07-07-2018, 03:11 PM
Then, as though the force of his need willed it. She was there.
She was perched on the threshold of two worlds. Fear flashed her pale gaze like she'd been caught. Jay had to ignore the fact that she'd been caught by him. Her sense of obligation seemed to leaden her feet, though. She was beautiful like a curling wisp of smoke that the more one tried to capture the faster it disappeared.
He hurried to her before she could run.
"Natalie, wait."
He couldn't keep the desperation from his plea. The sudden rush of emotion from the past few minutes mixed with the shots and he found himself unsure of what to say. He wanted to ask how she was. To comment on how beautiful she looked, remarkably so after all she'd been through. Explain why he was wearing Custody colors. Why there was no other way. That he wasn't a murderer. Though that would be a lie.
But none of that came out.
"I have to go to Iowa, tonight."
He smiled a weak apology. "Uhh- Can you ask your grandfather for help with ticket out of the country?"
That probably made no sense. No normal person would ask that kind of a question. "I promise I will come back. I'm not abandoning anything. But I have to be there."
The desperation crept back into his voice.
"And we have to take Jensen James with us."
Given that guy's value, he was probably as trapped as Jay.
He swallowed, barely holding onto her pale gaze. Wondering about the integrity of the shield over his own.
Instead, he turned the wallet and summoned a frozen image of a teenager, hair toppling, hospital gown askew, and showed it to her.
A piece of the past so protected now laid bare for scrutiny. She'd wonder why he left someone so fragile and defenseless. To trade family and bonds for jungles and gunfights.
She was perched on the threshold of two worlds. Fear flashed her pale gaze like she'd been caught. Jay had to ignore the fact that she'd been caught by him. Her sense of obligation seemed to leaden her feet, though. She was beautiful like a curling wisp of smoke that the more one tried to capture the faster it disappeared.
He hurried to her before she could run.
"Natalie, wait."
He couldn't keep the desperation from his plea. The sudden rush of emotion from the past few minutes mixed with the shots and he found himself unsure of what to say. He wanted to ask how she was. To comment on how beautiful she looked, remarkably so after all she'd been through. Explain why he was wearing Custody colors. Why there was no other way. That he wasn't a murderer. Though that would be a lie.
But none of that came out.
"I have to go to Iowa, tonight."
He smiled a weak apology. "Uhh- Can you ask your grandfather for help with ticket out of the country?"
That probably made no sense. No normal person would ask that kind of a question. "I promise I will come back. I'm not abandoning anything. But I have to be there."
The desperation crept back into his voice.
"And we have to take Jensen James with us."
Given that guy's value, he was probably as trapped as Jay.
He swallowed, barely holding onto her pale gaze. Wondering about the integrity of the shield over his own.
Instead, he turned the wallet and summoned a frozen image of a teenager, hair toppling, hospital gown askew, and showed it to her.
A piece of the past so protected now laid bare for scrutiny. She'd wonder why he left someone so fragile and defenseless. To trade family and bonds for jungles and gunfights.
Only darkness shows you the light.