Chapter 8 - Jaed
2016 Words
“Jaed?”
Alya is looking at me closely, concern is plastered on her lined face.
“I’m okay Alya. I’m just thinking that’s all.” I answer her in Hebrew.
She told me she was fluent in English, German, and Yiddish, but she preferred her native tongue. Especially when talking to Beings of Light. I didn’t correct her. She pats my hand in comfort and gives a small smile.
“Thinking and worrying are no help,” she tuts at me before turning back to the stove. Whatever she’s cooking smells great. We’ve been at her place for hours. I portalled us out of the apartment to some random place and from there Alya explained where she lived. I then portalled us to the nearest landmark I knew, the Berghain and Panorama Bar in Berlin. She called a friend to give us a lift to her place about an hour south of the city. The ride there was silent and when we arrived, he declined her invitation for dinner, gave me a sideways glance, and left.
We’ve been quiet, only really speaking when needed, but that’s ok with me. I needed to think about a few things. Though it hasn’t really helped me at all. I need more information and I can’t even text to check up on Michael as I left my phone behind. I wanted to portal back right away, but Alya said to stay with her. That Michael will come when he is better. She didn’t really know what was going on, but she said she had seen men like that before. I pressed for more details, but Alya stated that it was just a generalization about the nature of man to have conflict, and Michael is a man who is struggling right now. I think she’s partially right, but she is only human after all and I don’t think she felt what I felt.
What DID you feel?
I’m not sure, but I know that Michael seemed to be holding back his power until we, or at least Alya, was gone. And that is where my thoughts have stalled. I just don’t know what to do with the limited information I have. Hopefully Michael hasn’t used this to ditch me here and run after Jane.
If he did I’m gone.
I glance at Alya as she dishes out a few plates.
What about Alya?
What about her? She’s safe at home. And my restrictions are only limited to Michael, AND he hasn’t even fulfilled his side of the bargain to completely lock me into them. He hasn’t told me what happened yet, not everything. So I am technically free to leave whenever. And if Michael won’t tell me, then I guess I’ll have to take the chance and go to Helis to find my answers.
What about how you ended up in The Box?
I can feel my heart pound in my chest as the thought enters my head. How did I end up there in the first place? My head starts to pound along with my chest.
“...Jaed?”
I can hear my name being called but the world has faded to shadows. One of them detaches from the rest and looms before me. I can’t move and I can feel myself slide from the chair.
“Jaed?”
Hands grab me and pull me up. The shadows run and I find myself sitting up on the floor with Alya trying to pull me back into the chair.
“I… I’m okay.”
I get my legs under me and I manage to make it into the chair with her help. My legs feel like rubber and my head feels like I’ve had a nail driven into it.
“What happened?”
Alya puts a cup of water in front of me and I greedily drink it down.
“I think you had a panic attack. My friend has them, and she acts the same way sometimes. Scared but she doesn’t know why she is. She had something really bad happen to her when she was young. She doesn’t remember it though, just subconsciously I guess.”
She turns back to the stove and grabs our plates.
“Can you eat?”
“I think so.”
I take a few nibbles at the food in front of me, and find that my hunger has returned with a force. As I gulp down my food, Alya explains how her friend handles her episodes. It sounds like her friend was assaulted as a young girl and doesn’t remember anything. But her fear comes out with certain triggers. I’ve never heard of a demon having panic attacks, but I’ve never heard of a demon with amnesia either. Will these ‘attacks’ continue until I remember?
“What do you remember, Jaed? Michael said you were having trouble with that.”
I put my fork down and stare at my almost empty plate.
“It might help to talk about it.”
That’s not the issue I’m having. I can’t lie to her. Can I give enough explanation without giving away that I am not a daemon like Michael. Also, I would have to give it well enough that she won’t ask direct questions.
Easy! Just 'ask' for a pass.
“Only if I can stop talking and answering questions if I’m not comfortable.”
She reaches over and pats my cheek affectionately.
“Of course, Jaed. You take all the time you need, and if things are too uncomfortable to talk about, you don’t need to.”
I can feel my spine relax at her statement. I will never understand how humans can just carelessly give up the one thing they can hold over us.
I guess if they knew what they were giving up, then that would be different now wouldn’t it.
I think back to that day in the Archives. How long ago was that? I actually don’t even know.
“I remember binding myself to another, like marriage here on Earth.”
“What happened to her?”
“Him. Mikkas. And I don’t know. We went back home to celebrate, and that’s it. It’s blank. Nothing more. Not until I woke up. It was like I was in an eternally dark room. No sound, no one else.”
Not true!
“Actually… I remember seeing something in the dark. I think I saw Michael once.”
Alya nods in understanding, but stays quiet. The pressure in my head increases a bit.
Wait!
I rub the bridge of my nose in an effort to relieve the pressure.
“Jaed?”
The pressure increases and then suddenly my head clears and I ‘see’ Alya.
She’s hovering above me looking at something over my head. I seem to be lying down and I can’t move or speak. I can feel her shifting my arms to a different position. She pats my cheek and leans down to take a close look at me.
“Get well child. Get well.”
The memory fades and I turn to see Alya looking at me with concern again.
“I remember! You! You took care of me!”
Concern is replaced with glee and her smile lights up the room.
“Yes, Michael didn’t trust anyone else.”
“You told me to ‘get well child’.”
“Yes, I could see the pain your injuries caused Michael. He didn’t say anything but he was extremely worried you would never wake up." She looks down at her hands, "I thought talking to you would help.”
“How long did you look after me?”
Her smile turns down just a bit.
“About three weeks.”
Three weeks! And who knows how long I was in the… other place before I was rescued.
“Why didn’t you say anything before?”
“I didn’t think it mattered, besides it worked out better cause now you remembered on your own!”
Her excitement is contagious and I find myself smiling for the first time since we got here. I’m beginning to quite enjoy Alya’s company. I can kind of understand now Kadis’ obsession with learning about his pets. His name makes me wonder what is going on. Michael keeps talking about Jane. And Zean made mention about how I’m just here to get to Kadis. Something big happened and no one is telling me anything. My good mood evaporates as my thoughts settle on Michael again. I have to get him to tell me what is going on.
Or you can go find out yourself.
But what about the person who betrayed me in the first place. I don’t even know how I ended up in this situation, other than that it has something to do with those stupid books Kadis wanted.
Maybe it was Kadis who did it.
Is he that obsessed with Jane that he would have put me in that hellhole? He did seem completely enthralled with finding out about her. Maybe he found something that should have stayed buried.
What about Mikkas!
Did something happen to him? Did Kadis do something? I really need to find out. Alya has turned back to the stove, and I take the chance before I change my mind. Opening a portal I step through to my place in Helis. Nothing seems to be out of place, though it is unusually quiet. An odd smell hits me, and I follow it down the hall.
“Jon?... Fawn?... Devin?”
I stop before the playroom door. The smell has grown into an almost a disturbing scent. Suddenly, I don’t want to know and my legs lock. My heart races and I wipe my hands on my shirt. I can feel the darkness close in on me. I squeeze my eyes shut.
It’s not real. Alya said it was a panic attack. It’s not real. It's not real!
I take a dozen deep breaths until my heart slows. Not quite back to normal, but better. My flight instinct seems to be on high alert, but I can at least move my legs again. Gripping the door knob with my sweaty hand, it takes me a few tries to turn it.
When I finally get it open, I immediately wish I hadn’t.
The room beyond is colored a sickly black red. My eyes refuse to focus on any one thing. A hand here, a torso there, and a splattering of blood on everything, I can hear my thoughts screaming to get out of there, but I’m paralyzed. My eyes dart over everything and finally lock onto the dead stare of Jon. His body lay twisted and broken amongst the gore on the floor. I don’t know how I did it, but I got a portal up to Alya’s place and forced myself to step through.
She’s still at the stove, like I was never gone. I take a step towards the table, my foot hitting the floor with a thud. I can see her turn at the sound. Something must have seemed off because she’s at my side in an instant and helps me settle back into the chair. I let her bustle around me, but my mind is still in Helis. My eyes still fixated on Jon.
- Writer
