[In]human[e] (Now Editing)

➳ Chapter 14

　　It's been a good two hours since Atlas and I have searched the whole place. This was ridiculous. It's almost as if he disappeared into thin air. The more we searched, the more worried I grew. I could almost strangle him for making me worry like this.

　　This reminded me of the time I lost Pepper. Man was that dog a handful at times. She was there one moment, and gone the next. When I finally found her, she was yelping from a ditch two blocks from my house, covered from head to toe in dirt. When my parents weren't home, I wasn't allowed to leave the house, but I had no choice. If I hadn't found her, anything could have happened to her, and the guilt that my little heart would have been met with at the time would have been too great.

Jäger. Where are you... I worried in thought. 

　　I felt sick, like my innards were doing gymnastics. I felt overwhelmed.

　　Atlas seemed to be in more worse shape than I was. His face was flushed like all the blood had drained from his body, and beads of sweat were now streaming down his forehead.

"...You okay?" I asked him.

"Why wouldn't I be?" He said, now struggling to breathe.

　　His back hit the wall of the hallway as he supported himself by placing his hands on his knees.

"Hey, take it easy..." I said as I ran to his side. "What's wrong?"

"...I can't let anythin' happen to 'im." He said, sounding fairly winded.

"...What do you mean?"

　　I didn't like the words that were escaping his mouth. It only left more room for worry, which was the last thing that I needed right now.

"I owe the kid my life..." He managed to say as he slid down the wall into a sitting position. "If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be here right now..."

　　That explained a lot. Hearing him say that brought me back to the way he was when  Jäger was out in front of the elevator in the hallway bleeding to death. 

"There's...there's something that I'm about to tell ya, but you have to keep it to yourself. Alright?" He warned as he tried to calm himself down.

"Okay..." I replied softly, sitting myself down next to him. "What is it?"

　　He seemed a little hesitant, as if he wanted to take back what he just said.

"You can trust me. I promise." I ensured him. 

"...Ever been told that ya had to do somethin' but you knew it was wrong?" He asked. "And ya also knew that the consequences would be really bad if ya didn't do it?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so. Why?" I asked, feeling a little confused.

"...Well ya see, there was something that I had to do, and I said no. Now, the person that I said no to doesn't like being told 'no'. Everyone has the right to freedom of speech Kyra, but what people don't get is that they don't have a right to what consequences follow when those words come out..."

　　I was trying so hard to understand him, but he was being so vague.

"...What are you trying to say?" I asked. 

"I said no, and my consequence was death. In that situation at that given time, I could have sworn that my life was done. I made my choice, and there was no turning back, no way out. Yet somehow, in the middle of that darkness, Jäger's hands came down from the light to save me. He left that bright place to save me, despite the fact that he knew he could never go back..."