Holy War: Two Worlds and an In- Between

Chapter 19: Who is She?

Jack sat on the step completely silent as I looked out into the sky. That morning, the sky was a dark pink with light pink clouds dancing in it. I could feel Jack avoiding me as Allioni sketched on a paper. I decided that for that moment, I wasn't going to acknowledge Jack or anything that was said or done, but I couldn't help myself.

"You know what I wanna talk about?" I began turning my body to face Jack, "I wanna talk about how you were so concerned for my safety until you heard that you could exchange it to find some woman on the run."

Jack twiddled with the ring on his finger and didn't look up at me. He seemed too deep in thought to care about my concerns. His long hair draped over his face as another way to avoid eye contact with me. I began to get a bit angry bouncing my leg.

"What, got nothing to say now?" I asked as my heart rate quickened in my chest. He looked up and raised an eyebrow at me.

"You've made it overwhelmingly clear of what you want to do," he responded in a low voice that dragged each word he said.

"So that's it?" I asked with my leg still bouncing, "You have no objection to me risking my life just so I can find some rando woman?"

He didn't respond. He looked at me as though I had been pulling his hair. His reactions were too unfamiliar for me.

"Do you even care?" I asked in annoyance. Once again he didn't answer.

"So that's it?" I asked.

"That's it," he responded dryly.

"Fair enough," I mumbled getting up and approaching Allioni.

He sat in the middle of the field sketching. I sat next to him and looked down at his drawing. It was a large house with many rooms that seemed a little familiar. Allioni looked up at me, but never stopped drawing. I didn't have time to marvel at the way he still managed to draw perfectly without even glancing at the page.

"What are you doing, Allioni?" I asked tilting my head a bit.

Allioni tilted his head in the same way that I did, "I've decided that if we'll be utilizing this house for a while, we might as well make a few minor adjustments," he explained still drawing.

"We're staying?" I asked raising an eyebrow. I looked back at the pile of wood and sticks barely being held together.

"With a few adjustments," he responded still not looking at the paper.

***

A few hours later, Jack, Allioni and I were back on the field. I was stuck in the same position as the day before. Legs crossed, and eyes closed in a field of beautiful roses, unaware of any and everything around me.

I sunk into myself, again, unable to know what I was doing. I tried to clear my mind, but all things considered, I couldn't. I wasn't concerned that Jack was wagering my life for some random woman, or wondering why Allioni was planning on staying in that old worn down house. Instead, I thought of my little brother, Michael.

I thought of how scared he must have been knowing that I wasn't there. Was he alone? Was he getting to school on time? Does he still have imaginary friends? Does he still care about me? Was I wrong to leave him there?

Suddenly enough, I felt something completely different from the day before. I felt a gust of wind blow around my body wrapping me in a hug. I couldn't hear the sound of Allioni's heartbeat or the rushing of water a mile north. I couldn't hear Jack warning me not to continue out of fair of the unknown.

The still silence surrounding me began to feel more eerie than peaceful, so I opened my eyes. I sucked in a breath at the sight of a dark empty abys with the only landmark being a giant dome. I spun around looking for one of the boys.

"Jack! Allioni!" I screamed. The only answer I received was the echoing of my voice off the wall of darkness.

My heartbeat picked up a bit as I began to power walk to the dome. Hearing the sound of my flat shoes beating against the floor as I took long heavy steps to the dome door didn't give me half as much anxiety as the moment I realized that I had been there before.

Thoughts on Jack so far?