CHAPTER FIVE
“I give up,” Jet breathed as he was forced to look up at the ceiling for the umpteen times.
“That can’t be all you got,” Alec answered mockingly as he looked down at the lying figure of Jet on the floor.
Jet rolled his eyes. “I need a break,”
Alec clicked his tongue. “Fine, let’s take 30,”
Jet watched as Alec started walking towards the door. He sighed and closed his eyes.
Hello?Please? Anyone! Hear me. Today at noon; at the park—be there.
“What did you say?” Jet quickly asked as he sat down and turned to Alec.
Alec stopped by the door and spun around. His brow raised in question. “I’m not talking, Jet. Did I shake your brain too much?”
“Ha Ha,” Jet laughed sarcastically. “Just go,”
Jet listened as Alec left the room and the door closed behind him. Alec had started overseeing his daily training since the day he was caught skipping when he was having a bet with Ronnie. Jet continued to listen in to his surroundings. Since it was still too early, no one else was in the room.
Can you hear me? Please, anyone! Tell me I’m not alone!
Jet frantically looked around. The voice was so clear. So real. But there was no one else in the room with him. Alec came back with two bottled drinks in hand and threw Jet the other one. He caught it in the air and thanked his partner for the treat. He contemplated whether to tell him about the voice or not but then decided ultimately not.
There’s no way he wanted to sound crazy—hearing a voice in his head was definitely not normal even I their circumstances. Especially since he was wearing earphones.
After resting for half an hour, Alec ordered Jet to start catching up with his daily training again. After another hour—Alec was satisfied and told Jet they could call it a day. The two of them walked towards their desk with Jet complaining the whole way.
“Why do I have to cramp days of training in one day?” Jet complained for the hundredth time.
Alec shook his head at his younger partner. “If you’re not skipping them daily you wouldn’t need too,”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Jet said dismissively as he jumped down on his chair.
Just as he leaned down on his chair, he saw a hunched Ronnie walking like a zombie entered the room. He and Alec exchanged a glance before Jet sat up to block him.
“Oy, Ronnie!” he called and Ronnie turned to look at them and they quickly noticed that his eyes were bloodshot. Jet’s playful manner turned to worry as well as Alec’s. “What the hell happened to you?”
Ronnie stopped in front of them. Alec quickly noticed that he was slightly shaking and assisted the other man to sit on his chair. Then he ordered Jet to give him a glass of water. Jet, for the first time, did what he was ordered without complain and ran towards the small kitchen to grab a glass of water for their friend.
Jet gave Ronnie the glass and the other man took a small sip before he put it down on Alec’s table.
“What’s wrong, Ronnie?” Alec asked in a caring manner Jet had failed to express in his earlier question.
“Eliza. . .” Ronnie started before his voice broke as he started crying.
He raised his hands to cover his tear-strain face and Jet stood beside him awkwardly. Alec on the other hand, put a comforting hand on Ronnie’s shoulder and waited for him to calm down. Once Ronnie gathered himself, he thanked Alec for his support as he sighed.
“It’s Eliza,” he started once more. “She . . . She’s . . . she’s gone, mate,” he continued before he broke down once more.
Eliza and Ronnie were the only the official people in the company that entered as a couple. They were already together years before the Freakquency attack. And Alec couldn’t even begin to imagine what he was feeling right now. So, he stayed quiet despite being curios and just stood there to comfort one of his few friends.
“How did that happened?” Jet asked and Alec glared at him for being insensitive.
Jet realized how wrong it was of him but he also knew it’ll be more insensitive to suddenly just take it back. They gave Ronnie a few more minutes to gather himself. Alec patted him a few times on the back to tell him silently to take his time.
“She was at the park, earlier. And you know she’s . . . the support type. But the Freakquency attacked and two—two people transformed,” as he told them what happened, Jet found himself frozen in his place. “Before . . . before I could even arrive to help her . . . she was . . .” his voice drifted off as a cry left his lungs.
“You don’t have to continue, Ronnie. We understand,” Alec said softly. “I’m sorry,”
Alec noticed how Jet was looking pale at the side. And he thought that the younger one was probably remembering his own past. Before he could comfort any of the two men with him, Clinton’s personal secretary appeared and asked Ronnie to come with him. With a nod, Ronnie stood up silentely and walked as if the world had ended.
“We’re here if you need anything, Ronnie,” Alec told him and Ronnie gave him a small, grateful smile.
As soon as the two were out of the picture, Alec rushed towards his younger charge and put a hand on his shoulder. Jet felt cold to the touch and Alec’s worry grew as he shook his partner back into reality.
“What’s wrong?” He asked gently.
Jet turned to stare at the older man and Alec could see him regretting something. “It’s my fault she’s dead, Alec,” he started in a low voice. “It’s my fault, Alec!” he continued in a shout, his voice breaking.
Alec calmed him down and forced him to take a seat. “How can it be your fault? You were with me earlier. We couldn't have known anything,”
“No!” Jet contradicted. “I knew, Alec. I knew! Just like I knew about the Hotel de Royale but I chose not to listen!”
Alec furrowed his brow. It was the first time he ever saw Jet with those kind of expression in his eyes; doubtless—like he really believed that it was his fault. “What do you mean, Jet?”
“Like in the Hotel de Royale, I also knew there would be an appearance at the park today at noon,”
“How?” Alec asked as he looked around to see if anyone would hear them. He doesn’t want them to brand Jet as a weirdo especially since he already held the ‘rebel’ title.
Jet pointed to his temple, his hand shaking in anger or despair Alec couldn’t understand. All he knew was that his young partner needed him at the moment.
“There’s—there’s this voice in my head, Alec,” he explained. “It started a month ago. I woke up with a voice in my head. And then, it told me to go to the Hotel de Royale that night but I hadn’t listened. And then that damn Clinton sent us there!”
Alec nodded, his expression serious. “And this time?”
“Earlier—while we were taking a break, I heard that voice again. Like always, it was asking to be heard. And it told me to go to the park at noon. But I ignored it. I didn’t want to appear crazy but I should have. I should have, Alec. And now, Eliza is . . . “
Alec knelt down in front of Jet who was starting to look as if his world was crashing down on him. IT was worse than the look he had when he was first transferred under Alec’s care. Alec had never forgotten the day he was presented in front of him. While other people around them saw him as nothing but a pain, all Alec saw was a lost kid—one who strangely reminded him of his own sibling.
Jet looked straight into the eyes of the man that saved him. When he was transferred to Division 4; he really did not think someone would try to understand him. But Alec hadn’t given up on him. Instead, he did everything to make Jet open up. And he knew if there was anyone he could trust, it was the person who extended his hand towards him.
He raised his hands on the side of his head; trying to block his ears. “Am I going crazy, Alec?”
Alec shook his head as he put his hands on Jet’s shoulder. “No. No, you’re not. I’m sure there’s someone out there sending these things to you so that you can help,”
Jet calmed down a bit. At least—at the very least, Alec believed him.
“When you hear the voice, tell me immediately. We’ll check the place out,” Alec said and Jet nodded, thankfully that he wasn’t being judged. “For now, tell me about this voice,”
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