Infinite Grief [INFINITE SERIES BOOK 2]

S6 Ch3: Avoiding Jailtime

 You sat in a forced silence across from Jay. He already sent a message that he found you. A curse was what he called your mark. He could not have been more accurate. It was the reason you decided not to talk to Tohru for the time being. Stixx was no longer a place you wanted to return to after she drew the moon on your throat. The others' voices from Jay's watch shared the same angered sentiment you had.

"Tohru, what the fuck?" Lloyd said. His voice rumbled with a growl. You said the same thing to her when you were in that old building after Nadakhan left. Her only argument was that he would take your soul if she didn't do it. Logically, it made sense, and yet, you wondered if this mark would last forever.

"Okay, it's kinda fucked up," Jay said. "But I don't know anything else other than that. She hasn't told me anything yet. Wait—wrong word."

"Well, find a paper or something so she can write it down," Cole said.

"Oh sure, let me pull one out of my pocket. Oh wait, none of us carry paper!"

The conversation continued when you checked outside the cave again. Sticks lay around the trees. You took one sharp at the end, poking it to make sure. It dipped into your fingertips like gyoza in soy sauce. You brought it into the cave, crawling around to find a spot damp enough to write in. Jay let out a curious noise, following you deeper into the cave. The light from his communicator helped you find a spot. Finally, you found some soil that wasn't too wet or too dry.

What would be the right message though? 'Help, Tohru cursed me because a Djinn is after my soul?' 'A Djinn took away Clouse and now Tohru won't let me speak?' Those would get the information out but scare Jay into revealing your location to the police. Their shadows lurked around the forest, waiting for the right time to catch you. You bit your lip and started writing.

Clouse is gone, but someone worse took his place. A Djinn. Tohru is protecting me from him.

Jay repeated the words to himself in a questioning tone. His eyes were wide, hands shaking. Oh, he's panicking again. You gently took his wrist, drawing the character for 'calm' over his palm. Morro did it when you were little. He said he made a talisman to make you brave and face the shadow monsters on your own one day. You're fond of memories like those nowadays.

"I'm fine! I'm good!" Jay hastily pulled his hand away from yours. His cheeks tinted a light pink under the dim light of his wristwatch. He looked everywhere except at you. He read the words again, this time, to the others. They each had varying levels of disbelief in your story. However, their animosity toward Tohru dwindled.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow," Lloyd said. "For now, find somewhere safe."

"I've got the perfect place to meet," Kai said. "I'll tell you in the morning."

You smiled as the watch turned off, leaving you and Jay in the dark cave. Although not completely silent, your lack of a voice made it uncomfortable. You placed the pointed end of your stick against the ground, beginning to write more than your first explanation.

"You don't have to do that," Jay said. "Just tell everyone tomorrow." He was smiling, hiding that he was afraid of what could happen to him and the others—fear of what happened to you already.

The sun set over the trees, leaking the last bit of golden light before disappearing. The moon took its place, comforting the plants crying in loneliness over the sun was gone—their one source of food. The moon says that the sun will come back like it always does. You wanted to relish in those soft and silent words, feel her light kiss your cheeks like it used to. And yet, you could not feel it.

...

Kai wrote the meeting location hint in a tweet. Perhaps he thought it was the only way he could reach everyone in silence, his words vague enough that the average person would be too lazy to decode.