Nefarious

C114 - Jace's journal

Xavier refused to tell me anything about Alex's brother, but he gave me Jace's book. "I'm fucked now that Xylan's here anyway. Page twenty is where it's truly interesting, but start at eighteen" he whispered, closing the door behind me.

My curious mind and desperateness to get answers caused me to open the book. I was sitting on the bed in Alex's main room, hoping no one would enter. "Page eighteen," I muttered as I tried finding the page. I spotted lots of cursive writing and eye-catching words while looking through some random pages, completely forgetting that this belonged to Jace. My eyes wandered over the headline: "Xavier Leclair," on page eighteen. I took a deep breath before I started reading the lines written by Jace.

"Dark hair, dark clothes, dark eyes, but no dark soul. He is careful, very careful. However, I haven't found it particularly hard to find this cautious and frightened guy. For so long he has been walking the streets alone, unaware of his dangerous position, but that will end now."

So this is a description of Xavier's former self, as I've understood.

"I have yet to discover his weak points and his personality traits, but I have a feeling it will be a bit challenging, considering his seemingly subtle persona. As I've heard, he is generally very caring of others but sceptical of strangers. Taking a guess from his daily hunted facial expression and his seclusion from strangers, I'm assuming he is a secretive person. As I see it, it seems as if he has potential to be a good weakening person."

Page eighteen was the introduction of Jace's weakening person, but page nineteen was the interesting part, as Xavier said.

"At first I didn't want to admit it. A person like him couldn't be any special, but the truth is Xavier isn't like the others. He doesn't fight and whine like a lost pet desperately trying to find its owner, but he does show great disapproval of our species. It didn't take him long to realize that supernatural creatures were real and living alongside him, but it took him long to accept it. However, whenever I speak, he always listens carefully. I must say he's a man of few words, but when he speaks, he chooses his words wisely. He's not strong, not particularly clever, but very different. Somehow he manages to control his fear on the outside, I can't speak for the inside. I will find out with time though, I will discover just how he does it."

The name Rain was mentioned several times in the following pages, so I went some pages back and figured she was Jace's lover at the time. According to the journal, they were dating at the time when Xavier got here as well as a while after.

"Rain seems to think I'm somehow attracted to my weakening person as if I've fallen for a fragile and weak human being. I'm not my sister, I don't fall for humans. She says he's affecting me in some way, but he has not captivated me. He is indeed a prepossessing sight, but only by pure lust, not attraction or affection. I find him to be a fascinating person - a person to examine, not to love."

Jace's language has changed so much from when Xavier came here. At least his oral language has, I don't know about his writing. His descriptions are mostly objective as in investigative or based on Rain's opinions. I find it strange how he was writing about Xavier this way, knowing that they're a couple now. It made me think he knew he was attracted to Xavier, but he didn't feel rightful to admit it. Perhaps he didn't want to ruin things with Rain or ruin his reputation of not loving another species. As he mentioned, his sister apparently did.

After taking in the majority of the information on the two pages, I moved on to page twenty. Curious about what happened next, I started reading again.

"His head was hanging low, exhausted from all I had put him through. He hadn't broken just yet, but he was getting there. For each second I spent in front of this miserable person, I got closer to discovering his secret. His sore neck and prostrated body had challenged him badly, luckily. It wasn't hard to figure that the trembling lips of his would fail him swiftly. I wasn't doubting the efficiency of the pain I'd caused him, I knew that the words would slip right out of him. His secret would come without any more effort on my part."

As I was reading, I suddenly heard a conversation start outside Alex's door. I moved closer to the door, tiptoeing to prevent sounds that would expose my presence. "You showed signs of excessive anger towards some person. Don't tell me a human got prevail over you Jace," Xylan said intimidatingly. "Of course not," Jace answered, his voice sounding steady. "Very well. We all know you almost disgraced your reputation and let yourself be seduced by a human once. Don't step closer to that failure once again," Xylan warned. "I can assure you I won't," Jace answered. But he fell for Xavier eventually? Doesn't Xylan know that? Does Xylan even know of Alex and me...?