Javi pushed through the thickets, his lungs ached from running so much, his boots dragging through the tangled underbrush. The forest felt like it was closing in, every step slower than the last. But he saw him, he caught up. Finally.
Jacob was barely upright, one hand against a tree, the other limp at his side. His breath was shallow. The sedation still dulling his movements, making every step feel like wading through mud.
Javi didn't rush. No need. The fight had drained out of Jacob long before now.
He approached slowly, his boots crunching over damp leaves. Jacob didn't flinch. Didn't move. He just leaned heavier into the tree, like it was the only thing keeping him from sinking into the ground.
"You gonna collapse, or can you still hear me?" Javi asked, voice low but not unfriendly.
Jacob gave a small puff of breath. Maybe just the wind in his chest. "Didn't think you'd catch up so fast."
"You don't think much at all" Javi replied, brushing aside a branch. "Running through a damn forest half-drugged? Bold move."
Jacob didn't respond. Just slid down to sit at the base of the tree, like his legs had given up pretending.
Javi stopped a few feet away, arms crossed. No judgment. Just... watching.
"You here to drag me back?" Jacob asked after a while, with heavy eyes.
"Lyra still believes in you, you know?" Havi responded with a cold giggle.
Jacob looked down at the dirt, at his hands, at the shaking he couldn't stop. "She shouldn't."
"I know." Silence stretched. Not awkward. Just... tired.
Javi stepped forward, crouched next to him, not saying anything more. Just letting the moment breathe.
"See we haven't known you long," Javi said, voice steady, "but you used to be a real chill dude..."
Jacob didn't look up. Javi's fists clenched. "…but that changed when you turned Camille into a doughnut."
Jacob's breath caught, he stared harder at the dirty ground, shoulders caving in. He let out a small sob... small, broken, pathetic in the way sorrow usually is.
"So… why'd you do it?" Javi asked, softer now. The kind of softness that hurts more than yelling.
Jacob shook his head slowly. "I don't know... I don't remember... I'm sorry." Still looking down, like eye contact would shatter him.
Javi took a shaky step forward. "He doesn't remember. He doesn't fucking remember…" His voice cracked, and with it, everything he'd been holding back. "His hands were in her chest," he spat. "Her heart was in his fucking hands." Tears slipped out of his eyes, no drama. Just… raw. "The eyes of that girl..." Javi whispered, almost to himself. "God, those eyes."
Jacob was sobbing now. Quieter. Guilt carved deep into him like it had roots. "Look" he said, voice shredded, "I'm not gonna resist anymore. You can take me back... if you must."
Javi didn't move. Didn't blink. "You know what's happening back there?" he said
Jacob hesitated. "They're all tryna kill--"
"They're all tryna kill each other. BECAUSE OF YOU." Javi yelled. He took a breath that felt like swallowing nails. "You were supposed to be our supervisor. A troubleshooter." His voice took a dive, lower, darker. "Now you're the cause of the trouble."
Jacob curled in tighter, like the words themselves were punches.
"God… just look at those eyes," Javi muttered, shaking his head slowly. "I can't take you back."
Jacob choked out, "Oh God... I just wanna go away forever…"
And Javi, after a pause that felt like mourning... "…Just go, man. Go." No forgiveness. No promises. Just that.
Jacob rose slowly, barely and started walking deeper into the woods. No fight left. No light. Just a shadow moving farther into the dark.
***
I was still playing it.
The song. In my head. Dark Melody. Manifested my my body, strengthening me. Giving me power. It had no rhythm, it was just feeling. Just ache. Just that same raw chord tugging at my insides, trying to scream through my blades. Every move I made was memory. Grief dressed up in motion. My feet barely touched the ground. My thoughts barely touched sense.
But I was fast. Too fast. That's what they always said. Unpredictable. Unreadable. Untouchable.
So why the fuck—
Why was she keeping up?
Goldie moved like she'd heard the melody too. Like she'd heard it and hated it.
At first, I thought I was slipping. Just misreading her. Misjudging the distance. But then I blinked and— She was somewhere else. I turned. She was there too.
Again.... and again.
And then—
No. No, wait. That wasn't right. That wasn't her. There are two of them. No—three. Four. No five.
They moved like mirrors, like thoughts I hadn't finished having. They danced around me, between the beats of my song. Too in sync. Too precise.
She couldn't be this fast. She wasn't supposed to keep up. This was my song. My grief. My chaos. This is MY DARKNESS!!! So why did it feel like I was the one being outpaced?
My heart stuttered. Then there was one in front of me. One to my left. One behind me. One above? What? They were everywhere, every direction. I froze for a beat I couldn't afford to lose.
And then—
They all moved. Together. Towards me. At me. They punched the air.... and it broke, shattered.
The wind folded in on itself, cracked open like a sob. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't hear my own melody anymore. The sound was gone. Drowned. They were overwhelming me. Like the guilt I choose to bury. Like the truth I run away from.
She'd caught up.
And I... I was too slow to stop it.