confined space » hollowheart

Chapter Two: Unforgotten Broken Promises

Alone, with nothing but his own thoughts, that and an old briefcase full of his grandfather’s personal belongings. Items that he owned when he lived here, items that although were left behind gave Jacob a direct connection to the man he looked up to. Hesitantly, Jacob neared the bed. It was a small twin sized, with nothing more than an end table to accompany it. Nor was it the only one in the room, two other unused bed’s were tucked into corners. Once they must have belonged to children packed in the house, hiding from nightmares of all kinds. Now? Now the room was empty, yet preserved, as if they had only left this morning, rather that decades ago.

Reaching under the bed, Jacob grasped the handle of the leather case. It was heavier than he had expected, like it was shoved full of books and papers. Which was exactly what was inside. The latch popped up easily, as it wasn’t ever relocked after he left. The lid burst open in a flurry of papers, each one filled with scratchy, yet delicate handwriting. Underneath the mess of paper, was a handful of notebooks. Each one was different, a different size and color. Some were leather, and others had been bound with paper, worn with use. Either way, Jacob steeled his resolve and picked one.

It opened easily, the spine threatening to fall off. A few papers slid out, as well as some paperclipped photographs. Each one was of Emma. Her bright red hair dark against the bright sun, as she smiles sitting on the beach front. Another of her sitting in a clearing, the sun filtering through the trees, a picnic blanket underneath her, her face forever captured in a laugh. There was no denying that she is beautiful. They reminded him of the ones he had stored in his own phone.

Setting the pictures aside, he grabbed a lone note that had fallen into his lap. It was a back and forth between Emma and Abe, with a small hurried warning against Millard in its corner, telling him off for taking things that weren’t his. Jacob chuckled, skimming over the little lovey words, as it was passed around throughout the house.

They really did love each other.

No wonder Emma reacted the way she did when she had heard that Abe was killed. It was a melancholy happiness thinking about Abe. The happy memories that Jacob did have of his grandfather, which was admittedly all of them, up until his death, brought comfort to him. But Emma?

What did she have? What does she think when she sees him? The product of Abe loving another woman.

He shuddered at the thought.

“There you are!” A voice broke him from his thoughts. “I’ve been looking all over the house for you! Then Enoch passes by and tells me you’ve been to see-” She cuts herself off once she standing right behind Jacob. He doesn’t have to look to know she’s frowning. “Those aren't yours.”

“Emma, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t.” She sighed out, her breathing shaky. And a heat quickly took over the room. Standing, Jacob saw that her hands were lit with a cool indigo blue flame. She stood still, staring off without really looking at anything. After a few moments, she shook her hands, extinguishing the flames, as he kneeled down over the case. “You could have asked me.” Whispering Emma lifted a few papers, inspecting them, before neatly placing them back inside the briefcase.

“I wasn’t thinking, really I-”

“Clearly.” Emma ran her hand over the pages, a mix of longing and anger in her eyes. “So. What is it that you want to know?” She hummed, rocking on her heels, voice laced with just the slightest hint of danger, and Jacob knew that this was a touchy subject. He knew that anything could set her off.

“What- what happened?”

“Simple. He left, promising to come back, that he loved me, that we’d always be together. Broken promises.”