A Zoo in the Fog (PersonaxZoophobia)

She's Gone

            The boys brought Kayla back home, and they all pretty much crashed onto Jackson's couch. They all felt exhausted. Kayla from her persona awakening, and the other's from just having to deal with her shadow. Jackson and Autumn used healing moves so others outside wouldn't have questions about their many bruises, but they got too exhausted to do it anymore, so Jackson was left with a new cut on his shoulder.

"I didn't properly thank you boys for... coming to save me." Kayla says softly, leaning against Zill and yawning softly. It was hard to believe she's the one that wielded a grenade launcher in the other world.

"Well, we couldn't just leave you. We weren't going to let anything happen to you." Zill wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Autumn just fell silent. The nightmares of Camilla still popped up now and again but a lot less frequently now. He wouldn't let that happen to anyone else, and he knew that the best way to do that is to find the killer.

"Do you remember anything before you were thrown in the TV?" Autumn asked Kayla, who seemed to ponder.

"I...remember someone knocking me out... I think with a rag dipped in something, but I have no idea who it could've been." Kayla looks down. "I'm sorry."

"Every little bit helps Kayla." Jackson gave a little smile. He yawned quite a bit. "You all...want something to wake us up so we can get home?"

"Tea if you have it..." Autumn sighed, relaxing against the couch.

"I wouldn't mind tea either... you sure you can make it? You're just as tired as the rest of us." Kayla says, worried with how Jackson stumbled a bit.

"Someone's gotta do it." Jackson went to the kitchen, making tea for the others. Zill just held Kayla close, and tightly. He didn't want to let her go after the events that just transpired. But he kept thinking about what her shadow had said about him. He worried, yet a fair amount of his worries were dashed as Kayla relaxed back against him. She still loved him, and always had. She just had to accept a few dark thoughts she had in the past.

"Do you remember anything else Kayla..?" Zill asks, keeping his arms around her.

"I'm sorry, my head's still a bit foggy. I couldn't even tell if they were a man or a woman. They got me too quickly for me to get any idea." Kayla sighed. Jackson came back with the cups of tea and gave them to the others. They waited for it to cool a bit before all taking a sip.

"Well, could we crash here? I don't wanna pass out on the way home." Zill asks, looking to Jackson.

"My mom's coming home today. We might have to explain a few things..." Jackson sighed a bit. His mom, being single, is working hard to support Jackson in school and keep them all afloat. Sometimes it left Jackson home alone, but he's gotten a bit used to it.

"We'll mostly be passed out by the time she gets here." Autumn says, his eyes already threatening to close.

"Yeah... you're... probably right." Jackson began feeling the tiredness himself. "I'm... going to hide our weapons just in case though. We look like we're ready for war." Jackson gathers up their weapons and goes to stow them away in his room, placing them in his bureau. He wore clothes sometimes, but that was when it was winter, or during special occasions. He heads back out to the living room, where pretty much everyone was asleep on the couch. Jackson smiles and sits down on a chair that was on the side, his own eyes slowly closing and he drifted off into his dreams.

He would awaken to his mother, Mindy walking in through the door. She would immediately run up and hug Jackson tightly. "Oh, my sweet baby, are you alright? I couldn't reach you with the business my boss was stacking on me..." Jackson's mom worked as a reporter and was stationed in another part of the city to work on a piece her boss had given her. She enjoyed her job, but she often missed Jackson as a result of it.