Chapter 49 Choice
I ’m ripped from the realm.
Sub merged into a room flooded with light.
Even now, our fingers remain connected and I just stare.
No.
“Jasmine…”
It’s just us.
NO!
Just Kacey and I.
We’re alone.
GO BACK!
“Jasmine?”
GO BACK! GO BACK! GO BACK!
This is what I needed.
This is what I wanted.
So why do I feel like this?
Why do I feel like...
GO BACK TO THEM!
“Jasmine, breathe.”
I can’t, I can’t fucking breathe.
It’s agony.
I land with a thud onto my knees, hitting the carpeted floor and I’m slammed with a floral scent that does nothing but add to my ragged breaths.
“You’re in my apartment, we’re out of the realm, it’s just us,” Kacey tries to reassure me.
I should be reassured, why am I not? Why am I not relieved to be away from them? Away from the darkness...
But my chest feels like it’s burning me alive, like I’m imploding from the inside.
“What do you need? Do you want me to go? Do you want me to get—”
“No,” I splutter the word, her frantic questions finally bringing me some reprieve from the agony exploding in my lungs and the screaming inside my mind.
Tell her to get them! Bring them to us!
I groan, bowing my head at the pain in my chest, scratching at my lungs, piercing my heart. Every thud brings another pang of agony.
The pain, this ache , why do I feel so…
Kacey's wide, blue eyes search mine in panic, she’s also on her knees, she must have gone down with me and I don’t miss how she’s still holding my hand.
My hand .
My gaze scales lowers, studying the thin, black sliver wrapped around my wrist. It's barely noticeable. Hardly a thread.
It seems to pulse under my perusal, submitting a sudden chill which erases the voice almost completely. Rendering it to a minute whisper.
And my chest…
With each thud, the pain recedes until nothing but a cold ache remains.
“I guess we’re taking it in turns to freak out?” I can’t tell if Kacey's trying to make a joke but when I peer up, I see she isn’t smiling. Her gaze frantically searches the floor. “Should we time it? Maybe, five minutes per freak out? Or is that not enough… I don’t really know how much freak out time is required when you’ve just found out you have a… have a…”
Now Kacey’s panting, she keeps trying to say something but she can’t quite get there, and she’s falling onto the heels of her feet, the rock dropping onto the ground as she places that hand over her pounding heart.
“Hey,” I gasp, tightening the grip I have around our interlocked fingers. “It’s still my turn.” I lower my head so I can catch her eyes. “There’s no way it’s been five minutes.”
Her glassy gaze meets mine and I force myself to don a small, painful smile.
Finally, she acknowledges me again, her own attempt at a smile making me huff a laugh, one which she copies, then her laugh catches on her breath and she splutters which makes her giggle and then we both laugh at how ridiculous this all is.
“Is this still part of the freak out?” she says between her gasps. “Does this count as my time or yours?”
“Both, I think.”
We both settle onto the backs of our feet, on the floor, holding one hand still. Without the voice, without the pain, I can finally think clearly.
I lift our interlocked fingers before us. “Thank you, for taking me out of there. Thank you, for this.”
I ensure the sincerity of my words flood her, although our skin isn’t touching, due to the rubber of her glove, I’m still able to emit emotions more deeply than before. I also spend a moment removing the last tendrils of panic which had ensnared her.
When I see her breathing finally return to somewhat of a normal rhythm, I slowly release my grip.
Kacey studies our parted fingers, flexing hers and watching as my hand drops into my lap before she copies the action. Her eyes flash back to mine .
“No, thank you , Jasmine.” I frown at her words but I have no chance to respond. “If you hadn’t been there, if you hadn’t calmed me... I can’t even imagine what I would have done. The last time I lost control, I hurt so many people, I nearly killed someone... I could feel myself slipping, I could feel the darkness pulling at me like the last time, that voice... But you stopped it. You took me out, took me into the realm and saved me.”
Kacey looks as though she might cry and I can't bear it.
“We helped each other, Kace,” I say, pausing to ensure she truly hears the words. “And I’d like it if we kept helping each other because… honestly? I could really do with a friend right now.”
For a moment, we sit in silence.
“This wasn’t fated,” Kacey suddenly blurts, almost murmuring to herself as our eyes meet.
“We weren’t fated to be friends, Jasmine. The Goddess didn’t choose us to be connected. Our powers don’t call to each other. We’re choosing this. This is our choice." She smiles softly. "So, in some ways, it means even more, doesn’t it?”
I’m so taken aback by Kacey’s words, I hadn’t even acknowledged the hand she’s raised between us again. She coils in all her fingers, except her pinky which she holds out to me.
“The last time I saw my sister, she made me promise like this... I’d like to keep this one.”
If it was any other time, if I hadn’t just witnessed her discovering she was bonded to a dragon, if I hadn’t just taken her into the Dark Realm whilst I verbally dragged my… If I hadn’t just heard her heart rendering words about choice, I would have laughed.
But with the sincerity adorning her face, the mention of her sister making her hair wave in the air, her hopeful eyes settling with mine in utter confidence...
I hold out my pinky, watching as she slowly, carefully, hooks hers around mine. My skin glows from her power.
“A promise,” Kacey begins, her eyes a ghostly hue of blue as she tries to smile. “To...erm—a promise to...”
A tendril of my darkness wraps around our fingers, bounding us together, halting Kacey's struggle. I level my gaze with hers.
“I promise to be a good friend," I say, nodding softly and making our fingers copy the movement.
Kacey's attempt at a smile finally succeeds and she nods along eagerly.
"I promise to be a good friend," she repeats, her voice quiet yet determined.
Her eyes stare intently at our locked pinkies and some of the cold, aching agony finally begins to ebb away.