Little Nightmares June and the Blind Eye

Chapter 17: Jack's Past

We are out of the hotel and out in the streets.

It is deadly quiet and I feel my hand begin to sweat while it clenches onto Jack.

"Come  on we need to get there as soon as we can, it's not safe after dark,"  he whispers a little too harshly but I can understand his nerves so I  only nod while we scurry through the streets.

We are practically running and hiding every step of the way as we try to be quiet as mice.

We cannot get caught.

Not when we are so close.

I feel my hopes go a little up when the smell of seawater begins to get stronger as we approach the harbor.

I can see the moon being reflected over its waters from afar.

It's beautiful but I ignore it as soon as I feel Jack pull me closer to him, my gaze lands on him.

He looks concentrated on the outside.

But I know he is terrified on the inside.

Something from his past was haunting him and I want to know what.

The  truth is that it pains me seeing him like this on the verge of breaking  and I know what feeling broken is like, it kills you slowly on the  inside.

I frown, if only he would just open up to me then I'd be able to help him as he has helped me recover from all this trauma.

"We are here," he whispers again and I suddenly focus my vision on what is in front of me.

The harbor is full of sailors...

...everywhere.

I feel my blood run cold when I see one pass by closely, he doesn't spot us as he continues to load the cargo onto the ships.

I look around to see if there are any guides that could tell us which ship or boat can take us to Rail City.

"Over there," Jack suddenly points at one of the boxes, it has the words RAIL CITY drawn in red across the box.

That was easy.

"That's our ride," he adds before dragging me across quickly.

We jump inside the cargo box which is full of fish and I gag slightly when Jack closes the lid to seal us.

My body is resting on his when we feel the box being lifted and taken onboard.

We fall on our butts when the box is suddenly dropped.

I let out a small oof but get my mouth covered instantly by Jack's fish-smelling ones to shut me up.

We wait for only a few instances until it grows eerily quiet and he peeks out to make sure we are safe.

"Clear," he says quickly before shoving the lid off completely. I breathe normally as soon as we are out of that gross box.

Jack only looks at me curiously when I release my breath and plop myself on the wooden floor.

This ship is also made out of dark wood with venting systems, only the cargo room is a bit smaller than the last ship's.

There are also several hanging oil lamps yet it is a bit chilly inside.

"Seems safe for now," I comment but Jack does not respond when he slumps down.

His back is facing the wall and his eye is closed while he breaths in and out slowly.

"Are  you okay?" I ask him with concern, he looks a bit unsteady. I suddenly  feel my mother's presence, she feels worried just as I do.

Need me to talk to him again? she asks me but I nod a no.