Heroes

Chapter 21. Oh, that's what he means

"What do you mean? Hired to do what?" Morgan questioned, taking a step towards Nate. He didn't answer, just looked at the ground with a shocked expression.
"Tell me!" She demanded, grabbing his collar and pulling him towards her.
He shifted his gaze to her eyes and just said, "There's nothing you can do to save him. He's gone."
Morgan glared at him and when she spoke, her voice was flecked with anger.
"Stop with the riddles, Sharp! Why can't you just be helpful for once?!"
"Morgan!" I snapped, realising that those two were about to start something.
Or so I thought. I was fully expecting Nate to use yet another hidden power that he had and send Morgan across to the other side of the waterfall. But he didn't. He didn't retaliate, he didn't snap back, he didn't say anything at all. He just continued looking into Morgan's narrowed eyes.
She pushed him away and started pacing around the area, brow furrowed.
I walked over to Nate and whispered, "Are you okay?"
He didn't speak, but he looked down at me. I saw something in his eyes that I hadn't seen before. It looked something like sadness, but there was an extra...layer to it. I don't think layer is the right word. You know what I mean though, right? It was something so different from his usual look, that's the only reason I'm bringing it up. I asked him again but I only got the same response. Deciding to drop it, I went over to Morgan, who was still pacing.
"Do you have any idea what he means?"
"Do you think I have any idea what he means?!" She snapped, before taking a deep breath.
"Sorry, Mark. I just wish he would be helpful for once. He's done absolutely nothing since we left."
I glanced over in Nate's direction, but he was just sat on a large rock at the edge of the bridge, staring at the ground.
"That's not true. He stayed with me and made sure I was alright before we came back to you."
"True, but during the actual escape, did he do anything? Anything? I'm pretty sure I don't remember him actually doing anything."
I couldn't disagree with her. As much as I wanted to, for the sake of my brother, she was right: I hadn't seen him do anything really of use. But I couldn't keep a closed mind. I was convinced that Nate would show us his true potential before long. But while I was considering this, a problem came our way. A really big problem.
Jack.
Jack had walked up the path Nate and I took and was now standing just outside the clearing. He hadn't said or done anything besides showing up.
Mat noticed him first. He stood up rather suddenly and gestured in his direction.
"Guys look," he said, pointing at Jack.
He did look like Jack, I'll be honest. You see, I was convinced that it would be some sort of clone, or strange reincarnation of our friend. But it was definitely Jack. In all appearances, he seemed fine. It was only when he opened his mouth that we realised something was wrong.
"Afternoon, everybody," he said, walking into the clearing, his accent piercing the peaceful ambience. "How you guys doing?"
"Jack, we were so worried about you," Morgan cried, flinging herself at him and throwing her arms around his neck. He patted her back in return and looked around at us. Or, that's what I thought he did. But I later realised that he wasn't looking at all of us; he was looking at Nate. His eyes were trained on my brother, not letting him leave their sight, while also maintaining a level of consciousness to the rest of the world. Nate was glaring back at him, fire burning in his eyes. Jack suddenly blinked a couple of times, looking slightly intimidated, but then he refocused on Nate and just smiled. I could only assume that Nate had threatened him or something, but Jack's smile wasn't...Jack's smile. It wasn't his happy-go-lucky, 'I'm genuinely pleased to be here' smile.
It was cruel. It was dishonest. It was evil. There wasn't a hint of Jack in that smile. This was something else, something bigger than Jack, bigger than all of us. Probably bigger than Nate. And that is what concerned me the most. Nate was, honestly, the most powerful person I knew. And if he couldn't scare Jack away, then I didn't think anyone could.
But I was certain that this wasn't Jack. There was no way! Jack had never looked at anyone the way he was looking at Nate. And I know that those two weren't best friends, but they seemed civil enough with each other. This was the look of 'I'm going to rip your head off', and I was actually concerned. Concerned that Jack had gone crazy and was going to try and kill Nate. Concerned that Nate wouldn't try and defend himself and get killed. And concerned that Nate would do the opposite and fight until he murdered Jack. So these thoughts were spinning around my head at ridiculous speeds and I didn't even notice that Jack had moved away from Morgan until I heard him speak.
"Well, well, Nate. Still trailing around after these babies, are you?"
"They're not babies and they're stronger than you will ever be," Nate responded, eyes narrowed.
"Aw, you actually care for them?" Jack chuckled.
Nate looked around at everyone else, who were completely oblivious to the exchange that was happening.
"Yes," he growled, standing up so he towered over Jack.
"Too bad they don't care about you," Jack smiled. He was taunting Nate. But if I knew Nate at all, I knew that he wouldn't back down.
"And? I don't need them to care about me. As long as I can be there to protect them and help them finish their journey, then my job's done."
Jack's smile changed to that of malice and anger. I slowly began to make my way forwards, before receiving a pain in my temple that told me to stay back. I was shocked that Nate had stopped me, but not overly. He wanted to finish this alone.
By this time, the others had started to notice and were also closing in.
"Oh, Nate, you always were good at being inspirational, weren't you? Always good at showing us where we went wrong and giving us advice. I mean, before you went and killed her."
I stopped fighting Nate's command and stared at the two of them, along with Morgan. Mat and Steph exchanged glances and then looked away.
I'm sorry, 'killed'?! I was certain that Nate hadn't killed anyone, he didn't seem like that kind of guy. But the look on Nate's face wasn't exactly comforting me. He was no longer looking at Jack, but through him, not with any sort of hostility in his eyes, just sadness.
"You said that you're job would be finished?" Jack started, grinning his unsettling new smile up at Nate. "That you could then leave them and go and do your own thing? Well, that's what I want. And my job isn't over yet."
And with that, he pushed Nate hard in the chest, who toppled backwards over the edge of the waterfall.