Her House, My Rules

Chapter 71

"I'm here." Jack's voice was more like a relief. "Calm down Brother, I was using the bathroom." He opened the bedroom door as I tried to reproach him for scaring the hell out of me.

"You scared me, Jack." I entered the room. "What were you thinking? Why would you lock the door when you know you're in a bad condition? I almost had a heart attack."

Jack was really sick and I didn't want him to do everything by himself. After all, he took care of me when I needed a brother by my side. I wanted to do the same. Although, I felt like I didn't do enough. We had our differences in the past, we fought plenty of times but at the end of the day, he was still my blood and I loved him. He managed to keep me safe after all these years.

Lucky.

I felt lucky to have someone like Jack in my life.

"Are you feeling better?" Evana exclaimed. "Jack Walter, right?" As soon as Jack's eyes laid on her, he jumped as she was a ghost.

"It's her!" Jack glanced at me, with a scary look. "She's the one who killed Christian Hills."

"Jack?" I patted his back. "Are you sure you're alright?" My tone was collected and firm. "This is Evana Hudson."

"I know who she is." He interrupted me. "She's the devil's last seed."

"I'm here to take you back home, Jack." Evana interfered. "Lionland is waiting for you and Hawk. We need you."

"I'm not going anywhere with you."

"What's going on?" I questioned. "Jack? Why are you acting so rude? She gave you the last page. She killed her son to protect us. We need to trust her."

"Trust?" He chuckled. "Trust her? Are you out of your mind, Hawk? If Lionland still exists, that means that you're the only key to the land and she wants to find a way to go back." he sighed, in pain. "She's using you, brother. Don't fall for her lies."

"She's trying to protect you and save your life." I tried to convince him. "Jack, please. You have to come with us."

"Hawk?" Jack uttered, calmly. "I'm not going anywhere with this lady." He disagreed. "If I'm going to die, let me die in peace."

"I'm not going to let you die." I insisted. "If you really care about me, come with me, and let's start a new life in Lionland. We're going to rule the land as powerful brothers." I sat on the edge of the bed as I tried to change his mind. "You're dying, Jack."

"Hawk? I know, I am." He admitted, confidently. "But, I don't want to live forever. I want to grow old, have a beautiful wife, my own family. I don't want power. I want true love and that's all that matters to me." He spoke his mind. "Lionland is not my style anymore. I'm tired of running." His eyes melted by the passion of the heavy clock. He was losing his power. His scars started to show. So many scars. I was still wondering about them. He never had the chance to tell me the whole story. I was still curious about mine. Was the story true? Was he bluffing? Maybe, maybe not. Too late for questions. It was going to be twelve o'clock and I was still trying to fight his own thoughts.

Jack wanted to die as a confident Lionheart.

I wanted him to live.

Let's face it, being a hero doesn't make you powerful. Being a hero changes you, your mindset, and the way you view things in real life. You want to save everyone but you really can't. You want people to cherish your actions and worship your integrity. It's not worth it.

I don't want to die a hero.

If I die alone, I don't want beautiful flowers at my funeral. I don't want people to cry over me. I don't need my picture to be everywhere in the media, saying that I was a great man and I'll forever be a legend. No. It's quite the opposite.
I'm a normal man with flaws and far from perfect.