Her House, My Rules

Chapter 71

Don't glorify my death. Honor my presence.

"I respect your decision, Jack." I outlined. "But, being a hero is not worth it."

"Don't you get it, Hawk?" Jack replied. "I don't want to be a hero. I'm just tired of running. I don't want to fight for dear life. If death wants me to be its victim then I'll gladly give in." He paused and took a deep, long breath. "Your father used to say, 'You can never lock the door or hide the key when death is knocking at your door.'. Hawk, he was right." He forced a smile, ignoring the pain that was crawling through his veins. "Your... father..." He coughed blood. "He was the best adviser and that's the truth."

"Don't talk..." I felt bad. "Save your energy."

"You're a pain in the ass." He laughed, quietly. "Do you know that?"

"I know..." I laughed as tears flew down my face, slowly. "I guess we have something in common."

"Evana?" I glimpsed at her. "Can we talk?" I gestured. "Outside, please." As soon as these words got out, she obeyed, without hesitation.

"The time." She reminded me as she stared at her watch, impatiently. "We need to leave now." I closed the door after me. 

"Evana, I understand that you want to save Jack's life but I don't want to go against his will," I explained. "He wants to stay here and I'm not going to force him to go to Lionland. I appreciate you for being here and trying to find a solution for all of us but I'm sorry to inform you that I can't go with you."

"But..." She stammered. "But... J--Jack is going to lose his life." She sighed, annoyingly. "If you stay here, you're going to grow old and die. Your existence will be a curse to the human world. You'll never be able to go back to Lionland. If you don't come back with me, you'll start a war on the other side and you'll no longer be one of us." She whispered under her breath as she tried to change my mind. "Think about it, please."

"I made my decision, Evana," I said, sternly. "Jack wants to stay here and I'm going to grant his wish."

"He'll die, Hawk."

"That's what he wants."

"You also want to stay for the girl." She tried to read my mind. "It's not only because of Jack."

"Stop creating illusions in your head." I tried to deny the truth. "I love Hazel but she's not the reason why."

"My time is near..." She stated, disappointed. "At twelve, my body will melt under the first quarter moon. I'll finally be where I belong, In Lionland. I'm not going to die but my body will automatically disappear and I want you to know that you made your decision and you'll have to deal with the consequences later." She kissed my forehead. "Kill the girl if you want a second chance." He descended the stairs one by one and made her way out.

I felt indecisive. Part of me wanted to run after her and stop her from leaving. The other part wanted to respect Jack's decision. As for Hazel, she was the love of my life but I felt soo guilty and empty at that moment that I didn't know if I wanted to be with her after everything.

I wanted to scream so loud. I wanted to tear my heart open.

I was all over the place.

"Jack?" I made my way to the room. "She left."

"Good." He closed his eyes. "I'm tired. I need to rest."

"Promise me that you'll at least fight for your life..." I begged. "Promise me... Jack."

"Hawk, my brother." He reopened his eyes. "I'm strong. By the way, where's Pancake?" A laugh crashed from his throat as he tried to light my mood up.

"It's... Waffle." I laughed. "In the guest room. She doesn't want anything to do with me."

"She loves you, man." Again with the speech. "I know you love her too, so if anything happens to me at twelve, make sure you take good care of her."

"I will..." I promised. "She doesn't care about the situation at all."

"She cares." Jack pleaded. "Trust me, she does." His tone was frank. "She just doesn't know how to handle everything at once but I understand her. She doesn't want to lose the love of her life. I would've done the same thing."

"You will choose a girl over your brother." I made a joke. "Over me."

"Anytime." Jack burst out laughing. "Try me."

We both laughed.

"You're the best brother ever." I tried to hold back my tears as a man. "You've taught me a lot of things and you were always there for me when I needed a best friend. Thank you for that."

"Stop being a girl." He joked around. "You're so sentimental today. Calm the fuck down, Syrup." 

"Hazel never called me Syrup." I pointed my finger at him as If I was ready to fight. "Fight me."

"When you're giving her the good medicine." He chuckled, amusingly. "Doesn't she call you--??"

"Don't even start..." I played around. "The only name is Daddy. She knows better than that!"

"Uh-uh..." 

"I love this girl man!" I said, out of nowhere. "I'm in love with her. Somedays, I just feel lucky to have someone like her in my life."

"Yeah." He nodded his head yes. "She's a pain in the ass too." He was referring to all of the headaches that she gave me for the last few months. "Despite everything, you still fought for her. That's true love. At first, it was toxic." I thanked him. "Don't get your hopes up, I still think like that."

"Fuck you!" We laughed.

"Why are you still here?"Hazel entered the room and interrupted everything. "Aren't you supposed to go on a trip or something?"

Your tone! Hazel! Watch it!

You're speaking to your future husband.

"Watch your tone! Woman." I excluded. "Why are you clumsy?"

"I came to contemplate your smell in the bedroom. I thought you left." She revealed. "It's eleven fifty-eight."

O' Lord.

Holy Heaven!

Two more minutes!

What will happen in two minutes?

Jack and I looked at each other as my heart started to count millions of heartbeats per second.

First Quarter Moon-- Hulions rise.