A Wolf's Purpose

•Chapter 43• Brothers and Sisters

Jade gently knocked on the doorpost. "Hey," She said softly.  He ignored her, pretended she wasn't there. He sat there silently on his new bed and flipped through the pages of a photo album he found in the room. "Don't know what I did to deserve that," Jade mumbles to herself before stepping into the room. She looked around. In one of the pictures that stood on a shelve was a happy family. The thought of Rico with his family caused her to smile. "Can I maybe get you something before I head out?" She questions. Jayden sat there, stubbornly, and never even looked up at her once. She rolled her eyes at him. "So that's what we're doing? Silent treatment?" She questions. Still, nothing came from him, not a sound. Jade glares at him. She walks over to peek at the photo album he held in his hands. "They're cute, aren't they?" She said, "So happy." she added. "Can you leave?" Jayden mutters. His sister gasps playfully and places her hand over her chest. "Oh, he does speak and he can hear me." She says jokingly. Jayden's jaw clenched a little and his sister noticed immediately.

"You know, there was a time when we didn't mind anything that was happening to us," Jade started. Her tone was soft and calm. She turns to sit on the edge of his bed near his legs. "It was when Dad was still 'sick'. And before he told you three what really happened. Every morning we would stand in the kitchen together. The four of us. You would get behind me and braid my hair if it was too messy for a ponytail. You liked to braid my hair and said it was a moment of peace throughout the day. You would drive us to school after Louis came in to keep an eye on him. I remember you guys racing each other to see who would be at the lockers first." She said with a slight chuckle, "I could never win it from you three. Especially you." She continued. Jayden straightens his back. "What are you trying to say, Jade? Wanna remind me of the good times so none of this seems so bad?" He questions. Jade looks at him kindly. "I don't want you to constantly be mad at me for certain decisions I've made. Or that we made." She replied. "It's not working," Jayden tells her. She stands up from her seat. "I don't care if it does. I want you to think about it while you're here." She said. "So, you're basically putting me in time out? Giving me time to think about what I've done? You sound like mom." Jayden points out to her. "You use that argument a lot." Jade replied, "And I'm not mom. And I am done trying to act like your mother to keep you, and the other two, from killing each other."

She steps out of the bedroom and shuts the door behind her. Inhaling deeply, she made her way down the hall toward the other two bedrooms. She found Jack sitting at his new desk. He was so excited over the game setup that one of the children had in their room. "Do you like it?" Jade asks with a smile. "Like it? I'm having trouble not stuffing this all in my bag and taking it back home with me once we leave." He replies. She smiles at her brother. His face lit up and everything. That smile. It was like a kid's smile, happy with whatever he got, it didn't matter. He was happy. "You know, once all of this is over, we can get you a setup like that at home." She tells him while pointing at the setup. Her brother turns to look at her. "Really?" He asks. She chuckles and nods her head. "Yeah, of course. Anything you want." She answered. He was so happy when he said that. He jumped up from his chair and pulled his little sister into his arms for a tight hug. Jade gently patted his back. "Only the best for my brothers, right? After what you boys did for me." She smiles. He squeezes her tight. "I'll miss you." He says. Jade let out a sigh. "It's just for a couple of days. Then I'll be right back here to pick you boys up and take you to some fast food restaurant so you can stuff your faces and we can forget all of this ever happened." She tells him. Jack pulls away from their hug. "I'm gonna hold you to that. You're paying." He tells her. Jade laughs with her brother. "Alright, you think about where you want to eat and what until I come to pick you up. And please, be nice to Jerry?" She tells him. He sighs loudly and plops down on his bed. "That's no fun!" He whined. "Love you!" Jade says before walking out.

She walks over to the last bedroom. The door was closed so she knocked on the door very quietly. "Are you still awake?" She calls out. "Yeah, I am," Jerry replied. He sounded exhausted, as if she woke him up from a nap. She opened the door to find him under his covers. "Did I wake you up?" she asks him. He runs his hand through his messy mob of hair. "I was just dozing off." He answered. Jade walked over to his bed and sat beside him. "You're going?" He guessed. She nodded as she turned her head to look at him. "Yeah, Casper texted that most of our guys are heading out to leave soon. We should head out after them. Kind of keep the groups together." She answers. He nodded and rested his head on her shoulder. Jade smiles and lets him rest his heavy head there. "What are you gonna do when you find him?" He asks her. She sighs and tucks her hair behind her ear. "I'm not sure. Part of me thinks he belongs behind bars. I'm not taking him back into the house. That's not happening." She informs him. "How do we even afford the house?" Jerry asks her quietly. "I've got it. Don't worry about it." She smiles at him. He was too tired to argue with her. "Can you promise me something?" She started, "When all of this is over, I'll get you anything you want. Books, video games, food, anything. Please, promise me you're not leaving again. We used to be a duo. I miss that." She tells him. He nodded his head and hummed in response. Jade ruffled his hair a little before carefully getting up from her seat. She walks out of the room and silently shuts the door behind her.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." Jade chuckles as she walks up toward Casper. He quickly opened the car door for her. She frowns at his hurry. "What's wrong?" She asks him while she steps into the car. He slams the door shut and rushes over to the other side. "We got a message from Megan. Henry's been stabbed and Eric's missing. He was pulled out of his coma and just taken away." He explains. Jade starts the car while frowning at him. "So, what? He just walked in there and took him. Did no one check? No one knew who he was?" She groans loudly. "We're not even sure it's him," Casper replied. Jade briefly looks at him. "Of course, it's him. Who else would take a coma patient?" She snaps at him. Casper glares at her a little. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean that." She tells him. Casper looks down at her hands. He noticed her fingers starting to tremble slightly. He also noticed her kicking in the gas. "Hey," He calls out to her. But she didn't respond. She mumbled to herself. "Okay, stop." He tells her. She sighed and pulled over as soon as she could. "What's happening? Why are you freaking out?" He asks her, "You weren't freaked out before." He continued.

Jade rests her face against the steering wheel, careful not to press any button. "He's everywhere I don't want him to be. My dad just takes. He stabbed Henry. And I just can't help but worry that... I just -" She stumbles over her own words as tears fill her eyes. He places his hand on her arm. "Hey, Andrew's fine." He assures her. "Yeah, but what if he's not? Bill doesn't care. I don't even know what he's up to right now. Why did he take Eric instead of killing him right then and there? What's his plan? I have no control over anything. And I can't shake this feeling that something will happen to Andrew while he's there. I can't take that. Jayden won't even talk to me. He looks at me as if I'm the devil. He hates me. I don't know what to do. I don't even know if we're able to pull this off. What if my dad makes another great escape and we're all dead in the morning? Plus, everyone's treating me as if I can't do anything anymore." She tells him. Once that was all out, Casper scooted closer to her. She looks at him. "I don't want to lose anyone. I want my dad gone. I just want everything to go away." She sobbed. Casper reached out and brushed her tears away with his thumb. "We're gonna get him." He assures her, "We're gonna get him, and everything's going back to the way they were. Jayden will come around. You'll be fine." He tells. She just shakes her head while tears fall from her eyes. "I just don't see it. Now we have to chase after Greenwood too? It's so much." She sighs. Casper just looks at her. He didn't know what to do aside from looking at her and thinking about how to fix it all for her.

"What if we didn't?" He spoke up. Jade looks up at him. "What?" She said between sobs. He brushes some hair out of her face. "What if we didn't go after Greenwood... and just wait for your Dad to kill him?" Casper suggests. His eyes lit up a little bit when she stopped crying after he said those words. "Greenwood will be dead. Bill will get locked up for sure. We just need to catch him at the right moment. It's a win-win situation." He explains quietly to her. His tone was soft as if no one else but them would hear them, even if they were the only ones in the car. "But he's Megan's dad," Jade says. "And your biggest obstacle aside from your dad. While Bill takes care of that, we can focus on curing you." Casper tells her. "Without telling anyone." Jade fills in. "We call the group and tell them to stop searching for now. And just keep this between you and me." He continued. Jade nodded her head a little. "Let's do it."