Epiphany

Chapter 34 Part 1~Get

“Elijah, what are you doing here?” Jesse asked, swinging the front door to reveal a breathless boy.

Under the artificial lighting, his black braided hair glistened, and the tips of his hair and clothes drizzled water onto the floor.

“I hope you’re here to apologize for abandoning us,” Chase said in a disgusted yet playful tone.

When I saw the distress sparkle in his eyes, I gasped and jumped off the couch to make my way towards them. “Is Julia alright?!”

It was as though I had regenerated energy in my system again. I knew it wouldn’t last long, but it would be enough to get me to Julia’s place.

Elijah straightened his back, chest still rising and falling with each shallow breath, and shook his head. “No, she’s alright, but…”

We just came back from Julia’s place an hour ago. Was there really enough time for something to go wrong? We just left!

“What is it?” I winced at the slicing pain in my throat when my voice escalated.

“No, relax. It isn’t something about her. It’s…”

He pondered for a moment, and the more time he spent trying to form the words he would later utter was killing me.

“What?” I urged, and the worst case scenarios started emerging in my mind.

“You want to take her back again, don’t you?” Chase said, propping an elbow on the wall next to the door.

Jesse looked at Chase in disbelief. “You did what?”

“Elijah, not me.” Chase raised his hands in defense.

“Are you both insane?” Jesse gave them both a glance. “Edward wants her dead or alive. What if he saw her? Gosh… If she gets killed, Boss would kill us all in return.”

“Jesse,” Chase said slowly, fear overtaking his face. “You’re not going to tell Gunther, are you?”

Jesse stared intensely at Chase. “If you’re not willing to repeat that again, I won’t.”

Chase sighed, clutching his chest.

“Can’t your boss order this person not to kill me?” I uttered, my voice trembling.

I still had trouble trying to soak up this fact. I was on the run from someone who was threatening to kill me. I had no idea why he was doing that or who he was.

“No,” Jesse said, not bothering to look at me nor give me an explanation.

“Isn’t he the boss of this place?” I said back.

“There is no one in charge of this place,” Jesse grumbled as though it was the most obvious thing.

“What he means is that there is more than one person in charge of this place,” Elijah elaborated. “Currently their boss and Edward. So even if Boss wanted to stop the determined ol’ geezer, he can’t.”

“Are they enemies?”

I didn’t understand how this place worked. It wasn’t necessary to know but I was curious.

“No, not necessarily. They have to be allies to be able to work together to charge this place somehow. But doesn’t mean they’re always in agreement.”

“If they’re allies then why can’t they talk it out with each other like grown men and make a deal or something.” I quickly stated, “One that keeps me alive and safe, of course.”

“Well you see… Boss brought you here without telling anyone and hid you from everyone, especially Edward—”

“Why especially?” I cut him off.

Something did not add up.

“I don’t know.” He resumed where he had been interrupted, “And the fact that Boss did so—hid you—without informing him meant that he wanted to play childish in Edward’s eyes, so now Edward's trying to snatch you without making any sort of deal or dealing with it like they should.”

“So was he trying to kill me because Boss didn’t tell him?”

No, this didn’t add up at all.

“Of course, not. They’re not this childish. Something is definitely missing.”

I hoped so, because otherwise I would have gone insane.

What Andre said was enough to make me mad, and I didn’t need Edward’s nonsense to make me madder and prevent me from returning.

“They both appear to have different goals in keeping you or wanting you, and both goals are impossible to figure out.” Elijah shoved his hands deep into his pockets as he poked his inner cheek with his tongue, thinking deeply.

My eyes drifted to the ground as I bit my inner cheek.

I had someone after me who most likely wanted me dead more than alive, and their boss couldn’t stop him unless he hid me.

And we had the other individual who wanted to use me for reasons no one knew about.

This was overwhelming. So many intolerable information all at once. My mother. Andre. Boss. Edward.

Before I knew about Edward, I thought things couldn’t get any worse. And here I was mistaken.

“Jesse.” Elijah gripped Jesse by his shoulders, cutting him off, and looked him deep in the eyes. “I’ve known you since forever and I’ve helped you in many things before and this goes both ways. We’re as thick as thieves, aren’t we?”

“No.”

“What?”

“I won’t let you take Alyssa, even if it were for a second.”

Elijah eyes opened wide, whining, “Oh, come on.”

“How could you ask me that?” Jesse brushed Elijah’s hands away and gazed at Elijah in disdain. His whole aura seemed to warp into a darker one. “What I can’t believe is that you risked Chase’s entire safety by forcing him to defy Boss and Gunther’s orders. You should be the most aware of our position right now.”

“I know—”

“They’re looking for one mistake. Only one to get a bullet shooting right through his head. And the same goes for me.” His voice grew harsher as he took a step near the soaked guy.

The usually talkative boy was now speechless as he gazed back at Jesse in shame.

Elijah said, in a tone that lacked his usual energy, “You should know that I never do anything without a reason. A reason that will benefit all of us.”

Did all of us include me?

“What is it then?” Jesse propped his hands on his hips.

Elijah allowed a small smile to form on his lips. “Harab.”

Me and Chase allowed the confusion to adorn our faces. But Jesse’s eyes lit like never before as his arms fell by his sides again. It was absurd to see Jesse with a newfound emotion dancing in his eyes.

“Woah. Woah.” Chase stepped between the two, glancing furiously at them. “What is that supposed to mean? Is that another language or is that an advanced word I haven’t learned about yet?”

His questions were left unanswered as Elijah formed a whole sentence that Chase and I didn’t understand a word from. But that seemed like the opposite for Jesse as his eyes brightened with each word Elijah said.

I tried to figure out how Jesse felt. I wasn’t sure about my conclusion because he didn’t show many emotions in public, but if I had to guess, I’d say he felt hope, maybe?