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| Jackson |
When Jackson emerged into the huge house's entrance hall, he glanced around at everyone. Cyrus' people were sitting on the grand staircase, the couches between it, and even on the white fur rugs beside the archways which led into other rooms.
Some of them didn't look like wolf walkers, though; three men and two women standing by the archway on the right wore much more expensive-looking clothes rather than the ripped, ragged attire Jackson saw Cyrus' pack wearing. One of the women and two of the men had eyes as red as blood, and it made him wonder whether they were vampires or demons or some other race he didn't yet know about...or remember.
He sighed and tried to choose someone to approach, but to his relief, he spotted Amos and Elias making their way down the stairs. He waited for them to reach the bottom, and then he walked over to them.
"Uh, hey guys," he said.
The brothers stopped walking and both said, "What's up, Jackson?"
"Could you tell me how to get to the medical...place, please? I wanna go and see how Wilson's doing."
Amos stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Well, we're actually headed down there right now. I guess you can tag along," he said as he glanced at Elias.
Elias shrugged. "Yeah, suppose so. Just don't touch anything or look at anyone or talk to anyone."
Jackson frowned strangely but nodded in agreement. "O-okay."
"This way," Amos said as he and his brother walked towards the doorway under the stairs.
They stopped outside the mahogany double doors and pressed a button beside them. A few moments later, they opened, revealing that they were actually elevator doors. Jackson stepped inside when the twins did, and he stood beside Amos, who he felt was the less intimidating of the two, and watched the doors shut.
"How's your leg?" Amos asked him.
Jackson glanced up at the guy and shrugged. "Fine now, I guess."
"Lucian's a prat," Elias grumbled.
"Couldn't agree more," Amos said.
Although Jackson wanted to voice his opinion of that kid, he wouldn't risk it getting back to him, not after what happened an hour ago. So, he kept his mouth shut and waited as the elevator took him deeper into the ground.
The elevator soon came to a creaking, squealing halt. When the doors strained open, they revealed a long, white hallway with a black carpet covering the floor and several glass doors and windows on either wall. Jackson peered through each window as he followed the twins forward; in some, there were labs with doctors and scientists hard at work, and in others were offices and storage rooms.
"Uh...so, what exactly goes on down here?" he asked Amos. He was getting an uneasy feeling, recalling the conversations he'd had with Damon about being experimented on. This place certainly had the vibe of a facility that conducted the sort of tests he'd been petrified of.
"Depends," Amos said with a shrug. "We've got doctors helping out those of us who got hurt in the Kane fight, as well as taking care of some of our packmates who still haven't recovered from past shit we've been involved in. Sometimes, we get sent high-profile Nosferatu workers; this place is in the middle of nowhere, and believe it or not, probably one of the safer bases. Ain't no one coming to raid us; we're so deep in the mountains that you'd have to be crazy to try and get past all those undead, especially the variants."
"Speaking of variants," Elias muttered as he stopped in front of one of the windows.
Jackson stood beside him and Amos and stared into the laboratory. An infected human corpse was sprawled out on the table, tied down with silver chains, and several doctors were leaning over it and prodding it with scalpels and strange devices that he didn't have the knowledge to name.
"What are they doing?" Jackson questioned.
"I dunno," Amos said with a sigh. "Science stuff."
"They're trying to narrow down how the infection spreads," Elias muttered. "To find a cure, you gotta learn everything about the way these things work."
"All right, Mr Genius," Amos mocked. "You should've gone to science school or whatever."
His brother rolled his eyes and continued down the long, white hallway. "Come on. The hospital ward's this way."
"Why are they still trying to find a cure this way if they're sure that what they need is at the lab we're heading to?" Jackson asked, walking beside Amos.
"Well, I suppose just in case it isn't. And the more you know, the better, always," he said matter-of-factly. "For all we know, whatever you find in Greykin Valley might only help with one variant. We thought this virus affected only cadejo—"
"It did affect only cadejo," Elias said as they turned right at the end of the hallway and went through a pair of double doors. "It only started infecting other Caeleste very recently."
Amos frowned. "But what about those undead animals that Seba—"
"They weren't Caeleste."
Jackson frowned, too. "Wait, Sebastien found undead animals?"
"Uh..." Amos drawled.
"Forget it," Elias said warily, looking back over his shoulder at him.
The man's voice sent a shiver down Jackson's spine; it was a feeling he knew not to ignore. So, he stared ahead and followed the brothers into what looked like a hospital waiting area.
Elias led them to the front desk, where a nurse was slouched back in his seat reading something on his phone. "Where's the muto kid?"
The nurse looked up at him. "Which one?"
Which one? Jackson's frown returned.
"The muto tigris," Amos answered.
With a quiet sigh, the nurse put his phone down and rolled on his chair over to the computer. He typed and clicked for a few moments, and then he said, "Room twenty-four C."
Elias turned to face Jackson. "C's that way," he said, pointing to a pair of double doors with 'C Wing' written above them. "Amos and I are needed in A Wing. If we're not here when you're done, just head back upstairs."
Jackson nodded. "Okay. Where are you guys—"
"Later," Elias said and dragged his brother along with him.
"Okay...bye," Jackson said with a frown.
With a quiet sigh, Jackson turned around and headed towards the doors to C Wing. When he went through them, he emerged into what looked like any standard hospital hallway lined with doors to patient rooms. Doctors and nurses were floating about doing this or that, carrying sheets, food, and medicine. Everyone seemed busy, but to his relief, he wouldn't have to ask where Wilson was. Room 24 was right ahead of him.
He headed for the door, and once he reached it, he pushed it open and stepped into the room. Wilson was sprawled out in the hospital bed with bandages wrapped around his waist and torso. An IV was connected to his left arm, and the monitors were beeping steadily, which was a huge relief.
"Oh, hey Jack," Wilson said as he put down the soda can he'd been sipping from. "I didn't think they'd let you see me. Whenever I asked about guests, the nurses were all super dismissive."
Jackson let the door shut behind him and made his way towards the bed. "Are you doing okay? I was worried—"
"Worried about me?" He scoffed amusedly. "Can't get rid of me that easily. Apparently, I'm healing up just fine," he said with a cocky smile.
"Well, I'm glad to see you're normal," Jackson said with a quiet laugh as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Honestly, though...are you really okay? The Amarok and that pit. That siren."
Wilson leaned back and relaxed. "I mean...I'm still pretty freaked out. I hoped we wouldn't have to see those faceless freaks again."
"Yeah, I feel that," he said with a huff. "I'm kinda hoping these guys here know more than we do about the variants; it seems like the closer we get to the valley, the more variants pop up. Prowlers, brutes, sirens, and not forgetting the infected humans, too. I'm kinda panicking about what else we're gonna come across."
"Yeah...you're not alone. When they were operating on me—which they did while I was awake for some weird reason—they were asking me all these questions about like...coming into contact with cadejo blood or like...bites and scratches and stuff. One of them even asked me if breathed the same air as like...what did he say..." he paused and frowned as if he was trying to recall a lost memory. "Uh...something about black fog."
"I didn't see any black fog," Jackson said skeptically. "I mean that alone is enough to tell us that they know something we don't."
Wilson nodded in agreement. "You think they'll explain? I mean we're the ones heading to the lab; surely they want us to be ready, right? And like...why not tell us before we left Silverlake? It's all a little sus if you ask me."
"That's what I've been thinking," Jackson mumbled. "Sebastien didn't even know what that siren was back when we first came across it, and he's supposed to be Lord Caedis' errand boy or something, so if even he doesn't know stuff, there's no telling how much we really don't understand. And then on the way here, Amos said something about Sebastien finding infected animals or something, and since this virus is affecting humans now, maybe it's like...evolving into something that's eventually gonna affect everyone."
With a haunted expression on his face, Wilson sipped from his soda. "This is fucked, man. How the hell did we get pulled into this?"
Jackson shrugged. "Price of being an illegal hybrid, I suppose."
Wilson put his drink down and sighed deeply. "Any word on when this meeting is happening? I don't know how long I'm supposed to stay down here."
"Didn't anyone tell you?"
"No. No one's even come in here since the nurse delivered my dinner, so I guess I'm supposed to just sit around and wait."
"Do you want me to go and ask?"
Wilson shuffled around a little and said, "I actually kinda wanted to talk about something, and I guess now is just as good a time as any."
Jackson frowned worriedly. "What?"
His friend sighed deeply and looked away as a conflicted expression appeared on his face. "You remember what I said before we broke you out of the arena, right?"
He did remember, and now that Wilson's words were rolling around inside his skull again, he tensed up and tried to work out whether he felt uncomfortable or eager for an explanation. "Yeah, I remember," he answered.
Wilson glanced at him. "Well...what do you think?"
"What do you mean, what do I think? I—"
"I didn't just...say it because I was afraid of dying and whatever, I said it because it needed saying, and I already waited too long," Wilson interjected, and he sounded upset. "For all those years, I just kept telling myself that it was never a good time, and by the time I felt ready to tell you, you were already seeing someone else. I didn't wanna be the guy who poured his heart out when you're already with someone, but I just...I couldn't leave it any longer, Jack, especially now."
Jackson's heart beat a little faster as angst and confliction gripped him tightly. He didn't want to lose Wilson; he didn't want them to grow apart because he didn't feel the same. He was convinced that Wilson thought he was his demon mate, but Jackson didn't feel the same pull to his friend as he did to Damon. Damon was his demon mate, he was sure of it. He had to be. Jackson loved him, and he was the only one he wanted to be with.
But he was terrified of losing his best friend. He did love Wilson, just not in the way that Wilson loved him. He couldn't love him like that.
Could he?
Did he?
The more he thought about it, the thicker his angst grew, and the more confused he felt. What if Wilson was right? What if he was his demon mate? What if demons didn't feel the pull of fate that wolf walkers did? What if...what if this confusion and confliction and fear and desperation to understand was some sort of sign that maybe Wilson was supposed to be more than his best friend?
No....
But what if...?
No.
He frowned in distress and looked away from Wilson. "This is all just...too much right now," he managed to reply. "I don't fully understand any of this demon stuff, but what I do know is that I love Damon, Wilson, and—"
"So? You can love more than one person, Jackson."
"Not like that," he denied, shaking his head as he set his eyes on him again. "I don't...want to love more than one person like that."
Wilson scoffed in offence. "Right, I get it—"
"That's not what I meant," Jackson said frustratedly. "I don't...know what's going on, okay? I don't know if I have two mates or one, and there isn't even anyone I can ask because I'm the only one like me."
With a deep, despondent sigh, Wilson sat up and leaned closer to him. "Maybe it isn't up to someone else to tell you. Maybe you need to work it out for yourself, Jack. After all, you're the only one who would know, right?"
Jackson stared at him. "I don't know," he said unsurely. "I feel so many confusing things at once, and I don't—"
Wilson abruptly kissed Jackson's lips, silencing him.
Utterly startled, Jackson stared wide-eyed at him. His mind went blank, and his heart raced.
"How did that make you feel?" Wilson questioned.
Jackson didn't know the answer to that. He was so shocked that he couldn't even think.
Wilson didn't give him time to try and understand, though. He edged his face closer to Jackson's once again, and he kissed his lips—
But Jackson turned his head away. "No," he said shakily as his heart raced in his chest. "I don't...love you like that, Wil—"
"You do," Wilson insisted as he gripped Jackson's jaw and turned his head so that he'd look at his face. "You have to, Jack. We've been friends for so long—we're practically already a thing, I mean we live together, for God's sa—"
"That doesn't mean I love you, Wilson," Jackson said as he pulled his jaw from his grip and backed off a little. "You're my best friend. Please don't ruin that."
"Ruin it?" he scoffed as a scowl appeared on his face. "You're the one who's ruining it! You've known me for fucking years, Jack, and you're gonna choose some guy you've known for like two weeks over me?!" he exclaimed.
Jackson scowled, too. "I'm not having this conversation again. I told you how I feel about Damon, and that's that."
Wilson huffed and looked away, but then he exhaled deeply and adorned a despondent frown as he set his eyes on Jackson again. "You're everything to me, Jack. You've always kept me going, even when I was shipped out here to die. You came all the way here to find me, you risked your life for me, and you're gonna tell me that means nothing?"
"Of course it doesn't mean nothing, Wilson. Like I've said a million times, you're my best friend—you're like a brother to me—and the only person who stuck with me through all that bullshit with Eric and Eddie."
He shuffled closer as his face grew sadder. "Exactly. I was the one who was always there for you no matter what. But I want more than sitting on the sidelines watching some other guy get your full attention. I want more than hearty handshakes and quick, loose little hugs, Jackson, okay? I want...I want...this—"
Wilson gripped Jackson's collar and pulled him closer, and when his lips met Wilson's, Jackson went to pull away, but saw the tears trickling down his friend's face, and it made him feel awful. So he didn't fight him off, but he didn't kiss back, either. He didn't know what to do.
But then Wilson moved closer; he kissed Jackson's lips again, and he dragged one of his hands down his body—
"No, Wilson," Jackson refused and pulled away from him. He got off the bed and frowned at his friend. "I—"
"Please," Wilson pleaded as he grabbed Jackson's wrist and tried to pull him closer. "Just...once."
Jackson yanked his arm free as guilt, dismay, and discomfort enthralled him. "I said no, Wilson. I don't want you like that, and it isn't going to happen," he said firmly.
Wilson glared at him as if he'd insulted his entire bloodline. But his anger quickly turned to tears, and he rolled over and lay with his back facing Jackson. "Just go," he muttered sadly.
He might usually stay and try to comfort him, but what just happened made Jackson feel so confused and uncomfortable that leaving was probably the best thing for them both right now.
Without another word, he left Wilson's room and headed for the double doors. He started breathing hard; it felt like his chest was being crushed, and his breaths became shorter as he struggled to take each one. He felt panicked, confused, and uncomfortable, and he didn't know what was going to happen now. Wilson wanted more, but Jackson didn't, and...he didn't even know what Wilson was trying to do. No...he didn't want to think about it. Why would he do something like that? That didn't seem like Wilson at all....
He left C Wing and went into the waiting room. There was no sign of Elias and Amos, and he wasn't going to wait around. He wanted to see Damon—he needed to see Damon. And he needed to tell Damon. He had too many secrets locked away and this wasn't one that he could add to the list. He didn't want Damon to find out from someone else somehow, and... he needed someone to make him feel something other than what he was currently feeling. Only Damon could do that.
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