… it is you, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”

“It’s too late…” he said, putting his hand out to her. “If I’m causing you this much emotional pain, then it’s best that I leave you be.”

Lily’s emotions spilled out once again, showing Jack a crazed look in her eyes. “Jack, you don’t have to… I’m sorry for not acknowledging your existence, honestly. It’s just I’ve been having issues for a while, you could understand, right?!”

Jack didn’t like the look in her crazed eyes, giving him eerie vibes and made him feel uncomfortable. “Lily… I think it’s best we—”

Lily’s eyes grew wide, tears flowed out again and the horrid glow in her eyes flickered as she mustered her emotions. “No, no no no no no… let's talk, please, Jack. Don’t do this to me, I need someone to talk to!”

“Well…” The young man’s face was discouraged and sulking, “It’s best that you find… someone else, Lily.”

Lily gasped, her eyes rattled, and she immediately dropped her hand. “Jack…” the red glow returned and her arm began wiggling, which made Jack step away. “You don’t mean that, do you?”

Jack’s face grew weary but he nodded to her saying. Lily nervously chuckled, and mildly lowered her head to not show Jack her wretched eyes. Her mind erupted into horrible memories of her being bullied, tormenting actions of those trying to kill her, voices shouting at her and that one close friend betraying her an unfaithful day. Her eyes were ready to pop out of their sockets, she felt abandoned again and the hot iron was emerging yet again out of her skull. Jack regretted his wording, and wondered why he said such things to her.

What have I done… He thought.

Jack grew serious and started approaching her. “Lily… I’m sorry, I didn’t know what I—”

Something stopped Jack in his tracks, an unknown force had frozen him. His arm outward, one leg off the ground, all he could do was watch poor Lily fight her emotions again. Lily’s whimpering transitioned to that of growling, steam poured out her mouth. Her right arm started ripping open, exposing her arteries and pouring out a pool of blood onto the ground. She started undergoing a horrid transformation right before Jack’s eyes, which made the young man try to fight his frozen state. No matter how hard he tried fighting, it was pointless, he couldn’t even divert his eyes away. Jack began questioning if this was part of the vivid dream he’s in, showing him that whoever's behind this is purposely making Jack be detested by Lily.

No, I refuse to believe she has a side to her like this… all of this is just a ruse as always!

He knew this wasn’t her because this isn’t the first time he’s witnessed such nightmares. Past ones have shown his friends also doing similar disgusting transformations, but this felt just too real, more real than any dream he’s felt thus far. Feeling that his options are running thin, Jack screamed in anger to see if that’ll react to something in this dream-like world. It did, his own voice created an echo, an echo that was the undoing of the world. Everything shattered into glass, leaving both to float in darkness. Jack’s still frozen, and Lily stopped any further movement.

What just happened? Jack thought.

As they floated, Lily’s pouring arm had suddenly shot out her arteries, wiggling them in front of Jack’s face, splattering her warmth all over his body. The young man wanted to jolt out of this situation, he didn’t want to witness such disgustingness. Her head jolted upright, and the molten iron had finally ruptured out of the right side of her skull. At first it was shaped in that of a curved hot iron, glowing molten red, but quickly it shot red plasma around the dark world, slowly transforming to a horn. The horn had taken its shape to that of a mixture of an oxen and goat, dripping molten crimson.

This sent shivers down Jack’s spin.

What on earth is going on! He thought.

She cackled, plasma furiously shooting, flickering around the horn while her right arm vibrated. The ropes of blood that danced were transforming, molting together to form a bladed scythe made of her own blood. Jack screamed again, and her body immediately reacted, shooting that scythe at Jack in the blink of an eye.

Lily… wh…at are… you?

The young man saw the bloody point coming to his face, the tip dripping her life force, glistening, and growing larger by the millisecond. But, a sudden flash of red had busted into their world of nothing, similar to that of a sun meeting its end. The last thing Jack saw once the flash engulfed his vision was Lily’s face from the edge of the oncoming red with a state of shock and utter fear smeared on it. It imprinted until the young man's vision went totally black, leaving him to wonder who and what had saved his life with that flash. Was it William? Or perhaps someone else? This raised questions for the young man like who’s behind this relentless torturing? The only answer he could think of was William and no one else.

What now? I can’t feel, I can’t see… All I hear is white noise, and all I can see is the darkness that I’ve grown accustomed to.

Jack’s vision, once again had gone black, but a voice has abruptly intervened, a voice in which sounded all too familiar to a past event, similar to this.

They said, “Let this be a lesson, a reflection of your selfish actions. You ought to be punished for hurting such innocence; and I’ll be your guide to it, along with your conclusion… my… child.”

“Who… said… that?” Jack mumbled.

The young man is left to wonder what had just happened, but more importantly, was that really the girl who had that beautiful smile that cleansed away his sins all those years ago? The same one who promised to see him outside of the dream world, the one who gave him the courage to save his sister from Dr. Cato. Or was it a doppelganger who wanted to deceive him, made him believe that it was her so it can fool the young man to make him meet his demise. The last assumption he could think of was what William, Sarah, and Mallory had talked about, mentioned but never has he witnessed; that being a demon, one sent from hell. If that was a demon, he hoped to never meet one in real life, and after experiencing that, it has now become a nightmare in which he never wants to come true.

***

Insufferable, burning pain that sizzled his skin. Screaming into the void of darkness that he’s all too familiar with; Jack Samr reaches out for a source of life as his body feels light as a feather. The last reminisce of Lily’s horrified face stayed permanent to his eyes. Her terrified screams of being left alone, feeling responsible for the treachery she’s currently experiencing suddenly echoed. Without seeing the outcome to the world's demise, at the end of their dramatic conversation, Jack’s feeling dismayed. As the young man continued his relentless screaming, the voice that intervened and claimed responsibility for this event, it raised questions in Jack’s nimble mind. The voice sounded too familiar for him to not remember, but from where? He can’t think of the location and who could also have the same voice as they.

Seeming that this was going to be endless, the young man clutched his hand in the void of darkness and cursed his existence along with the unturnable events that keep occurring. Feeling enough of this paradox, Jack tried to choke his own life out. In doing so created an eruption of numbness, and brought his actions to a halt. Once again, the world erupted into red chaos, turning this abyss into a hellfire for Jack to fall into. No longer feeling like a pencil being dropped, the young man could see a flashing red light peek around the corners of his vision. He’s falling fast into this burning inferno that’s starting to burn his back.

He doesn't care, he accepts the hell that awaits behind him. “To hell with everything and to hell with my life! End my suffering and welcome me to depths of hell that—I belong!”

Jack falls into the pit of fire, being burnt to a crisp. His body engulfed to hell's grasp, the young man lets out a putrid scream, eventually being burned away, and turning Jack to a molten mass of charred human. Jack’s eyes explode and he erupts from his bed, but without letting out a sound as he usually did. This time, all Jack did was catch his heavy breathing, grip the blanket that’s warming his rising temperature, and remain still. After easing his stress, the young man glances around, and at last, he’s back in his room, although it did raise doubts.

Jack clutched his head and softly chuckled. “I’m… back…” he muttered, “but is… this, for real?”

Jack rubbed his head and lay back on his bed, staring at his ceiling.

My room, how am I back in my room? Jack thought.

His thoughts lingered with problematic conclusions, questioning the repetition he’ll continue saying until he draws his last breath; that being if everything was just a dream, lucid or vivid, could it have been? Laying there motionless, confused and hazed, the young man couldn’t help but express that feeling, crushing his eyes to form a deep wrinkled between them. Annoyance, suffrage, anger, such repetitions is starting to grow old for Jack.

He wiped his face and sighed. “Everything that I’ve experienced in the past two days… was it all a part of William’s trials?” He sat up, staring at the changed photo of him and his adopted uncles, along with Angela. “It has to be… that photo, it’s the same as when William altered history.”

Jack got out of bed, and once he set foot on the floor, something fell out from one of his pockets. He wondered what it could have been, it sounded heavy and metallic. He brought his eyes down to the floor and upon laying eyes on the object, it made the hairs on Jack’s arms rise. It was the gold Christian medallion that Linnea had given him, which made him stay in a state of shock.

“No… it-it can’t be…” he reached down, grabbing the medallion and observing it. “So it was real, and I actually—died…”

The thought of his death made that stinging pain of being stabbed made him feel sick. He grabbed his stomach, feeling dizzy and light on his feet, he couldn’t believe it. Jack can’t comprehend anything that’s happening, this made him furious, clutching the medallion. He walked out of his room, slamming the door open and aggressively walked to the kitchen to get something to kill his growing migraine. Once he got past the living room, Eric was there, laying on the couch watching t.v when he heard Jack’s aggressive footsteps.

He looked over the couch and saw the young man walk into the kitchen with a spooked and angry face. “Hey? What’s with the attitude my guy?” he asked, but Jack didn’t bother looking his way. “Ignoring me, huh punk?”

Eric got up from his comfort and chased after Jack who’s inside the kitchen, trying to find some painkillers, medicine, anything to kill his growing temper. Eric watched as the young man tediously searched through the countertops in search of something to ease his pain. Feeling something was wrong with his nephew, Eric intervened and grabbed Jack’s wrist which made Jack abruptly turn his head to him.

Eric saw the crazed eyes he had, but his nephew also looked afraid of something; never has he seen him this spooked before. “Jack, you alright? Your white as hell man…”

Jack’s eyes sagged, and the young man looked to be close on fainting. “Am-am I? Now…?” he murmured.

Eric nods and lets go. “Yeah… you look really fucked up, my guy. Care to explain what’s shitting your pants?”

Jack couldn’t answer. The thought alone made the urges of throwing up all too prominent. Clutching the medallion in his hand, Jack wondered how he was able to return from the past with an object given to him from someone before he was born.

He placed his hand on his head and started breathing heavily. Nothing’s making any sense… absolutely nothing! How did I carry this over to the present… how, how!

“William… you lying bastard.” Jack mumbled.

Eric didn’t like seeing his nephew this sick looking, it raised concerns over his deteriorating mental well-being. “I know you’ve refused about this over and over, but my guy, I think you need professional help.”

Hearing his uncle tell him that he needed help was a wake up call to Jack. It made him think that by showing his burdens to the world around him, it would bring concern and worry to those closest to him. He knew this was too true, but he can’t tell him everything that’s happening because it wouldn’t solve anything, instead it would only make him sound crazier. Jack needed to calm down and from here on out, he needed to keep these things to himself so no one else could be suspicious or question more of his screwed up mind.

The young man took deep breaths and got himself together. “Hey Eric…”

“What, you ain't gonna ask me anything stupid, aren’t cha?”

Jack shook his head. “No, but I want to ask something strange.”

“Uh oh…” Eric replied, raising his brows, “Don’t tell me you’re finally going to say what I think you’re going to say.”

“Huh?”

Eric chuckled, “nevermind that, I’m just fucking with you to make you feel better. But what’s up?”

Jack’s curious about something, a thought in his crowded mind he’s had lingered ever since being placed in this altered history. To change the subject, Jack was going to ask about his past, and the origins of meeting the rest of the gang.

“Eric… how did we meet?” he asked.

Hearing this sprouted more concern for his nephew's mental health, but rather than insulting, saying more to potentially harm his mind, the self-adopted uncle obliges to Jack’s request.

Eric backed away and reeled his hand towards himself. “Follow me. I’ll answer your question to refresh that messed up brain of yours.”

Jack softly grins, “I’m sorry for changing the subject and asking something so ridiculous.”

Eric chuckled, “don’t beat your dumbass up about it. I’ll take it that you’ve been punched in the face so much in the past five years you’re already having dementia.”

“Hey…”

Eric chuckled as he walked back into the living room. Jack followed and his uncle sat on his big comfy leather chair fit for king of the household. The young man sat on one of the sofas, one that would be staring in line of sight to his uncle. As Jack sat down, his uncle laying back to make himself comfortable, Jack can’t help but feel nostalgic over this. It’s like the old times with everyone present; discussing drug deals, revenge plots, his two uncles watching the game, or having him and Angela just sitting just to be present. It’s almost enough for him to forget about asking anything else.

Besides what happened for what felt like two days… this, this isn’t so bad. Jack thought.

In the moment, he thought perhaps being in this altered time wasn’t too bad since he’s back home, so far with little troubles besides the great William H. Christ. The only thing that lingered in the back of his mind was; Where’s Mallory?

The thought made his face turn upside down. “Where is she…” he muttered.

Eric groaned loudly, stretching in the process. “So, you want to be told how we met? Okay, my guy. Let's refresh that 80 year old brain of yours.”

Jack lays back too, resting his hands on his lap. “Yeah… please do tell, uncle.”

“Uncle?!” Eric said, his face surprised. “That’s a first coming out of that fucked up mouth of yours haha. Anyways, where should I start?” Eric hunched forward, rubbing his hands. “The day we met, uh, damn… Well, it was midday, Michigan was experiencing its worst snow storm since 84.”

So the snow storm still happened? That’s a relief. Jack thought.

“Randolph and I were sitting, watching a game, the fireplace going. Every time one of us caught a glimpse of the outside, you could hardly see shit.” Eric groaned and chuckled, “we said to ourselves, there’s no way in hell neither of us are going outside for a smoke since I don’t allow it inside.”

Eric paused for a moment, bringing his eyes to a silhouette of Angela’s gratitude in the form of a drawing he had displayed over the fireplace.

“Then, suddenly, we heard loud ass banging coming from our door. At first we thought… shit! We’re about to be shot up by the enemy, the storm’s perfect to use for such a fantastic opportunity to do so, right?”

“Right…” Jack replied.

Eric nods and shifts his eyesight back to Jack. “We pulled out our guns, I slowly made my way to the door, but Randolph insisted on answering himself for my safety… Damn I miss him, but, anyways, back on subject; When he opened the door, with me standing behind him, pointing the gun to the blizzard welcoming into our home, there ya were.”

Jack let out a sigh of relief, feeling his optimism fly out the door. “So it’s the same as before, with me and Angela meeting at your doorstep.”

Eric raised his brows, “oh, you do need a refreshment.”

“Wait… huh? Wh-what do you mean by that?”

Eric laughed and lay back, kicking his feet on the coffee table. “Because you already forgot about the third person that was with ya.”

Jack starts to worry, sweat begins emerging from the pores on his head. “Th-th-third… person? Wait a minute wait a minute, Eric. You’re saying someone else tagged along with me and Angela?!”

Eric nods, “Yup, and she was tough, like you.”

“She?!” Jack shouted, quickly jumping out of his comfort, “Eric…”

The young man went to his uncle, standing beside him with eyes vibrating uncontrollably. Eric eased away, looking at his nephew as if he were going mad.

“Chill, what’s with the hostile approach, my guy?”

Jack got in Eric’s comfort zone, “Finish the story, and tell me who the third person… is!”

Eric rolled his eyes and gently pushed Jack away, “Alright alright, chill. To make it short, the third person was a girl. She had your arm wrapped around her shoulders and both of you had ropes tied around ya waists. Ya were carrying Angela on a makeshift sled.”

“Get on with it, who’s-who’s the girl! Her name!”

Eric didn’t like Jack’s impatience, it made the uncle grow annoyed and feeling the need to stop. Seeing how Jack’s eyes were shaking, the young man's face shifting to madness, Eric wondered if it were best to change this subject. Seeing as Jack already has, Eric is a man of his word and decides to keep going.

“Since you wanna know so badly, let me refresh my own brain for you, fuckhead.”

Jack backed off some more to give his uncle space to rethink and relive his past. The young man felt his chest ready to explode, it’s beating so fast, his palms sweaty, he can’t help but feel that the answer might be that of an old friend; the one who stole his first kiss and the one he had to bury.

Eric scratched his dome and cringed, “trying to remember… brown hair, brown eyes, ragged clothing… she was almost your height.”

The anticipation was killing Jack, which made him breathe harder. He raised his right arm, pulled his sleeve to reveal the bracelet of his old friend. A homemade memento she had made to embark on their bond, one he will never let go or forget of her enduring kindness.

“Alexandria…” Jack muttered.

Eric heard the name and it finally made him snap his fingers. “Yeah! That was her name. She told me before she left to wander back into the cold.”

Hearing this made Jack furious at his uncle, which made the young man get back in his face. “And you let her?! Why didn’t you take her in, you son of—!”

Eric pushed Jack away. He fell and his uncle grew tired of Jack’s wicked attitude. “Listen you idiot, chill and think for a moment. First of all, I tried, but the girl was stubborn and wanted to play hero, refusing my offer to stay.”

Jack ground his teeth, grabbing his head that began to throb. “Why-Why can’t I remember then…?”

“Because your ass was experiencing hyperthermia! You barely hung on to her and the moment Randolph had finished trying to convince her too, you collapsed and blacked out.”

“No… Alexandria… wh-why would she just leave me again? And if she wandered back into the cold, then that means she died in the storm.”

Eric deeply sighed, “I wouldn’t say that, but it is a possibility.”

Jack got back on his feet, “what did she say after refusing your offer?”

Eric felt hesitant to answer more after his reactions, but being this far in the conversation, it had to be finished. “She told me to make sure to look after the two of you, especially you since someday, you promised to be her wife. Then, she gave me…” Eric then grabbed Jack’s wrist, seeing the bracelet, “that wrist band. And I gave it to you two nights after you woke up.”

Jack felt heart broken. He couldn’t believe she did the same thing she did in his original history where she abandoned him. This brought a nuisance into his mind, that of which was his guilt. He wondered if he did something to not have her around or at least, have a form of communication than this token of bonding ship.

“Okay… anything else before you closed the door on her.” Jack said.

Eric didn’t like that comment, rather it rubbed him the wrong way. “Wow, still thinking it’s my fault I didn’t try countless times to take her in. You know maybe I should just shut up and not tell you what she told me lastly before she went back into that white hell.”

Jack regretted his wording and hung his head with shame. “Sorry… I’m just, ah.” the young man dragged his hand over his face, grunting, “I really need to hear the conclusion to this, please then I’ll do whatever you say. I owe it to you, Eric.”

“Hmph, you should be, punk.” Eric crossed his arms, blowing steam. “To sum it up, what she told me was that if you find yourself wondering where she’s at; then meet her where you two had first met.”

Upon hearing that, Jack’s eyes grew hot and exploded. Without saying anything, Jack ran to the door, but Eric quickly caught his arm, stopping him.

“Hey! Fucking relax, where you going?!” Eric asked, his tone sounding concerned yet frustrated.

Jack didn’t look over his shoulder to his uncle, he had tunnel vision and was determined to find out the answer to that statement. “I have to find her… let me go!”

“Not until you cool the fuck off, Jack!”

Jack growled and his determination got the best of him, turning the rest of the world turn black around him. “Let go! She’s still alive! I just know it!”

Seeing his nephew this determined over someone whom he only met for five minutes from that dark winter day reminded Eric of that time when Randolph wanted to find the killers that took away his family. It sparked a similar scene when he did the same to Randolph. He had him held back, he kept tugging away from his clutch until, ultimately, Eric gave in and allowed Randolph to run off. In doing so resulted in him almost being killed and taken away from authorities, and he didn’t want history repeated with Jack.

Eric grabbed Jack with both arms, looking into his crazed eyes. “I’m not letting you go, Jack! What if she isn’t, then what?! Knowing how stupid and incompetent you are, you’ll probably do something stupid that’ll result in you dead like Randolph!”

Jack stopped all actions, and looked away. “Eric…” the young man bit his lip, fighting his emotions, but he had to know the answer to his old friend's request. “Please. I have to know, and you know who and what I’ll do if I can’t seek the answer to something this important.”

Eric clutched his grip harder, letting Jack know how much he cares about his nephew. He understood him, and knew the consequences of both actions. If he lets Jack go, with the young man not being mentally right, he might do something that’ll get himself killed since he can’t control his emotions properly. If he doesn’t, then Jack would do anything, even if that means hurting those closest to him to get an answer; he saw this clearly when Randolph was killed and Jack went on a killing spree, going as far as hurting poor Angela.

Ultimately, Eric has made up his mind and lets Jack go. “Don’t do anything stupid… fucking dumbass…”

His uncle sounded defeated and regretful, but Jack couldn’t hear it, he’s too tunneled to pay attention. “Thank you, I’ll be back before dark. I’m taking the car too, if that’s okay with you.”

Eric shrugs and shakes his head, walking away to the staircase. Jack ran to the keys on the door hanger and ran out the front door. Quickly getting in the car they usually used for drug dealing, Jack turned it on and put the car in reverse. Once he was in the street, the young man put the pedal to the metal, vanishing out of window sight from Eric’s home.

Eric heard the screeching tires and all he could do was sigh and rub the back of his neck. “You better come back… stupid kid.”

Driving recklessly, storming in and out of traffic to get to his destination, after flooring it for what would’ve been an hour drive had been cut in half, letting Jack to arrive right at the entrance. The young man entered, drove carefully through the town where he first met the two people whom he called friends; that being Joseph and Alexandria. He stuck his head out the window as he drove slowly through the familiar depressing streets he recognised all too well. But, something was off, and the small things he would notice were completely different. He got himself into a parallel parking spot, jumped out of the car while it stayed on, and froze. What he saw in front of him, normally would’ve been the homeless camp beneath the highway underpass was no more than a vacant lot of dying grass.

“This… this-this isn’t, right…” he said while glancing around.

Despite it being empty, there should be signs of homelessness, even if it were temporary. Yet, that wasn’t the case whatsoever. There were no signs of homeless past or present, it was far too clean and empty to give a glimpse of it. This made Jack feel defeated and hopeless on finding his friend, he couldn’t even bring himself to just walk beneath the underpass to find the hut they used to call home.

“I’m so stupid… What was the point of this trip? All I did was piss off my uncle and made him question more of my fucked up! Mind!”

Jack frowned and walked backwards, reminiscing the past in front of him of all the people he got to know. The scenes of tragedy, him and Angela saving people from starvation by sharing their steal, Alexandria tending to wounded elders, it felt depressing being present. Knowing that in this time it might not have been the case but a whole different case had Jack go into a migraine inducing fury. He pushed over nearby trash cans, punched a telephone pole, tried to flip over a screwed in bench but resulted in only hurting his back.

The frustrations were getting to him, engaging hate into his heart for William just for changing this one instance in history. “Why William, why man?!” he shouted into the grey sky. “How much has this stupid time changed?! What the fuck do I do to just get back to my normal life?”

Jack shook his head and turned round to the car, his shoulders sulked and he dragged his feet in defeat. While approaching the car, he heard loud screaming, banging from across the street from one of the town block homes. At first he ignored it, wanting no part of seeing or hearing typical domestic violence that represented Flint, but it was hard not to when it sounded blood inducing and once he saw glass shatter from the top floor, falling to the ground beneath, he grew curious.

He calmed down, got his game face back and checked if he were armed just in case things went south. “Still have my pistol, good.”

The young man walked across the not so busy street to see what was going on. Once stepping foot in front of five townhomes, he saw the one with the broken window. Each one had long yards and pathways leading up to the doors. Before making his way to the culprit of the violence, he wanted to take a moment and check the area out first.

“These houses, they weren’t here when I was a kid when Angela and I called this place home…” The young man took two steps forward, balling his fists, “why am I getting involved in this? Is it because of my past? The screams reminding of my mother being murdered in front of me? Heh… that could be it.”

While Jack stood there, looking up at the home, one of the house doors, one down the block, shot wide opened. A woman exposed herself, running out but quickly falling on her side on the cold concrete. She was wearing a tank top, short shorts which didn’t help because she had scraped her elbow and knee, exposing red and letting out rough coughs.

Jack saw her, struggling to get back on her feet as she gripped her throat. “Hey! You alright?” he asked.

The woman heard him and brought her covered eyes from her long brown hair to Jack, reaching out and begging for help with just her shakened arm. Jack could see the bruises on her arms from here and blood dripped from her face down to the floor, making him get serious. As the young man was about to take another step to go help her, a beer bottle came out of nowhere, striking the woman on her head. It knocked her out upon impact, letting Jack hear the loud thump to cringe his eardrums. Jack sucked air through his teeth once he heard the loud thump, and shifted his eyes to the door.

A white man came out, wearing only a bathrobe and slippers, he appeared drunk and his face was tomatoe red in anger. “Dumb bitch… what point is there to a hoe when she won’t do anything sexual but try to steal my fucking money?!” shouted the drunken white man.

He stomped his way to her. Once he did, he gripped the back of her head, lifting her up to expose her bruised face to him.

“Look at that pretty face of yours, all fucked up now… stupid ass hoe!” he punched her despite her being unconscious, letting her fall on her backside. “Now that you’re out, I’ll take back what’s rightfully mine tucked inside that stuffed chest of yours, hoe.”

Jack had seen enough. He made his way to them and before the drunken man could reach his dirty hand into her cleavage, Jack grabbed his wrist. The drunken man brought his drunken stare to Jack’s dead eyes, squinting them in confusion at him. They didn’t say anything at first, rather, the drunken man pulled off Jack's grip and fell on the cold grass.

He scratched his back and got on his toes. “Hey man… who the hell are you?”

Jack blinked, and clenched his fists. “That’s none of your business.”

“None of my business? What the fuck…” chuckled the white man, “then why you getting into mine?! That makes no sense, tall guy.” he rubbed his rough hair and got in Jack’s face, “I take that you’re her pimp? Because if not, then you should leave before you get hurt, punk ass.”

Jack glimpsed at the woman who started gaining consciousness, she moaned and groaned, squirmed on the ground. “I’m not her pimp, I don’t even know who she is… but I can’t let you hurt someone who’s defenseless.”

The drunken man smirked, backed off for a moment, then laughed for a little. He stopped and looked at Jack as if he were stupid. The young man dimmed his eyes, waited for an opportunity to strike this guy and give him a taste of his own medicine. After having some joy to himself, the drunken man shook his head to Jack and crossed his arms, giving the young man a big confident smirk.

“Oh yeah… then what big guy? Whatcha gonna do if I keep putting my hands on a criminal who tried stealing my money and tried drugging me?! How about it? Changed your mind about her yet?”

Jack glimpsed at her again, she coughed and she had placed one of her hands on her face. “Even if that’s true, it still isn’t right when you’re vastly stronger than her.”

“Oh don’t give me that stupid modern shit!'' The white man pointed his finger at the woman without looking at her. “This here is a hoe my guy. And they understand equality, so don’t feel bad about this stupid bitch. Because she knew damn well what she was doing and now… she’s paying the consequences, bro.”

Jack couldn’t help but understand where he’s coming from. It reminded him of his encounters and similar situations he had in the past. What he was saying is true, but after hearing her scream like that, reminding him of that dreadful night that took away his parents, Jack’s mind was already made up.

He stood his ground and mildly shook his head. “Sorry, but I can’t let this continue. Just leave her alone, and let me take her, how about that?”

The man scrunched his face in confusion, looking at Jack as if he were the most retarded man in the world. “Where did they raise you huh, punk? She ain’t going anywhere until I get my bread back!”

The man shot his fist at Jack which he knew was coming. The young man took his punch, but it was powerful enough to make him take a step back. Jack wiped the blood off the edge of his lip and raised his fists to him.

The man did as well, “damn, you’re tough ain’t cha?! Come on, bring it on tall guy.”

Jack said nothing but began approaching him, but carefully. He did the same and the two took turns throwing punches at each other. Jack landed two, he landed three, showing the young man that he was more trained then he was. While they threw hands, the woman finally sat up, dropping her hand and seeing the two fight each other with her blurred vision. She couldn’t make out who was her saviour but her body kicked into survival mode. She crawled away to grab the bottle that was thrown at her which settled on the grass. She got to it, grabbed it and threw it at him, making contact with his back.

He turned around, but not before dodging another punch from Jack. “Hey! Fucking bitch…” When Jack was ready to throw another straight punch, the man grabbed the bottle and smashed it over Jack’s head. “Sit down for a moment, will ya?!”

Jack stood still as the glass scattered around him and the remains rained off his shoulders. After another second of playing still, Jack fell forward on the grass. The woman gasped and regretted her actions, and now began an attempt at running away. He rushed to her and she barely made an inch of movement before he quickly grappled her and forced himself on top of her.

He wrapped his big hands around her small throat, choking the life out of her. “Yeah… that’s it, it’ll be over soon sweetheart.” he said in a soft tone.

The woman grunted, struggled to break his grip, fought for her breath, but she could feel her life draining. She didn’t want to look at him, his devious eyes glinting with joy, his giant grin, because if she did, it’ll be the last thing she’ll ever see before leaving this earth. Her eyes watered, her face turning blue, and by seeing her eyes starting to roll back, it brought amusement to the man’s eyes.

He manically grinned, tightened his clutch to ensure she suffered every last second. “Shh… it’ll be over soon, shhh!”

Hearing him shush her reminded her of her dark past. A past in which she was abused, tormented, and people trying to kill her in the streets. She shed tears, feeling the urge to cry, but instead gargled for air, letting his eardrums get an orgasm to her suffering. When her life seemed to be coming to an end, in her fogging vision, she saw her saviour show up out of nowhere, tackling him off her. She drew in her breath, coughing up a storm as she mildly got up to see where they had gone. She saw the two wrestling on the ground. They tussled, tumbled, fought for something hidden away from her view. The two continued for another couple of seconds until she heard a gunshot. She couldn’t make out who did it from her hazed vision. In case it was him, she immediately tried to search for anything to attack him, but there was nothing in arms reach.

She grabbed her throat and once again, tried crawling away with her life. “I-I got to…” she heard footsteps coming to her, and the woman started panicking again. “No… ple-please…” she muttered.

The stomping grew closer and closer until they came to a stop. With her heart beating beyond comprehension, she didn’t want to look over her shoulder in case it were him.

She accepts her fate and balled a fist, closing her eyes. It’s over… just kill me already! She thought.

When darkness felt permanent in the moment, a light sprung into it when she heard muffled coughing, and someone saying, “You-You okay?” This made her eyes sprung open, and turn around while on the ground. Once she did, and allowing her vision to clear up, she saw her saviour; A tall young man with long brown hair with a scar on his right cheek. She felt so happy that her life was saved, but also felt that he might ask something in return. So she didn’t smile or react, instead she stayed quiet.

Jack patted himself and wiped his coat. “I didn’t want to kill him, but I had to once he found out I had a gun in my jeans.”

The woman stared at Jack, figuring out why he saved her. “I’m sorry…” she said.

Jack put his gun away, and sighed. “Don’t apologise, it’s my fault for intervening. Besides, you should be thanking me for saving your life, lady.”

Despite his rude response, this didn’t phase her, rather it made her look away to softly chuckle. Hearing him say that reminded her of a boy she once knew who had the same attitude back when she was a young teen.

She wiped her eyes, let out one last gruntled cough and swept her hair off her face to allow him to look into her eyes. “You’re right. I should be thankful, so thank you, sir.”

Her voice sounded strong, confident despite what she displayed to Jack who shrugged and smacked his lips. “You’re pretty chill for someone who almost met death's doorstep. Why’s that?”

She shook her head and shrugged too. “It ain’t the first time, nor will it be the last. But when you live a life like mine, you have to mentally prepare yourself, especially at a young age, right?”

Jack puckered his lips in agreement, nodding too. “I can relate to that…” the young man reached his hand out to her, “how about you get off the cold ground and put some proper clothes on, it’s freezing out here.”

The woman grinned and grabbed the young man’s hand, feeling its roughness. “Sure, but not before I get your name, sir.”

Jack liked her attitude and voice. The two combinations felt nostalgic and reminded him of an old friend.

“My name huh? Alright, if you must know, uh, it’s Jack.”

Upon hearing his name, the girl immediately wiped off her grin and gasped. Instead of getting up, she used her other hand to pull the young man’s sleeve to reveal a bracelet he wore. This made Jack look confused by her immediate reaction. By seeing the bracelet the young man has wrapped, it broke her into a silent sorrowed state. Tears flowed out, her body quivered not from the cold but by the reveal; she’s beyond shocked.

Jack looked at her crazy and wondered why she just grabbed his wrist and pulled his sleeve. Why on earth is she crying now? Is it because of my friendship bracelet? I wonder if it’s reminding her of a troubled past.

The woman got up and embraced Jack as she softly whimpered. “Say… your last name, please…” she softly whispered into his ear.

Jack felt nervous now, and asked himself why she’s acting so strange all of a sudden? To not be ruder than he was earlier, he obliged and gulped.

“It’s Samr, Jack Samr…” he responded.

The woman ease off of Jack while still having her arms around the back of his neck. She stared deep into Jack’s eyes with her glistening bright brown eyes, ones Jack has seen before.

The young man’s eyes grew erratic, trying to look away. “Uh… you alright?” he asked.

She giggled and surprised Jack with a kiss. Their lips were locked for ten seconds and once she eased off, she erotically blinked to him, which turned him red.

She had subtle smile and caressed the young man's face. “You really don’t remember, huh? Honey…”

Upon hearing that, and the action she had ensued, it flashed a similar scenario, one in which he did the same one beautiful night on top of a house. In that night, he shared it with—

“Al…” Jack’s eyes quivered, he gasped repeatedly and trembled, feeling butterflies rile his stomach. “Ex…?”

She mildly tilted her head, and placed both of her cold hands on his face, nodding to his answer. Jack’s eyes glistened and the young man grabbed her wrists, shaking in excitement and relief. The two stood there in silence, their eyes locked, cop sirens blowing off in the distance, dogs barking in the background, neither person could believe that this was real. Flint’s cold breeze gently brushes against their skin, their hair fluttering; At last, Jack has reunited with his friend who was once dead, but is now alive, and finally getting a question answered, he expressed a gentle smile to her.

Jack gently bumped his head with her and said, “welcome back, Alexandria,” in the softest tone he’s ever produced thus far into his miserable life.

She moaned and replied, “you idiot,” giggling afterwards as the two stayed in their embrace, enjoying their reunion and brushing away what had occurred moments ago.