All That Remains

15. Jaelynn

Jae sat up quickly, throwing her feet off the bed and pulling her shoes back on. Her heart pounded in her chest and her hands shook as she struggled with the laces. "What do you mean gone?"

"Tyrell and I were taking turns to keep watch," Keenan explained frantically. "And he accidentally fell asleep during his. They must have snuck past us and out the door."

Jae looked out the window, where the sky that peaked through the curtain was a dark navy. It was too late to be out now, too dangerous. "Where would they have gone?" Jae asked, doing her best to keep her panic at bay.

"I don't know about Jonah." Elias paused for a moment, glancing between Jae and Keenan, as though he didn't want to continue on his train of thought. Jae wished it was lighter in the room so she could read his face. "But, I think I may know where Kenji would have gone. I spoke to him earlier, he was devastated about losing Martha, said he had nothing to live for."

Jae started towards the door, leaving her one shoe unlaced in her haste. Eli trailed behind her as they followed Keenan to the living room. "You think he went to end his life?" she asked incredulously, almost hoping he would deny it. When a moment passed and Elias still said nothing, she thought of something else. "What about Jonah, then? Why would he have gone with?"

"Maybe he went to try and find him?" Elias suggested as they entered the lounge. Tyrell looked up at them, pausing in his apparent pacing across the room.

"I'm so sorry, guys," Tyrell said, in his deep booming voice. He resumed walking back and forth, wringing his hands together in front of his chest. "This is all my fault."

"Don't blame yourself," Keenan soothed, approaching him and grabbing ahold of his arm so that he stopped his incessant pacing. Tyrell took a deep shaky breath, nodding slightly at Keenan.

"All that matters is what we do now," Keenan continued, releasing his friend and addressing everyone in the room.

"We find them, obviously," Jae stated, placing her hands on her hips in determination. "We've already lost too much, I refuse to lose anyone else."

"Jae its dark outside," Keenan argued. "The Risen could be wandering around. It's too dangerous."

Jae opened her mouth, a retort ready on her tongue, and then closed it again, knowing he was right. But, they couldn't just sit and do nothing. Jonah and Kenji's lives hung in the balance and every second that passed made it seem even more unlikely that they would come back.

"I'll go," Tyrell spoke up before she could. "It's my fault that they're gone. If I don't at least try to save them, I'll never forgive myself."

"I'll help," Elias volunteered.

Keenan, Tyrell and Jae all looked at him in surprise. "Eli, I don't think that's a good idea," Jae said softly, worried that he would get hurt while trying to play hero. Elias was too innocent for this life, too gentle and naïve. She was terrified that something bad would happen to him again.

"Are you forgetting who saved you the last time?" he countered with his eyebrows raised, clearly unimpressed at her lack of faith in him.

"Neither of you are going," Keenan decided, the finality in his tone leaving no room for argument. "Elias, you still need to find your sister and Jae, you need to help him. Tyrell and I will go."

"Wait," Jae grabbed his arm as he turned towards the door. She swallowed hard, scared to lose the person she had come to look at as a sort of father figure. "You're coming back right?"

She found herself dangerously close to tears as she looked at Keenan's kind face. Damn Elias had unlocked the emotional flood gates. She blamed him for tearing down her walls and opening her up for the inevitable pain and fear that came with caring for someone.