The Jester | K.TH

Chapter 10 Numb

"She was with me." Jin said.

I looked at him shocked at what he had just said.

"I needed help with something I'm not very proud of and she was there for me. I asked her not to tell anyone. I didn't mean for any of it to get this far. She's been nothing short of amazing." He said as he smiled at me, then a frown crept up on his face.

"I don't know who took Nicoletta's life from her far too prematurely, but it wasn't Ember. She was with me the whole night."

Jin had a way about him that just made you trust him. It must be the reason the whole town loves him. His words seemed to appease everyone, although an apology was never given to me. They just returned to their chatter as if everything they had done and said never happened.

"Come on Ember, let's get out of here and go somewhere quiet." Jin said as he turned to me.

I agreed. I had been through one hell of a day and I needed to just breathe for a minute.

I walked to his car went to open the door.

"Oh no, we're not taking the car. We're walking. I have somewhere special I want to show you."

"Are you taking me to see those spectacular ducks you guys have at the park?" I said jokingly.

"No, this is even better than the ducks." Jin said with a smile.

Jin grabbed my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine as he lead me through the town to an old abandoned and boarded up building on the top of a hill.

"This is this better than the ducks?" I asked while laughing at the poor condition of the building.

"Don't judge a book by its cover, Ember. I thought you of all people would know that." He teased. "It's not the building itself, it's the view she has."

"She?" I said as I raised an eyebrow

"Yeah. I like to think she's a female soul. She's been a great comfort to me over the years and if it was a dude that would just be kind of weird for me."

I laughed "Only you would say something like that. So, how do we get in?"

Jin smiled and motioned for me to follow him.
He lead me to the back of the building where one of the boards on the door was loose and he pushed it off to the side.

"After you my dear." Jin said as he held the board out of the way for me. "It's safe, I promise."

I stepped in and began to cough from all the dust. The room was full of cobwebs and dirt from sitting unoccupied by anything other than wildlife.

"Here, this way." Jin said as he begin to walk up a pair of old wooden stairs. I followed him up a few floors until we reached an old weathered wooden door. Jin grabbed the knob and jiggled the door a bit and pushed it open.

"Oh my.." I said as I beheld the sight in front of me.

"Now you see why I brought you here?"

"Yes." I just kept looking in awe.

A rooftop that over looked the entire town and all the lights flickering from the life down below. I don't know how I didn't notice this building before while walking around because it surely had the most perfect view of the town.

"This is absolutely beautiful." I said to Jin as I continued gazing over the town.

"Come, sit with me."

We sat down with our feet hanging off the edge of the flat rooftop and sat in silence for a while. The night air on our faces. The town lights glowing like fireflies on a summer night.

"I like to come here when I just need to escape for a while. I look down there at those people moving around and I feel like I have some sort of purpose in this world. Something to give them." Jin said breaking the silence.

He grabbed my hand and put it in his and I Laid my head on his shoulder.

"Thank you for what you did for me today. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. You have no idea what you've done for me since I've been here." I said to him.

"Ember, where were you last night?"

"Jin. I just, I just can't tell you."

"Ember. I risked my whole entire reputation for you and you sit here and tell me you can't tell me what it was all for?" He said angered, letting go of my hand.

"If I told you, you wouldn't understand."

"What could you possibly have been doing that I wouldn't understand, Ember?" His voice raised.

I just couldn't tell him. I wanted to, but I just couldn't. I truly cared about him, more than I had cared about anyone in a long time and I didn't want to hurt him. He wouldn't understand my connection with the Jester. I didn't understand it myself.

"Jin. Please don't ask me to tell you. I just simply can't."

"How dare you, Ember? How dare you treat me like you care about me one minute and then throw me to the wind the next simply because you 'can't'!" Jin yelled as he got up and walked to the door of the rooftop.

"Maybe you aren't who I thought you were." He said as he began to walk down the stairs.

"No! Jin! Wait!" I yelled as I stood up and ran down the stairs to catch him.

"No Ember, unless you have some answers for my questions I don't want to hear it. I thought you were someone else, but maybe I was wrong."

"Jin. Please....." I tried to grab at his arm to keep him with me but he pulled it away.

I just stood there numb as I watched him walk away. I couldn't chase after him, I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe. He left me........

"Jin, please." I whispered to myself as I watched a part of me walk away.

END OF CHAPTER 10